The Magical Sketchbook, 13-Dec-11: Updated sketches and illustrations

[Magic Man]

Hi all,

Haven't posted in pretty much forever so not sure if I even recognise anyone hehe, so I'll repost my background.

I don't come from an illustration / fine art background, I have a degree in computer science and also one in operational management because my parents told me from a young age I wouldn't be able to make a living with art =(

I've always doodled to some degree, not that seriously to be honest until about 6 years ago when I discovered concept art and decided to take art seriously and taught myself, tone, perspective, design, etc. During this time I was working 9-5 in some dead end job in health foods for a very disorganised person. I'd come home after a long day, after going to the gym and just spend from about 8pm-12am drawing and doing artwork every night learning form as many sources as possible. After 6 months I landed a concept artist job, which totally wasn't my intention at all, I just wanted to draw cool pics hah.

I've now been a senior concept artist and Art director in the games industry for 5+ years now and I now run my own design studio called Stylus Monkey Design which services the games / film / publishing industries. It has certainly been one hell of a crazy ride, at numerous points after numerous closures of companies I worked for, I was considering throwing in the towel and turning my back on art since it seemed to bring nothing but stress and misery.

There was one point where I was looking to join the military full time, the police force, even the domestic spy agency to feel like I was giving back to society more than I was taking - you just get to this point and you start asking "sure this is fun...but what the heck am I actually contributing to society?!". There was a lot of growing up I had to do as well, becoming an art director at a relatively young age (23 at the time) screws with your mind, you start to see yourself as greater than you are and you just don't have the maturity to really keep things in perspective, you become a know-it-all and you hurt people in thoughtless ways. I've certainly done my fair share of that and I think only recently I've put a lot of that behind me and as much as possible made amends from my end. I know some of you post here and hopefully you know how sincerely I mean it when I say I am sorry.

Of course, since I'm here now, I did decide to stick with the art, I spent about 6 months off all art, I ceased to sketch and instead started working on my mind, reading lots of good books, taking care of lots of different areas I had neglected over the years, finances, relationships, ethics, learning about commitment, volunteering to help old people and disabled people and just really learning to be a proper person, something I had let atrophy in trying to prove to the world - and my parents that I deserved to be making art for a living. Helping out these people in my opinion helped me more than them, it made me realise that I am indeed one lucky individual, I have my health and my whole life ahead of me.

Also, coming out of that big cluster fuck of a situation at that previous work environment, doing simple things like cleaning the kitchen dishes for these people made me really appreciate that I could do things again, that I wasn't some failure because we didn't accomplish everything we set out to do. Anything of something in excess is bad, something I prided myself on - professionalism and perfection - began to choke sleep out of me and began to turn into a big festering mental wound that eroded the very values I wished to preserve.

Now, it might sound strange to those who aren't of Asian descent, but parents are pretty much the guiding force in a lot of our lives growing up, and keeping them happy is a cultural thing, not necessarily one of our better virtues to be sure. It took a long time for me to really cut that umbilical and to become self determinant. I also got out of a destructive relationship that didn't seem destructive at the time, those are the most dangerous, they alter you in ways you don't even realise, and when you come out of one, you find out you were in a bad bad place and it almost suffocated you life force.

Once I'd gotten myself back on track mentally, I got back into art nice and gently, doing bit projects here and there, getting my feet again and pretty much a year later I've managed to turn things around 360 and I freaking love my life! I rediscovered my love of my art, I feel I have twice the energy, on top of my business endeavours I am also lecturing - my way of giving back to society I suppose and it is an exceptionally enjoyable experience for me. I don't go to sleep thinking "what are you doing for society?" anymore.

So in the span of the last 6 months, I've helped shipped a couple of current gen games to market, written multiple tutorials for 2D artist magazine, Advanced Photoshop Magazine, The Official Corel Painter Magazine, Digital Artist Magazine and I've lectured at QANTM media college and RMIT University Melbourne on digital illustration. Through my design business I've also undertaken numerous project for current gen systems, a couple are in beta testing now, a few illustration assignments, I'm art directing a game prototype for a client as well as acting as a defacto developer recruiter and I've also been seeing a wonderfully calm beautiful woman for the last 8 months and I am spending the next 3 months working only a couple of days a week so that I can spend time learning to oil paint!

Pretty much every day I wake up, gratitude is the first thing that enters my mind, thankfulness for the situations I am not in, for the situations that I am in, for the people in my life, for my ability to do something enjoyable and make a living at, and for reigniting my love of what I do! I feel at this point in time, that so much is possible, for the first time in my life it doesn't all seem temporary, it is sustainable and for me that is an exciting thought indeed!

Hah, true to form, I've probably written a pretty long arse post, sorry about that! If you've read my previous thread, you'll know I treat these as an emotional enema =)

Oh, recently, I also began to upload some vids of me sketching, check em out:

-7JK9KJu6kU

F1s407a0rEY

lWIbKE7Tlc8

[Magic Man]

Just some more sketches =)

[Andrew Sonea]

Magic man! I remember seeing some of your stuff on the society of figurative arts forums a couple years back. You had an amazing copy of Michelangelo's Libyan Sybil and that drawing really pushed me to start learning anatomy and taking art more seriously. It's great that you started a sketchbook. I hope you keep updating it on a regular basis.

[Metal Fingers]

Very good start to an SB, and thanks for the long introduction. Look forward to seeing this SB progress.

[The_Flying_Dutchman]

These are phenomenal, man!

[Magic Man]

My thought of the day:

Life, like a blank canvas is a perfect, daunting thing, it's future an infinite expanse of possibility. As we apply our influence to it, these possibilities shrink at an exponential rate until there is only inevitability, borne of our preceding actions.

In most cases, I feel that life is not short, but that we don't apply our time effectively in what we want or dream to accomplish, often we don't know how to go about it so we keep absolutely still, preferring to dilute our time with inconsequential things - which in my opinion is such a huge mistake. All of us hold within ourselves such untapped potential, which if tapped in the right way can flourish and grow into something beyond our own imagining and reckonings.

We owe it to ourselves to continually improve and become better, because life is not short of opportunities, it has an abundance of them, but often when we're presented with those opportunities we have not previously worked hard enough to be able to capitalise on opportunities when they do arise.

I find that having something I have heard referred to as a BOMAG - Big Overriding Mother of All Goals - is the best way to work hard continuously towards a unified end, when intrusions arise, compare it against your BOMAG, does it add or detract in it's accomplishment? When you have a driving imperative for your life, whether it is to achieve a high degree of skill in art, or in some other part of your life, you need to define what you want, before you can attain it and the more succinct and clear the vision is, the more easily you will attain that vision in your head.

For the shoutouts:

Andrew Sonea: Thank you mate, your name actually rings a bell, not sure if from Mentler's forum or not hmm. I wonder how he is doing, does he still post here? I think I will start posting at his Forum again, his work is phenomenally cool. Thank you for your kind words, I appreciate it, and I'm glad you decided to take art more seriously! It really is a journey that is to be enjoyed =)

Metal Fingers: Thanks mate, me too, when I had my first SB, it helped me through people's comments to improve at a pretty fast rate, I credit CA.org's forum with a lot of my growth as an artist.

The Flying Dutchman: Thanks buddy =)

[TheGnoll]

magic man!
its great to have you back, you have been missed!

its great to read about such a burst of ewly found enthusiasm, and its cool to read your thoughts too.Sometimes its good to actually associate a human beign to the sketchbook, for once, makes coming back after every update feel like visiting a friend to see how he's doing! :)

Really cool to see your process in video, the way you handle form, edge and manage to find a balance between lively lines and tight rendering never ceases to amaze me!

again, good to have you back, and looking forward to seeing/reading you next updates!

ciao!

[PHATandy]

Awesome, its so good to see you posting again Magic Man. You might not remember me, but i regularly visited your old SB and it was such an inspiration to me when i was younger (all of 4-5 years ago ah ha!) i mean i even think i was inspired to get fit and workout after reading your inspirational posts. You work ethic seemed so perfect already, but im glad you seemed to have got yourself sorted!

And keep up with the posts, i myself am finding that truly writing and thinking about your art helps you understand it so much more. It sought of puts it before your eyes to see and analyze.

Would love to get some crits from you in my sketchbook too :) Ive also just found my reinvigoration to start posting again.

Keep it up dude, looking forward to more.

[DanielC]

Nice ! Good to have you back dude ! Hope you'll get to post often !

[smokenmirrors]

DUUUDE! you got the skills that kills any soul sucking slackerage that would otherwise fester and rot away any goal reaching aspirations if left alone. SO i thank you and bow to your ninjician wacom black belt and thankyou for dropping by my SB to shed some light and warmth to my scribbles. Feels great when somebody that keeps the pencils extra sharp drops by and says hello! Likewise thanks for sharing your words of life, learning and the wisdom therefrom. I completely empathize with your journey as Ive traveled similar paths fosho. So heres to breaking the pattern and then back to breaking the mold! :yayca: :D I got this SB subscribed and you got the full fledged 5 star treatment to help announce the magicmans might! :P right on brotha. and welcome back (now to search for your old SB.... :) )

[andres333]

Most of the times I don't read people's introductions. And I care only about art cuz that's what this site is supposed to be about, but this is an exception I spent more time reading what you've written above than looking at your amazing work (i'm speechless by the way).
Thank you so much man! you don't know how much you've just helped me, I am only 18 but I was going through something like that.
I'm just happy to see that there's people with this thinking around the world. People that is worth to have a conversation with.
keep it up!

[Magic Man]

Hi guys, wow! So many of the old people are still around I see hehe, great to see you all. Oh, btw, if you'd like, add me on Facebook, you can find me easily enough, just search for "Darren Yeow".

TheGnoll: I totally remember you mate, and your avatar hasn't changed in what 2 years!? Hehe, awesome to see you around =) Thanks for the kind words, yeah I've always been someone who sketches really quickly and then takes FOREVER to render something! I'm glad you enjoyed the videos, I'll be doing a whole bunch for my wonderful students that I am teaching at Uni.

PhatAndy: I remember you for sure mate! How are you going? Thanks for the kind words, yeah look, the work ethic was never my problem - seriously speaking, you have too much of something, even a good thing and it can turn bad! I was looking at my stuff and just driving myself into the ground. I find I'm a much more balanced person these days, I used to equate relaxation to laziness. If I can make an analogy, it felt like I was trying to pedal a unicycle as fast as possible to NOT fall over, all the while you know at the back of your mind "this is going to catch up to me, and when it does I'll be fuckered!", thats how it really was I think. Total work-life imbalance. But as they say, sometimes you need to crash in order to discover what is really important, and I would say that I have learnt more about myself in the last year, about what drives me and correcting all of it than in the previous 27 years of my life. It's an exciting feeling to have when you get to this point, and it's exciting that there is a looooong ass time to come for making art and making an impact on other people. You know, you also touch on an interesting thing, I think at some point, if you do things well, you start becoming an influencing force on other people, whether you ask for it or not, you become laden with more responsibility, when that happens your maturity comes through, your real maturity, not the facade you put on for the world. Anyway, I should be posting relatively often now. So take care and keep drawing mate =)

DanielC: Nice to see you too! Another familiar face =)

Smokenmirrors: Haha! Thanks buddy, jeez, I feel all shy now! Ah, we'll get there with our art, just keep going hard at it! Look forward to seeing more of what you do =)

More sketches...

[Magic Man]

Most of the times I don't read people's introductions. And I care only about art cuz that's what this site is supposed to be about, but this is an exception I spent more time reading what you've written above than looking at your amazing work (i'm speechless by the way).
Thank you so much man! you don't know how much you've just helped me, I am only 18 but I was going through something like that.
I'm just happy to see that there's people with this thinking around the world. People that is worth to have a conversation with.
keep it up!

No problems at all my friend - one of the most empowering things I have learnt is that nothing we're liable to go through, is unique, and where there has been a difficult problem to overcome, other people have overcome those problems. If other people have overcome those problem, so can you =)

[NickyBeats]

wow. a truly epic start to a new sketchbook. i have a feeling this is going to be on my top 5 sketchbooks. it is definately my new favorite one. the art is stunning, and i like how your treating this like a journal/sketchbook. i think art requires a strong physical will, as well as a strong mental will, so why not compile both into your sketchbook as you progress. a very good idea indeed. i am very eagerly awaiting updates! thanks for sharing.

[Istmin52]

Nice work.

I've been studying art for a long time and yet I still feel like I have trouble when rendering form from memory or sometimes I don't remember how to draw something. I just don't get it and it's been bugging me for a while. I think this year is the hardest I've ever worked and yet I notice other people that haven't been doing art as long as me improve much faster. I feel like I'm missing something and I just don't get it or I feel like I have made some progress but then I occasionally take two steps back. Have you ever had this problem? And yes, I've been drawing and painting a lot so it's not like I'm not doing that. Any thoughts?

[jgwong]

I've just discovered your Sketchbook. Great to know you've found a way to "pay it forward" and give something back. You certainly have a lot of talent and a lot to give and share. Don't stop.

[phizpietl]

wonderful stuff man, nice to see.

Phil Lietz
www.phillietz.blogspot.com

[fionkell]

Oh wow, you're back, and with even more awesome! :D I have to say though, your story of your time away from art is very inspiring, and I'll be remembering that as I go on me own art journey.

Again, welcome back! :)

[vatteh]

Ok, this is some awesome stuff. I know that critiquing is the goal but for me this will probably just turn into another source of inspiration. Great work here and great intro.

[JesArt]

Wow, the mind is a amazing part of a human being, it can be a calm ocean or a ravaging hurricane, it seems that a mind can have a mind of its own. I read your whole introduction. I took a few things into thought about what was written, I knew you were amazing before I even look at your artwork, such honesty and humbleness, and I love a person who can admit to his or her wrong doings. It made me think of my current problems of getting into a school that fits me and my struggle being able to pay for school, it also open my eyes to how lazy I can be sometimes when it comes to artwork, sometimes I feel that even when I put 8 hours into a painting (frequent 10 min break intervals in there), I just dont get anything done. The part I loved so much was when you talk about giving back to society, Ive volunteered for things but Ive never really thought about how I would give back to society on a daily basis. Thanks for your kind words, you dont have to reply to this long message, I would just appreciate it if you read it. Now for the art part

YOUR AMAZING, WOW WOW WOW, your painting skills are so fleshy, lol, ttyl.

