licking your eyeballs as you sleep

[Texahol]

edited for the thumbnail...

[Texahol]

here's a WIP coloring of that pandabat:
http://www.texahol.com/images/pandabat.jpg

[Pixeldragoon]

I tried the random line things once, and it worked at first.. then I just decided it wasn't worth not controlling the outcome just a little bit. So what you do;
Draw a few things on one sheet, leaving space in the middle. Then you pic shapes out of what's in the middle. Then you can create a great composition and stuff without pondering for minutes what you're actually gonna draw. :D

[wookiedabo]

never really tried the random lines thing, like your idea tho pixel. good exercise for creativity. i really think the panda bat works better as a pencil drawin, more angular, which is all good. the colouring isnt bad, it just takes that element away from the origional drawing.

figure on the second random lines page looks promising too, keep it up.

[Chris Stapleton]

here's a WIP coloring of that pandabat:
http://www.texahol.com/images/pandabat.jpg

Tex, when you had painted this char do you have a line drawing and paint over the line drawing then hide the drawing, or do you keep the line drawing on through the whole process?

Any help would be appreciated. :er:

[Texahol]

That depends on personal workflow. What I do is just block it in over the line drawing on a separate layer, so I can toggle the coloring layer to see if I'm losing anything that I think is important. Some people will put the line drawing on top of the color layer and set the layer to multiply-then work underneath the lines. I'm sure there are a bunch of different ways to do it.

Pixel, I'm not really concerned with a composition when doing these. It's more of a warm up thing or to get an idea-jump-start. Maybe I should try to get entire compositions out of one...

[Texahol]

doodling in the ol' photoshop...
http://www.texahol.com/images/asstastic.jpg

violent squid strikes down a golem in an old film. going for cheese factor on this one.
http://www.texahol.com/images/3ch7.jpg

[Texahol]

coloring... I need to research skintone color.
http://www.texahol.com/images/asstastic2.jpg

[MattGamer]

here's a good tutorial for skin tones: http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials/14030

thanks for the advice in chat!
i like your art, and you sould post more stuff!! practice tons! :)

[Texahol]

I colored the "violent squid strikes down a golem in an old movie"
http://www.texahol.com/images/3ch11.jpg

[Hyptosis]

Your stuff has this weird, freaky vibe to it. Like it is alive and shouldn't be. It being whatever creature you've drawn. The first sketches are very haunting. Keep at it, and post ore, as often as you can. =D

[Mag-Neo]

-I saw your sketch. There are very interesting stuff. I like the sitting women. Especially her sitting position is looks very good. Keep posting more & more... GOODLUCK... :yayca:

[Texahol]

work was boring today:
http://www.texahol.com/images/work3.jpg

[MattGamer]

tah... my work was boring today too.
cute birdie... i want him

[Texahol]

all the tiny little peoples are fighting peoples. Hopefully I'll render some of these little characters out fully...assuming I remember.
http://www.texahol.com/images/warrior1.1.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/warrior1.2.jpg

http://www.texahol.com/images/warrior2.1.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/warrior2.2.jpg

[N D Hill]

coloring... I need to research skintone color.
http://www.texahol.com/images/asstastic2.jpg

Your figures and brush technique are really improving. Keep expirimenting with pose and composition. Try to stay away from profiles and static poses and really just keep doing what you're doing and do a lot of it. Like I said, I definitely see a marked improvement. Your stuff seems a lot less confined and isolated and I can see that you're thinking more about the entire image instead of just the subject. That's something I sure as hell struggle with. Keep up the great work, dude.

Let's see some with environments next.

[Blue]

Gotta say, i like the idea behind those first drawings. I never thought of something like that. I did, a while ago, try to just draw a mass of shapes and forms in painter, then try to carve out something which popped out, but didn't really work too well, so i scratched the idea. Cool to see you made it work for yuh. :)

[Texahol]

exo: that means a lot, thank you
blue: I don't even know how I started doing it, but it evolved over a short period of time.

http://www.texahol.com/images/work4.jpg

[jcaffoe]

yes!

I've been waiting for a sb thread from you.

I'm loving the creatures you're pulling from abstraction, I would say you should try redrawing the ones you like in a different pose, taking the basic structure and shapes that you found and seeing if you can make it work another way.

the paintings are looking good, try using bigger brushes though, you're getting caught using too little to try to say too much.

[revender]

I've got to say I like your pencil drawings far more than your digital paintings. Your pencil shading is a real asset. I'd tell you to focus on drawing, but it certainly doesnt hurt you to be working on both your traditional and digital art at the same time.

As with what Easy Tiger! said, your abstract stuff is cool but to keep on your toes try taking some of those abstract figures and orienting them in a number of additional views and poses other than the original abstraction.

Keep at it and keep posting my friend.

[Texahol]

well, hopefully I'll keep this updated more regularly from now on.
these are the first couple pages from my new "too big" sketchbook. It's 11x14, and my scanner is cheap 8.5x11 printer/scanner.
http://www.texahol.com/sb/sb1.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/sb/sb2.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/sb/sb3.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/sb/sb4.jpg

[evildisco]

Got to stay sharp Tex, keep at it and do it as frequently as possible.
You got to loosen up a bit in the linework become a little "sloppier" in some way.

All the usual follows, practice from life bla bla bla bla, I'm sure you know it better than me.

[Texahol]

thanks evildisco. I'll make sure to leave her sloppy for you next time. :P


#1 is first time using oils at all
#2 is the sketch
#3 is a WIP of the same

[sleep]

nice amount of finished stuff.. i should take a leaf out of your book in that respect. more life studies, i'd say- work on your line skills and so forth.

comments to my sb are always returned

[Texahol]

I need to draw more... WIP of one of those things from before. Hopefully I make it through all of them

[MattGamer]

yes draw TONS not just MORE. heheheh
lovely WIP... i like it a lot :) it so reminds me of concept art i saw for DOOM and some freakin awesome games i loved back in the day. your style makes me happy :)

EDIT: i just saw the oils... and WOW... so awesome! i should try some of my oils... hehe i've never worked with them. might be exciting! hehe

[Texahol]

another kinda slow day at work. I kept changing my mind on the slumpy guy, and killed him. printer paper+random pencil with bad eraser= don't make any changes, or it'll look like ass.

I'm happy with his feet and pants for the most part though.
http://www.texahol.com/sb/sb5.jpg

[Pound]

I really like Number #3 (2 posts above).

And the woman, on teh box. great. Can't wait till i can get to your level :D


Keep up the good work!

(Pound from IRC ;))

[Texahol]

irc monkeys are not lazy asses #1: B&W rider and mount
http://www.texahol.com/gallery/images/charnmount.jpg

[Texahol]

another "warrior" WIP. I don't really know where I'm going with these, but they seem to be a good exercise for me. Maybe once I get them all to a large sketch stage, I will "finish" them...like with colors and such:
http://www.texahol.com/images/femwarrior1.jpg

[Texahol]

*poops out another one*

http://www.texahol.com/images/gunwarrior.jpg

[Texahol]

another one (I think I sill will work on this arm weaopns and legs a little more before putting this one down:

[Texahol]

irc lazy ass #2 "red cleric" :

[Carnifex]

nice things you've got going here. last one's pretty good,although the bg is competing quite much with the figures. some dynamic posing pages wouldn't hurt either (stick figures n stuff) :)

[Texahol]

yeah carni, I really do need to start doing dynamic poses for figures.

I also need to start concentrating on environments. I shy away from them so...

IRC LAZY #3 : futuristic icecream van man

http://www.texahol.com/images/icecreamfuturevan3.jpg

[Texahol]

quick sketches. They are ideas for my ceramics/sculpture class.

[Texahol]

first 50 gestures out of the 100 that I'll be doing for the lil td. this is 50% of what I drew at... :-\ (psst it's ginormous)
http://www.texahol.com/gestures/gestures1.jpg

[Mr-Joe]

yo tex, whats up brother, I figured I'd try to find your sketchbook and check out your work cause your always giving me good info in the irc.

The silliouette guys really stood out here, I like that, and The Ice cream truck thing is pretty funny. These last gestures are really amazing, are you using references. Looks like done in photoshop. I don't have any crits to offer, sorry, but I will check in for your updates and hopefully I can offer some helpfull crits them.

Take care Tex,

Joe.

[Hyptosis]

got so great stuff man, those last bunch of studies are freaking outstanding

[armando]

You could get more variety into your Rorshach scribbles by including straight lines, and patches of value.

[fooxoo]

Gestures are looking cool, but watch balance! Some of them are falling! The girl with the umbrella is sweet!

Good stuff, keep working! Cheers! :)

[Mr Man]

Hey Tex, nice stuff you got there, keep updating it dude :P

[Texahol]

the other 50, to make 100 gestures. I have to say, towards the end, I started getting bored. and the last 20 or so were done in 15 minutes...I was actually trying to adhere to the TD deadline. how foolish.
http://www.texahol.com/gestures/gestures2.jpg

[Bartovan]

Nice gesture studies. I'ld like to see how they influence your work from here on.
Keep on going

[Mr-Joe]

Tons of props for getting those done, thats alot of figures to draw. And you didnt just scribble them out, they look pretty clean, well you can tell on the last few you said you did real quick, but the rest look real nice. Good poses.

