Wheeljack's Sketchbook

[Wheeljack18]

Check out Page 5 for work that isn't 5 years old!

So I have finally decided to join the ranks of the Sketchbook Threads. Please feel free to lay into me with crits etc. I am always open to constructive crticisim and I hope to learn and improve with every new piece. Thanks for taking a look and I'm greatful for having the opportunity to share with such an impressive community as this one.

What you see here are some of the most recent stuff that I've been plugging away at.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Metal%20Gear/BIGbossCQC.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Metal%20Gear/Mg2-adjust_scale.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Metal%20Gear/pinup.jpg

Pencil Rough..
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/BFPirates2/HassaultHead.jpg
Inked up Jobbie
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/BFPirates2/HassaultHeadINK.jpg

I think I like the top one better out of these next two.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/BFPirates2/HCarpenterHead2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/BFPirates2/HCarpenterHead1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/BFPirates2/undeadmedic-adjust.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Sketchbook%20Thread/Sketchpage-08-12-06.jpg

[Goodbye..fromthevoid]

Wow, you want to learn and improve with EVERY new piece? Cheezus that's hard pressure. Well, I hope you are able to do it!

Everything you showed looked pretty good I thought. Of course things can always look better, especially if you are aiming for realism. But anyway I would recommend branching out and trying to draw some things that you are unfamiliar with. How about that? How about.... a castle?

[Sybo]

A nice older comic style in my eyes. Nice man, jsut keep posting, thats the trick to improve. :)

[Aether]

You have a very original style. Looks like your enjoying what your doing and theres a nice sense of motion in your compositions.

Good work keep it up

[Wheeljack18]

Installment #2

Not a heck of a lot but at least it's something...

Drawing some Females here. What the heck is with her hands?!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Sketchbook%20Thread/Sketchpage-08-21-06.jpg

A couple of Head variations on a Pirate character with a toothache
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/BFPirates2/Medic-Heads-groupA.jpg

And Some more Metal Gear:

Another attempt at Ocelot
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Metal%20Gear/Ocelotgun3.jpg

I was inpired by Bruce Timm this day....
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Metal%20Gear/volign-TIMM.jpg

Now these last couple are my attempt at illustrating the Boss Battle with The Fury. I've been tinkering with the idea and I'm still humming and hawing over it. Any thoughts? What's working what ain't?
#1http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Metal%20Gear/Snake-VS-thefury.jpg

#2http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Metal%20Gear/Snake-VS-thefury-2.jpg

#3http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/mikeperryart/Metal%20Gear/Vs-Fury3.jpg


Goodbye..fromthevoid: Drawing a Castle! But... that's OUTSIDE of my comfort zone!! Heh heh. You are very right. I need to do this and I will be putting it off as long as possible but eventually I will draw a castle! I WILL DAMNIT!

Sybo: thanks Man, I'll try to post regularily.

Aether: Thank you and yes I do enjoy it.

Thanks for taking a look all.

Out.

[Wheeljack18]

I see in my last port I said that I'd try to post more often... Well a couple of months later. Here I am! heh heh.

Well, here is a dose of what I have been up to.

Thanks for taking a look.

The last piece is a small rough for a Metal gear illustration I was thinking of. The idea is for it to be in the same vien as a classic paperback using the mike shane series template. I've also included a cover for those of you who aren't familiar with what I'm talking about.

[Wheeljack18]

Installment#4
Another sketchbook page and a couple of more comps for that paperback illustration I was talking about in my last post. I just wasn't satisfied with the pose so I thought I'd crank out a few more ideas....

[Wheeljack18]

Just trying to keep on Keeping on.

[Wheeljack18]

Still a lukewarm response from this gang. I suppose I should get a little flashier in my presentation?

[Wheeljack18]

Installment #7

Not much but just following thorugh with some inked versions of images from my last update.

[Wheeljack18]

A revised version of a previous drawing...

[Wheeljack18]

I've been a busy lad in the past while....

Most of em are in the same theme but you may notice with the final charcter design you have a blue pencil sketch. Before I got the Marko Djurdjvic DVD and then another pencil sketch After I watched the DVD once.

[Wheeljack18]

#10

I've been having one of those spells where it just ain't happening. So here are some head studies I've been playing with trying to get my groove back. I've been reffering to my Loomis. He seems to always be there to fall back on when you're in a funk.

Happy New Year!!

[Amazing Action Ape]

hey dude, awesome sketchbook. Your rendering and inks are fantastic, and your themes are badass. Who doesnt love pirates and military personnel drawn in a siiiiiick classic comic style!
wish i had more to say other than simple asspattery :S

[Jonny Dark]

fantastic renders and awesome subjectmater. Loomis is the best eh? I wish i could find a copy of "for all it's worth" somewhere. i'd be a happy camper. Awesome avatar too. Keep on keep'n on.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey guys thanks for taking a look.

Amazing Action Ape: Asspatery is always appreciated. Could you please elaborate on the "classic comic style" comment? I've been told that before and I'm sitting here (stupidly) scratching my head thinking " I don't get it?" heh heh. Maybe I should have another coffee...

Johnny Dark: Thanks for the comments! And yes, I'm fond of the Avatar too. I actually wanted my Handle to be just plain Wheeljack but somebody else on the forum beat me to it! As for the loomis, I might be able to help you out getting a copy of his books. PM me with you're Email address and I'll fill you in.

[Wheeljack18]

A few more Ink Jobbies....

[Matsign]

Well its always fun to do scenes and dive deeper into a story like Metal Gear, artistic, isn't it? Great busts and skeletal renderings. I love that transport plane you did, have you done anymore vehicles or planes?

[Wheeljack18]

Matsign: Diving into the metal gear story for me, is good excercise and I'm trying to challenge myself and keep pushing. Artistic does describe it. heh heh. But yeah, I'm having fun. For the Plane, thanks! I don't draw mechanical stuff all that much and it's on the list for me to work on. All I got is an Ink jobbie of the Shagohod and a Russian Motorbike marker rendering I did a few years back.

Thanks for posting.

[SantaClaus]

hi

wahoo. like your style. really like the skeleton on your first post! I'm not sure where the gun fits into his character but i dont' care... lol keep it up.

[Wheeljack18]

Here we go with a few more. Nothing special just pluggin away.
SantaClaus: Thanks! The gun is just an after thought anyways. Why shoot somebody when you can smack him with a rusty saw?

[Wheeljack18]

Here's something a little different to add to the Pile...

EDIT: Here is a Better Scan of the same image

[Wheeljack18]

4 more pages of drawings for this post. I'm really trying to just feel comfortable drawing again. I know that sounds akward but I really do feel empty creatively and I desperately need to loosen up and just get down to practicing. So, here goes....

[Wheeljack18]

I'm still trying to loosen up a bit. Here are my latest endeavors....

[Wheeljack18]

Two More

[Zweit]

shame there aren't more replies here, your work is really quite good. i can't find much to crit as it all looks pretty consistently great as far as sketch work goes. your environments are the only thing i can see that could use some love, some of your pencil rendering looks kind of scratchy. otherwise it's all gravy.

cheers dude and keep up the good work. :)

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Zweit. IT IS A SHAME isn't it? ha ha. No, if people want to post that's cool and if not, well that's cool too. But, Any feedback IS appreciated. You are right about the enviroments. I rarely do them because they just don't appeal to me. There I admitted it! I do need to work on it though and I will. Some of the renderings are different than others and at this point I'm trying to loosen up a bit so that may account for the scratchiness. Thanks for posting!

[AndrewRitchie]

I really enjoy browsing these images. Your pencil work remind me of the illustrators of the 50's and 60's. Some of your subject matter seems to come from the same era.
Do you ink traditionally? Have you studied inking techniques from the same period?

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks Andrew Ritchie. Yeah I'm a fan of old school illustration. Any and all not just the 50' - 60's but I do like the time period for sure. I do ink traditionally if you mean with ink and pens and brushes. I don't use a crowquill ( too messy) but I do like to look at and study some of the greats from the past. Did I answer your questions satisfactorily?

This next page has a bit more of a 70's feel to Shake it up some heh heh. Wow! Two responses in Two days! Buisness is picking up! HA HA.

[Wheeljack18]

Feb 12 / 07

[MrBobMarley]

Been meaning to stop by here for a while man. Like your style, realistic and comic fused nicely. Too bad you haven't gotten more replies, your stuff looks great to me. Like the MGS stuff, even though splinter cell is the shit lol.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Mr BobMarley, Thanks for Stopping by!

It's always great to hear from others and you never know, things might pick up. My theory is that I don't have enough color and I'm not flashy enough. What do you think?
I never played Splinter Cell so I can't say either way. I've been playing the Metal Gear series since the 1st one came out in 87' and I find it hard to branch out. " Change..... is..... BAD!"