[Jephyr X]

Beautiful artwork and story!

[GunTrouver]

Didn't check out your stuff for some time and saw this update now. I must say you still make good stuff and I hope you update some more. The Michelangelo study is great!

[Eiki]

AWESOME STUFF!
Very great and creative concepts! And sooo much Energy in your pieces!! And of nice quality >> awesome, as i said before :)

I was just flashed by your pics, they forced me to reply immediatetly! :D I'll read the texts now ^^ I've seen there are some longer,... must read what they are about.


Hope to see more grreat work here :)

[AndrewLey]

great stuff here man - look forward to seeing more!

[Dr poPcoRN]

awesome! :D

[Simon Boxer]

Hello sir, you've got some cool stuff I haven't seen before in here!

Anyway, thought I'd pop in and be sociable. heh

Take it easy,
S

[Gloominati]

ah man, you have absolutely no idea, how glad I am to see your stuff back here again! :D

[witek]

Maaagic Man i couldnt believe ....how great maan that you came back.
yoy inspired me many times when i was only browsing this forum.
Then your sketchbook just gone but great you are alive and posting again.

I think im in the dead end with my art . I was doing a lot till the point in which i felt bad when i was not painting. It resulted with forcing myself to draw to paint i started losing my drive and i had to force myself more and more while my drive was slooowin down till i stopped completely.
I know somewhere that i love it(or loved it and i want to find this passion again)
but i simply dont want. You said that doing something in excess is bad but what was your experience with getting back your art desire.
i hope thet its understandable
anyway im glad that you are back take care

[mike butkus]

Really incredible work!

[knoxie]

holeeeee shit. You're back. Found you lurking on Min's sketchbook :)

Your intro makes a lot of sense to me.... I still trip out every now and then and ask myself what the hell am I doing to make this world a better place. Would love to sit down and talk about how you got out of that hole :)

There's a sketch group Min used to come to on sundays and school me when I was starting out. It's at the old GPO in the city. I've started it up again; nothing too serious, just gesturals and talkin crap mostly. come if you are free!

[William Whitaker]

I enjoyed your work very much. I'm immensely impressed by such talent at such a young age!

If you are this good now, imagine how good you'll be at thirty-two! 32 is about the age when all your visual brain cells are completely hooked up. We artists are slow developers.

When I see work like yours, I wish I were a lot younger so I could see what is going to come with the melding of visual talent and incredible technology. I think the best stuff is yet to come.

[Magic Man]

Hi all!

Just wanted to thank some of the people who have private messaged me, I really appreciate your PMs and their candid nature, I'm so glad you're finding your way in this world as well, quite often for people such as ourselves who identify ourselves so closely with our creative output we can become completely swallowed by the behest of others, which although it might seem completely natural can lead to an absolutely rollercoaster ride of emotions, one moment accepted, the next rejected, and this will tend to spill over into our private lives as well which generally does not bode well for us in the long term.

I have found the best way to combat this is to base our validation not on external factors - which by their nature are only controllable to a certain extend, and thus is an invitation for others to rock our boats - but on internal factors, which we have a much higher degree of control over. As arrogant as it sounds, you really shouldn't give two shits about what other people think about you or your work or you as a person - ironically, this actually frees you up to BE a better person because your imperative is not externally driven, but self driven, meaning you are now totally in control of what you feel.

I have found that in order to both be a good person as well as a self determinant emotionally stable person, I derive internal validation from virtues, values, principles of how I carry myself in this world - things such as integrity, compassion, courage, etc - and how steadfast I am in holding fast and true to these principles regardless of the situation.

It might not make you everyone's friend, but a successful life in my opinion isn't to gain the esteem and love of everyone, it's to attain self respect which is harder than is sounds. The way I see it, can be summed up by the truth that no matter who you are, you will have detractors, all the greatest leaders not matter what they fought or died for all had detractors, from Lincoln, to FDR, Churchill etc every single exemplary leader had their percentage of people who plotted and move against them.

You can't make everyone like you or agree with you, live with it and get on with the job at hand is what I'd recommend. On a related note - your driving force shouldn't be to make them eat their words either, to prove other people wrong, running on anger may allow you to achieve your intended goal, but you'll also find - as I did - it can really rot your core and make you into a pretty despicable sonofabitch. One of my favourite quotes by Lincoln is also pretty profound - it also requires a strong person to do this because it is no longer ego based:

"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends." - Abraham Lincoln

I wanted to be extremely candid here and also post something else that I used on a very consistent basis - apart from my gratitude journal, really, they go hand in hand.

Firstly, I use something called a gratitude journal, it is a simple thing that you use everyday, can be a book in my case I have an iPhone app that I use. It basically requires that you write 5 things every day that you are sincerely thankful for - it takes me about 3-4 mins every morning reflecting on the previous days happenings. And thats it.

In today's drama filled world, we're almost forced by default to be negatively biased, "the world is going to hell in a hand basket" is the default feeling of most people, we gain a certain satisfaction from bitching and moaning about everything, and the gratitude journal reverses this by getting us to fill our minds with positive thoughts in order to rid ourselves of the negative energy that can often screw with our creativity. I have done this, every single day, without fail for the last 9 months and I am a vastly different person because of it - it also trains consistency and commitment, two virtues required for outstanding achievement in any field.

The second part of my daily ritual I mentioned requires that I read a personal affirmation that I have written for myself - this is something that both Stephen Covey and Napolean Hill refer to as "auto suggestion" - in that our physical being, gravitates towards the realities that we set inside our own heads, makes sense yeah? If you unconsciously fill your thoughts with, for instance "I am such a shitty artist! Why can't I improve?!" what do you think will happen? In most cases, you will remain a shitty artist.

The fantastic thing about our mind and physical manifestation of our inner most thoughts that permeate it, is that our mind doesn't differentiate between subconscious or deliberate suggestion. For instance if you tell yourself that you're a great artist, and that you will overcome any problems on a daily basis, regardless of what actually happens, you eventually make your mind believe this is the case and the physical manifestation of your thoughts takes place. Might sound kinda airy-fairy, but it works a treat, all you gotta do is consistently put into your mind what you want and sooner or later you will gravitate towards what it is your seek.

The following is a completely unadulterated version of what I read every single day when I wake up - yes, I am Christian, and yes God is mention in one small section at the beginning, but this stuff works for non-believers as well, you can skip over the God part and you'll still achieve a fuck load more than most people ever will in their entire lives. I'd also like to point out, that I wrote and started reading this every day after going through some pretty dark days, believe me I have accomplished and will continue to accomplish everything I have set forth in the affirmation and my life goals, I believe everything I aim for is now inevitability rather than chance, and the coolest thing is that I believe ANYONE can achieve this level of certainty in their lives.

Daily Affirmation

Envisage your ideal future for 5 minutes…

I am an exceptional, balanced and intelligent individual who will attain success in all areas of my life through self determination and soliciting the grace of the Lord whom I speak to throughout the day's progress to ask for both guidance and love.

I am a positively charged person indicated by my steadfast virtues of integrity, ability, balance, poise, courage, empathy, commitment, confidence, patience, caring, fairness, foresight, creativity, responsibility, cleanliness, prudence and frugality.

I achieve the goals that I set, having the ability to muster my resources, aligning them in the direction towards my intended destination and the courage to initiate the actions required to attain the end state. Furthermore, I have the commitment, honour and steadfast resolve to finish what I begin.

I value my intelligence; my mind made resilient by continual learning and critical self analysis. My mental disposition is the foundation upon which all other success is founded and sustained. This intellect does not stay consistent; it requires ongoing care and nurturing to both maintain and increase performance.

I recognise that everything in life is incremental; short cuts do not work; my ego should always be kept in check; patience and persistence can dissolve any opposition; and as a species our most important accomplishments have been in unity rather than individualism.

I understand that failure is only a temporary setback, it is not final and from it the seeds of future successes are planted. My ability to triumph comes not only from exceptional skills in many areas but more importantly the ability to pick myself up whenever I am felled.

I recognise that my effort today, paves the path for tomorrow, that I reap what I sow and that my ability to delay personal gratification will lead to a vastly richer tomorrow.

Negative people do not impact my self belief, my work, nor make my day negative because I exercise independent thought rather than being someone who is influenced by others. I am strong and durable enough to interact and work cooperatively with negative people, without needing to adopt avoidance as a cheap method to maintain my integrity, and through this perhaps even influence how they see themselves in a positive way.

I never complain about my business nor those who I come in contact with, as it is a petty and fruitless activity that weakens my spirit and produces mistrust in others. It is a testimony of my character that I transcend any situation that life chooses to throw at me with a smile, and recognise that the need to complain usually signals that an opportunity is at hand.

There exist activities that waste time and contravene my integrity. There are other activities which seem urgent but are wholly unnecessary and I should identify these tasks before sinking valuable time into their undertaking. I don’t procrastinate, instead I face problems and obligations when they need to be solved, understanding that prioritisation is a skill of leaders – some tasks need to be dealt with now, some later. In order to facilitate efficiency, I make sure to follow my schedules to reduce wasted time.

When I am presented with new business opportunities, I evaluate the assignment in line with my long term business and personal goals, the creative fulfilment attached to the project, the financial reward and the time critical nature of the activity before accepting or rejecting the work.

I understanding that effective achievement over an extended period requires an overarching view of the situation and intent, planning to achieve the goals, mustering reliable resources to undertake the work, putting in place a timeline for those resources to achieve the milestones, creating a system of balances and checks that alert when things are going awry and identifying and providing fallbacks for identified risks.

I find great personal fulfilment where upon criticism of my work or behaviour, I exercise self mastery by pausing for a moment to understand the view point of my critic. I weigh the validation of their views and suggestions against the catalytic factors and underlying choices that preceded the outcomes. I then respond in a congenial manner that advances the dialogue in a mutually beneficial direction congruent with the end goal.

I am master of my financial well being and because money does not hold a constant value, I plan my investment for the long term in order to preserve my purchasing power and business capital. I care because this directly affects my ability to live a free life, to move quickly on good opportunities, affect change and impinges on my ability to provide financial security to those I care about.

In all my relationships, I am a caring individual, upon whom those close to me can count on for love, understanding and counsel. I remain faithful to those I care about and realise that everyone is at a different point in their life journey; I accept that and care for them unconditionally. I will do my best to help them, notwithstanding the contravention of my virtues. I understand that although relationships are important, they are not my source of character, that strength is a function of my adherence to unwaveringly steadfast principles.

Although I seek to relentlessly achieve, I also recognise that to run at full capacity all of the time will impact the other aspects of my life negatively. I remain healthy because my ability to live and experience life is dependant on my well being. Downtime is integral to my health, my career, my relationships, and my mind so I ensure that I consciously take the time to enjoy unstructured relaxation time.

Above all, I understand that everything in life is interrelated; therefore, what I seek is a sustainable balance of mind, body, spirit and relationships.

Today I choose to put forth my best efforts and to exercise the best choices, not to make a good impression on others, but because it is in harmony with my internal principles.

[Magic Man]

I also wanted to mention some cool news, Syd Mead will be visiting the university which I am currently teaching at here in Melbourne, RMIT and he's likely to be visiting my class while I am teaching! I am a massive fan of Syd's and I had a bunch of his books and Gnomon DVDs, so it will be a huge honour to meet one of the people who really influenced me early on.

So in ode to Syd, I did a sketch of him hehe, hopefully it looks a bit like him! I also recorded a video of me sketching him out, maybe he'd have the time to watch a couple of minutes of it =)

UjAZS9HAoU0

[jcpahl]

Hay I remember you. Was always a fan; cool to see a new book.

[Magic Man]

Quick shoutouts:

NickyBeats: Hah, thanks mate, you know I kinda cheated, I used to have an SB here and then I had it deleted as I was actually thinking of giving up art altogether and joining an intelligence here in Australia. I'm kinda glad that fell through now, everything happens for a reason yeah? In my humble opinion, you might be able to ascend to great heights on skill alone, but without a good mentality to compliment it, you'll crash and burn quickly - kinda like how child movie stars, a lot of them anyway, just don't know how to react to their sudden fame and turn into wash ups early.

Istmin52: Rendering from memory is overrated, use photo reference, a lot of the top artists do. Rendering from memory comes naturally over time, but only for a select number of subject matter. It should, in my opinion, never be the goal of the artist to render from imagination, but instead to create a compelling image -the means of which is what is required at the time. It is a misconception that a desired attribute of good art, and that everything is created purely from the imaginative ether. Maybe its the commercial artist in me talking, but my opinion is - you do what is necessary to create an image that kicks ass, whether that is referring to a photograph, using 3d models, or tweaking your nipples, use what works as long as you're not plagiarizing or being deceptive of your methods. Also, another thing you will definitely want to consider doing, is to stop comparing your "learnability" to other people, we're all wired different, some people are more naturally inclined than others. My opinion on this is that if you have to work hard for something, fine, so be it, that's the hand you've been dealt with. I've never been a good runner, but when I was signed onto become a police officer, we had a very high running score we had to meet (it was bordering on being a pretty darn good athlete), rather than occupying my mind with "how on EARTH am I ever going to meet that?!" I just set about running my ass off. It took me 3 months to achieve that target, but I did. One of the other recruits was just a natural runner, and he played a lot of soccer, so he didn't even need to train for it. You can either complain about something and be no better off, or just accept the fact you learn slower than others and do it anyway. You also find that people who have had to surmount large obstacles - people like Helen Keller, Oprah, and a whole host of other self made success stories - if they stick at it, they become prodigious in their field. You can think of your learning ability as either a hindrance, or as a blessing in disguise, I prefer the latter. Hope this helps.

jgwong: Thanks buddy! Will do =)

phizpietl: Thanks Phil, I had a look at your sketchblog, holy crap mate, you have some AWESOME work, love it to death!

iolarnula: Thank you mate, great to see you still around, been well? =)

vatteh: Thanks for the kind words mate, appreciate it =)

JesArt: Aw, thanks buddy - making me blush! My advice with your stuff, just keep going mate, as long as you're moving that stylus, you're improving even if it is just .0001% every time you draw. Sometimes we learn quickly, sometimes not so quickly, we're wired that way, took me 6 months of head banging to really understand perspective in it's complexity, made me question whether I had it often. Whichever you believe - you have it, or you don't, you're right! The mind is an amazing thing. Regarding servitude, I think the adage where "compassion and serving others are pretty much the only gifts that you give away in order to receive the rewards..." is such a powerful thing. I think in society, we're taught to think with a mentality of scarcity, I find that giving away more of myself, I often receive not in equivalent currency 10x what I gave away, its amazing. As for your post, thank you for writing it, I appreciate it alot, and the least I could do is write you back =)

Jephyr: Thank you and I am glad you enjoyed reading it =)

GunTrouver: Thanks mate, good to see you around!

