sketchbook closed

[AlexC]

heres some olderish stuff, and some new stuff
sketchbook 1 http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=63567&page=2
sketchbook 2 http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76760&page=6&highlight=anonymous
will try and update this as often as possible, who knows( probably be weekly, school and stuff takes up a lot of time)
lets hear em, the crits that is!

been drawing for pretty much exactly 1 year

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/381/finishedlogocopypp2.jpg

[Dile_]

Alex, thats awesome ^^ I didn't really liked your old nick, but whatever =)
Keep it up man!

~Dile

[aph]

Ah, hi Blanquish!

Really like those rendered pieces, those faces need some work though. Fear of noses? Hmm, they seem very woollen if you know what I mean. Not defined, as if you didn't want to =D. Well some nose studies would be my first request, theres a lot of variation out there to draw from! Keep up your progress.

[rodrigo!]

you are freakishly good for your age. stop now!

[TheGnoll]

you've come a long way since the beginning man...very good job.Make sure you keep up the good work Blanq ;)

ciao

[Craig Houghton]

For those about to rock a new sb, we salute you.


-Craig

[AlexC]

dile; thanks friend, yes thats why i changed@_@, silly name:P, what was i thinking..thanks for being the first to reply too =)

aph; thanks for the imput, the charcoal was done quick and quite intuitively, not planned out in thumbs like I usually would.
Also, with charcoal, its not exactly a tight medium, so you simplify and smudge. But thanks for the crits, its not just the noses that could use work.
nice work from you too btw:)

rodrigo; I feel the same way about you, you freak, next llwewllyn I tells ya:}
In comparison to history though, i probably suck squares :$ considering renaissace artists started getting taught as apprentices at like age 10, miking paint and doing study's and working on their teachers paintings.

The gnoll; thanks Ryan, still a loong way ahead of me though:)
Craig Houghton; haha thanks mate:D


I dont like having an empty sketchbook, so here is more stuff

[Lee W]

hmm new name and new sb .. is this a new beginning?

Actually you can achieve quite a bit of details with vine charcoal, use the soft ones for tone and the hard ones for details.

[entdroid]

Hey blanq, nice new sb!!!
I really like the rabbit headed dood and the marker stuff.
Keep at it! :)

[Dile_]

Very nice updates Alex , I already said a lot on msn, but last update and your lifedrawings is really rocking!

keep it up man, you are getting really damn good lately ^^

~Dile

[AlexC]

Old noobie; aye, new beginning, pretty embarrassed about some of the stuff I said/drew back a year ago, fresh is nice!
Lee yea, you can produce some pretty amazing stuff with charcoal. I was going for a certain soft look though, and i wasnt working big or with any references.. you get the idea

ent; thanks vic, the rabbit head dood was for you!
dile; my lifedrawings? all from my head i think
ditto about the kast statement, your bots are looking rly cool!!


ugh, i feel lazy only posting a few pics, and honestly I have been working way harder than this, dont like showing quicky doodles and studies though.
I bought a book called "anatomy for the artist" by Sarah stimblet
Its got some great albeit a tad "gay" references, lol.

finished my second moleskine and have no monies, so I have been practicing lots of speedpaints
this is just one of tons, no ref( it shows)
might show some more later, but I filenamed them all "speedpaint crappy, speedy dodgy" etc, my hd is a mess:P

thanks guys
Alex

[asoir]

lolloolo nice stuff, that hand is super tight!
peace

[Brendan N]

WOOT! HUGE improvement Alex, HUGE!
Pencil work is really shaping up, you're handling the forms well. Something you need to start doing though is giving a different value range to various objects. The highlights on something dark will still be darker as the shadows on something light - that sort of thing. It'll help you to separate objects in your composition and also describe form.

wondering, is (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=109523&d=1174192372) a self portrait? Really love the quick brushwork and repetition of shapes, nice and lively.

Rated, and keep up the good stuff mate!
ciao!

- d.

[AlexC]

whoa, didnt know i had replies! cool
asoir; thanks bud
brendan; thanks for the imput and crits, yes its a self portrait(its pretty much a Mr Blonde rip off though, just experimenting)

well, this was to bump my thread, but anyway, a 20 minute robot:spam:

[AlexC]

I realised the last few posts werent exactly delicious, anyway, I bought a new moleskine(#3), which has been sweet.
been really enjoying ink with nib and brush, great medium!
Ill see if I can dig up some other sketches:[ ,
( last ones a master study, does anyone recognise the artist?

[AlexC]

another update for today..
I love skulls :heart
crappy values, I should probably work on it some more.
Ref used for the skull part, not too sure what the other thing on it is :X

[Lee W]

the last two updates are lots better :) espescially the figure with the wolf head and the reclining female figure. The last one, the skull thing, was that done on bristol?

[asoir]

hehe, you and yer hybrids eh?
great stuff man.

[tensai]

you render really well with that pencil of yours man. and speed paint clouds looking also real hot. nice confident marks everywhere. one year huh? you did some real solid learning man.

[Derlaine]

wow I like these :) very expressive and different from the usual stuff I see. I like how you just whip that pencil stroke around

[Wolfbane]

Seriously! You've improved so much that it hurts! >_< kinda getting some jealousy wibes here... Hehe, really awesome artwork you've been spitting out recently Alex! i can only beg of you to keep this up :D i want moooore!

[Gleeson]

Dude! your recent work is totaly ace. your imagination is totaly running away, its awesome to see. i think you should have a go at utilising a bigger negative/white space to realy set those pencil sketchings off. Speed paint = totaly rad. I like those subway style sketch's of charactors done in indian ink

If i was to crit anything it would be a few manerisms i noticed that you tend to fall into:

Somtimes your still making some of your charcters lean and fall over a bit. a quick skeletal sketch will stop this, establishing the whole figure quickly, however crude, helps (this is just what i find)

also i notce you leave out the shadow of the bridge of the nose alot. noses are facinating things to draw, a little change to the bumps and shadows and the whole face can change, you should explore the nose as a shape, i find its one the most interesting things to render.

your getting seriusly skilled dude. like wolfbane said: more!

[Craig Houghton]

the well-dressed bunny can really mess with your head if you stare at it long enough. and, what's with the stain on his shirt?

generally speaking, I continue to enjoy the mixed forms. the fly over the hooved animal bodice has some great textures.

the four fellows at the bottom of march 13th are interesting. the first three could be the same guy at different stages of his life. older, middle younger. the last one is clearly his batshit crazy brother.

the hole in the belly man-child is a freakish masterpiece of knowing what to render and what not to render

I too have a hand growing out of my forehead, but i'm not so garish that I'd go around showing it off

I can't help but wonder what else was on the paper fishman was cut from. did he have siblings?

I'm not sure what is attached to the rest of that skull, but I think it's malignant

oh and, van dyke?

I'm loving the additional attention to textures, continued emphasis on merged man-beasts, and the general refusal to let your sketchwork get boring. I am, however, looking forward to more finished stuff (especially if you keep the same spirit as the sketchwork).

