Sorknes' way to go insane - upd Mar 5th

[Sorknes]

Edit: After moving my website, this thread is just a bunch of red x's. Gonna edit the posts, and just start over again at the bottom, can't be bothered to find the exact images I posted.... Not like the thread is long yet anyway. The pics start at reply # 17 :)

[Sorknes]

Well, I had been hoping to post more sketches today, but I had one of those days where whatever I touched with my pencil turned to crap instead of gold, so there's only one.

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs001.jpg

[jetpack42]

good to see you posting. you like the smudging? try to add some more contrast in there.

[Sorknes]

Thanks :)

Yeah, I smudge a lot because it often helps me getting a sketch finished faster, or doing things that gets me frustrated when I try with the pencil... Cheating, I know.

There's no smudging on the stuff I did today though. I cope better with contrast when doing non-living things.

[Sorknes]

Ok, I know this one hellishly tilted. Dreadfully so. But when I started to draw, I had absolutely no idea I would end up with a building, so there's no reference or perspektive lines there at all, and additionally, it's made on A4, so there's was no room to add them later... *rolls eyes*

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs002.jpg

[Sorknes]

Didn't have much time to draw today, so only quick stuff.

As I've never been to any artschool, has no books about learning how to draw or anything, tried a couple of thumbs (my own as I looked at it) on one of my sheets. For a first try to draw my own hand, I don't think they're too bad at all, but I'm happy for any input I can get for drawing hands, and if there's anything I've done in them that could be done better. I'm the kind of person that draws from my imagination, have always been.

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs03.jpg

Doodled a little bit for the Christmas workshop coming up in a while. I usually try to make a few easy concepts that some of the people can use as patterns for their work.

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs04.jpg

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs05.jpg

The finally, a very quick drawing. I just drawed and didn't care about what I got wrong, and added colours just to get to know them better. I wish I had more than eight colour pencils...

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs06.jpg

Comments on all stuff appreciated, of course.

[Sorknes]

Didn't have much time today either. Thought about the contrast thingy, and used the 4b to draw for the first time. I have up to 8b, but I usually just use them for blackening background....

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs07.jpg

Then something for a friend. Just on concept stage, far from the finished product. Colours added to get a general idea.

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs08.jpg

[jetpack42]

you need to work on your edges. you treat all the edges soft, witch muddies up the pictures. you need to have some hard edges, firm edges, in addition to the soft/lost edges. studies are good, try and see more accurately. dont forget about contrast either. most of all, keep em coming.

[Sorknes]

I know I'm supposed to concentrate on one thing at a time, but I decided to go for contrast, lines AND hand study at once.... heh. Didn't have much time today either though, so only one page.

As it was the first time I actively used a 4B together with a HB, and just the second attempt on a hand study since the thumbs a little further up, I'm quite pleased. However, I take all critic I can, especially if you can go in details, as I'd like to do it even better, of course. :)

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/CA/dsbs09.jpg

[dCepT]

Hi! Thought I'd drop by to check out your stuff :) Bjørne didn't tell me you joined! Just spotted you randomly in the lounge..hehe.

You're doing great, by the way! Love the last batch of hands. The palm needs to be longer, though...the middle finger is about the same length as from the knuckle of it back to the wrist. Check it out on yourself ;)

I like the building on top of the tree.. You should add some contrast (sorry about adding to the chorus here..hehe) on the trunk...like the deeper parts of the "wrinkles"..

Keep updating! I'll keep an eye on this thread..

d-C

[Sorknes]

Heya there! Yep, I signed up alright. :) The building on the tree, or on the rocks, or whatever it is, it came kinda unbidden. Sometimes I start with a blank sheet, and I have no control whatsoever of what comes out of it. That building is one of them.....

Well, I'm working on the contrast, and I'll hopefully get better at it soon. ;) And when it comes to the hand... I drew my left hand.. Then got another guys comment on it. And he thought it was all wrong. But I guess that's partly because I have extremely long thumbs, and the rest of the fingers are very short when comparing to his.... So there's some perspective matters there... Heh. I'll try again with even softer pencils soon though.

Wish I could put more updates here today, but I've been busy redesigning my site so I can do a *large* update there. I'll prolly resort back to my fantasy stuff when I get tired of real life drawings though. ;)

[Sorknes]

Well, among a bunch of other things, I've drawn a typhon version today.. Just gonna put this one in for now.

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/Typhon001.jpg

[Sorknes]

Darn, I forgot all about this. Heh. I've been kinda indisposed to drawing for a while, and painting when I've been up and around, not drawing too much. There's a bunch of oil paintings to get ready for Christmas... I did these though... Even if they're large, they're really just sketches. I'd like to do some more with that castle and that alien thing though. If anyone have any good ideas of how to get the water more "stormish" around the castle or point out how to get it better, I'd be grateful.