Eiki: Thanks buddy! I hope to keep posting long into the future =)

Andrew: Thanks buddy, keep up your fantastic work!

Dr popcorn: Thank you mate =)

Cognition: You man, good to have you around, thanks for stopping by, hope you're going well! Good luck at TAD, it will be a really kickarse adventure I am sure!

Gloominati: Great to see you're still around budski! How you been keeping?!? =)

Witek: Wow! Thank you my friend, sorry for my sketchbook disappearing, I asked the admins to delete it. I am sorry to hear about your love for art dying, I can recommend two things - one is to take your mind off art for a while, go do something else that inspires you, go out in nature, go learn something new, go hiking, jump out of a plane with a parachute, something that makes you fee alive. I find that just getting out of the work environment, doing something as simple and childish as chasing fishes in the sea just inspires me so much! Secondly, if you've been blocked for a while, pick up The Artist's Way, a book with lots of exercises and how to unblock and get on with art again. Hope this helps =)

Mike Butkus: Thanks buddy! =)

Knoxie: Hah, thanks buddy, and cool that you met Poh, she's a good person and one of my favourite cousins long before MasterChef. Would love to meet up some time mate! Maybe pop around to your sketch crew thing =)

William Whitaker: Thank you so much for dropping by! One of the things I have heard, and which I think is true, is that often the smallest kindest word can help someone more than all the critical analysis in the world, and I'd have to say just hearing a small lovely message from someone of your caliber is like a little injection of enthusiasm right into my veins hah. I totally think you're right, I'm currently figuring out the most natural way for me to blend both digital and physical media to be honest. Imo, its a very exciting time to be creating art, especially with the proliferation of the Internet, there are just so many new ways to learn, do business and share - I'd probably credit most of my development as an artist to the web! Anyway, continue to rock on, look forward to speaking in the future.

And some art just so this isn't a text post... =)

[Yautja892]

Great to see new works from you and more importantly great to see your in a happier place in life now! I remembered your older sb and watching your journey way back when. I was in a tough spot in life when I last visited your older sb and it helped me stay focused. It's inspirational too see your still going at it and doing what you love. Thanks for what you wrote, I'm sure a lot of people have been in that situation and appreciate the time you took to share that. Hope too see more work from you. Take care. :)

[Jephyr X]

Magic Man: Your artwork is amazing but so is your willingness to lay your soul bare in your writing. I'm sure your words about your struggles will help many people. I'm glad to hear that you haven't over-looked the spiritual in that equation.

I have found that in order to both be a good person as well as a self determinant emotionally stable person, I derive internal validation from virtues, values, principles of how I carry myself in this world - things such as integrity, compassion, courage, etc - and how steadfast I am in holding fast and true to these principles regardless of the situation.

It might not make you everyone's friend, but a successful life in my opinion isn't to gain the esteem and love of everyone, it's to attain self respect which is harder than is sounds. The way I see it, can be summed up by the truth that no matter who you are, you will have detractors, all the greatest leaders not matter what they fought or died for all had detractors, from Lincoln, to FDR, Churchill etc every single exemplary leader had their percentage of people who plotted and move against them.

You can't make everyone like you or agree with you, live with it and get on with the job at hand is what I'd recommend. On a related note - your driving force shouldn't be to make them eat their words either, to prove other people wrong, running on anger may allow you to achieve your intended goal, but you'll also find - as I did - it can really rot your core and make you into a pretty despicable sonofabitch.

[Darkside]

aww man, great to see you back in here :D
just recently I wondered what you were doing now, absolutely fantastic to see how you have developed.
still love your sense of form and design, happy to see more of it in the future :)

cheers

[Darkside]

man, just wanted to tell you that your posts are very very motivational and inspiring.
I´m filled with energy right now, just by reading and picking your thoughts here hehe.
Thanks for that!

[jeremygordon89]

Incredible work! This is one of the most inspiring sketchbooks I've seen

[Nibras]

Heard a hell of a lot about you while you were away. It's brilliant to see the work you produce. Stunning, stunning, stunning stuff!

Really awesome works, thank you for reposting again and keep inspiring man :D

[Hideyoshi]

ah, the magic is back, awesome!

[PHATandy]

As someone from a entirely mediocre and average life (not necessarily a bad thing...) i find it so hard to place myself in the world. I am thoroughly grateful for everything but i dont think i REALLY appreciate it. Maybe writing it down everyday would help that.
Posts like these and your affirmation is what helps me be determined to achieve anything as a person. It makes me realize that i NEED to do something, and make something of this mediocrity.

Thank you very much for laying your thoughts out like this Magic. Its truly appreciated.

[NickyBeats]

love the updates!!! -saw em on facebook. have a good day dude! you just made mine.

[JIEZHOU]

IT was great work ..I like it so much . !

[DeathByChris]

Awesome, thanks for the videos.

[Hive_minD]

Magic Man...
Wow... You were like one of my first and greatest inspirations here on CA. You and Hurricane are like my two greatest motivators. I even opened a thread in the lounge asking where the hell you disappeared too, with no luck. Now, I have been away an entire weekend, to make some money I need, and come back to the SB section to find you again. You have no idea how happy I am now. Great to see you back. Hope all is well with you and your loved ones!

btw, I used to read a daily affirmation to myself every morning too, and write 4 things I was grateful for before I went to bed, but lately I have been slacking there. From tomorrow on, that is going to change. With your permission, I will use your daily affirmation, seeing it fits me perfectly.

Again, you still are a great inspiration to me, and many others.
Chris

[Jasper_]

Well I don't think I've been around quite long enough to really remember your presence on this site, but what you've recently posted is incredible and inspiring. Checking out a lot of your vids on youtube, really glad you've taken the time to make them. Definitely looking forward to future posts from you.

[Istmin52]

Thanks for your advice. I know that reference is important to use but I sometimes have trouble finding the right reference material. Using models is tough because I can't really afford to hire models for my work and I think that has been a main issue for me. I guess I just don't want to me limited and have to use reference if I don't know how to do something. That's why I've been studying a lot.

[Giow]

you made the right decision to continue with art.
i like your style and those videos are awesome.

[smokenmirrors]

impressive words mr. magic man. Im glad to see the talent goes with not only the brush but the pen as well. You went through the process of becoming a police officer? or some other form of law enforcement? Not sure how far you checked through my SB but I did the same... quite a crazy process.... but for me, im happy my path ended up not going that way...

in any case, its great to read some depth and candid truths from your p.o.v. , thoughts Ive often had and struggled through as a person and also as an artist.

keep on the keep on brotha. :)

[seth1]

Great work magic man... Great to see you posting again!!

[Kan Muftić]

You have some very nice stuff in here, mate.

[soros]

Incredible Artwork! I would love to see the combined sketches of the big picture in a higher resolution and I'm looking forward to see more pencil sketches! :)

[Texahol]

Glad to have you back Darren!

Your art in the old sketchbook was a great inspiration when I was first starting out in 2006 :D

[theUNKNOWNsketcher]

Great! Keep it up ":)

[ArtByManon]

very inspired, particularly by the words - i've downloaded that app now!!

[Beelow]

Blown away as usual MagicMan. Welcome back. I'll be waitin' for more updates to be inspired some more.

[Magic Man]

Hi guys,

Sorry I haven't been around for a few days, been busy as hell, just got the students to submit their first assignments and the system set up by the school has been lacking in dependability!

Also, just launched my personal website, its still in the works, but presentable enough to show! I'm going to be uploading new art fairly consistently to it as well as blog posts and such, so please feel free to come over and check it out:

Stylus Monkey Design Homepage (http://www.stylus-monkey.com)

Not sure if you guys have also come across this dude, but he's been an absolute Internet Sensation! Eduard Khil: www.trololololololololololo.com/ (http://www.trololololololololololo.com/)

So what did I do? I did a sketch of him, since he's such a strange looking fellow hehe:

JZW_1v0pJ-A

Just a quick thought, I come into contact with many different people in the course of my work, and one of the observations of one of my most astute mates absolutely rings true in a lot of ways - there are two kinds of people, those who give you energy and those who take it away from you.

You can reflect that back on yourself, are you someone who is always negative, always dramatising things, always looking to bring down a good situation whether subconsciously or not? Or are you the type of person who can see the good in all situations, the person who picks others up when they are down, that allow others to believe in themselves when no one else will?

As sure as rain will fall and the flowers will bloom, one path leads to a lifetime of mediocrity and waste, and the other, if sustained will bring more abundance than you could imagine - not just in financial terms. The great thing is that if you have some degree of self knowledge, you can make the decision to change this any time you want, thats the great thing about life, no one said it will be easy but if you want something better, its lunacy to think that doing the same thing and being of the same mentality that got you nowhere, if carried on will lead to a different station in life. Change it up if you're not happy with something.

Shoutouts =)

Yautja892: Thanks mate, I certainly appreciate the kind words and I'm glad that some of my previous writing / art helped you out =)

Jephyr X: No problems at all, I think one of the greatest says I've heard is that when a person's actions matches what they think, they know peace =)

Darkside: Thanks buddy for the welcome back! =) Draw draw!

jeremyg0rd0n: Thanks mate, making me blush!

lilnebo: Ah, I did not realised I was missed or even spoken about! Krazy!

Hideyoshi: Hi mate, good to see you =)

PHATandy: Ah mate, no one is mediocre unless they believe it and practice it ;) Practice and believe yourself to be great, your mind precedes the physical manifestation of whatever it is your desire.

NickyBeats: Cheers brother ;)

JIEZHOU: Thanks friend =)

DeathByChris: No problems, sharing is caring hehe.

Hive_minD: Happy to see you too mate, I actually deleted my old sketchbook, you might have remembered me talking about wanting to leave the industry all dramatic and stuff, hehe, almost damn near did it! Glad I didn't though, art has provided me with everything I ever want or will want, sometimes its funny, you search for something and search and search and sometimes its sitting right in front of you!

Jasper_: No problems mate, ah, not too much to it, just turn on record and do my thing =)

Istmin52: Who says you need to hire models? Go out there and photograph your friends, or make some new friends and photograph them. Instead of putting barriers in front of you, think of how to overcome them, I find one stops a life from growing and the latter unleashes it! =)

Giow: Thanks buddy! Glad you like them =)

smokenmirrors: haha, yeah, I went through pretty much the entire process, the only reason I pulled out was that the wait was going to be extremely long due to the GFC at the time and that no cops were resigning, meaning they had a weird situation where more people were staying on than usual, low turnover. Some would call it coincidence, I call it providence, I like to think staying with art was meant to be =) Also, I couldn't bear to sell off my art library, that thing cost me a bloody fortune! hehe

seth1: Thanks mate!

Kan Muftić: Cheers mate!

soros: Thanks mate, I'll see what I can do ;)

Texahol: Thanks brutha, sorry, I can't recall your name =( Stick around, lots of cool stuff coming soon =)

theUNKNOWNsketcher: Thanks mate ;)

I also created a bunch of other videos for my students - not glamourous ones, but important foundational skills nonetheless. There is no commentary for two reasons, 1. I comment on them during class, 2. I don't have a mic to record!

5MYbtXSgOqs

O7RcRcnhWn4

jychUdAZqUY

1mwhPky9YLM

Dt0x-saJ4qs

mL9LFD-fgCk

ArtByManon: ooh nice! keep at it =)

Beelow: Oh yeah!!! =)

[Hive_minD]

I recall something happining yes, but not really why. Though I am glad you managed to fight throught the shit nonetheless! And it is great to see you have got a website! I am currently working on my own (with the much appreciated help from a friend with some of the html). Hopeing to get it done before the summer.
btw, the videos are pretty awesome and helpfull.

[Magic Man]

Did a sketch of a super deformed hot rod today =)

[Magic Man]

Couple of other sketches been working on, an hour here and there.

Lady linework is apparently someone called Tien, let me know if this is incorrect. A student of mine brought it over and showed me how he rendered over it to practice and wanted to see how I did it.

[cristopher-B]

i think you should credit Tien for the lines of that latest woman char. this is a rly nice SB.

[Magic Man]

Done! Thanks for letting me know who did it, I had no idea where the original linework came from, a private student brought it to me and I forgot to ask who drew the original.

[maeharrington]

Incredible amount of diverse stuff MM, and I love when you go more materic.
cheers!
r.

p.s. thank you for your kind words

[andres333]

Man the sensation of volume is great. I'm convinced this is what I wanna do in my life.

[cristopher-B]

hey man, no probs. here is the original if you interested. http://t-wei.deviantart.com/art/10-sketchies-Audley-87917876

cheers :D

[clifFroth]

Awesome work. I look forward to looking at it closer when I get home from work later.

[MattGamer]

so glad you are back and posting again. i missed magic man! :] beautiful works of inspiration in your art and what you type. keep being you!

[Magic Man]

Quick post of the sketch progress =)

[MatejaPetkovic]

me like, great work man, like all of them in sb, you deserve 5* from me

M

[ryan mcshane]

Thanks for dropping by man! you from melbourne? cool! i have family down there, i should come visit you somtime C:

nice work mate! i really like this (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=945958&stc=1&d=1270210928)
keep up the great work :heart: i will be sure to come back some time soon!