-Craig

[Call0ps]

i'm rally glad to decided to see this sb, great work, the pencils are beautifull. keep improving matte! Gave u some stars .. :)

[AlexC]

Lee, yup Bristol again, love the stuff :D
marco;p danke
Tensai, thankyou!, Kep up the good work in your book too.
Derlaine, thanks for the wonderful comment!
Wolfbane. Thanks Kjartan, @_@ jealousy vibes? hehe back at you
Gleeson; thanks for the top comment and imput
Im not too sure what you mean by" bigger negative/white space", could you reiterate what you mean?
Thankyou!
Craig Houghton
thanks a lot!
1stly the stain is just an accidental watercolour drop, nothing intentional though..a "happy accident" if you like.
hah, enjoying how you label each sketch.. it was funny( ironic really), i was thinking how we tend to label a piece of art using really generic names like"happy forest, or greamy village" etc.
hmm, on the last question, its not Van Dyke, however its a damn fine guess.
You get one more chance or you fail my class!
thanks for the amusing and helpful post
oh, and I love your belly button animation!
Callops; =) you are far too kind!

well, been a slow week..
finished a painting(acrylics), spent about 8+ hours on it, and i dont feel inclined to show it though.
havent drawn as much as per usual #cough battlefield 2142
speaking of which, if you play bf 2142, add me to ur buddies list
my name is DrWang (lol)
been working on the teen challange too

(sorry for the turds in there)

[entdroid]

Hey blanq, sorry I haven't checked here for a while!
I'm really digging your ink work, I'd love to see you go a bit further with it! :)
I really like your skull SP too!! I'd like to see you try doing some more finished stuff as well :)
Keep it up! :D

[asoir]

lul dood, those squids are awesome, nicely composed.
peace

[AlexC]

thanks guys
teen challenge, throwing it all together:) be sure to vote for your favourite, there are some great entries thus far-
http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/7295/teenchallange1copygr3.jpg
might fix up some of the minor issues tomorrow

[Chiko]

Some great sketches you have in here! I love your work. The title is what brought me in but now I'll have to watch heh!

[Olof]

Like your sketches alot. The rendering style is really good, I'm a fan :]

.cheers

[Texahol]

sic, especially those still lifes, they just keep getting better man.

keep it coming!

new name, new sketchbook, new avatar...so hard to keep track of all the changes!

[Lee W]

nice updates :) but would like to see more studies like the still lifes but with the rendering pushed further.

[AmadorL]

need more

[Craig Houghton]

the second drawing there, lets call him sliding face man is quite cool. You left me thinking a bit more about the structure of the nose.

perv-bird comes pre-labeled, but I bet I'd have called it that too. thumbs up for keeping up the bird counts in your updates

cards are cool and all of em are disturbing in their own way. I think the queen was a great choice.

-Craig

[AlexC]

Chiko
hey thanks, I remember you from my first sketchbook, about 10-11 months ago, you gave me a great critique on a priate I think.:)
MorteM
thanks buddy, a fan:D( dig the avatar too)
lol
texahol; thanks buddy, and keep up with your great work too!
Lee
yes, i guess your right..
hmm, need o do a cast study me thinks, or a barogue( sp)
anyone know a site that show's them?

AmadorL
here you go-
Craig Houghton
I guess the perv-bird thing is a male thing:D
"cool and disturbing" is probably the best compliment I could get considering the topic is ogre slayer( teen thunderdome)
haha, didnt notice the queen was that one
thanks
did some lines in ink- scanned it in and painted it up
pretty basic, but i really ned to work on my design and colouring skills
constructive criticism would be nice:)
(seeing 300 tonight, cant wait)

[bunny]

Wow... just. wow.
I came here from the CA retrospective thread in the lounge, and I'm quite blown away by your progress :)

I'm envous if your graphite work, it seems you've gotten quite a firm grasp of pencil strokes in such a short period of time. Your inks are pretty cool too :)

Would love to see you experiment with different mediums, eh?

keep it up
-N

[Krigbrann]

Wow. Wonderful sketches. I love that playing card sketches especially the joker. Its a skull with hair, what not to love?

[Shinryu]

Good stuff dude.

Had a look back at your older threads, very nice progress, just keep posting :)

cheers

[davi]

your loose graphite stuff makes me insanely jealous, great stuff

[Dile_]

whooa! man you are fucking inspiring! thanks for sharing mate :D

~Dile

[AlexC]

bunny, thats a wonderful comment from an artist like yourself!:)
I do do other medium stuff, charcoal, watercolour-gouche, sometimes miking it with ink or chalk.
But these are usually studies of the medium, trying to find methods that work together well..
thank you
maxofthesouth
thankyou!gracias
shrinyu
thanks buddy
:davi:
thanks for the kind words
dile; aww, get outta here:P
congrats on the eye too

here are a few dodgy drawings:yawn:
pretty self explanitary i think..been in a slump:nohope:

[Magic Man]

Alex, you can't believe how proud I am of how far you've come.

I don't think I need to say any more, your progress is evidence of the effectiveness of your learning methods, keep it up mate, and you'll be one of the best illustrators in this state in a very short time.

Cheers, Darren.

[grundybug]

good stuff i want to see more.

[stalsby]

really nice sketchbooks start!!! keep it up!

[Craig Houghton]

The three skulls over happy-shirt are great, like he's deciding what mood to wear for the day.

facial crabs. There must be some ointment for that.

I like the diag shading on the figures on the dune page, like there's a sandstorm between us.

-Craig

[Lee W]

nice work on that Dune page :)

[Cup of Joe]

Oh, woah, blanquish? Didn't realize.
Wow then, MASSIVE improvement in a short time! One crit I do have is on the TC. The two yellow pages amongst the white really throw it off. They don't look like they were made to be part of a group, but just sketched and then thrown in later. Ah, the single curse of the moleskine (if I'm not mistaken.)
Keep it coming!

[AlexC]

Magic Man
Thanks for the uplifting words!
Grundybugyour'e the boss..
Stalsby cheers
Craih Houghtonthanks, now i think of it, the crab face is probably the worst thing I've ever drawn lol
Leethanks, have you read the book?
Cup-O Joe
Thanks, I guess youre right about the TC, its too late now though=(,deadline has passed, although I dont know how I could have fixed it.
danke ..#yes its a moleskin

worked on a speedpaint for a bit today, I have a large load of drawings too later.
Might work on this more if you have any criticism to say, so speak up!
the focus point is a bit confusing, I'm pretty new to this painting thing

[AlexC]

worked on it a bit more-

[AlexC]

quickie for fun
and today is the first day of my 2 week holiday break!

[monsi]

I think I'm in love <3

[AlexC]

lol!
nethus- I noticed you go to ashtons, you lucky bastid!
another speedpaint, am I making progress?

[asoir]

cool job on the last, spaceship as the focal point = cliche but you make it work, its got nice composition and is well painted. kudos.

[AlexC]

asoir- a figure was the focal point earlier, but it lookd like crap, so I added the ship:)
study from ref
I'd appreciate some feedback:)

[AlexC]

dile said this one is post- worthy although I hate it.
I may feel inclined to fix it if you spot anything that could make it look better, the rendering was pretty quick in some areas
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/3210/poozs0.jpg
guess I should post some drawings soon

[Dile_]

last one is great! I'm not sure what to comment really.. I have mentioned most of the stuff on msn.. Keep the great work up mate :) i'm glad to see you improving!

[entdroid]

Hey blanq, nice digis! I think your edges need some more attention tho, they could really help defining focal points and stuff :)
Also I think in your previous post the back mountains are way too saturated...
Good job!

[motives]

stunning work! I really like your style and the way you rendering stuff. excellent. may I ask what paper u use? the yellowish one. thanks!

[rodrigo!]

whoa shit im away for a couple weeks and look what i miss haha!
love the skull portrait and the hand coming out of the suit dude. youre getting a nice feel for the pencil as well! keep it up man!
In comparison to history though, i probably suck squares considering renaissace artists started getting taught as apprentices at like age 10, miking paint and doing study's and working on their teachers paintings.
haha yeah but not even renaissance im pretty sure this happened a lot in the 19th / 20th century too. check out a drawing by antonio lopez garcia when he was 13, its pretty crazy.

[Lee W]

this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=124551&stc=1&d=1176859800) looks good but the blue is too dominate, maybe light greenish blue

[PHATandy]

Wow... ive just had a look through all your old sketchbooks and all the improvement is amazing. I really enjoyed looking through it all. Great work - keep it up dude.
Andy.

