Llothcat's Llayers of Llucidity updated 05/25ish/07

[llothcat]

and counting...
<sigh>

new stuff will be posted as soon as I get back into my apartment and set my systems back up:P


I'm just stuck with the laptop for now.

[llothcat]

another sketch...this one for Chow(maybe)

http://www.llothcat.com/devil.

no critiques yet?

[mull77]

Welcome to the sketchbooks!

I like the first one a lot. You seem to have most of the angles right, but i really can't tell what the crossbow is aiming at. Is it some sort of zeppelin? I'd love to see you have a go at colouring it.

[Subscribes]

[styler]

the first one doesn't seem to have a primary focus point, all around it's alright though, the 2nd one is nice...his head is huge though, but it looks like that was intended and that makes it interesting. keep posting

[llothcat]

bwah-ha-ha
http://www.llothcat.com/harpoon1.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/devil1.

[llothcat]

critiques?

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/ick.
i call my monster designs "icks". After a year, i'm still trying to figure painter out, so this particular sketch, fresh today, is good practice fodder, methinks.

[llothcat]

dammit i wanna be goo at speedpainting too..here's practice:
http://www.llothcat.com/speedpainttest.

[llothcat]

playing with the make-paper/chalk combo...
annnnnd carefully following the perspective rules:P
http://www.llothcat.com/zig.
my archetexual stuff needs as much work as my tech.....

[llothcat]

another speed painting...
environment is subject
http://www.llothcat.com/cloudcity.

[llothcat]

i think i better go back to penciling thing out first:P

[Azeira]

these are all rather rough, and the angles and perspetives are a little off in a few of the peices (remarking post #10 and #5). remember that everything has to be angled properly with the horizon. but, hey, your peices has a vibrancy that i think that usher in a very satisfying sketchbook, so keep working on it, and keep practicing a smoother technique for your paiting.

Cheers,

Woodruff

[llothcat]

Sorry i forgot to reply to you, But I get obessed sometimes...anyhow:

mull77: thankyou

styler: thanks..i need to work on my compositions, methinks. I jsut loose patience with pencils, and then say "good enough", w/o really playing with it like I should.

[llothcat]

thanks Azeira: I'm still trying to figure that part out w/o my pieces looking like fisher-price toys:D

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/charators.
playing with the chalk/paper and airbrush this time. One of these days I'll get hair to look right:yawn:

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/mystic.
a quickie..testingout new techniques from the meeting last night

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/mystic1.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/spp.
fiddling around with painter using the perspective grids.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/mystic2.jpg

[llothcat]

doodles..still playing with the painter brushes....my real doodles look about the same...
http://www.llothcat.com/doodles.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/market.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/wasp.jpg
I htink I stubled upon a better way of working with painter..so that I'm not fighting it all the time.

[Zord]

llothcat, cool to see you working in digital. There's lots of creativity in the sketches. One thing though, I wouldn't mind seeing some sketches in more traditional media, pencil, pen, etc. But other then that, keep updating this thing man. :)

[llothcat]

actually..my best sketches seem to start out in pencil..doing straight digital things is just beyond my abilities...though I do keep trying.

[pisc99]

Love your work,seen some of your pices on C.O.W. and E.O.W. Great and very inovative work, but i think that you can do much better.

[llothcat]

i think you're right..so I am working on it:D

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/mystic4.jpg
still, it's looks cartoony

[llothcat]

annnnnd a quick little still life...i fear my skills are getting rusty due to this new media thing....
http://www.llothcat.com/basics.

basically, I choose something in my room and drew it as I saw it, straight into the 'puter. So, quality is possible...must have patience.....

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/escape.jpg
a quickie..had an idea and just went with it. Sometimes these things are happy accidents.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/bgpractice.jpg

[llothcat]

i think i'll be doing enviroments for a while..it's embarassing just how bad my backgrounds turn out.

[Azeira]

lol, well, practice makes perfect llothcat. the more you work, the better you will become. dont be afraid of the critiques of others. were here to help.

nice new work by the way. a bit along the same roughness, but atleast your starting to intigrate your characters with various forms of environment. gives them a good sense of personality and mood.

Woodruff

[llothcat]

thanks:D

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/test.
http://www.llothcat.com/test1.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/citytest.jpg

[Azeira]

getting better. glad to see youvce smoothed out your strokesa bit. though, there are some perspective issues with this latest peice. one in particular is the bridge(?) standing over the lower bridges/street/walkway. though at first it seems alright, it looks as if its right side is facing the opposite direction from where it should be, which is towards us. keep it up.

Woodruff

[llothcat]

as stuggested by dogfood..doing daily studies of random pictures from the web...http://www.llothcat.com/facestudy.j

i think i better invest in a ruler..that bridge bugs me, too. Better yet, a t-square.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/bugs.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/cavething.
ok fine..a pencil sketch

[BAKI]

hey love the bug collection
lets see some more freestyle sketches

[SirGreenSock]

Jeez man do you ever slow down? :p
No, but seriously, you work fast and work a lot. Like the work you're producing.
Really like your environment work, wanna see more traditional stuff like earlier in the thread.
Keep it up!

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/wreck.
Thanks for the comments:D

I think this was inspired in part because of tonight's failed taffy experiment. I was defeated by sugar, and almost caught my kitchen on fire:P

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/main/airbrush.
inspired by the william b hand..man I wish I could airbrush that good....

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/scratchtool.
this is what the scratch tool does when you play with the opacity. I think I'm onto something here....

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/charcoal.jpg
didn't post anything for a while because I had to redo my website. I kinda hit the delete button on my index page when I was aiming for one of my earlier, terrible painter experiments....oops. The redo looks better than the original, imo. First time I did a flash based menu combined with a bit o php trickery.

And, the pages actually match!

[llothcat]

:yayca: aw heck..some creatures
http://www.llothcat.com/creatures.
all to protect myself from the dreaded brainfart....

[lemur]

Ahoy there! Ilothcat when I looked through your skecthbook I felt smthng similar to my own progress. (Although you are much too better than me, both in terms of color and line) You keep drawing from mind and so all your characters have that idealized cartoonish look you like. I also have that very same problem(?). Even when I work from referances it turns out to be similar to my cartoonish chars because I drew them for such a long time. My advice is that; while working always speak to your self. Do not draw from your memory always ask, questions like; Hımm I put one eye here and the other should be one eye lenght apart from this one. Use your mind not memory while drawing. Anyway who am I to give advice, I still suffer from the same problems. (Maybe they are not problems anyway)

[llothcat]

um..ok...thanks.
When I work from references, I tend to not like the picture as much. I get bored and inevitablly begin doodling anyway.

anyhow..my new composition..to be painted when I have the time..maybe tomorrow.
http://www.llothcat.com/alien.

I will master painter dammit!

[llothcat]

i really have got to use rulers:P

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/santa1.
A quickie using the gouche brush...i think it came out ok.