[purb36]

well, well; it's great to see you back man, and see that life and all is going much better for you. and really i'm glad you found your anchor in life, that's the most important thing. your website looks fantastic...you've always done marvelous work. yeah, man...i'm just really happy for you, honestly and truly. keep on with the keep on, brutha; good luck, and God bless. :hatsoff:

[crazy3dman]

So glad you started up this sketchbook. It's not just inspiring. It's nourishing. Thanks for sharing so much. Not just your work, but your story and your approach to art and life.

[Artofinca]

Great great skills!

[sansan]

great man!
i like your design and style!:)

[ThomasM]

Like the new posts - loving the sense of volume you manage to get in your works. Keep on dishing out the posts so I stay inspired!

Tom

[Ivan Turcin]

this is definitely 5 stars SB. Bravo!
That one pencil piece on page1 is my favorite.
Keep it up.

[My57]

This is my new favourite sketchbook :D

Your a great inspiration for drawing! Makes me wanna do some more now :P

[Magic Man]

Hey all, been super busy with a bunch of contracts, projects and lecturing work, sorry I haven't been around teehee.

Also been having fun updating my blog, which is quite enjoyable - some of it is pretty out there like the last post hahaha: http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog/

Shoutouts:

MatejaPetkovic: Thanks alot mate! =)

r y a n o i r: Nice! If you're ever in Melbs, give us a yell, we can go sketch together or something =)

purb36: Good to see you brother! And thanks for the kind words, how are you keeping?

crazy3dman: No problems man, this sb is like therapy for me =)

Artofinca: Cheers mate!

sansan: Thanks alot buddy =)

ThomasM: Yeah, it's something I try to be mindful of, making it feel like it has that 3D volume, it is something that has taken a while to get =)

Ivan Turcin: Thank you buddy!

My57: Oh you make me blush! Go draw!

Here is also some new artwork, well, not new, but not shown before =)

[MattGamer]

lovin that creature and the HDR photo!! loving your updates always MAGIC MANNNNN

[ryan mcshane]

good stuff! needs more mmore more monstarrrs!

[ThomasM]

nice new posts, I particularly like that naked-mole rat type creature! Just read through your background info on the first page which I haven't seen before! Very inspiring and impressive the way you realised what you wanted and achieved this through hard work. a lot of respect from me.

[Seage]

Woah..just woah...i read every single post in this thread. Your words punched me in the mouth. Such a huge wakeup call. I was starting to think you wrote this directly towards me, haha. Im really thankful that you write up all your experiences like this, and cool things to do to help live life to the fullest. I want to try that self affirmation thing, and the positive message thing, although, i am a fairly happy guy already.

Im curious though...you're only 28..how the HELL did you manage to do so much before then?? Im turning 24 this year, and Im on the verge of getting my first conceptart position (Im doing the test as we speak, although, i may not get it, if they dont like my test, of course :P)
Ther reason im asking/telling you that is because, I have all these goals, big dreams, but, like you said, i have no idea how to go about getting them, so i just waste my days... I really want to become a illustrator for books, mags, all that jazz. But like... Its like I just cant find my way in the door.

Ah, anyways. Thanks for the awesome thread and awesome work, going to sub, because I really want to see what you have to say and show.

Take it easy

CJ~

[vatteh]

That concept car looks awesome. Besides that, there's nothing I can never really critique here. Just too good for me. Keep it up.

[Hive_minD]

So subscribed to your blog now too. Keep inspiring mate. You never fail

Chris

[Magic Man]

Yo all!

So I decided to post one of my previous entries onto my blog, I altered it slightly and made sure to compartmentalize it for slightly easier scanning. Blogging is fun as hell =)

Here's the entry:

Very often for creative folks such as ourselves who identify so closely with the quality and quantity of our output, we can unwittingly become completely driven by the approval of others, leading to an absolute roller coaster ride of emotions. One moment accepted, the next rejected, this will almost certainly harm our ability to do well the thing that we love and tends to spill over into our private lives. This generally does not bode well for us in the long term as you could imagine.

I have personally found the best way to combat this is by basing our validation not on external factors, which by their nature are only partially controllable and thus is an invitation for others to rock our boats. Instead, a healthier focus is to face inwards and base our validation on internal factors, which we have a much higher degree of control over. As arrogant as it sounds, you really shouldn’t give two shits about what other people think about you or your work or you as a person – ironically, this actually frees you up to be a better more productive individual because your imperative is not externally driven, but self driven, meaning you are now totally in control of what you feel.

My Own Worst Critic!

I can hear some of you say “but, I’m my own worst critic!!!” well, so am I, high fives all around! As a creative, this is completely valid and I’d go as far as to say a required trait in order to become any good at what you do. Be that as it may, this is definitely not the part of your inner self that you want to base your internal validation on, I know that from past experience my internal critic was THE harshest mofo in town and I damn near drove myself into the ground trying to please him!

Which Internal Factors?

So, then what parts of your inner self DO you base your validation on? Well, I’ve found that to be both a good person, as well as a self determinant emotionally stable person, I derive internal validation from virtues, values and principles of how I carry myself in this world – things such as integrity, compassion, courage, etc – and how steadfast I am in holding fast and true to these principles regardless of the situation. This is often more difficult that it sounds, I know from personal experience that wanting to fit in, wanting to make something of yourself, wanting to get ahead are all powerful factors which can easily compromise the best of us, make us contravene what we believe to be good and righteous behaviour unless we make a concerted daily effort to hold true to these things.

In doing so, especially during difficult situations when the wrong thing to do is easier, what you lose in false friendships, in material gain or short term benefits, you more than profit in gaining the most important thing in leading a fulfilled life – self respect.

Love or Respect?

Living this way will not make you everyone’s friend, but a successful life in my opinion isn’t to gain the esteem and love of everyone, it is to achieve balance in finances, in your career, in your relationships, in your experiences and in your spirituality. What I believe can be summed up by the truth that no matter who you are, you will have detractors, all the greatest leaders despite what they fought or died for all had detractors, from Lincoln, to FDR, Churchill, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller…every single exemplary leader had their percentage of people who plotted and move against them, and they continued onwards ever upwards despite this often stiff opposition.

You can’t make everyone like you or agree with you, live with it and get on with the job at hand is what I’d recommend. On the flip-side, your driving force shouldn’t be to make them eat their words either, to prove other people wrong, to say IN YOUR FACE! Running on anger may allow you to achieve your intended goal, but you’ll also find – as I did – that it can really rot your core and make you into a pretty despicable sonofabitch. One of my favourite quotes by Lincoln - ”Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

So there you have it, that’s my personal opinion on where to get your internal validation from, hope this helps you out in some little way.

[Hive_minD]

Great read again as usual. Love your buisnesscard too (if that is what it is). Frikkin awesome. Best wishes

Chris

[Magic Man]

Shoutouts:

MattGamer: Thanks mate! The HDR is actually a matte, composed of numerous images, it was originally for a skydome =)

r y a n o i r: Hehe, I'll do more in future, a bit obsessed with vehicles at the moment though mate!

ThomasM: Thanks mate, that was done for a magazine tutorial! I posted the steps if you're interested =) Yeah, thanks for the kind words too - I think that when you have that focused directed goal, things become a shitload easier! I have a blog post documenting some of my thoughts if you're interested: http://www.stylus-monkey.com/a-directed-life/

Seage: Thanks for the kind words my friend! The positive affirmation and self affirmation things are there for everyday, every now and then I'll feel down or question what I am doing, doing those things regularly makes sure I don't stay down for very long at all. Heh, I'm not that young, 28 is old! I suppose I'm a fairly logical guy, I figure out what I want and then plot the steps to get there, no one really taught me, I just sort of figured it out myself. It's kinda like, if I want to bake an apple pie, some people will just jump in and find some apples, cut them up, then try to find a tin, then they find out they don't have any sugar. So they go to the shop, they get that come home, then find out they don't have any dough, so they have to go out again! 5x the amount of time later, they have n apple pie, but it was an efficient-as-hell way to go about it hehe. For my art, early on I sat down and researched all the different facets of good representational art - line work / drafting, perspective, anatomy, color, design principles, etc. I prioritised these units of knowledge in a logical order ie. it's useless learning tonal rendering if your perspective or your design is shit! Once this was done, I started looking into resources like books and DVDs on the topics in order, I think I've spent around $20k of my own money buying books and other resources over a long period of time, but for me this was my eduction. So then, once I bought a new resource, I'd follow it through from cover to cover, then, practice it on my own art. Because of my strengths / weaknesses, I'd get through some topics relatively quickly, and some, not so quickly. Perspective was easy, DESIGNING in perspective was 6 months of constant frustration! All along though, I always had it in my mind that I would one day be a good artist...I'm still hoping for this to happen! hehehe. Okay, so I apply this methodology for everything I do, early in my career I also got the chance to do some project management, and thrown in the deep end, not exactly the most enjoyable way to learn how to think things through on a deep level, but hey, it helped right? ;) So anyway, now, running my own business, I contract other artists to help me out and this is how I run things, nice and logically. So art, I feel I have pretty much all the bases covered, now, its up to me to take those basic skills and to push into other areas / subject matter I don't know much about, getting pencil mileage as they call it. Because I feel I've got this strong basis, I don't learn so much from books anymore, more from undertaking projects. On the other hand, my new focus is business skills - so nowadays most of my reading is focused on this area, I am extremely disciplined, I schedule pretty much all my time in Outlook, including meal breaks, rest breaks, etc. Over the last year, I've gotten through a bunch of books dealing with mental mindset, finance, taxation, business administration, project management, marketing and recently I've also been working on my teaching and oratory skills, speaking in front of large groups of people etc. All of this ties into my overall life goals part of which is being a proficient business person and so far being self employed is one of the best feelings in the world. It's not all to necessarily get rich, even though the money is nice, its more the sense of being self sufficient without an employer to "take care" of me. I also see business as the ultimate game, the most nuanced skillful game you can learn and money is a quantifiable scorecard that shows you are understanding the rules. Sorry for the rant hehe!

vatteh: Thanks buddy! Appreciated!

Hive_minD: Oh yeah! Some of it is actually sourced and edited from this thread! =)

Now some art...

[Magic Man]

Hehe, some sketch fun =)

[Dr poPcoRN]

great stuff :) really like the last study! i get atmosphere to it :)

[Magic Man]

Thanks buddy!

New blog post: http://www.stylus-monkey.com/replace-that-negative-nagging-asshole-in-your-head/

Oh yeah!

Darren

[Giow]

it's funny to see that a lot of your ideas were actually in my mind as well some time ago.
the hotrod for instance...
and some minor details in few other works.

the only difference is that you eventually worked them out as a nice piece of work.
i'll visit this sketchbook more often.

keep it up.

[Mister Dark]

Hello man!
After watching your sketchbook I can tell that you're pro level. You can draw characters, enviros and cars very nicely.
Being relatively new, I'm not sure how to critic your work. The one thing I noticed is that I vaven't seen a lot of nude studies, but maybe you decided not to show them.

I take great pleasure in reading your blog articles and your vision about drawng.
Hope I see more soon.

Peace
Manuel

[AndrewLey]

that last batch was really great Magic.

[graywolff]

Magic man. Dazzle Razzle. Stylus monkey, whatever you'd like to be acknowledged as.

seriously, not to suck up or anything. but everytime i find myself in a rut, "artwise" i just take a break, grab a coffee and read your updates. It's helped me alot and i'm very appreciative! i feel very lucky to be your student at RMIT, cheers for all the help and i will be watching this closely!

Cheers d-town.

Logan.

[Magic Man]

Latest blog post...about concept art!

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/so-what-is-a-concept-artist/

hehe! Next blog post probably be about what you need to self teach yo'self artwork, got a couple of emails recently and other emails before, so rather than typing out the same response numerous times, I'll create a blog post about it ;)

GrayWolf: Man Boomboom, that is touching yo, making me blush and that! Haha, it's been a pleasure teaching all of you and seeing the improvement, when I first took it on, wasn't sure what to expect, personality wise and skill wise, so the improvement in some people including yourself has been great to watch! You're a hard worker too, always good in this field =)

AndrewLey: Cheers bro, hope you're keeping well!

MisterDark: Thanks Manuel! I did a lot of nude studies when I was first starting out about 5 years ago, I still do them every now and then though, I'll post some up soon =)

Giow: Cheers! =)

Some lighting / tonal stuff I recorded to teach my students! Sorry for no captions, was in a rush, also not the highest quality work, but it was quickly done!

l0pJAh4ZRFM

aFrV4ZYFSrk

[ThomasM]

Just read through some of your blog - theres a lot of it but its really inspirational stuff! I love how positively you think and face something that I have struggled with in the past, to stay positive in the face of adversity, often letting it bring me down and ultimately distract me from my goals.

Reading something like this helps put things in perspective. Especially as its not just coming from somebody who I have no connection to, but from someone who I can see has obviously gone to a conscious effort to make themselves a happier and more successful person.

P.S that last post is very cool, nice to see how that creature came together in a step by step process and has given me some ideas of my own which I'm sure will come into my SB in the future..

[Teundeboer]

I really enjoyed watching your youtube movies, same goes for the rest of your sketchbook. You got some awesome stuff in here.

Keep it up.

[Natzuur-JK]

Excellent art in here, I always love seeing how other artist work. There are always different ways to achieve creating a beautiful image.

Also really enjoyed the blog and the intellectual and insightful entries enclosed within. Keep it up!

[Magic Man]

Oh yeah! New blog post, part 1 of 2 about art foundation, stuff that I'll explore in more detail as time goes on - happy reading: http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog/

Thanks all for your replies and feedback too from your lovely readers ;)

ThomasM: Me pleasure mate, adversity brings out the best or worst in us, which it reveals is our call to make. When you realise this, it empowers you, it is the seed of achievement and when you believe this for long enough there is nothing but inevitability, and the physical manifestation of what pervades your mind. Keep on rockin'!

Teundeboer: Awesome, glad you liked them man!

