foster z new sk bk april 4

[foster]

just wanted to start_a_fresh. but of course not allot of fresh to start with. beginings are so rough!

jon

http://img16.photobucket.com/albums/v47/FOSTER117/sk_1.jpg

[JoshuaTheJames]

Hhhhere they come!

-Joshua

[nil]

:chug: heres to fresh starts and your loverly sketches :chug:

[I.was.ink]

But what a wonderful way to start!

Great edge variety...

-Oskar

[JackalAnubis]

nice start, I really like the buildup of value texture and atmosphere

[MindCandyMan]

heres to fresh starts and your loverly sketches

I'll drink to that :chug:

[Diego]

As said by Ink "what a wonderful way to start". I hope to see this grow.
-dIEGO

[Main Loop]

time to print!

[deschamps]

The female figure staring into the distance is wonderful. I've been stuggling in my sketchbook lately...Thanks for the inspiration!

[ChaosEidolon]

I like the compositions in these but i find them very hard to read. Are you going to going to work these into a more refined state? i would love to see your process from sketch to completion!

Im looking forward to seeing more soon =)

[Sammy]

Oh hell yea, I'm buckled up and ready for the ride.

[foster]

vague, vague! (laughing) it is true i am rather vague in most aspects of my life.

but in all honesty i like this avenue of search. it makes me feel happy. i can't put my finger on it but i just like following out a subconscious thread in a sketch.

here is my dirty little secret, when i do not have a certain theme or idea burning a hole in my head, i just start making vague marks on the paper. i have my big sticks of graphite that are good for this but any drawing tool will do. you just need to let the instrument make the marks that are the most suggestive. make a couple of sketches this way, put them aside then come back and look at them. you will start to see things in the marks, follow those things, develop them. now you are starting to force your will on the abstraction, bringing it around to your desires. stop (as i did early) or keep going and finish it how ever you like. this process can have you making forms and shapes that you never would have thought of if you sat down to draw a specific composition.

i talked with dan milligan about this. he had a good laugh at me. but that is just because he can draw anything he wants and the pants off of most artists (not literally)!

this process is by no means anything new! we do this all the time in daily life. it is part of how we recognize people, it is how we see cool faces in dirt or the formica on your kitchen counter and of course bunnies in clouds. many artist over the ages have experimented with this as well.

i was let on to this experimenting by rick berry. he is the king of following the drawing and not forcing it, seeing the image in the paper, and has made some of the most beautiful pieces i have ever seen!

it is fun to do when you are stuck and banging your head against the table trying to think of the next cool thing to draw.

jon

[nil]

i love that you post so much here, and not just cool images, but great dialogue too. seeing/reading a glimpse of your mind is just too great.

im stealing brains today, and you're next on my list.

[foster]

http://img16.photobucket.com/albums/v47/FOSTER117/april_3_sk_bk.jpg

[foster]

hey nil, you guys make it easy!

jon

[Skank]

ahhh, more foster goodness!
wonderful insights, and beatiful, moody pictures....youre painting with that graphite again! these have the subtlety and depth of your paintings, along with the spontinaity of a sketch. its great to see how your artistic senses take over in these...alot more than just lines and tones.

thank you for posting these! as always, you are a great inspiration!

[MindCandyMan]

That one is amazing jon...wow...like a sargent painting with pencil...the strokes are abstract but the drawing is very tight...it takes a master to understand and execute that kind of relationship ;) :chug:

[jwo]

its like watching a movie

[endregan]

nice to see these sketches, I like your charcoals more than your oils now :)

I know what you mean, sometimes you have no main idea or intention so you just start drawing and see things later on.

So good..

[Dan Milligan]

Ok let me straighten this out. Jonny and I are talking on the phone about the usual stuff, dogs, kids and saving the world. Suddenly the topic of Jon art arises. I am by the way his biggest fan, it’s been proven so bother posting saying that you’re a bigger fan. Anyhow I say “geez Jonny how do you come up with this stuff” and he says “I don’t know. I just make some scribbles with a piece of graphite, go walk the dogs and when I come back. Shazam! There it is. “ So I start laughing because I start imagining Jon putting this technique into tutorial forum.

Whether its magic or voodoo or whatever, nobody does it better!
These are beautiful as usual Jon.

