Puck's very first sketchbook for Learnin' and such. (some nudity)

[Puck]

Heya everybody,

I'm finally trying to get serious about getting better at this whole 'art' thing, so here's my first attempt at a sketchbook. I've got no excuses not to post regular updates, and i hope all you talented artists can please help me with your crits and comments.

I'm going to try and post a lot of character sketches from life and reference as well as colour studies from photos.

[character]

you've really got something going there in the polar bear sketches. i'd recommend trying that out more. try and carry that shading style over to the tree man. i think it'd work out nicely

[Kitiker]

Heya puck, I'm really liking the Polar Bears, great style. Love to see you post more and develope that style. Good personalty in them, monkey too.
The painted Ent looks really nice, but I'm with character, I'd like to see more pen renderings.
Looking forward to more.

[Puck]

Thanks for your feedback already Character and Kitiker.

As per your advice here's some more pen renderings i did today. They are from photographs my girlfriend took at Singapore zoo. I'd like to try sketching animals from life so I'm going to make a trip to Taronga Zoo (I'm in Sydney, Australia btw) sometime soon and get some real drawings.

[aryul82]

I'm enjoying the animal sketches here...my critique would be in the treeman concept, I feel that there should be more contrast to the whole piece. Still a nice piece though =]

[Puck]

Thanks for the feedback aryul. I actually started with a very contrasty treeman from a sketch I'd made a week ago, but i thought it was too much so i reduced the contrast and put some colour into it. Here's the original treeman before i tweaked it for a comparison. Not really sure what to do with it really, I don't think the underlying drawing is very strong (too flat?) so I'm probably just going to forget about it and start something new.

Here's two more PS sketches i just did as well as some pencil sketches of friends and family (as well as some self portraits).

[Puck]

Here's another PS colour sketch and two pages of quick nude sketches. I had an ACDSee slideshow going at 1-2 mins per pic on the second screen and tried to get as much down as i could. It's a poor substitute for life drawing, but until i can get that happening again it will have to do.

[Kitiker]

Hey puck, I like the portraits. Very life like and consistant for many different styles. Especially comparing the first and last (I'm assuming he's the same dude), your loose drawings still convey the same expression, personality, etc. Impressive!
Love to see a finished portrait with greater range of tone and shadow.
Orange fellas are a neat study and the nudes are great, keep em coming.

[Puck]

Hey thanks for the comments Kitiker. That's my dad, I've attached a painting i did of him so you can see a finished portrait.

Apart from the PS sketch, all of these are paintings i did a while ago (is that allowed in a SB?).

Comments and Criticism appreciated.

[berf]

Oh wow those last paintings youve posted are excellent! I really like the style and colors you used on them

[Kitiker]

That's some crazy crap in your last post Puck- I love 'em, completely unexpected. The portrait of your father is very emotional, sad. Is there a story there?
Whats the medium in your paintings? And the last few- self portraits?

[Puck]

Thanks Berf for the comments. Those coloured paintings kind of evolved on the canvas and it was fun working out the shapes as i went, but i think they could have benefited from a bit more planning as some of the drawing is a bit weak.

Hey Kitiker, thanks for your continuous feedback! The seven deadly sins (the coloured ones at the end) were all painted in acrylic, burnt umber and white, and then colour glazed over the top in oils (that's why they are only one colour, i got lazy) :) Oh, and they're all self portraits, which i think can be put down to laziness at the time as well.

The one of my dad and grandma are straight oil paint.

Re: my dad, it's a bit of a sad story. He'd been paralysed for about 15 years after a stroke, and has been plagued by ill health and constant heart attacks and mini-strokes for the past 10 years or so. It finally caught up with him in December last year after he was diagnosed with cancer everywhere in his body, and then on the way to Chemo (which nobody really thought would do any good anyway) he had another heart attack and finally kicked the bucket. I painted that portrait a year before he died and although it's a bit sad, I'm really glad i finally got around to painting him while i had a chance.

Here's some pencil sketches from photos.

[Kitiker]

oh damn Puck, sorry to hear that about your Dad. I'm glad to hear you were able to honour him with your painting before he past away- it gives so much more meaning and emotion to that piece (I feel bad now that I called him just "the same dude"!) Although somewhat sad, it has a very strong feeling of warmth, like he was cared for and loved.

I can't believe I didn't pick up on the 7 deadly sins. They look terrific- I'll have to go back and have a better look when I have the time.
I love your line portraits, esp. the top left on the first page above. I would like to see more value and finished pieces in your portraits though. Your faces are alive- but a little flat.

[Puck]

Hey Kitiker, no worries regarding my dad. If it was upsetting to me i wouldn't be posting the story in the first place :). He was a good dude. He polished off a bottle of red every day... and he was an artist as well, although like all the self-proclaimed bohemians at the time, he wasn't very productive. :)

Yeah, the 7 deadly sins have alot of symbols and metaphors in them that i added as i went. They're not very clever and some of them are quite cheesy, but it's fun hiding stuff in paintings like a "where's wally" or a Graeme Base book (i loved The 11th hour).

You're right about the flatness of my drawings. It's something I'm very conscious of as i tend to draw by following the 2d shapes rather than building the forms up from 3d primitives like cubes and spheres. It's not as obvious when I'm drawing from reference, but when i try to make up figures from imagination, i really notice the lack of depth. I'll try some figures over the weekend built up from primitive shapes and see if i can improve in that area.

Thanks heaps for the feedback. Here's some other sketches. The bear one was a wip for a cgtalk challenge that i never finished and the others are just for fun.

-Cheers

[Puck]

Here are some figures based on primitive shapes. They're from a Hogarth book i have. I'll have a go at making up poses next by using his methods.

[Puck]

Here's some i tried to make up without reference, I'm really liking the process of building them up from primitive shapes, especially the way hogarth has the torso and hips and two seperate boxes. I'm having headaches with the head shape though, specifically the area under the chin when the head is looking up. Suggestions appreciated. :)

[Banshax]

those paintings are cool, its very interesting to see how free you are with your imagination. The pose research I like a lot, didnt loomis say somethign about researching poses pays in divident, anyway, theyre cool, and there is also potential for growth i think. cool scetchbook.

[Puck]

Thanks Banshax. Yeah, Loomis is very inspirational to read.

I've just started weekly Lifedrawing classes again, here's the first round of sketches. Sorry about the bad quality.

[SigiLee]

Hey Puck,

Very good skill with pencils. I see what you mean with blocking in now I guess ;).
As for my favourites, I think I'd have to go with the walker in the first post and the treeman. Those are neat!

Cheers,
Sigi

[silvestri99]

Great and wpndewrful animal kteches. You really captured a lot of texture and likeness of the animals without cluttering up the pictures. I also liked the thumbnail nudes you are doing. Keep up the good work!

[SigiLee]

I think I see what you mean about the 3d in the gestures. How long does 1 gesture (the ones in post #15) and what is the first part or line you put on paper?

[Puck]

Hey Silverstri99 and SigiLee, thanks for the comments!

SigiLee, the gestures in post #15 are copied from a Hogarth book, the ones afterwards I tried to make up using the same method. I think they took about 5 mins each, i don't think they could have taken longer than that, but i tend to underestimate how long i spend drawing something. For these ones, I started with the torso, which was sketched in like a sideways barrels, and then drew the legs and arms as cylinders, afterwards adding contours to bring out the muscle shapes (which I'm sure arn't anatomically acurate). The heads were draw last.

Here's a photoshop sketch I've been working on for a few days, I was hoping to turn it into an oil painting. I used photo reference for the hands and face. I was hoping to get that 'sub surface scattering' effect you get with candles, where the wax at the top glows from the light bouncing around inside the candle. Crits would be very welcome as it will be hard to change once i put it in oil.

[Puck]

Here are some more lifedrawings. 1 min for the sketchy ones to an hour for the last one. I'd forgotten how important lifedrawing is until i started doing it again.

[Azrael]

dig the candle man. nice studies. keep it up. I also like the skewed perspectives of your paintings.

[Tomato]

Thats some pretty cool and some pretty crazy stuff you've got going on here dude! I really like those figures drawings :D

Great stuff :)

[Puck]

Thanks Azrael and John for stopping by.

Here's a sketch i was making up to put in the halloween chow but i didn't finish it in time (and there were better works arlready there so i chickened out!)

