Monstertree sketchbook : Digital ash in a digital urn

[monstertree]

Hey all, I'm new here thought it would be fun to start up a sketchbook and maybe get to know some people. So yeah, here's what ive been up to today - some really quick bits that i enjoyed doing.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/phonicsmonkeys/lostspeedpaint.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/phonicsmonkeys/lostspeedpaint2.jpg

[miljenko]

Storyboards? Very lively. :)

[nilaffle]

Hey, awesome lighting on these, very realistic. The girl in the top picture, her elbows are really high so I'd suggest paying close attention to anatomy, but other than that these look great. :) Hope to see more soon!

[Orbital]

Neat. Good lighting on the first one. Forearm on the girl closest to us is a bit long perhaps?

[mrpank]

niceeeeeeeeeee

[monstertree]

Hey miljenko, nilaffle, Orbital and mrpank! Thanks for the replies! You have made me feel really welcome here, seems like a great environment so I'm gonna stick around. The past 2 were painting scenes of 'Lost' from my TV, trying to get the colours and lighting down so I guess I did a good job :).

Ive been in a slump for quite a while now and trying to get out of it, not much luck but I'm still trying to work through it. Heres another no sketch straight to throwing colours down speed paint, not pleased with it at all but I guess every sketchbook has a fair degree of crap in it so I wont leave it out.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/phonicsmonkeys/icy.jpg
And this too
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/phonicsmonkeys/waterdragon.jpg

[monstertree]

Had a bit of a sketcharoo today, don't really know what I was trying to achieve with this but it was damn fun. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/phonicsmonkeys/koi.jpg

[Razorb]

best pic so far dude ! alot cleaner and just nicer in general :D ehehe keep it up

[monstertree]

Cheers Razorb, I'm glad you like it.

Having a bit of trouble at the moment, well in general actually. I'm OK when it comes to roughing out colour, but as soon as I try and polish something up it turns to crap.
Take my latest pic, I liked the thumbnail so I enlarged and started to try and refine it. It was all fine while blocking in colour but as soon as I start to polish it, it goes all wrong (look at the nose to see what I mean) Any tips on making a piece look polished but maintain that special something I lose when I become too fussy?
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/phonicsmonkeys/cowboyproblem.jpg

[xbert]

i really like the colors in your images the fish looks cool - the mix of cartoony style and realistic shading looks amazing ;)

[Orbital]

That ice walker is kinda fun.

I noticed the cowboy's nose seems very refined and the rest of his face/outfit is much more blocked out. Was that intentional? Anyway, cools pics! Post more!

[TheGnoll]

hey man, thx for stoppin by in my SB.Excellent start here, diggin' the digitals...about the last one, well, just keep working over it n ad detail...treat digital paint as you woud treat traditional one ;)

keep sharing, i'll be back for more ;)

ciao

[monstertree]

Xbert- Thanks!
Orbital - Haha I hate that ice walker. The cowboy started off as a rough thumb but I liked it so I started to try and refine it (the nose) but it was coming out awful because I blended the life out of it!
TheGnoll - Thanks for checking mine out too. I have the same problem with real paint, blending it so much that it turns to mud. I have to really concentrate on not doing it.

Here's a quick one for today
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/phonicsmonkeys/tapirmouse.jpg

[monstertree]

I'm trying out some new brushes and techniques, it was great fun and a nice little result for a 10 min quickie. This little fella materialised out of a squiggle with my eyes shut, I didn't know what it was gonna be til I finished :)

[Spats]

Beautiful pictures monstertree. You just got yourself a fan. Keep posting!

[monstertree]

Thanks Spats, glad you like them.
Here's my last speed for today, been drawing all day and tired myself out.

[monstertree]

The guy with the dreads is a cropped WIP, maybe i'll put the finished thing up once I'm done ;)

[monstertree]

Here we go, I think I'm gonna call it a day with this one.

[Chromosome]

Cool start to a sketchbook! The ice environment and the wierd squirl/tapir thing on the grass are killer.

[monstertree]

Hey thanks Chromosome, your stuff is awesome so that's a big compliment for me.
Messing about with some gouache today, here's the result. Used a photo for reference.

[monstertree]

Don't know if anyone is even looking in here at all but i'll keep putting stuff up anyway. Crappy day = crappy art, binned 99% of the stuff I did today but saved these 2 guys for some reason.

[designboot]

I like expressions of your paintings

[BryanYoung]

You've got some nice stuff going here. Don't get discouraged. That gouache piece is looking pretty nice, especially considering how much of a pain in the ass gouache is. IMO anyway. Keep it up!

[monstertree]

Designbot - Thanks!
Bryan - Hey thanks man, I won't get discouraged - this is still the most friendly forum I have found.
Just a couple for now, a quick spidey while waiting for something or other, cat sketch for my CHOW entry and my CHOW final.

[chaosrocks]

yes we are looking
and its sketcher that got me here

I love that your drawings are colorful and lively and full of character
chaos

[monstertree]

Hey Chaos, glad you like some of the stuff in this thread ;)
Was messing with new brushes and techniques today, quite liked what I found so maybe my workflow will radically change quite soon. Here's a few quick things I did with my experimenting, I apologise for the unimaginative subject matter :blah:

[monstertree]

I like to make a sexytime, HIGHFIVE!

[monstertree]

Worked for a couple of days on my CHOW entry, as well as a painting for a friend's birthday. I'll only put my chow for now, for fear (paranoia) of her somehow googling and finding her present early.
Also been doing a lot of anatomy studies in an attempt to drag myself out of mediocrity, but I haven't scanned any...so I guess I could have waited for a few days before posting but what the hell - i'm at a loose end at the moment ;)

[deadred]

you've got sweet colors going, but your humanoids need more work when it comes to proportions (especially the skinny woman look way off on musculature)

the fish, tadpoles and borat portrait are pieces that stands out to me the most, really good stuff, keep posting!

[bunny]

Hello monstertree!
Nice SB you have going on here, I'm digging the colour saturation in your recent works.

This might be a stylistic thing, but i think you should play around more with hard and soft edges. A lot of your CGs have a "soft" look to them, even if (in my opinion) it doesn't quite suit the atmosphere. Hard or soft edges could make or break a painting.

the borat portrait and the hairless cat are my favourites :) keep it up!

