buffaloe's sketchbook

[buffaloe]

Hey guys! I've been looking through the forums for a while and finally decided that it's time I do some serious drawing and join the fun :D I'm a little rusty and need to get back into practice! So.... I am going to do my best to post something daily here (hehe, hopefully this will keep me motivated!) Ok, so here's the first couple of life drawings I've been working on...Let me know what you think....

http://www.mindspring.com/~mabuffaloe/life_drawings_charcoal.jpg

[jester]

All three are really nice, the strongest points are:

in the 1st one: the chest/belly area;

in the 2nd one: the elbow part and shirt

in the 3rd one: the integration of the negative shapes.

And: welcome aboard, fellow sketchbookian! ;)

Jester

[buffaloe]

thanks jester! I will try to keep up with you guys ;) Here's a creature concept I've been working on today...
http://www.mindspring.com/~mabuffaloe/creature_sketch.jpg
Any suggestions?

[ac_osorio]

Cool!

At first glance the creature seems harmless but judging by the tail and claws well...I don't think so.

Keep it coming!
Keep drawing!

[Cashmere]

Buffaloe, you have made a good start, I think you will improve fast if you keep it up.

[buffaloe]

Thanks for the encouragement :) I will try to keep it up, and you guys just kick me if I stop posting ;) Ok, so for the Daily Sketch Group a few nights ago, I worked on a creature concept, and then decided to just keep drawing. I ended up with the following odd beasts:
http://www.mindspring.com/~mabuffaloe/creature_concepts.jpg

[buffaloe]

Oh, by the way, the reason I want to keep practicing my drawing is that I'm trying to get a job as a texture artist in video games, and now I've gotten to the point where they like my texture work, but want to see more traditional work and concepts. I've been so busy trying to get a texture portfolio together, that I've gotten out of practice. So now, I need you guys to help push me into the right direction for creating good concept sketches that will help me find a job as a game texture artist!

Oh, and I also just enjoy drawing, and want to stay in practice ;)

[metaphysiks]

the first set of drawings are going in the right direction for your portfolio
i love the arm on the second one the values around the elbow are really nice. concentrate on learning to draw the head and face, kchen's stuff in the tutorial section should help
for the creature design i really enjoy where you are going. take a look at real animals and look at how their anatomy and muscles are structured, it will help you bring some life into the drawings.
for the last creature design i would say that you should really give in indication of the hind legs, unless it is a two legged animal.
by adding these legs it will help give balance and ground the character, hope this helps
chris

[buffaloe]

Thanks for the tips, metaphysiks! :)

Ok, here's a painting I've been working on today in Photoshop:

http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/river_scene.jpg

I'm trying to make this into another concept piece for my portfolio... any suggestions?

[ac_osorio]

Not bad buddy! You are getting there!

Sometimes when I'm doing sub-realistic work on photshop I add a little bit of noise and movement, then some unsharp. I think you can use a little to bring a realistic feel on the grass.

As always keep it coming!

[buffaloe]

Thanks for pointing me to kchen's sketches, metaphysiks...wow! I will have to start working on a few more sketches now....

Ok, ac_osorio, I tried some of your techniques... what do you think? I also added a bit more to the painting.

Any suggestions?

http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/river_scene2.jpg

[ac_osorio]

That's the thing my friend.
Now keep experimenting with the filters and you'll see how easy it is to come with new textures.
How about putting some birds flying around?

Keep it up Buffaloe!
You are doing fine!!

Here is a spaceship I made for a friend (is not all that but maybe brings some ideas):
Apollo 31 (http://www.angelscross.com/conceptart/apollo.jpg)
Now some action:
Fly Baby! (http://www.angelscross.com/conceptart/apollo2.jpg)

[metalwinds]

pay more attention to depth in your pic (the color one). the grass in the foreground (on the left hand side) should have more contrast than the mossy stuff ont he right hand side. objects closer to you are more defined and have more values, but the further back you go in space, the blurrier and greyer things become. the sand needs more texture, i think.. .it just looks a little too smooth to me. also, on the pencil drawings, pay more attention to line quality. in places you get really sloppy and scratchy, which detracts from the rest of the picture. hope this helps some

[buffaloe]

ac_osorio, I like the spaceship pics! you work in 3D too?

metalwinds, thanks for the crits... I was thinking of taking that foreground grass back out of the picture, I'm not sure how well it works. What do you think? I will definately add more texture and definition to the sand.. good point! hehe, and I will work on making my drawings a little less messy :)

[ac_osorio]

Althought I'm starting to work with 3D Studio Max now, the spaceship was fully made and texture in Photoshop!

