MarkBehm's book

[MarkBehm]

Finally decided I gotta put up a sketchbook. I feel like I can put roughs up here and get feedback. Yes? Nobody wants to crit on blogs. Overall and specific C&C are most appreciated!

First (not the icon) is for a forum called drawerGeeks. Topic: create-a-sith. The other is my first oil sketch in years.

[Dan Valkar]

hey nice start...the sith its cool....ur paintin' style its nice...mm.. i think that the lightnin' source, in this case, the lighsaber, should be more intense in the pants and feets...nice job man!...now keep postin'!!!

[joaKimArt]

Good start here. Pretty odd thing the second one ^__^. Haha. Cool though. Seems like you have good potential. Seeing forward to more of your work.

[Stoat]

Whoa! More!

[zeroe]

The arm with a face! That's genius! I think you've got a good sense of drama in your works, good lighting and dynamic poses so far....hope to see more :D

[Halfmonk]

As the others said - More please!
I love the lighting and colours in the sith one. I will be keeping an eye on your sketchbook! :-]

[MarkBehm]

Thanks guys!
DValkar - totally. Shoulda spend more time. Sooo late at night on that one tho.
Stoat - crazy trad stuff!! More more more!

A doodle+Lunchtime-lifedrawing at work from 2 dif sessions. 1 3 and 5 minutes all vine and/or compressed charcoal. Focusing mostly on massing in form and shadow rather than gesture. Charcoal is frightening and unfamiliar to me but I love how some people make it look!

[ghoulio]

A one bodypart creature!!...cool. Like your studies to, they´re ALIVEEEeee...

See ya...

[Alex Alexandrov]

niceeeeeeee post more sketches and you got 5 stars from me then :)

[spudstudios]

Really nice stuff!!! love those studies. so natural. What a nice suprise this morning!

[MarkBehm]

Alex: Woohoo! Thanks!

Lunchtime quickie paint (drawing yesterday) Anatomical problems abound. This is one area I need to do more foundational work in.

I want to write down my current goals so I have something to look back on...

Anatomy
_Hands & Feet - structure and value study
_truer understanding of the shoulder girdle

Man-made/mechanical

Environmental

[Tigermilk]

looks awesome! vibrant lines and great knowledge in values and anatomy!
me likes big time!
/tiger

[MarkBehm]

Acrylic sketch on watercolor paper from last night.
I've only ever dabbled in acrylics and never dry-brush. It was really fun! From time to time I plan to dip into them like this. Maybe even color someday.

And yeah, I really wussed out on the neck.

[Dan Valkar]

nice update!..this sb its gettin better faster....good job on the last two...keep it up bro!

[Christian223]

Woooowoooweeewaaaa, amazing, you know what could be even more awesome and cool?, to show your process, maybe a video or something like snapshots, maybe im asking too much?, i dont loose anything by trying :D, keep posting you awesomeness!.

Edit:
Im no expert, so feel free to ignore the following critique.

On your last work, the forehead of the guy has a very pronounced curve, making the head look more like a triangle than an enlarged "box", i think this is because the values that are in the zone of the eyebrows are not maintaned in the forehead, but go much darker than they should, as if their angle almost didnt face the light, as the eyebrow zone faces the light, also, it has no projected shadows-', on the nose, neck, mouth, eyes?. Also, the outline make it look as if it where a relief, and not 3d object in a 3d space... the guys face (image on the above post, the one with the girld) looks kind of a relief too. As is said, feel free to ignore, im an amateur in all this.

[daveneale]

I remember one of your pieces from a while back...I love your work man, very cool stylisation (Im going to take a while to go through the weath of stuff on your site too...some crazy awsome stuff on there...the only crit I have is that in the 1st piece the character doesnt sit all that well in the background...the shadows on the grond look way too light compaired to the ones on the sith..the black outline is also distracting (It looks like you cut him out from another pic), Love his surface piercings though.

[myjkolada]

I like the way you draw figures... nice outline...

[mrpank]

Awesome awesome work, great concept designs and line
cheers

[AztcFireFlower]

Cool stuff. Like your color sketches and found your blocked in figure work very interesting and fresh!
I'm keeping an eye on this book.