[llothcat]

smooth out colors....
http://www.llothcat.com/tenticles.

well sorta...

[llothcat]

update of the last few days of doodling
http://www.llothcat.com/work/doodle1.

http://www.llothcat.com/work/doodle2.

http://www.llothcat.com/work/doodle3.
and all this does not protect me from having brainfarts...thusly:
http://www.llothcat.com/work/brainfart.

[Hyver]

Good show, i'm amazed by the progress you're making here. no crits right now, you seem to be on the right track. remember that contrast is the key ;)

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/chimney. the c.o.w. for this week..i was lasy...

actual picture looks more like this:
http://www.llothcat.com/work/chimney1.

[llothcat]

old sketch when i was bored..the live sketch group already sawit..i call it the hamster camel:
http://www.llothcat.com/work/beast.jpg

[Kronos]

hey, thanks for the post in my sketchbook!, you're the first!!!

WOW, i'm really REALLY impressed by your improvment of this sketchbook, its amazing, i was going to say you could work on the clarity of your line and blending....but you seen to have addresed that issue about two thirds through!

your environments (i'm pathetic at environments, but if you ceep working on them, they'll be a really good compliment to your characters) are coming along very well and i love you characters, especially your buggs....

one thing i have noticed is that you haven't used too many interesting perpectives, try a high or low angle to create a more dynamic picture, your c.o.w is close to a "low angle" (that is looking up from the ground).....

anywayz, hope this helps, and i'm looking forward to the whole SSG thing!:teeth:

[llothcat]

one thing at a time...i had to re-teach myself perspective like 5 times to far. I want to make sure I got it down this time so I don't have to go back at it again....:D

[llothcat]

I also have to gear up for upcoming art shows in the comicbook/sci fi/fantasy convention circuit...so i will be churning out junk, and filtering out the best for those shows. wish me luck.....

[SillyLing]

Krono basically addressed to what I was going to say.

The last painting bothers me. In your paintings (not just that) it would be sort nice if you bounced the colors around alittle bit. Like the red from the tentcancles into the walls. =/ Where is the light source in the room? The shadows are It should show. In some places, there are either none or the shadows are just randomly put there. WHERE IS THE BLUE COMING FROM? If it's another light source on the out side, you should put some blue in the walls.

Contrast is the key. Don't worry about putting darker colors in the painting. ^_^ black, dark brown and etc. =/ It'll help with the dramatic-ness.

I'm outtie. xP

[Hanuka]

hey there,
i think your creatures and especially your bugs are very, very good. i also like your use of perspective in the first and last enviro (idw-roof and christmas-tentacles).

on to the cons:
i don't like your use of custom brushes and/or textures in some of these (for example the first two of Nov25th and the second enviro of Nov 27th). it can lead to an incoherent and random look (especially when you use textured highlights as on your "mortimer" - who is well done besides that). also textures like those often flatten the image. i find it hard to apply textures and custom brushes myself in an effective manner, that actually improves my image - definitely one of the reasons i don't work with painter... it seduces me to use 'em ;)

[Steinmetz]

I like the shading in your drawings, it gives them character in my opinion. Keep it up! everyone else seems to have pointed out the weaknesses in your pictures so post up something new soon for me to crit, cheers teammate!

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/chimney2.
so, the shadows on the wall should reflect a little of the color of the object, right? Like this?

I also changed the color of the light in the bottom..I know I took a shortcut when doing this piece. I was trying for a local uplight effect, and the rest of the area would have "normal" lighting...like from above, just for shorthand rendering. I know this makes no sense.

[llothcat]

Sillyling: You made me re-look at the image and you're right. update is up, but i'm not sure if i got it right this time. I do take too many shortcuts in these things.

hanuka..thanks for noticing that..i do tend to overdo my love of textures. no matter what program i use, i tend to find out how to do this weirdo "stamp" (the photoshop version of the effect) sort of thing. The trick is to figure out when it's a good time to use em. obviously, i haven't figured that out just yet..weeeeeee!

steinmetz..thanks!

[SillyLing]

I think you should add more green to the wall and less red. Since the light source is green, not red? I'm assuming this cause of the shiney area on the monster is green and the edge of the frame is green.

If I was you. I would use only one light souce for this picture which is the light coming up towards the monster cause the room lighting distacts the monster to the room itself. =/

(added: the picture. it's probaby not all of the problems to it.. If there are 2 light source some of the shadows needs to be muted.)

http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/9797/thedit1hf.jpg
Keep working on it! I really like this picture alot. ^_^

[tullie]

Hihi, thanks for the crit in my sb, I re-did that padme picture, ill post it tomorrow. I like your concepts, they are very creative. Do you have a bug collection? I used to have loads of little model bugs. its a cute thing to draw. But i like they way you pianted those little pictures.
your digital painting is good, the colour and lighting is pretty sound. I think making the pictures less smudgy would anhance them./m\

[Kronos]

hey man..... i am assuming your a man, i don't know for sure.....

anywayz, hey man, i think you should stick with this image for a while, what Silly Ling is saying is very true, make those improvments and the picture will look very dramatic! on the subject of lighting, here is a FREAKIN AWESOME thread i stumbled across, http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=53517

its all on lighting and colour theory and how colours reflect onto each other....heavy.... i've only looked at it so far but plan to participate when i work up the nerve..... thats what i wanna work on at the mo

anywayz, your going great, don't stop.... not that your showing any sign of that, but.....just in case

[llothcat]

sillyling: thanks ...i think i'm running out of time for the weekly entry thing though. Originally, i cropped it, just so the background wouldn't distract. Didn't work though.

tullie: nope, no bug collection here...just the use of a scribbling technique in pencil to whip up some though. Coming up with ideas is the hardest part, it seems.

kronos: I'm female:D Thanks for the link. Looks like i've a bunch of re-learning to do. This is stuff that was covered waaaaaayyy back in my physical painting class--maybe i'd didn't pay as close attention as i thought.

[llothcat]

may as well give the update:
http://www.llothcat.com/work/chimney3.
also, something from the bottom o the harddrive..it's a total mess in terms of lightsource issues..it was more for fun than for planning
http://www.llothcat.com/work/unicorn.

[Kronos]

BLAAAAAHHHH!!! :bashful: heh, sorry, shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion :dur:

so, yeah, your creature of the week is lookin cool, lighting is so DAMN HARD!!!! >:| >:{ , there is just so much knowledge you have to absorb :dead:

anywayz, don't work on it so much that it feels like a chore....

one thing you could do to explain the green light source is have a bunch of christmas lights on the floor or something. Also to darken the rest of the room a little, you could always just try fiddling with the lighting effects filter in PS. i don't know if you knew this but after you apply a filter, you can go edit>fade "lighting effects"....or whatever filter you just applied. A handy tip i just learnt a while ago :^^:


EDIT: AHHHH!!!, the smiley's, SO MANY SMILEY'S!!!!