So here are some more pages out of the old Sketchbook. I haven't been able to devote as much time lately as I'd like but here goes....

[Wheeljack18]

A few more AGAIN! Just trying to focus on loosening up and yet spending more time on my images. Here goes....

[dchan]

really nice stuff you got man your style is amazing a mix of modern and retro i feel. envy your skillz with characters. dude tanx by the way for checking out my SB

[Wheeljack18]

Feeling the Love. THX, Pop in anytime.

[Wheeljack18]

Some more stuff from the HAappy month of April. Enjoy!

[Wheeljack18]

It's Been a while since I've posted here so you are in for a Big Dump!

All in all I've just been trying to loosen up and just sketch more and in some ways, I feel like I have regressed. That ever happen to any of you?

[Wheeljack18]

More Stuff.

[SMILEFACE]

thanx for the crit you really know what your talking about im in ahww your work is incredable

[andreasrocha]

Wow, great character sketches. Really looks promising!

[JellevdVegt]

dude, nice SB!!! your style reminds me of andrew loomis. yur a fan of the old school illustrations i see. thanks for the amazing reply at the critique center!

and eeh... lets fix that rating shall we? :)

[Peter Berkovski]

amazing thread man, i love your pencil and ink skills
keep posting i like to see more of your work :)
Cheers

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Gang! Thanks for popping in and staying long enough to reply!
I'll keep posting as I drum up some more work. Things have been slow for me lately art wise due to other commitments but rest assured more will follow.

I have a question for all of you: I am apparently not as computer Savvy as i thought b/c I cannot figure out how to get an image to appear in the forum to indicate my thread. I'm talking about the tiny avatar/image users have before the text of their individual thread. How do you post one up there? What do I need to do? Thanks.

Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Thanks Man, I try to be helpful when/if I can.

andreasrocha: Thank you sir.

Teh Gosu : Andrew Loomis is the MAN and you are right about me and "old school" illustration. I just can't get enough of it! You are very welcome for the crit and I'm glad that I could help. Thanks for the assist with the rating too!

atlantik : Thanks man, Stay tuned and I'll post some more just b/c you asked me too!.

[Grimey]

hey thanks for stopping by and leaving some crit!
your work has a very technical feel to a lot of it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
good proportions and anatomy though

[Wheeljack18]

It's been awhile but he's some more for ya!
Not a big fan of the inked version of " eva I need you" so I will be revisiting that one sometime.

[motives]

Great sense for comic style! So much character in all your drawings.
I suppose you draw much enviro's but it would be nice if you would post more of them, couse I really like your style!
Skills man, just pure skills :)

//motives

[Wheeljack18]

Once again I leave you with some of my sketches...

I've been posting some of my work up in the C and C section and the response has been amazing and very helpful. For more details you can go here. http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=104386

Motives: thanks for the posative! You're right, I should draw more environments but you pegged it. I like character and although good enviroments ARE characters to themselves. I've always been more interested in the people who live IN the environment. It's good observation and maybe tonight while I'm waiting at the Airport I'll draw some environments..Thanks for stopping by.

[Wheeljack18]

Here we go with some Pen Sketching from the Weekend. I was following Kev's advice and trying to just loosen up and get back to basics.

[Wheeljack18]

Even more for the pile.

Hey Kev, I broke out the nibs for a page and I did that toothbrush drawing you recomended. Nothing like getting messy!

[Azuma, Hironori]

Man it looks like you do these really fast... I'd crit by saying "loosen up on the lineweight" or something but that'd be like taking the stripes from a tiger. It will be really exciting to see how much further you can go by these means. Your construction of the basic forms are great as I can tell who you're drawing the second I look (for those that are meant to be other people).

I think I like the solid snake comic/storyboards the least but they are intentionally rough I can see. Uhhh... hm. perhaps a few of your lines betray the form they render a bit much... breaking flow and stuff. In the way you work I can't really tell if its bad I guess, I just know that when I see your lines going with the form, it looks really good. You may end up looking like Glenn Vilppu some day, as I can see him starting out like this.

Keep 'em coming!

[Azuma, Hironori]

Ah, didn't see these last ink portraits--- Those are super nice. I want to see a lot more like that! very professional sense of control there.... no betraying lines. Do I sound dumb saying that? Anyway- the center female and the nuke stick out to me the most. Excellent lines for her face. Remind me of a western version of the Metal Gear artist (the ink legend... can't think of his name right now...OH Yoji Shinkawa. Excellent guy there, look him up if you haven't already).

[Azuma, Hironori]

Ah, didn't see these last ink portraits--- Those are super nice. I want to see a lot more like that! very professional sense of control there.... no betraying lines. Do I sound dumb saying that? Anyway- the center female and the nuke stick out to me the most. Excellent lines for her face. Remind me of a western version of the Metal Gear artist (the ink legend... can't think of his name right now...OH Yoji Shinkawa. Excellent guy there, look him up if you haven't already).

[Azuma, Hironori]

This is an accidental double post... my apologies.

[kev ferrara]

Yo,

Like what I'm seeing as usual.

Toothbrush picture: too much lazy scrubbing and fake "impressionism"... not enough intense observation and precise drawing. Gotta be much more sensitive on the drawing. You can get beautiful lines with a toothbrush. Think about every stroke before you put it down on paper. Variety in the line. And don't forget about the dark and light pattern either. You piece is very patchy in terms of the blacks. And think about dynamic composition, diagonals not horizontals and verticals. Dynamic balance. Especially in the foreground. You keep on making your foreground horizontal. The eye should zig zag into a picture from the foreground, not hit into a eye-blocking horizontal first thing. Leave a path for the eye to enter.

Try again!

kev
The Taskmaster

[Wheeljack18]

I'm on it Kev, but you'll have to be patient with me as I'm moving this weekend.

Stand by.

[geartrooper]

excellent control. Just for variety's sake have you considered comic proportions as far as head heights?

[Tmza]

Nice. I like your style and you got solid skills what it comes to drawing humans. I also think that its good that you dont hesitate to show rougher sketches. They might help other CA members like me, so thanks for sharing.

[Zombie_dla]

Awesome MGS3 drawings! And verything else... it's awesome aswell :D Love your style, keep drawing

[Dan Valkar]

good old school art man nice pencils and inks....keep the good work comin'

[Wheeljack18]

Hey All,

Here is a brief dump of some of the stuff I've been hacking away at. Not much but I'm still trying to Keep it Real and sketch when I have a second.

The last one is a collaborative piece I did with a guy by the name of Bibi. I penciled it and he painted it.

Thanks to every body for posting and taking a look.

Tmza: glad you like the roughs. I too find it extremely helpful to see how others do it and their process. no matter how ugly.

Geartrooper: Thanks for poppin in. All I ever did for years was comic proportions and now I've been focusing on a more "realistic" approach. I'll dig around and see what I can come up with.

Kevferrera: I haven't forgotton your challenge Sensei, I'm just warming to it.

[Cold]

I can see alot of improvement, which is cool to see> The last peace you did with colour is nice and subtle. Colours match you line art, good stuff.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Cold, it's always nice to hear that there is improvement going on. The last piece was not colored by myself. It was a collaborative with another guy but thanks all the same.:teeth:

[Wheeljack18]

Where have I been?

Anyways, here is a dump of more stuff. Still plugging away here but....

[a3sthetik]

You have a really great style, and you character designs are strong, they show alot of expression, your line quality/cross-hatching is also very nice. Keep it coming!

[Wheeljack18]

Here is another installment.

Enjoy.

[Wheeljack18]

Boxing Day Special!

It seems that I feel like I'm just saying the same things in this thread but here goes with some more. The SB stuff isn't too impressive but I'm mainly just trying to stay in the game. Real Life and Xmas have definetly taken a chunck out of my " art" time.

Happy Holidays to each and all!

[Wheeljack18]

Been a While but here is some new stuff.

[Wheeljack18]

heh he. Time for my monthy post. ( I had to give up on the weekly one)

A bunch of finished inks and yes, I gouache image + The final version of " the duke"

[Wheeljack18]

Keeping Busy...

[Magic Man]

Hello wheeljack, some wonderful work mate - you know the thing that really really strikes me the most is your wonderful facial expressions and gesture of your figures - it puts your work at a level above many other people's.

Continue your rockin' hard, and if you have a spare moment, pop into my thread, would love to have any feedback on my latest stuff...when I upload it =).

m

[Trebster]

Wow! I love your sharp and crisp style. I wish I could draw like that, and I wish I had more to say. Thumbs up!

[Wheeljack18]

Like the title states, I'm still plugging away...

Magic Man: Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words. I apologize for my late response but I will pop by your thread ASAP!

Trebster: Thanks!

[Dan Valkar]

all that metal gear stuff its really cool man..nice line and ink...the portraits r damn fine too...specially the one of wayne...ur lst image from mobydick its simple and effective! keep it up!