Ain't it cool!

[buffaloe]

awesome! I do alot of stuff in Maya, and I use Max when I have to :D Alot of the people I make games with use Max, and I usually just go ahead and texture the models they send me with it. How long have you been doing 3D?

[metaphysiks]

metalwinds happened to tell you everything i was going to say
good luck
chris

[buffaloe]

Ok, I've been working on heads a bit from an anatomy book, and I've done a little more work on the creature sketch. I also worked a bit more on the river painting, but I just updated the one above. What do you guys think?

http://www.mindspring.com/~aaramel/images/traditional/skull_studies.jpg

[Hunger_Artist]

the lighting on the creature looks good, but it looks like adding in hair textue may take awhile. from your sketches it looks like you have a nice grasp of arm-anatomy..heh

[buffaloe]

Hunger_Artist, yeah, I'm not looking forward to tackling that fur yet :)

[buffaloe]

Still working on faces, here's one I worked on today... now that I've scanned it, it looks a bit off. Any suggestions?

http://www.mindspring.com/~aaramel/images/traditional/head_study.jpg

[incognito]

I think its the eyes, and that bulge over the right eye. Or do you actually look like that? sorry if I insulted. Also, I think its the shadow under one eye, but not on the other, or was the lighting like that?

[buffaloe]

Hmmm, i think you're right about the eyes... hehe, and don't worry, I wouldn't be offended even if it was a sketch of me :) But here's a link ot the reference pic:
http://www.fineart.sk/heads/stefan_rademakers_quater.jpg

That shadow under the right eye is definately too dark... Well, thanks for the input, incognito!

[chudzta]

Hey nice job.. a few things i found.

the left eye is tilted a bit to the right. The pupil is a tad too large. The left eyebrow needs to be a bit bigger(higher) in my opinion to be realistic to the picture.

The ear is excellent.. only thing there was the location of the highlight on the very inner part looks a lil off.

also pushing more darks in like the hair and the neck shadow would help the depth..but nonetheless, its excellent, keep it up..

[ac_osorio]

I think chudzta said it all...
Keep it buddy, Keep em coming!

By the way I just got a couple of months working with 3Dmax but I can't really spend to much time developing with it.
And that sucks a little...

[incognito]

Yeah, I just noticed something, the eys are inclined so they are diagonal. Make them a bit more squished I think. Also the ear should be a bit more smaller height wise. Thats about it, gj though.

[buffaloe]

thanks for the comments, guys :) I've been working on the drawing and have updated the one above.... I put more darks into certain areas as you suggested, chudzta, but my scanner kinda sucks so it's not as visible as in the actual drawing :) what do you think... better?

oh, and ac_osorio, have you been to www.3dbuzz.com? All the free max training you can handle ;) Good luck!

[buffaloe]

Here's a new sketch I worked on for a while today, as I am still practicing drawing faces. It's from a photo of my grandmother... any suggestions so far?

http://www.mindspring.com/~aaramel/images/traditional/granny_sketch.jpg

[Rusty]

my only complaint on that last one is to keep putting more pencil down,its a great start but the tones could be pushed even more to really lift it off the page....Scan that photo as a gray scale image then adjust the contrast a bit,thatll show you all of the values.....some light hatchting lines around the forms would help alot as well.

keep goin at it m8 :)
..............Rusty...........

[buffaloe]

Hehe, I actually thought about that this time and darkened some of the values, but my scanner just doesn't pick them up very well. Great idea about the photo, though :) I'll have to try it! I worked a bit more on the drawing today and then after I scanned it I did a little Levels adjustment (hehe, I cheated! Actually, I'm just trying to help my poor scanner) So what do you think of the new version?

[Rusty]

Its gettin there,its gettin there..I think the main thing that brings it down is your to linear with some parts(like outlining the chin,eyes.wrinkles around the eyes..)rather than forming those parts with shading,you know what i mean?..

try lightly bringing back some white with an eraser,see how that goes..:)

Rusty

[buffaloe]

hmmm, good point... it's hard to find that balance between contour and shading! Hehe, Back to work for a bit! Hopefully I can post some more sketches tonight :)

[chudzta]

excellent work on the woman. the neck is quite exceptional...

the hair could use some highlights (like u have near the split on the left side)..

ummm do something small with the shirt.. and add some light tone to the background. pure white will mess with ur eyes.

overall if u match the depth of the hair to what uve done with the face it would be quite a marvelous portrait. keep it up

-ry

[buffaloe]

Thanks chudzta, good advice! I'll add some tone to the shirt... For now, here's a doodle page I made while sitting outside my apartment just to kinda show my way of thinking...
http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/doodles.jpg

[Cashmere]

Buffaloe you have done a great work on that portrait, very detailed and, above all, very expressive!