[monstertree]

Long time no post, been having some computer issues which means that I couldnt get as much as I would have liked done - nonetheless I've been practicing every day and hopefully it's making me better.
Only a couple of pics again, because I'm very much in a state of trying to find myself artistically and so i scrap a lot of doodles and practices happy in having learnt something from them - a bad habit I'm sure.

Deadred- Hey thanks, I've been hitting the anatomy books and trying to sort it out - I know it's a weakness at the moment

Bunny - Thanks a lot for stopping by, your post made me really think about how I work. There has always been something I hated about my painting style, and I'm pretty sure it's the soft/ultra blended to death thing I seem to do. The fact that someone else pointed out it doesn't look satisfactory really made me get off my arse and go find another way of working - so thanks loads ;)

Did these 2 a few minutes ago (before I go to bed) and decided I may as well sketchbook 'em. Probably a lot more to come from me some time soon ;)

[monstertree]

Another before bed quicky, put a bit more love into this one than the previous two, about two hours as opposed to half an hour. Hope people enjoy this one, i kinda like it.

[gauss]

hey man, it's only right that i return the gesture of solidarity :)

i dig the Lost sketches... you know, that would make some pretty good practice for likeness/value studies if you did some portraits of characters from the show. and more to the point, it's an easy pass to a certain greater amount of attention :)

keep sketching and keep posting!

[monstertree]

Hey Gauss, thanks for stopping by my sketchbook I appreciate it ;)

I painted myself a spiderman yesterday, having enjoyed the movie - plus he's always fun to draw. I've applied a lot of the anatomy stuff I've been learning lately to it so hopefully that shows.
Also saw a picture of a woman with a cute little potbelly and did a little speedie of it.
Lastly something different in the form of the invisible man.

[monstertree]

Doodling in sketcher and liked what dribbled out of my brain.

[jMarkus]

hey nice work.. yea u have no thumbnail... me either im sad! anyways gotta go to work will crit later!

[monstertree]

Cheers for stopping by Jmarkus, sucks not having thumbs ey?
Sculpted out one of those little amphibians I sketched in a previous post, Zbrush3 came out today and I've been playing with it all day (and love it by the way)instead of scanning drawings or creating new ones. Update tomorrow with my 2D goings on.
Amphibians come in two flavours, clay or licorice :)

[monstertree]

Sculpting with Zbrush has taken over my life! I'm back to drawing and painting now finally, so I painted a suicidegirl for a couple of hours to get me warmed up today. Hopefully today is gonna be super productive ;)

[monstertree]

No imagination, this is probably the best sketch of today.

[monstertree]

I don;t really have anything to say. Blue sketches done on the train, the other page is for the pirate CHow.

[Zoroko]

Lovely sketches, lovely color works, just awesome.

I love how bold everything looks!~

[TheGnoll]

still nice stuff in here man, i like what i see...

keep sharing man, fill up pages! ;)

i'll be back for more ;)

ciao!

[monstertree]

Thanks Gnoll and Zoroko! I was a bit worried noone was looking at my stuff before you guys dropped in.
Here's some more of my chow entry prelim sketches as well as the final, and a silly thing I did while my brain was turned off and watching tv.

[TheGnoll]

original concept on the pirate...but most of all i love those loose brushy lines on the last page...

keep sharing!

ciao

[Peter Berkovski]

Lovely Sb,i like your stuffs a lot
Keep going :D

[Robz]

Awesome, great paintings. Im not realy a painter and cant critique but i loved the first 2 paintings. Keep up them comming! :D

[monstertree]

Gnoll - Cheers for stopping by again man, your posts are much appreciated. I love using the brush to ink, a few more coming up in this post.

Atlantik, Robz - Thanks guys! Hope you come back for more soon.

Turns out drawing is one of the more dangerous hobbies. I got massive eye strain (think eyes pouring tears when focusing on far away objects and vision like opening your eyes in the pool) and also woke up one day with my middle finger (the one i put all the pencil pressure on) in agony and virtually unable to move!
So i've had to lay off drawing/tablet/using a fork like a human being these past couple of weeks, which was totally frustrating.
Eased back into things though, let me know what you think.

[Clodioz]

is the man at the top Hiro Nakamura?

[kovah]

Great stuff here, I especially love that last sketch of the dog. keep it up :)

[monstertree]

Here's a warmup silly sketch before attempting anything proper. Used some photo ref.

Clodioz - Yeah that is Hiro Nakamura! Surprised you got that, the likeness is awful!
Kovah - Hey thanks, glad you likes.

[monstertree]

Here's today's doodle. Didn't know what it was gonna be til the end.

[TheGnoll]

man that eye strain+middle finger pain must have been awful argh

last updates look very good, nice job with the brushpen as usual.That dog sketch is very good too, excellent work with that one.Digipaints are getting better and better.Keep sharing ;)

ciao

[silvestri99]

Love your painting style and the variety of stuff you cover in here. I have a friend you loves Z-brush as well and keeps trying to get me started on it. Problem is there is no time! Anyways, I think my favorite aspect of what you do is your color palette and your choices. Nice work!

[ped454]

your digital stuff has a nice depth and you have good colour choices. wanna see more

[monstertree]

Here's today's warmup sketch. From photo ref.

silvestri99 - Thanks! You'll have less time if you start z-brushing, its bloody addictive I tell you.
ped454 - Thanks!

[monstertree]

Thought i'd give this weeks chow a go, here's what I got done today.Still a wip by the way.

[Blaz]

Love your style alot!
My fav must be that captain/pirate chow entry.
Your sb is very inspiring!

Kepp up good work!

-Blaz

[Eurayo]

Thanks for commenting in my sketchbook! Your work has motivated me to try a one of the CHOW challenges. They look fun.