[Mitze]

Great work love the style. Can't think of anything else to say. Keep it up.

[FargleBargle]

i love your style

[Wheeljack18]

Been a while, I know, but here is the best from this weeks sketchbook.

Enjoy, and once again, all C and C is always appreciated.

Mitz, Fargle Bargle & Dan Valkar: Thanks All for stoping by and droping me a line and for the posative remarks!

[jedininjaman]

awesome work but one thing I have noticed is that a lot of your faces look the same, like the noses in particular
great work though mate
keep it up you have inspired me greatly
and stop by sometime :)
-=jedi=-

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks for Stopping by jedininjaman! It's good to hear that I've inspired you somewhat. Regarding your previous comments about the faces and noses. Could you please be more specific so I can better understand what it is about the noses that makes them so similiar?
Thx
PS: I'll pop by your SB posthaste!

[Jaytea]

Holee shit. Your pencils are... ghslfdj'ing amazing. The sketches are so clean and the lines are like... @_@ damn.

[Wheeljack18]

Shalite: Thanks for Stopping by :)

I went back to some advice and suggestions given to me about a year ago and went back to drawing directly with the pen. Much more direct.

[Wheeljack18]

More more more. Trying to draw every day now and most of this is just quick stuff from the ol sketchbook.

[Wheeljack18]

I see that I never did upload this final image...

[Wheeljack18]

Mostly some Bic Pen sketches whilst house sitting a couple of weeks ago and a finished MGS3 Gouache Painting.

[Wheeljack18]

Here are a couple from last week. I've been doing a few fantasy images to round out the old portfolio. I also put together some character sketches based on the Dragon Lance series I enjoyed so much in my youth.

[Gdand]

all of your sketches are very strong and bold, i like the power they are giving off

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Gdand, Thanks for stopping by!
Here is a Pen and ink piece I did based on an old Dragonlance RPG Module. ( the old fashioned pen and paper type) heh heh.

The second one is a quick sketch of Claire Redfield from Resident Evil. I was inspired to draw on cardboard by the guys from the Drink and Draw society..

Enjoy

[Americandodo]

Well well well....I have to tell you something. It was your avatar that got me to your sketchbook (I am an old school Transformers guy, and Wheeljack was bad ass!) But OH MY LORD! I started on page one of your sketchbook, and didn't stop till the end. You have such a great style. I don't know if it is intentional or not, but on some drawings you have a slightly rough style, and I simply LOVE it! I guess it is art in the raw that I love. It is kinda like going to a live concert, you have the music raw, uncut, and improvised on the fly, you just can't get that in a recorded album, and your art captures that freedom, and raw spirit that makes it great. Don't get me wrong, your refined art is just as good, I love to see your inked fine tuned work, it is brilliant! I think the most important through it all is your style remains solid, and shines through every piece! I love the portraits of people (Rambo, Earnest Borgnine, Alfred Hitchcock, and the Duke caught my eye the most). But you portray women beautifully in your art. You capture the animated form so nicely in actions, and facial expressions (both men and women).
So if you want critique....you won't get it from me. You are on the right track, and your train is going full speed ahead! I am bookmarking your page so I can check back from time to time to enjoy, and get inspired by your wonderful art. Keep on doing what you are doing.....it is PHENOMENAL!

[Wheeljack18]

Oh Wow!

Talk about high praise!. Thank you very much for stopping by and taking the time to look at my work and saying a few things. It is always greatly appreciated. I have been working on other projects as of late and that has kept me from being very active on the forum but keep stopping in and I'll try not to dissapoint.
It's great that someone ELSE remembers Wheeljack fondly. It's surprising how few Trans Fans like the character but who wouldn't love a Mad Scientist Robot?!?

[Wheeljack18]

I posted this up in the Finally finished section with NO response so, I relegate it to the Sketchbook and hopefully It will garner some comments. These are some storyboards I had finished for a friend.


By the way, does anyone else find the new uploading procedures to be a bother?

[Krigbrann]

Wow man, all of your portraits are really impressive to me. Ernstb is really impressive, as well as all the MGS3 pics, simply because they are recognizable.

The tilt on Eva's tush in #83 looks off though. Everytime I look at it that's where my eye goes, because it seems out of place.

[Wheeljack18]

Can't say as I've got a good excuse for staying away so long but what the hey! So here is a sampling from some of what I have been up to. As usual any comments and feed back is appreciated :)

Also at the Bottom, I included a head sketch I procured from Bruce Timm of Conan at the recent Calgary Comic Con. I'm a big fan and I thought that I'd share with y'all!

Krigbrann: Thanks for stopping by and sorry that it took so long to reply. I've heard much the same about the Eva piece and you know what, I'm seriously thinking about doing a different version. The madening thing is that I based it off of good Reference. Her pose is just stupidly akward! Seemed like a good idea at the time. heh heh.

[cout<mecha]

Nice quality work here. I like the solid snake render, and the female figure studies as well. Keep it going on, oi!

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment cout<mecha!
I'm glad you liked the studies and stay tuned for more, oi!

[Wheeljack18]

I have a few more tid bits to post up.
Two Character Designs I worked on for a local prop shop and some more sketches.

[ryonryon]

Good stuff! Thanks for share~

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks for popping by! I dropped by your SB and left a few comments!
See ya on the forums.
Mike

[cout<mecha]

Nice work on the metal gear peices. Although I have only played the old school nintendo versions, it looks like you put a lot of effort into these. Also your space heroines are beautiful! Did you reference these, as I think I may have seen something similar at DAZ? Nonetheless, drool drool! Whatever works!

An earthworm in a spacesuit! Haha! Sweeeeet!

[Wheeljack18]

Hey cout<mecha Thanks for stopping by!

You are one of the only people I've spoken to who has even played the old NES games. Now I'm not the only one!

Space Heroines: That was a character design I executed for a local client. The page is basically a summary of the evolution of the character. He had some pretty specific design ideas and I worked off of his direction. I did ref some models for the pose's and If you are sharp you can see some pop culture homages too! I'm not sure what DAZ is sorry.

Eathworm in a space suit! There already is a character out there called Earthworm JIM. If you look at the character closer you'll notice some differing features like in his eyes, skin pattern, and hair fin. There certainly is a similiarity btw the characters but the client gets what the client wants! Besides Earthworm Jim never got to pilot a walking gambling Robot like this guy!

[Wheeljack18]

Man, Has it been 3 months since my last post already!

I have some portraits to post up that I had published in an RPG called "TheDay After Ragnarok" over at Atomic Overmind Press (http://atomicovermind.com/blog/)
Drop by my Blog for More information

As Ever, I have more Metal Gear Images to post up.

I'm thinking of putting together a CA Gallery and I'm wondering if anybody had any thoughts on that? is it worthwhile? Any suggestions on what I should put there etc? Also, I am pondering becoming a mentor to one of you fine folks her on the forum. I no Marko Durdjevec ( can't spell that name let alone pronounce it) but I think I have a few skills worth passing on. If you are interested, let me know.

[cout<mecha]

Like the concepts in here wheeljack, lots of details and very proffessional looking. The one thing that gets me is the flatness of them, it's making them seem unoriginal!

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks Cout. Do you have any suggestions on how I can make them less flat? Which image (s) specifically. I'm always open to suggestions on how I can grow and improve so don't be afraid to rip into me!

[Wheeljack18]

Here we go Again!
Some more Metal Gear as usual :)

I have a Zombie Stripper / Burlesque Character and the Zombie Hunter to go with her. Both these characters are WIP's but so far what do you think?

lastly we have a pencil sketch and then an attempt to digitally add tone using PS. I'm one of those dinosaurs who has a hard time giving up on traditional media but realizes it's time to step into the 21st Century! So here I go with a tiny Wacom and this is what you get.

Enjoy!

[KonnA]

I too love Metal Gear Solid, you're liking MGS3 mostly?

I'd love to see you do a Raiden.

[sodAp]

Wow, I love your line quality! Nice MGS fan art also

[FightingSeraph]

Looks like I'm not the only one who is familiar with the NES Metal Gear. Excellent stuff, especially the marker and Gouache renderings. I'd like to see more Wheeljack drawings though, along with other lesser-known Transformers.

[Wheeljack18]

Ahh we have responses! Thanks for stopping by all!:rocker:

KonnA: I love all the Metal Gears but MGS3 just struck a chord with me at the right time. I'm not too fond of MGS 4 and MGS2 was in my opinion the worst out of all of them. Even worse than " Snakes Revenge". That's why I dont' draw Raiden. I'd draw other characters though if you have any suggestions.

sodAp: Thanks Man!

FightingSeraph: Yes it is up to us to keep the NES Metal Gear Flame Alive! Glad to see you like some of my work here and I too would love to see some more Transformer pics but I disagree that wheeljack was one of the lesser know characters! ;)( I'm biased you see) I think we need to see more Huffer, Ironhide and Brawn drawings personally.

