ShardBook ***UPDATED TODAY***

[cout<mecha]

Nice place ya got there, thanks for dropping by my sketchbook. Real quality work you have going here.

[Shard]

more hands studies

[Shard]

putting those bargues to practice with some unref sketch from imagination..

[Shard]

a wip from ref

[Shard]

another that's been in this state for ages..I might finish it one day..

[_MOTH_]

i really like your landscapes
well done

[Shard]

thanks moth!!
there's some progress on that portrait

[Hendrix Coyote]

Grande!

If you run out of juice, like you said, just start to dipingere belle donne nude (da foto o dal vero), è quello che farò io tra pochissimo (alcuni esercizi per un po' di tempo già fatti 2 anni fa a matita) ora inizierà l'era del concept donna nuda design :)
utilissimo come painting exercise and to get your juice back :D

ciao!

[Tizzy]

Mmh enviros! That's one thing that scares me! You are doing an excellent work with them.
Also the other 2D stuff is becoming more and more convincingly. I think you have great skills! keep studying!
(thank you very much for stepping by my SB!)
ciao.

[drd]

Those digital bargue studies were really interesting; I'd never seen casts done on ps before (exact maybe for some stuff by zhang lu I think...) Very nice!

[Shard]

long time since my last update..been busy with various stuff hopefully ill find the time to finish the many things I have on hold..
this is a mix between photoshop and zbrush,I'm still tweaking the photoshop probably will end up being a bit different but here's a WIP..

[Shard]

and the final I guess..hope you like!! :)
I'll post some screens of the model and a turnaround later..

[kingkostas]

Great work in overall mate.Your enviros are looking awesome.Nice modeling.Btw for some reason i like the #279 version.Maybe the black background adds more contrast in a strange manner.
Keep up the good work and thnx for stopping by my sketchbook :)

[revenebo]

How it happened I didn't see this page 10 in the last two months?? The portrait in the first post is great and the zbrush monster is scary (as it's supposed to be). About your environments: I remember your buddhist temple on mars of about one year and a half ago, it's evident comparing it to your last environments that the difference in quality is huge. You've improved so much in quality and confidence.

[Shard]

:D lol agostinuke!! grazie Tizzy!!

thanks Kostas! I see what you mean, previous one has the green shading that defines everything out and was making it look a bit too "gummy"..the neutral lighting was bothering me as well, so I decided to go for a more mysterious look..
I'll probably take a few more shots from different angles anyway so I'll get to play with it a bit more! :)

grazie revenebo!! yeah i dislike most of that picture now hehe.. doing characters and anatomy helped a lot in general, lately i've started a traditional clay sculpt and i'm practicing oil painting, takes time to learn the media but hopefully its gonna help on the digital side too.

[jeremygordon89]

great work, and you've improved a lot since 2007. keep up the awesome stuff. I really like the Bargue studies you've been doing.

[TheGnoll]

last model is awesome man! love the technique, can't wait to see you do some more characters like that one!
how's life going? sure you're working your ass off as usual, and it shows!

keep 'em coming!
ciao

[Peetaer]

the masked dude on the first page inspired me to do one myself. rock on dude!

[Qikalain]

its funny to see how many people actully are inspired by bringmans style^^ (looking at the hand studys)


i really enjoy to see your sculpure studys. do you have a link or something.. or do you study them from reallife? i really like to study some of them myself, looks like you can learn alot about shapes volume of shapes.

really talent and precise keep on working =)

[cout<mecha]

That is lookin' mighty tasty! Yum yum! Nice Shard!

[Hellfire]

Awesome work man!
Totally 5 stars!
By the way, I did the same studies you did. From Bridgeman and Charles Bargue book. hehe
Cheers mate!