[hurricane]

great dedication !

great images and as Kronos said light can be tricky

cheers !!

[SillyLing]

I agree with what Krono said. Making the room a little bit darker. It'll bring out the monster abit.

I'm still keeping watch. ^^;

[Kicek]

all i can say is that i like your stuff, your characs more than your enviros. I think im not in the position to give some helpful crits here.
i´ll definitely keep watching...

chris

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/chimney4.jpg

hmmm.it's a little better

[tullie]

Nice reworking llothcat, I really like how the picture merges into darkness at the back of the room, really adds more depth.
With some of the other shadows removed, it looks a lot cleaner and more 3d. Great luminous effect as well, really draws the eyes in. The monster has a slightly transparent look to it, thats so cool.

I wish I could be more helpful with colour theory and lighting, but I have never studied it. I like what I see though.

[SillyLing]

WHOA. COOL. xD That lighting change was effective! I think it's one of your best painting so far.

It's LOOKS alot better then the ones before it.

I see things that could be changed. =/ Making the monster alittle bit sharper by defining it's edges at bit.

http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/6529/chimmyfixing7tp.jpg

[Kronos]

hey llothcat, i agree with everything that SillyLing has said, including the huge improvement :tihi:

i realize working step by step on this piece may seem a little tedious, but i hope you are learning a lot as you go..... you've certainly pushed this image to a much further level than all the other stuff in your SB and you should be proud.....

like SillyLing said, keep pushing those shadows on the monster, getting a bigger contrast of value

personally i think you could make the red and blue reflections on the wall a little more subtle, and a little tighter to the monster ( there is a bit of a glow before the shadow from not getting right to the edge of the tentacles....)

i hope this is somewhat comprehendible, i just kinda rambled it off


your doing some fantastic work, well done!!!

[llothcat]

Tullie & Sillylig:Thanks! Cantcha tell that color photography is where i was weakest in school?

well..with your help, I got as far as i could for the c.o.w this week. I'm afraid there's no more time to put into the image for the competition. But I will do those adjustments when I have the time.

Kronos: That's what the sketchbook is for! This is nothing less than what I expected when I signed up for a sketchbook on these boards. I would rather be focusing on a single piece to get it the best it can be, than doodle...well, in this case anyhow:D

Hurricane:yay! got a post from you! and thanks for the encouragement.
kicek: Thanks!

I'm gonna do the E.O.W this week, and maybe the results will be even better:D Europa happens to be one of my favorite moons in the solar system...i gota brainstorm a bit before posting something though.

[Steinmetz]

I wanna see something original, come on get creatin' !

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/chimney5.jpg
that bottom of the chimney is why you really shouldn't collapse layers on your original file:P
ah well, I tried.

[Kronos]

YAY!!! that looks SO much better, the sharp shadows especially, one last little iddy biddy thing i could say, is to maybe make the green glow on the wall a little bit more "white" at the base of the glow, in your reflections on the monster, they go to a white, so you should keep consistent and hint that the light is actually quite intense..... I hope your happy with the amount of progress you have made on this piece, i sure am :teeth:

[llothcat]

yes i am quite happy with the piece...it is the best i've done so far in painter. At one time, i was thinking of tossing out the program, but i kept it and strugged with it for the past year, i decided to keep it afterall, due to the fighting it. As for the light trick...duh, i shudda seen that one:P

anyhow, sketches for the europa thing, i already favor one of them.
http://www.llothcat.com/work/europa.jpg
this one was kinda inspired by the interior of a gourd..i think this is what all the cracks on the moon's surface splinter into all the way down...to possible liquidy warmness

http://www.llothcat.com/work/europa2.jpg
this one i was thinking of a limestone cave-like interior..it's not quite as interesting as the gourd idea. More possiblities for color though.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/chimney6.jpg
talk about working by comittee:P:nohope:

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/europa1.jpg
well.been working on this for a few hours..i need a break..then i'll take a look at it again to see if i still like it.

[Kronos]

* eyes explode!!! * wow, thats wicked!!!, very very nice!!!

ok, i'll try and critique it as best i can :tihi: . first off is the orange section actually orange or is that light from what i assume is lava? when you get the chance it would be good to clean up all your edges a little make them more crisp. i really like the part receding into darkness, just as an idea you could try darkening the "bridges" (for lack of a better word) as they recede.....?

i like how your eye is drawn to the darkness aswell, if that is the focal point you want, you might try adding some more detail in there too keep the viewer looking longer

I really like this concept, a lot, you've done a great job :teeth: just push it further!!!


EDIT: just in case your not pleased with this piece and are willing to start from scratch again, i really liked in your early blue one, the curvyness of the walls, this one has a more straight vertical. if you were trying to go for the "giant kravis(spelling?)" kind of look, i think you should move the eye level way higher and looking down to give a sense of hight.....

[llothcat]

looking at it now...i can see that i will likely have to take out a bridg or two, and correct an angle. i will try to sharpen it, as you mentioned..

[Kronos]

hey llothcat,

whoops i didn't even notice the last update of the chimney until just now...its perfect!!!!!!......no hang on.......ONE MORE THING :dur:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a173/stupidsoup/chimney6.jpg

the shadows here, i just quickly added them, shouldn't take you long at all :^^: :tihi: :teeth:


your environment is looking much more interesting.....i actually can't figure out what you did but it really is looking better, all your reflections and specular highlights are very nice

keep at it

[llothcat]

This one looks better now:
http://www.llothcat.com/work/europa3.jpg


hookay..i'll redo the shadow on the other one..lol

[Kronos]

ooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaah...... NO CRITICISM!!!

ok, well maybe you could make the light source more obvious at the top of the page, you kind of have to look around to figure out why the right wall is in shadow

other than that....... NO CRITICISM!!!!!

i like..... i like very much

[llothcat]

i freely admit that the lighting is in no way accurate:D

[Kronos]

wow, your fast to respond......wow, i am too?

no i think your lighting really isn't that far off, just play around with the thing in the sky, if that is brighter it might be more instantly readable......or something.....


hey i just noticed your sketchbook is near 1000 views, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[guggemmaneuver]

Hey llothcat--

i'm liking those really surreal, acid trippy environments. I'd like to see some of that bright orange in the foregrounds reflect onto the bottom of those bridges(? not sure that's what they are?). when people talk about reflected light it doesn't necessarily mean that it changes the value completely. on the textural side, you've got things that are really rough textured, and things that are smooth, other things are really shiny. The last will reflect the reflected light in a very saturated way, things that are matte will take it on much less so.

Keep up the great work friend.

joel

[SillyLing]

BLAH. that last picture looks... really good. Just bring out the changes that krono pointed out. ^^;

Anyways. Just some thoughts. I think it's awesome.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6537/surealfixjpg3is.jpg

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/europa4.jpg
took out the bulge..it was looking like a penis. What a distraction...also sharpened up the lower area a bit..the top will have to stay as is..it is supposed to be under miles of ice, afterall.