Joe.

[Mr Man]

Good to see you updating ^^
What sort of paper and size did you use for those gestures on, Just plain printer paper? It looks so smooth and yummy.

[Texahol]

electronic paper. They were all scribbled in PS (no ctrl+z, I promise!) they are actually at 50% of the size I originally drew them at.

on another note, here's something from when I was 9 years old:
http://www.texahol.com/images/grade4.jpg

Makes me really wish I had stuck to my guns and didn't quit drawing in 5th grade. I started 5th grade, and then skipped into 6th --from there studies took priority. What a nerd.

[Texahol]

couldn't sleep..decided to doodle:
now I'm wondering if I should just stay up for the next two hours and start my day... :|

[rorke]

I love pandas and I love bats... put them together and you have pure over weight flying greatness.

I love the action poses... .I should do more of those....>.<

[Dile_]

Damn, this sketchbook is really cool! Nice gestures :P
Not much to say, keep it up man! :)

[eddfrutos]

great panda-bat dude...

[Texahol]

a tentacular man dances under the rain with goldorak, 3ch td with John:
http://www.texahol.com/images/goldorak.jpg

[Ashrumm]

Those gestures are awesome i need to do those good work man! Keep up the good work!!

[Idiot Apathy]

Nice gestures dude!

Just some random thoughts for you to uhm think about; try using as big a brush as possible in your paints. Block things in, planes and shapes - refine little by little ending with detail. On your monochromes, work 'warm' or 'cool' with your light, try using more saturation and value (obviously) for warm, less saturation and more value for cool (as you add light that is). Watch your edges, particularly where they meet other shapes and planes, soft edges means 'slower' transition like a sphere, sharper edges are more like a box. Check out elwell's post in the... I dunno fine arts section about edges for more. Values and edges are the most important factors in form and readability I think. Color can be finicky, I'd suggest reading up on how light works and basically going about color as a 3d rendering program would. Check out the Peer project link in my signature for more of my thinking on color too.

Just some thoughts, Cheers dude.

[Texahol]

two small figure studies from my painting class (something that's small and scanable!) it's small...but I need to figure out how glazing techniques work with acrylic...and I still need to work on getting better colors :| (although...my scanner blows and the colors are all fux0red...waaaaay darker than they should be)

[Texahol]

more of those 5x7inch matteboard leftover paintings...I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable with acrylics now...

[Texahol]

some things from yesterday and today. Sorry for the quality. My sketchbook is tooooooo big to scan (I don't think I'll be buying another 11x14 inch sketchbook after I fill this sucker up.

[0kelvin]

Hey man, your stuff's looking really good lately. Those pages of gestures turned out great.

I love that drawing you did when you were 9. I used to draw ships the exact same way.

See you in San Fran!



0kelvin

[Lot]

I like the falling concept

[jcaffoe]

hey devin, the acrylics stuff is actually looking really good. as far as the sp goes, try something a bit more dynamic for the next one. it's actually much much easier to do a portrait when you have dynamic lighting.

I'd also try doing gestures of expressions in a mirror. I started doing it this week and it's really paying off

[Texahol]

woooo! yay for page number 2!! [i just wish I had a more 'epic' post]

here's a new warrior from warrior scribbles, and a revamped warrior from an old post...yes...I haven't actually given up on doing all of the warrior scribbles...[but I did actually forget about them]

[Texahol]

buh...WIP that I don't really want to finish.... started out as a doodle of the guy, and I had nothing else to do, so I kept on going

rawwrngrng updating the thing that was here:

http://www.texahol.com/images/run9.jpg

previous:
http://www.texahol.com/images/run.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/run2.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/run3.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/run4.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/run5.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/run6.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/run7.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/run8.jpg

[Cwn Annwn]

heya tex, your sb is getting there.

Anatomy is coming along, but your colours seem very flat. (Actually I tend to flyswat stuff too, I'd fix it if I knew how....) It gives your pics an unfinished look.

[Dile_]

Alright texahol, you asked for it, heres some comments / crits on your stuff
I thought it was pretty useless to crit older stuff, So I start at the August-stuff.

Post23-----

Alright, After being through your sketchbooks a few times already, I have seen that
your charachters are REALLY un-dynamic, the torso use to be completly stiff, and
the arms have some sort of movement.. Try to catch the flow,
picture 1 in post 23 shows this mistake perfect..It looks like you have
drawed every each part of the guys limbs on different papers, then paste em together
I dont know if you have bridgman ? they are chaeap, and I can now recommend em on real, since
I soon have all of them, You should absolutly try to get some eye-contact there, I dunno
what you tried to translate in the picture.. So I dunno if the creature and the man are friends
or enemies, but still eye contact of some sort would help the picture alittle,
Also, back to the dynamicthingy, You should try to bend the back on your guys, when
starting, put out the head (I dont know how you use to set up a figure) and then draw an "S"
From the head and down to the pelvis, wich should be the back-bones.. Try to make the "S"
as dynamic as possible,, thats at least a good start! also, think of the balance, try the pose
yourself, If you would have done that on the piece im crit right now, you would felt very uncomfortable
in the situation he is in now...Thats just not a position you use to stand in.
Also the creature is rendered as a sphere... I know you mentioned its your
first, and its a nice first try! I never tested oils myself, but however..
You should always think of light! also, what the ground color is, and how the shadow
from the creature applies on the ground.This isnt so important in this
piece, just a general thing to think of when you draw !
Alright, same with the creature, it looks stiff, If you draw it from
side, you should feel the flow of the anatomy, even if its from your
imagination... My hero of "imagination-creture-artist" is Mikecorriero.
If you check out his work you will see that theres a certain flow in the
work, its there, even if the creature doesnt exist in real life, you
can feel that the Anatomy and weight of the creature feels very natural.
Your creature reminds me of these :: http://www.scandinavian-south.com/Images/julbock.jpg ::
Stiff..no flow, and right now, no personality at all.. sorry

Second piece. Nice work here, lotsa more dynamic I can tell.
Still think of anatomy, especially the head, even if i would be really
proud if my Deltoid where as big as my head, hehe.
So what im saying is the fact that the head got no neck, and the head is
to small in general. Easly fixed, think of the 8-head rule.
Hm, That right arm (HIS right arm) looks nice, remember
the elbow should touch the pelvis in relaxed mode, it seems to work now, although
the left arm (his left) seems alittle to small ? at least the upperarm.
I dont know how much attention you payed to the anatomy, and whats acctually under
the skin.. By looking at the arms I say much, by looking at the body/head
im just saying NOTSOMUCH, and the legs looking really good aswell..
however, think of whats under the skin, bones, muscles, Also, practice
different modes of the muscles when you practice anatomy.. I know people
really want to draw whats in the anatomy books.. and in the anatomy books
(at least these I have) You see ONE are in one pose etc, with one sort of muscle
setup, but the muslces are barely never viewev as BIG/STRONG/MACHO and as
SMALL/TINY/GEEK haha, exaggerate the muscles ! both as tiny and strong.. It will help!
The left leg (his left) is wiered, If you sit in your chair, and pull your knee up to your chin, you
will see that its easy to touch... in the pose your characther useing, its the same, just alittle
difference since the backside is slightly rotated away from the guys torso..
also, legs are almost never as small as you think, exaggerate them alittle to! Think
of the 8-head rule again! And go study the leg, (just general crit! )
Also, When doing studies, remember to connect em to the body afterward, haha, it seems to fuck up
the proporations if you dont! studie the part your focusing on, and then connect it to the body!
I belive thats what is wrong with your piece.. The proporations are right on the Upperleg-Lowerleg-Foot, but
not the \Leg/body\
same for pic 3 (wich is same right ? just an overpaint ?) I dunno, but I belive you should practice
facials, alot! I read in a book while back that its the Clothes, the Hands, and The facials that makes
a charachter.. haha, you see ? if you have no eyes, and the mouth is shut with no expressions, you have
your hands on the back, and your standing naked...then you doesnt deliver a shit of personality, exept if you
useing some other body-language such as putting your feets together , that would etc show that your nervous..
I belive that the artist on this site that deliverst the best body language, is Marko Djurdjevic (spelling ?)
His charachters is so perfect, alot of em are.. I mean, he use clothes (that people IRL would acctually think of useing)
also, he almost NEVER hide his hands, and if he do, its action behind it! also, he got varation on his faces,
He can almost express everything there...I can sit and look at his stuff for ages really, cause he touches the word
"perfect" so often..
Alright, to much opinions/self-expereince here? :P sorry.