[007-r0b3r7]

wow, i absolutely love your style
great sketchbook and characters!

[Wheeljack18]

Got a few more images today.

A couple of turnarounds and another MGS 3 image. Also I included a bad page of me just sketching with a Wacom. I'm having a hard time getting comfortable with it but when at first you don't succeed.....

Enjoy!

007-r0b3r7: Thank you very much!

[Wheeljack18]

Here are a few more pages from the ol Sketchbook. I became a Dad in 2009 so sketching was not a priority at all. Thankfully things have settled down a bit and I have been able to pick up a pencil again and this is what I've managed to cook up. I went to a figure drawing class a couple of weeks back for the first time in about 6-7 years and BOY was I Rusty! I only put up one quick sketch from that session but I intend on going to a few more sessions in 2010. Also, I have a page in here from the Draw what everyone else looks like thread.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=152123&page=43

[GoGoJojo]

Awww...your drawing of Mysocksrock is a lot better then mine. Though I have nothing to complain about, because you probably spent a lot more time on yours, and you are a wonderful artist. It was an honor to have lost a duel to you, good sir ;)

[UmpaArt]

I love your style man! So many great pencil drawings. I've always wanted to do some mgs stuff. You do them justice. On a side note, wasn't wheeljack from Twisted Metal?

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Guys thanks for Stopping by!

GogoJoJo: I did not know that it was a competition but I accept your compliments and salute your cordial manners sir.

UmpaArt: Thanks Man. It's nice to hear that I d the MGS stuff justice. A high compliment indeed. When are you going to give MGS a shot? I'm not sure if there was a Wheeljack in Twisted metal but the one I take my name form is a G1 Transformer. He's depicted in my Avatar.

[C-CLANCY]

super awesome stuff!!! i hate to challenge you with a pencil!! haha..keep it up! :)

[Wheeljack18]

Hey C-Clancy ,Thanks for stopping by I dropped you a line over at your thread.

[brubaker]

Great stuff here!

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks Brubaker!

[Nightblue]

These drawings look great. The zombie girl in #108 is badass, and some of your characters have great poses. The last head in your last update is very well-done also, in a very elegant and effective way.

Some of your characters' hands seem a bit small, especially obvious on the muscular warriors - they tend to have large, powerful hands like laborers, and it's not uncommon for artists to exaggerate them even further for the strong man type characters. Keep up the awesome work!

[Dorkthrone]

I like the sort of pulpish look to these sketches.

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks for Stopping by!

ninjacat11: Pulp is awesome and your comments means that their influence has not been lost on me. :)

Nightblue: Thanks for the compliments and observations. You know you are probably right about the lack of " man" hands on the Hero's. This is one of those things where I need to spend more time thinking about the whole composition instead of focusing on getting the hands to simply " look right". Next time I draw a Big Man, I'll dedicate his hands to you! Stay tuned...

[UmpaArt]

Update please! :D

[Wheeljack18]

Since Ump Art asked so nicely, how can I resist.

I've been really slack at updating this thread over the past couple of months and it is always nice to hear that someone wants to see your work. So, I'll post a few images to show what I've been up to.

Zombie Characters from my latest venture Rocket Punch Studios. These are some character concepts for figurines that we have produced. So far, here are the first 4 characters. For more info visit www.rocketpstudios.com

Riley Method:
Drop by Chris Legaspi's Blog " Fresh Designer (http://www.blog.freshdesigner.com/2009/08/riley-method-head-drawing.html)" and take a look at all of his great tutorials and content. I took his 30 day challenge and this is what I came up with.

[soros]

Beautiful sketchbook. Keep on drawing + posting!

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Gang,

This guy has been relegated to Lurker status it would seem but that doesn't mean that I've given up on drawing completely. The following images is from a character design exercise i was working on. The goal was to get better with Photoshop, Practice some cell shading and learn how to use patterns. I learned a lot while doing this and had a lot of fun to boot. As always, C and C is appreciated.

[cout<mecha]

Hey Wheeljack! I'm liking the update a lot. Seems like you learned heaps since your last post. I'm loving the details in these and wondering how you got the patterns and cloth folds to work so well on these. It does not seem contrived or painted in any way.
I have been looking for a character like this to go with my wolf story I'm animating. Have you been over to see those on the last page of my SB? This is kinda the style I would've done the characters for that! Maybe you wouldn't mind whipping up a few more! If your in CS3 I can show you some animation tricks as well. Think on it seriously...otherwise great work! :yayca:

[Falchion]

Slick work. I like the MGS stuff. Keep it up!

[wasabi89]

Terrific job
I've been lurking around your thread and you ROCK !
Keep it that works

more more more ! :P
Cheers

[Wheeljack18]

cout<mecha: Thanks for the praise my man. To answer your questions about how I did the pattern and cloth, I'm putting together a tutorial on my process so if you keep stopping by, I'll post it up. So are you asking me to do some character design for you in trade for some help in CS3? I dunno, I put allot of time into this character and between family, my production studio, commissions and my day job, I don't know if I would have the time. But, I'd be happy to share what I know to help you out. I'm popping over to your thread to take a look right now.

Falchion: Thanks Man!

wasabi89: A Fan! Thanks man, I am flattered that you've been lurking around my thread and have kept checking in. I'm going to try to keep posting so if you keep tuning in, how could I not keep posting:rocker:

[knut-]

OH, a MGS fan i see. Nice linework on third and fourth of #91. Try to have the same approach in shading in more of your sketches. It's clear and simple as it ought to be on such images. Keep it up Shalashaska!

Hey, Snake, it's not over yet!

[JaneMag]

You have some great character work going on here! Me like. ;)

[ThomasM]

your portrait stuff from the chris legapsi challenge is insane.. I've not seen such nice portraits for aaaaages! Really impressed man, I'd love to see more of the same. I'm gonna try the same thing myself after seeing that. Keep it up!

[JamesSimons]

Thanks for your comments in my sketchbook. I'm interested to see what you have been up to since your last update.

[Wheeljack18]

What do we have for today? Allot More pages out of my sketchbook that's what! I figure that since it has been a while i might as well make it worth something. Am I right? Mostly we have more Riley Method Heads and various studies from my sketchbooks.

Thanks for stopping by!

ThomasM; Thanks for your kind words. Consider your wish granted!

JamesSimons: No problem, I'm glad that some of my words may have been useful to you.

[Wheeljack18]

It seems that my last post didn't like this images so i'm trying to re-upload this one more time.

[wasabi89]

Last one is awesome!

[ThomasM]

wow! I haven't visited this sketchbook for a little while and I love the updates! I still love that chris legapsi's 30 day challenge, each time I see all those little portraits they blow me away.

Keep on doing what you're doing, and I'll struggle to catch you up!

[Nengrana]

very amazing! you have a great "era" style. love the feel of your work. what are you currently working on? Was the MGS stuff just personal works or were they for somthing?

[Wheeljack18]

Once more unto the Breach!

Today I only have a few images to share. First off we have a Pencil study of Good Old hugh Heffner.
next I have a finished pen and Ink illustration that I've been kicking around for years and i finally got off my duff and finished. Also, I put together a process description which outlines what i did and how I did it to get to the final product.

I figure that this process tutorial would be useful for other members in the CA community but i'm not certain where would be the best place to post this up. If anybody has any suggestions or thinks that this process could be useful somewhere else, let me know.

Thanks For Stopping in.

wasabi89: Thanks man!

ThomasM; Thanks for continuing to stop in and for your kind words about the legaspi study. I continue to do them here and there and I am here to say that it is a very helpful tool to have in your kit.

Nengrana: Thanks for stopping in. What am I working on. Too Much but not enough! Is that Cryptic enough for you? Right now it is mostly storyboards and Personal works. The MGS stuff is purely personal. Enjoy!

[No Name]

I lie your sketchbook. Are you a comic book artist by any chance?

[xinranliu]

looking good!

[NickyBeats]

wow, nice work man!! love the traditional illustrations!!

[Wheeljack18]

Hey guys,

Thanks for stopping by!

NoName: I can't say that I've done any paid comic book projects yet but I'm always open to new gigs. In fact, i've been kicking around the idea of making some submissions. If I do, I'll post em up here.

[alexrockclimber]

Do you know commando comic books? I used to read them, they are all about war from different periods. You're definetly good enough to work for them I'd say. All they're images are in black and white, not coloured in.

[Alex Eh]

Kick ass illustration, keep up the good work!

[Conniekat8]

Wow, that's some cool Pro stuff!

[The_Flying_Dutchman]

Nice work, man! Pretty solid style, especially in the last lot of images. Keep posting, I'd like to see where this goes.