Natzuur-JK: No problem, hope you gained something, and thanks for the comment about the blog, I love writing! I may not be the most pro at it, but hopefully some of my enthusiasm comes across in them ;)

[MacTire]

Wonderful stuff Magic Man!!
I was blown away by the stuff you had in your first sketchbook, which probably caused me to join this site in the first place, just before your hiatus. Anyway, good to see your work still amazes me!!
Thanks for all the insight and the video tutorials, which of late I have'nt had much chance to apply but I certainly look forward to giving it a try in the near future!!

Thanks for sharing your inspiring artwork, designs and even words!!

Looking forward to the next update!

[ThomasM]

Really like those little character sketches - how long do those take to do out of interest?

Tom

[Hive_minD]

Loving the art. I especially like your variety. I hope to become like that one day. Also looking forward to the part 2 of you last blogpost. :)

I was also wondering. I remember some photos in your older sketchbook of your desk and some books were shown. I recently (two months ago) started purchasing art books or books which could help and guide me to becoming a better artist (alongside the evergoing effort with studies and drawing). So I was wondering of you had any tips on books which you think are worth the money.

Cheers, Chris

[NickyBeats]

killer updates Darren!! those guns look like they could be in District 9. and that ship rocks! keep it movin magic man!

[Magic Man]

Hey hey guys!

Just updated my blog with a killer list of resources for art making types, these are a lot of the books/dvds I used to teach myself art and I'm sure they'd help you too: http://bit.ly/bTkwPf

MacTire: Wow! A while ago! I can't believe people still remember me from back then haha. Glad you like the stuff mate =)

ThomasM: Not long mate, I have a video of it on YouTube if you look at my channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheStylusmonkey

Hive_minD: Oh brother, I have just posted a shiny new blog post about that specific topic: www.stylus-monkey.com/blog Enjoy!

NickyBeats: Rock on mate!

[Hive_minD]

Wow, lucky me, didn´t even see that coming! Thank you. Now I have some more books put on my "to buy list".

Chris

[ThomasM]

again, great characters - i just love how simple the tones are and yet how much they make your eye infer... very cool

[Magic Man]

Here's my latest blog post at: http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog

It partially reads:

You’re trying to do something well – create a killer piece of art, sing a tune, balance your accounts, write an article (teehee!) and despite your most sincere efforts it is just not happening for you. You most likely feel the wrath of your inner demon screaming, wanting to devour small animals and you feel frustrated.

In my artistic career (rife with frustrations let me tell you!) when I was learning perspective in illustration, I mean learning it properly, not just the rudimentary stuff – I’m talking designing in three dimensions where so many things have to come together just perfectly for you to pull off something worth being proud of, I had a hard time. I distinctly remember what the cycle was like, and this happened every day for 6 months:

1. Have a great idea for a design.

2. Sketch out the perspective guide lines.

3. Make a start, it’s looking good.

4. Uh oh…er…now there are so many perspective lines I’m confused as all heck.

5. Drawing turns to SHIT.

6. Slam the table.

7. Screw up paper.

8. Think “I’m a damned fraud!”

9. Feel sorry for myself and mope.

Yep, I followed that routine every day for 6 damn long months never knowing if I would ever break the cycle.

There were days I wanted to just bang my head against the wall, to submit to my negative side, my weaknesses…but being dumb and stubborn I kept it up. Sometimes it’s called commitment – being smart enough to know what you want, being dumb enough to ignore everything between here and forever. That’s called having a dream and protecting that dream and doing every damn thing near conceivable to attain that dream, it is exercising the gift of self determination and living by aspiration and that is what separates us from the beasts – they never want to be better than they are.

Yep, frustration sure is a motherf*cker…but regret is an itch you can never scratch.

Check out the blog for the rest =)

ThomasM: Oh yeah, mastery of tone is essential on giving volume to design :)

Hive: No problems bro, hope you enjoyed the links...prepare to be broke haha.

[wilkerson]

hey, I really like your rendering style. Thank you for the lighting video.

[purb36]

been good, been good, man. trying to keep up with real life and getting into illustration, as well. some local exhibition stuff, so we'll see what happens with that. anyway, just wanted to say it's pretty awesome that you take so much time to help out those who are not as far along as you are. and as prolific and productive as you are, you'll help so many people. so :hatsoff: for that man. as i said, great to see you back, great to see the new and beautiful works that you are doing. g'luck in all you do man, keep on with the keep on. :yayca:

[TheGnoll]

amazing updates, again, its good to have you back- the accuracy of your linework always surprises me, as well as the tight rendering, the colors-gah! too good! :D

the post on your blog are really really interesting too, gotta follow all that good advice!

[MacTire]

Haha! If only I had the dedication back then to porperly maintain a sketchbook, who knows where I could be!
Anyway, incredible updates again. Nice work on that screw still life, awesome work on those thumbnail developments! Sam for the other studies, really really nice, esp. that warped Gothic architecture, very nice!

Looking forward to the next update!

[Burmak]

very strong stuff here! 5 stars)

[andres333]

heya Darren :) thanks for answering my message. I really appreciate it, and I do have more questions and doubts, but I think I'm gonna read all your posts before formulating them.
keep arting

[ryan mcshane]

ahhh i missed so many updates, sorry!
it was great talking with you last night :)
thanks for the mask renders, and that video is so informative it's wonderful man! i learnt heaps :D i just need to get good lines down to apply it!
those logos are SICK! are they drawn? or like 3D or illustrator?
annd the thumbnails are great maan!!
really reaaaly reaaaaaaallly good man!!!
ill subscribe today!

[Gloominati]

oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, way too good!

Thanks for checking out my sb, mate! You're one of my art-heroes, I've been in awe of your work when i just started and I am still today! Feels kinda "at home" when I browse through your stuff. Marry me!!! :asslick: :asslick: :asslick: :asslick:, hmm guess more updating action in here will do fine as well :D

[soros]

pencils? pleeeease!

[Magic Man]

Hey all thanks for the comments! Been a pretty busy time for me lately, been busy helping a project along, working on some government funding submissions, a couple of side assignments and projects, updating my blog and teaching at university as well =)

I've been pretty active with my blogski, please check it out, feel free to leave comments and questions. I've actually been really enjoying the writing process and I hope it shines through =)

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog

Recently, I've covered some topics including:

- Inspiration
- Self Teaching vs Learning at an Institution
- Trust and Integrity
- Critics
- Frustration

Link: http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog

Shoutouts:

wilkerson: Thanks brother, no problems glad you enjoyed.

purb36: Thats really good to hear bro, good luck on the exhibiting! I really enjoy helping people out - don't know if you remember, but one of the major things I really questions about my vocation was where I helped others out, it felt I was just drawing for my own benefit, so I made a change. I'm helping out society in the best way I know how by giving back some knowledge, not much but hopefully it helps some =)

TheGnoll: Thanks brother, I really dig your work too! Hope the blog topics are enjoyable to read =)

MacTire: Cheers mate, thanks for popping by! =)

Burmak: Thanks mate, I appreciate you stopping by and voting =)

andres333: Mate, I really appreciate all the comments on the blog! Feel free to ask more questions, that will help me formulate more blog posts! =)

Ryanoir: No problems brother, sorry I had to cut it short. Glad you got something out of it, thanks for subscribing to my YouTube vids =) The logos are done in illustrator, I'm pretty okay with vectors as well, totally different work =)

Gloominati: Thanks bro! I'm really impressed with how far you've come mate, awesome linework, colours, everything really! Really astounding progress, very proud of how far you've come! Thanks for stopping by mate!

Soros: Hah, I don't do much pencil work anymore, I work directly into my Cintiq, speedy process =)

[Kan Muftić]

You fuckin rock, man!

[ryan mcshane]

damn that's cool loving the scars! mooaar!

[Gloominati]

mmmmmmmmmh yummy. haha yeah stuff like that just makes me push it even moorrreee arghhh! :D

[harryzed]

hi man, your work is awsome, 5 stars. keep up the good work drawing, painting, and teaching :)

[Magic Man]

I just posted a new blog post talking about talent...and how it is not required to become a good artist, please have a lookski and leave comments if you agree, disagree, feel free to post in reply =)

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog

Excerpt:

Something that has come up time and again especially from people outside of the industry or outside the field of art making, is the sentiment that in order to be good at art (or music or writing or programming or whatever creative field or hobby you are pursuing) you need to have natural talent, you need to be born with it or you will never amount to anything pursuing this field.

This is a belief that permeates mainstream thinking, an ignorant notion handed down from one person to the next, through culture and mythology and has a destructive effect on young creatives trying to find their way in the world...

Shoutouts!

Kan Muftić: Hehe, thanks mate, you do too =)

r y a n o i r: Cheers brother! At some stage will do =)

Gloominati: Push hard man, you're going to be phenomenal!

harryzed: Hah! Thanks mate, appreciate the kind words =)

And here is a progression of shots from an art experiment I did a while ago =)

[Gloominati]

uah, might we get a bigger version of that last WIP-stage? I love how the blue interacts with the dark-ochre-ish background. has a real strong traditional-media-feeling to it :)

[Hive_minD]

Ah I remember this one. Love it still as much as I loved it then! Hope to see bigger versions, and more new stuff!
I miss your character work!

[ryan mcshane]

by saying, moar, did not expect all this O__O
wow
reaaaaally cool man! :)

[ThomasM]

lovely posts, and once again I say how much I appreciate people posting their WIPs and stages of their work. It helps so much to identify the key stages and how that particular artist worked towards achieving the final product - a lot of respect. Keep dishing out the posts!

[Magic Man]

Couple of new blog posts, excerpt:

After my artistic dreams had been stomped into the mud (preceding post), I didn’t really pay much attention to my artistic inklings, partly because I had no idea how to make money with any shred of skill I had picked up along the way, drawing brawny men and big tittied women.

But if I’m being truthful, it was mostly because I was lazy as hell and I had no idea that in the league of professionals, I didn’t know squat-diddly about making real art.

Transitions…

My childhood ended without much fanfare, I cruised into middle school, blitzed most of my classes but the main things I remember, was that I enjoyed and excelled in the art-centric lessons even while other kids were dicking around…and I had major anger issues.

I entered high school as the slightly nerdy Asian kid who hung out with school rebels, did Kung Fu and would go BAT-SHIT-CRAZY at the slightest provocation. I’m ashamed to say that I once chased some poor lad around the school yard carrying a trash can over my head and looking to bring the pain for God knows what.

The future doesn’t look so rosy…

In those intermediate years, I didn’t find much point in improving my art, especially if I couldn’t make a living doing it. Years of being told “Your artistic skills won’t amount to a hill of beans in the real world…” certainly took it’s toll and I resigned myself to believing that when I came out of school, I would have to spend 40 odd years working in jobs I hated. Isn’t that what the real world was all about? I certainly thought so at the time and as a result the future was a scary, dreary, monochromatic world filled with pain…kinda like a Giger painting, but with less vaginas and penises.

More at: http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog

Gloominati: I attached it below. I learnt this technique from looking at Simon Bisley's work. He's got so much cool stuff. I also try to emulate traditional media as much as possible, I hate it when art says "COMPUTER GENERATED!" =)

Hive_minD: Sure thing buddy, I'll be getting onto some new stuff pretty soon =)

r y a n o i r: Thanks buddy, appreciate it =)

ThomasM: No problems buddy, enjoy!

[Magic Man]

A closer image, it's not very high res.

[Hive_minD]

Love the subtle colors here and there. Like the yellow around the nose. Really brings the image to the next level. Looking forward to more stuff.

Chris

[vatteh]

Your WIP is looking really good. Its always nice to stop by here.

[Magic Man]

Hey all! I posted a few new blog posts - my latest one is pretty candid, pretty intense too!

There was a sinking feeling in my heart I couldn’t shake because of all this. I thought about the situation day and night. My psyche was engorged with negativity. I felt like I was seething, bubbling just below the surface constantly.

It might not seem like much, looking back on it now, but those were some dark days when it felt like the walls were closing in on me with nowhere to run. I canvassed all options. I stayed in my room all the time outside of classes with the windows shut.

Heck, I even toyed with the fantasy of jumping off a tall bridge a couple of times just to end all the pain, to bring this all crashing down on those around me. I blamed everything and everyone for my own lack of self worth. Everyone but myself. So that I wouldn’t have to take responsibility for being complicit with other people’s wishes.

It is during these rock bottom times that you can strip things back to bare bones, when you find your real self. I believe that it is the adversity in our lives that act as the anvil upon which our character and future are both fashioned.

Check the rest of it out here at my blog: http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog

I thought I'd put a quick progress piece, very fast to show my students how to turn a grayscale image into a coloured piece. Not the best colours, but it does the job of teaching them the techniques =)

[Hive_minD]

Damn you got some insane renderings. Blows me away every time. Do you always use the soft brush for rendering?

[ryan mcshane]

man this (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=968578&stc=1&d=1272874281) is SOOOO cool!!!!!
i love you.

[Ivan Turcin]

fantastic!

[andres333]

Woah nice!!! Been following your blog and I totally forgot about your SB here in CA.org hehe. I wanted to ask you permission to add the link of your website and your SB in my signature. Can I?

keep rocking

[LAL]

Great work!

[Med]

hey man!


just got a chance to take a look at your work...freakin awesome stuff! i'm pretty jealous of your renders haha

[Gloominati]

mmmmh uh yeah, that's it!! thanks man :)

[DANKA]

:-O Wow! ...oh...agkh...!
No words for that art! simply amazing! that last "art experiment" ...whoa! thanx!

[Kan Muftić]

I am sad because I can't save those images, hate that attachment thing they made in here.
Your work is wonderful, mate.

[ThomasM]

thanks for the progress series of rendering -in the last stage did you basically just go over every lowlight and make it darker? Just wondered because the whole face seems to suddenly become far more orange than the second to last slide...

and keep posting becuase everytime something goes up im pretty much guaranteed to see something i like!