Post 25------
Alright, not much to crit, but right on it now, you do lots of monocromic stuff, I mean, just
change the background to something else and start colouring the skin slightly after the background
would help some, also drawing from life helps, if your not going black and white that is..
However, anatomy looks good, although, it looks alittle flat, especially that backpack thing, and
the face-mask. otherwise great! the upper legs is slightly too fat though.
(show both hands!) you had no reason hideing the otherone right now, it just make the charachter look
out of balance..(again)

Post 27------
Nice, I love your pencils in overall, and I belive they are stronger then your digitals, again, thats
just my opinion..
Hm, I dunno what guys you like on the boards, I mean after their pencil skills ?
However, Study your big hero's will help! dont study the style, study the artwork itself..It will
help the overall picture.. not copying elements, but try to figure out the technique, I tend to experiment
alot myself when Im drawing digtal, and I belive therefor I got strong digitals, i have only lately started
to experiment (alot) with pencil techniques, and my big pencil-gods on the board is of course Wes & Lukias.
I love their way of expressing facials, and also their shadeing technique , its amazing , even if it sometimes
looks messy, it doesnt make the pic look bad.. so yeah, Experiment ALOT with your pencils.. I belive you have
More time for pencils then for digitals ? draw everywhere, and update often so we can see your progress!
I would say that the guy sitting there is probably the most natural looking charachter in your whole sketchbook,
It shows that he is tired, alos it looks like the arms "weight" and thats also something you should practice!
The flow is also there! you see ? and it was succeddful! nice work!

Post29 -----
Nice, First off, NEVER use pure black! 000000 - 010101 - 020202 - 030303 and 040404 Is really putting
pictures down, especially if its illustrations, and ABSOLUTLY never use #000000
I only use pure black if its ink, or if its suppose to be thumbs/designs, cause then it doesnt matter..
and it only puts the lines out more.
Also, when approaching black at all, I mean "dark grey" remember to not only use it on one place
in the picture, why ? cause "black" takes attention.. and use it to improve the composition..
an artist who does that good is hydropix.. he useing "dark grey" to show the viewer to the focial point..
alot of times.
Your creature have a nice look, and the anatomy is 100x better compared to the last I gave you crits on!
although, the "flow" that natural feeling between the head and body isnt there.
Same with his stomach, it looks wierd.. Things that are far from the viewpoint
often are more desaturated, even if they are shaded, and in total shadown, im thinking
of the legs that are to daark..a better color though the the pure black you
used on that sit-thing..
The charachter rideing the beast looks awesome though! good job!
also, good thing, Nice details on the feets of the creature, and the head..

Post30 -----
Nice, have a natural flow to it, its blue... your stuff use to be eighter blue, red or black and white ?
break the habit man! use real skintones, at least try to practice em!
Nice anatomy! could use some details on the cloth..

Post31 -----
OH , what did i say in last post ? Blue, red and.. .yeah I said red! "break the habit"
Nice concept though, looks very Prometheus Tutorial thingy, but that isnt a bad thing, try to smooth
the areas out alittle, there are way to much round pixel highlights.. nice design however.. remember
the balance.. that guy looks like falling backward any second.. (his) right arm could help balanceing
the weapon, and the right (his right) could be alittle further backward to balance him up alittle bit more,
Post32 -----
Great, some variation..now its GREEN..awesome...
Alright, the lower body looks like female, the trousers aswell..haha . but the over body looks male
so does the face... really..
Again, practice facials it will help you to creat more beliveable charachters! also give a natural look that pose
is alittle wiered overall..nice "hands though"
could need some more work over all, but keep at it.
Post33 -----
Oh, Surprise, its red :P Alright, Nice anatomy, the back is alittle wierd, but the entire
figure is more dynamic there (talking about left one) the guy is very skinny, but he looks to have
muscles at his stomach ? exaggerate even more, alright , it has a nice look to it, so I shouldnt
crit such small things.
Second guy could use alot of work, I belive you should use references for the clothes! You tend to do
to much smooth clothes, and to hard skins...try to change it alittle around, make sure to get these "wrinkles" at
the clothes down! You have NONE of these in your entire sketchbook ? Put em there, it will improve your chaarachters
so much! (hint, salaryman does clothes very nice, and exaggerate it alittle to, study him if you think thats cool)

Post35 -----
Nice concept! that Ice-cream thing on the backside/ logo thing, it doesnt look like its attached to the "vehicle"
not much to crit, nice lighting, and good to see your at least "tryin'" to break the monocromic habit!

Post36 -----
Ah, nice! Like the first creature, It seems like you changed style
for a moment or well, "technique" thats good, the highlights looks better
although, smoothing it alittle would be cool, its still some Round pixel highlights there!
Its great as a sketch!
Second picture, nice sketch, although, I see you have tried to construct weight here..it worked in the
front picture, NOT in the side picture.. it just looks , wierd.the concept is cool
over all and reminds me of warcraft, 3 , and a concept Hurricane have done.. spend
some more time on your stuff, dont rush! although, im NOT the guy to say that..haha..
hm, on that side picture.. I belive you considerated rules to be more important than "now it looks cool"
YOu have to think of both, and try to spread em fair on your pictures!

Post37 -----
Great gestures !!! Im not gonna comment everyone of em ;) dont worry, but just general crits
The pelvis are looks wierd on many of thems (better at the females though.)
Alright, you beat most people if we talking about quality in that ThunderDome..And
yes, doing 100 - 300 small stuff with slightly varations on each getting boring quick..Thats why we had a whole
week to go ;)
Post43 ------
JUst want to point out I belive you improved the Pelvis thing I just mentioned!

Post47 ------ Awesome!!!

Post48 ------ Nice , You getting closer the Skintones, now get some more saturated colors in there!
Your colors are pretty dull, and feels boring, make your artwork intresting, again , go practice
skintones!


Post52 ----- Alright, I dont remember who won that TD, but however, nice work, although, as mentioned,
your colors are pretty dull, and it lookign flat! pick a strong lightsource, and focus more on light!
Nice "try" at eye contact, especially from the robot, you could have improved by rotateing the head
of small green guy alittle, to create real eye-contact between the both..
Also, on the robot, Think of form more! its flat!Alright, thats the only crit i got on that piece.


Post55 -----
Nice, its oils right ? A step in the right direction, although, you have only used
5 colors or something + not much varations in the skin!
and the blue background doesnt fit so good IMHO...Anatomy looks good,
but as I mentioned at the first piece I gave you crits on, its the same here, It looks
like you have drawed each limp on different pages and then again, paste em together
wich makes it look un-dynamic, although, this looks better then the first one!
Secondpiece:
GREAT DYNAMICNESS!! damn, More of that!
exept for the left arm, it flows perfectly! nice!


Post56-----
Hm, the whole piece exept the horisont area seems unbalanced.. and the shadows are wierd.
Think of what color the ground has, and how shadow applies! how strong is the light source?
where is the light comeing from ? how warm is the lightsource ? think think think!
Nice colors, and thank god for getting rid of the monocromic work for once :D

SecondColouredPiece: Great! Again, thanks for getting rid of hte mono-work! the guy
is very unbalanced , its something you should practice alot of Texahol!

Post57 -----
I belive your pencil stuff is more dynamic somehow.. overall, the shadow, the gestures, all!
PRactice more on your pencil skills, and I belive you will improve in other areas aswell!
First paper is awesome! nice charachters, like that double thing!, with two torso/body thingy! nice!
the rendering on that one is cool aswell, even if hte right head is alittle to small imho..
Nice lifedrawing there aswell, nothing to crit,
Page2: exept for the head, that picture is awesom! nice hatching there!
You haveing an a4 sketchbook ? or a3 ? I doesnt belive thats to big, it gives you nice space!
The portraits are nice, great skin tones, still abit dull, and I dont understand why the nose/eye-are
is pink/red somehow ? The second portrait is A HUGE step in the right direction thoug! keep at it!
Nice facials, nice colours.

Post 61 ----- Nice once, I dont like the fact that its blue, and you already know that,
but I like the design and rendering, its alittle to flat though, get more values in there!

The green girl is now a girl, congratz, and awesome improvement on that one!
hm, The feets though, they are cool, but have no real functions, my brother have
recently broken his lover leg, and went on crutch for a long time (5 weeks)
and I did tested em, alot of times, and found that standing on 2 long pikes like that has no function.
You fall...and you fall, and you will lose the balance! without your feets you would lose your balance , and you could never
stand on the same spot for more then a couple of seconds...
Just soemthing to think at! (theres nothing worse then an awesome rendering at a bad concept)
Something along these lines you could read at the top of the forum a few months back.

Post 62 ----- Nice wip, the colours are very flat though, although, the figure is more dynamic the usual! thats a nice
sign! but try to get more values in there!





ALright dood, I dont have the power to write more now ;) haha...
But I really had to finish up what i began, so heres som crits, and I hope at least half of them
are valid , and the fact you can take crits from a 14 year old ;) haha
We discussed that at IRC so you cant change your mind now :D

have Fun!