[monstertree]

Today's warmup. Not too pleased with it, but I definately need to work on my environment drawings so I pushed through.Photo ref of Machu Pichu used, though it probably doesn't show :rolleyes:.
Blaz - Thanks! I don't if inspiring is the right word though!
Eurayo - No worries, glad you stopped by here too. Chow is definately fun, go for it :)

[Peter Berkovski]

cool stuff like always :) black woman painting is realy good
keep posting
Cheers

[monstertree]

Speed from today. I recorded my process for my own benefit, but figured someone here may find it interesting to see? I don't know.
Anyway, 'Coelacanth is Android'.

Atlantik - Cheers buddy, I'm glad you carry on checking out my work.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1239/788297456_d119540a8b_b.jpg
1. Sketch!

2. Set an overall mood colour that I want to show through at points, then start to hint at the lighting direction.

3. Apply a glaze of my mood colour, because I want the character to appear to be coming out of darkness. This is done in Painter with a glazing brush, the more you pile on, the darker it gets.

4. I start working on the light and shade colour. Hinting at the mood of the final picture and also using warms and cools to start to flesh out the character. Only hinting at the colours at the moment and cleaning my sketch up by picking out details.

5.I push the warms and cools further.

6. This point is a little tricky. I start to push the colours more towards the colour the objects I am descibing should be, while maintings the cool and warm bases I have applied as much as possible. I start to clean up even more here, and rendering bits here and there.

7. I have gone over my whole character and rendered him out to my liking. I used a simple hard brush, squashed into an oval and set at an angle. I manually adjust the flow of the brush, lower flow gives subtler results and vice versa.

8. Some colour correction, tweaking and cleaning.

And here is the final image!

[Fvallejo]

This is sick man, id love to see him animated ( i checked your reel man its looking good...if I may offer a crit work on overlap and weight, some of this was lacking although the acting was great). And those kicks are fly as hell too!!

[Sketch]

Luv your zbrush creature! Do some more!

[monstertree]

Some stuff messing about at an animal park while on holiday this weekend, trying to add colour to my pen drawings and a super quick (20 mins) caricature.

Fvallejo - You know, animating him may not be a bad idea! Thanks for the crit on my reel too, you hit the nail on the head.

Sketch - Cheers mate, I may well put some more Z stuff on here soon.

[monstertree]

Don't know what either of these two are, just experimenting with stuff.

[Peter Berkovski]

nice update man, seems you like to ink with some kinda brush pen or brush :) i like it
Cheers

[throtailer]

I like ur style man. show us more work with hand not tablet

[Sketch]

I really like the simple lines you used in that small deer sketch. Looks like we're both on some deer shit lately. cheers

[monstertree]

Blergh, I don't like this update at all. Had minor block lately, so hopefully more stuff coming from me soon.

Atlantik -Yeah it's a Pentel pocket brush, the best pen I have ever used.
Throtailer - Thanks! I'll try.
Sketch - Had to be pretty simple, it wouldn't sit still for 2 seconds even when eating! Pleased with the sketch though.

[Robz]

Hey man, thanks for your feedback. You've got some amazing stuff keep it up.

[Peter Berkovski]

Atlantik -Yeah it's a Pentel pocket brush, the best pen I have ever used.


Cool,keep make us happy with your pentel pocket brush :)
Cheers
That last one is funy, i like the little ghost(thing)

[monstertree]

Was going for a bit of a retro feel with this one, enjoy :)

Robz - Cheers matey!
Atlantik - hehe, not in this update but there will be more coming soon.

[monstertree]

Hoping to do something nice for the Gangus memorial Chow, here's a couple of sketches to try and get a feel for what I wanna do.

[monstertree]

Here's my progress after a days work, still lots to do - probably redo the face and sea completely, they aren't up to scratch.

[ACRO]

cool man do you have a wacom
curious because your lines are so smooth

[monstertree]

Here's another update on the Gangus memorial piece, still lots to do but I'm enjoying it.

Acro - Thanks, yeah I do use a tablet.

[monstertree]

Taking a break with mindless drawings, a self portrait and some silly junk.

[Peter Berkovski]

hehe, that last one is very cool creature :) i like how soft is color you use
Cheers

[monstertree]

Quick caricature/value exercise from photo ref.

Atlantik - Thanks man, it's much appreciated - stopping by your sketchbook now!

[jedininjaman]

Nice sketchbook you have some cool stuff
I would recommend some anatomy and to break away from the comic style it seems you are pursuing, but that is just my opinion,
Keep it up though and it would be cool if you could stop by my SB :)

[monstertree]

colour

[Chromosome]

Great job on this last one. I especially like the way you rendered the structures of the feet and hands, and the skirt material is impressive too. Reminds me of Leynedecker.

[monstertree]

Chromosome - Thanks for the kind words, it means a lot!

[ped454]

I like your caricatures a lot and your digital technique is among the better ones.

[jedininjaman]

You have some pretty sweet creatures, and nice stuff from imagination for example, the red eel thing is pretty sweet so ya, keep posting you have a nice energy about your art, and I will see you around, oh and I've updated a few rimes, it would be cool if you could check it out
Jedininja:)

[monstertree]

Trying to build up my speed with painting, but I'm not too pleased with the results. The first (from ref) is too muddy and the second looks like something out of a Disney movie.
Also, 4 stars?! Seems weird to me, I'll have to work hard to earn them!

ped454, jedininjaman - Thanks!

[Fvallejo]

Hey man, looks like your working hard, nice updates!! I really like the red dragon sketch with the blue bg. Keep it up!

[monstertree]

Just messing about, I've never drawn the hulk before and I didn't use any reference so forgive me if he looks a little odd. Bout an hour's worth of doodlin'

Fvallejo - Cheers mate, I will do!

[monstertree]

Some more random quick junk that was produced in my persuit of getting my stuff painterly but controlled and readable.

[monstertree]

Well, I thought I'd have some fun and redesign the Thundercats. First up is my childhood favourite, Tygra. I always saw him as the military intelligence of the group, as well as a keen fighter and this has worked its way into my design. Planning on putting my own spin on the whole group, so look out for more of them soon ;)

[monstertree]

.....

[monstertree]

*smells self*
This stuff is pretty self explanatory I think, so I won't go on too much. Used the Burne Hogarth book for reference. If anyone wants the Z-tool of this arm you're welcome to it, all you gotta do is ask ;)
Torso practice next.