I really have to thumbnail my sketches first and try a few variations, rather than just rendering the first sketch i make. I think that should help me improve and it's the next thing I'll work on in the challenges.

[Puck]

Here's another round of lifedrawings as well as the Nov 1 self portrait.

[jn2art]

Dude I really dig your stuff and admire the fact that you have the balls to put your stuff out there for the world to see. KUDOS and keep up the good work I can see the progression in your work.

[gmags]

Hey Puck,
really dig your style!! Like those animal sketches and your colored pieces too. That halloween piece is just sick!!! Keep postin more good stuff and look forward to see you improve more!! :)

[Puck]

Thanks jn2art and gmags.

It is bloody intimidating, putting sketches online when there's all these really talented artists pumping out images in an hour that i would be so proud if i made in a week. For so long i lurked and my stuff never got better, I kept thinking that i'd wait till i was any good before i posted stuff, but I've realised that it's the journey of improvement that's the most important thing about these sketckbooks. I'm sure it's something alot of beginner artists feel, that they want their work to be admired even though they know deep down that it doesn't compare, so they hide it away or post it on deviant art (ouch), and only show their mum who say it's the best thing in the world.

I'm hoping this sketchbook will be one of those "look at the improvement he's made in the last 1 or 2 or 10 years" type of thing.... so if anybody does stop by and sees something lacking, please take the time to point it out cause it would help me heaps! /m\ \w/

[Puck]

Hellooo again. I haven't updated for a while, which is a combination of being very busy and very lazy. Here's some lifedrawings from last night. And a page of coping nudes off the net, which wasn't very helpful or educational, but i got to look at nudes, so it's was still worthwhile. :P

[Puck]

one more from pictures off the net

[Puck]

Heya,

Here are some doodlings I did whilst sitting at the beach.

[Puck]

I took the little devil from the previous sketch and coloured him in for fun.

[Puck]

Some more life drawings, this time I've coloured them in PS after scanning.

Over the next week, I'm going to try to get a PS painting finished and post it here for crits. I never seem to take any sketches all the way as I get sick of the idea or see too much weakness in the sketch before i get around to rendering it. Not this time... hopefully :)

[Puck]

here's some chows and a cow that i've done in the past. In so many ways i can see things that are wrong with them, but i still don't have the experience to know how to fix it. So if anybody can spare a crit, that would be very helpful!

[BarretThomson]

Hello Puck, thanks for checking out my SB. I really like the pen work that you did on the animal studies. I also like the concept for the COW. those legs/tentacles are great. The first thing I noticed on the CHOW is how harsh and crisp the line of the horizon is compared to everything else.

Keep it up.

[Puck]

Hey BarretThomson, thanks for taking the time to reply. I like using a pen too as it's not possible to erase and you have to try to get it right first time, I'll do some more soon for practice, although probably of figures.

Re: the latest CHOW, yeah, i really notice that too now, it's pretty glaring. The face really bothers me as well but no matter how many times i painted over it it didn't look any better...something to practice i guess!

Here's this weeks life drawing, with colour painted over in photoshop.

[Puck]

This is my first attempt at the DSG, and it was probably the most fun I've had painting purely in photoshop. I'm starting to see how it relates to painting in real life a bit better, like using the navigator thumbnail as a way of 'standing backing' from the work, and laying down a 'palette' of colours to use throughout the painting... things that i feel are making it a bit easier.

[})i({]

I love your style, it's so origional, I'd have to say the horse one and the tree ones are my faves!

[Puck]

Thanks for leaving a comment })i({. I don't think I have a style, and I don't think any of the sketches here are original. But that's the eventual goal I guess.

I got inspired over at Marco Nelor's sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70622) (now there's some serious talent) and tracked down one of the models that he mentions in one of his sketches - Luba Shumeyko. Mmmm mmm. :)

Here are some colour sketches I did from a photoset of her and other models. If you know what she looks like you'll notice that my sketches don't resemble her... well that's because I didn't do a very good job hehe. Anyway, practice practice practice.

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Puck, tons of great stuff here and alot of improvement man. I really dig your approach to your self portraits(in which they seem to tell a story, set a mood) and painting of other familiars, CHOW entries and some of your studies. I hope to see more of your stuff and progression. Keep it up man.

[JERI]

Hey Puck I found your SB.

Hmmm, I might suggest going for stronger contrast when doing pencil shadings. At the same time you might find it helpful to make your outlines lighter so it blends better with the shadings.

Your paintings in post #9 rocks!

[Puck]

Thanks for the comments Sirio Brozzi! When i started painting i couldn't think of anything to paint except myself... I mean, I didn't feel anything else I painted would have any depth behind it, whereas everybody knows their own background, desires and deficiencies. Self-portraits (and family portraits) are easy to put emotion into, which is helpful when you don't have much life experience.

Thanks as well JERI. The paintings in #9 are the only ones I've ever really spent some time on, they were done probably 2 years ago and I've never completed a finished painting since... which is stupid lazy of me. But it's hard to get the motivation to finish rendering a painting when you can see all the faults in the underlying drawing, and at the moment I think my expectation of what I want to achieve in a painting far exceeds my skill.

I'll take your advice with pencil shadings and outlines and deliver some more contrasting sketches with less outlines asap (maybe i'll buy some pencils above 2B for a change, hehe pretty scary playing around with all those dark tones, I don't know if I can handle them yet :))


Here are two more life drawings and a sketch of mushroom people for a self-directed project im working on.

[Pascallo]

Some really nice stuff here - you are doing well! So keep it up...
Cheers!

[Scott James]

Puck great figure studies and color ones as well!!!! Keep postin'

[Puck]

Thanks for the encouragement Pascallo and Scott! I appreciate you stopping by.

I got pretty busy with a freelance job (nothing drawing related unfortunately) and then it was Xmas and Newyears and instead of doing a lot of sketching I've been doing a lot of celebrating. :)

Also Jeri, I haven't come through with those pencil shadings yet, but I'm going to take your advice and focus on those tips in the next drawings I do.

I got a nice Bridgeman book on the advice of a post somewhere on CA, so I've been copying his studies which I think is helping my understanding of anatomy and form. Here are some drawings (they're just copies so it's not worth posting bigger pics) and sketches from photos off the net.

[Scott James]

Puck I here ya wit da Freelance!!! great studies my friend!!!Kudos!!!!

[Puck]

Thanks Scott. Yeah, the freelance thing; it's great to get work, so I'm not complaining, but it's still a major soul drain compared to making your own art. I'm a 3d animator by the way, which pays the bills (so far). Since I've stopped working at a full time 3d job I've been surviving off a trickle of freelance work that finds me (mainly through friends). I'm not putting any time towards making a 3d portfolio, instead trying to get my drawing skills up to a level where I can eventually get work from that, but it seems like a lot harder journey. I don't really think you need to be very talented to get 3d work, once your 'decent' that's enough to get work (sorry 3d artists out there, just my opinion), but it really shows if you don't have the skills when you're doing 2d stuff. Something to work on.

Anyway, here are some sketches for a painting I'm going to make (that's an analogue painting, not a digital one btw :)). I haven't painted for years now so it's exciting to have another go at it. I'm going to try and plan it out as much as I can before I start - see how it goes. If anybody has any opinions on the composition, colour, theme or anything, let me know cause it would help heaps. Cheers.

[Puck]

Here's an update on the painting wip. I'm going to do as much as i can in photoshop before i start on canvas i think.

[Scott James]

Puck - I'll complain fer the bothof us......Ok I'm not going shoot my self in the foot! I plead the 5th!...LOL...thouth I do now what ya mean about It being Soul suckin' after years it hard to keep it fresh! great studies in post 123!

[Puck]

Hehe Scott. I don't mind complaining, I don't think any of my many clients (either of them :)) are going to read my whinging on these forums. And it really is just whinging, because I'm pretty lucky I can get work at all I guess.

Here's more bridgeman studies as well as sketches for the painting I'm trying to do. I still need more reference on the women as something's wrong with the faces / anamtomy. I'm really getting excited about starting to paint again, but for better or worse I've just landed another 'non-drawing' freelance job, so I probably won't be able to paint (or sleep) for the next month or so. Although for a change I'm actually looking forward to this particular job. Who needs stability? :)

Any crits on the composition? It's very centered and possibly very boring - I tried some other thumbnail compositions but I couldn't get anything else working.

[Puck]

more sketches from photos - trying to build up a library of reference for the women in the above painting wip. All crits welcomed with open arms.