[AlexC]

thanks for the comments and stars lol
Dile- tack tack( what does that mean?)
Thanks for the comment Dennis
Ent- thanks for the tips on the mountain, with the edges, do you mean soft edges in the bg, hard edges in the foreground?
thanks for your imput:)
Motives-
Hi, another of you talented Swedes:nohope
the yellow paper is from my sketchbook. Its called a moleskin, theyre pretty popular because they are really smooth. The downside of the quality is they are pretty expensive, but they are really the best I've seen.
Rodrigo!-hello, thanks for the compliments.
Probably right about the 19/20th century dudes, Im pretty sure Bougerou(sp) and Co,were taught at a young age.
In specialist art schools in Korea and elsewhere, they teach students how to paint and draw really well, and work in studios for 8+ hours a day. That would be awesome.
Lee-Thanks for the tips, just trying to keep the colours accurate to the ref, and I agree that it could be toned down a few notches.
PHATandy-heh, thanks for checking out the old stuff. I remember when I was first starting out, you were a major inspiration, and I remember going through all your stuff, thanks!

some dodgy stuff, trying out trad' painting in a watercolour sketchbook my mum got me, using gouche.
Did much more, but struggled with it
havent drawn as much, but I'm getting back into it. Been struggling a bit

[bhanu]

really hot and happening thread dude.the line work is just great. And you re coming along nicely with the digis too

[asoir]

cockney badger? you? you fackin wish mate! *cockney gibberish*

nice study of the duvet! but who's this lamezoid?
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=127127&stc=1&d=1177207740

[AlexC]

bhanu- thanks pal, your watercolours are real nice!
asswire- you cockney bitch, I knew you would be clanging on with your fackin language difficulties.
You seen the Mighty Boosh? Only decent thing to come out of the UK for the past 100 years, you lardy cock.
Whats a duvet?
speedpaint- painter, values=bad.
When ever I select and use an impasto brush, the values drop on the whole painting, why is that?

[Dile_]

Nice speedpaint!

[Lee W]

nice work on that one :)

[AlexC]

self portrait- 40 mins
trying to channel the coolness of android:)
mostly painter

[AlexC]

:(
another stupid silly landscape

[AlexC]

I think I am addicted!

[blog]

I think I am addicted!

lol :P, cool work dude!

[AlexC]

thanks blog!
reworked it a bit, realising it really sucks after a night of sleep...

[Zynic]

Nice updates Alex :D
I'm in love with your pencils, you've really kicked up your rendering a notch, and the linework works well too.
Keep up the good work! ;)

( And keep going at those digis, you're getting better by the minute :P )

[Dile_]

Those landscpaes are really cool! Work on getting the fore ground and the interesting stuff to pop out though =)

[AlexC]

zynic
nice to see you round these parts!
Got some pencil stuff coming up, but in the mean time..
dile
thanks for the tips, hmm food for though.
A darker self portrait( looks kinda emo:O )
I will call it a wip, because I'm not quite satisfied with it.
How old do I look?:\
stylisation and proportions are on purpose

[Dile_]

Last one is nice.. but the overall picture is very desatured, and then it is those red and orange dots that kinda doesn't fit.. Except of that, yeah its good :)

[AlexC]

thanks dile(again)
I wanted some element of randomness, I am sorry, but i like it:(
finished?
Oh yeah, I have another still life and some concepts done, should scan it sometime this week:)
edit- an update after some crits from dile

[AlexC]

updated it above-
think I am going to sleep on it, and fix it tomorrow.
Hints and tips greatly appreciated!

[Lee W]

the recent digi SP looks okay, other than the eyes being a bit too far apart, I have to agree with Dile, those random spots of colors do take away from it.

[Texahol]

I think you could use some more conscious decisions, or at least conscious looking decisions on the self portrait, mate. For the most part it just looks like noodling. A lot of your strokes aren't describing form, and you have this halfway rendering where some of your values are describing form, and other areas are just flat. I think if you want to add some randomness, make it cohesive, instead of just throwing down marks for the hell of it.

the photoshop doodle, the foreground looks pretty good, but the background is boring, I'd choose something different for the background instead of those two large towering rock-things- I think they hurt the composition.

[AlexC]

Lee I mentioned the eye distance earlier as a style conscious decision.
Texahol!
<3
thankyou!
I appreciate your comment so much, I decided to go back and try and fix it.
Awesome post mate-
ps- the 20 minute sketch above is a throwaway 20 minute turd, but thanks for the thought.

heeding texahol's words, I tried improving it.
I still like the painterly approach though, thats a personal taste thing, but I feel this version is better because it is more organised and less random or doodlish.
cheers guys

[DanielC]

The pencils are looking good alex.
Your work on the landscapes is as good too, but show us even more sp's !!
Keep working !

[Craig Houghton]

That sketch with the mirrors has an interesting comp.

By the way, I gave up on the impasto features in Painter. It's one of those things where if you stick with impasto brushes throughout the entire piece you're ok. otherwise, it gets pissy.

I like the portrait work and the bright blue on the neck of #68 and I like that your speedpaint landscapes pass the squint-test. The values work for me and things look real, three dimensional, when I squint at em'

I'm liking how well the hills drop back in this one http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=128792&stc=1&d=1177464076 while you still keep the edges crisp back there. some people blur them too much thinking that will keep them towards the back, but it's really all about contrast and you understand that.

Keep up the painting.

-Craig

[asoir]

hurr, keep the painterly approach, and what was with that orange thing on the chin? FREAK *cough*
nice stuffz

[AlexC]

daniel C
merci,
thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it.

Craig Houghton- yes I agree with the impasto thing, kind of a bitch to use but it can look good I guess.
thanks for your comments as always

Marco-orange thing? get your eyes checked dude, its yellow, duh:P

well, its been ages, life has been different, up's and down's, good days and bad days.
On the art side of things, Ive filled up 4 or 5 sketchpads of rough bus/schoo/pre-lim sketches, mostly anatomy, designs, thumbnails or life stuff.
I havent really felt inclined to open up my moleskine though, and posting seemed like such a drag so I gave it a miss for a while(my scanner wasnt working too)
also worked on a few still lifes which I may post later but didnt turn out great.
Overall I have felt pretty idealess for the most part, and school drains my mind and my energy.
I apologise to my ssg peers too

I would really like some constrictive posts plz:)

[bhanu]

the sp is looking flat , try painting round the form , hatchy brushstrokes.aslo work with single light source.DOnt worry about stylisation right now it will come on tis know just be sincere.teh pencils are looking swwet.

[TheGnoll]

long time since my last visit in here...big improvement since the beginning of your journey...but don't let it get to your head, make sure you always study the rules before braking them (talking 'bout anatomy) there are still some basics elements of believability missing in your creatures imho ;)

keep sharing, you're doing great :)

ciao

[Texahol]

Overall I have felt pretty idealess for the most part, and school drains my mind and my energy.

lame.

stop being emo.

I wanna see some artz.

[octopus_interphone]

Soooo much improvement here, it is very nice to see. I am still insanely jealous of your cross hatching.

As for some crits you need to work on gestures, your figures seem very stiff, none of them covey movement. Try to bring some motion and fluidity to them. you might think of doing some more stuff in charcoal too, it's not as restricted looking as your pen and ink stuff.

also I would like to see some more imaginative things, use your rendering ability to draw things that don't exist (like the robot at the top of this page)

keep up the good work.