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/alien001.jpg

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/harpy001.jpg

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/castle004.jpg

[auden100]

Nice sketches. I'm not sure what to do about stormy water. All I can suggest (and this goes for everything you've been working on) is try and find some reference. On things like that typhon where you have lots of layers and depth, you have to understand how light hits all of those shapes.

Most of the things you draw are really flat, not just because of perspetive, but because you aren't paying enough attention to light. I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with the range of value that you're showing, its just learning how to use it and where.

When I first started trying to get a hang of shading I did a couple of pages of random simple shapes. Cubes, spheres, cylinders, cones, anything. Draw them as if made from a matte finish plastic to a chrome metal. Do a couple of still lifes. These things might sound boring, and they can become so unless you approach them with that have-to-learn attitude.

You've got a great start so far. Keep em coming.

[Sorknes]

Well, I did it again... it seems. Forgot about the place, I mean. ;) Not a daily sketchbook, this one.

I'm not the patient kind of person. So I tend to draw to get out whatever is in my head rather than study the light and everything.

Still, I like ciritcism about my work, and try to do some real life stuff even though I'm not patient about at it all.... Here's some of what I've done while away.... :

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/Byronek.jpg

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/Moraelyn001.jpg

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/rosemal002.jpg

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/Ofemale001.jpg

[Sorknes]

Seems I can't get the last two pics up here. Same theme, other woman as the last one.

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/Ofemale002.jpg

http://melascontent.free.fr/sorknes/full/Ofemale003.jpg

[Sorknes]

Well, just gonna add a recent one of mine for now.

Right, forgot.... Person from imagination, 2B pencil only, no eraser or anything, cheap and clean copy paper.

http://sorknesart.com/avalog/Terahon01.jpg

[Sorknes]

I'm making a concept based on a panda, and here's two quick studies I made of a normal giant panda.

2B pencil, cheap blank copy paper.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Panda001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Panda002.jpg

[Sorknes]

Did some work where I used photos of greek old statues as reference.

Blank copy paper, ink with hard brush and thick tip on the first two, ink with soft brush fine tip on the last one.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Greekline002.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/humanoids/Greekline003.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/humanoids/Greekline001.jpg

[Sorknes]

More pandas... working further on the concept. The concept is a new panda specie, which is all cute and adorable, until you get a quest item triggering them. Here's more of my work so far.

First is a really quick study of the face of a red panda, the others are quick getting down on mixes on the two panda species trying to get close to something working on them. The last is just one of really stupid ten minutes drawings I made every now and then while working, since I got really frustrated.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Panda003.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Panda004.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Panda005.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Panda006.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Panda007.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/creatures/Panda008.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/Panda009.jpg

[Pixeldragoon]

=d Pandas!!!

[Pixeldragoon]

Whoopsie!

[willpaxton]

... i wish i could see....

[Sorknes]

You can't see them? *scratches head*

It's not supposed to be any bandwith limitations or anything since I'm linking from my own webspace.....

[SeraphSword]

Those pandas are great, lotsa good rendering and they have character, very cool. Keep working on your humans, life drawing will help, and any studying you can do from anatomy/figure drawing books (Bridgman, Simblet, Loomis, etc.). Keep at it.

[oracrest]

haha, battle panda!

Looking nice

I think the weakest part on here is your panda armor. Just doesnt look that much like reflective metal.

armor reference (http://anna-neko.nu/cosplay/omake/armor%20knight.jpg)

take a look at this. Notice how the armor isn't so much grey with dark shadows and white highlights, but more of a distorted mirror. If you try and paint the reflection of nearby objects, I think that would help your shiny metal a bit. Try and imagine that everywhere the armor curves towards the ground, it will reflect the ground, and everywhere it curves up, the sky and sun. In the middle you will probably see a distorted horizon reflected if your panda was standing on a flat plain.

Notice how in the ref pic there is the very evident reflection of the face covering on top of his helmet, with sky and trees.

PrometheusANJ had a pretty good tutorial about reflections somewhere on here.......

[Sorknes]

The armour panda wasn't really meant to be serious, heh. :) It was just me totally fed up... ;) But thanks anyway, metal is far from my strongest side, far from it. I probably should do some more work on that soon.

Ok, this is a rather crappy start for the sketchbook group, but I wasn't in the mood to draw anything serious today, and it's half an hour left to midnight my time... So here's the totally non serious stuff I've done today. Not finished in any way either, just played with them.