[Steinmetz]

damn this is some in depth critiquing! I guess everything has been covered, although it is hard to make out what the images at the very top of the picture are

[llothcat]

Steinmetz, kronos, sillyling, and guggen: thanks again for the help..it's re-devoloping my eye for these things. Maybe this time will be the charm?

what i see in my picture is a lack of compostion, mostly, but my eye seems to move in a kind of wacky figure-eight, so guess it'll do. Composition will be a problem to tackle in another piece. It'll be too hard to re-do this one over it.

yay! my environments are improving! I feel like i back in high school...that's all we did, ever.

[tullie]

You so good at environments. Few crits; in your latest environment it needs a little more defining. Especially at the top, as its hard to see whats going on.
More details could have been given to the side of the walls- they come across as a little neglected, poor walls! Lastly, maybe the snow/ice could be made to look more uneven/natural by having some orange reflected on it.

Love the contrast between the top half and the bottom half, you did a really good job with all those oranges.

[SillyLing]

:tihi:

Awesome. Hm.... As a forcusing point. I say focus the bottom draw in the details and ect.... then as it move up it get out of forcus. The problem I feel is.... some thing are more focused then others all over the place. There's no one area that's just forcused. blah. It's hard to explain.


Just remember that. Nothing is really white, Nothing is really black either. White reflects colors. Black absorbs colors. In other words, the ice really bothers me. >.< it should be reflecting some colors, blue, blues greys, orange, It can not be totally white. Hah. What I'm saying probably makes no sense at all. xD

[llothcat]

blah..it also printed up way darker than i imagined..ok..i'll have to adjust it a bit..but tomorrow.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/dragons.jpg
i rewarding myself with doing charators fer getting at least one of my environments looking decent:D

which one ya like?

[SillyLing]

5 looks cool. o_O

I can't character design either. BLAH! I sux at eviroments! xD

It's looking better. Althought I think you need an orange tint to the ice or whatchama call it at the top. =)

[Kronos]

hey llothcat, nice to see you are doing some more of those character ideas:^^: FUNNNNNESSSS!!!

i like 5 aswell...but 2 and 3 are nice two, i think its the pose in 5 that makes i stand out, it's like it's swooping down on it's prey or something


keep it comin'

EDIT: BOOHYA!!! 100th reply!!!

[tullie]

Um, me likes No. 8, but 5 also looks cool because of the movement and it has a cute nose. :D

[shyamshriram]

Cool SB dude...u've got some interseting style :) some cute feeling is there :)

Thanx for sharing ! :D

[llothcat]

thanks..these are just the beginning...it's a kind of brainstorming technique.
son far, number 5 is winning. I'll give it another day before starting.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/dragon.jpg

[Kronos]

funky......:confident

i assume you are going to work on it some more? if so because of the way its claws are positioned, why not stick some poor little creature in there:tihi:, just an idea... its looking really good, take it further

[llothcat]

sure thing...it needs color though..kinda bland right now

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/dragon.jpg

[Kronos]

:D , aaaaawwwwwww man, that made my day, very very nice

it reminds me of "gremlins"......awesome



ummmm, add some more definition in the lighting, try bringing the dragons head forward with darker shadows, also i have to say he looks kinda stoned.... make him look really fierce

the gremlin-bunny is not integrated perfectly, just the lighting.....

and try playing around with some colour variation on the dragons skin, the red is same-ish all over

me likes, keep going

[llothcat]

playing with the lighting...maybe shodows will do it?

http://www.llothcat.com/work/dragon1.jpg

[SillyLing]

Lol. Atm.... All I can think what's wrong is.... The wabbit needs to be furrier! =/ Just take a same brush and go over with the rabbit and detail him...

Also it doesn't seem that the dragon is actually flying either.
[edit]
Normally people assco... the dragon's wings as bats. It's something you should consider using for ref as flying.
http://www.bat.ru/image/bat.gif



I'll probably butcher it up later... O_o;

[sabe2003]

hahaha that last one rocks!

[Steinmetz]

You've got mid tone and the dark areas well defined on the dragon but I'd like to see some brighter highlights rather than just light orange, This might improve it alot or it might not! worth trying though. Also I wanna see some more struggling on the behalf of the rabbit. lol

[Kronos]

mkay, i like the improvments.... just keep worin' on it

i just had a little play...... i don't know if you'll get anything usefull out of it.....i agree with the wings(mine are SUPER CRAP).....BLAH i'm hopped up on pinaple, i just ate a whole one if you believe that:blahblah: :$
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a173/stupidsoup/dragon1.jpg

[llothcat]

hmmm.intereseting..you've just proved, once again, that i have much to learn

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/dragon1.jpg


http://www.llothcat.com/bunny.jpg
the bunny kinda get muddied up at smaller sizes, but just to prove i got the fur on him, here he is!

[Kronos]

SHADOWS SHADOWS SHADOWS SHADOWS SHADOWS SHADOWS SHADOWS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but seriously, the wings are lookin good, i think you should do the eyes like i did, but thats just me..... the bunnys cool :)

[SillyLing]

Just some ideas.... =/ Anyways It's not your recent picture with the new wings . >.<; It's the post 110... one since that was the last post I saw. >.<; I guess it's the effort that counts. =/ I played around with the shadows a bit and a darker background. :P

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c19/foomble/drangonedit.jpg


http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c19/foomble/dragon1cool.jpg

[llothcat]

ok..messege clear about the shadows. I think i better do a overkill from now on with them, and just back off a bit when it's too much.

anyhow, update is there..overkilled with the shadows, or not far enough?

[Kronos]

heh, yeah a little overkill, but a little overkill never killed anybody....?

having said that, there is still not much shadow on his face or anything....
i was in the mood for overkill too, so you should be able to tell what i did pretty clearly ;) and again, ANGERY!!! you have to be angry to even be contemplating killing something so cute and fluffy!
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a173/stupidsoup/dragon1-1.jpg

*insert usual words of encouragement here*

[llothcat]

lol..ok..will do:D

[SillyLing]

Dragon: You're going to be my new pet.
Bunny: OMG he's gonna eat me....
Dragon: hmm.... what shall I call you!
Bunny: nnnoo..... He's gonna name me and then eat me....
Dragon: I got it it! I shall call you fluffy!
Bunny: Mommy. T.T Help mee...... I'm gonna be eaten.

I like the face expression that krono's did. o_O; It'll bring out the presonallity,

[llothcat]

lol..thanks! too funny


omg 3 pages now..this is the longest i've ever done a thread:D

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/silkscreen.
just to prove i have not been completely unproductive this weekend...tadaaa, my first silk screen outside of the print class. I t prints pretty good too, though i have to do a completely clean print on a tshirt. The ink really sneaks up on you.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/tick.
my cow for this week. shudda done the eow first, but i don't think i'll have time. Anyhow, for this one I used the same technique as with the dragon piece. my scanner was down, so I had t sight transfer it to the 'puter. I'll scan in the rest of the critters as soon as i can.