[Scott James]

more beautiful pencil studies!!! keep them comin' bud!!

[hurricane]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=42026&stc=1&d=1162158571

GREAT!

keep on doign the studies! one thing to think about is to try to draw longer lines instead of making thenm "feathry"...
cheers!

[Wysocki]

Hi there, I like Your sketches, You Have strong line, but IMO You should add more contrast at sketches drawing . . .
and Your concepts, ideas for painting are grate.
I have some question, how many time You spend for practice,

[Puck]

Thanks Scott for the continuous support! It helps me keep working :)

Thanks for the advice Hurricane - I lack a bit of confidence when drawing so I often skirt around the form for ages before I settle on a line, which gives a soft feathery look. I'll work on my line work in future sketches, perhaps using a pen so I have to commit to a line once I've marked it in.

Thanks for the advice as well Wysocki, contrast is something I have to work on; JERI was saying that I needed more contrast a while ago as well, so I'll be more conscious of that in the future.

I don't spend as much time practicing as I'd like; I probably do only about 3 hours a day drawing on average, sometimes more when things are going well (sometimes less, today I only spent about an hour). I gotta get to that 8+ hours a day drawing and doing art... that's the aim. Although I've just started some work which will take up the next month, but I'll try to keep the drawings happening anyway.

Here is a quick sketch I did today (no reference, which is why the anatomy is so strange), as well as a little play I had with an earlier ps sketch.

[Puck]

bridgeman studies and some fun doodling.

[Puck]

I've been pretty busy over the last month with work, but it's all calmed down again now. Here are some more bridgeman studies i did while waiting for renders during the month.

[4rt-r41d]

Baad ass!
dude you rock ;D

[Scott James]

digin the head studies in pencil!!!

[Puck]

Thanks Wakazou and Scott for the encouragement :)

Here's a marker sketch i just from this newspaper article of this boy who's already had open heart surgery 3 times. I mucked up his eyes and head a bit as he's much cuter and more cherub like in the original.

[4rt-r41d]

Groovy! almost looks like pencil, good job!

[Puck]

Thanks Wakazou - I'll try to do some more marker studies today. It's fun building up the tone though the permenance of the mark is a bit intimidating.

Here are some more bridgeman studies. They are an easy way to get myself to do some drawing when I don't feel like doing any drawing. :P

[Scott James]

the studies I love the eyes on the cherub are a bit odd but great techneque!

[Puck]

Thanks Scott for always popping by :)

I've been a bit slack and playing Wii while waiting for renders instead of drawing :P

Anyway, here's more bridgeman sketches and a doodle that occupied me while working the last week which i just took into photochop and coloured a bit.

[Puck]

Here's some pen doodles I've coloured in for fun as well as a pencil sketch of my grandma.

[Puck]

more coloured in sketches for fun

[Puck]

more sketches and such, been pretty slack lately (as usual getting distracted by work etc).

[Puck]

hands hands hands

[costas]

man you are just GREAT... don't know what to say... they're awesome (the drawings) keep it up...

[s.ketch]

Very nice sketches man. Makes me want to sketch even more. Great job on the studies and paintings too. Keep on drawin' brother!

[Puck]

Thanks Costas and BuckWeisel. I appreciate you taking the time to post a reply - it really helps motivate me to keep drawing and hopefully improving.

I spent the Easter weekend in Kiama (near the beach), though it rained so much we were stuck inside watching movies and playing Wii - which gave me a chance to draw people.

[Puck]

Here's two test renders - kinda like '3d sketches' for a personal project im working on.

[madhatter106]

The mushroom sketches made me laugh - very whimsical. And the rendering in the last post did as well; I never realized that some mushrooms have booties! :)

[DennisCurrie]

Love your ink sketches. Wow, you're digital painting is really coming along!

[Puck]

Madhatter - yes mushrooms do indeed have booties! I'm glad they made you laugh, I'll be doing a whole lot more of them soon (although without hands and arms from now on I think).

Dennis - thanks for the kind words - I'll work on more ink sketches soon, they have a way of forcing you to observe the lines accurately and filter out all the other information - good practice.

Here's a sketch book page ive been nursing for a few days - mostly from reference.

[Puck]

Another sketchbook page and some storyboards I did for a mate.

[Puck]

Having a play with Painter X - I'm still not very comfortable with it but it is exciting not having complete control over your brushes.

[Puck]

Haven't updated for a while, still been drawing but just moved house so not much time to scan scribbles.

Here's some pen drawings i've done from some photographs ah heng posted (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=86874)on these forums.

[B-Man]

Hey man you got me hooked. This is higly adictive stuff. Thanks for charing.:)
Ill be back for more!
Cheers!

[Puck]

little coloured in sketch. Finally got my scanner working with vista 64 bit (nobody makes scanner drivers for 64 bit apparently! - thank you VueScan)

[Puck]

more sketches (mostly from reference) plus an attempt at a recent DSG. And a photo of a painting (oil and acrylic on canvas) i attempted based on a sketch i did a while ago in this thread. The painting didn't turn out how I'd like, but I did learn a lot from making it.

[Ex Nihilo]

Awesome sketchbook, great update. Love that acrylic/oil painting.

[Puck]

Thanks Ex Nihilo, the oil on acrylic painting didn't turn out how i would have liked. i think I rushed into it a bit (it's the first painting I've done in quite a while), I'll have another attempt soon.

Here's some 3d renders of the bad guy from a personal project I'm working on (a short film). I've been abandoning and restarting this "mushroom story" for a while, so i hope to finally see it through this time.

[Puck]

Here's an attempt I made at a pregnant woman without reference. Just from looking at it now I can see the neck and head are a bit weird, the angle of the arm, and the furthest boob is bigger than the nearer one. If there's anything else anybody notices let me know. I'll have another crack at the same pose tomorrow.

[m0uS3r]

nice studies man ... i like them a loot ... i can learn from them :D ... and i like alsow the 3 D art ..

keep on posting
chearsss .......

[Puck]

Thanks for the comments m0uS3r.

A ps sketch of flying glowing swap eels. I had a dream about this image, which is unusual because i don't normally remember my dreams - might have been influenced by those flying Akrid in the Lost Planet game (been playing that lately)

[Puck]

A sketch of a fire monkey, well technically it's a tree dwelling bear? - much like a hyperactive koala ...

And a play in zbrush (about 2 hours worth, though originally he was going to be an old man, I got bored from my lack of progress and gave him horns :P). I'm learning all the tools and new workflow for version 3 at the moment and enjoying the program a lot.

[Puck]

Some hands from bridgeman, a coloured in nude sketch and a DSG attempt (in zbrush again)

[Puck]

Here's a sculpt i did in zbrush, starting with a sphere and just pushing and pulling polygons. Doing sculpture really highlights all the gaps in my anatomy knowledge and helps me to understand the bits of anatomy that i thought i 'knew' in 2d, but never really understood the underlying shape.

[Puck]

nudes from reference.

[Puck]

Here are two little oil painting colour studies (want to get back into oil painting after beind directed to and promptly inspired by Jeremy Lipking's website (http://www.lipking.com/index.htm)). Plus some ps coloured sketches.

[Puck]

coloured in pencil studies from reference.

[Puck]

pencil sketches from reference and a ps sketch that i intend to keep working up.

[maniac086]

Wow! You're really good! Everything from your sketches to your CG stuff to your paintings is really great!
I'm stuck on your linework! I need to get back to working loose like you've shown... I really like seeing artists who have a really loose yet deliberate handle with their lines. Bravo!
And your shading and coloring are top-notch as well! I've been inspired!

[Puck]

Thanks for the comments maniac - It's very motivational to me :)

Here's that ps sketch more worked up. I've shrunk her head down and given her hair - I kind of liked the back more from the first sketch as now it looks like she's posing a bit... any crits and comments would be appreciated a lot.

Also here's that oil painting colour sketch I've worked up a bit more - one thing I've realised about oil painting is that because you're forced to spend more time on the work, you become closer and have a better understanding of the aesthetics of it (another way of saying that I need to learn some patience when working digitally - ie: spend the time that a work requires rather than rushing through it). Not that this painting is going particularly well, but i feel like i can appreciate it more.

[Puck]

another ps sketch (coloured in from a pencil sketch) as well as more work on that previous one.