[Sketch]

Love the zbrush stuff and it's good to see you studying in 2d as well. One of these days I'll have to pick up 3d again.

[Chromosome]

Cool zbrush studies and nice little anatomy studies. I especially like the little robot doodle. The colors and value patterns make it really easy to read.

[jedininjaman]

ya nice 3D work it looks cool
and your enviroment is charming
keep it up mate and i have updated the old SB if you want to stop by I would appreciate it :)
-jedininja

[monstertree]

Speedie of about 2-3 hours. Had a blast with this one.

Sketch - Cheers for stopping by mate. Yeah man, working in 3D helps with the drawing because I find I can rotate imaginary objects easier in my head having done some 3D.

Chromosome - Thanks! I'm glad you stopped to have a look :)

Jedininjaman - Thanks!

[Miles_]

Aww. I love that last pic. That thing is so cool and the light coming into the cave is done nicely too. Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook.

[sloppybunny]

Good stuff man, I'm liking your scenery and animals best. :)

[monstertree]

Spazazzo - thanks!
Sloppybunny - Glad you like them :)

Page from my sketchbook, messing about with acrylics,brush pens, coloured pencils and stuff. And a few quick gestures of dancers on a whim ;)

[monstertree]

Markers in my new (and first) Moleskine.

[monstertree]

Here's the first 2 pages of the new sketchbook.

[mysticink]

the turttle head is awsome...good work.

[chrishly]

you have got some really nice work in here, I especially like this last moleskin page!

[Camara]

Lovely style!!!!!!!I really like your work!

By the way,I´m thinking about buy a moleskine SB,but I saw one yesterday (I think it was a little moleskine for storyboards or something like that) and the paper was just weird!I don´t know how to describe it,but seemed too hard and kinda shiny...what do you think?It worth the money?Amm...another question,which pens are you using to color these sketches in the moleskine???
Thank you!and keep posting good works!

[Saturns Gate]

Gotta say you got some very sweet styles going on in here! :) That Zbrush anatomy is awesome, lovely brush details of the muscles. Keep up the good work bud.

[monstertree]

Uurgh, I've been ill :dead:, having a fever makes it almost impossible to draw - managed to fill the next 2 pages of my moleskine yesterday and today now that I'm on the mend :)

mysticink - Thanks
chrishly - Thank you very much!
Camara - Thank you, I've answered your questions in your SB where you're likely to look ;)
Saturns Gate - Thanks, it's much appreciated!

[Camara]

Man,I hope you are healthy again!These two pages are beautyful!!Keep ´em comming!

[m0uS3r]

... hi ... i like ya stuff dude ... in specialy the violet fluffy think hehe ... keep it up its fine so far

cheers

[jedininjaman]

Nice work in the mole skin bro, it looks good and the colors are great,but you should bust out some pencils though, I love the energy you use though really sweet stuff ;)

keep it up bro your SB is a pleasure
-jedininja

[Sketch]

That girl painting rocks! Tons of character and movemeant within the painting. Cool that you're trying stuff with old favs like the Thundercats. I need to remake an old character or something, it'd be fun. On your last version of him it looks he his big toe's are on the outside of his foot... maybe that's the way Thundercats are! haha

[entdroid]

Nice stuff all around here! I really like this guy (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=189271&stc=1&d=1187714614) and the last moleskine page is super cool! Love the color scheme :)

[monstertree]

Wow, so I've been trapped in employment (or lack thereof) hell, the stress meant that the mere thought of putting pencil to paper was just....blurgh. Pulled myself together today and I feel loads better for getting some stuff down on paper, like finally managed to clear a blockage :)

Here's the next moleskine page, some beetles from life (the bottom one is from a photo ref however)
A very rough quickie of a character I have plans to illustrate a short story of that I call the beetle breeder (obsessed with beetles lately).
And a couple of characters that need to have their designs tweaked, also another short story idea in the works.

Camara - Glad you liked those pages, expect more similar pieces soon.

m0uS3r - Cheers!

jedininjaman - I know this probably isn't a popular view around here but....I'm not a great fan of pencil rendering :O I used to be into pencil stuff but I like to keep my linework light these days.

Sketch - Cheers mate, tried to keep it simple and focus on the movement. Yeah the thundercats thing was fun, it was quite good to get over some minor block by giving myself an assignment to work to. I hadn't even noticed the little toe, good catch! Let's just say that's how thundercats are:S

Entroid - Thank you very much, I'm glad you like them :)

[monstertree]

Some doodling while watching tv, a ganeric ninja for some reason and a speedpaint to get out an idea while it was fresh in my mind - feel like I've seen it elsewhere before thought!

Cheers guys!

[monstertree]

Caricature

[monstertree]

and another

[monstertree]

Just got back from a week in Sweden, unfortunately no time to draw while away and the moleskine stayed in my bag for the whole trip. Back and throwing some junk in here to get back in the swing of things. Took an hour or so, pretty rubbish update but it's an update nontheless ;)

[Sketch]

Hey man, great stuff lately. I can see that you are really improving! Like the Heroes guy... can't remember his name cause I've only watched the first 3 or 4 episodes when they came out last year.

[Flipnastywebby]

You work has imporved ten fold since the gangus homage CHOW.
Im glad to see that.

keep at it, im looking foward to seeing more improvement, at this rate youll be gettin paid to paint for the rest of your life

think about it, the worst day of your life will be having to get up and paint.....doesnt seem so bad does it :pirate:


Slainte!

[jedininjaman]

great work bro i mean that asian guy you did is wonderful im saving it to my pc if you dont mind keep up the great work you are an enormous inspiration

[monstertree]

Sketch - Cheers buddy, glad he was recognisable ;)

Flipnastywebby - Thanks, it's really encouraging for people to notice an improvement. Funny you should say that about the job, I may well have one lined up quite soon!

Jedininjaman - Glad you like it, I dunno about being an inspiration though! Still lots to learn.

So busy finding work and sorting stuff out that I've not had time for much else, but here's something I did while on the phone for a long time today to keep the SB ticking over.

[monstertree]

My super cheeeeeessssyy looking ChOW entry, bleh

[Camara]

That Chow is so cool,man!!I really like the colors!!Maybe the hand taht is holding the apple needs a little more work,anyway is a great character!Why you don´t like it???