[Shard]

finally some activity on this thread..I was starting to feel lonely :P

jeremyg0rd0n: thanks dude, Bargue is a must for anatomy!!
TheGnoll: grazie!! Life is not that great at the moment actually..some uncertainty at work dont help to keep a productive mindset..on top of that with my luck I managed to wreck my car enough for the insurance to go berserk on the next bill..and loads of excess to pay..
hopefully i'll manage to sort a decent portfolio out, sell everything and move on. :)
Peetaer: haha yeah I really like Gasmasks..I should draw more of those!! :P glad to have inspired you!
Qikalain: thanks dude the casts are from Bargue's drawing course, they are all in the book, I dont have any link but i'm sure there is quite a few plates online.. definately worth getting the whole book! plenty of reference for any body part!!
cout<mecha,Hellfire thanks a lot guys :D

here's another view of the freak and some more experiments in photoshop for the final composite.

[B-Man]

Kickass!!! Love how slimey it looks. Cheers mate!:) All you get is asspat today! sry for that.

[Shard]

moar!

[coldrum]

Great studies :) cheers for stopping by my sb

[Manuel G. Aquino]

Very cool work, I like the environments a lot. :)

[jatherip]

DISGUSTING!! well, thats positive in thise case i think :D
keep at it!

[Shard]

thanks coldrum, manuel, jatherip
this was a test pose i kinda liked, I thought i'd make one last render of it..

[monotony]

damn that thing looks scay! :)
and very good work on the poses.

[Euphemism]

Loved the anatomy studies on the previous page, as well as your backgrounds and layouts! Thanks for reminding me that I have to take up Z-Brush REAL soon. :)

[Michαλis Vareλiαs]

Sick work here, well done! Really neat textures and concepts, I loved your characters so sinister though mindless, well done, your anatomies were interesting as well, keep it up!

[Surion]

this sketchbook is simply amazing!
Looking at your work just gives me the shivers + some weird motivation boost that makes me just wonna draw, and improve hopefully :D

can't wait to see more

[bombchu]

Omigod, I forgot how great you were! Ah~ So amazing! I'm amazed :)

[davK]

hey there, I really like the organic look of the model, its great :)

[meticulous]

Whoa - I just went back through the z-brush photoshop stuff - GREAT imagination and awesome job! You really had some fun with this! Keep em coming!

[Shard]

hey there :) ..long time no post, thought i'd update this SB as well..
hope you like!

[Dope Fiend]

!!!! Excellent update!

So many ideas here, great to see you're back in action, coming back strong as well!

THe atmospheres and enviros look great, nothing from me on this last update, just try to keep pushin yourself.

[ladyknowles]

All of this is bloody great! Love those faces! Keep posting cos this stuff is just so inspirational!

[Shard]

thanks a lot ladyknowles and Dope Fiend!! :D
this is another speedy I just finished

[NickyBeats]

sick stuff man!! i love all the digital stuff, and those 3d models are ill man!!! keep it up!

[brentos8]

Daaaannggg man!, those last posts nice!, I have to go back and let some of that soak in.

Keep it comming>

[Shard]

thanks a lot brentos8 and NickyBeats.

here's another study for today

[dana brancucci]

Some really strong stuff coming out of these last couple updates! Really into your environments. Keep posting!

[aozorize]

Wowww I'm awed!! Your zbrush stuff, really great slimy effect. Your environments are fantastic as well. btw, I think I spy shinkawa-inspired sketches? He's one of my all-time favorite game designers, was really excited to see those haha :D

[Devo]

You got a style that i'm dying to achieve, it all is just so captivating. Telling a real story. Keep it up, subscribed ;)

[Shard]

thanks a lot dana!!

aozorize: thanks yes I was after shinkawa on those sketches, experimenting designing with a very high contrast and lost edges! I actually learned a lot of anatomy from those, the shadow areas especially on the face tend to form patterns that repeat themselves often, so its good to memorize that and use it to carve the features in.

Devo: thank you I'm still playing with this rougher style as well, trying to get away from the clean photoshop look. lots of textured brushes help get rid of it, but then it starts looking like textured photoshop brushstrokes :) so the markmaking itself needs attention in order to hide this. I still need a lot of work on this..

here's something else I'm calling done

[Shard]

another speedy

[Nengrana]

great work!