[Puck]

3 ps sketches, the nudist sitting in grass reading the paper is from reference. Oh, and the one with the nude lying on a treetop - that's meant to be a river in the background, not milk shooting out of her breast. :P

[Puck]

Here's some more ps sketches, just fun little scribbles. Plus more work on the woman in the tree sketch from the last post. I'm having lots of trouble with the anatomy (continuosly repositioning the breasts and head) - it's so much easier to work from reference than to try to make it up, but I guess an intrinsic grasp of anatomy only comes with lots of practice and experience.

[The Whistler]

Hey, great sketchbook! You still have some very minor anatomy problems in some pictures (e.g. the nude in your post #90 seems to have her breasts too far down when compared to her shoulders) but I like your overall sketchbook. I especially like the way you handle coloring and values (you make it seem easy) and I love the selfportrait that is your avatar. Kinda reminds me of Jack Black in Tenacious D and the P.O.D. ;)

Cheers!

[Halfmonk]

Hey Puck, thanks for the comments in my sketchbook!
It's impressive seeing your improvement over just one year! I think I'll copy you and start looking at more naked ladies :-)

I'd like to see more of your strange creatures too please!

My Sketchbook Thread (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=97820)

[Radio24]

Wow - the paintings here are quite amazing. I love the treefolk painting on the first page. I want to check out more of your stuff!!

[Ellingsworth]

Awesome stuff, Puck. Thanks for the kind words in my book. I'll definitely try to follow your advice about pushing my values. I really like the figure sketches and paintings. Sorry if I don't offer up any advice or whatnot I always hate giving advice and critique to people that are wayyy above me. I'll be back for your updates, keep drawing, dude! :)

[Puck]

thanks for the feedback The Whistler. I remember when i first drew a female figure at my first life drawing class the tutor scolded me for making the beginners mistake of 'putting the boobs too high on the torso' - so perhaps I am still overcompensating from that experience. :) I was more dissapointed with the way the head turned out in that one, but I see your point on the breasts as well.

thanks halfmonk for stopping by. I personally think that naked ladies are one of the best things to look at and draw; they combine the motivation of sex with the respectability of art! woohoo! (very possibly the reason why I wanted to pursue art in the first place perhaps). I'll get some more creatures happening as well.

Radio24; thanks for the positive support. The treefolk was the first image I made with the intention of starting this sketchbook.

And thank you for the comments as well Ellingsworth. I really like where you are going with your art and I appreciate you stopping by to comment on mine, but please feel free to point out my many weaknesses as I'm trying to learn just the same as you! If I personally didn't give advice and critiques to people that I feel are waay above me, then I wouldn't give any advice at all on these forums. :)

Here's a very small update (busy with work work). I do love nudes... Pencil sketch from reference and then painted in ps. I've just organised a life drawing class in my local area, so hopefully I'll be able to work up some paintings from reality instead of photos all the time.

[Puck]

Here's a alien fellow trying to have a feed, pencil and ps coloured, as well as a little tubby horny devil.

[Sean Vaul]

i really like all your work. you can do realistic and fin stuff and make them both look real. I really dig.
and your avatar makes me giggle.

[Puck]

Thanks Sean - I'm still having fun playing with different styles to see what i get the most enjoyment out of. My Avatar is based on a real photo of me btw :)

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Here's a digital painting im working on and the pencil sketch that started it. I'd like to get proper reference for the girl and then redraw it if possible.

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Here are some marker drawings I did from reference. I've heard that you're not meant to use cross hatching with marker, but I just can't seem to get the tones I want without it.

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and finally here's a page of pencil doodles. I might enlarge and colour in the lactating woman with the baby in the top right... because milk is good for you.

[Puck]

coloured in versions of some of the pencil sketches from the previous post

[Puck]

two digital paintings from photos (girlfriend and self portrait)
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and some pencil sketches from reference.
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[Puck]

a silly face i doodled while listening to bobby chiu's words of wisdom.

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a quick sketch from reference with the perspectice slightly exaggerated.

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and a lot of faces, all from reference.

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[BohemianChaos]

Hiya Puck :) Thanks for stopping by my sb and providing some constructive criticism. I'll try to work on the way I add color.

Your pencil sketches from reference are really nice, as are some of the ones from your imagination. You have improved a good deal since you started the sketchbook thread. Keep it up! :)

[Puck]

Hiya BohemianChaos :) Thank you for returning the comment- I used to draw only from my imagination, which was a lot of fun filling up sketchbooks full of craziness, but i didn't improve very much, then i took a long break from art (to get a career i guess :P) and upon getting back into art i didn't do anything from my imagination, only studied images from reference and life... so now i feel it's a lot harder to make up stuff - so i guess i have to strike a ballance. I hope i have improved, but it's honeslty hard for me to tell. I do feel that drawing some things (like faces) comes a bit easier, but mostly everything is just as hard as it always was (any improvement may be that I'm simply spending more time on my artwork).

Here are two ps paintings from metart reference. I probably spent more than half a day on each, which is shamefully slow to just copy an image (and not even get it identical) - but I do think studies like this are helpful and i should be getting faster the more i do of them. As always, if you have any crits or see any weaknesses that I'm missing, let me know please.

[Puck]

Here's some pencil sketches from life.... which as everybody knows is a lot harder than from reference (where's that freeze reality button again?)(well, one page is from reference, guess which one - hint: the one that doesn't look like turds). Went to the Norman Lindsay Gardens for my birthday - beautiful place - surrounded by sculptures and artworks, very nice.

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Also have a little cartoon thing I'm working up which I'd really like people's feedback on (anything from composition, colour etc is up for crit please).

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[BobbyDash]

Hi Puck. Awesome Sb once again. With your cartoon thing, It looks great IMO but I think you should aim for a more unique look for the eyes. Also, go with 4 fingers or 3 but not both :D ;)

[Puck]

Thanks for the feedback BobbyDash. hehe, I didn't even notice that i had two different number of fingers! I'll fix that and work out better eyes as well.


Here's some pencil sketches, as well as a ps coloured version. All three from reference.
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[Puck]

... a little silly sketch as a warm up to other sketches that didn't happen.

[Puck]

Sketches, all of the same person believe it or not.

[Puck]

A painting I'm working on at the moment, digital at first, but I'm starting to block it in in oils (updates to come). Plus a reference sketch and the initial weird and out of proportion doodle.

[Sean Vaul]

You as a fawn? Either way, i like it. I would say more, but you seem to have a better grasp of things than me. So I will just browse through and adore.

[Puck]

thanks for stopping by Sean. Yeah, that's me as a Faun.... I've always felt like I'd like to be a faun/satyr... chasing nymphs all day sounds like a blast.

Here's an update on that painting (still all digital until I can resolve it a bit better) - plus some fixes on a previous illustration. And a quick colour sketch.

[enthombed]

nice stuff dude, keep the good job here.

I will be back soon when update again.

cheers

[themissinglink]

great stuff, i really like your cartoons. on the more realistic stuff maybe try using a brush with a harder edge/higher opacity, some of the stuff looks a little too airbrushy

[Nismo]

Hi Puck,

Ok, where to start? Wonderful sketchbook! Some great work here and loads of improvement in just 5 pages. Plenty of study work (puts me to shame). The animal studies early on are inspiring, good use of cross hatching. The paintings in post #9 are very evocative and obviously very personal works.

I love the boxing studies, really great set.

You also have some really polished looking finished pieces. A lot of your coloured pieces have a watercolour feel to them, which I like. However, I would also like to see some more paintings which are less translucent and more opaque (just a personal preference really :) ) and painterly - don't be afraid to lose the pencilwork from under the colour layer, and bump up the opacity when you are painting. This might help to make the paintings appear more sculpted and show the form better.

By the way, I notice that you have a lot of life drawings in here. Do you attend life drawing classes regularly? Its something i'm thinking about taking up at some stage.

I'll be keeping my eye on this one. Keep it up!

[Puck]

Thanks for the positive feedback enthombed.

themissinglink: thanks for the suggestion, it's something Im definitely going to attempt from now on. I've been doing a lot of it with a really low opacity and since reading more traditional painting books (like: alla prima by richard schmid) I'm starting to appreciate the idea of mixing your colour before hand and applying the paint in an opaque and confident stroke.

Thanks Nismo, your advice is really appreciated and I said in the above paragraph (regarding brush opactiy and a more painterly feel) it's something I'm consciously going to be working on from now on. I've always been keeping the pencils on a 'multiply' layer and just building up the colour beneath them, only putting a few extra washes of colour over the top at the end, which is making them look very watercoloury and makes it loses some of the form modelling that i worked for in the pencils.