[Kronos]

funky, i like how you've used focus to draw atention to the spiders face, and the white teeth really stand out:wink:

no crits really, perhaps maybe, possibly a little more variation in colour could have been nice, but i like it!

[Recursive_End]

Cool stuff!
Its interesting how you gave depth to that spider, and i really like its legs :)
That dragon you did is great, really like the faces
Sorry i dont have a lot to crit for the moment, just keep posting :)

[evildisco]

That spider thingie is pretty cool, what you could do to give it a more "chitinous" feel is use a smaller harder brush to detail things like the joints, the limbs closer to us and the face. The white is somewhat distracting and out of place so IMO you should mute it down.

Thanks for the welcome.

[llothcat]

working on it..i'm also adding some color, to see how it would work

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/valhalla.
just in time, i came up with the idea i just HAD to do. I crack me up:D

[SillyLing]

o.O No one commented on this picture yet!? It's been there for a while too...

There's probably something wrong with my computer or something! =/ So far I've viewed it on two different computers. >_<' One seems darker then the other.

It's not finished yet. =/

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/2528/valhalla1iq.jpg

[tullie]

hihi, oo lots of updates. Latest picture: with the building the left section should probably be perfectly straight and horizontal - no tilt to it. Looks like the building is slipping down the hill, hehe :). Also the perspective looks a little off on this section of building.

The stadium at the bottom off the page looks a little off. Maybe the bottom end should be made a little higher, so it all fits in the picture, I think the perspective would work better that way. But don't quote me on that.

The trees could use more variation in greens and dark greens to make them look more bushy and natural.

Great concept.

[llothcat]

Again with the excuses:D

sillyling..ah-ha! so that's what needed to be done. will do it on the next one..that one was a lark, due to last-minute-idea-itis. No ref other than the motel down the street :rolleyes:

tullie:thanks:D the perspective on the piece IS really screwy. no ruler with me that day i did it. worse..didn't notice jsut how BAD it was until is got to the "overkill" stage.(AKA where i add shadows)

newpiece:
http://www.llothcat.com/lady.
my best hands so far, and my worst plate:P yep, she's lopsided too.

[Kronos]

WOW, this is definitely one of your best yet (technically) i'm really impressed, i would work on it some more (i'm sure you were going to anyway). As always some more shadows would be nice, not darker, just a few places they should come up, like on her necklace, under her hands..... ah what the hell i'll do a quick paint over.....

there really wasn't much i did, you've got it pretty close i think, i wasn't too sure where the real light source is coming from, there are a few highlights in random spots, try be consistent..... the hair in particular, i really like the face btw, its very nicely done :)
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a173/stupidsoup/lady-llothcat.jpg

can't wait to see this completely finished!

P.S. can you tell what i've done when i do these? tell me if i should make it more clear by circling it out or something....

[dfacto]

Good stuff in here Lloth. The last one is especially good, although it needs work on the lighting.

Also, the valhalla pic doesn't look right to me. I can see what you're trying to do with the stairs, but the perspective on the buildings just isn't playing along atm. The arena in front also doesn't look very convincing. I think you need to rework the perspective in that a bit to clear up those problems.

[Recursive_End]

Everything is said about the EOW.
For the last one, try getting a ref for the hands, its might help alot. :)
Keep it up

[llothcat]

so, I can't do a thing with then newest picture..dam that bug in the Gimp.. the psd file got eaten, so the detailing i wanted to do can't be done:P I'm stuck with a 72 dpi file, yuck.

kronos: yes, i've see what you're talking about..Kinda like the tenticle picture earlier, it's still a weakness.

as for the valhalla pic..it's too late..i should take the thing down. From the feedback in this sketchbook, I know I still need work on perspective. I also still need work on light and shadowing in painting, not to mention anatomy(darn those comic book physics..) I will be practicing...

This is but a small setback.:^^;:

[evildisco]

That ChOW pic has a nice velvet texture going on the dress, not too crazy about the skin tones though, too desaturated for my taste. As for the hands they are decent, I don't see any major problem with them, just clarify the position of the fingers that's all.
Keep it up.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/doodle1_15.jpg
i was supposed to be working on anatomy today. I started out that way anyhow...the girl here shows that(she's from some tv commercial). My brain sorta wandered off on a tangent.

Also..discovered that my hosting provided charged me extra$ this months due to bandwidth usage, so...that means i gotta remove some old remote images. The DSG is gonna be a nightmare to do that to:P

[tullie]

Cool, you drew that girl from a TV commercial, that's pretty good. And with pen, thats even better, lol.

[Kronos]

wow, that last sketchbook page it freakin cool! :)

the girl and the mouth monster are both really nice! sorry to hear about the lady painting......:(

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/seaside.jpg
my maybe contribution to this week's EOW..i kinda went a little crazy on this, and i actually did 3 different versions before i settled with this one. does it look alright or am i missing something?

kronos: I agree with you about the cliff and the waves. I liked the moon idea, so I redid one.
http://www.llothcat.com/seaside1.jpg

[Kronos]

cool concept and i like the limited palette..... however, when it comes to architecture, it always looks better with very clear crisp lines. most of the lines here are just to freeform.....also the waves don't really look very good......at all, they bring the piece down a lot, and the moon in the bg looks like a giant cookie. the lights and stuff coming from the building is nice but a little flat and pale, try increasing the intensity of them somehow. and one other thing, the scribbly texture for the top of the cliff faces on the left doesn't work, its the only texture like it and sticks out

i like the blue shadows rather then black, they help with the mood, keep going it looks good :)

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/seaside2.jpg
got inspired by hurricane's entry and went "duh, that's how waves are done"
like it?

[Recursive_End]

Really nice :)
Maybe making the sky a bit darker.
Anyway, nice job on the waves!!

[Kronos]

HAHA! enormous improvement! yeah i agree, it would be nice to see the sky quite dark, and get the sense the moon it the light source......

plus, i repeat my comment about the artificial lights, more saturated or something

nice stuff, really a lot better

[SillyLing]

I really don't like light coming out of the house. I agree on making the making the light more saturated. Since light does not act in that way with it's getting out of the house. =/ I really find it's detracting.

Pretty much that all that need to say has been said.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/franzetta.jpg
coutesy of the sketch group last night...after the franzetta book was passed around by fukifino...

[evildisco]

The last sketch is pretty nice, as for the enviros, not too crazy about them. The main problem I see is that they seem to lack grid planning or at least some sort of previous plan(not sure though). They look as if made at the spur of the moment, my advice, instead of tackling things from your head right now you should get some landscape ref and do that until you can nail it. Might not sound interesting but you can learn a whole lot that way.
Keep it up.