Crit away though, I might look back and use them for something later on, heh. And the legs suck....

http://sorknesart.com/img/CA/Gob001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/CA/Insectman001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/CA/Kingirl001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/CA/Mushking001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/CA/Fattube001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/CA/CAelf001.jpg

[SeraphSword]

Some anatomy issues going on in most of these, although the thing that sticks out is the faces. They are very flat. The problem seems to be the bridge of the nose, you need to change the angle it's coming off the face. Make it block more of the far eye.

Rendering's comin along though. And I can hardly crit for rushing things a bit (one of my issues).

[Tenelaus]

As well as anatomy, I think it would be nice to see you take some of the shadow practice you did on those greek statues into your pencil work- IE push your values a bit more over a larger area. This would also be helpful when you come to learn muscles.

[Sorknes]

Ok, continuing to put in crappy stuff, my schedule today didn't allow for much drawing, but here goes what I did.

They're all again done in ink with hard and thick brush. One more of those old greek statues, focusing on the back, plus two really quick studies I did, to practise getting down the right lines in the right place at the first try (I'm sometimes using waaaay too much time on that when drawing with pencil). The man was about three minutes, and I know it has lotsa faults, like the hands being too small when in front like that. The woman in windy weather was about 15 mins, and I used ink in water to make some quick shades as well.

Crit away.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/humanoids/Greekline004.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/3mins001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/15mins001.jpg

[SeraphSword]

Not bad for quickies. Keep working on hands. :)

[Sorknes]

Ok, working on a drawing. As you can see it's far from finished... I need help! A lot of things is really wrong with it, and I'm stuck.

Just putting a link for now, as it's a 980 pix high one (might help to see what's wrong), I'll put a smaller version here later, when it's closer to get finished.

Edit: link not there anymore. Look further down for a more progressed pic.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. A bit thanks to Tariq. I was stuck when doing the details the first time around as well, then looked in his DSG, and since it had some of the same kind of concepts like the one I was getting close to, he inspired me to start anew with them.

I've still gone blind on it though.

[Tenelaus]

That's looking pretty good, I like the shading on the tail. It would be cool if you could carry that through to the rest of the picture.
Anatomy doesn't look too bad, I'm a bit confused by the heel of the hand resting on the ground. As for details, it might be more interesting with some texture or patterning where you've got blank skin.

[Olof]

Heya!
I gotta say I love your fluffy animals :) especially the pandas, they are great!
In general I think you should work on your eyes. Try making a smaller sheet just drawing eyes with and without refs, from different angles. I did when I trained making noses and it helped.
Also, your fantasy drawings could need more details. It looks like you've drawn them very small and it's hard to add details then (I always do this, use sketchbooks smaller than A5).

Anyways, good work keep it up!

[Sorknes]

Ok, the last days haven't been too pleasant with me, but here's what I've managed.

The alien female is coming along, but I haven't done but a few changes yet. Lotsa thanks for the C&C I've got here and in mIRC; she's still in the works.

The next one (with the window) is a new one, and I thought I'd start to get C&C before I get any further on her, better to get it midway so I actually have a chance to fix it. I know the head is totally off, but ideas and C&C for both that and the rest if the pic.

Then a doodle I made quickly. It's made with roller pen, and since I couldn't erase anything... heh. Sad, sad superhero looks like he's seen better days, eh? :P

And lastly just me f*ing around with first black ink and then sepia ink with brush, and then afterwards using coloured sketch pencils and white pencil to see how it would react.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/unfinaf001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/window001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/teddyhero001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/chair001.jpg

[Sok N. Wett]

Some of your figures looks really stiff, it can be fixed by being more loose with the pencil, it's something I need to learn as well. Your renderings of the animals are nice, I love drawing fur as well. :)

[drup]

The first thing that I noticed is your ability to work clean. :^^: Eg on the pandas, if I would have done something like that it would be smudged all over.

Your drawings look anatomically good (well.. to me, I mean :) ) but something is lacking every time. I think it has to do something with their inmobility, not looking totally human,.. Hard to explain..

[Sorknes]

Ok, this is really bad, bad stuff.... But I can't seem to focus on my stuff for more than five minutes before I change sheet these days.....

And yeah, I know my stuff looks stiff. Anyone having any good ideas on how to train me up to not make them "pose" that much, I'd be grateful. I seem to get stiffer and stiffer in my drawings these days.

Anyways... the first one is the further work on the one earlier posted.

The second one is a bad simple ink and brush thing of a char that keeps showing up in my stuff, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a lady. Everything's off in that ink.

The third is a satyr that's not even close to finished, and he's way off in his gravity and goodness knows what.