[El Jeremie]

Lovely start.
Love the pose of the Puncher, and the arm-thing is....disturbring.
Those wet eyes and sad look almost make me cry

[MarkBehm]

Dan, myjkolada, myjkolada, AztcFireFlower, spookybabydoll : Thanks!

Christian : Don't need to be an expert to have an objective eye. I think you're right in a sense! There is a bah relief thing going on. Crushed value range and inconsistant lighting. After a night's sleep, I see some of that in the image bleow too! As far as process, sometime I'll look for a decent screencap app for my mac to do a video.

Dave : True. True. I call this one unfinished. The problem is I didn't bring the whole thing to a finish at once as I should! Then I could leave it at ANY point and nothing would be entirely missing. So thanks for the reminder!

Avatar change and Photoshop doodle from last night.

[DARAF]

Like your style man.

[Xaya]

hey abo!
I really like your life drawings, especially your shading technique.
In your last painting it seems you tried another shading.
You should darken the shadow values too add volume!

Xaya

[GriNGo]

very nice brush strokes and lines! very clean stuff, I like it alot. That first monster on post #7 and the fighting girl and monster on post#11 (the composition, and value contrast), is just astounding. Keep up the good work!

[chrishly]

such a intresting and strong style.

[JellevdVegt]

good job dude, keep on posting

[Mark Tarrisse]

You have a very nice style and, when I saw your acrylic sketch I reminds me I should return at the traditional ways a little bit ! :) keep it up ! ;)

[Christian223]

Wow, impressive... can i ask you what do you mean by "crushed value range"?, i might learn something from it :) Keep posting awesome stuff! :D

[MarkBehm]

Thanks guys.
Christian223: I just mean the lower range "crushes together". Like instead of a smooth 0-256 it's like the first 20 or so just look black.
Xaya: Heheh. You're totally right. Damn. I added that dark BG at the very end and that screwed everything up.

PS speedie tonight...

[ChaoticKnight]

Wow that is some powerful work man. My favorite by far is the woman in mid jump at the big guy. I look forward to seeing more from you here!

[Camara]

Awesome stuff,man!!Great sense of volume and light! What about your avatar???That little guy is lovely!!!

[Christian223]

Allright, a smooth valure range from 0-256, get it, thanks.

As usual, your stuff is great!, keep it up!.

[MarkBehm]

ChaoticKnight, Christian223- Thanks!
Camara - might post him sometime. I'm trying only put new stuff up here.

This was last nights sketch in painter. I did it at 2k and for the first time I used a touch of the "impasto" turned on. I actually dug it! But when I reduced it to just under 1k it all just vanished and smoothed itself over. That little bit of texture added so much. Does anyone know if there's a way to "turn it up" overall before you reduce?

[lennon]

WoW Great work man!

[MarkBehm]

Hit a slow patch at work. Mostly PS but I brought the zombie head in to give the impasto stuff another try. Cranked up the settings a bit and painted at 1K this time. STILL looses so much when it reduces. Maybe need to crank the brush "feature" up more.

[MarkBehm]

Another for today. Play play play. Should do studies instead. Maybe tomorrow.

[Vulgar`]

Naked women - a powerful vision brought to life through the lead.

Keep doing you

[MarkBehm]

In progress. Pencil, Painter & PS.

[silarvalla]

nice stuff, really gestural with nice lines..all well rendered too
you seem to favor a neutral color palette,
but that may just be what i've seen so far
also, i love that you still do traditional 2d work
seems rare these days
great work so far
more!
-t

[liam.c]

hay thease are great man ! ,have same problum wiht most of the brushes effect disapearing when reducieing the size ,hit it with a couple sharpens and should make the impasto pop back out a little bit , or u can go back after its reduced and add some paint depth ,add a layer<multiply or gel i think> when its the size u want use the impasto but keep the layer clear and couler of the impaso brush white <so its clear> and u should get the effect with out changeing your painting it self

[MarkWinters]

Great SB! There are some real gems in here. Keep postin' and I'll keep coming back!