[sve]

Hello, AlexC... if you want to hear from me... here I am...But I'm not sure you need me... most of your three books you are exploring in all directions simultaneously, as I see it, a lot of studies and mostly it is process of gathering stones you know... accumulating knowledge... there is huge progress in line quality... it is getting freer and freer, less and less conscious and sometimes very nice freedom appears, picture looks effortless and it makes me relaxed too.
Everyone seems to like this smooth pencil rendering, like in your bears pictures... and i like it too... good effect of soft scattered light... it creates certain mood... of lazy morning with not big plans... but if I am to choose what it more attractive I would choose your other manner... because it is much more individual, personal and it touches me, makes me involved... here for example
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=65773&stc=1&d=1166654227
The frog impressed me, its skin...
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=51548&stc=1&d=1163933371
those are from your earlier threads and it is not defined as style yet... but I love those uneven surface the pencils creates, those dots and noise and roughness and not totally finished lines ... it's not calm and open with emotion.... I liked the sad eyes of the woman and nervous sketching of the dress fabric... hopefully you will evolve this in some impressive style... it sure has a warmness to me. The woman's forehead is a bit too protruded and overall her face is distorted a lot and you should notice that for future... but not because it is bad and not artistic... just so you were aware of your distortion, it was your conscious decision to keep it in the picture and do it only when they enhance the emotion, but not because of your laziness or blindness to your own anatomical mistakes... in this case this distortion is good addition to her personality, IMO. She looks more down to earth and not in her best moment... she is off guards... I think somehow your model was a much younger woman... it looks older in the picture...that's lacking of observation, I think... but it is nothing bad. you will catch up even if I'm right about her age.
Anyways,,, it is wonderful meaningful lyrical portrait... she is a person full of individuality, I believe in her existance somewhere despite stylized cheek and forehead and a bit a wrong proportions... chin is too tiny comparing to huge forehead...
than I liked those sketches in your new book:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=106376&stc=1&d=1173651336
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=106373&stc=1&d=1173651307
and this one close in manner
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=102552&stc=1&d=1172974814
I like them for sincerity, for unpretentious manner, for freedom and for pretty good quality in them too... I love how uncombed those lines and texture are and how much you use diversity, different ways to descibe different material and shapes and objects... it is very rich, wonderful for eyes.. I want to say to you though,,, although it seems like done carefree, effortlessly... you shouldn't rush this... your anatomy is not always good and your eyes do not always see all richness of what objects has... your outlines are simplified very often... but not becasue you removed something not important,,, but becasue you didn't notice something individual or what makes the object stands out of the rest... so because of that I would say: don't rush to talk economically,,, try all at first, try to depict a lot.
I probably confused you a lot with this bold statement... but most of all I talk about outlines of your figures... they are lacking a lot of information and I'm not sure you did it on purpose... I might be wrong though..

Colors are getting better but still a bit too simplified and lacking richness of what we see in nature...a bit too rude colors I think... I would advice to take some old master and maybe try to make a copy or just try to see how many tones they used to describe objects, their eyes saw so much more. so many nuances... and they understand how colors effect each other so well.

I see you are very interested in concept art and fantasy... and that's good... but i got a strange impression that you are much more closer to realistic art... don't know why... but those fabric folds, and natural looking enviros and even your creatures don't have any shocking effect... look very domesticated, tamed...you don't have this desire to shock your viewer... it seems top me you prefer a lyrical personal conversation as evens..
that's all... thanks for being kind to me...

[Mr.Delicious]

Sweet stuff, the only constructive crit I can give isssss the shading on the neck of the portrait is a little strange, like, the side of his face is lit up but that part of his neck is in shadow, looks a little confusing.

[Kronos]

gyod dyammit! another young prodigy...
fucking nice sketches you have here man,
these are my favs
here (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=109523&stc=1&d=1174192372), here (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=109526&stc=1&d=1174192416) and here (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=120729&stc=1&d=1176249211) (the orangutans)

good to see you are doing a few landscapes and such and the selfportraits, keep those up.
anyway man, i will be back :) nice work!

[Sanest]

Hey, cool style I like the way you render stuff. Yea the self portraits are looking good I should probably be doing some myself.

[h2rra]

Love your smooth rendering with pencils. Sometimes it's way too washed out and doesn't describe the form, because you decided to render the texture not lighting. Moleskine is pretty awesome, I had to order it on the interent but it was worth the wait/money :D. k enough, post some updates

[Skinnyboy]

I love your skull heads and your enviroments. your mergings of different creatures are cool and funny. your drawing of bed covers makes wanna go diving into the bed.

[AlexC]

filled a couple more sketchbooks, here's the tablescraps,,,

bhanu,
thanks for the honest crit, yes I agree it does look flat, the hatching t tip is a good one. I am honestly not trying to achieve a style, more of a sophistication, if that makes any sense.

thegnoll,
thanks Ryan, I've been doing lots of loomis study's, I swear:D
Say hi to Italy from me.

Texahol
lame
stop being a smart ass
I want a decent reply
:P
:stfu:
thanks tex!

octo' interphone,
Hi,
Great to see you here, I got some charcoal stuff in this post,
thanks for stopping by.

Sve,
Wow, thanks for your post,,
With the rendering, I think as I have developed it has gotten more academic, Which I prefer imo.
The randomness of the woman is more of a result of my lack of charcoal knowledge, but also as a result of trying to be more original than my other stuff.
I agree with your comments on the proportions, I always felt they were wrong but my teacher didn't..
Your'e spot on with the older age of the model, I think putting in loose marks was partially to blame,

I am glad you like those charcoal pieces, I did a few more after reading your reply. Charcoal is a wonderful medium to experiment and stylise because you can push it around easily which I enjoy, and You can get some nice values too.
I think with the obversation comment, you are correct because sometimes I rush into things thinking I have to finish it to move onto another piece.
I will try and add more interesting shapes to my figures, and I do simplify sometimes because It would mean getting better line quality, instead of making a mistake and trying to correct it..if that makes sense.

What do you mean by "rude colours"? I have been meaning to do a Sargeant masterstudy for a long time, perhaps next weekend.

What I love about art is the infinite possibilities of creating.
I love concept design, I love illustration, I love fine art, I love appreciating good art.
I was at an art gallery last Monday and was stumbling through the different rooms, and I stumbled apon a Bougerou(sp), of the Virgin Mary and baby Christ, and it completely blew me away.
I think creating art art that inspires is any artist's goal.
I dont think I could survive creating designs all day and nothing else,
Thankyou sve for being so nice :heart:

Mr delicious,
Thanks for the tips, yes it does look a bit dark, thanks for the observation.
:)

Kronos.
thanks for the kind words buddy,
heh, the images you like are my leats favs, thats a good thing actully, makes me feel less conscious of posting my turds in here:)

Sanest,
thankyou!

h2rra,
Hi, I noticed you live in estonia, awesome, my school choir came up there and won a choir competition,
Yes moleskins are pretty sweet.

Skinnyhead
thanks for telling me your favs:)
worked on some older pieces as well,
Sorry for the crappy digi cam shots on the charcoal pieces and others, I had to make the size small or it looked real bad-

[entdroid]

Hey blanq!! Sorry I've been an absolute lazy ass and missed so much here...
Your traditional sketches are improving immensely, in the last update the tiger/ink portrait page is really great. I think your digital work would benefit greatly of the same assertiveness in your strokes.
I think it's great that you try adding color variations in your digital portraits, but now you have to learn how to add it without making it look like you're just trying to add color variation.
Anyway, you're still doing great! I'm impressed :)
Keep it up!

[2100]

In love! How old are you?

[tensai]

i think what i like most is those messy charcoals and your pencils. the digi colours look a bit bland in comparison to the traditional paints if you ask me. you would almost expect the opposite :). keep it coming in man.

[asoir]

that's it, newb ass. ive been slacking on experiments and studies. well, that just means ive been slacking. ITS AWN.

[designboot]

nice sketches

[AlexC]

entdroid-
Thanks for the comment Vic' :D
Glad you like the tiger page, thanks for your imput

2100,
15:)

Tensai-
Thanks bro:)

Asoir
get too it biotch!

designboot
,,ty

Well sorry for the long absence, just neglected posting, but I have been pretty productive actually.
Been a odd couple of weeks, bitter sweet sums it up mostly, at the extremes of living.
Lost a friend, gained a moleskins( asoir knows what I'm talking about).

anyway, hope you like 'em.