The fourth is one of the first basic sketches I made before starting a pregnant concept, but I got lotsa help on from geertje getting photo references on for that, so... yeah. This was before the photo references.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/window002.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/dim001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/satyr005.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/preg001.jpg

[Tenelaus]

I find I do more dynamic stuff with ink, I guess because it's harder to get distracted by shading. Try some sweeping gestures moving your whole arm when you draw. The satyr is a little more dynamic than the rest, but it looks like you're concentrating a lot on the anatomy right away rather than the motion of the character. Try starting off with some rougher lines with a lot of flow first then tweak the anatomy as you increase the detail.

[Sorknes]

Played with ink today. As it turned out, one of my new ink bottles was messed up, so I got some weird results out of it. Better turn that one in again tomorrow. Here's a couple of the ones I made, nothing serious though, just playing around. These are also based on statues and alike, and they're made with black and sepia ink and different kinds of brushes.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/rest/Greekline005.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/rest/Greekline006.jpg

[dCepT]

Halla!

You're improving! I'd like to see some anatomystudies from you. :)

The pregnant alien is a cool concept. Pretty original idea. Push the values in it more, though. Also the face is skewed a bit. You should move the farthest brow a bit forward, at least it seems like that to me.

Clean and nice lines on the ink-wash-stuff! Looks like it's damn good practice to get your linequality down.

(btw: I've updated my SB as well, noe..hehe...finally got the scanner software..)

peace

d-C

[Sorknes]

I'm having a time where I keep starting on new things, but I don't have the "fine tuned hand" to finish off any of them with the last touches.

Hopefully that means you'll suddenly see a bunch of really finished one later on, just not in progress stuff, but here you have one more in progress that I'm currently working on.

Based on a statue of Sulla, roman general and consul. C&C appreciated, and will be taken in consideration when I get as far as finishing it.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/sullahead001.jpg

[dCepT]

Really nice start! I'd like to see some more defined lines, though. Also, check his eyes. They're a bit big, and they should be further apart.

Good work, though! You've improved a lot. The shading is a lot easier to read on the last one. Good work! Keep posting!

d-C

[oracrest]

Hey, I like the architecture reliefs. I would say add some shading in the bas relief, and make the highlights smaller and stronger if you are going for that shiny gold look to them. Keep em coming. Would like to see you do a whole temple with a bunch of relief sculptures and whatnot lining the sides......

[Sorknes]

Ok, the last days just simply sucked, and I haven't been able to do any drawings, but for what it's worth, I tried to get some of it out of my system quick and easy by doing this.

Excuse my crappy colour, I can't colour digi...

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/rest/crap006.gif

[Sorknes]

Sat down to do some doodles... and good thing it did, it ended up as larger drawings...

C&C appreciated of course. They're not done yet, but nice with input on what I have so far.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/machman001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/deepfish001.jpg

[Cookiedough]

Hey Sork,

Love the variety of your subjects! Girl on potty's my favourite though. Very true, throw crap back!

You're poses are pretty stiff, try loosening up a bit. Oh, and i'd like to see more colored sketches, but that's just a wish :).

[oracrest]

hey, i like that robot mutant guy. shading looks good, but i would suggest trying to make sharper shadows and highlights. After you have shaded, go back and erase in some highlights, to give yourself a good sharp highlight where needed. I think that would help out a lot.

[squirrelfishing]

say... You're really good at drawing fur 'n stuff! In fact all your stuff looks nice and soft. Critiquewise I think you could benefit from some anatomy studies. Try loomis' stuff it helped me. Guess you've heard all that tho...

[Tenelaus]

Just posting in agreement with oracrest, you've got a lot of nice curvy shapes going on, but there're not many hard edges to contrast with that, both in the shading and general forms.

[SeraphSword]

Like the robot guy too. Like it was said, keep pushing those values when rendering. Keep at it.

[Sorknes]

Thanks for the crits and comments guys, they're all read and taken into consideration when I work. :)

Found out that I'd challenge myself and do something that's way out of my usual range off stuff. Quite a few bad words could be heard as I worked on this one. And for a good while I was regretting I didn't use a ruler to start with... Copy paper, 2B pencil, kneadable eraser. Looked at photo refs when I started, then I let the imagination take over.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/rest/gun002.jpg

[dCepT]

Hey, Sorky! Very good work on your value ranges on that gun! A step up for you IMO. It's a bit skewed here and there, but other than that; tip top!

I like the attitude of the fish as well.. hehe.

d-C

[SeraphSword]

Very nice work on the gun, but like dCept said seems a little skewed here and there (trigger seems a bit small). Still, good job on this, always good to push yourself and spend a long time on one piece.

[Sorknes]

Well, more metal, to get more of a feeling of it... Crit away.

Copy paper, 2B pencil, kneadable eraser.