[Quicksilver]

Great work! You have such a strong grasp on value and form - the characters just pop out! Though the last guy looks like he has an ultra bendy spine :P

I really like your traditional paintings btw - always nice to see :)

[MarkBehm]

silarvala: Thanks! The neutral is a bit of a reaction to my older stuff being too ... candy colored.
liam: amazing and prolific sketchbook. Still working though it! Thanks for the tips. They are in progress already.
markwinters: Thanks!
Quicksilver: Thanks! Yeah, I pushed this guy away from reality a bit. Too much in that area. The size of his hands a feet would be nightmarish if you saw him in real life too!
10 min life drawing at work yesterday. Strange proportions on the model, but this was a decent angle. And we rarely get such a long pose. Vine charcoal with a little charcoal pencil for some darks and sharp edges.
248911

[MarkBehm]

Needed to try to do char lit only by an ambient "sky dome" and it's bouncing light. Treating situations just like a 3d rendering engine. I learned a lot from it. I will experiment with this lighting situation with some color at another time.
249101

[ramoraz]

really nice SB! i can only say i wish i could do that alrdy! keep it up and ill keep check it out! so, keep throwing the gems at us ;)

[the lying prophet]

Damn! Owned! love everything here man. keep it up!

[woo4]

Beautyful.

[MarkBehm]

woo4,lyingProphet & ramoraz: Thanks!
Quick enviro scape last night. I need to do env studies now. Not just imaginary work. I have no real foundation in land/cityscapes. Got to get some man made mechanized work out too. maybe today if there's time.
249868

[Kravenous]

really digging your work

[Jokisalo]

inspiring 5 stars

[zao75231]

Awesome sketch book, keep on pushin :)

[MarkBehm]

Not a study tho. :[
250584

[enthombed]

niceeee sutfffff, wow i really inpired now.. need to draw something.

tnks for thie experience.

Cheers

[MarkBehm]

thanks enthombed.

Doodles, arm study (from a photo of that cool anatomic ref figurine)
252343

and a lighting experiment. Still chasing that ambient vs direct light thing. I'll ease up on it now.
252344

[Kan Muftić]

Some great stuff in here.
5ive from me.

[Nadiamoon]

Strong. Weird. I like it.

[kingshaj]

love the sense of volume throughout!

particularly impressed with the charcoal.

[MarkBehm]

Nadiamoon - I'm not all that strong, but I am a bit weird.
Kingshaj & Chupacabra - fans of both of your work. Thanks!

Eyes too shot to use the machine. Playing with nupastel.
254694

[KidApe]

I think that lighting experiment with the creature turned out pretty successful! Feels like I'm in the same room with it, a lot of air around the little monster.

[El Jeremie]

Beautiful. Love the face of the guy next to the anatomic arm.

[kidult]

Great work here! post #54 is so good - more please!

[MarkBehm]

Hey Kidult,spookybabydoll and kidApe. Thanks for stopping by. Come again.
Overworked photoshop sketch. I need to do some serious landscape study.
257183

[Soupandbutter]

I like your rendering style especially in your grayscale paintings, reminds me a little of Prometheus|ANJ for some reason.

Looking forward to more landscapes!

[Peetaer]

The gun (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=242629&stc=1&d=1195456670) in this pic doesn't look quite right. I think its the outlining.

Other than that it looks fantastic.

[grenogs]

i like this new image abo, the blue and yellow realy compliment each other well

[ccsears]

post #54 is awesome!

for inspiration on landscape sketches (not from imagination) check out http://nathanfowkes.blogspot.com and
http://nathanfowkes-sketch.blogspot.com

[dresse]

i really like how you put atmospheric perspective in your grayscale concept art renders. Subtle, but looks really good!

[MarkBehm]

More Nupastel. Still trying to feel out the differences from Charcoal with some playtime. I have another that I'll post in a few hours when I get a chance.257508

[MarkBehm]

ccsears: I'm a big fan of Fowkes. I got to watch him work for a bunch of lifedrawing sessions. Amazing. Efficient, concise, and fast! Always thinking like a painter. Love your stuff, BTW!

Nupastel again. After just leaving a lifedrawing session and using only vine and compressed charcoal, I think nupastel is just more permanent. Still smooth, but it doesn't like to come up. Can anyone offer any other differences?
257586

[Frank Gressie]

haha, i love that dragon!

[MarkBehm]

Thanks Frank!