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks everyone for Stopping by and offering your comments. I'll try to post up some more work soon.

alexrockclimber: Hey man, I've tried contacting them but I haven't met with much success. I think that they are only now publishing anthologies of previous stories. I don't think that they are creating new ones but I could be wrong. With all this conflict going on in the world, they must have a bunch of material that they can work with.

[Wheeljack18]

So I finally got off my duff and into the digital painting game. The following posts are my first serious attempts at digital painting etc. Mostly what we have are studies as I try to figure out my process. Please feel free to crit me and fire off some pointers on how I can improve. Right now I'm struggling with getting he right feel for drawing and blending tone. So far i've stuck to the charcoal Brush in Painter and seem to have the most success there.

so without further adieu.

[Wheeljack18]

Still going strong.

Today we have some more studies and Even some color! Yes I delved into painting today and WOW, digital is so much different than traditional, I have a long way to go.

Pushing myself out of my comfort zone is a good thing right?

[Wheeljack18]

Not much for Today. Still tired from the Film shoot last weekend but plugging away none the less.

Still Getting the hang of blending in painter. Any tips???

[Wheeljack18]

Not too much for today.
I decided to tackle an exercise in " Practical Guide to Painting" that I had laying around for a gouache study of a Bird. I made it to Step 3 and then went off on my own tangent but I did bring it back to the look in the book at the end by adjusting the levels for that very saturated graphic look.

Additionally, I made up an animated Gif to demonstrate my process.

Enjoy.

[BoizenB]

Awesome stuff you got in here man, really diggin the work on your site as wel. Thanks for stopping by my book and for the helpful words. Inspiring stuff!!

[Wheeljack18]

Hey All,

Here are some more Cintiq Sketchbook pages for August. Not much but Ihave been very busy with other projects so who can complain?

Anyways, just a couple of studies and a color study of a chick. Not the best likness but for a quick 1 hour jobbie, I can live with it.

Also, I'm posting up some final images which are in athread I started over in the C&C section HERE. I have two versions of the the Final consisting of different treatments for the face. Any opinions?

Thanks for stopping in.

BoizenB: Thanks for taking the time to look at my work! It's always appreciated.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Gang,

It seems that this Riley Method of drawing has really Struck a cord with me. I just can't start my day with out banging off 1 or two quick portraits to warm up. I've got a whole page of RM scans in this upload as well as a fair amount of other images and studies. I may not post often but when I do, i post up a ton!

What do you think? Any comments??

[cout<mecha]

Some great characters and studies going on in here. I'm impressed with the penwork which I figured for pencil at first. How is the animation coming along!? :)

[ismo]

Those portrait studies look fantastic. Great line quality. I remember trying the Really method myself some time ago with not that great results. These studies really make me want to try again.

Inspiring stuff, keep posting.

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks for stopping in guys. No animations to speak of but I have been working on some storyboard gigs. Here are a few quickies to share.

I have a character lineup below for the Robert E Howard Short Story " Rattle of Bones". Here are the pencil drawings and then a grey scale version of the characters. C+C appreciated.

Cheers!

[Wheeljack18]

Well I finally got off my duff and made a submission for a Chow. Here is my process work as well as my final submission.

Enjoy!

[cout<mecha]

What is the Riley method you speak of? Perhaps I can liven up my SB a bit with some new stuff. Good luck with CHOW!

[rem92]

Hey there.. really nice sb, there is definetily been a lot of progress since page 1, i really like your Chow, you chose the colors very well, nice character design stuff here.. keep em coming.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Guys thanks for stopping by.

Cout! Good to see that you keep stopping by. Thanks. Here is a link to Chris Legaspi's Blog where he has a tutorial demonstrating the Riley Method. He posed an art challenge to readers to do one drawing a day for 30 days. a couple of pages back you can see what I had come up with. Its a good technique to learn but remember to choose referene with good lighting, otherwise you are just setting yourself up for more difficulty. You can check it out here, http://www.freshdesigner.com/head-quick-sketch-tuturial.

rem92: Thanks for stopping in and for looking at the work from bak in page one. It warms my heart to see that you liked the chow because I only got about 10% of the votes for my Dryad. It seems that the voters prefered the more Treant themed designs. That's ok though. It's a good excersice and I intend to do some more soon. I've also got some more character work comming up so stay tuned!

[Ebersol]

Hey Wheeljack, your dryad piece for Chow is fantastic! It's so much more polished than the entries you typically see in that thread. I think your work on the vegetation in that image is particularly impressive. I found your sketchbook through the Explore thread, what did you think of the week? It's gotten me pretty excited about trying to get into TAD next year.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Ebersol, Thanks for stopping in and striking up a conversation. It's nice to get some feedback on the Chow piece as I was dissapointed that there was so little real discussion in the contest thread itself. Getting feedback from others is what makes this site so useful and appealing and of course inspiring. It's funny you say that about the vegetation because I just had a convo with a buddy the other day and he told me that it needed more work! Hah ha. Stay tuned as I am polishing it up some more and I'll post the results here. As far as TAD Explore, my thoughts are mixed. I had hoped that we would be getting more demo's and lectures and less discussion about the program. I got the most out of thursdays visiting professionals and their discussions regarding their careers. I'm still reflecting on TAD so I don't have much more to add at this time. So are you working on your portfolio for admission into TAD? Got any ideas?

[purplegoat]

Wheeljack - You really capture the gesture well in a lot of your figures. The facial expressions really add character to them as well. Looking forward to seeing more!

[Ebersol]

Hey mate, I'm also a little unsure which location is politically correct with replying to posts but I guess by creating more hits on someones sketchbook it raises their profile a bit? That's pretty funny about the vegetation feedback, but your mate's comments will help to push you more which is always for the best. Thanks for the crits on my stuff, it's been my focus for a little while to loosen up a bit. When I get access to a decent camera I'll put up my newer stuff which will hopefully start to address this. I'd very much like to get a portfolio together for a TAD application but the tuition may prove a little challenging at the moment, so I have to figure out my strategy. I'd also though that there may be more of a focus on demo's but course itself sounds so good that I feel I got my money's worth. I've subscribed to your sketchbook so I'll keep an eye out for the dryad update. I don't have time for this week's chow but if you're gonna do the next one it would be great to crit each others attempts and keep the feedback train rolling.

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks guys for the feedback. I've been working on other projects and a new web site so no updates for today.

Ebersol: Sounds like you are on the right track when it comes to your learning and I'd be happy to swap crits and help each other out with feedback etc. I didn't like the last 2 Chows but we'll see what the next one is all about and maybe we can start on that one. TTYL

[Alrap]

Great sketchbook! I like sketches :}

[MrFrenik]

Loving all the studies and your character design is F**KING AWESOME. Keep that up for sure.

[sezhiyanr]

Hi..Wheeljack..
I like your bold lines,and drawings with perspective..
the skelton theam is really nice..
especially that snak dance..simply super.....

[Wheeljack18]

It's been awhile so here I am just dumping a whole shmear of work. I revisited that Chow Dryad as well as a couple of Character designs, Finished Product designs, a Costume/Creature design for a local theatre, more studies and doodles. I'm trying to make myself commit to "Going back to Basics" and warming up with some quick gestures and anatomy studies. I hope to do this everyday and maybe I'll even get my butt around to posting daily too. We shall see...

Thanks Again for stopping by!

Alrap: Thanks!

MrFrenik: Thank you sir, As requested here are more character designs.

sezhiyanr: Thanks, I'm not sure I follow your English but I still appreciate it;)

[Wheeljack18]

One More Anatomy Study

[MrFrenik]

I like these studies. They give me more and more ways to think about how to study anatomy more effectively. A million thanks for you.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Mr. Frenik, I'm glad that I can help. I'll keep posting if you keep stopping by. Is there anything that I can demonstrate that might be helpful to you? Let me know.

A few more studies and finished pieces. Enjoy.

[MrFrenik]

You post so vigorously, man, ha. I'm trying hard to keep up with you. I love the characters you post and hope to get to that level someday and get a job doing it. :) Keep it up.

[Jephyr X]

Hey, Nice work!

Lovin all the studies, screencaps, character/creature designs, n' weapons and costuming etc.

That Dryad CHOW is very cool too!

:yayca:

[Jephyr X]

Hey Gang,

It seems that this Riley Method of drawing has really Struck a cord with me.

Oh and forgot to ask...you've mentioned the Riley Method and gave a link for it on the previous page but the link is no longer connected and I can't find any search info for Chris Legaspi's Blog.

I also just did a search for "Riley Method" and found some info on a painting book by Jack Faragasso. Is this the one you're using?

Can you give me any more info about it?

[Panshi]

Your characters have great expression, and your studies are pretty thorough, keep it up, it's real interesting!

[jsn]

Very nice sketches and studies!

Cool characters and weapons too!

[Baudolino]

Great sketchbook! Love your character designs and studies.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey all, here we go with another update. Just some more warm up stuff and a Texture Study. Lets' hope that tomorrow's post will be better.
Cheers!