[Recursive_End]

Nice, don't really understands what's going on behind the guy. And his left leg could use a bit of foreshortening :)
But its overall really nice, try getting a bit more values.

[fukifino]

That tree in the background is pretty hot.

[llothcat]

evildisco:arrrrgh..! not again..!

ok..i'll get back to it:P

Recusive_end, fukifino: Thanks:D

[Kronos]

hey, how are you miss slack slackity slack slack!

update NOW!!!!

ok, kind of kidding, if you've got other things going on obviously thats fine, but i really want to see more sketches and stuff from you, like the good old days :P

[llothcat]

sorry about not posting..i've been kinda buried in errands these past 2 weeks. One of them being a coloring job for a friends comic book proposal. It's kinda taking longer than I thought. I sucha a slug:P

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/testtube.jpg
going back to the daily "grind" I trying to focus more on "completing" pieces.


I also have one in progress that's too big to fit on my widdle scanner. The techique just begs to be used on larger surfaces. It's pencil, btw, run through gimp's levels, but not very cleanly this time.

I'm also getting involved in a MMORPG. Texturing models...we'll see just how well I can do this.

[Kronos]

the perspective isn't 100% right, but its quite a challenge you've taken on and i think you've pretty well (better than i could hope to do :P )

....and yeah, the levels are a bit extreme, was it an auto-levels kinda thing because that can usually screw the picture up a lot.... i suggest trying to keep most of the greys still intact

btw, saying your scanner is too small is a pretty lame excuse for not showing us the whole picture, just scan it in a couple sections and put it back together in gimp

anyway, good to see you posting something again, make sure you post the MMORPG textures aswell, keep it up :)

[llothcat]

ok..doodle time

http://www.llothcat.com/test/doodle.jpg


kronos: thanks for the critique...i think the key to this kind of perspective is to avoid distortions. i almost managed it this time...and it's waaaay better than the last time i tried it.

[llothcat]

gahhh..I tired of texturing right now. I can't share it either:P Not until they get the game up and running, or they go out of business. It's portfolio fodder too.

[llothcat]

trying a new technique on an old piece...'member this?

http://www.llothcat.com/work/alientown.jpg

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/Entry1.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/entry2.jpg

see any weaknesses? I'm getting all glazy eyed. I think it turning out to be a personal best:D

[Kronos]

wow! thats pretty impressive, well done indeed. the only thing i would comment on is the ground plane, it doesn't feel in perspective with the rest of the picture, (tilted up?) and as a result the guys feet aren't positioned on the ground too convincingly.... fix that and be proud! :D

[Recursive_End]

Well, long time no see :)
That last pic looks very good. Its a pretty big leap forward. The only thing that bugs me, kronos already said it. :)
SO, good work anyway ;)

[llothcat]

ze glaze cleared for but a moment..then it reglazed again.
http://www.llothcat.com/work/entry3.jpg

originally it was supposed to have a giant moon in the background(that's what the circular thing is in the pencil sketch--stupid scanner isn't that sensitive)..should I put it in, or is this enough?

[llothcat]

welp..i've had HS art classes(as a substitute teacher, for those who don't know) these past two days, and I was so utterly bored. I've got two pages done of skeleton studies, a page of hand studies, as well as 2 doodles of assignments I gave to the students who said they were finished with "all" their work--usually a lie to goof-off, or whatever..:rolleyes:

Doodle#1: Draw a Dragon
Doodle #2: Draw 2 people hiding in a cave from a giant robot

The students didn't even try the assignments, but at least they didn't toss spit balls in my direction:D

I suck at playing teacher.

[TheGnoll]

hi, nice stuff here, llothcat ;)

the last pic looks nice, quite dynamic too, but i don't like the background (i would have tried something different, and maybe a different lightning (maybe from below, like a fire or something).

Not exactly convinced with the grund either, looks kinda weird to me, you should experiment with something else, this one looks like it's "twisting" or something...then maybe add some texture...anyway, nice stuff :D

[llothcat]

Sorry, I couldn't change the bg much in the last one--the deadline was upon me. Anyhow, I managed to beat the competition with it, in spite of the flaws. I'm still struggling with anatomy, alas. Any how, again. I went to a sketch meet last night--I was the only one who showed(figures). This is one of the things I came up with while sipping my mocha.
http://www.llothcat.com/girl.jpg

started as a pencil sketch, obviously, and finished up in painter. I actually did it mostly with the oils tool, building up the glazes, ect. What a pain, but i think the result is good.

[llothcat]

aw screwit..some models i'm texturing.(I'm not under a NDA anyway)
http://www.llothcat.com/work/nmg.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/fmg.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/manticorefashion.JPG
Texturing is tricky. I know I have a long way to go. 3 and 4 of the manticore were redone/tossed out. Good thing too, since i did them really quick, w/o thinking much about them. I just wanted to see how goofy it would look.

[Recursive_End]

Wow, those models looks great!
Nothing to say on that side.
On the last painting you did, give some smotther lines. Make her a bit more feminin side. Looking at the shoulder and the arm. Also make some contrast with the shading. I dont really see from where the light comes from.
Anyway, your progressing pretty well, so keep going :)

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/newcelego.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/newmino2.jpg
learned a new techinque in texturing models:the texture map!
I had no idea how important it was. The models up to were pre-texture map..these are post-texture map. I'm sucha noob.

[asoir]

haha, great low polys.
agreeing with recursives crits.

[llothcat]

thanks for the crits-
right now, the file is buried as i learn a new skill. I did pencil sketches today for this first time in like a week, using the 3ch tool(man that stuff's too funny). Will post as soon as i can.

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/work/werewolf.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/victorian.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/steamyfight.jpg
eh..I tried at spead painting--i still suck at it
http://www.llothcat.com/work/rubics.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/sneakybot.jpg

[asoir]

nice update, the scans are a little hard to read, but no worries. keep trying speedies, they'll get better over time, and work on anatomy! *being hypocritical again hehe, i gotta get studying dammit!*

[Recursive_End]

Yes, good work :)
Though try adding more values in your works. Give depth and highlights.
And keep drawing !!!
:)

[llothcat]

I just need to paint. keeping my contrasting problems in mind..i think this is an improvement:
http://www.llothcat.com/work/werewolf2.jpg

pencil sketch is above, if, ya wanna compare it.

I have other sketches done, but they're in the other 'puter. I'll likely post 'em this weekend, if time allows.

And I completely forgot about the animation TD..gotta get that one started soon.

[Recursive_End]

Very good ! More more more !!
Also, try to post you best of the week in the ssg digest. :)
As a crit, i dont really see what's going on in front of the werewolf.
Keep it up !
D.

[llothcat]

ok..y'all asked for it.

http://www.llothcat.com/work/wingdoodle.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/bubblelizard.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/zombie.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/tenticleship.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/mantis.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/work/shark.jpg

[Recursive_End]

Very good !!!
Planning on coloring some of those ?