Peace
Dan

[ChaosEidolon]

I was actually just introduced to this technique by one of my professors, and have been meaning to try it out. Great to see it applied. I often have conceptual block when im drawing so perhaps trying this will help me get out of those ruts.

Im so glad to see you professionals posting your process work. Theres really nothing more helpful to the junior artist. Thanks =)

[foster]

dan, dan, dan, you are the man! hey it rhymes!

http://img16.photobucket.com/albums/v47/FOSTER117/april_3_sk_2.jpg

[endregan]

im going to send you a bill to pay for the ink for all of these when i print them out to go on my wall haha

heck while I am at it you can buy me my own place so I have enough wall space.


that goes for you too dan ;)

[nardfrog]

Hey Jon, its cool to see your sketch book because you have a totally different aprouch than most here. I like how yours all have this fine art feel to them. Much as do your final peices. Yeah its more subjective and vague, but its art, and i can tell you are doing this for yourself, and not to impress ppl.

I still think your crow cawing in the robot's face is the most brilliant idea ive ever seen in art.

respect

OH yeah and DAN, foster is right, because hey, if it rhymes, than it must be true. Well thats always been my motto anyway.

[evillair]

These are great, love the mood.

[Rimshot]

Its funny how such an random process produces work that looks so...well...planned out. Seems like a fun way to go about snagging ideas. I seem to remember Sparth saying he used a techneque like that.

[foster]

these are starting to get forced, i will have to start moving in another direction.

http://img16.photobucket.com/albums/v47/FOSTER117/april_4_sk_1.jpg

[S.C. Watson]

forced or not, it looks great. I especially like the forground figure in your last one. You have such a wonderful way with characters.

~Oregano

[metalwinds]

foster, these sketches are great. your use of very subtle hatching works very well. i think im gonna try your approach to sketching, if you dont mind. ..sounds like fun

[killing.people]

hey foster,
long time no see.
these are great. such a different feeling than before. you are doing something different. your work looks crisper. really fun images to look at.

[tyboogie]

well i like them all of course, but that last one is my fav. love the diff types of marks your using

ty

[fukifino]

You know...Dan laughs at the idea of posting a tutorial of this technique...but that's not really such a horrible idea. Actually, just a before/after shot would be cool. I'd like to see the marks you make on the page before you come back at it, just to see what it is that drove you to the final image.

Glad to see you posting stuff again. :D

[foster]

sorry only one.

had to play some in photoshop to pull this one out of the gutter.

[AmadorL]

Hey Jon it's always rewarding to see your new sketches. What's on your plate at the current moment anything exciting?

-A

[MindCandyMan]

sweet as ever jon...man alive do I want to see that painted!

[Yiako]

I dont find words. I'be trying for ten minutes but neither my english is good enough nor I still have clear the reason why this last image is so stunning for me.
You're the Rembradth of CA.

[endregan]

hahaha omigosh. that last one is genious.

your environments are perfecT!@ :)

[foster]

thank you all for your kind replies. if i did not want to hear what you guys had to say, good or bad, i would not post here. that is one thing i have come to realize, that i like finding out if i am communicating anything to others besides myself. but it is also a razors edge to walk between communicating with others and and making sure you follow your muse and not just what the crowd wants. i am not equating any of you to the crowd, you have been very supportive and generous. i just want to impart some of the internal struggle that constantly rages in my head. push extremes, play it safe, i like it when people like what i am doing, i like it better when i like what i'm doing, explore new ways to paint, paint like the the academy school, more realism, more symbolism, maybe both? this goes on and on but i think it is part of being an artist. may your struggles down the road lead you to higher planes.

i will not be posting here as much in the near future. i will be traveling to italy to work on a film for about a half a year. i will, i'm sure, have access to the web but i am not sure i will have time to do much as the work schedule seems intense, at least for me.

be good!

jon

[dakoscwash]

Holy crap.. That last one is incredible.. How do you do it?!?!

[metalwinds]

italy.. thats awesome man. good luck with the movie.. not that you need it. naturally, i will be expecting a huge post in a new sketchbook when you get back ;)

peace

[steak-tron]

you will be sorely missed Jon.
However it has been an extraordinary treat to be able to have you post here in the first place. You have given us a unique opportunity to glimpse into your best kept secret - your sketch process.