MrFrenik: Thanks Man, Keep practicing and you'll get there for sure!

Jephyr X: Thanks Man, It's always gratifying to ear that the Ch0w was liked. I'm still not satisfied with it and I'll tinker some more over the next while. Any thoughts? Re: Riley Method. Here is another attempt at linking http://www.freshdesigner.com/head-quick-sketch-tuturial/
http://www.freshdesigner.com/figure-quick-sketch-torso-study/
This guy has several useful tutorials so check him out. I've found that this method works well for me but right now I'm trying to get away from it to both experiment and loosen up. Never let yourself go stagnant. Or so I keep telling myself. That being said, I think I'll do some tomorrow.

Panshi: Thanks Panshi. I aim to please!

jsn: Thanks!

Baudolino: Thank You!

[Ebersol]

Massive sketch dump over the last few days, great stuff! The character designs especially are looking good, my favourites are the blacksmith and the sorcerer. The only one that might be worth revisiting is Gaston. His portrait is great but I feel like some of the lighting in the figure is a little off. Maybe a stronger single light source would help? Are the sculpts yours as well?

I'm going to have to try drawing the skeleton within the figure like you've done a in a few posts, it looks like a pretty tough exercise. What do you think of the Chow topic this week? I think I'll give it a go.

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks Ebersol. I guess, this is my attempt to take it to the next level.
I'm probably going to go back into gaston to match the hat and sword with subsequent designs to make him look more uniform. I'll think on the light source...

The sculpts are figures that my buddy and I made to sell at The Calgary Comic Expo.

The Skeleton exercise isn't as tough as you would think, the figure is already giving you all you need to know and when you get stuck, move onto another section of the body and work your way back. Eventually, all of the pieces will fit together. More or Less ;). As for this recent Ch0w, I don't plan on making a submission, I've been busy and the topic doesn't inspire me all that much. If the next one is good, I think I'll weight in.

Some more warm ups and two oldies that I polished up.

[Jephyr X]

Lookin good! ^^^^^^ :)

Thanks also for the comment and link/info in my thread...and info here. I checked his blog out and also found a video where he draws that same example. I might give that method a try myself.

Thanks!

:yayca:

[Wheeljack18]

Still Plugging away..

Jephyr X: I'm glad that you found the post useful. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

[jsn]

Cool! Is that tank 2D?,...Zombie "Nick" is carrying an extra arm?

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks JZN.

Yep that Tank is 2d. It started out as a pen and ink drawing and I colored it in Photoshop. AND.. yes the Zombie is carrying a severed arm. He's saving it for later!

[Wheeljack18]

Some more sketch booking from today.

[wunts]

loved your whole sketchbook, time flew by.

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks Wunts for your kind comments. It is always appreciated. I stopped by your SB too.

Cheers!

[Lightship69]

Hi matey

Loved your sketchbook mate and especially the way the solomon kane images came out in the end, I really liked them.
I like the way you use the poses to study the skeleton and anatomy, I never thought of that but it seems obvious now that I look. You capture the gesture and get more of a feel for where the weight is etc. cool Idea that.

Great Sb and I subscribed, hope yopu dont mind!

all the best mate and thanks for posting.

[Ebersol]

The topic this week is pretty solid, let's give it a go! I spent some time doing a couple of sketches today which I'll post when I get a chance tomorrow. I'm really liking the topic because of the emphasis placed on expressing the character's history, not just making something that looks cool. I'll be sure to check on your sketchbook and keep the crits coming. Should be fun!

[MrFrenik]

Thanks for stopping by, WheelJack. Your comments are always a pleasure. And your designs keep getting better and better. I especially like the layout that you use to show each of the characters. I'll definitely be implementing some of those layout ideas into my designs (if you don't mind it, of course :)). Keep up the good work, sir.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Guys, Here are a couple more warm up pages as well as a comps page from the Urban Samurai Ch0w that I never got around to completing.

Lightship69: Thanks for your feedback and for stopping in. It's great o hear the the SK images are appreciated and I'll probably be doing more SK related stuff soon. The anatomy overlay is an old trick I think I picked up in my foundation year WAAY back in the day. I hadn't given it a shot in a long while but lately I've committed myself to a back to basics approach and hopefully it will pay off. Once I feel good about the skeletons, I'll be moving onto anatomy.

Ebersol; Alright man, here is my first attempt at the Red Commander character. I've been noodling around with the pose for too long and it's been a bitch to me. In my comps page you can see many of the variations and I tried and tried to draw the guy without the arms behind his back in the typical Admiral pose. The thing is, as a convention it just works so well and fits with my vision of the character. The challenge is to make him NOT look like Grand Moff Tarkin from starwars. Your thoughts?

MrFrenik:Thanks a bunch man!I don't mind if you use my layout ideas as I know I've gotten many of them from other sources too. As they say, Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery! Cheers.

[Ebersol]

Militaryphotos.com seems like a great resource, thanks for the link! I'm liking the poses so far but it'd be good to see some more dramatic angles to push the gravitas of the scene, it's a great challenge to switch up the perspective a bit. Not going for a Grand Moff Tarkin with the classic hands behind the back pose is really hard to resist, it was my natural instinct for my first thumbnail. The pose you've spent the most time on is my favourite one, it keeps the authoritative air of the hands behind the back but moves far enough away to avoid feeling cliched. Keep at it! I can't wait to see what you start coming up with once you've gotten into the costume & environment design stage. Keep in touch.

[Wheeljack18]

Can I get er done?

[Wheeljack18]

One more update, will I be able to finish this for Sunday?

Stay tuned...

[Wheeljack18]

I think that I can call this one done.
Feedback anyone? Ebsol, what happened my man?

[Ebersol]

Great work on finishing this week mate! It looks like the topic has been extended until the 14th which'll be nice for tweaking time. I'm glad you ended up sticking with this pose, it was the strongest of the lot and ended up having the right feeling for the character. I like that you've gone with a pretty non combative uniform, it makes him feel all the more cold and calculating. My only crit is that the length of his right foot seems a little long, maybe worth reducing just to see how it looks?

I'll have a new update up in a sec and will then be heading to sleep knowing that I've got a little extra time.

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Ebersol Thanks for the feedback. It ma just be my literal mind but my preference for a soviet space admiral is to go along more realistic lines. I admire much of the work by the other posters but I'm not into the stereotypical Concept look. The challenge is to make it your own and also do something different. At least that's my 2 cents. The pose really is the key to the character and the costume is just that. When I think about character design I always try ti envision the guy naked first because after all in real life, our characters are unique and we only decorate ourselves for either practical or impractical purposes. ok, now I am rambling. Seeing as there is an extended deadline I might go back into him and noodle a bit.
Also here is the workshop page for your viewing pleasure.

[Wheeljack18]

Ok,I fixed that foot Ebersol pointed out and I fiddled a bit more with the light. I'm afraid that if I keep fiddling I'll ruin it so, I think this guy can be called done. This Ch0w was lost of fun and I think I'll keep doing them and maybe dip into some of the other Activities as well.

[Wheeljack18]

Last one for the day. Another anatomy study.

[Ebersol]

It was very wise of you to listen to the little voice of self control and stop working on your Chow entry. The foot was really the only area that I could identify any real issue and now that it's been addressed the final image looks great! I'm glad that you added an enlarged version of the face to the character sheet, it would've been a shame to miss all the little details that must have taken ages to render. Very solid entry this week, good stuff!

[Jephyr X]

Hiya, That soviet space admiral is very cool! Thanks for a look at your process sketches and ideas.

I agree about your "stylistic" choices regarding the design. It's easy to get influenced by what everyone else is doing and loose your own conviction and style.

Yer anatomy/skeletal study looks great...a very good exercise I should do myself!

:yayca:

[Baconstrap]

Damn man..you are possum. Such skill. i thank you alot for the very nice comment u gave me.
You anatomicial studies inspire me.

Stay bacon.

[Aragah]

awesome studies and concepts man !

[LA-Fairy]

Really nice sketchbook. The eva green studies are nice!

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks all for stopping in.

Nothing to add yet for today.

Ebersol; That little voice sure can be quiet sometimes but I'm glad I stopped. I enjoy seeing other artists process and detail images sometimes more than the actual piece itself so I try to return the favor. That and yes, most of the time, all that detail would be missed.

Jephyr X: Thanks man. Lets see some of those studies.

Baconstrap: Thanks and you are welcome. I'm always bacon.:)

Aragah: Thanks!

LA-Fairy: Hey you went back and looked at the Eva Green stuff. Thanks. Most of the time, I suspect people only check out the 1st and last pages so it is nice to hear that someone took the time to browse around in my thread.

It seems that the anatomy studies are appreciated and I've been mulling over starting a separate thread over in the fine arts section just for my anatomy work. Any of you guys think that that would be worth while? I was thinking that I might go into more detail and share my learning process with the community.