[JARhead]

whoa man youve improved so much with in these pages! You should be vary proud! Love the Sleeper image you did! Keep it up brotha!

POST POST POST!

[monstertree]

Camara - Cheers! I wasn't keen on it because I feel it lacks design and halfway through I felt it was sorta cheesy! The hand holding the apple could definately use some work, it received so little attention compared to everything else.

JARhead - Thanks so much, people noticing my improvement spurs me on even more like a vicious cycle....but good hehe.

Still working on my own graphic novel project, and I'm still obsessed with the design of tropical beetles; hence the first image was born
Also taking part in this weeks ChOW, threw some quick lines over a thumbnail to make the foundations of my piece.

[monstertree]

Here it is finished, bleh:\

[Camara]

Great color in the last one.In my opinion,the best is the light on his back!

[strybjorn]

yeah man, your development is awesome!

i really like your latest chow - my fav bit is the girls feet coz it really makes her feel as if shes got half her body weight on her toes and half on him - its just right...

the colours are, also, supreme! the light through her dress man!!

[monstertree]

Camara - Cheers mate, glad you like it. I was aiming for a really desaturated picture with hints of saturation scattered through it...but it eventually evolved into the vibrant image I usually make - not that easy to change it up some times!

strybjorn - Thanks! The feet are one of my favourite areas too.

I choose a different way to warm up today :) About an hours work.

[monstertree]

Something I started today but got bored with, don't know if I'll finish it. Some digital scraps and my rendition of a guilty pleasure of mine - naruto :)

[monstertree]

*Sigh* Not pleased with any of today's efforts.

[Dan Valkar]

nice work man...ur colour is very cool ..great stuff in here!

[monstertree]

Dan Valkar - Thanks!

A little colour picking practice before bed. Night all, my eyelids are falling down.

[monstertree]

Jens - You're spot on, thanks for the crit! I decided to act on it and actually try a master study (my first)

So yeah, here's today's first attempt at a master study. I think I put too much of my bright colour choices in this (i tried to copy the original, honest!) and certain stuff is off. Instead of working some more on this one I'll make another one tomorrow, this was really fun. ;)

[monstertree]

another, 20 mins before bed. Nunight!

[Chromosome]

I haven't stopped by in a while, but there's some amazing improvement here. You're getting a really good sense of color, and the last two.... if the first one was a Caravaggio, then you nailed it(even if it's not, you captured the mood, which is awesome by itself). Great job.

[monstertree]

Chromosome - Yeah it's a Caravaggio, so pleased I managed to get at least some of the right feel :) Really encouraging, thanks mate :)

As for as I'm going to go with this, I may well attempt another because this one was really fun

[monstertree]

Bit off more than I could chew today......hmm yeah, what an understatement. Anyway here's today's, I felt like crying halfway through this ordeal! Oh well, more work on it tomorrow then I suppose, fun fun.

[ikuru]

Larry David rocks man!

[monstertree]

Probably the best I can do with this, it was fun ...in a masochistic way haha

[Camara]

Great work!!!!Those master studies are fantastic!!!Encouraged me to do some of them!!What is a good place to find master pieces to do some studies?

[Sketch]

Big improvement lately! That last one is full of goodness!

[monstertree]

Camara - Cheers, i found some at the National Gallery website (they have watermarks though) google and some on flickr, quite hard to get good sized ones actually.
Sketch - Thanks!

[zeitgeist]

bravo on that coloring job! your work is so lush. if michelangelo had a wacom board... I think his stuff would look a lot like yours.

[monstertree]

zeitgeist - thanks for stopping by.

Here's a warmup sketch I probably spent too much time on. My computer then proceeded to crash...

[Reject-D]

my favorite picture is the one you did for chow #94!!! keep it up!

[ikuru]

nice updates man, keep it up!

[Euthyphro]

Rockin book you have here. Those last few master studies and the CHOW entries... very cool. I would try to give a poignant critique but I'm still a bit taken back by the studies.

Keep on rockin,

Vale-

[taeyoungchoi]

man, so many good stuff here,I will check it out often.

[monstertree]

In a hurry at the moment so I'll reply next time, for the time being have the only sketch from my Sweden holiday last month. A little girl stared at us the whole journey, she was really cute like a Moomins character.

[Flutic]

Great sketch book I like the way you use color so saturated.

Keep it Up!


Greets Tom

[monstertree]

Reject-D - Cheers mate, I'm glad you like it.

Ikuru - Thanks for stopping by again man ;)

Euthyphro - Thanks, yeah I think I learned something from them - at least I hope I did!

Taeyoungchoi - Please do come back!

Flutic - Thanks, for some reason I'm always attracted to the more saturated path for my work.

Quick one from today. Note to self, NEVER brew green tea so so long and drink such copious amounts of it at once. I got all Jeckylled up, feeling sick and juddering about like some sort of wreck! Drawing this took my mind off feeling sick, but my hands are still buzzing!

[JELF]

Dude Ur awesome with all that lively colour!!
i've only just started to show me work and it's scary cuz everyone here is so good!!! Keep it up its insipiring!!!


if u have some time please check out me sketchbook!
thanks anyway

[Rune Rask]

talk about improving! page 1 through 6 are an amazing story... really nice works.. and nice progress and overall handling of ideas.

enviuos.. hehe

Rune

[monstertree]

JELF - Thanks :) Don't be scared of posting your work here, what's the worst that can happen? Put a link to your SB in your signature and I'll be happy to visit.

Rune Rask - Cheers, I really appreciate it!

Well I've been working on stuff that I can't show - but here's some stuff before bed. Not really trying for anything, mainly throwing excess energy into something visual to unwind.

[monstertree]

My first entry for the stylised animal challenge - Ichthyosaur!

[monstertree]

Been busy making stuff for Christmas, but here's a dump of speed stuff.

[monstertree]

Fun times...

[monstertree]

Another doodle, gonna go back to 2d after this I think -too much 3d lately ;)

[monstertree]

Wow, 7th post in a row without anyone saying anything...how embarassing. Oh well, I'll plod on and hope people are looking. Here's a card for someone who's really into making felt mascots :D Hope you enjoy!