[Magic Man]

Hey guys! I just started a short series of posts tackling stress, might help you out if you're feeling a bit under the pump - check out my blogski:

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog

Man, things have been super busy for me, sorry haven't been around as much, been teaching at university, and I'll be wrapping that up in about 3 weeks, lots of marking to do but it is such a rewarding experience. I've heard some great things from students and my co-ordinator wants me back next year to teach this subject again so I'm pretty happy about it all =)

Also just recently been working on some book illustrations, art directing a pretty cool game prototype at the moment for another client and I just got smacked up with a commission for someone's family portrait in charcoal! It's gonna be a big sucka, so pretty excited about that! It's going to be a challenge to ship though hehe.

I've also been blogging pretty much daily, it's been an awesome outlet for my personal ideas on self, on motivation, on the things I stand for and everything in between, and it's also by far the number one entry point to my website - if any of you pop on by please take a look, I'm being extremely candid in a lot of my posts and I'd love to hear from any of you if something you read, makes sense =)

Shoutouts

Hive_minD: Thank you bro! I try, it's definitely take a damn while to get comfortable with everything =) I tend to use my favourite soft edged brush 90% of the time, I don't really find a need to change around too much so I don't. Stick with what you feel comfortable with, and you achieve mastery yeah? =)

r y a n o i r: Hope it helped mate! =)

Ivan Turcin: Thanks buddy! =)

andres333: Hehe, thanks so much for all your blog posts mate, I'm working at answering your questions, hopefully they are helping you! =)

LAL: Cheers!

Med: Ah, just work hard mate, you'll kick my butt in future ;)

Gloominati: hehe, nicely put! =)

DANKA: No problems buddy, glad you likely like =)

Kan Muftić: If you really want them, go to my website and steal steal steal! =)

ThomasM: No bro, I used an adjustment layer, under the layers drop down menu.

Alright, enough gas bagging, some work =)

[knoxie]

yo daz!

Loving your blog mate; the struggle and success stories always make me feel a little better knowing I'm not going though it all alone.

When you gonna bring your kids to the sunday sketch session for some gestural training? :D

[arestocrat]

Damn, some sexy art in here! :o
Really like your painting style, it's 100% the way I like it :D
Didn't have time to read through your whole sketchbook, but art like this http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=934012&stc=1&d=1268956125 really reminds me of wizard of the coast magic style, any chance you worked for them? Just curious!
Keep on pushing man!

[graywolff]

Magicmanyeeeeow!


that second pic in the latest updates. is that an oil painting? amazing!


and the jumping naked lady in the kimono .... <3

what can i say....




ahem.

[lepracauno]

WOWOWOWOWOW! what'else!?!! soooooooo good!

[andres333]

I wrote this on my last reply "I wanted to ask you permission to add the link of your website and your SB in my signature. Can I?" didn't you read it. Or should I take it as a big NO.
And Brother, be sure of one thing, your blog has not only helped me, but also has got me out of a great depression, and encouraged me to make a 360 turn in my life; now I'm extremely disciplined and for the first time in my life I actually believe I can make it into Concept Art. As I told you: "your words are not empty, since they're based on experience and its deep examination"
I'm pretty sure that 10 years ago you were just like me =)

[George Abraham]

I love your rendering.

[Rafal Dorsz]

This is a spectacular sketchbook, but I bet you already know that, sir. I don't know what to say, because obviously you're way beyond any constructive critique I could possibly offer. I will keep an eye on this thread, though, and if I ever feel I have anything helpful to say, I will.

Oh, and the name's Rafał. Jeremy is the guy these cards were for.

[kojot]

I really don't no what I want say in constructive critique ;)

I just say I like that :)

[Magic Man]

Hey all, quick post before the gf comes around.

Oh, btw, been pretty active in my blogski: http://www.stylus-monkey.com

Latest post is about how to get ahead in a concept art job =)

I'll post a longer reply in a day or so...

[matty_mcmullen]

wow such amazing work here, i love your rendering. subscribed!!

[veterinarianz]

nice ! keep on.

[MrChow]

damn, awesome sketchbook, love your style

[Magic Man]

Hey all, thought I'd work on the Fedor image a bit more =)

Here is the progress shot posted again and where it is currently.

Knoxie: Thank you bro, we still have to meet up at some stage! Teaching is coming to an end in about 3 weeks or so, I should be able to make it out to a sketchgroup thingy at some stage =)

arestocrat: No mate, never done work for them, would love to at some stage, their stuff is awesome =) Thanks mate, I'll keep on pushing =)

graywolff: Yo Boom! Nah man, it's creative use of textures =) Should be covering some of that this coming week. Oh yeah...

lepracauno: awesome! Thanks bud.

andres333: You sure can buddy! It's a real honour thanks a lot mate =)

zaorr: Cheers!

Gildorek: Heh, thanks a lot Rafal, your stuff is great, keep pushing too! =)

kojot: Thanks mate =)

matty_mcmullen: Thanks Matty, much appreciated brother!

veterinarianz: Thanks will do!

MrChow: Thanks mate =)

[ryan mcshane]

ill be completley honest with you bro..
this is fucking awesome.

[Janek]

love it!

[Gloominati]

sweet paintings man. Loving the blue highlights in that last environment, and sweet rendering on that portrait! more please :)

[Fetsch]

Awesome Art Magicman! Love the last portrait. :)

[ThomasM]

like that portrait and the enviro just before it is sweeeeeeeeeeeet - just read that post about getting ahead in concept art, useful stuff there! Anyway keep up the good work

[Magic Man]

r y a n o i r: Cheers buddy =)

Janek: Cheers!

Gloominati: Thanks mate, glad you like.

Fetsch: Cheers bud =)

ThomasM: Glad you found it useful =)

Quick sketch, rhino head

[monsi]

very nice work . :) melbourne ey? good stuff!

[jaredsalmond]

dude! This stuff is sweet! Love the digital work and can't wait to learn to do it like you do! Awesome art!

[Magic Man]

Was looking at the clouds outside my window, decided to paint them =)

[Ricardo Robles]

Awesome art here, your digitals are brilliant:)
your site has quite cool images too, keep doing good mate

[dessinateurimpulsif]

Your work is great....5 stars for me....

[ThomasM]

nice rhino and clouds - I am terrified by the prospect of tackling them lol, I dont know if others feel like that. Have been reading quite a bit of your blog recently, theres some really good stuff on there if anyone here hasnt visited its worth checking out.

[Verehin]

Cool!

[andres333]

rhino is looking great daz

[Gloominati]

these clouds are beautiful man!

[Quinn Simoes]

I was a frequent visitor to your last sketchbook, so glad you decided to start a new one!

Thanks for sharing!

Quinn

[ryan mcshane]

you sir are one crazy mother fucker.

[harryzed]

magic man these clouds are wonderful, awesome paintings, cant wait to see more.

[Magic Man]

Thanks for all the comments! I enjoy reading everyone, a bit pressed for time at the moment, but I'll post a proper reply maybe tomorrow. Been marking assignments coming outta my ass, so I had to chill out and work on some art tonight...ah relaxing =)

Btw, uploading to CA is the most labourious tedious thing ever! :ilaekae:

[Magic Man]

Oh, still work in progress, still quite a bit to go =)

Hopefully this is helpful for some of you =)

[andres333]

Btw, uploading to CA is the most labourious tedious thing ever! :ilaekae:

That's for sure

[Brendan N]

Nice work on the caricatures Darren. You've always had a fantastic sense of shape, and you've used this to startling effect in these caricatures.
Can't think of anything to crit right now, will be keeping an eye on this thread. Excited to see where it goes>

[Aveh]

Awesome art, monster blog. And cool insights into your drive and just motivation in general.
Nothing but ass-pats from me

[Hive_minD]

Awesome too see your process. Love the style. Still amazes me how you manage to keep a certain level of natural-media feel to it. Hope to see more of you soon! :)

Chris

[MattGamer]

lovin the steps. always great to see how an artist works. you learn a lot.

this (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=972110&stc=1&d=1273308750) one is really fantastic. i love the expression so much. you are such an inspiration!!!!!

[JParker]

Wow, your work is really inspiring. I love your style.

[LisandroG]

Thanks for posting the progress shots. Your sketchbook is fantastic, great work

[ryan mcshane]

wooo hooo
thannks for the process! but it confuses me, is it traditional? or just crazy textures? and also for the orange bg with the drawing step, how did you do that texture? i love it!
Btw, uploading to CA is the most labourious tedious thing ever!
TRUE THAT! T__T

[theUNKNOWNsketcher]

sup sup sup!

[surus]

Maybe you could photograph or scan some older artwork of your pencil sketches? Please share it! :)

[Magic Man]

Hi guys, the girlfriend is feeling a bit sick so she went to be early and I'm doing sketching yeh! =)

Oh, I'm also on Facebook, so if you want to ever chat, feel free to add me, I don't really use IM unless its for work, so if you ever want to chat in real time, add me - Darren Yeow and I have a pic of myself with my arms folded looking really serious!

Also, just posted a new post about starting shit and not finishing on my blog, check it out - and if you feel that it's something you agree with, by all means feel free to leave a comment or two =)

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog

Life has been interested lately, teaching is winding down, only a couple of weeks left and I must say it has been a hell of an enjoyable experience. I've been teaching about 60 students over the last 10 weeks and to see them improving is a really great feeling. With two weeks left, I'm turning up the workload but I've been really happy that they are all (apart from a couple) tasking up to the challenge and dare I say, are actually enjoying the work. Apparently, I give them more work than the other lecturers hehe.

I also feel like I've developed somewhat of a bond with quite a few of them and I really enjoy their company, I still keep it professional when teaching, but when I'm through and we're all sitting sketch I love joking around with them, I think it helps the atmosphere and it really isn't a stressful thing at all. I will genuinely miss the lot of them.

I think I've also learnt lots about public speaking and I feel a heck of a lot more confident speaking in front of large groups of people and thinking on my feet, no doubt these lessons will stay with me forever.

As it winds down, some of my other projects will begin to take precedence, lately I haven't bee feeling completely on top of the world, and I think it has to do with a couple of things:

1. Lack of exercises these last few weeks because of workload.

2. Increased sugar intake, my diet has been a little more dependant on take away because of the workload.

3. I was watching The Wire on TV almost religiously over a two month period.

These are thing that have been out of the ordinary and its interested noticing the difference in my mental disposition. It should be interesting in the next few weeks as I ramp up my exercise again, get back onto the healthy foods and turn off the television. I know for one my creative output has gotten back on track and I'm pretty happy with how much stuff I'm putting out as well as having more inspiration than I know what to do with.

Oh, another cool thing that happened recently, I also took the time to email an artist who's work I see regularly in a public place, I thought I'd send him a hello email just stating that I enjoyed looking at his artwork and I got one back inviting me to come down and visit.

Being a freelancer, I tend to work pretty much alone for the vast majority of the time, I think about 80-90% of my time is spent is spent alone, so when I get to interact with other people it's enjoyable for me. Doubly so when it's another illustrator, and we chatted for a while about the industry and workflow. It was really enlightening, being a relatively noob freelancer (only been doing it for just over 6 months) and looking to move into more publication work as opposed to relying completely on concept art commissions, it was great talking shop on that front as Jeremy has been freelancing his illustration skills for about 5 years.

So as the uni work winds down, I've been actively researching where I want to take my career next, I think concept art and art direction services for now will still remain the backbone of my cashflow generation, but I am also starting to add pieces to my portfolio that will allow me to branch off and diversify. I've got my marketing plans mostly drawn up and the next 6 months should be a very interesting time. It's exciting when you plan things, execute them and it starts to come together - I think one of the greatest feelings in the world is knowing that you don't need an employer to look after you, that you can source your own work and make a living doing it, it's always been a major goal for me =)

I'm currently working on a game prototype, but more high level managerial stuff and concepting, also working on some book illustrations for a client in the US and I've also just been commissioned to do a family portrait as well in Charcoal, gonna be a pretty big piece, but should be enjoyable as I haven't working on a large physical piece in...forever!

In whatever spare time I have, I've been studying composition from a couple of books I haven't really spent much time with and also been slowly learning oil painting as I'd eventually like to do some gallery work.

Sorry for the brainfart post! Oh, btw, thanks for all the 5 star ratings, I appreciate it, not sure if it's warranted though! Still so many weaknesses and so much to learn! =)

Some shoutouts:

monsi: Thanks mate, which part of the world are you from? Melbs too?

jaredsalmond: Thanks mate, yeah, its quite an enjoyable job!

Ricardo Robles: Thank you mate.

dessinateurimpulsif: Thanks buddy, appreciate it =)

ThomasM: Clouds aren't that difficult, they just need you to understand how light reacts to them, much like any other subject matter. Thanks for reading the blog, I'd love for you to post comments if anything particularly touches you, I love interacting with people on there.

Verehin: Thanks!

andres333: Cheers mate!

Gloominati: Thanks mate, I was kinda hessitant to post them, I didn't want to be seen as spamming crap hahah, glad people like em. I was testing out some custom brushes I was constructing for class.

Quinn Simoes: Thanks for saying so Quinn! I appreciate you popping around, I hope you get something out of this stuff =)

r y a n o i r: Haha, thanks buddy, I'll take that as a compliment :)

harryzed: Thanks Harry, keep up your artwork too! Great to see =)

Brendan N: Thanks Brendan! I'll be looking to create artwork with my dynamic poses and movement, I think that is one of my weaknesses and I intent to work on them.

Aveh: Thanks for reading and looking Aveh, it is appreciated =)

Hive_minD: Thanks brother, yeah, I've never liked super duper computer generated look, I think it looks stale and lifeless, so I've worked for a long ass time to make sure my technique brings off a very physical media feel. Glad you enjoy it! That makes at least 2 of us!

MattGamer: No problems, I remember when I was trying to learn and I hope these help out some people improve their skills in some way. Thanks for the kind words too brother, appreciate them =)

JParker: Thank you mate, glad you enjoy looking =)

LisandroG: Thanks matey, appreciate you dropping in.

r y a n o i r: Hah, it is all digital except for the first initial sketch on the Wanderlei picture, everything else is pretty much digital 100%. My technique and style closely emulated physical media though, thats why it's hard to tell sometimes. I also sometimes integrate scans of physical texture I make. In the drawing step, I hand did everything with generally default brushes.

theUNKNOWNsketcher: Lol, uh, lots I guess.

surus: In this post, I uploaded some old sketches of mine, hope they help you =)

I finished off the Vanderlei caricature, I'm happy to leave it there for now.