More digital doodles when I should be working. Don't have access to my digital camera to post analog stuff I've been at. Might scan some smaller stuff tonight.
259359
259360

[cIIIz]

AMAAAAAAAAAZING !!!

I really loved how u render the flesh :D

[MayYeo]

Good showcase man! I really love your understanding of 3D shapes and color theory. I like some of the studies where you based on a background color and started to (sculpt) based on monochrome placing of shadows and light. Keep it up!

[themissinglink]

awsome sketchbook, you have an incredible sense of mood and drama. Your portraits are also incredible.

[lennon]

Cheers abo, your work is great as always. Great stuff in your page too. I also dig your animation, it's great to see that you get to work in a big movie. The only think that I could say is that I would like to see some more complex composition, as you always do a single character and a textured background.
Awesome stuff!

[ccsears]

i dig those charcoal drawings. they remind me a lot of Max Turner's stuff!!!

5*'s.

[egonun]

awesome style
you are very good at what you do!

[Garrett Hanna]

These are looking solid man. I love Nupastel. It's all I really use for life drawing anymore. I really like your technique.

[MarkBehm]

Finally forcing myself to do more mechanical/technical stuff. It's not that I don't enjoy it, it's that it scares me. Any crits for the more technically savvy peeps would be a huge help!
262001
262002
After spending some time doing clean drawings I felt like I lost a lot when I did the first two "more rendered" ones. So I loosened up and did a more traditional ID rendering for these. Felt like the gesture of the drawings were more preserved. Not as "realized" for production purposes perhaps, but more life. I'm gonna try for a balance of both next time.
262003
262004
The drawings were w Sketchbook Pro and the rendering was a mix of PS and Painter. Just experimenting w the feel of both.

[ped454]

The only thing that keeps me away from mechanical stuff is perspective. I know it and can apply it but it's the time it takes to do the underdrawing..for me anyways.

I don't really get why you're scared. You seem to know what you're doing and it would be interesting to see more complex shapes

[MarkBehm]

Thanks Ped454. Yeah, the shapes are pretty stock. I will push harder next time.
262648

[InvertedChalupa]

great stuff in here brutha

[drew.gee]

Thanks Ped454. Yeah, the shapes are pretty stock. I will push harder next time.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=262648&d=1198091047

Wow. I love that foot.

:asslick:

[Neolight]

Share the landscapes when you do them. What can I say, I love everything I see here. Your characters are rendered quite organically.

How was paintin them gunz? It would have strained my noggin. The handle on the first pistol seems like its angled in the wrong direction. Typicaly they're thrusted back towards the base of hte gun where as the magazine can bend towards the muzzle on some weapons.

Am I wrong for thinking that?

I think I see some abnormalities around the nosle of the last rifle. But really they are very nicely done. In awe of the texturing of the first piece.

[MarkBehm]

InvertedChalupa: Thanks! Love yer sketchbook.
Drew: Heh heh.
Neolight: True. I felt I kept repeating the same shapes in my thumbs. I'd hate to be issued that against some lumbering beast tho. Just a PS brush w some texture checkbox'd.

Just playing w the droid. Who's going to revelations next week?!
269194

[TheBeast]

woah you got some great stuff here,
i like the way you draw faces....but your mechanicals seems to have no real....mojo(?!)
dont get me wrong (its thousand times better than my crap!)

keep on!

[MarkBehm]

TheBeast: Yeah, I know it. That's why I'm starting to do more of them. I'm not getting any better avoiding it.

Playing with random thumbs for creatures tonight. These are the only ones that had any potential. And I only like the one at the bottom right.
269243

[Iridyse]

Beautiful sketches! You seem to have a really strong sense of form. I love the latest creature designs too, would love to see them bigger and with more detail and colour!

[marioucci]

Hey Mark,

I posted in your blog before but I have to stress it in here. This is a fantastic work you are doing, the light experiment is just superb in all senses and I can see a vein of ultra realism popping out even thou you remain cartoony in essence. Just like your animation, your paintings/sketches are a constant source of inspiration and awe to me:)

Ok. enough of this wet kissing:)

Cheers man

Mario

[Arthe Xavier]

The dragon rocks, seriously. You really captured the flight - heck, I get the impression that he's charging right at me when I look at the painting. :) I love your pencil stuff just as much, though - your technique is awesome. Hopefully I'll be as good as you someday. ^__^;

[yoitisi]

I really like the sketches of the face you've got here, but your mechanical stuff needs some more work indeed. I think the main things is that you've got a couple of issues with perspective. You might find it useful to draw your shapes more transparent (the line drawings), and some more cross-sections. This really helps to figure out where stuff like handles and barrels and the like are attached to the main body and what their relative postion is to other parts of the design.