[GEB]

Awesome SB, your enviros are amazing! And your progress is inspiring to see. I love that massive thing trying to get through those doors

[Shard]

Nengrana: thanks!
GEB: thanks, that thing is a cthulhu inspired illustration! I should be writing a making of at some point but I can never find the time..

anyhow this is an earlier concept that I always liked but its pretty old now so it needed revisiting and I thought I'd give it a go..
hope you like!

[Fetsch]

great enviros dude, the last one turned out particularly cool.

[Shard]

cheers Fetsch!!

here's today's speedpaint.

[Aryeh]

wow dude, keep it up. really like that last one!

[NickyBeats]

sick updates man!! this fish pond speedpaint is ridiculous! awesome!! and i love the colors in that last enviro!!

[Shard]

thanks a lot lolbbq and nickybeats!
here's somewhere i've been lately. ;)

[Mawh]

Hey man, thanks for passing by my sketchbook ! As I said on CGTalk, your farming unit is really cool, there's awesome atmosphere to it. Nice bright lighting on the last one ; is it an ark, or some seaship ? I like the fishes too - nice depiction of the water surface and underwater "blurriness".

[brodywms]

Wow, great stuff here. Loving your character concepts and your cityscapes. You have a nice style that seems to flow smoothly throughout your work. Thanks for sharing with us

[Shard]

thank you Mawh and brodywms!

this one is about pain.
the kind of physical pain that suddenly grabs a hold of you and you seem powerless to do anything about.
you cant move, cant breathe, cant see past this insurmountable obstacle.

if anything, at least the codeine was good..

[Featheredface]

..Amazing.

[Mawh]

I'm not fan of the colors or the lighting on this one but it has definitely a great dynamism !

[raminafshari]

those fishes are truly beautiful .

[Shard]

Featheredface,raminafshari,mawh: thank you for your comments, I really appreciate it! ^^

here's some 3d..a bit of a test render for metallic paint in mental ray.

[Shard]

todays speedy

[Farquad]

Good gourd, explain to me how this SB isn't five stars yet! You obviously know your way
around a tablet. The only helpful critique I can offer is maybe your colors get little washed
out in places? (more so the landscapes). I feel like the atmospheric perspective is getting
a little over-exaggerated. ;) Cool shiz tho man, keep trudging on!!

[NickyBeats]

yea man, those speedies are super tasty!! very dynamic, and eye catching! very nice edges and brush control, and the colors compliment your themes very well! keep it up!

[Velocity Kendall]

holy fuck this is some cool work
5*

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=725727&stc=1&d=1247763352

[cout<mecha]

I'm glad I stopped by for this update. Your work is looking really good. Did you model that car? What app are you using? I am loving the textures!

[Parsakoira]

these speedpaints are kicking some serious butt!

[Shard]

Farquad: thank you! yeah I tend to like my fog sometimes I can be heavy handed with it! ^^

cout<mecha: thank you! I just needed something quick to set up the shader, the model is a free one from turbosquid altough I had to modify it as they're usually pretty bad.

render is in maya/mental ray with final gather.

NickyBeats,Velocity Kendall,Parsakoira: thanks for stopping by, glad you like!! :D

here's some more quick sketches:

[ThomasM]

WOOOOOOAH haha many I've been on CA for ages and not seen this sb before! All of these paints are good, but some of them have just blown me away. The fish "speedpaint" is incredible in particular.

Nothing to crit, as I'm nowhere near the level to comment constructively, but just keep doing what you're doing and I'll be back

[Dope Fiend]

I'm just gonna go ahead and agree with Thomas here. No words, just keep this up, cause you're fucking awesome!

Oh, i'm curious, how did you go about learning how to model that car? I've seen many tutorials, etc.. but i haven't had the time to delve into any of them..any recommendations?

have some stars, you deserve them. subbed as well.

[Ikage]

I like where this sketchblog is going. Keep up the fantastic work!