[llothcat]

when I get the chance..(y'know I love to paint, even badly) I've still got that animation TD thing to do first. I forgot to scan in the sketches for the characters, and i still have to storyboard it anyhow.

[llothcat]

pre texture renders for the animation TD:

http://www.llothcat.com/work/fluffy.jpg


http://www.llothcat.com/work/facetd.jpg

obviously the models are still underconstruction.seems that they came out dark on this screen. Maybe I shouldn't use my laptop next time to render these things.

[sciboy]

You're suppose to make a WIP thread for your animation entry.
Just as a pointer, 1/5 of the work i do on an animation is planning and design.
Seems a little odd to me you'd skip that.

[dfacto]

Nice improvement llothcat. I'm seeing better line quality and tighter color rendering, which is always a good thing. :)

WAnted to comment on the texture though:

http://www.llothcat.com/work/newmino2.jpg

You have a good base to work from, but you need to push it a lot more in terms of color differences. Right now you have what looks like gray, darker gray, and lighter gray. This is all fine and dandy when it comes down to laying down value, but you need to get some color in there to really give it a more convincing look. Some reds, subtle blues and greens, maybe some purple, some more contrast, and more detail would do wonders for the texture.

Also, can you post a shot of the texture map? I'm curious to see how well you UVed the model, as it currently looks like there might be UV seams in unfortunate places. :P

[llothcat]

Nice improvement llothcat. I'm seeing better line quality and tighter color rendering, which is always a good thing. :)

WAnted to comment on the texture though:



You have a good base to work from, but you need to push it a lot more in terms of color differences. Right now you have what looks like gray, darker gray, and lighter gray. This is all fine and dandy when it comes down to laying down value, but you need to get some color in there to really give it a more convincing look. Some reds, subtle blues and greens, maybe some purple, some more contrast, and more detail would do wonders for the texture.

Also, can you post a shot of the texture map? I'm curious to see how well you UVed the model, as it currently looks like there might be UV seams in unfortunate places. :P

thanks for the comments. Unfortunately, I'm off the project for the minotaur--they recruited a pro rather than a newbie for it. It has made a big difference in the project, 'cause it showed me for the ametuer that I am. (I was upfront about that when I joined to help out)

Anyway..as to the texture maps...I didn't generate them..they were sent to me by the head programmer, and I added my textures onto them. His choices for the unwrapped parts seemed a bit wonky to me, but what did I know? I assumed the face was supposed to get the most space, for instance, but nooooo....

http://www.llothcat.com/job/minotaur_male_tex.jpg

http://www.llothcat.com/job/minotaur_male_tex2.jpg

I think I needed to go for more contrast, rather than go subtle. The new texture guy seems to go for that in the models he's now re-doing. Facinating how quickly he works.

What can I say..it's a learning experience:x

At least I now have "Ultimate Unwrap"(tm) to generate my own, "correct" texture maps in future community game projects that I participate in.

[llothcat]

swf test for a contest over at swishzone. This is far from finished, and i think my timing is off a bit on the "growth" . It just seems too slow sometimes, and at others, it seems to work. anyhow, I'm taking a break on it. Enjoy.

http://www.llothcat.com/tests/worldtree.html


The deadlline is April30th, and I just found out about the contest last night.:P

[llothcat]

ok..barely made it in by the deadline..the coding is still alittle buggy, but it works in the pure swf format..there seems to be a new way of imbeding the thing in webbrowsers that i haven't looked up yet.-(something that will likely get fixed at the next swishmax release.)
anyhow, this is what I'm submiting to the contest:
http://www.llothcat.com/tests/worldtree5.html

[llothcat]

<bump>
I'm ain't dead nor idle..just displaced.

[SillyLing]

That's not good.... I pray it goes well for you...


btw.... where do you live?

[llothcat]

http://www.llothcat.com/job/livefish.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/job/livecomp.jpg
yep..acrilics..sometimes the techniques in cyperspace actually work in real life. unfortuately these are pasted together(&reduced) copies from kinkos.

and these are reduced & pasted together xeroxes...:
http://www.llothcat.com/job/battle.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/job/one.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/job/two.jpg
http://www.llothcat.com/job/three.jpg
the pencils do look better in real life. I may attempt scuptures with the dragons-maybe plaques.

I did otheres, but they wouldn't fit the machines to be reduced.

[llothcat]

i need a new wacom, too:P

[Recursive_End]

Good update !!
_The pencils look very good and refined. It'de be cool to see them in a bigger size and with some more contraste, but that's a bit too much :P
The dragons look pretty convincing, but could use some more values =)
_The paintings look very good, the colors work pretty well together,
What's the actual size of those pics ?
Good news about the wacom ^^, if only i could have one :(

[llothcat]

thanks for the reply--that was quick:D

pencils: roughly 24 by 36..it still felt too small a space(weirdly). Since they're scans of copies, there was only so much I could do to make the lines show up. The pencils really do look much better live.

I even did a monoprint with MEK just for fun--didnt' turn out as well though. Some of the dracos smeared.

the 2 paintings: 1ft by 2 ft--remants of the larger pieces basically.

[Recursive_End]

oh, those must look big.
Well, good work, i don't think i would have enough patience to fill so big spaces :P

[llothcat]

bump

(i'm going to bed:P)

[llothcat]

i may not post daily, but i certainly do something art related daily.

This one is a self portrait,and i went a little wild playing with "liquid ink" in painter, which i usually leave alone due to how slow it is on my poor 'puter. Now I know the secret for how to do those neat-o painterly effects on this site:D

http://www.llothcat.com/job/self.jpg

[Recursive_End]

Looking very good :)
Work a bit more on your lips, avoid outlinning them, just put enough values.
The nose is well done.
Keep it up :)

[llothcat]

recursive: thanks:D That lip thing would work if i actually wore lipstick. without it my lips do kinda blend in to my face:P

i hate makeup. it makes my face itch.

i focused more on the eyes on this one..and more playing with the liquid ink feature

[llothcat]

gong kinda nutty with these logo contests...I'd thought I share:

[Recursive_End]

ugh ! missed your thread :(
the portrai looks better! the face features really pop out now. Go for a new one now =)
About the logos.. well i'm not very good at graphic design, but i would be happy if you'd do mine :)
Anyway, keep up the nice work !

[llothcat]

the real dummer is, I'm too good for logos. the stuff that's been winning is really sucky in term of design and execution. they're practically scribbly finger paintings done by a dislexic 2 yr old:P


for instance --this guy said he wanted a logo that featured a centipede. Ok. I came up with 3 versions:

[llothcat]

he changed his mind several times...changing the wording, slogan, etc. None of those "caught his eye". So, I gave up. I'll see if I can post what he choses, but from what he said so far, it looks like it's going to be really primative, (and not in a good way).