~Dile

[Texahol]

cwn, thanks I'll work on the flyswattedness.
dile, you're the man. thank you very much! I'll try to update more so I can give you more to crit :>

playing around, made a new wallpaper for my cellphone. The whole thing was done at 72 ppi, so it looks kinda bleh
http://www.texahol.com/images/uhm.jpg

and the 3ch "a wounded fakir tears off a shaman on a giant rock" took some liberties with semantics.

http://www.texahol.com/gallery/images/fakir.jpg

[Dile_]

http://www.texahol.com/images/uhm.jpg

That is pro stuff! :D looks awesome to me :)
and no problem! Keep it up, the last one looks ok'ish aswell,
but theres alot of stuff that looks off, anatomy and perspective mainly,
The right leg of that fakir for example, its soooo tiny, but could be fixed pretty easy, the underleg has a very wierd angle, wich makes it look SHORT
try to place the foot a little bit back, and fix the fatness of the over leg and it be good,
Also, that Grey thing on the edge of the mountain? what is that exactly ? water ? TEARS ? itd doesnt look very belive able to me sice it look
like a matte-surface! nothing like any liquid i can think off ;)
the background related to the fore ground is what makeing me feel bad about the perspective, also the dull colours in the foreground doesnt look so good, you
have some nice red on the shaded part of it, but on the top, its just 3 main values, and they doesnt define form any good, also, there is some sort
of highlight ? on the edge of the mountain / the shaded side, what does it do there ? where is the light supposed to come from ? it looks to me like its comeing from left, but then the shadows on the ground saying its comeing slightly from behind?
If its comeing from left. then the piece is fine, exept just for that, the ground-shadow, if its comeing from slightly behind-left, then why is that guy falling down haveing highlights that define a strong light ?
Just something to think of man , you have improved with colours and stuff
since last, so in fact, this is a "Awesome work" update , im just being a picky :D

~Dile

[Texahol]

thanks dile, I updated the above image.

and here is some stuff from my painting class. It's all acrylics.

[Texahol]

some things when I was hanging out at character's place in santa cruz:

[Texahol]

Master Study for Rebeccak's open figure drawing workshop.
Copy of Lord Frederick Leighton's Biondina in greyscale.

[Idiot Apathy]

WAAAAA! Good on ya dude. That looks great, I'm sure you learned a bundle. Do another :P hahaha.

[Dile_]

Wow, thats sick improvement dude! nothing to critique, just keep it up! =)

~Dile

[Coinpurse]

keep going man, digging that last post.

Lmao @ Dile.

[Texahol]

IA: thank you again for getting me to do these. It's been a good learning experience.
Dile, thanks...and I'm glad you changed your name...again. Whatever that new one was....it was hard to remember :P
jester, thanks man.


On this one I didn't use any gridding or value picking...I think some of my values aren't the best choice. Also the "high res" jpeg I was using was hardly high res. I found my self smooshing pixels trying to achieve the right effect on hermes face...so I just gave up on that and decided to try to make it a quicker study and just get the jist of everything. Another good learning experience in value and edges.

[Idiot Apathy]

SHIT! damn... maybe I shouldn't have talked you into doing these... too good.

[Vishaka]

Both of your master copies are delicious. :)

[Dile_]

Wow, you gotta have learnt tons doing these 2, amazing artwork man! Great studies! =)

~Dile

[Hyptosis]

Holy dang.... outstanding... you're begining to frighten with your skill =]

[FabianV]

After studying every single picture and comment in your thread.. I'd have to say you have shown a sick amount of improvement since you started this thread man.

It was fun going through these, took me about 2 hours though haha >_< (maybe more cuz of dile's comments *snorts*) Its fun reading crits though even though its not my work. Some people left really good pointers you should really value what people have told you.

I'd say my favourite works in this sketchbook would be

001.jpg - nice cowboy and critter
angelnose.jpg - Cool looking green guy
asstastic.jpg - looks way cool without the paint job
birdrawr.jpg - cool creature
femwarrior1.jpg - I like this .. weapon looks out of place though
gunwarrior.jpg - really nice
uhm.jpg - very cool graphic design elements

Your best:

gestures.jpg
gestures2.jpg
ofdw001.jpg
ofdw020.jpg


It is really funny how you'd do these mindblowingly cool pieces then have these really low quality acrylic paintings pulling your work down. I guess its just the medium thats tough for you? All in all Im astounded with the progress. But at the same time you've already had skill from the beginning. Your gestures really make the rest of your stuff look like crap (its THAT good) .. I really want to do more gestures.

The latest mastercopies are just WOW man.. its clear that you have very good interpretational skills.


KEEP DRAWING! I will be watching your every step >:D

[Justin.]

Those master studies kick my ass =(

[0kelvin]

Wow man, those master studies are fantastic! I'm impressed. You're progressing at a frightening pace!



0kelvin

[trevor]

hey man great looking studies
good meeting you in san fran too

[MattGamer]

Fab studies, man!!! Love them! Oh, man.... mroe more more more more art!

Draw draw draw drawwww!

[Texahol]

thanks everyone...I wish I felt the same way. You make me feel like I should be better than I am. I learned a lot about subtlety in value and edges and personal workflow...but for me copying isn't so special. Study Study...got to work hard.

I got some watercolor pencils...I guess some people think the pencils are neat and others think they're crap...I dunno. I'm still not used to watercolors. The first page I did was crap, but I learned that watercolor is NOT acrylic. mostly just experimenting with the medium.

and then just a photoshop doodle.mmmmm ice cream

[Texahol]

he has claw. medium sized melee.

[Texahol]

school started back up... x_x

[Mr Man]

Hey tex, nice seeing you at the workshop. Sorry I didnt really get to talk to you much, I was too busy walking allover the place.
Your sketchbook has come along way, especially since those master studies. They are a huuge leap!

Rich

[seth1]

Keep it up man. Getting better all the time.

[ZapRadon]

Looks like the master studies are good for you. :)

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Those bw studies are damn good texahol! That lobster is dude is fun as well. Hope you get some more studies going soon, pure eyecandy. : I

[Texahol]

a 5 minute self portrait and 10 minute self portrait... .5 HB mech

and something random....my eyes hurt

[Texahol]

I hate that working [staying still] for 8 hours makes me sooooo tired :<

[Slash]

zippers ftmfw!

[Envisor]

doing good on your studies. would love to see more pencil stuff.

My Sketchbook- C&C very welcome
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=85772

[Steph Laberis]

Your master's copies and your post on the 17th really show growth in you. Your recent SPs feel a little stiff andn I'd like to see the confidence and movement of the sketch I had mentioned show through in more of your studies.

Keep making those strides hon, you are well on your way!

[Sirio_Brozzi]

That 'yea zippers' pic turned out damn sweet. Should make a painting out of that. Keep it up tex. : I

[Texahol]

this one took me forever-- but I learned a lot ^__^

not entirely happy with the [lack of] exactness...but it's okay.

william bouguerau's homer and his guide:

[Idiot Apathy]

Jesus you wanker, that's stunning.
Look like it's really helped you learn how to use photoshop to paint am I right?

[Sirio_Brozzi]

This study made my eyes bleed. : ) Awesome job tex, turned out freaking awesome.

[chaosrocks]

the study is great.... now apply it to your own ideas!!!!

more ARt Faster
Chaos

[Stark]

I HAVE CLAW!!! lol. I love that thing man...I love the master study too...your skills have increased a shit ton since I last looked here (which was 3 days ago)

[Texahol]

steph: thank you that means a lot :)

IA: I wouldn't have come this far without your help in SF, you've really helped me a lot with your advice at the workshop, as well as IRC and the demos have been very beneficial, please keep up the good work.

sirio: thanks for the encouragement

mike: looooolz you so ganstuh

chaos: yeah yeah yeah...more harder faster...sheesh typical womenz ;)

stark, thanks :)

I don't know if any of you noticed this, but I made this for davi :davi:

not much to post today. A refined drawing of the "yeah zippers" pic I redrew it, maybe I lost some of the expression. I think I still like the result. too bad the whole thing doesn't fit on my scanner :<

and a page of sketches of headless zippers. I'm going to do a series of zipper drawings...with the zippers referencing things that happened to me in the past for my drawing class.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Glad youre following that zippers concept tex, cant wait to see where you go with this. That bottom middle one is my fave so far mate. :)

[jcaffoe]

holy shit the studies are so good.

I think I'm gonna have to do that. *sigh* I hate having homework.

[Stark]

I like the zippers concept a lot. Original bro. The ears look a bit low though :/ I like the small concepts with the decapitated zippered heads too...thought the one in the middle's torso is a bit wonky...

Keep at it

[Texahol]

sirio: yeah it's real fun...lots of possibilities :)

easy tiger!: yeah the studies were very beneficial, and I wish I had homework that was worth doing :P

stark: yeah...the ear was supposed to kind of be moved 'cause of the skin being lax, but the result was poor...and yeah that shirt looks like ass, I need to get some reference from life.

11x14 graphite. I had to piece it together in photoshop...and there seems to be a hair on my scanner :|

[Cookiedough]

Dear Texy sexy,

This stuff is hot! You are really patient with all that rendering! Looks great though. What's with the zipperfetish?

[Idiot Apathy]

Hahaha, my help in SF? I was coherent enough to show you anything? Shweet.
Loving this zipper fetish, especially the last one.

Let's see some more ref studies, don't bother with color unless you want to study color as well - and even then, I wouldn't do a huge epic painting again. Master copy or photo ref, doesn't matter.

[Texahol]

aueng this one is garbage...didn't plan anything out ahead of time, and suffered from it, a lot of mistakes and problems alllllll over.


I'll have to redo the concept, I can't leave it like this.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

The hand zippers pic looks awesome, like the indication of bones underlying the unzipped hands, sweet little touch. :) Last one has good lol factor. : D

[Dile_]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=82782&stc=1&d=1169709698

holy shit!! I love it, especially the dog and the young guy! Awesome dude, I respect people who finish master studies, like you've done, and it shows that you've improved tons after it! Nice work!

