MerMuse Sketchbook

[mermuse]

More Upstairs Downstairs sketches...



and something completely different...





These sketches represent a new direction for this sketchbook. I'm starting to expand my focus from just drawing from life/reference to drawing from my head as well.

This weekend I spent a lot of time drawing from several of the gnomon DVD's and I came up with some great stuff (copies mainly). Later my girlfriend asked how the technique worked so I quickly sketched a few fighting robots. I was blown away by the results. The two robots I sketched had so much life and personality to them. About an hour later I lost them when I accidentally saved over the file. I was devastated... I felt like I'd lost a close friend. I tried desperately to recreate them but even though I could get the shapes and details right the new sketches never had the same spark of life. The main thing I learned this weekend is that if I stop getting hung up on the fact that I'm no good at drawing from my head and just have fun playing with shapes and forms as I draw I can actually come up with some interesting stuff.

I realized it was silly to morn the loss of those two robot designs because I've never liked drawing robots or vehicles... and I decided to try out the new techniques I'd learned on something I actually have a passion for... characters. So the sketches above are some quick roughs for a game design I'm playing around with. It’s a violent sports game played with larger cricket bats and a human skull.

I will still draw from other reference in the future but I hope to always do some quick sketches where I use what I’ve learned from those studies to create something original.

[Ryu]

nice stuff, i'm sure you'll come with some great stuff, im watching more than ever !

BTW, what dvds of gnomon do you have? and found interesting ?

I understand so much you're feeling, it just like me. I lack of confidence. One week ago, i made some little thing, black and white. My teacher liked it a lot, it gave me a punch, and i have 3 others, i think better already, and soooo much fun !
With technique, you become good, but without confidence, you're nothing.
Funny thing heh?

[mermuse]

Let’s see...

I sketched from Scott Robertson vol1: basic perspective form drawing
and Feng Zhu vol 1: design process fighting robots.

They both had lots of great tips in them but I found the design process DVD much more helpful (I don't do perspective drawing very often). The process is very free and intuitive... just playing with shapes, balance and repetition. It’s great for getting over hang-ups and fears. I sketched along with both the DVD's. That was the best part because I can't learn from reading books or watching lectures I only learn from doing things. It was exciting because I would be drawing along with Feng and about the time that I would start thinking that a certain part of the design wasn't working was usually about the same time that he would erase it and try something else. It’s so helpful to see other artists work evolve.

I'm going to be looking at some of the digital matte painting DVD's this week...

[mermuse]

some sketches from the Agent44 sketchbook...



I like these characters (they have a lot of personality) and I'd
like to play with them some more and maybe create a scene...

[stewart one]

cool stuff!

[van]

Geez, man. Your stuff just blows me away. I love it.

[mermuse]

from last night...





I'm not sure how I feel about this painting. I was trying to
stay loose and just focusing on color but I think
my edges and proportions suffered a bit because of it.

[mermuse]

digital painting test...



This started out as a quick sketch from the Iguana (a comic by Mandrafina).
I liked the pose and mood so much I decided to try and paint it. I started off just trying to find some flesh tones that had the right mood to match the pose and then I found a Dan Brereton painting that had the right mood and a background that added more story to the image so I used it as inspiration. In the Brereton painting there is a female super hero in the foreground and in the background the cityscape is lit up by a bunch of rocket ships taking off. In my version there is a scruffy looking male superhero in the foreground getting drunk while the city burns behind him.

[Francis]

Great stuff here, M. It's cool to see how you use other artists as reference - the breadth of styles here is impressive, definitely can't pin you down to one style. I miss seeing your new life paintings. Keep it up!

[mermuse]

Here are some digital pirate sketches from drawing club last night....




This is the best theme ever! It took a while to loosen up but once I did
it was really fun. I cant wait to paint this theme...

[mermuse]

Here's another one....

[Victor B]

Those latest digi paints are really looking nice, very loose and energetic!

[mermuse]

Here's a little digital sketch based on "the King of Bandits" comic...

[Ryu]

Last one is from imagination ?
It s really good...
Nice life drawings, but how can you made these in digital ? got a tablet PC ?
I like the marker one also though...
Nice stuff anyway,

cya

[mermuse]

Ryu- No the last one is from a Manga called "king of bandits".
I changed it up a bit but its still not original. That painting and
the new one below are studies to help me with an original
project I'm starting this week. I did a photoshoot over the
weekend for reference to help detail the illustrations of the
characters I'm working on for a fantasy sports game.

I looked at some tablet PC's but I was never happy with the
responsiveness of the pens that come with them... they are
obviously designed for writing instead of drawing. I have a small
vaio laptop and a small intuos3 wacom tablet. I set the tablet on
the keyboard of the laptop and then use the buttons on the
intuos for my hotkeys. It works pretty well now that I got a large
capacity battery.


This is my sketch from last night. Its from Mathieu Lauffray's
Proto 2003 book.

[Ryu]

Very nice stuff, can't wait to see the illustration !

[van]

Wow, man. Blown away...thats all I can say. No crit, sorry. Maybe next time you will give me something to beat you down with?

[mermuse]

from last night...



I prefer the pose in the sketch but the model
kept moving so I had to change it.

[mermuse]

Here's my first pass at the colored concept for my fantasy
sports game. The sport is a mix of rugby, hockey, American
football, and gladiator combat. The figure is doing a salute to
the judge. There is a judge that presides over the game and
often decides who lives and dies so players always make sure
they salute the judge before stepping on the field.



I still want to change a few things before doing the final.
The arms and legs have a better flow and rhythm in the
sketch and I'm still not happy with the bat. The players
use something that is a cross between sword and a cricket
bat.... right now it looks and feels too much like a sword so
I really need to nail down what I want it to look like.

[mermuse]

Here's the second one....



I think this one is a little more successful. The bat feels more like a cross between a sword and a cricket bat and it also looks big enough to hit a skull with. The only thing that really bothers me is the skull. I ordered a skull as a prop but it hasn't arrived yet so I had to do that one from my head.

here's the original sketch...

[artkitty]

this fantasy sports stuff is a really unique and interesting concept. Looking forward to more :3

[mermuse]

first attempt at doing a digital painting from life...

[mermuse]

Quick sketches from hellboy sketchbook and
Jon Foster's Progressions to work on my
digital brushstrokes.

[mermuse]

from drawing club last night...

[Praetorian]

Nice work dude... keep on posting... making me happy

[mermuse]

Sketches from "Allo Allo" (an old BBC comedy)



And a second pass on one of the fantasy sports characters...



I'm really happy at the implied line between the shadow
along the top of the skull and the cloth across the chest.

The cast shadow on the ground is going in the wrong
direction for the lighting but compositionally this shadow
direction works best so I think I'll leave it.

[mentler]

This is to inform you that you are a dude of the first order and remain in good standing with the Brotherhood of Dudes.

Few are chosen

[mermuse]

more "allo allo"

[Pesmerga]

How come you don't have 5 stars??

[mermuse]

even more "allo allo"