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/rest/knife001.jpg

[Olof]

Woo :)
The two latest are great, the rendering is really good!
To crit your work I think you should work more with heads, the shape mostly. And of course the anatomy (everybody has to, noone gets away :) ). Generally you should try to make bigger differences in values, darker shadows and have the highlights all white, as someone already suggested. However it might be a problem when you scan your images, try to change contrast (there's an option in most programs). Though your two latest are fine when it comes to that :)
In your older sketches almost all characters (fantasy mostly) are way to thin, except for the pregnant ones of course.
Your lineart seems to have gotten better in the later ones, the inks look pretty good. But you could use a bit of practice there. I got the tip to make fast lifedrawings without using eraser, haven't got around to do that yet.

Well, you just post some more now! Peace

[Sorknes]

Well, did a quick brush and ink today with the topic "portrait" and none specifications whatsoever for another place. It's supposed to be a quick sketch, nothing taking too much time.

I tried Hitchcock. I ended up ditching his hair, since it looked just plain wrong. And he looks a bit skewed, heh. C&C appreciated though, then I know what to look for next time.

The other one is one I've posted before. I took it out to work more on it today, but I'm kinda stuck. Hints, tips, ideas and C&C are appreciated to get me back on track again. Going for a fantasy setting with a kind of "classic painting" feeling in it...

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/humanoids/Hitch001.jpg

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/window004.jpg

[Nadim]

the rendering on the dagger and the gun are is really good. neat work
do more studies like " sullahead001 " to master the proportions more.

keep drawing :teeth:

[Tenelaus]

The shading on the knife and gun really is a step up, you just need to transfer what you learn there into your other drawings with practice. Did you use a ref for the Hitchcock picture? I can't imagine the left eye would be lit up like that without any of the left side of the face being lit as well, but I could well be wrong.

[arghmisfit]

hey, nice rendering on the weapons and pandas. i think your anatomy work is the weakest here, so work on your anatomy construction more.. i like some of ur concepts too. that fish is dope. keep it up

-argh

[dCepT]

yeah... what argh said. You don't necessarily have to render out the antomy, just get the shapes down so you know how they interact before you render.

Keep 'em coming!

edit: woot! I pushed ya into page two!

d-C

[Sorknes]

Well, got one more.

Lotsa thanks to the guys at the CA chan that broke it in pieces for me while I was working on it. :)

Still, crit away, I couldn't fix all that was pointed to when doing it, and if I was to fix more, I'd ruin the paper it's on.... :bashful: But what's been said on this so far and if there's more, will of course help me to make the next one better. :)

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/warrior003.jpg

Oh, and yeah.... I used a photoref for the Hitchcock one, heh. :)

[Nadim]

you know . you may add a simple background just basic lines for the last figure.
do more anatomy studies with basic lines . you don't always have to render them .btw your rendering is really good . but you may want to draw like a hundred sketches with different movements and postures ,diff perspectives and scales instead of one or two fully rendered figures.

you're looking good sorknes - keep it up :)

[oracrest]

hey man, this is looking good! I like how you are doing the rendering on this guy

I think the blending is all a little blurry, like there is a smooth transition with all the shading, and there aren't any sharp contrasts in shading.

I think the stance could use some work as well. If not for the weapon in his hand, I think it would look as if he were about to kick a soccer ball. the twist on his (our right) leg, makes it look like his body is twisting rather than lunging forward. His head tilting forward also makes it look like his torso is bending back.

If you were to twist his leg so the knee is facing forward, make his head tilted back more, and raise the arms, I think that forward lunging action that you are going for would work better.

Keep em coming!

[dCepT]

I think Oracrest is right concerning the shading. There are no hard edges there, and there would be. If you're using the flat side of you pencil to shade, tilt it up and use the tip for some harder edges. If I remember I can try a little paintover tomorrow, but I gotta sleep now :)

Oh yeah.. one more thing.. I think his face looks a little...sinewey (sp?) compared to his body. Like the edges from his cheekbone and backwards.

Now, that being said, though, I think you making great progress! After seeing the gun and the knife, and now this, which has a very dynamic expression compared to some of your earlier stuff, I think you're stepping up!

Just keep them posts coming!

d-C

[MarkHarchar]

Hey Sorknes,
I just found your thread. I really like your stuff, especial the Panda, the Anglar fish (I think that is the name of it) and the pistol. I have been doing mostly pencil work myself as a hobby (maybe it could be more in the future) and it is nice to watch your progression. I have one comment that may help you. I saw the comments on the pistol drawing and the dimensions did seem slightly skewed. If you start out by drawing a very light 3 dimensional rectangle before you drawing something like that in perspective, it helps to keep all the edges in the right perspective. It seemed to work of for a pistol I did. It's just a thought. Keep posting. I wanna see more.