~Dile

[Texahol]

cookiedough: thanks ^^ the zippers are something I came up with to represent past experiences. started out as injuries, then the idea expanded.
idiotapathy: haha yeah man, I appreciate the advice. I'll have to do studies, they seem to help a lot.
sirio: thanks
dile: yeah it's a lot of hours put in, but definitely worth it.

maybe you could call it "warming up"...but I think it's more just procrastinating from doing my homework.

[MrBobMarley]

Wow man, props to you. I love that Homer study!

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Really dig that last update, especially the second piece. Got some real neat stuff going on with the face area. :)

[Slash]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=82782&stc=1&d=1169709698

=

Potatoes, gravy and about a fuckton of awesome, with beer.

[Texahol]

mrbobmarly,sirio,slash: thank you ^^

some 18x24 stuff from class:
I am too lazy to set up and easel and lighting to take nice photos. so...you get to see my shadow... :\

sorry.
one of those "scribble" drawings and some 20 minute life drawings.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Definitely need to get unlazy with that pic taking tex! Definitely makes a difference. Some nice figure studies here nonetheless mate, I like the way you set it up in your last study you posted, its interesting that you included some classmates in the comp.

Meow*

[squidmonk3j]

beautiful studies!

and that dude with the claw - i like! highlights aren't really thought out, but still...nice!

lolz@zippermen...cool concept:)

[chaosrocks]

well better photos would be nice, why are you willing to put meticulous time into your master studies. but not into your own.... huh? nice life drawings btw. the cross hatch pattern in the BG of the little sketches bugs me. some times its more active than the image itself.

I demand more art!
But only in the nicest possible way
pleeeeesssseee?
chaos

[Texahol]

kind of a bump...next post is on page 3 :)

refined a sketch, not sure of the end result. I think I'd like to redo the idea in either higher res, or in traditional media.

[Dile_]

I am soooo giving you a new page here!

Great updates, I give you critique later on. Keep it up Tex!

~Dile

[Texahol]

first five images are 2min poses, then there are two 5min poses, then two 10min poses, and one 15min pose. and my art history notes. it appears I need to clean my scanner as well....

*woo* for page 3!

[chaosrocks]

you are supposed to draw art history images on your art history notes...silly or at least characature your prof.

life sketches are lookin good .
does your model have a really long torso? more art.......faster
chaos

[Stark]

Good life drawings bro. Chaos is right about doodling on the notes though...sheesh, children! Good lines though, I'll give you that and I'll update this weekend.

[Texahol]

lol chaos...we were going over churches. :|
yeah that model is like 6'6" and skinny as hell. he's a great model, I just wish we could do some long poses...
thanks for the encouragement :)

stark, more updates, less slacking ;) looking forward to seeing what you've learned:)

1 hr IRC challenge. Topic was "amputated angelic heroine zombie porn star" thanks to Slash :D he gets +5pts for that topic.

[blanquish]

hey!
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=89626&stc=1&d=1170962180
this one is great!
ankles seem a bit thin sometimes though.
one reoccuring thing i notice are the small heads

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=89635&stc=1&d=1170962314

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=89633&stc=1&d=1170962279

the mechanical wing girl is cool as hell, just needs a bit of softening up here and there and bam!
thanks for your insightful comment in my sb:)
:muscle:

[Stark]

Awesome concept there man...like the hook though it could use some refinements...

I haven't been slacking..I've been sketching my ass off today: 1 page full of lips, noses, and eyebrows :\ lol So yeah, I'll try to update ASAP so you can see the "non-learning" stuff

[jcaffoe]

life drawings look sweet, just remember to worry about lines before values.

page 3 already you are rockin'

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Hey tex, really nice updates. I liked the IRC doodle, its pretty funny. :) I really liked the last set with the figure drawings, one thing I noticed is that some of the heads turned out a tad too small on a few of the figures. Other stuff looked fine though, youre getting the proportions down solid. I thought this one was real nice.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=89628&stc=1&d=1170962210

[Texahol]

blanq: yeah I noticed the heads ended up small...no idea why. I kept feeling rushed when doing them. keep up the good work, mate!

stark: I'll believe it when I see it ;)
easy tiger: thanks :) The prof was "oh kay for teh remaining minute and a half you need to do hatching...and I frequently wasn't even done with my initial line drawing :[
sirio: thanks, I'll try to figure out that head size issue..as blanq pointed out, it's also apparent in my freehand doodles.

finished the zombie angel amputee heroine... girl.

[Stark]

Man that looks even sexier now...Just wish you would post this bigger so we could see some details in the face, wings, and hook. Throw some color on it and make it bigger

[Idiot Apathy]

:( and ... wtf stark? Sexy? ewww.
Nice... ugh I can't even say that - good job... that works I think. hehe.
Maybe a little overboard on the speculars?

Eww :nohope:

[Stark]

I meant the cleaner version IA...lol not as in she's sexy...

[designboot]

Very nice sketches

[Texahol]

stark: you crazy necrophile. BTW that is full size.

IA: thanks...I felt maybe too many speculars...but they were so much fun to do! :\

designboot: thanks.

some quick experimentations in photoshop. playing around with brushes and filters..etc.

[Cercie]

Hey tex, sorry groove and i were so lousy as sg members, but thats what you get for trying. you can tell how lazy groove and i are by the fact that you're still on our sigs. <3

I like these last doodles, and that very last one is very art school, so it gets a 'hmm, thats ... interesting"

The life drawings earlier, you should let loose with some charcoal and just mess up the page, you're staying very safe with these and they just doesn't feel as dynamic as they could.

When i finish a drawing in one of my classes its incredibly messy, but it still has a lot of life to it. blacken the page and then erase the charcoal from the page and pull the figure from the paper. and also consider the whole of the paper in the process, and be very purposeful with the white space.

This is all advice i've gotten from my current drawing teacher, so i thought i'd pass it along.

<3 !

[Sirio_Brozzi]

hey tex, awesome experimentation man, really sweet texture work. That middle one looked like something straight out of a childrens book, and the third one just..Has everything nice stuff going on, really nice textural feel on those pics. The first one is just a tad too unrefined. Digging it, cant wait to see more. >:D

[Texahol]

thanks cercie, yeah I need to cut loose with some charcoal [oh noes getting messy!]

thanks for the advice <3

sirio, thanks I hope you like this one too :)

a little insomnia... I don't sleep well...

this is a full res of what I worked at [3.12 MB download] I'm on a 12.1 inch monitor too... :nohope: http://www.texahol.com/images/021307.jpg

[Texahol]

some 5-10 minute poses from life.

we were using twigs and ink....
twigs:nohope:

using a twig and ink was very unweildy. I had issues keeping the figure on the page as well... I was so close! but once you do the head a certain size, you can't very well go back and fix it.
8.5x11 paper.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

This last painting pushed it even farther than the last set, you got something going on here. As for the fine arts update, some nice stuff going on there, the 1st, 2nd and last were my fave, really cranked out some quality despite the twig aspect. Very cool stuff man, keep those updates coming.

[chaosrocks]

woot!
loose and lively!

like the insomia pic......loose and creepy
I see you are starting to put some care into your own imagery. Very very cool

chaos

[Lad]

I guess this the whole twig thing is a good thing, makes you adapt to what you have. And I would like to see a high res of the insomnia skull to notice the detail

[Stark]

I'm with Sirio on this one...1,2, and last are faves...

I wanna be just like you when I grow up Texahol

[Texahol]

sirio: yeah man, hopefully I can continue to push them even further. :) MOAR MOAR MOAR! I need to spend less time working and in classes...so I can make more artz

chaos: thank you :) yeah I'm glad you called me on my slacking. It's something I didn't even realize fully.

Lad: I dunno. The results were okay for me, but I still think it might be a bit of a wasted exercise for the class I'm in. I mean most of the people in my class can't even draw the figure with a pencil, let alone a unweilding twig. :nohope: Also, they're trying to teach us how to draw the figure in 10 minute poses with a hard to control medium...GEENYUS.

Stark: thanks...and no you don't. insomnia sucks and is bad for you [as you are finding out !] I need more time in the day so that I can exercise and make art AND sleep. I'm starting to feel drunk 24/7 and I've never actually been drunk before in my life :\

A little IRC challenge from tonight. Topic was "bang, pop" open ended.

[4rt-r41d]

the last one is fantastic! ;D

[Texahol]

wakazou: thanks

man I'm so emo....I feel a complete lack of direction, and all my ideas seem like shit.

some stuff from today.

[Stark]

This is pretty cool: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=95891&stc=1&d=1171857107 Though that elbow is out of whack something terrible...But nice nonetheless. And stop doing lazy highlights! lol The last one though is my fave. Something about those random lines make it cool...

Keep at it.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Hey tex, keep it up. Post #144 was really kickass, fun idea mate, loved the bang and pop :)

[DIMAGYAN]

i like the gesture drawings, and your pencils are very good...
keep it up...

[Texahol]

stark: yeah, I am being lazy. :\ finding things in the scribbles is good fun, lots of unexpected results usually...this time not so "wow"

sirio: mmm I was happy with that, until I saw that Lukias updated...and then was just like "why the hell do I suck so much" and went emo for like 3 days. Feeling much better now.

dimagyan: thank you.

