chris_kaw's sketchbook!

[chris_kaw]

Hi guys and gals of Conceptart.org :yayca: After what seemed like forever, I got off my arse and started this sketchbook. I'm hoping that by the end of this self-teaching stuff, I would come out at least a somewhat skilled artist.

[yoshikee]

Nice Konata up there

[Diarum]

Lookin nice from the looks of it keep it up hope to see more. Try and do some still life (drawing from life(drawing stuff in Real life that is around you)) if you didn't know. Happy Trails

[chris_kaw]

Thanks guys, and you're absolutely right Diarum. That seems to be the number one lesson right there.

Thought I'd post some throwaway pages from one of my notebooks. (because of my somewhat poor memory retention)

[Prince G]

Looking cool so far. Try playing around with line control (create solid lines with fewer strokes) when you do the studies to reduce the scratchy look. Keep it up!

Thanks for peeping out my sb and the little input btw :)

[chris_kaw]

Prince, that has ALWAYS been my problem... I have to slow down :coke:

Drew some tanks and planes I saw on a book. Fun.

[chris_kaw]

critters

[chris_kaw]

WIP from photo ref, trying my darnest to learn how to blend paint strokes better. I did learn that using airbrushes makes skin duller and well... worse. I'm currently using greyscale cuz' my I have yet to fully understand color theory and all that good stuff.

[chris_kaw]

stuff from posemaniacs

[cgaddict]

Great sketchbook so far, you're latest Posemaniacs studies are very impressive. Try to do them daily and you'll get far. Looking forward to more updates!

[chris_kaw]

thanks cgaddict, i'll see if I have studies worth showing. for now, attempt at a stormtrooper:

[chris_kaw]

'copied' some master sketches, and photo refs for warm-up. my back hurts.

[chris_kaw]

practice with photo refs, i had trouble working without an underdrawing...

[chris_kaw]

Yep, the headaches have started. :frustrated:

I've spent a good chunk of time trying to figure out ways to improve my workflow. Do I go digital, or do I stick with my messy pencil work? Do I work better as a lineguy or do I paint directly on the digi-canvas??

These are things I'm trying to figure out but if you've got advice on the matter, I'd love to hear it!! I sighted the stuff below from a place called characterdesign. Always wanted to go to Tokyo.

[luffie]

I like you life drawing and the different topics you've drawn, like bats etc. But maybe you want to concentrate with pencil and shadings first? I see many people jumping to digital straight away, while I feel learning values and strokes through makes you improve much faster.

With digital, it is almost impossible to draw accurate strokes, usually its a matter of adding and erasing, but with traditional methods every stroke counts, So you are more attuned in your accuracy when you transition to digital.

[chris_kaw]

luffie: thanks man, your advice helped a bit although I'm still struggling with regulating values... I'll do my best!!

[Amarok]

Nice studies so far, keep it up! I like the variety. :)

One thing you might want to consider is doing some studies where you break things down into simple geometric forms or think about the planes of the forms. I think it could be great to slow down and take the time to think about trying to make things more 3-dimensional.

[Klaw]

Curious: how did Betty's book work out for you? For me it was my turning point: like a key that fit the lock to my brain-it is a foundation for all my current work. I recommend it to everybody who will listen. But I know that not everybody has the same level of success with this book. Still, a great book IMO. You have some very nice work here: keep going!

[Asterisks]

cool studies you've got here. I'd love to see more animal sketches.

[chris_kaw]

Amarok: thanks, I've been studying on values. I still owe my sketchbook still lifes so I can understand how it affects forms!
Klaw: Klaw, reading Betty Edward's book was quite a revelatory experience. I know people knock on that book quite a bit, but to me it was what made me "get" this whole drawing bit. It also made a lot of the other art books far more accessible too for some reason!
Asterisks: thanks. I'll get to animal studies, eventually. For now, the human figure is pretty challenging in itself to master!

My current output is pretty scatter shot. Been copying stuff from various references, many of them are rubbish. I even tried my hand at color... with muddy results. :nohope:

[kojot]

hey chris :)

(it is post i wrote for some one ells but i thik it will be help full)
I think it's good advice when you make a quick sketches from posesmaniac to changes your medium.

when i make my daily sketches from PM
I make a 4 skeches in 4 series
1.4xcharcoal
2.4xpenicl
3.4xpen
4.4xbrush and ink

I think it's good to don't limit your self in one medium

cheers and keep it up :)

[Laurice]

My current output is pretty scatter shot. Been copying stuff from various references, many of them are rubbish. I even tried my hand at color... with muddy results. :nohope:

It's alright! Everyone starts out a noob at something. :) as long as you keep up your pace, and keep practicing then you're gonna get there :) just have fun and don't be too hard on yourself. one step at a time :D

and btw, your notebook drawings are a getting less scratchier :)

your studies from posemaniacs are good! i've tried it and it made me realize how much i sucked at it.. XD i'm still practicing too :D

[chris_kaw]

kojot: Thanks for the suggestions! I'm already planning to dedicate an entire sketchbook just for posemaniac practice.

laurice: I'm staying away from coloring for now. There's still so much to learn, I mustn't get ahead of myself.