[tobbA]

Lots of cool stuff in here. Great use of textures :)

[REONIN]

Excellent men, nice enviros and the paintings are pretty solid

[Goran Radosevic]

shard-man, respect
i'll tell you what I said to some more people out here, it's really impressive to say at least, to jump from the first page of your skb to the last one and see how much progress you made by now.

i love your characters, but what really gets me are your environments, sick and powerful, post #319 is whoaaa

[Shard]

ThomasM: thank you!!

Dope Fiend,Ikage,tobbA: thanks!! I find the succession of your posts with your avatars quite amusing..its like a band or rocking people just stopped by..wooo!! \m/ :D
dope fiend: I didnt model the car as I just needed to quickly set up the shader for something, but I was a long time modeler before getting into concepts..good resource nowdays are all the gnomon videos.
back in the day when i learnt all that stuff was mainly by reading guides on the web and asking people on cgtalk.com how certain things were made. some good tutorials on modelling on 3dtotal.com as well.

shadow1687,Goran Radosevic: thanks a lot!!

more sketches:

[raminafshari]

i like the texture .

[Shard]

raminafshari thank you!

another one I started to try something different with the lasso technique but ended up nothing like what it started..oh well.

[Shard]

playing with some characters..

[PeteJ]

You are one amazing concept artist, I can only hope if one day I can be half as good as you are.

[mangabiz]

grate work lets chat up this thread

[Shard]

wow Pete..thanks!! I just keep trying..some manage to come out alright sometimes ^^

mangabiz: thank you! :)

this is another sketch i did today..

[Shard]

really busy but managed to do these on some spare time..

[Sibby]

Your work is really inspiring! I love the story some of your images tell and the way you use color! Keep the awesome work up!

[Shard]

thank you Sibby!
here's one I did today:

[Shard]

next gen indoor growing :yum:

[Yor]

looking good! really like the mechsuit and the las batch of enviro's. tighten some edges up , some less small pointless brush strokes and BWAM, awesomeness!

keep it up!

[Shard]

thank you Yor!! :)

[NickyBeats]

seriously nice updates man!! i love those environments!! the lighting, and brushwork is sweetness. gotta stop by here more often.

[Danny_K]

the chick with the gun is sweet! good idea I think the execution would be more powerful if you would paint her hand holding the gun down on the sit getting ready to do something, would create more tension and interest. good sketchbook!

[Shard]

thanks a lot for stopping by and the nice words NickyBeats and Danny_K! :D
I totally agree with your suggestion Danny wish I had thought about that when i was doing it!
anyhow..here's another I just finished:

[cout<mecha]

hey Shard! Digging the environments as usual. Very slick stuff. Have you ever done any game dev stuff with your skills? I just slapped together a bare bones 3D style robot shooter over the past couple months. I'd love to get your input on some possible level designs for this!

http://www.vigalpha.com/unity/WebPlayer.html

You need a plugin to play it...
Cheers
<<mecha

[Kiwee]

Woa, i love that noisy rendering you have. Your environments are really cool, i wish i could play with color like you do! Is it possible to see a step by step ? (I'm sorry if you posted one before, i will watch your entire sketchbook..)

[Shard]

thanks mecha! yeah I've been working in games for the past 6 years.
the game seems quite fun already plenty of potential, keep at it!! In terms of levels I would go for big arena type settings with lots of obstructions and places for cover or hiding..the bots seems to jump quite high so maybe even play with different levels or height of platforms..a game like that could use pretty much any kind of open environment really, could be a city/street, industrial sites, high tech hangars, what have you..as long as you dont stick those in narrow corridors you're fine! :)

thank you Kiwee I wrote an article some time ago for 3dtotal you can find a bit of a step by step here (http://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/photoshop/makingof_call_of_cthulhu/making_of_call_of_cthulhu_01.php) I'll attach the progress gif here too.

and another painting I just finished to try a different approach and techniques..

[Kiwee]

different approach and technique? Well, it's a killer painting too, waw.
Thanks a lot for the link, will check that now !!

[revenebo]

You resurrected your sb!!!!!! Amazing progress man... really amazing. Your environments kick ass! (and I love the Cthulhu piece...)