[ikuru]

I know that feeling, that last one with the frogs is kick ass!
So what does it say?
Do you speak cantonese or whatever that is?

;)

keep it up, I for one am watching in silence.

[themissinglink]

great sketchbook, dont worry about the replies, I go long stretches without comments too. keep up the good work

[Sunwise]

Lots of fun stuff going on here. I'm guilty of having been lurking, I sorta forgot to actually comment outside of my mind, after looking at things as you posted them.
Digging most of your speed stuff, and the Abe renders are nice. Did you do those and the other 3d creature with Zbrush, or something else, just out of curiosity?
The frogs are fun, too. I can remember enough kana to read the text, I think. Omedetou gozaimasu, yeah? No way I can read the kanji at the top, haha, bu t nice happy newyear frogs.

[monstertree]

Ikuru - Cheers for breaking my drought! hehe Glad you like the frogs, luckily it went down a treat! It says 'Tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu' meaning happy birthday, I'm only a beginner in Japanese ;)

themissinglink - Thanks! I'm glad you like my stuff.

Sunwise - Yeah it's a zbrush sculpt rendered in external software. You're close with the kana, the kanji is the vital part of the sentence though to change it from congratulations to happy birthday (I can't read kanji either, I had to use a dictionary for that part heh)

Had a weird dream last night and really wanted to paint it out so that I could forget the imagery, so here he is. In the dream he was more freaky because he was whispering something :$ Was also gonna post a photo of a plushie I made of that hedgehog a few posts back but my batteries died so that'll have to wait for now.
Have a good Christmas everyone!

[Glory666]

awww man, i wish i had cool freaky dreams!:) love your sketchbook and latest drawing!

[ikuru]

Id be damned! thats the exact same fox I been seeing in My dreams!

No just kidding man, but it looks nice. good job on that.

It might look cool with more work on the shadow/selfshadow.. I know its tough since the snow is also reflecting light and that.

but it looks good and might be worth the extra work.

some snow fox, sun light ref.. (http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/fox/red_fox_26-on_snow-Closeup.jpg)

cheers
/D

[monstertree]

Glory666 - Thanks!

Ikuru - Hah, that'd be so freaky if it was! Thats a good crit, I got a little lost with the lighting as I changed things as I went along - so my initial value painting wasn't accurate anymore. Pretty sure I'll go back and put some more love into it soon, but I'm too close to it at the moment so I'm gonna give it a little while.

Speed paint from this morning, must have been thinking about final fantasy subconciously. And the plush toy (my first, and probably last) of that hedgehog a few back...man I hate sewing!

[Miles_]

Wow loving that fox.
Man I can't beleive you live in Fleet. Keep this stuff up Im loving this style of painting, its good to see you experiment.

[monstertree]

Spazazo - Yeah, weird eh? I'm kinda fond of that fox too ;)

Fallen out of drawing and going online lately (the latter probably being a good thing) because of Christmas and New year.Getting back in the swing of things slowly. Here's a speed painting of a daruma I got for Christmas, doing a little something for Russell Brand and a very quick (and hung over) sketch of my friends on New Years day morning.
Nothing, special I know, I need my arse kicked to get a move on :bashful:

[iceman478]

cool stuff ......i love the borat

[V.I.N]

amazing stuff dude, little bit funny and mystical, especially the fox.
your plush toy: for first try not bad (my opininon) looks nice. check out chealseaslaters sb...
keep on posting boy...

[Peter Berkovski]

Hey buddy I dig your last stuffs man, great update so far, that makes me laugh - http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=257501&stc=1&d=1197400143 it is so funny and brings me almost forgotten memories - abe's addysee :) keep em coming mate !
*I wrote you pm,please answer me ;)

[monstertree]

iceman478 - Thanks
V.I.N - Yeah I think I've seen them before, they are way better than mine for sure ;)
atlantik - Heh, yeah I loved that game as a kid.

Was thinking of entering the CHow this week.Started painting today - problem is this looks awful zoomed out. I guess if something doesn't work zoomed out then it isn't sucessful as an illustration, so I'll be going back to the drawing board. Here's what came out though.

[monstertree]

Warmup for an illustration I have coming up, trying out different workflows. Acrylic on mountboard, brush pen and digital - about 1 hour.

[lalovergel]

really nice work, I surely can learn some from it.

[monstertree]

lalovergel - Thanks, I appreciate it.

Working on something in oils at the moment, so not much to show apart from this speedy dvd screencap ;)

[Camara]

Fantastic work,man,I love your colors!The one of the fox is amazing!!!So creepy....!

[monstertree]

Camara - Cheers mate :)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/phonicsmonkeys/monstertree_cuttlefish.jpg
I was messing about in my moleskine today, here's what popped out. Must learn to use my camera properly to show some of the larger traditional stuff I've been working on!
*edit* Does the attachment manager not show images anymore? Makes me less inclined to use it!

[Sketch]

Teen Wolf! Fuck yah! Great stuff lately! Lovin the fox creature, cool idea.

[monstertree]

Sketch - Hahahah yeah! I'm a proper child of the 80's 8)

Been gone a while, but now i'm back for good! Starting off slow with a speedpaint before bed - went to an aquarium recently and was thinking of it while doodling ;)

[dadushin]

hey man this is a great book
your work gets better every post loved that masked one from your dream
those squid are sweet to
keep it up man!

[monstertree]

dadushin - Thanks!

Well it's nearly Valentines day, which means that I'm working on my present. Today was spent digitally planning what I was gonna do, sketching onto board and doing some underpainting! I'll post the finished thing some time soon, but for now have a couple of steps ;)

[monstertree]

I'm calling it done, gonna have to be as I've varnished it up! Hope she likes it ;)

[monstertree]

I'm in 2D Artist magazine this month, and possibly a tutorial in next months :)

[monstertree]

Painted up a quick banner for my blog http://www.monstertree.blogspot.com , I'm pretty pleased :)

[monstertree]

Really excited about a personal project I'm working on lately, here's some stuff from it :) One's a digital and one's from the 'ol moleskine.

[Jorge Gecov]

Really great works, love your renderings!