>>because it's a hefty dump I will split it into 2 posts=)

[AlexC]

pt 2
:D

[yanino]

GREAT SKETCHES I like your cards!

[asoir]

cool but http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=151224&stc=1&d=1181455301 took you like a trillisecond, cmon, elaborate!

nice stuff :P

[airrunkle]

you've got some awesome character designs here- really unique. you should do some more sketches like this one http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=151217&stc=1&d=1181455108 love the gesture- great, eh... 'flow'

[DannySketch]

i envy your pencil work alot mate, its stupidly advanced taking into account what you were churning out a year ago, but i like the fact that your experimenting lots with different mediums as well.

good work

keep doing it.

[Dile_]

:bow: Nice work Alex!

[tensai]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=151207&stc=1&d=1181454578

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=151206&stc=1&d=1181454570

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=151223&stc=1&d=1181455294

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=151225&stc=1&d=1181455313

oh man - all golden stuff right there. especially the last one is ehh, cute for lack of a better word - but these are all powerful and energetic and relaxed. great qualities. keep it coming mate

[the_allejo05]

nice work Alex..you are a natural.. learn perspective, anatomy, construction drawing and the other essentials and you'll kick butt,..hmm most of your drawings are tonal, start doing line, like INgres said ,draw lots and lots of lines.. take a master drawing and copy it ,copy many of them ,they will teach you to become a superb drauftsman..then draw from life and apply what they teach you , keep doing what you like,study bougearau (if you like like, see the simplicity of delicacy in his drawings and paintings, that is truly hard,but is masterly, remember, and regardless of what people say..look at what has been done in the past, which is great, so it makes you feel horrible and it pushes you to keep working, learn from the best ,truly you have the potential ,born talent, not many artists have that luxury ,but that means you need to work harder..look at the masters regardless of what many may say, there is none alive today who can touch them...forward to seing you grow...

[Kronos]

hey man, your goin good, i love the first one in post#103, just keep doing what your doing :) the one of the guy on his belly is very elegant too, nice!

[Piranha Clan]

Hard to believe you've only been at this drawing thing for about a year. Those pencils show promise. And I :heart: skulls too. How can you not?

I'll be back to check on you for sure. Please stop by my Sb if you have a chance.

[Yosul_Gongju]

You're fifteen, with just a year of drawing experience? I must say, I think I've got an e-crush <3 Your skill level at this age is pretty awesome. I'm a junior at LACHSA, one of the top art high schools in the US, and your work is on par with some of our best visuals.

Your pencil work is absolutely gorgeous, but I must admit that your black and white work is much more attractive than your color. It's less striking... the variations in value are harder to read when you do your work in color. Try pushing the colors more. Darker darks, lighter highlights. Something to make it easier to read.

[AlexC]

sorry for the long absence again guys, been busy>exams>got sick etc.
anyway, just some sloppy sketches in my sketchook, been working with a brush and ink...
Quick 101 about my process,,,
pencil, getting in the basic shapes
, diluted ink and small brush, roughing in the shapes
, full black ink now with a brush working the design
, working with a nib and ink for the finer details.




yanino: thankyou, say hi to China for me
asoir: hah thanks marco
airrunkle: thanks, thats a gesture from Sarah Stimblet's anatomy for the artist, if you dont have this book already, then fork out some dough and buy it:)
Dannysketch: thanks mate, I guess its just hard work, hopefully I will be churning out stuff far better than this in a years time:)
Dile: :D you so silly!
Tensai: thanks, it means much from you, those qualities are exactly the ones I am aiming for, next step is sophistication and motion.
the_allejo05: inspiring message thanks, Ive been meaning to study Bougeroucantspellhisnamefornuts :P, food for thought, thankyou:)
Kronos: nice to see you here again, love your dp:P
Piranha Clan: sure thing, I will try to get back to you all asap
Yosul Gongju: I googled LACHSA, looks like an awesome school. Thanks for the tips with colour, I find struggling with the medium(digital) is half the battle, getting your brushes to work for you is mostly the problem, and polishing it to a degree that I deem "finished", imo.
Thanks for the compliments:D

#in other news#
one week of school left then I have two weeks of holidays, where I will post daily, or bi-daily:)
-note, did a bunch of digi's but on second thought decided not to include them because they look crap:(
PT 1 of 2

[AlexC]

pt 2 of 2

[Kronos]

hey man, cool sketches

one thing that jumped out at me is i kind of expect this (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=161936&stc=1&d=1183269363) woman's feet to be far more elegant, you've got them as oblongs, would be nice to see more attention to the hand, and the head is small but i'm sure you noticed that.

nice work though man, keep at it :)

[Texahol]

looking forward to some more finished stuff

and some more sexy inks.

*cracks whip*

[Pigeonkill]

I love the quick gestures you did you in your landscapes. The textures in them are great with loose strokes. I looked at your previous sketchbook you improved a lot. Keep it up. The skulls are also a fav of mine.

[Yosul_Gongju]

Alex~ Push yourself on the hands and feet. Try not to add any shading to the next figure drawing you do until you've finished all of the face, hands, and feet. When you're drawing the hands and feet, keep in mind the bones and muscles underneath the skin that cause the outlines to look organic. The lines you've got for her waist and her legs seem a bit straight and rigid. I'm looking forward to your next post, and thank you for your comment on my sketchbook~

[gunnarsson]

What? you're 15? man thats something..
love the pencils, the style looks very nice. and I'm a big fan of skulls too, so thats a bonus right there!:)
I wonder where you'll be in 15 years... world domination perhaps? anywho keep the hard work goin and dont let our asspats make you soft.
if I'm expected to give some sort of crits, I would say that anatomy-wize you should work on (as said) hand and feet.
I'd like some more color pics too, workin on your colour-sense is important. so yes, might be something to try next.
hmmm, doin full out illustrations, experimenting with composition is fun too... anywho, good joobs,
cheerio

[Dile_]

Yippee-ka-yay motherfucker! Page 3 eh !?

Great stuff man, you develope your skills the right way, and it goes with confidence and very quickly!

Keep posting, cause we will be looking :)

-Dile

[AlexC]

Kronos: good observation, gahh I am so bad at feet and hands, I leave em till last then just forget to draw em better:(
Thanks bro, nice to see you back here.
Texahol: guess I should do some finished work, too much of a sketch guy though..
PidgeonKill: I like drawing skulls too, Mainly because they always look badass and imposing and a bit scary, I asked my Uncle to get me a human skull on loan from a university, think he has forgotten though.
Yosul Gongju: thanks for coming back:D
Yeah, Will take more consideration in the hands and feet, cheers
Gunnarsson: hee hee cheers buddy, Age isnt important, you prove that yourself you badass mofo, thanks petter, and keep up the good work in your desk thread:D
Dile: Yippi-Ki-Yay brothar!
Holidays
Will update way more often, hopefully wont get lazy,
Most of these are Rubens studies, He is one of my favs ever!
If you havent already, look at Justin Sweet's new work, www.justinsweet.com

[AlexC]

please sir, can I have some more?
certainly

[Dile_]

Very cool studies Alex! Nice to see you have the patience to do them, and do them so nice without any shit-rushing!

Keep it up man! Glad to see you draw a lot.!

-Dile

[Zebz]

I love the throwback / classical studies, man. Keep pushin' those pencils and values, man. This sort of crap is like the treadmill of drawing, heh. I'm really likin' what I'm seein' thus far!

[AlexC]

dile; thanks man, nice to see you posting:D
Zebs: cheers man

A still life, mostly painter, with a bit of PS

[aesir]

Your rubens studies knock me on my ass. Kickass work. I'm always way too lazy to do master copies. Definitely gotta change that. I'm lookin forward to what's comin next in your thread (it should be a dragon fighting an army of penguins).