Your thoughts?

[Ainuwolf]

That anatomy study is a really awesome thing. I'll try that one day!
And yes, at least to me, I'd love to see a thread with the anatomy studies.

I really liked the colours on red commander :D

[Wheeljack18]

A Few more anatomy studies from this afternoon. They are not perfect but I'm getting there. I'm trying to zero in on some trouble spots such as the Foot, Ribcage, Pelvis and wrist.

Ainuwolf: Thanks Man, Give the studies a try as you are sure to learn something from them.

[Aragah]

do these bones overlays help man?!? they look great.
i found that doing the same thing but with muscles helps me a lot. but maybe i should have been building layers, start by knowing all the bones then the muscles...
anyways. i think you should do some muscles studies! just overlaying them like the bones. if you already didnt planed on doing that

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Aragah. The overlays definetly help. Give it a try. I will get to the muscles next so stay tuned for more. The bones are the foundation and structure that the muscles rely upon and integral if you desire to have comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy.

Not much new to post up, just some warm ups. I've been busy working on some storyboards and I'll post up some images after the holidays.

As an aside, I've been playing around with Corel sketchpad and I can't decide if I like it or not. I like the feeling of some of the media but the damn thing crashes a lot. This, I don't like.

That's it for me. Happy holidays!

[Ebersol]

Hey mate! I've gone interstate for Christmas for about a week, I had hoped to get a free moment to work on the Stalker entry but alas that doesn't look likely. I wasn't super enthused about the topics either, I just want to get into the habit of finishing a piece every week. Hopefully the topics this week is are little more inspiring and we can decide on one to really work on. I'll be back at home in 4 days so there should be plenty of time to finish a piece before the deadline.

How have you found playing around with Painter and Sketchpad? I really like the natural feel of the media in Painter but just quite seem to get my head around using the software for anything more than quick doodles. It doesn't help that there aren't nearly as many tutorials around for Painter as there are for Photoshop.

Everything is ridiculously expensive over here. It seemed slightly more logical before our dollar caught up with the U.S. and when considering shipping products to the other side of the world, but even steam charges $90 for digital releases of PC games. Madness!

All the best for the holidays.
Merry Christmas!

[Dark_Eyes]

5 stars! Merry christmas! *****

[Wheeljack18]

Dark_Eyes: You are a god man sir. Karma points for you!

Ebersol: Happy Holidays!
I move back and forth between painter and Photoshop all the time and some days its all about one or the other. Photoshop is way more flexible yet painter is more like traditional medium. I have a traditional background so I prefer painter for the overall finish but with some effort you can achieve a painterly result in photoshop.

Sketchpad at first I thought sucked. But, now that I've played with it some more, it is pretty good for what it is, being a sketchpad. I find mine crashes often especially if I have a large canvas and or multiple layers. The thing is it really mimics traditional media well and with a limited brush palette, you don't spend so much time noodling around with brushes.

Painter.. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think painter works better for people who already know how to paint traditionally. I find that if I apply traditional approaches to painter, I can be successful. When I try to use it like photoshop, then I meet with failure. My approach at the moment is to do most of the work in PS and polish it in painter and then go back to PS for final touches. Try using it to do charcoal drawings, I've found that to work for me to help me get familiar with the software and I've posted some samples earlier in my SB.

[Alex Eh]

Hey dude killer stuff! Nice to see someone from Calgary posting! Have a good chrismas!

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Alex, I had a great Christmas, I hope you did too. Us calgarians need to stick together. Once upon a time I tried to set up a CA sketch group which failed miserably but maybe I'll do it again. Either way we should try to build some kind of community. Stay in touch.

Not much to share otherwise. I have a speed paint still shot study thingy that I put together this evening. I've always wanted to get my ass around to doing one of these and so here is my first attempt. Next time I think I'll try it in painter and or a more complex scene.
Thanks for Stopping by.

Hey Ebersol, are you down for either the chow or the cow? Neither one really gets me going but I'm thinking for the cow, a creature from Myth like a minotaur and for Xena.. Meh. Anyways, let me know.

[Ebersol]

I'm back at home and ready to rock! How about we look at a little Cow this time? The Xena topic doesn't really do much for me either. I might look at doing something with more of a fantasy theme, I never spent much time drawing dragons and trolls etc.

I'm more of a traditional guy as well so I think I'll try and do the majority of this one in Painter and get to know a little more about the software.

Let's make some creatures!!

[Trixtar]

A very interesting SB with lots of great art! :)

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Eb, We have until Jan 4th so we'll need to get on it. How about you pick the creature. I've been jonesing to do a creature out of Myth either Greek or Celtic but I could do some D and D too. The last creature I ever did was a Giant Boar and a Beholder so not those. Dragons take too much time for me so I stay away from them, otherwise, give er!
Let's see those painter works!

Trixtar: Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words, expect a visit to your sb shortly. Cheers!

[Ebersol]

Alright man, I'm settling on doing a straight up fantasy dragon. Nothing crazy I'll just try and play around with Painter and use some different techniques. Have you decided on your creature yet? It'd be fun to both go D&D on this one and get our classic fantasy creatures on! If you aren't sure which one to go with you can get something completely random from this (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/monster/index.asp) link. I've got a couple of sketches over at my SB, let me know which one you prefer. Happy new year man!

[Wheeljack18]

All I have today is an interior environment to post up for now.

Hey Eb,
Ill probably post up some creature stuff tonight. I'm thinking a minotaur!

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Eb, This is all I've got for my creature, I re-read the rules and they don't want anything humanoid so I guess he wont count. No worries though. I have a plan to do him a little differently if I can make the time to work on it.

[Ebersol]

Hey Wheels, I've got a little bit done on the dragon but have been spending most of the time trying to get used to using Painter. I'll post what I've got done tomorrow, but I have a feeling it'll be pretty tight trying to get it done before the deadline. It's just been so hectic with Christmas and new years and all the social obligations that come along with that. I'm liking the rake brush background that you're building, it creates some nice variety in the image. Your environment is looking cool as well, I like the mood you're setting. Something about the perspective feels a little off to me though, but I can't quite nail down what it is. Perhaps something to do with the horizon line being so high in an interior environment? I'll see if I can work it out tomorrow. Good luck with the minotaur redesign!

[manlybrian]

I really like a lot of your drawings, especially the pencil sketches and portraits. You seem to have a knack for capturing their expressions.

[Wheeljack18]

Not much to post today, I have been playing around with the idea of an Albino Mutant Minotaur. If you've read the actual Myth. The Queen of Crete actually gives birth to the thing so I thought that I would try and cook up some sort of hybrid that is less bull man and more Island of the Dr. Moreau, genetic experiment gone wrong due to the gods wicked sense of humour. Imagine if this thing were real. The son of a queen ( therefore a prince) locked in a maze ( assuming it's underground but not necessarily) and never seeing the daylight. Fed constantly on a diet of human flesh. The sacrifices probably were drugged before being fed so he really wouldn't have had to work to feed himself. Imagine a flabby, sickly creepy cow mutant wandering endlessly in a maze consumed with hunger.

See, when I type it out is sounds great but right now, for some reason, I'm unable to get the image in my mind out onto the canvas. The following is all that I've got so far and I'm thinking about walking away from it for a while and working on something else. My Mojo has left me...


Hey E, Yeah Christmas really smoked me for time and energy and I'm only now struggling to get back into the groove so I feel your pain. Thanks for the crit and I'll give you one too when you post up next.

Manlybrian: Thanks for stopping by and checking things out. I'll return the favor soon.

Cheers!

[Jarrad]

great stuff here! Also, I really admire how thorough your thinking process is when doing a piece. That is something I need to do more.. as well as more pieces!

Cheers

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks man, I'll try to post up more process images if you think that it will be helpful.

[Wheeljack18]

Here is a revisit of an old friend, this time in digital.

[seagulls]

The motorcycle and sidecar looks really good, did you do it from ref? The speedpaints Are also great.

[Wheeljack18]

Here is an Ortho WIP of a creature Design that I've been playing with. Also A rough anamatic of one of it's eyes blasting a hapless adventurer.
Cheers!

Sorry, The Creature is a Beholder for all of you non D&D geeks.

[Wheeljack18]

Got a bit more to show today. Not sure on how I want to present the beholder yet but I have a couple of options here. I may even repaint the thing as he does look a little too much like a floating Xmas tree. This creature lives underground and I wanted to capture the moment when all of it's eyes light up when it is threatened and ready to attack. Similarly to some of those Deep water fish that light up like the one in Pixar's "Finding NEMO".

That and I also have a page of warm up sketches. Can you guess the theme?

[Wheeljack18]

Some quick color studies and stuff. Trying out a new brush set from Mike Nash.
http://www.mike-nash.com/tools/

Some of these brushes are pretty good and he is kind enough to share them on his website so give em a try.