[TheGnoll]

whoa man! some great improvement going on here, very nice stuff going on right now...interesting ideas and very cute style, and kudos for the 2dartist feature ;)

keep sharing!

ciao

[Camara]

Fuck you,man!!!!Seriously!That Chamaleon is AWESOME!!!!!I have 2 Calyptratus living with me,I´m a real fan of this animals and the one you painted is absolutly amazing!
I want to see more from you project,that character looks great!
Great work!!5 stars from me!!! (if I didn´t give you them before.....)

[monstertree]

TheGnoll - Cheers! ALways great to hear someone say the noticed an improvement

Camara - Whoa, awesome! I'd love to keep some but I don't have the room/time/funds at the moment, some day thought :) I'll make sure to finish it up soon, thinking of painting those scales puts me off at the moment. Thanks for the stars also ;)

Visited a local pet shop over the weekend and have been really interested in pufferfish ever since, I could draw these little guys all day - a moleskine from my break at work today and a digital speedie before bed.

[armetage]

hehe love those fishes ;>

[monstertree]

Armetage - Heh, cheers :)

Finding it really hard to get any time to draw, my dayjob is really taking it's toll on my time :( Found some time today and did a little quick doodle, so I thought i'd resurrect the sketchbook

[Peter Berkovski]

wow so many new work here,I'm more than impressed by your work buddy,congrats for 2d Artist joining man ;) keep the great work up ;)
I'll waiting for your tutorial!
Cheers!

[monstertree]

Atlantik - Cheers, I'm glad you're still stopping by after so long! The tutorial is in the brand new issue of 2DArtist magazine which came out the other day ;)

Quick experimental 'mini' environment before work, started throwing shapes down and blending is areas which then turned into this. Pretty fun technique, I want to play with it some more for sure.

[monstertree]

Messing about :)

[monotony]

great sketchbook you have here. your digital paintings are awesome.
love the fox and that litle monstertree. your way of coloring and rendering is something I'm aiming for. last fish is looking good, gonna check 2dartist now i think . 5stars. looking forward for more

[Hive_minD]

You've got some dope stuff.
I really enjoy your choice of colours, and great painting style.
Take care!

Chris

[Tessilago]

Awesome stuff! :D Are you into fish keeping as well?

[Peter Berkovski]

heh,welcome buddy,I'm always around ;) great fish my friend,I hope my time to come soon - I hate myself for that I still can't coloring in digital.
Cheers!

[loveandasandwich]

aw what the crap! i love this stuff! all the awesome colors! especially the animals

[monstertree]

monotony - Thanks, and thanks for the stars too

Hive_minD - Cheers!

Tessilago - Thanks! I'm in the process of trying to set up a nice tank, don't know what I'll end up keeping though :)

atlantik - It's just practice, keep producing stuff until it starts to come out the way you want it to.

28chelseaslater - Thanks, glad you like them!

More doodley stuff, ideas for a book I'm working on and using abstract patches of paint create stuff :D

[monstertree]

Doodley-pops ;)

[Chromosome]

Great stuff man. Really digging those digitals you've been busting out.

[MsMaverick]

Hey man, thanks for stopping by my sketchbook! Aah, I really LOVE your color choices. They look really thick and massive. I also really like what you choose to paint; that chameleon up there is so frickin awesome. Are you going to finish it? Yeah, I just enjoy your style, and I think I could learn a lot from your painting technique. Keep it up!

[BlackGuy]

I like the fact that I can see your breakdown of color/value choices within your strokes. You seem to make bold decisions instead of flustering around trying to pick colors (thats what I do.) Good stuff!

[monstertree]

Chromosome - Thanks, it's always good to have you stop by ;)

MsMaverick - Heh, thank you! I'll be finishing that chameleon but my mind is always flitting from one thing to another so I forget about it.

BlackGuy - Thanks! I still have trouble picking colours, trust me.

[monstertree]

Dragon, a couple of hours, heavily lizard inspired ;)

[Sebastian Gromann]

its' cute :D good work mate. u improved alot, from post to post. keep workin' man

[rahulmehta5]

cool style ... very nice work .. u rock man ....5 starts from me... !

best regards
Rahul

www.freewebs.com/lalitrahulmehta
http://www.vimeo.com/795284

[Dan Valkar]

man! love the way u colour...and the last one its really nice...keep it up!!

[Camara]

Amazing!!!

[UnSharpened]

The last post is definitely a top notch.
Great texture and edges. I am wondering if it's possible to ask for some step-by-step painting of this one. Can't help loving it!!<3

5/5:D!!

[monstertree]

Wow, so many responses! I gotta go out now so I'll reply later ;) I got half an hour or so into this and went back to it to find the file corrupted, so I chucked some quick stuff over the top and cropped out the weird corruption, ah well.

[monstertree]

SnobbyOo - Thanks!

rahulmehta5 - Thanks very much, I appreciate it.

Dan Valkar - Cheers, I'm pretty pleased with it too

Camara - heh, cheers buddy ;)

UnSharpened - Unfortunately I didn't save any steps of this but if anyone would be interested I could try and put one together with another piece

Trying something new out today, and I was pretty surprised with the results. I wanna do more stuff like this, except using the technique on something designed rather than an early morning doodle.

[RandAlThor]

Simple and stylish, keep em coming man. ;-)

[jletourneau07]

hey i like your ability to sketch things out quite clearly digitally. I lack the resources to procure a wacom but i hope to get one some day. keep up the stuff!

[monstertree]

RandAlThor - Cheers, I'll try!

jletourneau07 - Thanks!

Messing about before bed, nothing special

[thesadpencil]

wow amazing sb. i love your expressive style and i'm really diggin all you characters. the way you paint is sweet. very loose. keep it up.

[DeJakhalz]

Basicly what thesadpencil says lol. Good imagination and linework. Weird Ive never seen this sb before.. Anyways ill be waiting for updates. Cheers

[Sinto]

Dude, thanks for the response on my SB. I see that you are improving every post! that's really good! I also like you exageratted/cartoony style you have :D

[Peter Berkovski]

Excellent improvement dude,your skills gone up with every new update
Cheers! ;)

I <3 this one:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=331556&stc=1&d=1206383825

[Saurus]

whoa....beautiful digital renderings....you definitely know what you're doing! congrats on the progress!