I think working on a 12.1 inch monitor is putting me at the end of my rope, as well as some other things. Trying to get my act together.

a page from my sb and a painting I started. [wanted to scan the painting so I can do it digi as well as traditionally.

[BlueMech]

Looks like a good start on the painting. Hopefully not a red balloon though.

[Stark]

Nice start on the painting...Make a blue balloon...or vagina red :P

KUDOS

[Texahol]

lol @ blue and stark

here's the semi-final [i've been painting in my basement and it's COLD!] I'm done with it enough I suppose...too cold too cold....nowhere else to paint.

my scanner killed all the colors....I suppose, you get what you pay for.

[Hyptosis]

Some pretty crazy smack. But awesome smack none-the-less.

[Red/White/Black]

Hey tex. You got some really nice digis going on, espically the finished ones. The anatomy studies are also great and I really like how the traditional/digital piece is coming out.Keep up the awsome work.

[Texahol]

hyptosis: I think that's a compliment ;)
rwb: thanks

here's the digi version [maybe wip?]

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Hey tex, that blue one is looking real cool mate. I like the textured background, but over the progression of the piece the girl blends less and less with the very dirty, textured look of the blue bg..Id reccomend dirtying up the girl as well to balance it out. :I Ciao.

[Texahol]

I'l see what I can do sirio :) I guess I thought I was going to let the figure pop off the page with that separation, but the result is too much separation :\

so my house has horrible lighting, and I have an oooold digicam.

some oil paintings on canvasboard from yesterday. I dont' know why I was so afraid of oils....they're awesome!

[Lad]

I am really digging the second painting. I guess the coldness isnt really affecting you that much

:)

[Stark]

I guess you're the guy in all of your artwork with red noses....Cool

Those paintings are pretty good...simple, but pretty good. Keep at it and you'll be as good as me one day

[Texahol]

lad, it was so cold in my basement with no heat...but yeah...not so bad that it stopped me from doing stuff :P

stark, one day....one day *sigh*

[Stark]

Now that is awesome. I love the composition of that and the colors. How big is the canvas or is that a SB page? Maybe you could add something at the very bottom to show where she's escaping or something? Give her some kind of relative height or something.

KUDOS

[Texahol]

yeah stark, I agree...I also changed the cropping back to my original idea...went back to the sketch and kind of brought more of the original idea back to life.
I think I'm all done with this one [who knows, I thought I was done a long time ago]

I need to start thinking about interesting angles for composition...I've noticed that most of what I do is just straight on. I had this realization yesterday when on a chairlift [skiing] and one of the giant grooming machines was going up the mountain directly beneath me. such a cool angle... we'll see. I'm going to try to get less straight on view stuff in the future I think.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Hey tex, cool update dude, nice that you incorporated more blue from the scene into the balloon character, helps her fit in much better. :) Nice lighting on the yellow butterfly sketch as well mate. Stuff is looking better and better mate, cheers. : D

[bumskee]

dude. you got some nice stuff in here.. when did this happen!? :( should have told me about it.. love the IRC challenge.. :)

i love the life drawings, simple.. kinda cute..haha.. i would watch the cross hatching tho, you seem better off without it. just hatching seems to work a lot better for u. keep going bro! looking sweet!

:D

[chaosrocks]

butteerfly thingy is a nice start
work on it

mm good
chaos

[Texahol]

so I got a new computer....went from a 12.1 inch powerbook g4 to a 20inch widescreen imac X_x

holy shit the screen is HUGE!!! also in order to preserve the ratio, I am using the equivalent of a 4.36x8 inch wacom....so now I need to start saving for a new tablet :| maybe....I think I'm already starting to get used to it a bit.

just some doodles trying to get used to the new compy :):)

[Stark]

Lucky bastard. You are going to have so much fun on that Mac. Is it standalone Mac or tower too?

[Grim Reaper]

Some pieces here are really good but some look unfinished... My favourites are the scary ones- especially that page of faces with lots of teeth, that one really kicks ass. Also good pencil work, I can see you practice a lot. And that picture you made when you were 9- man, that's great, I wish I didn't lose what I've done as a kid 'cos it gets very interesting when you're older! Child's imagination is pure and unspoiled.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

nice new doodles mate, and congrats on the new PC..I seriously thought you were joking all along about the 12 incher! :) Ciao.

[Texahol]

stark, yeah..lucky? no. broke? yes. it's one of those giant monitor-computer iMacs dual core all that jazz...

grim, thanks! I'm glad you like the 'scary' stuff ^_^

sirio...no not at all....12.1 inches of hell.

some stuff from my life drawing class...I need a new scanner :< none of the poses were longer than 20 minutes *raanngnghegn* the profs at my school think 5 and 10 minute poses are the BEST THING EVER >___<

I have more stuff I need to scan and stuff I need to take pictures of... :P

[Stark]

Nice update..... I like the life studies, look good...for 5-10 minutes they look pretty damn good to me...

Ink wash? Anyways, the last one is nice...could use a bigger scan next time so that I can see what details you have in there :P

[Texahol]

thanks stark...I'll try to remember to scan it when I'm at school. They have non-sucky scanners. I dunno which is worse, my scanner or the digi cam I used to take these pictures. >_<

here's two charcoal/chalk drawings...like 22 x 30 or something.

a small 4x6 oil
and a work doodle 8.5x11 cheap ass copy paper + 2b pencil with my work logo on it. :L haha oh well, at least it was slow enough to where I could draw, but not so slow I got caught. :P

[chaosrocks]

and you chide me for sloppy inkwashes
:P

I do love that you are putting more effort in to you own ideas.. the handling of colour is really looking good..
in the pencils.you need to watch the contour. and scratch mark making

nice to see so much work
lets see some more
chaos

[character]

it's good to have internet at home again for sketchbooks like this. awesome stuff man. ur gaining lvls liek mad!

[Texahol]

chaos, thanks <3
character...I hope to continue leveling, gotta get to a higher level before I can wear this armour I have in my inventory...

a doodle from today...I have some pencils to scan as well..but can't seem to get good scan/photo.

[Texahol]

hrm doodle from today...I need to take some pics of the paintings I've been working on, and scan my pencils and classwork still .______________.


also, in other news: ooooh new puppy!

[JM]

You need an update!

I like your characters and style quite a lot, but the only thing I would have to comment on is that some of your characters look a little stiff. I guess it's because of the amount of mostly straight lines you use.

Heh, how am I doing at this crit thing? ;P

Cheers~!

[Texahol]

thanks juli ~<3

here's an update for you.
two paintings that have dried enough to put on the scanner, a bunch of sketchbook stuff [including some class notes from art history] and two IRC thunderdomes... shrine of the collossus, and a squidmonkey.

[Maurizio]

Nice pics. I like your pencils and especially this painting: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=97299&stc=1&d=1172119960

[MattGamer]

MAD UPDATE, mate! Lovely paintings and this (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=118510&stc=1&d=1175813229)is so freakin cool. Along with the sketch above it. Thank you for sharing. Now I must look through the posts I missed out on since I was last here. Ooo cute puppy! :D

[AlexC]

tex http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=108959&stc=1&d=1174090647
this one looks great
a bit phil hale ish, which is probably why i like it.
Figures are getting better and better, some slight out of proportion'essness with the head size.
I think you should do some head studies too, some seem a bit rushed too
last squidmonkey one is cool, i think i may mess around with it, and post later!

[Steph Laberis]

Your rate of progress always inspires me - I dig the big "group shots" in your latest update here! Nice to see you start to mingle more graphic stuff (heart icons, swirls, etc) with your more organic stuff.

Grats on the 4 stars, you ;) A few more master copies and you could be on your way to the 5th!

[BohemianChaos]

your works are so varied... me likes :)

[JM]

Awesome update Tex.

Your recent figure studies are really looking good. I'd say the main thing is for you to work on your drapery as well as your pencil strokes right now.

Hurry up and post more, plzkthxbai <3

[Stark]

Crazy mad updates bro...Phuckin loving this update...got a few more SBs to hit up, but I'll be back to give more in depth crits/comments

[Texahol]

maurizio: thanks mate! I should take a pic of what happened to that one... :P It's changed quite a bit!

mattgamer: ya...wai2ignore my sb :P I hope you like what you see :) the puppy's name is carbon, and she's a handful right now X_x

alexc: keep the crits coming man. I don't know wtf happens with the head sizes and other proportions, I guess I'm not taking a step back from what I'm doing early on enough to bang out the proportions correctly._.

steph: <3 thank you so much!

bohemianchaos: thank you, it's always nice to hear :)

julianna: thank you <3 I couldn't agree more.

stark: thanks, hopefully you won't forget to come back with the crits :)

here's a couple 1 hr IRC thunderdomes: ice skating hippo, hip hop samurai, and mayan panty temple:

[chaosrocks]

silly
I post em too

I liked the hippo specially'
I missed that on edue to the fact that I actually sleep sometimes

[Texahol]

lol chaos.


oh god painful....

well after hours of noodling and guessing here I am.

i need to use ref and do environment studies in the future.

aaaaand a two hour thunderdome over MSN. "A grinning dog battles a samurai in the woods."