[Shard]

thanks Revenebo and kiwee!!
another sketch from imagination for today:

[Lang Oulk]

damn...just, damn. i am so happy i stumbled upon this sketchbook, it is beyond inspiration...your environments are so believable, when you put characters into them it really gives off the feel that somewhere it exists... anyways, only praise from me sir, cheers!

[Shard]

Hey thanks Lang! ^^ glad you like!

here's another one:

[Shard]

another one just finished..playing with a more painterly look

[gunsbins]

Wow, damn nice SB, cool environment, I've learned a lot from your stuff, sir. If you don't mind, please have a look at my SB and leave some critiques, thanks.

[NickyBeats]

sweet updates man!! you have a real knack for enviro paintings! great scenes!!

[raminafshari]

i am shocked , these environments are magnificent .

[bebbo]

wow these enviroments are baaaam
are you using pen sketches ?

[paranoiak]

your environments are awesome!!!!!i'm jealous

[Shard]

gunsbins,NickyBeats,raminafshari,bebbo,paranoiak: thanks a lot!! :D

bebbo: usually I do most of my stuff in photoshop, althought i'm trying to ramp up with traditional paper and pencil,charcoal and pens..still way more comfortable with photoshop though.

here's this demon thing I was playing with today

[Shard]

meh..another random sketch that didnt quite work out:

[Jephyr X]

Cool sb! Lotza imaginative enviros, characters and paintings etc.

[Vulgar`]

Goodness gracious... how have I never checked out your sketchbook before? Your enviros are breathtaking, seriously. I love your technique, colors and imagination. Great sketchbook - bookmarked.

[Ogihara]

A to the Mazing..... Your'e truely one gifted and hardworking artist, I have yet to see anything from you that I dislike.... Shit this is... Arg... SUBSCRIBED

[takashmen]

awesome enviros and characters, really inspiring works!!

[Hazart]

Exellent work! I love your loose painting style, creativity and use of light and colors. Keep rocking!

[Eightball_]

sweet concepts and lighting man! your enviros in the previous pages are top notch.

[Shard]

Jephyr X,Vulgar,Ogihara,takashmen,Hazart,Eightball_ thank you for watching and stopping by to leave a comment!! really appreciated! :rocker:

been focusing a bit more on character stuff lately, here's one I just finished:

[enthombed]

awesome this last piece of painting.

keep posting

[Ros1]

Amazing progress. And great enviros, real inspiration. Waiting for more ;)

[Shard]

thank you enthombed and Ros1

here's another one:

[dan liimatta]

Wonderful pieces esp. the envos. & I left a trail of thanks from page 13 to 7 ~ the sci-fi ones are just delicious.

[NickyBeats]

yea, i really love this latest one. great colors, love the range, and how you kept them nicely desaturated and not overpowering.

[Shard]

thanks a lot dan and NickyBeats! :rocker:

here's another similar one:

[Mike L]

First time I've had a chance to enjoy your SB...unbelievable environments! Absolute command of the work, I'm inspired!
Looking forward to following your work...
Best,
-M

[Shard]

thanks a lot Mike!! :D

here's a post apocalyptic survivor:

[dan liimatta]

The attire on the character is nice, but the post feels a bit forced.

& A very nice environment again - like your pastel colours and light futuristic moods.

[Shard]

thank you dan, yeah that pose was a little awkward ..
probably pushed the pose a bit too much for this one as well..really hard to find a reference so I kinda improvised it, but oh well its sort of finished now.

she's an oracle and uses water to see into the future.
hope you like..

[obier]

Yeah, you got incredibly good & painterly environments.

[Dope Fiend]

Really like the enviro from post 367, i'd be very interested to see this technique explored a little more, maybe even try a character in the same fashion. Shrug, I'm just rambling, great progress on all fronts, keep it up :)

[Shard]

thanks a lot Dope and obier!
there is something that bugs me with the anatomy of the last one and I can quite put my finger on it, let me know if you have any crits or if something feels weird.I might try and fix it at some point.