I actually have just started running a weekly life drawing group in my local area (as i recently moved and there wasn't one nearby) . It is great to be able to start drawing from the figure again rather than all these photographs (which i still enjoy) - you really must do regular life drawing, it is a very rewarding artistic experience.

Here are some pencils from reference (the last one from life).

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... as well as a continuation of a photoshop painting im still tweaking, and a wip illustration that continues from the previous cartoony one.

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[Naetron]

Nice pencils you've got there Puck, I'm really enjoying your progress especially with the figure base studies, keep it up!:rendered:

[Super-Arty]

PUCK ROCKS ...
i loved your drawings with the monopoly and chess stuff... keep it up, man !

[Puck]

Thanks Naetron and Super-Arty - I'll keep on hammering away at it :)

Here's some more bridgeman copies.

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Also, I've been playing with 'colors' for the Nintendo DS and made these colour studies from life with it, I love my DS, and now it is an art tool as well (I didn't even know it had a pressure sensitive screen until this homebrew)! Makes me want to get a tablet PC and go out sketching.

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[Duckiller]

really nice stuff! i enjoy so much seeing a man with such high dedication. your studies are good and i love the way you see tones.
working with reference rules!

[Dose206]

haha, I'm getting colors as soon as my R4 hits my mailbox. how do you like it? Anyhoo, I like what you have going on, those bridgeman's are looking nice, but I'd like to see what you learn from the studies a little more to the rest of your art.

Keep it up!

Chris

[Puck]

Hi duckiller - thanks for the comments. I'm trying to work very hard on tones at the moment - and reference does help a lot.

Dose206 - Thanks and good luck with Colors, I'm loving it. I've uploaded two more 'ds paintings' from life, a nude and a self portrait. I know what you mean re: bridgeman studies, it's no good copying it without putting it into practice - I'll work up my own figures from them soon.

Here's some life drawing, two 'colors' paintings, and another new illustration as well as an update on an old one. As you can see with the illustrations, I'm not sure where they are going and each one is different from the last (not a good thing; I'm going to have to work out one style and be consistent with it very soon for these).

[Puck]

Two digital sketches and the series of 'lovey' illustrations i've been working on.

[AphexTweak]

Really enjoyed looking through your sketchbook. Great anatomy studies and figure work. Your little doodles were entertaining too... Liked the 3d mushrooms you made. Curious where you plan on taking that idea. Your "Lovely" illustration series has come along nicely. You may have mentioned it previously, but is that series autobiographical?

Only real crit I have for you would be your paintings. Color and contrast could be taken a lot further. Blending between forms and getting to a more finished state. I'm not much of a painter so I can't direct you how to do that sort of stuff, but that's my observation in the least.

Anyway, keep up the hard work and dedication. Thanks for sharing.

[Duckiller]

the colors are grate! your stuff is really stileish! and the storry telling is cool.
i like it!

[Puck]

Thanks AphexTweak for the kind words and crits. the Mushrooms were part of a film I was making... before the enormity of the task crushed my motivation and I started concentrating on more achievable goals - they are still in my mind though to revist later. Agree totally about the weakness in my paintings, something I'm trying to work on - even when I think I have pushed the contrast I do a 'levels' in photoshop and see I'm only using half the histogram. I'm working on a more 'finished' piece now for the LMS, so hopefully that works out better.

thanks again Duckiller, I appreciate you stopping by.

Here's some pencil sketches I've been doing from life - including a continuing series of drawings done of my partner just before I go to sleep.

[Puck]

two more sleep sketches and a quick self portrait.

[Puck]

here's a masters copy of Alma-Tadema's "a sculptors model" from the arc database (http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=646)

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[Puck]

Here's another master copy, this time from Bouguereau - still very sketchy.

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Some colour sketches from photos...

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the second one I tried getting the drawing and tone more accurate and then layered the colour over in mulitply mode.

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and some bridgeman and brague sketches.

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[algenpfleger]

Wow, loving those sleep sketches and the Bouguerau, you do so much different stuff, great!

[.:J/A\X:.]

the eye study is brilliant! I need to try that.

[Puck]

thanks algenpfleger and .:J/A\X:. - I appreciate the comments.

Here's my LMS entry - I feel that I got lost in the details a bit and forgot about the overall composition - and my weaknesses with anatomy come through in the figures. I'd love to hear anybodies opinion on how I could improve this.
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Two more master copies from Bouguereau.
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A painting from a photo of my new wifey wife
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And some 'How to draw comics the marvel way" sketches.
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[Puck]

Here's some character concepts I did recently;

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two sketches from life;

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a quick doodling;

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more bargue;

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and a wip of a digital painting I'm having fun with from an old sketch i found from AGES ago;

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As always, crits are appreciated! :)

[Puck]

I'm playing around with recording my sketching and putting it on youtube - mainly because I really like to see it when other people do it. So here's some vids (massively sped up so they're not toooo boring) and the resultant sketches.

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[Puck]

Some Bargue studies, then facial expressions with marker and a quick line drawing of a nude.

[bakatron]

your work is simply sublime.

[Puck]

thanks bakatron, kind words are always appreciated.

I've been painting in oils full time the last few weeks, mainly trying to get the hang of it again. I picked up the Shawn Barber DVD for inspiration and tips and it was worth every penny; it really helped me to pick up the brush again (and now I have a nice new glass palette! - much easier). Thanks Shawn!

Here are some painting studies I did from life, using tit-white, burnt sienna and french ultramarine (also inspired by the limited palette thread here (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=99774)). All 1 hour on tiny canvas boards, one of my missus and two of models from the life drawing class i run.

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Here's some studies did from photos, about 1 to 2 hours on the nudes, twice that on the first three of family.

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Here's a big painting i did of my grandfather in law, on and off it took about a month (crap quality photo sorry).

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Some marker studies from a book on facial expressions:

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And some old painting studies i found of the view from the window of my old bathroom.

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[Ex Nihilo]

Wow, dude. The painting of your grandfather is really awesome. I enjoyed the rest as well, and envy your productivity. Keep it up.

[Puck]

Thanks Ex Nihilo.

I haven't updated in a month but I've been painting and drawing away, mainly on another big painting (which I won't show yet as it's not finished and there are still some major points of embarrassment that I want to fix up), but apart from that I've been doing studies and mucking around artistically - so here's what I have to show for it -

First up lots of drawings of womens faces from reference:

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Some Loomis anatomy studies:

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Slowly making my way through Bargue:

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A painting from life - 1 hour:

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Little painted studies from photos + a Lord Leighton copy (the close up orange face):

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Plus some quick and fun ps sketches for the Art Battle Royall 2.0 (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=120395)- come and join us!

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As always, crits and comments are always appreciated - especially the crits, let me know what I'm fucking up so I can fix it :) cheers.

[Lakka]

Woah man, your stuff has been rockin' lately.

[algenpfleger]

wow someone's been progressing in here! love all the colored stuff. that selfportrait rocks!

[xinleh]

That painting of your grandfather is awesome! You've been progressing tons and I really like the later stuff. Also, love the colours in this one: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=357817&d=1209429565

Please update more :)

[Puck]

Thanks Lakka, Algenpfleger and Xinleh - I'm trying to filter out the more shit stuff and just post the best i could make at the time - also trying to spend more time on stuff - so I hope there's actual progression happening and not just more effort showing. :)

xinleh - the one you like the colours in is a study from a Lord Frederick Leighton painting (http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=476&hires=1) - a beautiful face and colour I was trying to copy in the hope that some of the skill would rub off on me.

Here's some paintings from life - the nude and the portrait are two hours each and the plien air landscape is about an hour (way too dark and muddy compared to the real landscape, I've never painted in direct sunlight before!).

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Here's two portraits I did over about 2 days each (from photos).

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And a close up cropping of a larger painting I'm working on that initially I was very happy with but now seems to be going down the toilet the more I paint it. :)

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and finally more of that Art Battle Royal quick ps sketches.

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Give me crits and I'll give you some! Best crits you'll ever get believe you me - I'll crit you so hard you won't be able to sit down for a month! mmmmm, yummy yummy crits - gotta have em!

[algenpfleger]

Dude! You're back. Took you a while I gotta say.