[chaosrocks]

tex dear Im gonna take away your acid green .... just remove it from your pallette
I know its spring and the world is puddle-wonderful.... but
moderation in all things particularly the use of brilliant yellow green

the Grinning dog has a great expression
chaos

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Hey tex, last set turned out nice, nice messing with color on that envo, although I cant get my thumb down on where the lightsource is, could push the values some more. The grinning dog piece is nice(expression turned out great!) although the posture makes it seems like hes leaning slightly to a side. :) Nonetheless seeing some great improvement here colorwise. Ciao.

[Idiot Apathy]

ENvairooooo's are looking good. Try and think more about value patterns and value staging, do some black and whites to concentrate.

Going against that - I like how subtle the values are in this one; http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=119430&stc=1&d=1176006830.

Get used to using color balance, selective color and curves. NOW! :P

wang.

[adraude]

wow. there's a lot of progress from page 1 to 4. rad stuff mr. texahol. keep it up!!

[Zord]

Thanks for listening in last week Tex! The enviro's are looking niice, especially the last one. But watch out for generalized shadows under the trees. And do what Tom says, he knows what he's talkin' 'bout! Cheers.

[Addiso]

Great to see how your knowledge of traditional media tranfers to digital.
Great textures and a really fresh choice of colors.

I'll tie up my pants and start coming up on you real fast ! :D

[Chirp Chirp]

My, my Tex you have been rather busy. I am really liking the green tree environment on this page and in general all your traditional media work.

However, I could be wrong but it feels like your digital characters suffer from a feeling of being posed in contrast to your other media.

Take the samurai guy for instance, he is really stiff considering what he is doing. (Actually what is he doing giving the doggy a hug?) Also his pelvis and legs don't look like their are attached. And finally, the samurai and the doggy are not in perspective with each other.

Keep it up and thanks for motivating me to get my ass in gear.

[Texahol]

chaos: <3 tanks
sirio: ya mate, good points, leaning dog of pisa. Thanks for the crits :I
IA: as always thanks for the tips :) I'll try out those new trickz
adraude: :I hopefully I'll keep making progress
zord: the show was good, I look forward to it again tonight ;D yah generalized shadows ftl, I should have done a better job picking lightsource and such. ya tom's an idiot savant.....that bastard.
addiso: actually, a lot of my knowledge that I apply to traditional stuff was learned digitally. It's all the same kind of stuff, really...just different means to achieve a picsharrr.
chirp: I need to still work harder :\ I have so much to learn, and I'm so much not learning it from my school. yeah, "battles" "hugs" it's all the same really :x yah, I made some bad choices in that one, I'm going to redo it...I think.

so I fiddled with those things you said idiot, and ended up with a bit of an adjusted environment [I didn't fix the bad lightsource though...I'm such a lazy git]. aaand some pages from my new 4x6 sketchbook. It fits in my back pocket...so convenient! fold it out, and you have a 6x8 working aread, which is pretty adequate surprisingly :I I'm gonna try to get more l337 with the acrylics. And I've found that this small size allows me to work fairly quickly :)

[JM]

Kick arse update Tex!

I love to see nice big updates like this. Your line works on the last couple of drawings are looking much better. Seems like you're just having fun with your new book and you're going to have to buy another one soon ;P

You ought to do more stuff like the hippo you did earlier - without using many lines or no lines to define the shape when doing things in colour. Makes things less stiff looking.

Cheers, and post some more soon!

[Zord]

Those painted pages in the sb totally pwns nubz. Maybe try gesso-ing the pages pre-paint, so they don't wrinkle? (Unless you already did it, otherwise, me = nubz) I've got to try that mix media in my book too.

And yay for more listeners. Cheers man.

[MattGamer]

Buddy, I love you painting. That one... hahaha... the Life Aquatic is soooo awesome!

You rule and I need to go paint. Thanks for reminding me how much I suck. :p

[Chirp Chirp]

Tex, regarding your changes to this environment http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=121656&stc=1&d=1176409939

My initial reaction is that the image just more saturated (I do like more of the purple, great choice with the green), anyway I opened up both the original and the new one side by side in PS and flipped them to grey scale. Overall I think you were rather conservative and have room to push your darks more.

[deadred]

your hawtest update yet :} looking at your stuff make me want to pick up real media! one that stands out the most to me is the playbutton-bunny-thing saying "hi", great concept there

[Dile_]

Dude.... f*** you! theres nothing that makes sense between the improvement fron page 1&2 and now... lol I probably looked at the title three times before i realized i was looking at the right sketchbook!
I am very impressed over what i see in your book now haha ^^
Keep the good work up, I'm sure to leave you some critique when i get home..

Thanks for the strong inspiration!

-Dile

[Stark]

Hey man..Good stuff here... We discussed in IRC what was wrong in here, but I'm gonna post it again really quick to emphasize what I mean.
The stiffness of your characters really take away from the overall atmosphere and "emotion" that they may try to convey. The arms, some of the legs, everything just needs to dynamic poses. Nothing major needs to be done, but a turn of the wrist/arm/torso/ etc, even some *gasp* foreshortening!

Keep at it and you'll get there...Great update too

[Anurizm]

hey tex, the i am a rocker sketch looks great. keep it up.

[Texahol]

juli: <3 thank you. I'd like to see some big sketchbook updates from you too ;) regarding the hippo, yeah, it's always good practice to do that, unfortunately I feel I've been a bit lazy. Having good descriptive values seem to be more impressive than good lines I shall work on doing more digi's like that :D
[b]zord: I've started experimenting with gesso on paper, you'll all see how it comes out in the near future. I think having a thick paper to start with is very important....
mattgamer: !! thanks!! I feel I'm starting to get a better feel for painting now...Still have a lot of work ahead of me though.
chirp chirp: yeah I was being probably a bit too conservative with the darks, I'll throw that one under the 'experiments' category. I still have a lot to learn about color and value relationships.
deadred: <3 thank you! yeah, I was looking at manu is malin's stuff, and it's so playful...I think that's where the bunny came from.
dile: thanks dude, you've been working hard too :)
Stark: yes yes, you're too right, I need to work on dynamism...it's why I get for being a lame-oh, and "fixing" things.
Anurizm: hey thanks man :) Photo ref, I think I had been up for a while [2 days maybe?] and I thought it was a funny idea at the time.

more pages from the sketchbook, and two IRC thunderdomes, 6 of 7 and 'ugly baby' ...TDs were about 30 minutes each :\

[MattGamer]

Sweet, mate! I love the teeth theme. You have the coolest ideas! ;]

[Anurizm]

i like how your lines flow.

[Chirp Chirp]

Grats Tex.. I think you just leveled up! Seriously, I really thought I was on the wrong sketchbook and did a double take. Very impressive line work, it looks fast, clean and especially on the second one your lines give off a nice energy adding to the feeling of vomiting. What is he puking anyway, rabbit turds?

No pressure, you just raised your own bar and now I want to see more. :)

[bhanu]

the paintings are so great......I dont have words , so fresh and fun.
Dude , subscribed.

[Stark]

Looking good man...reminds me a tiny bit of nicolas...so I guess that's a good thing. Your choice of topics/subjects are varied, which is a good thing.

Now just look around for some good dynamic-ism and foreshortening and you'll be fine.

Keep at it bro...

[Texahol]

mattgamer: chairs mate! I wish i thought my ideas were cool too :P
Anurism: yeah, I've been trying to get better lines when drawing...which mostly has meant erasing the line if it's bad, and trying to get swooshy lines as much as possible.
Chirp Chirp: haha thanks! I'm glad to hear that you feel that way, I guess the pressure is on now :D I think it was flies, rabbit turds is funny too :D
bhanu: thank you very much, that means a lot :)
Stark: yes yes, I do need some more dynamic stuff .__.

small update with some sb doodles, reworking the comp on the samurai vs. dog thing, and a 1 hour IRC thunderdome "beatemup character design"

[bumskee]

Yo mr Tex, :D loving all the pages, you are doing some nice work! kinda reminds me that "emo" drawing u did ages ago.. not sure if u remember that.. that was heaps kewl. :P keep going buddy!

[Texahol]

hey min!

thanks buddy. Yeah, I never really got around to finishing that emo drawing....I should revisit that >:|

[hurricane]

great update!
it looks like some areas lack punch.. you should add that extra dark areas when you feel it's done.
contrast-brucelee punch-in-the-eye

;)

cheers!

[chaosrocks]

lotsa stuff...ur loosening up a lil..good to see
landscape kinda sucks.... from life? could be Maine coast... light move on ya?
ever wonder why I work so fast?

your pencil shading is getting a bit right to left slant, uniform. not with the form but in random surface direction.... people yell at me about this all the time. so I just thought Id mention it

your too damn prolific...make us all look bad
chaos

[MattGamer]

Hello mate... looking good! Listen to Hurri, he knows what he's talkin about! :]

[Stark]

Uh...yeah, good start on the dynamicism of it all, you're taking a big leap here...now we just need to pop that foreshortening cherry and see how you can handle that. Like Hurri said, there are some areas that could be darker to bring more contrast to all of your pieces... That may help with the stiffness that some of them develop.