[dogfood]

You go girl! There is a very marked improvement in your figure and basic form work. A lot more confidence in line work and even pose selection. I think you would profit from some more face and head study; see how the planes relate to each other (especially the muzzle).

Sweet.

[Sorknes]

Well, I've had some hand trouble...

I made this while trying to disregard it though, thought I'd post it here...

Crit away, I'll probably get back to it when my wrist works ok. :)

It's a kangaclaw... or a hornaroo.... or something...

http://sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/Hohum.jpg

[MarkHarchar]

Nice concept. You've really done a good job and merging multiple animals. It looks like a very natural functional animal. Nice. Hope you wrist gets better. I have arthritis myself and know how hand wrist trouble can be annoying, especially when drawing.

[Gridur]

Great stuff you got here, i like the transformation from a rather cute panda, to a blood sucking bambu lumber-jack eating bad ass hehe, and i really love the shading on the gun and the blade, nice metamorphis with a goat kangeroo to hehe, what can i say, you got some super nice stuff going on, keep it up!

[Tenelaus]

Some real improvements on your shading here. The texture of that fur looks very patiently done, but not overdone, which is a good thing. Good to see that you're not highlighting to pure white all over either.
The join between the upper chest and abdomen looks a bit odd, a bit of a sharp edge overlapping the right (from us) arm.

[giles.t]

Sorknes,
Hello, sorry I haven't posted sooner, I didn't realise that I had been accepted into the sketchbook support group...oops

The kangaclaw looks like a good start. As mentioned by others, I think your shading on the fur is good -- you've described the texture and also the underlying mass of muscle. Also like the emotion conveyed in the face. My crits at this point would be that the upper arms and torso seem a bit awkward. Also, with such an expressive face how about some detail to the eye? Finally, I noticed form your other work that you have a tendancy to create an image on a white background - how about playing/experimenting more with the figure-ground relationship and work on the background too (just an idea :) ?

Good luck

[darkchild]

You've got awesome rendering talent. Realistic feel to the animals and that Glock is awesome. Great work. Post some more.

[Sorknes]

I forgot all about posting this one. Heh.

Again, copy paper, 2B pencil. Basicly, I like the face and the arms or at least it shows improvement, but the stuff from the shoulders and down... well, I know it sucks. Got lotsa inputs on that, but decided I just couldn't bother to work anymore on it and moved on. Feel free to put in your two cents though, I take the crit with me to the next drawings. :)

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/vamp002.jpg

[dCepT]

It really shows improvement! I'm really diggin on the design! The plants that are attached to her adds good depth!

Try hatching a bit.. Keep your style of shading, just add something new to it :) Tha hatching will add some texture, and that's pretty important. Everything seems...equally smooth now.

Keep 'em coming! (How's your wrist by the way?)

You gotta come to the next scandinavian gettogether! Have you seen the pics? It was insanely inspirational!

d-C

[Gridur]

Hey there!

The new one is pretty darn nice, smooth great shadeing, and the face is superb, the eyes are really vampyric with the thick black outline on white.
The one thing that i must critique though, is the sholders, they seam to pop out to the front in a wierd way, like she's trying to push the chest against her in a wicked way.
But you probably have already seen this, the tip is to bring up the collar bones in the center so that they almost form a straight line thorwards the sholders, and then maybe widen it a little...

Anyway, its damn nice shadeing with the pencils, great work...

[Sorknes]

Ah, bah.... I thought I'd post some really yummay stuff, but it's not gonna happen. Long time no see. I've got a tablet for the first time in my life. Just gonna post randon stuff though.

Some pencil working....

http://www.sorknesart.com/img//full/studies/cer001.jpg

Then some digi...

Tying to learn the darn tablet, got Int 3 three weeks ago, and here's my progress:

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/morae003.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/cast003.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/door004.jpg

And just some doodles from my sketchbook since that seems to be a thing wanted... They're nowhere even being good. bahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.............

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/sket004.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/sktch006.jpg

[Grooveholmes]

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/door004.jpg

:up: Fantastic! Please finish the left side! >:D

[ElvisMcVegas]

Hey, Sorknes, I think you should work on your anatomy some more, your rendering style is good, but the characters seem wonky in some areas

[Sorknes]

Uh... I forgot this "cute" one in the dump...

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/girl002.jpg

[Sorknes]

Playing with the tablet again, so here's a WIP, I think I'm actually gonna finish this one... :)

Trying to get some colours right. He's gonna be a pale elf, but not that pale of course. :lol: Pretty amazed that I for the first time got the green in a face without it looking totally awful though. Have to see what I'm gonna do with the bg, played with different things, but nothing's clicked yet....