But those portraits are wicked, especially that selfportrait (it is one, right?), reaaaally good man.

Your digital brushwork seems a little rushed though, and I miss the variety of hues that you oils have. More color! :D

[Maidith]

those are from photos?! They look like they're painted from life!

drop dead awesome stuff, man! :D

[Puck]

hehe, Hi algenpfleger, I've taken just as long to update again it seems! It just takes so long to get a few things worth showing for me :)
Yup, it's a self portrait - and the digital stuff was done really quickly for fun. The variety of hues my oils have is probably down to the fact that i have so much trouble getting the right colour that I've ended up painting over it many times! Thanks again for stopping by.

Thanks Maidith - some is from life and some from photos - painting from life is much more fun but i don't get the opportunity as often.

Here's some more paintings, mainly oils but a few 'colors' DS sketches.

From life:

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And from photos:

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[algenpfleger]

duuuuuuuude awesome studies!! hmm don't worry about the hues too much, the values is what matters most.

uh, and show us some stuff from head, okay? because you don't want to become a slave to the references, right?

[Lakka]

Traditional seems to come naturally for you. Really nice :)

[Puck]

Cheers algenpfleger and Lakka, I really appreciate the c&c's.

Your comment about not wanting to become a slave to reference hit home algenpfleger, so I'm going to start concentrating on building up the imagination and memory again - to start with here's an imaginary comicy style illustration - I started the sketch just after I read your comment, and I was looking at the studioblinktwice thread (http://http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=65724) so I thought I'd have a crack at comic shading. It was good fun but the colouring and tonal composition is all over the place - a lot harder than I thought.

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Here's a pic showing the process:

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Here's the weekly oil portrait sketch and nude painted from life:

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And some arms and other bits from Loomis and Gottfried:

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I'll have more sketches from my head next time, I promise - I was really inspired by your "legs from your head" algenpfleger - and I'm going to have a crack at a similar set of anatomy sketches. I think I keep forgetting how everything's put together because I just don't draw from memory and imagination enough, I keep relying on the reference being there.

[AsaB]

Oh darn, your oils are a killer! They've got so much life and character to them, even the ones done from photos. The variety of hues look amazing, and must help add the life to your work--even though it's achieved through trial and error, as you said. Your pencils ain't bad either, your studies are inspiring. Hope to see more from you soon!

[Puck]

Cheers AsaB, thanks for the positive comments. I'm really enjoying painting in oils, it's much more fun for me than digitally painting, I'm not sure why, but I get a lot more satisfaction out of it.

Here are more oils from life, each around 2-3 hours. The last one is a demo I did today for the local art society, showing the finished portrait sketch and a photo with the sitter - it was lots of fun painting in front of people, a bit nerve wracking, but immensely gratifying (though it is quite hard to paint and talk at the same time). That one took about 1.5 hours. It was the first live demo I've done but I enjoyed it so much I'm sure it won’t be the last. There are heaps of problems with the finished painting I’d like to fix up, but I ran out of time so I had to put my brush down and let it go (I always just want a bit more time when painting from life...)

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Oh, and a quick ps doodle (while looking at an older sketch I made of myself in the mirror) - I haven't gotten around to those sketches from my imagination yet though, sorry!

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[algenpfleger]

yessss congrats on surviving that demo! i always get so nervous when people look over my shoulder, and talking at the same time? i couldn't do that. but you pulled it off, and the result is great :)

[Puck]

Heya Algenpfleger, thanks for the comments again, sorry I don't update more than once a year! Yeah, I was really nervous - though I think talking actually helped to calm my nerves. Thanks for the kind words.

It's hard to spend time 'painting' and also spend time 'practicing' (drawing studies etc) - my wife thinks it's important just to paint because you learn all the 'practice' skills but you also get a finished painting out of it, whereas I really value the studies (bargue, loomis etc). Anyway, here are some paintings and studies I've done since last update.

Painted from life - about 1 hour each for the first two (same pose, but the lighting changed so much I did a new painting), and 2 hours each for the next two:

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Some flowers:

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And an update to my self portrait - I think it's finished, but if anybody has any crits please let me know because it's going in a competition soon and I really want hear any improvements anybody can suggest.

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Cheers!

[Puck]

Two more oil studies from life, 2+ hours each.

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and a finished version of a previous wip.

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[Lakka]

the oils are looking great, the fact that you don't have as much fun with digitals shows, but the oil pantings show that you have everything painting needs, digital or traditional. :asspat:

+ the flowers have got to be one of my favourites in this thread!

[xinleh]

Hello :) Wow! You never fail to amaze me. Those paintings are awesome, I could learn a tip or two from you :)

I hope I'm right on these but from your portraits you're pretty keen on colours? If that's the case I hope you experiment more with them :) Remember that painting from life isn't just about creating photorealism but also setting the mood of a piece. That self-portrait you did is totally awesome, and I thought it was a photo at first, but I'd really like to see a bit of your personal style in it. I hope you update soon!

[Puck]

Thanks Lakka - I definitely have more fun with oil painting - I'm not really sure why, as the freedom of digital should be liberating - I think it's just the fact that I'm physically making an object. It may also be the time I put into the oils, whereas I assume digital should be 'fast' so I don't allow the painting to develop properly? I'm glad you like the flowers - my wife was studying floristry so I had a lot of reference to paint from.

Thanks Xinleh for the complements! I agree with what you're saying about capturing the mood of a piece, it's something I'll have to focus on. At the moment I'm just using a very basic palette (mainly burnt sienna, ultramarine and alizarin + a tiny bit of cad yellow) and trying to work with warm vs cool colours to capture what I see - but looking back over most of my portraits they look very similar (too much warmth maybe) - I might try keeping the same tone but introducing some different colours into them.

Re: "bringing a bit more personal style into it" - I have actually done a few paintings with a lot less reference and a lot more imagination in them, but they are very unsatisfactory at the moment - so I'm currently relegating the stylistic approach to my drawings until I get a better handle on what I'm trying to achieve. Thanks for all the input!


Here are my latest life studies -> 2-3 hours for the nude and about 2 hours for the portrait.

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Also, here is a portrait that I've been working on for a while (posted a wip on page 5) - I've softened up in the background and increased the tonal contrast around the face a bit.

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Finally here are two DS Colors sketches I did on my daily walk around Kiama - the videos show a sped up progress.

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I've also finally kick started a website with a blog! -> www.puckstudios.com (http://puckstudios.com)

[Greywoods]

I really dig your RL drawings. The warm color pallets are great. My favoritte ones are though the one with heavy shadows.

[Lakka]

Nice bunch of oils, stunning work on the eyes @ the wip! :)

[kingkostas]

Your life studies are really good, and your oils are great.I also like the anatomy studies and of course your fantasy work(its a great illustration)

Keep them up :D

thnx for stopping by my sketchbook
:steph: :steph: :steph:

[bakatron]

id break my drawing arm just to paint oils like the way you do. like simply wow.

[xinleh]

Oooh what awesome life studies! Am really digging the one of the little girl... what a soft, lovely piece :)

[Puck]

Greywoods - thanks. The palette is mostly warm because of the room we paint in - we always end up using that maroon cloth for the background or chair covering (because we don't have any other colours) and because it's winter and cold, we always have the heater on which puts out a warm red light (you can see the heater in two of the figure paintings above).

Lakka - Thanks for stopping by again , I appreciate the support!

kingkostas - thanks, I have to work a lot more on the illustration stuff - I haven't practiced drawing without reference as much as I should.

bakatron - cheers, you're very kind. Though it's the same as what you do digitally, give it a go! The only difference is it takes a bit longer and there are no undos (maybe a good thing?)

xinleh - thanks for the continuing to give me feedback, much appreciated! I was worried I made it too soft, but I think it fits the subject matter (what a cutie!).

Here are the latest lot of my weekly life/portrait painting session. The first figure painting took 2.5 hours, and the second one only took 30 mins (and I think I'm happier with the second).

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The portait took about 2 hours (I find profiles easier than front on or 3/4 views).

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Here are two WIPs of paintings. They both aren't working for me compositionally (especially the landscape), so I'm may have to introduce some other areas of light or colour to fix them. Ideas?

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And finally, I've done two little flower studies for fun. A rose and some yellow flower that I forget the name of.