[Dile_]

Good study! Saturate the color some more though, I think it looks a bit "dull"

keep it up!

[AlexC]

aesir: Master studies are really enjoyable, mainly because the subject matter is far more interesting than other things to study(anatomy etc), and you go through the thoughts of the artists, and get a sense of the decisions they made.( Dragon scene coming up next:P)
Dile: thanks for the tips, thats why I did the study, for colour light purposes and to get some feedback.

Marshall Vandruff interview(its awesome)
http://img670.libsyn.com/img670/76f45947e814cbfba99b9eaa6b06e91b/46946c37/2521/1162/fbr_395.mp3

some pages, mostly from life

[asoir]

ahh, that last update is fresh.
i can't leave a comment without an insult, so whats with the emo thread name? ;)
peace!

[Yosul_Gongju]

Tears in the typing pool? Love that song XD

Of course I come back, your drawings are delightful. Your pencil work is as delicious as always, and the colors you've chosen for the apple SP are very convincing and pleasing to the eye. Still though, I'm not getting off your back about the feet!

[SLIMEface]

hey , great stuff , your master studies have inspired me to do the same:).
maybe try and do something longer could help you improve faster , i cant talk though sketching is so fun:P.With the digi when using the small strokes try and make them go with the form a bit more.
keep it up .

[Magic Man]

ah, you have come far young lad, alas, the journey still stretches before you, but you're well on your way mate =)

[dextermcspice]

Excellent pencil work, your recent work really has me wanting to do some Rubens study s.

[Dile_]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=167276&stc=1&d=1184136606

be careful with this one and I'm sure it will turn out great! Take yoru time with the rendering that is :)

Looks bloody great man, I really like how you improve.. You've got some momentum hehe :)

[drd]

Same as above, that one immediately caught my attention, I know it's a master copy, but still. Liking it.

*thumbs up* Keep on keepin' on
=P

[archipelago]

damn bro, you keep putting us older folks to shame... stop it!!!


...


actually dont, I like looking at your stuff :(

[DanielC]

I Want More !!!!
lol
Keep drawing man, you're making me all depressed :s

[AlexC]

replies later, some quick self portraits, I have done half a dozen more and a few decent landscapes, but since I showed these to my friend, thought I may as well post em here-
Big post next time, been working on a lil project=)
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4215/42up9.jpg
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4841/41gj7.jpg
churs!

[Dile_]

nice portraits bro! You should update more often :)

[AlexC]

asoir: the thread name is just the first song on itunes when I selected party shuffle.
happy bday too bro:)
Yosul: you came back:D feet are hard, I need lifedrawing lessons.

Pylon: I am honoured I have inspired you to do master studies, they are addictive because they are obviously a lot more interesting than anatomy studies.

Magic Man: thanks for droppin' by Darren.

Dextermspice: Rubens is one of my favourite artists, imho he is better than rembrandt. btw, awesome sculptures in your thread

Dile: I wanted to keep that one line, so dont expect a rendered version in the future.

drd:danke

Archipelago: haha, you are kickass buddy, you make me look like every other amateur out there.

DanielC: haha, you are brilliant man, if Archipelago makes me want to draw, you make me want to stop drawing.
Dile: Yeah I should, thanks:)

News
Next week I am doing work experience at local artschool/atelier place, should be good.
I had a design phase a few weeks ago, I had planned to write about it some more, but I dont feel like it at the moment.

[AlexC]

there is more
saw an awesome exhibition today, artist was Anna Platten, who lectures at the place I will be next week:)

[AlexC]

MOar!

[AlexC]

try and stop me

[Dile_]

Holy shit an update! Nice sketches dude! Keep your pencil sharp!

[asoir]

platten seems good, nice stuff.
these thumbs are tiny! cmon, bigger!

EDIT WITH A CRIT:

pew, just noticed. in the dark sp in post 143, dont use white/grey highlights, doesnt work and flattens it out. use colours of the skin, but lighter and more saturated instead. yes, marco is actually critting

it's only cause i love you dawg.
*group hug*

peace!

[monsi]

really really nice line quality

great stuff.

[AlexC]

more dark and gritty self portraits, entitled teenage angst(actually I just like painting from a really dark canvas, instead of starting at midtones first

[tensai]

man - i see some really nicely rendered pencils with attitude, and some cool designed shapes with the tech stuff. doing real good man. keep at it.

[Liam Harvey]

now this is all types of awsome........!!!!!!!

[h2rra]

Enjoyed looking through your updates, you inspired me to do some master studies :)

Few crits: watch your perspective and construcion when drawing heads, very often the features are at wrong angles etc. And be careful when using pure black and white in colores pieces. In the last sps you could have made the face or background lighter to separate the face from the background.

I like your rendering and mech designs, cya

Edit:congratz on page 6 and forgot to subscribe :zzz:

[Dile_]

Really nice stuff dude! and thanks for contributing to my thread ; )

Keep the studying up.. I'm sure you will get awesome ( as in pro ) in a heartbeat once you figure out all the basics which you are doing in leaps now ! I love when people have strong foundations.. always make their work better on the technical side.. and when you slap on the creative... BOOM! awesome haha. Great stuff dude, keep working!! looks really good.

:)

[AlexC]

thanks for the comments, I appreciate it:)
Bioshock is the best game I have ever played^_^
I cant be stuffed scanning in the drawings from loose papers, so I will do that later

[DanielC]

Very nice update !
That's (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=195922&stc=1&d=1188714989) the kind of stuff that inspires me the most, hehe
The Caravaggio studies are very good, keep doing some if you see that it helps you. The quick enviros are good too, you get the most important parts in very few lines.
I see that you're working with line weight, try to keep the same thinking for the shadows/shading and you'll see everything will come by itself. Keeping the very darks only for a few spots gives alot of depth.
Keep working hard, and dont play too much !!!!

[Dile_]

I agree with Dan! Very good update! We discussed some issues on msn, and i believe you know what to do to improve hehe!

Getting good real quick! Keep it up, good sketches! Maybe more finished'ish stuff ?

[AlexC]

Thankyou for the critiques and comments, I really appreciate it:D

these were for a school project, the other ones are at school, btw the colour one scanned really badly, colours and texture came out weird:S

[smuli]

Your quick progress through working your ass off is very inspiring to look at. I really like your way of shading with swooshy lines and the rhythm it adds.

[N1ck]

Wow, I love your pencil shading. It looks really great, I couldnt really figure out how you do it yet. Your skulls and "humancreatures" look awesome.

The old woman's portait on the lower left looks good, just the colors on the upper right are a bit confusing.

Show even more, I think I can learn a lot.

[krossj]

Cool stuff Alex. The studies in Blue are looking really good. Maybe watch how you are handling the structure of the head in some areas (pages 3 and 4 in post 153) but the rest is handeld well.

Bioshock is a great game :)

Keep it up, Cheers

[Norwood]

sweet sketchbook man! i really like your lines, and shading, and just the way you draw. very unique.

[dhilipsomesh]

wow keep up man do more colors.............4star from me


my sketch book (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=72098&page=7)

[TheGnoll]

long time since my last visit here, man ...nice to see your improvement is steady...your style is still as personal and pretty mch unique as i remember it...studies look very good...but make sure you always keep in mind real anatomy and proportions ;)

keep sharing :)

ciao

[archipelago]

sexcellent
there is not much else to say really.

you are still 15?!? wont you EVER turn 16?

best 15 year old at drawing, evar.

[m0uS3r]

you are one of those artists from CA ... who i can give a crit post just some stupid ones whit a "NICE JOB WORD IN IT" because you are way better than me ... :))

i don't know what to say really just keep up the good work ... i really like ya studies ...

hope to c ya at my SB to give me some advice :)) ... cheers

[catalytic]

Love your work. I was wondering where you are learning? I am in Adelaide too, and have been contemplating some formal training. The only place I have found is the Adelaide Central School of Art.