[Ricardo Robles]

Hi wheeljack, i love what i see here! very solid and dynamic linework from page1 man. The figure work is getting really good. Maybe I miss a bit more elaborated color treatment in some of your drawings, it normally has a scratchy look, but then I see the latest commander CHOW and i have to say you did very good on it. You could try to do more environment practice though..
Excellent work overall, keep posting.

[Ebersol]

Great updates since I last visited dude! I especially like the beholder page, it's nice to see that the D&D inspiration is still going strong. The little landscape inn #231 is looking interesting as well, I'd love to see that one finished off a little more. The rendering on your motorcycle and side car is fantastic! I'm so impressed by your patience! I think I will do the Chow this week are you in? Let's get another one finished!

[CassandraJ]

That Beholder is so adorable! Having faced one a few times in battle, the things are damn scary. Yours looks so cute though!

[Voodoo_Mama]

Your drawings are really good! You have a really solid understanding of anatomy.
The minotaurs are looking really good.
My only crit would be to work a bit more on the colors. The shadows look like they have too much black in them.
Keep up the awesome work!

[Wheeljack18]

Hey Guys, Today I have a bundle to share. Actually some of it you have seen before but not in it's entirety. To make a long story short, I gave myself a challenge and that was to update my portfolio by creating a body of work relating to one subject that included a bit of everything that I can do related to Entertainment production. I chose to use the Solomon Kane story "Rattle of Bones" by Robert E. Howard. Over the course of a couple of months I have produced Character Designs, Storyboards, a Story Board Animatic, Environments, Props and Weapons. I've posted links to the work on my blog and my updated website but I will also post them here to share with the CA community.

Anyways, Take a look and let me know what you think as well as any suggestions for additions and improvements would be welcome.
Cheers!

The Entire Story board Sequence can be downloaded from my blog Here (http://www.mperryart.blogspot.com/2012/01/rattle-of-bones-story-boards.html) ( There is a .pdf link to the file at the bottom)

You can view the Animatic on my YouTube Channel Here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apnUA_GqCXs&context=C31d0579ADOEgsToPDskJUPD5jsx-L59gN3c_toEXD)

Ricardo Robles: Thanks for stopping by and offering your observations. I appreciate it and I intend on doing more Environments soon. So stay tuned.

Ebersol: Thanks Eb! The MTB didn't take as long as you might think ( thankfully) but I'm glad that you appreciated it. Technical rendering is one of those hit or miss things for me. Either it really works or it doesn't at all. This time it worked. That Environment is just the tip of the iceberg as I intend to do a lot more soon. I'm waffling on the Ch0w. When I first read it, I thought crazy Voodoo mama with skulls and grass skirts but when I re-read the description she sounds all lovey touchy feely and blaugh! I going to think about it. In the meantime, I'm inspired by the IDW challenge.

CassandraJ: You faced a beholder and lived to tell the tale!?! I'm glad you like my interpretation of the nasty beastie.

Voodoo_Mama: Thanks mama! Those Minotaurs you saw are just roughs and I'll attend to the dark sports when / if I ever get around to wrapping that design up. Thanks for the observations:)

[Ebersol]

You crazy person! So much awesome work showing up at such a blistering pace! I've been keeping an eye on your blog posts so had a bit of a preview but it's great to see everything up here. I really like sc.36 the expression on Gaston's face is spot on and you've captured the movement of the character well. The story board exteriors are good as well, quite a different style to the way you usually appear to put images together, I like the textured, sketchy feel.

Are you going to go ahead with the IDW challenge? It's a cool topic but I'm up to my elbows in Chow at the moment and will need some more time to finish it off. Great to see the new splash page on your site! I think putting your character work up was a good move, it looks very slick.

Looking forward to the next sketch dump! Keep well.

[blindshot]

Excellent work! I LOVE your Metal Gear fanart. Your ink work is great as well. Keep it up!

[GEB]

Nice work. Love your studies and that rattle of bones stuff is looking great

[Clur]

phiouefjnkjsdbjhfsa, I'm just blown away by your Solomon Kane work! I get a real sense of creepiness and tension from your storyboards, even though they're just thumbnails. Your character designs are amazing as well.

I've been meaning to get into Solomon Kane for a while now, after seeing this I'm even more interested to read the stories!

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks Guys for all the feedback! Here we go with my IDW submission. Vote for me if you like the idea.
2062 Game Console Synopsys’: Combination of Technologies
Memory Storage: Crystals
Power Source: Zero Point
Interface: A combination of Magnetic Field and Laser technology.

In the future, the entertainment industry has expanded into virtually every niche of society. Producers such as Sony and Microsoft have merged with fashion brands such as Oakley to produce eyewear that interfaces directly with the users cerebral cortex. This process successfully interfaces with the user and stimulates all of the senses to create a truly immersive entertainment experience.

Points: - Games are no longer identified as games but instead as " Experiences".
- Users purchase eyewear separately for each experience.
- Novelty eyewear is marketed to suit certain eras, themes and popular IP's. IE: WW2 Fighter Goggles, Harry Potter Glasses, Dirty Harry Experience, 1930’s, etc.

Culturally Impact:
-Fashion merges with entertainment . Users identify one another and express their individuality through what experiences they choose and wear. Individual Social interaction is now synonymous with the Entertainment industry.

Technology: - Laser connection is generated by points within the frame which create a Net that focuses the energy and then projects stimulus directly into the cortex through the retina.
-Magnetic Field is established around the Users head by the eyewear. This field creates a state of suspension which isolates the user s brain and establishes a condition which facilitates the entertainment experience.
-Recharge simply happens when the user places the eyewear upon a charge station/ mat.

Ebersol:Thanks Man! I went with a sketchy finish for the boards party because I wanted to do something different and I had been looking at some Ashely wood and also because it's faster and conveys more energy than my standard drawing technique. Thanks for the feedback on my site. I'm not quite done yet but almost. I'll keep posting if you keep reading!. Cheers!

blindshot: Thanks man, Metal Gear IS awesome and I intend to keep at it but MAN am I dissapointed with the MGS Rising game coming out. The concept looks awful and Raiden is SUCH a Terrible character....

GEB: Thanks man.

Clur: My Thanks go down to the Hat! If you like RE Howard and creepy fantasy adventure you'll love Solomon Kane. He is not as popular of a character as Conan but he is every bit as cool if not cooler. RE Howard conceived him first and I think worked out a lot of the kinks in his craft on Kane before he moved onto Conan. I'm always amazed by the fact the Howard wrote all of his story's without ever leaving his state let alone his tri county area. He was a very gifted writer. If you are going to get a Kane book. Buy one of the wander star versions that is illustrated by Garry Gianni. If that doesn't inspire you then nothing will.

[Wheeljack18]

Here are a couple of comps for the EOW #181.

[Ebersol]

The Chow date has been extended by a week!! Hooray! Your most recent round of crits were really helpful, I will elaborate more in my own thread but thank you for helping to steer me in the right direction.

Your IDW really stands out among the competition, I would have voted for yours whether I'd known you or not. It really shows that you actually thought about the way your design would be used and how it would work, your excellent rendering skills didn't go astray either.

I like the direction you're going with the EOW comps. So far the second and third are the stronger images and have some great potential to be built on. I think you could safely go ahead and paint the second image as it is without making any dramatic changes. The values are spot on and there is a strong sense of depth. If you decide on the third image I think it could use another centaur in the absolute foreground with much darker values. Then maybe work at push the ridge on the right side back and slightly lighten the values on the tower as it goes up to indicate it's enormous height. Keep working on these ones man, there is so much potential in them!

[Voodoo_Mama]

great comps!
I also prefer the second and thrid. I like the use of neutral colors on the last one. But I like how the second one has more definition between the middle ground and foreground.

[Wheeljack18]

Thanks Guys, stand by for more studies etc.
Cheers!

[Wheeljack18]

Here are a couple of sketchpages and another WIP of the EOW.

So far I've decided to go with the 3rd one. I tilted the horizon and I'm still fiddling with the ridge and tower. Slow and steady...

[Wheeljack18]

A couple more EOW wips...

[albino-Z]

Hey man, really enjoyed your blog and your sketchbook. Do you often combine painter and photoshop? The innkeeper wip .gif was very impressive!

[Wheeljack18]

Another WIP of the EOW. This one is starting to feel over worked. Any thoughts....

Albino_Z: Thanks man. I appreciate that you took a look at my blog too! I dont always combine the two programs and it really just depends. I try not to be too rigid in my process and it sometimes pushes me out of my comfort zone to jump back and forth and consequently, keeps me fresh. Got any tips for me on Environments. I could use all the help I can get.
Cheers!

[wasabi89]

Still kick'n ass man!
I love your pencils sketches !

Keep it up the good work :)