[ac_osorio]

I've been in and out for while and I've seen some improvement in your part. I think your hand is more loose now isn't it? I feel the drawing spirit raising above it all.
Take care buddy. Good stuff.
PS> Thanks for the buZZ! It helped a LOT!!!!

[buffaloe]

Hey, thanks cashmere and ac_osorio! I've been slacking off on my sketchbook lately, so I'd better get back to it! I've been too busy to draw... :eek:

Glad you went over to check out 3dbuzz... awesome site!

I will be back to post sketches later..... :D

[buffaloe]

yay, finally getting back into drawing! Here is my little attempt to get moving again... a couple of rough concept sketches..... first, an environment inspired by the temple of Prah Khan:

http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/8-24-03.jpg


and now, a really weird alien


http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/alien_sketch.jpg

[endregan]

hey man GREAT face. :) i can see you took the time and had the patience and its very well shaded. awesome sketchbook! :)

[buffaloe]

Thanks endregan! :)

Here are a few more doodles (and JUST doodles)... still trying to get back into the swing of things (and having no luck) I actually sketch more than I post, but the majority of the sketches, i just don't think are past the doodle stage. I decided to go ahead and post a few just to keep me moving! :D

http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/8-29-03.jpg

Arrgh!! I have no problem drawing from life, but it all falls apart when I try to draw something from my imagination! Anyone else having this problem? Any ideas on how to get better at it?

[Jeff Gran]

Hehe, ya man I have exactly the same problem. I think we all do at first. Copying is just easier than inventing...But copying lots and lots is the only way to learn. So draw as much from life as you can, and then do imagination stuff and try to incorporate what you remember from the life drawings into your imagination stuff. You need to build up a visual library to draw on when you're concepting, and that library comes from copying nature. Just my two cents.

oh and also drawing at least one page every day will keep you "in shape" and you will learn faster.

I really dig the pencil renderings, must have taken a lot of patience. did you use a smudge tool?

[buffaloe]

Great advice Jeff, thanks! Now if I can just force myself to find the time to draw daily......

Oh, and I did use a smudge tool... toliet paper! Hehe, I had a professor in college who had us make smudge tools by rolling toilet paper into a tightly wound cone shape and then taping it so it stayed together. works great...and very cheap too ;) I like the homemade ones better than the smudge tools you buy in the store... those are just too dense and hard for my taste.

[jester]

buffalo, I'm having the same problem - and try to solve it like Jeff. So don't get too annoyed and just keep practising. Thanks for the tip with the toilet paper, that's a great idea.

Jester

[buffaloe]

hehe, I'm working on it, jester! I finally bought one of Bridgman's books and I'm really looking forward to doing some more anatomy work! Hopefully I will be posting more soon.....

Oh, and glad you liked the tip! :D strange, but it works!

[buffaloe]

a couple of doodles.... beginnings to creature concepts...

http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/9-1-03.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/9-2-03.jpg

[buffaloe]

Well, I've been reading through Bridgman's book, and here are some sketches from those sessions....

http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/9-4-03.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~111vending/9-5-03.jpg

[buffaloe]

and another new sketch:

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/skeletons.jpg

[endregan]

hehe nice your studies remind me when i was going through those but i was just beginning then and my linework was sloppy.

your doing great keep it up

[buffaloe]

yeah, i decided to jump onto the bridgman bandwagon and give it a try :) I love the book so far... just gotta keep sketching!

[buffaloe]

ok, new sketch.... still working with Bridgman's book..... What do you think?

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/9-16-03.jpg

[rubygenesis]

the human form is tricky, i went with making it up out of boxes in the begining to help with angles and perspective. boxes are better than spheres to start with because they keep a thickness thats closer to human form...coming along buffaloe, keep it up.

[buffaloe]

Thanks for the tip, rubygenesis! I've been slowly realizing that boxes are better.... you're so right about that!

Ok, here's another Bridgman study:
http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/9-17-03.jpg

[Cashmere]

I think you are improving day after day !

[buffaloe]

thanks, cashmere :) I'm trying! I've been a little better lately about sketching daily (just don't post the ones that totally suck) so I think that's helping alot! Hopefully I will be able to scan in a few more pieces tonight....