C&C welcome as alway, of course.

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/elfm001.jpg

[Sorknes]

Couldn't sleep, so here's me fiddling more with it...

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/elfm002.jpg

[Sorknes]

Sketching randomly during a thunderstorm, no puter available so back to normal traditional...

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/sket007.jpg

Playing more with the characters popping up on my sheet, fast and wrong on the tablet...

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/wil001.jpg

Trying to learn those darn skin tones, and I already know there's no way in hell I'll manage to get the light on the rest of it to even slightly match the oh so dangerous wood elf or whatever he is...

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/OGspear003.jpg

[Sorknes]

Oh well. Tried a new medium. I had this nice SB with coloured pages. And I finally realised I'd get nowhere without even trying.

So, I did some pencil and cretacolours. And man does it sucks. But it shows I try to master new mediums at least... I'm prolly gonna make my niece some nice all colourful drawing outta this. You can see where I got tired...

So baad.... but a new medium. Excuse the first one. I drew it in a flat table, and thought it was ok. Then I picked it up and saw it was loooong.... Guess that's another lesson on perception and what wrong working spaces can do for you.

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/lad001.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/sket008.jpg

[Daunting]

Very nice Sorknes. Like your fantasy subject matter eh. However a lot of your faces are drawn the same way... I'd suggest drawing a few faces from ref a little bit more. But I really like your rendering on that gun and that sword, that gun is just amazing very nice. Keep it up Sorky.

[DeNyed]

I really like the first pic of the womanish creature on april 18th..And your value and skill with the pencil is amazing. I did a portrait today that should be better for the eyes and making it better, i will have it up tomorrow though thanks for your cc.

[hurricane]

sorknes i agree with daunting, practise practise practise :P

the digital ones shows progress, is the background blur on purpose ?

cheers !

[Sorknes]

No blur in the background, just me adding sumfin quickly, so not done anything at all with any bg's except for some quick brush strokes....

Something I'm working on right now. Needed a break, heh.

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/gen001.jpg

Her left arm, on our right, is buggering the hell out of me at the moment.

[ManiakS]

Nice stuff but anatomy practice is what you should do now. Keep up

[MarkHarchar]

Hey Sorknes, the pics of the elf with your new tablet look really nice. I have to pick up of one those at some point. The blue girl's left arm..I think it is bothering you because in the position it is in I believe that the tip of the radius (lower arm bone) would be more pronounced at the bottom of her elbow. Plus, the forarm is highlighten from a different direction than the upper arm. Maybe that will shoot in the right direction.
Later

[Sorknes]

Worked a bit more on her....

She's gonna become a genie, so that's why she isn't particularily detailed below the hips, and also why she's missing legs at the moment.

Also, as this is something I do for a hobby project, I was asked to make her with some glowing eyes, but damn, me and glowing eyes didn't go too well together. So I have to find me some ref pics so I can see if I can find a roundabout...

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/gen002.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/full/studies/genhead001.jpg

[Slash]

I see progress darling! great work! I see you and your tablet are getting along, this last piece is getting pretty tight.

Try making just the iris and pupil glowy. that might look better than the whole eye. And i think it will look cooler with an aqua glow.

[Pesmerga]

You have a nice sketchbook :) A lot of cool sketches.

Can't wait to see it finished.

[WARHEAD]

Hi Sorknes, love some of your pencil stuff...how about seeing some more creature concepts ?? Really like the kanagroo thingy idea :P

[Tenelaus]

Heyhey, so much improvement going on here! Looks like you're getting better at showing 3d forms in that last picture, but there's a still some confusing spots - I don't really understand the lighting on the top of those shoulders, it makes them look like they've got a sorta 'rib' across the top edge. If that's supposed to be the collar bone, they should end before crossing so far over the deltoids.
I think those glowy eyes would look better if they had a bit more saturation, at the moment they're pretty dull.
Keep going, looking forward to seeing how you progress with this piece :)

[Sorknes]

Tons of time since last time, but anyway... Since I have net back again...

Sorry for not too much improvement, but I haven't worked much the last three months on drawings and tablet... Here goes anyway.

Both are WIP's.... First is start on a portrait of Norwegian comedian Zahid Ali, the other is free fantasy..... But wips, I know the beard looks glued on, and I know that the female is FAR from finished - just used about 1 1/2 hrs on her. Gonna see if I finish them soon. All comments appreciated though.

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/CA/Zah5.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/img/CA/Deb2.jpg

[Sorknes]

Nothing works today.

Worked on anatomy too, but my scanner disc is somewhere unknown, and since I have a borrowed puter, it won't work.... So just crappy attempts at digi faces posted.... Those skin tones are escaping me totally.