Also, some old sketches from ages ago...

[ThomasM]

wow those last two are awesome - I love the photoshop printscreen and that girl's eyes freak the hell out of me! yeah I'll definitely leave some comments on your blog, theres so much to read on there.

[wreck]

some masterful sketches man. jaw droping.

[ArtByManon]

Mmmm last two are gorgeous!! (all of them, but particularly love the dramatic lighting on the last two).

[Kaztx]

Wow great stuff!

[ryan mcshane]

you are so badassssss

[Zebz]

Welcome back, Magic Man! I've dug your stuff for years and it's great to see you posting again. And improved at that! Love the new styles you're playing around with. Your portraits have great character and weight to them. Everything seems to just have a life to it. It's really fun. It almost feels like you could see the character pop out of the monitor and start animating! Ha! Great stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing even more progress from you in the months to come! Thanks for the inspiration, man!

[kevinmrn]

Wow What a terribly kool sketchbook you've got going on here! Big respect! Your studies are great!!!

This one is so bookmarked :D.

[Magic Man]

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies! I'll make sure to reply to everyone at some stage =)

Just some quick updates, a couple of new blog posts, dealing with what to include in portfolios as well as something I call the Serial Beginner Syndrome..excerpts below:

As someone who has had experience applying for jobs and reviewing portfolio submissions, I have been asked quite a few times what exactly to include in a submission, so I thought why not write a post about it seeing as it would likely help a few of you out there in Internet land.

I list the tips below as a loose set of things to keep in mind when looking to land an assignment or position...read more (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/art-portfolio-tips/)

Serial Beginner Syndrome
Written by Darren Yeow on 13 May 2010
Wanting something and being willing to put in the hard slog are two different things.

Sacrifice is what separates those who stand at the gate, looking beyond and those who enter…but there is also another type of person who enters the gate, puts in the work and upon almost reaching the goals they have originally set for themselves, veer off into another seemingly unrelated direction.

This undermines their original goals and sets a dangerous precedent of not finishing the things that they begin. If left unchecked, his can easily turn into a cycle that repeats itself, damning those who don’t know how to break out of it into a life of incompleteness and eventually regret.

The reasons people veer off into different directions are many, fear of the unknown, fear of failure…fear of success. Yep, human beings are often irrational, that’s a hallmark of humanity.

I call this condition the Serial Beginner Syndrome...read more (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/serial-beginner-syndrome/)

Some art =)

[zenichi]

thnx for sharing the process, amazing selected detailing to the final forms.

[Magic Man]

Pretty much finished the B&W version of the head, next will be the colour process =)

This one took quite a bit of time to get right, dunno why but it was a difficult likeness to get right.

[harryzed]

hi magic man, thanks for the process of the head. i like the way you have handled the neck under the chin, it really seems to recede and have substance. (hmm that sounds a bit funny but its what i thought).
would you happen to have the process of how you made the clouds? i would be interested to see it as im trying to paint some and failing.

[ryan mcshane]

we need to meet.
i love you

[monsi]

Thanks for stopping by mate . I'm up in Sydney :)

can't crit you dude, you're inspiring me to do more anatomy study like I've been wanting to do for a while. Waaay too long since I've drawn bones! oh how I miss doing that day in day out.

Yup, when I get some time I'll go through this more and read some too. Always enjoy reading an artists thoughts well articulated as it seems you can do.

Keep posting the life studies. I loooove figure drawings and anatomy study ! weee! I'm so going to do some soon! yay :D

[monotony]

Magic man!!
I remember a lot of your work you showed us a long time ago. and I still love it to bits.
But your new work is just as remarkable. magical stuff!
and seeing these steps on the portrait series is awesome.

[Leethoven]

Geattttt!!! i think you do have a magic talent!!!

[agelaos]

Awesome work my friend, really enjoy your process shots.

[jskotte]

Incredible work. Such an inspiration to come and see this. And thanks for sharing some of your life experiences.

[ThomasM]

Looking great dude - really like that first piece, keep up the good work!

[Kreator]

Nice work Daz.
hope ur well.

[Yor]

wow man, you've got some awesome stuff going on here, keep updating, i'll be stalking you from now on ;)

[Seage]

I think i love you man. Lol!
I freaking love your work. Just by looking at it, i've learned a TON of new things, and thats before even reading the super inciteful (sp?) things you have to say!

Also, ive noticed how you render forms so nicely. I learned to do it, and did it in 1 painting, then totally forgot. I hope you dont mind if I study your technique a little :)

[andres333]

where are you Darren? :( :( :(

[Magic Man]

Hey all!

Sorry haven't been around for a bit, been very busy, broke up with my missus, visited my parents in another state, finished up teaching at university and I've been working on getting some commercial projects out of the way. No let up!

I've posted a couple of new blog posts (Blog Link (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/blog/)) - excerpts below:

Part of the creative process is to be inspired, and I wanted to just spout a few random musings about it here.

It certainly is not necessarily before you begin an image, but definitely somewhere along the processional line you need to become inspired when you’re working in order to even come close to producing an inspired image that will speak to others.

How likely you are to create an inspirational or moving image when you have no emotional connection to your own work, I leave that to you to deduce.

Inspiration is not necessarily something that relies completely on external factors – the choice to look at work, words and engage in experiences that will ignite the flames needed to begin an inspired work is completely within the realms of your own action...Read On! (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/inspiration-on-this-day/)

The deadline looms, you’ve been playing with yourself incessantly for the last week and a half and due to prevailing factors that are now outside your control, it is time to pull your finger out of your cornhole and get some work done.

Due in 24 hours and if successfully completed this project promises fame, fortune and a trophy wife with the mental capacity of a squirrel. On the flipside, if you slip up, leaving your client in the lurch, your reputation plummets like a stone and more than likely, you’ll be on the corner selling your body for cashola in no time.

This kind of situation sucks and causes much unnecessary stress. I’d prefer to save my aggravation to spend on my favourite UFC fighter when he gets his talented ass KOed due to chronic partying and not taking his job seriously.

Assuming you’re given sufficient time to do a good job, and the monetary reward is fair, you should never have to be in such a position, but we often are due to a lack of focus.

If you don’t want to crunch, if you want to come out at the end of a project looking like a star, if you want to put your best foot forward so that you can move onto bigger and brighter things, FOCUS is one of the defining factors that sorts the men from the boys or women from the girls...Read On! (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/some-thoughts-on-focus/)

Not much art since most of my time is spent on commercial stuff at the moment, but I've been playing with oils a little and I also did a recording of my doing a warm up sketch =)

Pyxi_jLFvaU

[Magic Man]

Oh, I also uploaded a quick low resolution process of creating an explosion =)

Shoutouts:

harryzed - Hi mate, hope you're going well, sorry I don't have a process. I may make a video at some stage.

Ryanoir: Lol, dude, you need to chill it with the man love.

monsi: Thanks buddy, pity you're not around Melbs, we have a sketchbook group this weekend Sunday! Hope it doesn't rain! Speaking of anatomy studies, I need to get back into doing some myself!

monotony: Thanks for the kind words mate, I'm glad the steps are useful.

Leethoven: haha, Thanks buddy!

agelaos: Cool beans, thanks for stopping by!

jskotte: No problems, thanks for stopping by and glad they're useful =)

ThomasM: Thanks brother!

Kreator: Thanks Anthony, hope you're keeping well too.

Yor: Lol, then I go on a hiatus! Sorry, haven't been around much, too much work!

Seage: Heh, go ahead, that's what it's there for, glad it helps!

andres333: Right here mate! Been really busy, hopefully be posting more over the next few weeks!

[Nenad]

Awesome art in your sketchbook. Weird, beautiful drawings. I love the alien painting especially.

[fionkell]

Ooof. You are nothing if not prolific, sir :) Thanks for your insightful posts on your life and work too, they're pretty damn inspiring.

[andres333]

Daz you're back :) .........and with an explosion. EPIC
Man can you please share some memories regarding on how you broke into the industry of concept art.
keep inspiring us

[Benjie]

Simplicity combined with seriously sweet values, makes some of your work really powerful dude.

[VanDog]

just fatastic sketchbook dude!

[ryan mcshane]

im sorry for loving man!
nice updaaaaates! love the exploision and the errrrr oilp aints!

[Magic Man]

Hi guys! Thanks for the comments, just wanted to post a couple of blog updates, I know some of you enjoy reading them, so get em while they're fresh!

After being in business for myself for the last 8 months, I can honestly say that I don’t ever want to go back to a staff job again, I absolutely love running my business, doing the work that I do and the flexibility that goes along with it.

I think above all, however, the feeling of being able to provide for myself without the need for an ongoing employer is an absolutely amazing feeling and has definitely imbued me with a great sense of confidence, worth and control over my own life, since everything I do directly affects my viability as a business. Read More... (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/business-skills/)

I just arrived home from catching up with a close friend of mine who lives on the other side of Australia. Because of his location, we don’t get to hang out much but when we do it’s like we see and work with each other every day.

We both joke around, talking the most juvenile stuff known to man, our sexual exploits, our embarrassing stories…sometimes it’s difficult to talk through the laughter. I have literally had to stop laughing at some of his stories, not because they weren’t funny, but because my jaw muscles, belly and cheeks were aching.

In the next breath we have discussed at length, to unconscionable hours of the morning things like courage, integrity, the existence of God, brotherhood, male pride, intestinal fortitude and what it is like to hear a man screaming, knowing that he is about to die and how it feels, being the cause of it. Read More... (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/myfriend/)

[Krato]

good god :U

[ThomasM]

Hey man, nice explosion walk through.. I might try and do a copy of that sort of thing later and see how it turns out. Hope lifes all good on your side of the "pond". I checked out some of your more recent blog posts - useful stuff as always! Keep up the good work.

[Mister Dark]

Thanks for sharing those precious infos on your blog.

[Seage]

Sorry to hear about the lady :(
I just went through the same thing.

But great updates, nice to see you're still keeping mad busy.

[Beelow]

Talk about so good! You hit me in the gut everytime I come in here, awesome new stuff. I hope that you have something new to post sometime magicman. Good luck with the project/projects that you have going. I'll be back in here again.

[andres333]

Daz I stole your animated gif of that dancing polar bear, it always makes me laugh so I'm using it as a cover for my SB, hope it's ok for you.

[Magic Man]

Hi guys! Back again to drop off some sketches =)

Things on my end have been pretty awesome, been keeping mad fit, although I strained my rotator cuff, so it's difficult to do bench press, so I'm taking some time off to rest, which means...MOAR ART! hehe. The physical health front is going well overall, I'm getting back into lifting pretty nicely, I've also been having a really clean diet too, no junk food, not much anyway =)

Lately - about the last 3 weeks, I've been visiting the local sketchgroup in Melbourne, run by my friend Carl Knox, who posts here at CA. It's been mad fun and I really enjoy it, sketching with other art peoples hehe.

Carl also put me onto this blog where they do awesome interviews of people, check it out when you have some time, lots of great inspiration!

http://www.sidebarnation.com/

The latest interview is with Ian McCaig who is one of my personal heroes! Such an awesome guy.

A week or so ago I was also invited to do a masterclass at a digital media institute, which went really well and was enjoyable and I've also started teaching someone who saw my work here on CA.org, pretty surreal stuff! He's a hard worker and I have great hope for his art future! =)

Project wise, I'm starting on a 3ft x 4ft commission for a client in the US, other than that been working on my business plans and looking to revamp some of my portfolio to increase the overall quality since a lot of it is quite old now and isn't indicative of my skill level.

If you haven't already, also check out my blog and leave comments if you're keen. My last two blog posts have been long ones, here's an excerpt:

Time Management, Schedules and Discipline…

Hi guys and girls,

One of my blog readers (hey Andrés!) is in the process of learning about artwork and some of the things I have previously mentioned spiked his interest.

Interestingly, they are more generalised skills in the area of time management, scheduling and discipline, applicable in any field as opposed to art-centric skills.

I promised him that I would write a blog post about these topics and thought “Well, since they are all inextricably linked, why not write a single post about them?”

Time management

The term time management has become a fancy buzz word for the age-old skill of knowing how to not waste your time.

That’s it, that’s all it is, and there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for every single person, unfortunately. Some people need a to-do list the size of their arm, some need a real life personal assistant to co-ordinate their life, others can just free ball it and still get everything done.

That’s the beauty of humanity, everyone is a different beast and responds best to different methods of allocating a limited resource (ie. time) for the accomplishment of various tasks that hopefully push you closer towards your short, medium and long term goals.

What does your end state look like?

Without a future goal, time management is wank to make yourself feel good. Without some overarching goal to aim for, managing your time to get a bunch of disconnected arbitrary tasks done would be pretty pointless.

So logically, the end game is the basis for all current endeavours – that is in simple English, figure out what you want, list the steps to get there, and do them in a relatively sequential order. (If you need to start directing your life, check out one of my earlier posts as a primer.)

When your current tasks feed into a bigger picture, when they push you steadily and unrelentingly towards an end state of your choosing, one that you can imagine with passion and speak of with fervour, you tap into a very powerful personal driving force that can move mountains and inspire others.

The start is just the beginning.

Of course, starting is often the easy part, it is keeping at it day after day, month after month, year after year. This is what plagues most well intentioned endeavours, and I hope to give a little insight into how I personally use schedules and discipline to power through the troughs that we all dip into.

Now, I don’t profess to know the best way for everyone, all I can do is recount what works for me and hope that it will help you in some little way on your own journey. Sharing is caring y’know? =)...Click For Full Post (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/time-management-schedules-and-discipline/)

Aloneness

Being an artist is, for the most part a solitary endeavour, thats the way it is and that’s the way it probably always will be. The clichéd image of the artist toiling deep into the night listening to tunes or the TV blaring in the background while buried in their work isn’t too far off the mark, I find myself like that most nights and you know what, I love it.