[asoir]

Worth1000 huh?
Keep at the logo's, check out some famous ones for inspiration, sometimes simplicity is best.
Good digi! Try tightening your paintings up a bit, keep it up.

[llothcat]

Thanks..things seem to have slowed down at the logo site...I do a painting tomorrow..all these logos have been strickly vector based. Ovetall, a good exercise in wit and pentools.

More rejects:

[Recursive_End]

Cool !
Too bad things don't seem to work out well about with that job.
Looking forward to see your paintings =)

[llothcat]

DSG: gah! I hate painting with the Gimp.

[llothcat]

duh..it's a dsg, must make it more flashy!

[asoir]

Nice job on the paint! I'd like to see stuff like this more often...keep updating!

[Recursive_End]

oops, sorry i missed the update :x
Good work !!
The colors look interesting.
I think you could work a bit with the arms of the kid, make them thinner.
Besides that, i second what marco said: More !!

[llothcat]

welp...today I found out that I lost yet another logo contest for a mascot. The good news is I still own the rights to it...I think it's cute, but the "client" went with something far more primative:P

Story of my life.

I just changed the colors on this version to market on cafepress stuff.

[llothcat]

Make that Zazzle..cafe press sucks.

[llothcat]

I really gotta re-install painter..this gimp thing is a pain

http://www.llothcat.com/dsg/shipcanal.jpg

for today's daily sketch group

[Recursive_End]

The composition is good. But the execution is a bit funny. The little square on the front could use a bit more attention :)

[llothcat]

arrrgh! it return of the "dustbuster" ships. I really need to work on my ship designs.

[llothcat]

'puter problems sontinue...had to redo this one after several crashes

[llothcat]

'puter has been stabilized...damn spyware

[llothcat]

a dog from the logo contest...

[Recursive_End]

Looking good :)
The last one especially, you caught the form and depth pretty well :)
DO more of these !!!

[llothcat]

went to preview night at the SDCC. felt like painting when I got home. Damn, I got to get a comic done someday.

[SillyLing]

hehe.... Sorry. I've been on a long time hiatus. I like the dog logo the best so far!

Anyways I made some redmarks on what I think the anatomy should be. O_o;

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/59/lolaoz5.jpg

[llothcat]

ah-ha..but you forget, this is bizarre breasts zone...comics! And the body you used is of the asian type.

[bhanu]

Comis is basically big breasts zone,bizzare....I cant think of the possibilities.Sillylings correction look quite correct.i think that you should first make your perspective clear.The dog logo is cool but the highlight on its skin makes it look slimy.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5313&stc=1&d=1152751314 in this pic his rght hand hasnt been foreshortened properly.
To me the caterpillar,cantipede and the monkey posts are yourt best.
Take care and keep posting.

[llothcat]

i do agree that the giant piece is messed up. what i get for loosing patience with the Gimp.

[llothcat]

'cause i need painting practice

[Recursive_End]

Hey Llothcat :)
that last painting looks interesting and fresh, it'd be cool to see some more of these.
Is it still Gimp ?

[llothcat]

nah..it's back to painter..i re-installed it. I thought this 'puter couldn't handle it, but so far so good. Lack of memory in this box.

I know I need to get back to doing self portraits to get the lighting right though. the last one looks dull in my eyes:/

[llothcat]

thusly....


i only wish i realy looked like me. Directly painting into the 'puter...and likely overcompensating over my glasses..I don't wanna paint 'em in.

[Recursive_End]

Looking co ,but the skin tones looks a bit funny, especially looking at the small pink colored parts.
besides that, do more :=)

[llothcat]

ok....

[llothcat]

look ma, no pencils

[dfacto]

Nice face lloth, but I'd try to put some more contrast in. The last one especially is very flat. Also give the eyes some more lovin to really give the faces character.

[llothcat]

this self portrait thing is getting easier. Still no pencils, and I tried some more contrast this time.

[tensai]

i have to say i think these latest portraits are looking good. i bet youre learning a ton from doing those?
keep it up

[llothcat]

pretty much learning not to cuss out the machine:D

penciling in real life is much easier, but i want to get colorzations correct.

[llothcat]

and another:

[asoir]

Sorry for not checking! I never knew you'd update finally ;) Very, very nice portraits, great practice and please, keep it up... :)

[llothcat]

may as well stick this in here too...right now it's in the WIP thread as well.

[Listing]

Some interesting work. Nice portraits. You tend to stylize your construction of the orbitals (exaggerating their concavity and width) - blah blah. I'd like to see you fix some of these structural issues in drawing. Painting in color may distract from the issue.

[llothcat]

http://llothcat.com/workpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/ethreialstalker1.jpg

for the COW

been trying to improve:xpld:

[Recursive_End]

very good painting. The head of the creature is well created :=)
The right part looks a bit too simple... but oh well ^^.
Keep working !

[llothcat]

Just added in more bunnies...does it help?

Also, got a crit from the COW thread...re:perspective and depth of field. This is an attempt to fix that as well.

[llothcat]

http://llothcat.com/workpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/icebrugdevourer3.jpg

This week's COW.

[llothcat]

Anyhow..I'm gonna go back to doing some figure studies, since I've this new job to do with oodles of time on my hands.

I'm a guard again. It's a living. The good thing is I don't have to scramble for jobs, which I hate doing, and art-wise I can afford to pick and choose which ones I want to do, and can do well. Usually that means cleaning up other's work, or doing murals.

My art site is still here: http://www.llothcat.com
And my latest project is here: http://www.llothcat.com/workpress
(yeah, I know i've got to work on that wordpress template)

I want to get a good comic done by the APE this year, and, if there's time, clean up that 3d project I did earlier this year to release at that convention. (Y'know, the blender3d game demo I did before I learned how to properly texture map models. Ewwwwww! 'Least the code works...mostly.)

Will post the studies a bit later.

[llothcat]

Did this today to pass the time..got me a good post for this sort of stuff, but I've got to remember to bring a mirror next time, 'cause the bathroom mirror isn't ideal.

[llothcat]

another one..fresh today:

It was dark in the shack ok..damn supervisor pulled the plug.

[llothcat]

thought i play a bit in painter

[llothcat]

new today:

[llothcat]

this is actually quite accurate...i'm getting there.

[llothcat]

more stuff..., and a few from a failed sketchmeet.

[Moai]

Your latest digital works have improved greatly over the stuff in the first few pages of your sketchbook. That bulldog logo, your CoWs, and the above Painter portrait have a really nice sense of volume. Your logos are really nice as well.
I don't really have any crits for you. I think you're already on the right path for artistic growth. Nice sketchbook.

[llothcat]

thanks moai:D

At the moment..I'm tackling live media. Back to the (cheap-ass) acrilics that I learned to paint with. I'm hoping to turn the knots I did earlier into a series of paintings that I can hang in some upcoming shows.

[llothcat]

quick color job on this portrait..i hate losing skills