For now, I've dedicated my time drawing random people and stuff. More practice in the future...

[chris_kaw]

my usual contour drawings

[chris_kaw]

more practice with photos and barque stuff. I always wanted to ink my works (to give it that extra level of sheen) but I can't seem to find the right way to do it! maybe if you've got suggestions...

[chris_kaw]

Hands. Why did it have to be hands?

[chris_kaw]

update! I started using darker pencils and drew on a few of my old sketches to see how they fare. Not bad... :wip: I think I owe it upon myself to draw other stuff now...

[kidult]

Hey Chris just keep doing what you do and you'll be rockin in no-time!

[chris_kaw]

kidult: I really do hope I'm going somewhere drawing all this stuff. It's kind of a dilemma really as a self-taught artist... When do you know you're good enough to move on?

The first two sketches are silly stuff and the rest are from Hogarth's book. Far from perfect copies, and I rushed many but learned quite a bit at least. Sure, the guy's works are far from realistic, but that's not really the point now, is it?

[chris_kaw]

Here we go, value studies. I botched the Albert Durer portrait, but really, the point is to learn about values!!! Also painted some balls. Balls are the lifeblood of good value studies.

[chris_kaw]

A little mishmash urban thing and a Moebius 'Azrach' tribute piece

[chris_kaw]

Today we have a virtual smorgasbord of my so-called "studies" which I copied off the internet. John Singer Sargent is always a great fallback, though I fudged the dress cuz' I was in a rush. Also studied a male torso painting, and learned a few things about the form. I've been pushing myself to draw more "concept-arty" stuff for a while, but they always end up unpublishable. I'm getting kinda discouraged actually... :android:

[chris_kaw]

Three hours. That's how long it took me to make this single portrait. And to think I promised myself I wanted to increase my output for this week. Oh, I also painted my coat in muddy grey tones.

[chris_kaw]

portrait practice! 1.5 hrs


EDIT : Added wavy strokes to make it look more au natural. I think.

[chris_kaw]

Someday when I look back at my sketchbook, I'll say "Wow. It took him that long to get it."

For now, I can only bask at the horror of my stuff.

[monotony]

Man I hope for us that we will all have that feeling someday. just looking back at our stuff and shaking our heads :)

anyway you're really improving. I like the full figure studies a lot.

on the portrait- and color studies in general they very often show a bit too much that you're working from greyscale to color (correct me if I'm wrong here :) ). I'm not saying that you can't achive lush and vivid color that way, lots of people probably can. But I think if you're doing a study from reference (photo or life) I'd try and really "see" the colors. Put down the colors without a grey underpainting it will give you a much better feeling and understanding of color and help a lot on images you want to paint from mind afterwards.

keep working on it and you will see improvement yourself in no time!

[chris_kaw]

But monotony, I'm afraid to take the first step to work on full colored works! I want to keep working with overlayed values because they're a great crutch!!

Uh... in all seriousness though, thanks man. I really appreciate your kind words of wisdom.

I've recently tried working some of the exercises on the absolutely wonderful 'Peer Foundational Activities'. I'm really pushing myself to be more comfortable with the ever-baffling concept of 'values' and begun learning more about the principles of colors. Really hard stuff, but then what isn't?

[chris_kaw]

doodles

[chris_kaw]

Always been a big fan of Tatsuyuki Tanaka, Gez Fry and Shunya Yamashita. I wish I can draw as well as those guys!!!

WIP which I will never finish:

[HolyBovine]

Nice stuff.. the digitals are coming along nicely.

[Arepa]

its nice to see your improvement! cool stuff

[chris_kaw]

Arepa: Thanks!
HolyBovine: Thanks... I wish I can find a way to make my linework more elegant though.

Master copy of Peter Paul Ruben's Susanna and the Elders... and Vader. :wtf:

[chris_kaw]

just came from manila komikon, the talent on display is too much.........

[chris_kaw]

afdklfjlsfsfas

[chris_kaw]

bork bork bork