Good luck on yer endeavours.

Oh, and that last one is awesome as shit.

[I.was.ink]

I love the story behind your last sketch. I tried practicing what you had mentioned in one of your earlier posts about letting the strokes and patterns show you what you're drawing without really knowing. It's so liberating and because of it my sketching style has sort of changed and I'm loving it. Thanks so much JON!

Hopefullly its not too long before you post again. Even if you dont post pictures, it would be good to hear how your adventures in art are progressing.

Just dont forget about us!

Oskar

[insane visions]

diggin it!

[nil]

argh, i will definintely miss your presence on the boards. best of luck with your endevours in italy, and i look forward to seeing more stuffs when you return :chug: salut!

[deschamps]

Good luck jon! Thanks for all the great art and words of wisdom!

[fukifino]

Have fun in Italy, Mr. Foster! Thanks for sharing your art with us. Looking forward to your return. :D

[behemot5]

happy to see your work one more time

[endregan]

Sorry to see you leave, but I know youre working hard and having fun in Italy.

Stop by every now and then so we know youre alive!

Take care

[obid619]

its been fun jon

[stormeffex]

wow jon, i'm lovin' these thumbs/roughs. vague is very good. and if i haven't mentioned it yet, i'm your second biggest fan (after mr. milligan of course). have fun doing production work.

2

[killing.people]

hi jon, it me! the killing.people guy.

i just wanted to say thank you. some for chill'n as much as you have been.

i can't explain how amazing this thing we call the internet is and how it can bring people together.

i can't explain how amazing a feeling it is to wander into a barnes and noble, waiting for a friend to buy cds and notice a comic section, with 'roleplaying' books and artbooks catch your eye. walk over to them and thumbing through them find some book you have never heard of called "spectrum" and love it to death - buy it (you never buy books!?), cut pages out of it and staple them to your walls.

a year later you are going to some artschool that promises to help you learn what you need to learn to take your dream into your hands. a teacher had created a website for his students that has a forum - something you never knew existed on the internet - and are pointed to a new website called conceptart.org. imagine being punched in the face several times. that is about how i felt, hehe, all this amazing artwork and talent, there are tons of artists in the world! something you never thought about - and they are really, really good in definitive way, the word being humbling.

the work is familiar! i remember the two that slapped me in the face was your starwars book covers, spectum entries and justin sweet's dungeons and dragons stuff. you put names to the artwork, and then! you get to talk to the giants, they even see your work and give you advise..
.. so yeah, thanks for being here, but mostly, thanks for the help.

i wish the best for you in italy,
peace-love-and-chicken-grease!

-killing.foster

[fukifino]

Damn...don't that shit just about sum it all up?

[Bojee]

Hell Yeah. :thumbsup:

[Android]

fosterific man, :chug:

[Marcatili]

Yeah...I've got similar sentiments to killing.people
For me, some of the artists who post here are like luminaries whose work I've seen published but would otherwise be anonymous and untouchable. A site like this helps to close those gaps.

Now, like Yiako sorta said that last image with the giant is amazing for some reason- not sure what it is but it's very striking.

The other thing I was going to say was that the first couple of these reminded me for some reason of John Blanche, the Games Workshop artist...not sure why.

thanks for sharing.

[spok]

wow...

[viag]

i really want more ! nice feeling in these pics !

[Sketch]

ok ok I wasn't going to put another 'you rock my world' reply... until I saw that last one. YOU ROCK MY WORLD!!!

[Oddo]

Good stuff . They are just no ... natural. Loving them :D.

By the way, am I the only one that has the impression the crowd tends to like only "smoothed out" stuff ?

[el coro]

oh jon, my friend. you have truly transcended man. you are on a level i can only hope to attain in my lifetime.
you are a grand master, and a helluva great guy, and i thank you again(for the thousandth time) for being a part of this community, and for all the time and feedback you've given us all. sorry dan, i'll go on the record as saying i'd give up the ass for jon if he needed it,(prison only) so i think that by default would make me his biggest fan.:) be good in italy!.-c36

[spok]

killing: that's beautiful man!....

[Red_Rook]

Originally posted by Android
fosterific man, :chug:

i think he just coined a new term :)


FOSTERIFIC MAN!!
seriously great work.