[Camara]

I hope you do one each day.I am becoming an addict to your SB!

[monstertree]

thesadpencil - Cheers!

DeJakhalz - Heh, thanks. Glad you found your way here!

Sinto - Thanks for returning the favour, I enjoyed looking at your sb

atlantik - Thanks mate, I'm glad you come back and see what I'm up to

Saurus - Not sure if I can say I know exactly what I'm doing yet, but I'm slowly getting there - thanks :)

Camara - That was my plan, but work takes up a lot of time time and energy so it's really hard to maintain a constant output :( Haha, hopefully your addiction will spread to others!

Really hard work getting to CA these days, every time I try to stop by the connection times out, I assume its a little kink that's being ironed out so I won't lose heart just yet :yayca:
Here's a couple of quick ones for ya, a little bit of concepting for my personal project (rough, but something to work from) and a goofy Naruto while having my morning coffee, more soon ;)

[Lotet]

wow, great job! really like those abstarct surealistic pieces, only crit to ur art whould be its a little to blurry sometimes. but over all, its really cool stuff, keep posting.

[RokasButkys]

I have spectated this sketchbook for months and i have to say that i like everything about this sketchbook. Seeing lots of improvement.
cheers and good luck

[Sketch]

Hey Monstertree, posts 213 and 214 are really good. Making really fast progress with those.

[Miles_]

This is the kinda painting style I wanna work towards, sick of using overlay layers:(

Anyway really cool stuff just keep up all your studies and keep on working on more complex scenes, it'd be great to see what you could produce if you really push yourself:)

Cya! you got an msn adress or anything I can add? PM me if you do:)

[monstertree]

Lotet - Cheers, I think I've gotten over the blurry problem I had when I started my sketchbook ;)

DoctorPencil - Thanks

Sketch - Cheers mate!

Miles_ - Thanks. I have a problem when doing personal stuff, I don't really go for something ambitious enough...working on a book though and I'm pushing the boat out :) I do have msn but to be honest I'm never on it, so its pretty redundant!

Wow, I haven't been here in ages - been killing myself with the day job and freelance work (under NDA at the moment) so I've not have anything to show. Kick-starting the sketchbook back to life with some quick stuff I managed to do in my *ghasp!* spare time today! Gonna make sure to do at least one personal piece a day, this stuff was fun (if not that sucessful).

[Steel Buddha]

Nice lighting, nice lines, nice style, nice colors. It's all good In my book and I look forward to more.

[entdroid]

Love the last one! :)

[chuck18mp]

OMG this stuff right here is so amazing!!!!!!!! especially the dragon BRAVO!!!!

[Moftah]

really cool sargent's study

Moftah's Sketchbook

[Peter Berkovski]

it is always pleasure to me to come back here and to watch what's new ;) that give me motivation and inspiration,thanks for that dude,yuo know - you are awesome!

[Pigeonkill]

I find your work refreshing to look at particularly your fish paintings. One painting that caught my eye was this post of yours:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1696488&postcount=207

Great color selection and textures.

[yinteck]

i really like the way u paint. Nice.

[Delmar]

Man...love the dragon....great colors in all of your work.

keep rockin and also rollin !!!

[monstertree]

Steel Buddha - Thanks

Entroid - Thanks very much!

chuck18mp- Cheers!

Moftah - Thanks. It could have turned out better in my opinion but I think I learnt something along the way anyway.

atlantik - hehe, you cheered me up mate - thanks!

Pigeonkill - Yeah I love painting the fishies :)

yinteck - thanks

Delmar - Thank you

Quick one before bed. I must provide something more substantial with my next update! This image came to mind when reading 'The seventh Man' a short story by Haruki Murakami. It's about a boy who's witnesses (in quite a horrific way) the death of his friend at the hands of a wave. I love Murakami, full of symbolism and surreal imagery!

[mentler]

Good Work
Solid Progress

!5 BONES!

[Lair Radical]

Just brilliant!

[Ignominious]

holy shit. a 5-star rating would be an understandment for this sketchbook

[monstertree]

mentler - I'm humbled, you've really made my day! Thank you.

Lair Radical - Thanks!

Ignominious - Heh, thanks :bashful:

Something a little different today. I think I'll stick to good old pen/cil and paper for clean stuff, but doing this digitally was good practice for shaky hands! Low energy today so could only muster some fanart, no real thinking ;)

[KarylGilbertson]

Really, really nice stuff. Your colour theory is really good, I struggle with that so it always impresses me when folks have a innate grasp of shite like that. Thumbs up!

[monstertree]

Ookchk - Heh, i wouldn't say innate- i needed plenty of practice (still do!)

Quick study today, having fun...killing time...

[Kan Muftić]

fuck dude, this is all sweet!
5ive boners from me.
take care,

[Chalid]

Awsome!

[monstertree]

Chupacabra - Oh mate, I'm a fan of your work - I really appreciate you stopping by (and giving me an ill-deserved 5 stars)

Chalid - Thanks!

Well I've been busy writing up an idea I have for a graphic novel. I finished illustrating page 1 today, so I thought I'd come by and see what people thought. To be honest I've lost the ability to look at it objectively, and subsequently I think I hate it - so any feedback would be awesome!
Also cooked up a little something for the super-stylised challenge, to 'warm down' from that page. Hope you enjoy!

[orange M]

really enjoy you sketchbook so far. all your latest sea related creatures are awesome. cool designs and colors.
and really like the portrait with red background on the last page.
probably a quick and easy work for you but it looks sweet.
looking forward for more

[DARAF]

Great work mate.

[monstertree]

orange M - Thanks, it's actually a Sargent study, pretty quick but glad you liked it.

DARAF - Thanks!

Messing with mirrored paint blobs, turning a rorshacht (sp?) looking thing into whatever I saw in it. Pretty generic design came out, but I learned a good few things with this one so I thought it deserved a post ;)

[monstertree]

Food is always quite tricky to get right, so I found a picture I liked and started painting. Fairly speedy study, attached the greyscale loose values I started with too ;)