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[kingkostas]

Damn you are really good with oils.That enviroment is awesome.(maybe you can make it more interesting by adding a small character with few colors standing next to a tree or something inside the enviroment).This will automatically create a story.
Keep up Puck, very nice works :D

[maxetormer]

This one is all kind of sweet man, IMPRESSIVE
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=437761&d=1218753400

[xinleh]

Hello Puck, GREAT work as usual! You really capture the form well, and the one of the room is neat! Judging from your works, you are a fan of colours as well? In that case, it would be cool to see you do some experimentation! :) One thing I notice, however, is how some of your pieces have a muddy quality to them. With my very limited knowledge I don't think it's so much the form anymore (you've got that one down pretty well) but your colour values. A good way I find is to paint, scan everything greyscale into Photoshop and then adjust the levels.

Take for instance the portrait of the old man. Think in terms of what you want to focus on. In this case I would assume it definitely would be his expression, judging from how you painted over bits of the right side of his face and highlighted the features. However, the background itself takes away too much of that, and sort of blends in with his hair, which altogether gives the portrait a very smoky feeling. In this case, if you were to decrease the background in value, it'll bring out the man more.

I hope you don't mind that I've edited your stuff a little...

1. The one on the left is your painting when desaturated in photoshop, to the right is the one I've edited. Notice how in greyscale the bg value is about the same as that of the face? So based on that I've decreased the bg value around the man's features to bring them out more, as well as darken his cheeks, eyes and nose area. I've also faded his neck and ear area a little because they are not as important.

2. Last but not least I've also included the figure that you did in greyscale, which I feel has the same problem as the rest...

OK, I have to admit that I feel like an idiot giving you crits, because you're the pro here and I'm still wayyy below your level (so much to learn!!)... but I hope you know what I mean and that I'm not sprouting nonsense and it was at least a tiny bit helpful? ^^;

[Puck]

Thanks for the idea kingkostas - though I don't want to add any figures to this composition as I wanted to keep it a pure landscape. I'm playing around with the tonal composition to try and get a better balance though.

maxetormer - Thanks! It got a highly commended at a local art show and then sold, which gives me extra happiness, though I would have liked to 'finish' it more (to have had areas with thicker paint possibly).

xinleh - I really appreciate the critique - muchas gracias amigo! While I agree in general with what you're saying, I don't quite agree in relation to the old man study: while it's true that the enhanced version looks better when it is in black and white, with colour added I really like the battle between the warm and cool. I actually tried to make the background have the same tone as the face to attempt to make it 'shimmer' a bit. (Also, the painting is out of my hands now so I can no longer tweak it!). I do agree with your suggestion of fading his ear and neck as they shouldn't take up so much attention.

I took your advice on the little nude and repainted it - I think it's tonally nicer now that the background is a middle value between the darks and lights of the figure. Thanks for the feedback. Do you think it works better now or is it still too similar?

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Thanks again for the crit - It is very very valuable to me and I really appreciate you taking the time to give it. I'm not a pro, I'm a learner like everybody else, and I really need people to point out the problems I'm blind to so I can attempt to overcome them.

While I was repainting that little nude I decided to fix up this other one that was bothering me:

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Here's the weekly life and portrait painting. Yes, I know that her leg is broken - I honestly don't know what happened! It looked fine as I painted it and now it's broken :O


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Here's some life drawing - :lifedrawing:

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2 min poses

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longer poses - 10-20 mins.

Plus here's some DS Colors sketches from life. One of my grandma and two from today's life drawing (20-30 min poses).

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Comments and crits ALWAYS welcome.

[kingkostas]

Great as always :D Keep up!!!

[Puck]

thanks for dropping by again kingkostas - gives me extra motivation to keep posting!

More paintings from life - going a bit thicker paint for fun (1 hours each for the nudes - 2 hours for the portrait).

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And some DS colors sketches.

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[Puck]

Haven't updated for a long time - busy with work, but here is what i've been working on lately.

pencil sketches from my own photographs.
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And a 20 min pencil portrait from life.
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Some recent paintings.
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[Puck]

watercolours and some pencils sketches. My oil paintings arn't progressing very well at the moment so I'm going to go back to some basics to try and improve them (drawing and composition - as well as imaginative drawing).

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Some photoshop studies from reference and illustration ideas that I had trouble finishing.

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[kingkostas]

Wow man your oils are killing me :D.You handle the depth the colors the light all in a very good way.I also like the faces study and the one with the turtle is a very nice idea.
I hope you post more :D
see ya pal

[Puck]

Thanks Kingostas - I've been such a slacker - no updates. I don't even have much work to show. Just busy freelancing for food lately and all the time has passed with little art to show.

Here are some loomis, life drawings, and portrait sketches.

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And here's a painting I've been struggling with for f*cking ages and I honestly think I should have just given up a long time ago on this one. Note to self: don't paint large paintings until you have the skills to do them justice - small paintings can be abandoned easier and you can get through a lot more of them to build up aforementioned skills.

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Comments and Crits are always appreciated.

[kingkostas]

but man your works are really awesome.I wonder why you have only that much of stars...
Keep up anyway :D

[Greywoods]

Damn dood, those are some excellent studies. And so many. I wish I had your discipline. Also wonderful shading/pencil stroking on the face studies, one can see that it was done fairly quickly yet it still looks great.

[Puck]

Thanks again Kingkostas - I think it's because it's a bit of a dogs breakfast! not much focus, so skills never go past a certain level in any one thing - I've got to con-cen-twate more.

Cheers Greywoods - the only time I get to draw my wife is when she's sleeping, but by that time im really tired as well so it's hard to stay awake for too long.

Here's a fun sketch I did yesterday - I've been drawing so much from reference lately that I decided to just do a digital painting from my imagination without trying too hard for it to be something special - it felt like being a kid again and just drawing because it was fun, I really enjoyed the process, and although the end result is pretty dodgy I'll be doing more of them. I've included a video to show the process and for the first time recorded my voice to chat about what I was thinking (wtf? is that what I sound like???)


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Let me know what you think, crits are very welcome.

[meticulous]

Puck - I'm sorry man but that big painting is the friggin shiz. I really mean that - All works are never finished - you can pick at it until you are 80 and still never think you are finished.
Walk away - maybe come back to that one tiny thing that is driving you nuts. But walk away - because from over here - that thing is drop dead beautiful. I mean jesus - the pattern on her dress... the sliver of light in the crook of her arm - the light around her hair - FREAKING WOW... Alright - enough good game pats - keep painting man - love your work - I'll be back really soon :)

[akabraille]

:x Dude I'm really liking all your anatomy studies and life drawings. Great sketcbook!:teeth: Could you give me some tips for my sketchbook? Thanks

-aka

[Puck]

Thanks Akabraille - I'll pop in now and have a look (I always try to when somebody responds in mine).

Thanks Meticulous - I really appreciate the positive comments. I've literally repainted the face on that painting a dozen times, and when I finally finished it (a combination of 'giving up' and being forced to by a deadline for a show) I felt nothing but disappointment at the entire thing - in my mind it worked a lot better, though I'm glad some of the things that inspired me to start the painting still came through in the finished work for you. Here's a version of it with a glaze on it, everything looks darker now, but I had to glaze it to unify the glossiness.

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Here's a multilimb figure inspired directly from my recent trip through Algenpfleger's incredible sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114449&page=101). It's a must see thread if you haven't already.

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Are the arms too small?

Here's a pencil study I just finished in time for the Easter Show. It took a while because of all the detail. I'm really happy with the dress, but I don't think I did the face justice, especially the eye in shadow may be too dark (or the other shadows not dark enough).

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And finally here are three DS colors sketches from my weekly lifedrawing group. Each pose was about 20 mins. Youtube vids show the progress.

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[crashMMVII]

Love the above post, thanks for the vids too. I'm ordering a flashcart for my DS today so hopefully I can get Colors up and running on it. Is it pretty easy to set up?

[Puck]

thanks crashMMVII - good luck getting it set up, it's a great asset once it is. My flashcart is an old G6 lite and was really easy to get organised, and I think the newer ones are even easier.

Some good news: the recent painting that I wasn't very happy with won first prize in the figurative section at the Easter Show. You never can tell what the judge will like, so it's always worth having a go.

Here are some lifedrawings (touched up in ps) and a ds profile with progress vid.

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[Puck]

Some more DS colors sketches from life.