[NickyBeats]

i think its her legs. specifically how her knees are aligned up together. i think maybe if her left (our right) knee was lowered, and pushed back. sometimes its overwhelming how our minds want things to line up, but in reality they really wouldnt, it would be very uncomfortable with that twist in the pose. but it looks great, lighting and color are very nice!

EDIT : : woop! i guess it really IS overwhelming because i just realised that they DONT line up! WOW dont i feel like a horses pe tute. ill leave this one to the artists who arent retards...

[htkpeh]

very nice improvement
i like your stuff
keep up!

[Juki]

I like the crispiness and textures! those water ripples are very well executed in that oracle piece. In my opinion the pose fits this image because I get the feeling that she is twisting and contorting in the water, works for me anyhow :)

[Shard]

thanks a lot Nicky,htkpeh and juki! :D

heres a psycho:

[p sage]

Great thread! It was especially fun to see the leap forward you made starting this year.

Everything is looking much more solid. This enviro (http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1143497&stc=1&d=1294922167) and this character (http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1220393&stc=1&d=1303945169) are particularly inspiring to me.

This girl (http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1276137&stc=1&d=1310509107) (and the last couple of female characters) seem to have some perspective issues... they have that Glenn Vilppu, small-head-stretched-torso look to them. The stylization is fine, but have a look at the perspective... esp on the one I linked. Foreshortening would help out that pic a lot.

Watching this thread now. Thank you! :sungod:

[Kvenh]

Good stuff! Loving the latest enviroment

[Rhubix]

Really fun paintings, I really like your use of lighting and colours :)

[yongs]

Hey nice stuffs you got here! especially those awesome environments!
Just a quick qns: Do you fix a color template or already have those colors in mind for those environ? or you kinda just add in the complementaries in the midst of painting?
Really inspiration thank you :)

[Zikes]

Wow, the feelings you got in your paintings are breathtaking! I love it.

[Mila]

Checking out some of your latest pages. There is so much brilliance in here!
One of which I like a lot is in post #300. Beautiful concept.

I'm deffinitely going to take my time and check out the rest during my next lunch break!

[Shard]

thank you very much for stopping by Mila,Zikes,yongs,Rhubix,Kvenh and p sage!! :D

yongs: more often than not I start in black and white and add color later, other times I just jump in with color and value straight away but its getting rarer this days.. I like worrying about the values and colors separately!

here's another one I started some time ago but I really need to abandon now, it turned out a lot more difficult than I thought..
it has its issues but its been good fun!! its my take on the major arcana death (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_(Tarot_card))card.

[Shard]

another quick one..meh

[Shard]

:sungod:

[Jorge Gecov]

Outstanding stuff! Congrats!
Some images reminds me James Paick work.

Cheers,

[insane lemur]

really like the atmosphere of the last one!

[focus_light]

That is insane! really like ur color!

[Shard]

thanks a lot focus_light, insane lemur, Jorge Gecov!! :D

an attempt at an alienish creature:

[Mawh]

Nice morphology and pleasant colouring ! The legs are these of a grasshopper, and its face reminds me of Thane Krios, from Mass Effect.

[Mr. Bean]

Great work, I think environments are your strength :D

[Shard]

thanks a lot mawh and Mr. Bean!! :)

another enviro I finished recently:

[Shard]

something I just "finished".. :)

[Shard]

some stuff I've been sketching in the past few days. trying more crosshatchy shading.

[Mawh]

Hey,

your companion mech is very nice. I like how the whole image looks like an experiment on coloration - it's not like your lights were white and your shadows grey; everything is lightly and diversely tinted. The older environment you posted has a great depth, and quite a sense of scale. I'm always interested in seeing higher resolutions than this, though. Oh, and thanks for passing by. :)

[NickyBeats]

really nice updates man!! cant get enough! i love your landscapes!

[Jorge Gecov]

Great updates, thanks for the comments on my sketchbook!

Cheers,

[Shard]

Hey thanks Jorge,NickyBeats and Mawh!

here's something i was playing with recently..trying to push the lines a bit more!