I’m convinced that a subconscious part of me conforms my surrounding existence to afford this lifestyle, I’m pretty darned sure of that much.

I guess I’m embracing my inner lone wolf much more than I used to, I actually enjoy long tracts of time with no one but myself and sometimes wonder what it would be like living through Thoreau’s 2 year reprieve from regular society.

You know, for me, that romantic mental image of solitude has always held a deep fascination. You can almost say it’s always been a dream to live and work like this, physically alone, far from any other person. Some people dream of cars, hot women, possessions, toys, whatever, I dream of the perfect home studio completely conducive to making art.

Something about working hard at something most other people would see as play gives me (and I assume other artists also) a feeling of being connected with their soul, the ether around us and something larger than ourselves, a kind of compulsion that not many others would understand. For most of us, we would happily do this with or without being paid for it which I guess adds to the preconception that what we do isn’t real work.

I love being away from all the curious eyes, away from all the questions and just wrestling with concepts, staring deep into the void and discovering a little bit more about myself with each stroke of the pencil. Hopefully, becoming just that little bit wiser.

Maybe I love it too much, but like most artists I’m not really one for half measures, it’s either everything or nothing.

Relationships

Until fairly recently, I was in a relationship for about a year, before that I was in another relationship for three. I learnt a lot from them and I’m grateful for the time I had with these ladies, but the thing I most learnt was that it’s okay to be alone, it’s okay to not settle down and have kids and a mortgage and everything else right now (or perhaps ever!) that society deems necessary as part of my fulfilled life.

Truth is, I have that fulfilment now. The journey is the reward. You don’t end up somewhere because of what came before, you ARE what came before.

I think it’s important to look at how far you’ve come more often than how far you still have to go. It calms the spirit, sets you at ease, lets you know peace.

Maybe at some point that will be right for me, but right now, more than at any other point in my life, I’m not that afraid of uncertainty or instability, a part of me I dare say, even welcomes it. The practical part of me understand I need to feel comfortable with it, especially in this line of work.

Something in particular that sticks out in my mind, it happened a couple of months ago.

After being in a relationship for a while, you can often fall into routine and habit. Good, bad, you decide. This happened with me and the ex, I was comfortable and complacent, I could imagine a life together, kids, mortgage, whatever. Sure she wasn’t everything I wanted, but hey she was probably 80% of the way there, not bad. Good enough to stick with I guess. I don’t mean to come across as cruel, just being candid...Click For Full Post (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/dear-blog/)

And below is some sketches! These are in pencil and pen mostly, been getting back into the physical media because I'm working on a physical media piece! Also love the feel and immediacy of pencil so much. Keep in mind I haven't rendered in pencil for a long ass time, probably a few years now properly.

[Magic Man]

Some quick shoutouts before I scoot...

Nenad: Thank you for stopping by mate, I appreciate the kind words! =)

fionkell: Cheers my friend, no problems about the insight, I enjoy writing too =)

andres333: Hi brother, sure thing, I will do that in one of my blog posts, although I have a few other topics to go through first, but I will let you know when I have done it. Btw, I answered your other blog post request, so visit the blog and leave some comments =)

Benjie: Thank you mate, I appreciate your kind words =)

VanDog: Thanks mate!

r y a n o i r: Lol, no problems, glad you like the updates =)

Krato: Haha, what!? =)

ThomasM: Sure thing Thomas, you're most welcome! Glad you enjoyed =)

Mister Dark: No problems Mister Dark! Glad people find them useful, make sure if you have any questions or comments to leave them on the blog! That was I can increase the blog interaction with others =)

Seage: Hey mate, I hope you are doing well! To be honest, I wasn't that upset about it, I know there are plenty more women in this world, right now I am going to concentrate on my art! Yeah!

Beelow: Hah, awesome! Thanks for the good luck, I appreciate it =)

andres333: No worries brother! Enjoy!

Wishing you all the most productive of days! Continue to work hard and push to new and higher ground in your artwork!

Oohyeah!

Daz

[UmpaArt]

Just took a peak at all your stuff. Quality stuff man! Your very well rounded in your skills. I admire that. I know a lot of time I find people focus on one thing but not you. Tablet and computer or pencil and paper you seem to be ready for it all. :P

[rodrigo!]

hey mate,

its been a few years since i've seen your work. great stuff and one thing i like is that you can get a blocky constructed sense of planes but still keep the softness. this is good!
good to see youre working hard. hopefully if im in melbourne sometime ill give ya buzz. cheers!

[kischi]

Dude your sketchbook rocks! This one is the shit http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=976823&stc=1&d=1273842804 love!

[Magic Man]

UmpaArt: Thanks mate! Appreciate you leaving the comment. Yeah, it's not that I purposely want to push into all sorts of mediums and subject matter, it's that I just get restless you know? Hah, I enjoy pushing into all these areas for my own personal enjoyment and fulfilment =)

rodrigo!: Thank you for your kind words mate, you have some really outstanding stuff yourself, good luck in your fine arts career! Not that you'll need it ;)

kischi: Thanks mate! Appreciate the kind words =)

Just a quick sketch of Carla one of my previous students who also comes out to sketchgroup with us. Currently in the process of rendering over others also =)

Enjoy!

[ryan mcshane]

mmm yum

[Magic Man]

Hey guys, just want to let you know that I posted a facial proportion tutorial on my blog, here is an excerpt :)

Art Tips: Facial Proportions…

Hey guys,

Just wanted to give some quick art tips to those who are trying to figure out facial proportions – that is, where do all the facial landmarks tend to sit on an average face? The nose, the eyes, the lips, etc.

One way to go about placing these elements is to guess, but that’s not a very accurate method and so your results will be mixed.

A more consistent method is to understand some basic foundational points about the construction of the face from a forward facing perspective.

So what I will do, is to take a random image from the Internet, and to deconstruct the average placement of the major features.

So here below is our subject – you can see I have already placed the centerline and eye line and these marks will be consistent throughout the image to use as a reference point:

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/wp-content/uploads/Face_Proportions1.jpg

Tip #1: Eye Spacing

The eyes are one of the first marks I lay in, they are fantastic to use as a measuring tool to establish the width of the face (including the ears) as well as the spacing between the eyes themselves.

Using the image below, I have marked out 5 ellipses, representing eye widths, based on the man’s eyes:

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/wp-content/uploads/Face_Proportions4.jpg

The three main things to keep in mind are:


The eyes of a human character will in most cases be one eye width apart – as denoted by the red ellipse.
The width of the head will generally be 5 eye widths apart.
The top of the ears will tend to sit in line with the upper extent of the eye.


Tip #2: Nose, Lower Lip, Chin Placement

Using an almost equidistant spacing of horizontal lines, I have marked out on the image below, the rough placement of these major features:

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/wp-content/uploads/Face_Proportions3.jpg

The way to think about this information is to:


Figure out the eye-line.
Figure out where you want to place the chin.
Once you have these two marks in place, you can deduce by visual approximation where the bottom of the nose and lower lip are, by estimating the distance between the eye-line and chin into thirds.


Easy!

Something I see a lot of beginner artists doing is not giving enough chin to their subjects, with this method you take this out of the equation altogether, because no matter where you place the chin, the placement of the other elements like the nose and bottom lip will be proportionally correct...Continue Reading (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/facial-proportions/)

[Magic Man]

Oh, one other spammer, I update to my Twitter account a fair bit, so if you want to add me here are the details:

http://twitter.com/StylusMonkey

I will usually reciprocate by adding you too, unless you're trying to sell me Viagra or Time Share Apartments. Although if you're a Nigerian Scammer, I want to hear allllll about it ;)

Cheers and keep on keepin' on!

Daz

[Peetaer]

Hey Magic Man, I checked out your blog...I've only read the part on Business Skills but it was all I needed to want me to post in your sketchbook. Thank you for providing that list of books! The business side of life is something that I have typically been turned off by and only recently have I been realizing how important it is, so it was awesome and inspiring to come across your blog and read that.

On, btw, you're an amazing artist. How long have you been at it?

[Magic Man]

Hey Magic Man, I checked out your blog...I've only read the part on Business Skills but it was all I needed to want me to post in your sketchbook. Thank you for providing that list of books! The business side of life is something that I have typically been turned off by and only recently have I been realizing how important it is, so it was awesome and inspiring to come across your blog and read that.

On, btw, you're an amazing artist. How long have you been at it?

Thank you brother! I really appreciate you letting me know that the list of books was useful =)

Thanks also for the kind words, I've been doing art seriously for about 5 years. Before that, just doodles =)

If you want to read a little more about my history, I have a blog post on that too hehe, it's pretty long, it's pretty candid and there's lots of swear words haha:

The Only Famous Artists Are Dead! (http://www.stylus-monkey.com/the-only-famous-artists-are-dead-art-shenanigans/)

[Magic Man]

A quick sketch before bed.

His name is Albert. Albert like tennis, milkshakes and rave parties.

[Magic Man]

I totally failed at going to sleep, so I did another quick sketch =)

Also, here is me when Syd Mead visited the class I was teaching at RMIT. We're watching my youtube video of me painting him. That is why he is so happy - he said "Thank you Darren, you gave me more hair!" =)

And that was my brush with greatness.

[Peetaer]

Thanks for the link. Reading it right now!

[cgaddict]

Great work. Your shading and use of values is simply stunning.

[NickyBeats]

DARREN!!! yo dude! thanks for dropping by my sb man. i havent popped in here in a while, but sheeesh! you just get better and better man. hahaha since i stepped in here, ive had that stupid song stuck in my head "its magic, ya knoooow, never believe its not sooo", but this shit really is magic dude! keep killin it brotha!

[Kungfoowiz]

Holy hells! Syd Mead... sheesh, something definitely rubbed off on you!! =) Cool quick sketch.. love the lighting you managed to achieve.. Keep well bro =)

[DefiledVisions]

Loving your sketching technique, it's very subtle, Really like how the eye turned out on the page one step back.

I also enjoyed reading your notes a lot, especially the one about the life in solitude. I have come to think in exactly those terms and you pretty much summed it up perfectly. I'll be back for more :) thanks again for the post on focus, really needed it.

[Metal Fingers]

lovely sketchbook mate, and good words of wisdom to boot. Cheers.

[andres333]

Woah Syd Mead....
loving the sketch of Carla
keep it up bro

[monsi]

poo I was in japan when syd mead came to sydney . :(

loving your stuff man keep posting!

[Magic Man]

Man, I've been on a sketching binge in the last few days! I put that down to listening to the interviews at SideBar and listening to some of the fantastic artists like Jon Foster, Ian McCaig, Neville Page, etc talk about their experiences and thoughts on life and the art business. Really inspiring stuff.

I worked on a quick sketch this morning playing around with a slightly different palette than I'm used to and also just practicing atmosphere and depth, no ref.

I've also updated the about page, site banner and home page slide show at my site here - feel free to nosey on over and feel free to leave me any feedback here or on my blog, would appreciate it, especially if I've made any errors =)

http://www.stylus-monkey.com/

Suppose it's really business sided talk, but I'm steering my persona into the quirky a little, the about page reflects my slightly crazy sense of humour and I want my site to be a reflection of who I am as opposed to a cookie cut out corporate site which is afraid of possibly offending future clients hehe.

I try to perform my work professionally up to as high a standard as I can, but I'd really like to come across as a genuine individual as well, I'm not going to hide the warts or downsides, I think these things make people more human and allow us to connect to them better, hence this direction. It's the first time I guess I'm actively steering my online persona into accurately reflecting me, so if it doesn't feel that way to you, feel free to give your 2 cents.

I'm also in the process of updating my portfolio on the site too, going to be doing a lot of reworking over the next few weeks so stay tuned =)

In other stuff, I'll probably be shelling out for a mic at some stage to do youtube tutorials and voice over them, maybe even do some pod casts if people are interested =)

Cheers!

Daz

[Magic Man]

Couple of quick things, later on today I'll be updating the blog with some art process stuff, I'll announce it later via here and twitter, it will be about using old concepts and giving them new life, something that I personally think is important to do as your skills progress and you outgrow the skills shown in your portfolio.

I'm a bit of a social media junkie, I love chatting with people and tweeting. If you want to add me, use the following:

http://twitter.com/StylusMonkey

Also on Facebook if you want to chatski or just add another digit to your hundreds of other friends - just search Darren Yeow

Whoo! Feeling all spaced out, went to sleep 4am this morning, then woke up at 7am because I heard the garbage collector come and realised that I didn't put the trash out. So I had to leave my warm cosy bed and head on outside into the freezing cold brrr, then couldn't get back to sleep, so drew hehe.

Shoutouts:

Peetaer: No problem mate, appreciate the positive feedback =)

cgaddict: Thanks friendo for the nice comment =)

NickyBeats: Whoa! Three consecutive posts! I feel like I don't even need Hasselhof to feel the love! Thanks brother, I appreciate the posts =)

Kungfoowiz: Hah, thanks man, yeah it was pretty exciting meeting him, I didn't freeze up either, chatted with him for a bit and joked about =) You keep well too.

DefiledVisions: Thanks for the kind words mate, I still have lots I want to learn and do, such an exciting journey!!!!!!!! Yeah, the blog posts and notes are also something I enjoy, I think it's just an extension of sharing and caring =)

Metal Fingers: Thanks budd, appreciate the kind words =)

monsi: Yeah, a student I met actually couldn't get tickets, so he flew to another state to see the presentation! Talk about commitment! =)

Aight, I'm gonna take a short nap, be back soon.

Catch y'all on the flipside =D

Daz

[Kungfoowiz]

Cool, I'll leave you some feedback soon..

Was just curious.. hope I'm not spamming your sketch book, but when watching that Nike video ad on your website, I came across this strange image. I don't know what it means and can't figure it out.

Do you or anyone else know if there's any meaning behind this particular frame?

The image is beneath..

[Magic Man]

Hey all! Quick sketch rendering steps, not going to annotate these, but if you have questions about any steps, ask away.

I'm also posting another step by step on my blog tonight, one that I will be annotating, will let you know when I am done =)

Hope this is useful.

Cheers, Daz