Keep at it (I'll update soon so you can have something to yell about) :P

[Texahol]

hurri: yeah, it's true, I have been lacking in contrast. Partly due to the paper quality..partly due to lazy ;) If I load up the paper with graphite, it smudges when I close the book :P I shall be more conscientious in ze future.

chaos: 'sucks' isn't really a constructive crit. It is the maine coast from life. one on the left was like 5 minutes, and the one on the right was about 10 minutes. Was out enjoying the weather, decided to do a bit of sketching, didn't stay sketching long enough for the light to move :P I'm not prolific enough, if anything :x

mattgamer: will do ;) *stealz hurri's brainz*

stark: Thanks, I need to stop being lazy and do some reffed forshortening studies, bumskee has this site linked in his sb, he did some studies--I can't wait to start doing some studies of my own ;) http://www.posemaniacs.com/blog/pose/
and about your update--I'll believe it when I see it. ;)

here's some stuff from the past couple days in my little sketchbook, and two IRC thunderdomes: 'metal pandora' and 'god of beauty'

[Duq]

THERE IS A BOX IN THAT ROBOT!

anyways, cool stuff :D I like the symmetry on the last one specifically. And you got some cool ideas going on :)

[Colepoopface]

Great stuff, keep up the awesome work! You seem to be improving a lot.

[Lad]

Totally digging your paints. I dont know what it is, maybe its the brush stroke...

I would like to see more anatomy study, I think some of your stuff is lacking depth in that department.

I know what you mean about 11x14 sketckbooks, TOO BIG!!!

[Texahol]

what the hell is this bullshit. learn how to draw.

oh wait, I'm in my own sketchbook....damn

Duq: ya! I'm glad it reads as pandora's "box" :P thanks mate
colepoopface: thanks a lot for dropping by, you do good work :)
Lad: yeah, I need them anatomy studies. I am lacking very much so in anatomy and gesture right now. I have no idea wtf I'm doing with the paints, a lot of it is guesswork. For the stuff that I've started to understand, I suppose I've learned the most from nicolas, as far as acrylics go. he does really good work with them.

I've been really sick, which means I've been really slacking. :/ erm. no sleeping. for about 2 weeks straight. ugh. getting sick is not fun. I'm glad I only do it once every 2 years. I could go for less. School is out now, and I passed all my classes, so that's good. time to get my ass in gear and start learning shit.

here's some WIP stuff and an IRC challenge. I think I'll take the guy with the pause button on his forehead into oils for fun...and I'm kind of stuck on the robotz. I didn't think far enough in advance. I seem to have a really tough time putting characters into environments. All I think about is "omg wow, robotz are cool" and wtf is up with that guy only having one arm. I learned a bunch about rendering though....I think I forgot during my diseased state. i feel like I can't even draw for beans.

..man I wish someone would give me beans, I'm kind of hungry.

[squidmonk3j]

really like where your pencils are heading. and ur paintings make me want to buy acrylics! good stuff!:)

[bhanu]

dude ,dude , dude this is fabulous.
this one is way cool.http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=131904&stc=1&d=1177967939
please please paint this one.
take care bro.

[Stark]

Good update bro. The middle one is sopot on damn near awesome. I'd say add some dull shine to the robits and not those bright ass simple spots you like doing. But either way, it's still good stuff.

[MattGamer]

*gives beans* I am not sure you want my beans. My mom makes them and for like a week straight I have the toots. Not fun, and SMELLY!

It is so weird, we all have been on a break from art. I was out of the loop for almost a month and just now I am getting back into it. And I am enjoying it again.

Draw three paintings a day along side your study sketches. I have been doing this the past two days and really am enjoying it. Try different styles of different artists, and copy them! You know all about copying.

Anyhew, really dig and like the robots colors and the man's shoes. Those are some fancy nice shoes. Also uh.... "BRAINS!!!!!!!!" Haha, so awesome, and I do not think those are his brains, but it would have been cool if he ripped his own brains out. Cheers!

[Texahol]

squid: thanks
bhanu: sounds like a good plan, hopefully I'll remember after work tomorrow.
stark: thanks, I know but the spec highlights are so damn fun :O
mattgamer: thanks for the beans bro. I do need to be productive.

here's me being not very productive. I hate when life grips you by the testicles with sharp claws and doesn't let go. It makes it really hard to concentrate.

[Stark]

Sexy symmetry man. I like the girl more for the added stuff around here. The faces around her head are a nice touch also. The guy's background is...hmm...boring? Though his face is pretty nice.

Keep at it and KUDOS

[Cwn Annwn]

Whoa tex, I go away for a while and had to go and improve by leaps and bounds! Great progress dudemanbrofella!

[Texahol]

NEGLECT! ABUSE!

I've been so busy with stuff....blehh

I had this super fun IRC challenge with slash and JOHNGRELLO tonight.
45 minutes then swap.

me>johngrello>slash
http://www.texahol.com/images/3x.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Jagrello/its_tdome2.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/irc_td_tex_ion_slash.jpg

johngrello>slash>me
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Jagrello/its_tdome.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/irc_td_ion_slash.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/ionz.jpg

slash>me>johngrello
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b21/slashesc/poop_priestess.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/slash.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Jagrello/its_tdome3.jpg

[Texahol]

RAWR symmetry!

I needz to break it up a bit more in the future.

[Yacob]

Really like your sketchbook. That idea with drawing random lines is cool. I might have to try that.

[Andy P]

Yo, really fun colabs with Johngrello, very cool to see the process like that. I think with each of them you the first poses/compositions you started out with worked best though. Still, fun stuff.
These newest two have a lot going for them, nice details, really nice graphic wings on the first one. Symmetry can work well, but I think you're right a little more variety is what's needed.
Keep up the sweet digis, man!

[Stark]

You suck

[Texahol]

stark: thanks :D
cwn: yeah, I heard you got lost working at a real job? tsk tsk tsk! welcome back to the intarwebz!
yacob: ya mate, it's fun, I still do it a fair amount when braindead. :P
andyP: thanks for dropping by! This collab stuff is so much fun :D

so with this one, I thought it was just a char design...and johngrello went all illustrationy on me!
me>johngrello>me>johngrello
http://www.texahol.com/images/crabguy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Jagrello/crabguyJAM_ion_tex2.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/texiontex.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Jagrello/texiontex2.jpg
johngrello>me>johngrello>me
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Jagrello/JAM_ion_tex.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/ion_tex.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Jagrello/ion_tex2.jpg
http://www.texahol.com/images/djam4.jpg

[Ionic]

!FIVE BACK AT YA!

these are great

[BludHund]

Whoa! Helluva lotta work here.

Two quibbles: A. Study feet B. (on the giant dog fighting samurai) canids lower jaws, that is their chins, are very thin and flat.

Good stuff!

[BluePencilArtist]

Holy sugar cookies! That's totally amazing sketches you got here. Keeps it up good work...

BP

[Chirp Chirp]

Great update Tex... I think with a little more work and polish a few of these latests posts could land in your portfolio.

[Stark]

Good stuff in here. Like Chirp said, you could polish some of these up and get a good portfolio going. You've improved leaps and bounds since I've known ya...kudos

[Texahol]

WOO! PAGE 5! *happy dance*

johngrello: !
bludhund: only two quibbles? c'mon! the more quibbles the better :)
chirp: thanks! I wish I could lay claim to the collabs...but I don't really feel like I own the intellectual property. I've learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed them. I hope to do many more.
stark: I hope to continue improving :D

some doodles for today. did this rocketboard in sketcher [a collab with julianna and Stark put some shadows on teh butt]
then redrew the idea later, trying to make it more fluid. I seemed to have lost something in the process.

...and a 1hr IRC TD "undead mechanic"
I have been doing some painting in my lil sb again. I need to get my hands on a scanner :/

[Qitsune]

Hey, it's my first visit. Cool stuff, I have checked from page 5 to here and I can see the improvement. You didn't seem to feel the undead mecanic however... Nice pun...but he needs more love. I feel you have some poses many of your figures have, maybe try new positions?

[Texahol]

thanks qitsune :)
yeah, I tried a different working progress (tried to use lines more effectively), which isn't always good when there is only 1 hr time restriction.

I'll start working on getting figures in more interesting poses and angles. Sounds like it's time for more studies. I seem to have been getting lazy :<

Here's something I did in response to the boring figures, I hope it's heading in the right direction.
I'm not working on the computer as much...it seems that working a desk job at a bank all day + drawing and painting at night have started to take a toll on my arms. Makes me a bit nervous, but I think if I can get into a regular exercise routine, I'll be okay.

[Texahol]

a little IRC thunderdome: "chick with bfg"

[Stark]

That's hot texahol...how about some really toes and not samurai feet? STOP BEING LAZY!

[Texahol]

hehe thanks stark. I've been lazy. I've been procrastinating studies for a bit too long :x

here's some stuff from my sb:

[John]

Hey tex, nice update. I like the orange Robot (04s.jpg), el mustashio & 02s.jpg. I think the orange robot could be carried further, maybe with some yellows / darkening the outlines, something along those lines. Keep it up :D

[Texahol]

John: thanks. If you're talking about the completely orange page...It's just some lines with a wash over it. I haven't really done anything to it yet :)

some thunderdomes from IRC

[Texahol]

another IRC thunderdome: "clockwork villain"

I kind of like it enough to take to finish... maybe.

[Texahol]

another irc thunderome ~45 minutes.
"death of a stranger"