Did a lil on the woman posted yesterday, and then a really, really pale white guy... Needs more work, more work, more work. Like straightening out her eyes... If I can be bothered...

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/Deb4.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/Fab2.jpg

[Shin-Akuma]

Woah! lookin' good!
Zahid looks mighty pissed, and I've never seen him like that, but it sure does look just like him! :)

[Sorknes]

Woah! lookin' good!
Zahid looks mighty pissed, and I've never seen him like that, but it sure does look just like him! :)

The third one is supposed to be a guy we both should know who is too.. Fabrice... Ring a bell? :lol:

[Shin-Akuma]

hm.... It looks sorta like Galrim without glasses, but I would guess Morae? :D

[dCepT]

Good to see you updating, girl! Having fun with the wacom?
The blue one shows good control of values.. more stuff like that :)

Your progressing!

Keep it up!

d-C

[Sorknes]

Since nothing I've done so far today is close to be posted, I decided to post a version of Sudoku I made earlier.... Kinda fun. I need to redo those stones and make it look good one of these days...


http://sorknesart.com/game/game02.jpg

[Sorknes]

Another WIP.... dang, me and certain materials have a hard time together......

C&C apreciated, I'm stuck.

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/shieldB006.jpg

[pogy366]

... great job on the handgun. Very good.

[Sorknes]

Really, really out of it today, can't seem to do anything right. Was supposed to do a char or three, but ended up doing warm ups, speedies and mostly f*cking around all day.

Just gonna post one of them, since they all suck.

War wanted to stay in her room the rest of her life, and I said she'd had to get out as the ovaries started screaming. Biological clock is the worst monster out there. And I found the solution.

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/ov.jpg

[Sorknes]

Did some speedpainting today.... All are speed except the female elf (E1). As you can see, I got more hang of it on the troll (?) and the vampire than the shitty start on the genie. Oh well, you always learn. :) The elf need a lil finishing touch, of course.....

C&C appreciated, but I know the genie sucks all over. :blahblah:

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/E1.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/G1.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/T1.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/V1.jpg

[Sorknes]

Scanner still not working...

And me not up to anything on the tablet today, I just can't do anything but doodles and blah, heh. Did some update on the shield though, since I didn't manage to start anything serious. And posting a couple of the silly things I did today instead of doing anything worthwhile...

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/shieldB007.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/dood01.jpg

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/dood02.jpg

[Wetterschneider]

Good looking and colorful work! Suggestion - don't worry about making things smooth, let the strokes come to life. Try a 70-80% opaque hard edged brush in Photoshop or the equivalent and use color picking (alt key) to "blend". Also - don't worry about drawing every hair or strand of fur. It is an unnecessary waste of time and flattens the image. One more thing - let your strokes follow the contor of the object/figure - use them to define form and add color.

[fooxoo]

Good stuff, nice variety. Should do more anotomy and proportion studies. You re on the right path. All looks nice, I really like the shading! Cool stuff, keep it up and posted!

[MarkHarchar]

Hey Sorknes. I just about gave up on your thread when you weren't posting for a while. Thanks for stopping by my SB. I personally think your pencils are your strong point, but I understand the desire to master new mediums. Taking a line from the former "Madster", your paintings have been tending to "look like pudding". What I think is the problem is the total lack of hard lines. Someone posted a link in Gilead's SB that I think will help you.

http://www.sovek.com/publications/ar...edge/index.htm

[Sorknes]

Thanks you guys. :)

I'm realising that I'm actually having the exact same "You don't" problems with my PS stuff on tablet that I was earlier struggling with when I only used pencil. That's just weird. Maybe my brain's been thinking it's two different forms of crafts or something....

I finally managed to get the scanner up today, and things became radically changed when I could use one of my pencils as the background for my paintings...

Still working on this one, hoping to get it finished to this weeks COW. Don't have much time due to work though.

Got a set of nice comments already, and some help on the road further, but I'd love all C&C.

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/CC002.jpg

[MarkHarchar]

This is a much stronger piece than previous works you have posted. I see many more hard lines where they belong as opposed to the marked lack that I mentioned before. Your light source seems a bit inconsistent. Each area of the figure seems to bit lit from a different location. Some have front light, others have left side light and other have right side light. Take a look at that.

[Sorknes]

Too bloody tired to do any more with it now, so this was my final. The idea is just way too traditional, but at least I for once met a deadline, even though I'd wanted more time to fix stuff on it, heh. Time ran out too...

Can't wait to see if there'll be a topic I like for the next CC. Great practice. :)

http://www.sorknesart.com/avalog/CC1.jpg