[AlexC]

Smuli: hey man, how are you? Thanks for the comment, appreciate it

N1ck: as I said, colours tured out real weird on the scan, it was a sort of paint/texture experiment anyways, thankyou:)

krossj: thankyou fellow Rapture citizen! Liking your recent works too:)

Norwood: Thankyou, means a lot from you also

dhilipsomesh: thankyou very much, more colour work will come

TheGnoll: Thankyou Ryan, wish I was in Italy now:(

Archipelago: haha, thats very flattering, but there are far better artist's now and through history that kick ass. Picasso was a prodigy at 15, he could paint breathtakingly, my friends Dile and Wolfbane are incredible too:)

m0uS3r: thankyou, will get back to you in your book,

catalytic: hey man, nice to see a local too, I answered in your book about the training.

Ok arts, need a new moleskin, I bought the larger moleskin which came in a 3 pack, but was really disappointed, the paper is thin and doesnt hold any graphite, its worse than copy paper as well:(, done ink sketches in one from a trip to the port.
Other stuff is just trying to get better with paint( white acrylic and black gouche on brown paper), and doodles and doodats. Once I get a new moleskine, the real sketchbookery will recommence( I am broke>:| )

A lot of these are studies from artists through history, its a real mixed bag

Feel free to crit the crap out of it, I need it

[AlexC]

more to come, gotta run(30 images or so :confident )

[AlexC]

heres the rest

[MeTaL-Mike]

wow. these are great. nice an simple. amazing stuff man

[AlexC]

more inks

[Zynic]

Wicked stuff dude!
I wish that I could find anything to crit on those inks, but I'm too amazed to think properly xD

Keep up the good work, while I try to think of some crits ;D

[AlexC]

Thankyou sir Zynic
self portrait and a doodle

[tensai]

nice new stuff man - pencils as well as inks. the paintings are still a bit difficult to read for me. i don't know if what direction you want to go with them but personally, i think you could simplify them even more.

keep up the juicyness of it all,
cheers

[ciots]

ROFL your sp's are hilarious.
you just look so defenseless and emo.
love you really bro!
amazing stuff

[Miles_]

Awsome stuff. My best advice would be to keep doing what you're doing. Also, are those ink environments from life or photos or your head?

[Kresh]

Hey Alex! Just wanted to say that I stop by your thread often and watch with interest in your progress.

Your studies are coming along very nice and you seem to put thought and patience in your pencil work.

WIsh i would see more value variety though like what you had going on in the first page of your sketchbook. You seem very capable to producing some very interesting work.

[OBX]

killer stuff. wicked shape suggestions in those thumbnail environments. i really enjoy those seashell studies a couple posts back. ill be back to see more.

[House Hatke]

Wow, nice. I love the study of the Carravagio's crucifixion of S Peter -it's a good one for trying to get a sense of what's going on in the figures. St. P's head is slightly off, and it's the most important gesture in the painting. Plus I think his upper arm needs to be longer.

I love your loose inkwash studies. I wish I could do that kind thing.

[Magic Man]

Your feel with your pencil is becoming ever so much more apparent mate, amazed at how quickly you're improving.

Cheers, Daz

[AlexC]

just getting to next page to update-

[AlexC]

just getting to next page to update with some new stuff.

[AlexC]

Metal Mike: Danke sir!
Tensai: Thankyou very much, painting is a fickle mistress, if anyone has any tips they would be greatly appreciated, enjoying your work as well, I must remember to post in your book.
Ciots: haha, emo? More like Badass!
spazazo: they are mostly from photo's(the ones that look tighter) that I took on the river/port.
Kresh: thanks that means a lot to me, I was a bit unsure of what you meant in your last sentence "WIsh i would see more value variety though like what you had going on in the first page of your sketchbook. You seem very capable to producing some very interesting work."
OBX: thankyou
House Hatke: thanks for the tips=)
Magic Man: Thankyou Darren:)

Steve Kim started a mentoring class, this is my thread http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106857
On holidays for 2 weeks, leaving tommorow for vacation, coming back saturday, hopefully I will be productive and do lots of sketches.

Ok, here are the latest draws...

[AlexC]

the rest, thanks for looking
gonna dig up the rest in a minute

[AlexC]

a few more

[DARAF]

nice thread man , Keep going.

[Crush]

The skullhead in the polo shirt with the 3 stripes rocks so hard, the others arent bad either :P

Enjoy your holiday!

[AlexC]

Daraf, cheers mate
Crush: thankyou:), that skullhead is the first page of my new sketchbook, somehow the first page is always the best.

Back from vacation, inks from life, other stuff from head mostly
more in a sec..
Currently listening to
Radiohead/Thom Yorke,
The shins
30 seconds to mars and
ratatat....

[jdeegz]

awesome visual / mind's eye. Your simple pen works of the lift (wow i cant remember what they're called) and the street with the car are really inspiring.
i really love the values and line weight of your more recent inks. try putting some time into the leaves, doing it three or four times will greatly benefit you when you try to speed paint them. later!
-Jim

[TheGnoll]

excellent work man, you work had progressed so much...the lines feel very much alive, and the weirdness level is always very high ;)

keep up the good work ;)

ciao

[Don-key]

man i really admire your lines and pencil shading, would love to see
stuff bigger to really get an idea of how you work :D

[Noë]

Hi :)
I saw a Radiohead title sketchbook so I went over for a visit ofcourse ^^
I really like your lines, and the imagination in your sketches. Oh and it's cool that you use different materials :)

sorry I'm not in a critty mood so I guess this post is rather useless..
Love,
Marleen.

P.S. how are you enjoying Stevekim's class? :)

[D@niel]

Have to admit it was the radiohead title that caught my eye:) Glad it did! Great pevcil renderings and ink work, i like your economy of brush work and line weight.

[Thorvald]

Are those links on the first page really your SBs?? cause if they are, you just made me ashame of myself for not practicing enough. great evolution!

(sorry for the lack of constructive post, but after a month or so arround here and i`m still stunned with everything going on)

[AlexC]

Gah! Ca went down just as I was intending to update with this stuff-

Jim: thankyou, hmm, I dont know why I tend to rush the inks, especially when the slower ones look better. I have a sort of obsession with tree trunks, and usually dont end up painting the leaves, will try to include them in the next batch.

Ryan: thanks a bunch, weirdness is probably the best compliment I can get:P
Don-Key: hello mr Zealand, bigger stuff ey, will see what I can do..

Marleen: thanks:D Radiohead titles seem to be an eye catcher:P
Steve's class is going well, it also helps that he is one of my fav artists and he knows what he is talking about:)
thanks
D@niel: Gracias amigo!
Thorvald: Yeah, those links are my first sketchbooks, kinda embarrasing looking back at them. Thanks for posting dood

I am getting oil paints on saturday yay!

[DanielC]

yousexibeast

[Texahol]

you've got some really interesting things going on here :)
Glad to see you're still truckin'

CA seems to be going down a lot these days :< so much traffic!

[AlexC]

another awful painting over an awful ink

[smws]

Wow, great work here, you're inspiring! I especially like the inks of the harbor you showed a bit back... and I like all the weirdness. You're a skull fiend!

Also, you're really prolific. Wow. Good on ya. It would be cool to see how you're doing with color now...

[ccsears]

some really interesting stuff going on here! i like the ink.

[tensai]

great inks, love the monkey and some of those trees are really nice. keep it coming alex.

[Hurley]

Very interesting work, you seem realy motivated :)

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=210783&stc=1&d=1191207849
I realy like the rendering in this piece, good job

[ciots]

sup dud? enough with the radiohead madness!
cool work

[jenzi]

I truelly enjoy watching your sketchbook! your style is very fluent! I'll come back here again for sure!

[sony]

[portal] Wow your work is really cool, i loved your line work.