[buffaloe]

ok, a few more sketches... here's a study from Bridgman:

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/9-22-03.jpg

and a knee I drew from a photo:

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/knee.jpg

[Cashmere]

I'm copying your studies for my studies :) ... because I have not the Bridgman book. Really, you are doing a good job!.

[buffaloe]

Thanks cashmere! hehe, but if I were you, I'd buy the book.. I'm not that good! :D thank you for the kind words.... hopefully I can post some new sketches soon.... been too busy lately!

[buffaloe]

new studies.... one of these days i need to get back to drawing real people :)

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/10-3-03.jpg

[endregan]

your studies are coming along very well :)

bridgman is great, but im trying to look for life drawing courses as well. nothing beats the real thing, so i hear.

:)

[buffaloe]

absolutely... I would love to get back into a life drawing class! Definitely the best kind of practice for me :)

[buffaloe]

wow.... how sad that it has been 2 months since my last update! :eek: I've just been ridiculously busy and haven't had time to even come look at this site lately. The fun part was coming back today and seeing what everyone has been up to! Lots of great work as usual... and now.... my latest doodles:

http://www.mindspring.com/~aaramel/images/concept/creature2.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~aaramel/images/concept/creature1.jpg

[endregan]

hey we missed ya! been wondering where a few of the regulars went!~

love these last ones. updates us more as to what youve been up to!! :)

[Cashmere]

Nice characters, buffaloe eheh. I like the shadows and proportions.
More stuff ! :D

[buffaloe]

Hi guys! Good to be back and drawing again ;)

endregan: Mainly I've been following a few job leads for texture mapping, (which didn't pan out, but I've got some more contract work for now.. yay!) And working overtime on some of the games and mods I'm texturing for.

Cashmere: thanks! Now I'm off to see what you've been up to ;)

And here's a little stocky warrior guy:
http://www.mindspring.com/~aaramel/images/concept/warrior.jpg

[buffaloe]

so today i wasn't feeling well (i think my boyfriend gave me the flu..ugh) so I worked on a piece for a friend of mine... let me know what you think (so i can touch it up before i give it to her ;) )

http://www.mindspring.com/~aaramel/images/traditional/maggie.jpg

[chudzta]

that last drawing would be pretty sweet if some areas had a fuller range of value and a deeper contrast. And give it just a touch of definition in the background if u like.. but if its just meant as a sketch then no prob. keep chugging - piece - chudds

[buffaloe]

Good point, chudzta, I should probably add a bit more shading to the zebra.... I want the kid to remain kind of soft like she is now. Thanks for the advice :)

[buffaloe]

Here are a few new sketches for an idea I'm playing around with:

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/creature.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/small_creature.jpg

[van]

Excellent stuff! Love the zebra with the little girl on top. Very nice rendering. :) Keep it up!

[buffaloe]

Thanks van! :D

[buffaloe]

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/1-28-04.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/1-29-04.jpg

unfinished, but here it is :)

[van]

Excellent work!

<crit mode>

The horse looks a little on the chubby side

</end crit mode>

[buffaloe]

I'm finally posting sketches again! :D These might look a little odd, because I had to use my digital camera since I have no idea where my scanner is :| So.... here are the pics:

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/DSC00008.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/creature.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/creatures.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/creatures2.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/creepyCat.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/dragon.jpg




http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/flying.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/hornedCreature.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/liftingBody.jpg http://www.mindspring.com/~sketches/newSketches/randomShapes.jpg

[artkitty]

Nice airplane studies!
I would work on bone structure and anatomy for your critters. They seem rather mushy- there should be more hard edges and indicators of underlying structure.

[buffaloe]

Thanks! And good point about the anatomy.... Maybe I should start taking a bit more time to work on that ;)

[Groover McNab]

Hey cool, you do have a sketchbook! Well artkelly's pretty much spot on with the crit as usual. Lets see some more sketches!!!

:nod:

[pandorablood]

im glad your posting...now i have to get of my butt and scan!!!

[buffaloe]

Oh man it's been too long!! Time for a big update! I finally got a little time off work so back to sketching..... here goes....

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/8_10_05.jpg

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/8_22_05.jpg

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/8_26_05.jpg

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/8_27_05.jpg

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/cow_skeleton.jpg

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/horse_anatomy.jpg

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/10_4_05.jpg

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/shell.jpg

http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/woman_back.jpg

[buffaloe]

and another one.....
http://www.aaramel.com/images/traditional/man_back.jpg

[pandorablood]

WOW missy you've been busy drawing away! I love your anatomy study...and those nudes are amazing! I can't wait to draw on our trip!!!!!