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[themissinglink]

I love the saturated colors in your paintings, and i love the large figure painting. I think in some of your smaller figure studies the figures are too saturated, remember there are a lot of grey's/browns in flesh. Also, i think some your paintings could use a stronger transition from warm to cool in the shadows/highlights. some of the paintings are either all warm or all cool in tone.

[Giorge]

some of your pencils look rather nice , you could pay more attention to just some parts , even as you are drawing from life

[Puck]

Thanks for the feedback themissinglink and Giorge, I'll try to take your advice on board.

Here are some figures from imagination and Loomis - I'm trying to draw the same figure using different approaches to help me 'learn' it better:

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Here are some illustrations I recently finished for a children's book competition, as well as a step by step progress of each - I'd love to hear anybody's opinion on the strengths / weaknesses of these:

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And here are some more DS sketches with youtube progress videos:

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[Puck]

Life drawing - poses from 10 to 20 minutes:

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some random sketches:

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Face and hands studies:

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And a little nude I painted after being inspired by Dave Palumbo's beautiful thread of nude postcards (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59427).

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[williams73]

Really good work. I am always impressed with people that do detail since I like to paint with a 4 inch brush. Its great that that painting won I can see your dissatisfaction in it 99% of it is crisp and clean and beautiful but the face got a little muddy or overworked. Great stuff the pencil drawing again the detail is amazing.

[KarylGilbertson]

Hey man,

Your work is wicked-- I would be so much better if I drew from life even half as much as you do. It's good that you're working on the "from imagination" stuff too.

I really, really dig that self-portrait with the book- amazing.

As far as constructive criticism goes, I feel a little silly for saying this since you're a lot more talented than I, but I think the one thing that could improve your work even more is improved brush economy... some stuff (mostly the nudes I think) looks like there are a lot of brush strokes in there.

[Puck]

Thanks williams73 - hehe, a "little overworked"... the paint on the face is so much thicker than the rest of the painting - so many corrections and I still didn't get it. It always seems to come down to drawing with me - I can usually get the tone, and although I don't get the colour perfect, it's usually close enough, but the drawing is always off - which is unfortunate since drawing is the most important part!

Thanks for the advice Ookchk! I really appreciate this sort of constructive criticism. It's something I'm aware of and will definitely try to work on more in the future - I need to simplify, work with bigger brushes and capture the larger shapes - I tend to 'scratch' into the paint and make lots of muddy alterations with a small brush. I really love the economy of brushwork in Sargent's work, gotta practice more.

Here are two painting wips - a portrait, and a painting of my computer monitors (complete with desktop wallpapers - can you pick the paintings?). The drawing in both of these is off in small ways, but it doesn't really bother me on the computers - I just wish I could get the face right (bad drawing is always so noticeable in faces!).

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[Mihail]

I like these two last paintings. Keep up the good work

[Puck]

Thanks Mihail- appreciate the positive comments.

It's been a while, been busy, but here is an update at least!

I've been working on my newborn entry (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=161201), though looking at some of the other entries I don't have any hope, still, im going to finish them for myself and for the learnin'.

Here are some lifedrawing and two oils painting from life, a portrait and a nude.

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[Puck]

some nudes - oils from life (3 hours) - some ps portrait studies - and I tried repainting an older portrait of a woman reading + detail. And my newborn entry. Critiques are always very appreciated.

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[Puck]

Here's some recent life drawings, 10-20 mins each, and a life painting, about 2.5 hours.

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And here is one of the other ideas I was working on for the newborn challenge, but I didn't have time to finish it before the deadline, so I'm going to work on it now. I'd really like to make this as good as I possibly can, so if you give me a crit or suggestion I promise I will try it and post the results.

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[Puck]

A nude oil painting (I'm probably going to try and repaint the face and hands a bit though) + studies:

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A portrait from life - 2.5 hours:

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Some life drawing (10 mins each - yes even the top right one, I kept stuffing up the shoulder width):

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And keeping up with my Loomis and Vilppu practice (I'm really enjoying Vilppu's approach to figure construction):

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[kingkostas]

awesome mate!!!The baby in the egg is totally awesome.And the epic tree.
Your oils are great as always
Keep up :D

[Puck]

Thanks Kingkostas - always appreciated!

Here are some life drawings.

2 mins each.

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10-20 mins each.

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More work on the tree mother newborn pic.

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And two photos of what we woke up to the other morning. During the night there was a massive dust storm and the first half of the day was a very saturated and spooky orange (these pics aren't exaggerating the orange at all, this is what it looked like - I've never seen anything like it before).

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Edit: Here's a cool video of the dust storm if anybody's interested (it wasn't anything like this where we are though).

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[Nismo]

Hey, Puck.

Really enjoying your sketchbook - please post more!

Loving the studies, and your paintings are incredible - such rich colours.

Keep it up.

[Puck]

Thanks Nismo!

Almost half a year since the last update! woo! Well, I became a dad in that time, so that's an achievement.

Here are some lifedrawings on my lappy - 2 mins each for the first b/w ones, 10-20 mins each for the coloured ones and last two:

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Here's some nudes from semi-reference / imagination:

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A photo study:

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A skull from imagination:

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A concept for a short film character:

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And finally a page spread from a children's book that I'm working on:

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[jeremygordon89]

Very, very awesome studies, and I love the videos you posted up as well. That dust storm made the atmosphere awesome-looking. Keep up the hard work.

[Puck]

Thanks Jeremy - yeah it was pretty amazing to see.

Here's some lifedrawing.

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And a painting I've been working on for long enough that I've grown out of liking the subject matter and composition hehe - but I'll finish it anyway.

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[kingkostas]

aaaaa the oilsssss!!!!!!!Great work.Keep pushing the digitals

[teapo]

omg your studies are so wicked. i feel like touching your oils paintings :3 very realistic capturing you got. if u don't mind me asking, how big is your sketchbook (physical sb). anyways keep up those figure studies Puck! i really need to study just as hard! i'll watch out for more updates (^-^d)

[jeremygordon89]

the painting looks great!

[Puck]

Thanks Teapo - appreciate the comments. For most lifedrawing I work on an A1 pad, but I rarely draw large enough to fill the page with one figure - usually I'll fit at least 3 figures in it (so maybe I don't need to lug around an A1 pad afterall!) - and for portable sketching I always carry an A4 in my bag and a small moleskine in my pocket (as it's a well known fact that moleskine makes your drawings 0% more awesome for only double the price!).

Thanks again Jeremy.

Here's some more lifedrawing on my lappy 486. 2 mins each for the b/w - generally 20 mins each for the other two pages.

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A scribble from scribblertoo (http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/scribblertoo/) that I coloured in PS.

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More work in progress pics on that kids book - still nutting out a style for it and changing the characters designs as I go.

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And I'm still trying to finish this Tree baby image from last years "Newborn" Challenge! If anybody has anyfeedback on this in particular, especially the composition, I'd love to hear it!

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[Puck]

Here's a pic that was inspired by playing through Metro 2033 - a very atmospheric and beautiful game. The lighting was inspired by cryptcrawlers "A hostile takeover" image (gotta buy that tutorial soon and soak up all that learnin' - love his work).

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Wip shots:

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[Puck]

More life drawing - 10 to 20 mins in PS:

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Some portraits from photos:

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And an quick piece for a cghub 2d challenge - "deadliest catch":

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Wip:

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[soros]

Big collection of studies in here! Well done Bargue and muscle studies. Thanks for sharing the process of the progress!

[Puck]

Thanks Soros, appreciate the comment!

Here's an update to the sea monster one - decided I could push it a bit more. Plus more life drawing (pencil and photoshop from life).

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[Auspiciouspanda]

Hey! Some really nice work in this thread, and thanks a bundle for taking a look at my sketchbook.

You've got a really great handle on value and lighting, and i think if you took a little time to balance the hard and soft edges in your pieces you could really push them to the next level. Developing some crisp edges where light is hitting an object directly can help let the viewer know where to look!

Thanks again, and some really great work in here.

[MasterStryke]

wow, partly fascinating colour choice and lighting!

greetings ;]

ps: are you still active on artorder?

[Puck]

It's been about a year and a half since I posted last. Here's some of the very little bit of art I've managed to do in that time, most of it is a year old now, but I haven't had a chance to work for a while due to having lots and lots of children. :) Hopefully it's not another year before I post again.



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An unfinished bust study(s) from some images found on Gurneys blog a while ago.

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Pornography disguised as a tonal study.

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And some semi-finished illustrations, all of them for competitions here and there.