[Justin.]

my biggest crit; update more.
honestly, you are getting a huge variety of experiences in other mediums that I haven't had yet, you draw from life (but you could always draw more, your hands, sp's, etc.), and you really put alot of effort forward. There are really no outstanding "unsolvables" that I can see, except that you haven't updated for 20 days!!!

[DannySketch]

nice (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=215149&stc=1&d=1191887301), nicer (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=215145&stc=1&d=1191887259), nicest (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=215141&stc=1&d=1191887206)

always a pleasure to pop in here mate, forgive an idiotic question but what inks are you using?indian ink and then diluted for the lighter shades or is it some sorta brush pen combo?

[AlexC]

just reposting work that I did for my mentorship assignment

smws: thanks man, prolific? between bouts of procrastination( usually friday to sunday) I try my hardest to get a good solid 3-4 hours at night, but its hard when there are books to be read, things to be written, phantom hourglass puzzles to be solved. I cant wait for art school when you get a decent 7 or so hours of work.
Just rambling, but do people feel equally satisfied say, having a 3 hour drawing session, not pumping out a lot of decent work but feeling happy that they havent been lazy, or worked half the time and gotten a nice piece done?
Personally I feel best when I know I have done enough for the day, not done a nice piece.

ccsears: thanks man, I love your little gouche paintings:)
tensai: thanks very much for staying around, I really appreciate it:), wanna sketch trade@_@?
Hurley: thanks dood
Ciots: radiohead are great, slayer sucks!
Jenzi: thankyou for the vote of confidence!
Sony: thanks amigo!
Justin Oaksford: lol!
Danny Sketch: thanks man:D
The inks are indian ink, used with a brush( very rarely I use a nib, but they are hard/unreliable, and require constant redipping), I have a jar of water for diluting. You get accustomed to getting the various shades of tone using ink, very easily+ you can use it with pencil. Check out Lungbug's work-
http://lungbug.blogspot.com/
and check out his older sketchbooks on CA, his style has changed a lot, but he stills has mad skills

ok, this is just reposted work, seriously bust out the crits on the oil paints, they suck! I will post all the new work tomorrow, and get together some crap tonight and post it soon
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5181/45gh9.jpg
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8818/46gc1.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1378/47gh8.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/3470/50ao4.jpg

oil on masonite(from life)(tear these apart)
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/561/51mz1.jpg
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/6320/52za0.jpg

[AlexC]

here is some new stuff:)
lots of doodles, been doing a lot of painting too.

[AlexC]

double
birthday in 10 days woo

[InvertedChalupa]

hey dude! been lurking around this thread for many moons and think this my first time posting. great pen and pencil works buddy! couple crits on the painting since you wanted it ripped apart or what not:

the top of the bottle and the horizon line are creating a tangent. It kind of flattens the dimensionality of the piece.

the bottle looks a little funny. the lid seems as though it should be more eliptical and the glass area looks a little like it's "leaning"

the pine cone (way tricky subject matter btw) looks kind of formless. I think it's happening more because of your choice of colors and shapes. pine cones have a lot of complicated visual noise to them already so by adding lots of extraneuos colors coupled with ambiguous shapes, it's going to make it look confusing. try to be a bit more deliberated about the individual shapes of the pines and it will go a long way in looking like a convincing pine cone.

Thats my non-expert opinion at least : )
keep it up brosef!

[SLIMEface]

All your sketches are really nice and I really like the digital fighters.
The first oil painting has to much saturated blue I think and the cloth is covering up the subject to much , it almost gets lost in there. ~Second one try not to get so many grey darks. I think maybe some of your pencils need a little more contrast.

Keep it up.

[Miles_]

Lovely creative work here, I know nothing of oils so my crits would be useless. The pencils have a great loose sketchy feel to them but every now and then you might want to try finishing some stuff and keeping it really neat cos I reckon it would look awsome. Keep it up man.

[DannySketch]

i am trying to think of a better way of describing your pencil work rather than the lame 'they've got great energy' i really cant pin it down but in ur still life's ecspecially your hatching is great. cheers for the help with the inks as well mate.

[AlexC]

Inverted Chalupa
thanks man! Great crits, I appreciate it. You've got some great stuff in your sketchbook, love the illos, hows San Fran?
Pylon: yeah, I got some video crits from Steve Kim and I understand the flaws.
Spazazo: thanks man:)
DannySketch: thanks=)
Been learning more and more about oils.
Definately a great experience, going from square one up.
Every painting I am learning a bit more, and I think it has helped by bringing another dimension to my drawings(being more form conscious)
( can't find my camera, so I will post painting later)
my birthday is on wednesday=)

[AlexC]

painting

[bhanu]

you just kicked my ass virtually with that painting man.

Awesome.

[AlexC]

thanks Bhanu :)
Well, today is my birthday, I got an ipod, 2 canvas', the jon foster book and a new sketchbook:D.
I will post the latest paintings tomorrow:)

[chrishly]

wow alex, your work is very tasty.

keep on rocking, cos I´ll be back for more!

and happy birthday alex!

[DanielC]

Happy birthday man !!!

[AlexC]

chrishly-DanielC
thanks guys:D
finished 2 paintings, 1 is nearly finished
the photo's I took of one of the finished ones is hopeless so I wont bother.
Yes, I painted the same guy again, I like this version more than the monochrome one.

sorry for the bad photo

[el coro]

you are learning alot in these pages. you have a real nice ability for mark making. now its time to concentrate on putting those marks in the right place with more accuracy. you are ht or miss with your accuracy. develop that and you wont believe how much it will launch you forward. you have the tools to where you could prolly do this for a living eventually if you work hard and apply yourself. but your tools are still dull and rusty, you need to keep sharpening and oiling them shits. dont stop!!! ill be watching you :P-c36
edit- and those last paintings are kind of hurtin dude! try to use a larger brush and less marks. if you try to simplify to 2-3 values, and try to define the planes of the head with as few marks as possible, its gonna get you a lot further...give it a try...simplify...(damn i should copywite that :P)

[Orozc0]

wow. I can't believe how much you've improved in one year! It must run through your blood. We'll congrats and keep workin on those mastastudies. I'll be keepin an eye.

[Lukias]

Some of that marker work is flawless and shows confidence and flow.
Lovin those.
Re your oils, I second what el coro said. In some cases it looks like you might be trying to work too fast and with a brush thats far too small. Slow down some, use a brush that intially feels too big and think about your colours before putting them down. Theres some almost pure pigment in there, totally saturated. You're using white for highlights.. in reality virtually all highlights are of some colour and most nowhere near as 'light' as you think they are.
Having just started to use Painter I am coming to realise how digital can fast track your knowledge of colour, values blah blah, pretty much everything. Its ridiculous in fact(and I'm wishing I'd clued on to this earlier). So use it to your advantage.. paint the same piece digitally.. take notice of everything you've done(I think its perfectly acceptable to cheat if neccassary and colour pick some colours as these can give you "aha!" moments where you come to realise that you were interepreting things incorrectly), print it maybe and then paint your version in oils. Painting off of your own strokes will give you a better connection to the painting process(if the digi was done well). Or just paint the same ref in oils with your new found knowledge.
Just a thought thats all!
:)

[AlexC]

el coro: thanks so much man! I really appreciate it:)
0rozc0 : haha, a year is a long time, can't wait for the end of next year
Lukias: thanks for the comment. I think the digi+traditional is a good idea
I've done a few painting with your advice in mind (found the biggest brush my dad has) and painted a couple quick landscapes. I orded Alla Prima by Richard Schmid, hopefully he has all the answers:)
thanks Luke!

Well I really wanted to start a new sketchbook
I've been neglecting updating this thing, but I'm on holidays now, and do have the time to scan stuff in.
link=
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1576051&posted=1#post1576051

thanks to everyone who posted in here for the encouragement and advice.