[mehran]

look below for the original post

[Gadbury]

I love your style, the paintings are really solid looking, the one the the direct light on top of the creature is amazing... awesome life drawings too, I love the technique, very confident. When you use painter, what brush do use?

[mehran]

very nice work man ...I like your comic styled charecters ..I usually don;t tell people to make comic styled charecters with wrapped proportions..as they have this tendency to really screw up your antomy proportions (specifically for artist who really starting out with anatomy)...but your lines and proportions are really cool and confident. Just try to study more from life/photos. your body is fine with me they are a bit empty-ish and boxy in design , and am not an expert on perspective so >don;t take my word on that.

Over all a very nice SB .. am glad I found it

keep posting
Cheers
Mehran

[MarkBehm]

Yoitisi: So true. I'm going to swim thru your sketches and tutorials. I had no idea there was a little ID section here. Didn't learn any of that in school. So I tend to gobble up info on it. Thanks!
Mr Gadbury: Painter? It varies, I'm into the oil camelhair now, but I hop around a bit as long as it doesn't slow me down. I like some of the charcoal and chalk brushes, the wet acrylic. I have some hairy blenders that I like too. I would suggest getting used to the resaturation control in the toolbar.
mehran: Yeah, I know it irks a lot of people at CA to push proportions.:) I have to say after years of realism I became a bit bored with it. I began to be drawn to work that was slightly...pushed. I save reality for life drawing/painting. Well OK, sometimes I like to caricature that too.
Arthe: Thanks!
marioucci: Hah ha! Thanks! *wipes face*
Iridyse: Thanks! I need to start scaling my use of texture to show up at this size!! Seriously, I'm having issues with that. Heh heh.
Whew. It's been a while. I got really busy right after the workshop. I didn't do much there. There was just too much to soak in. These were done in the hotel or on a break.
286635
286637
286634
went for a "finish" on it but I'm not happy with my choices. I need to step away for a week and take another look.
286638

[gustavo desimone]

very good drawings

[daveneale]

your too cool man, so much sweet stuff since I was last here, just went through your site too-total awsomeness!

[Flipnastywebby]

this sketchbook is a great example of how to turn the form.
i was wondering if you could possibly do a step by step of your work.
I think many people would bennifit from such and i would be great to see how your work evolves from start to finish.
really top notch stuff!

Slainte!

[Trashy]

Nice sketchbook abo. I like all of all caricatures and critters your drawing. You perspective isn't too bad but it can be improved. Waaaaaaay better then mine right now though. Awesome work man!

[DANKA]

Very good concepts and drawings, I love the image named "hugo" and the lighting experiment on the beast in page 2, nice!!

[enthombed]

mann you continue kicking ass bro. keep this cool stuff.

cheers

[MarkBehm]

Thanks everybody.
Still pushing back and forth w texture. So much brighter and more saturated at home on my mac than here at work! Eek!
287911

[RichKid]

for some reason you keep popping up in my browser this week. first i was just following links of blogs around checking people out and i came across your blog. then a co-working shot me a link to your site. now im poking around the sketch threads and what do you know, there is mark again.

i love your stuff man, great work all around. im trying to learn enviro stuff at the moment as well, so i feel your pain. looking at your style, did you go to byu, your style reminds me a lot of don seegmiller. he is my hero so if you did, i am really envious.

keep up the work man

[Doolittle]

I totally dig the pencil drawings. Love your technique—I'm gonna do some drawings in the same vein. I might actually start a sketchbook!

[Hethabyr]

Your work is amazing, Mark. I just took the time to follow up your site link, and to browse all of those beautiful digital pieces of yours. Hugely inspirational stuff!

Keep up the excellent work : )

[TheGnoll]

lovely work man, love the lighting and strong sense of form in your work...keep sharing, lovin the paint :)

ciao!

[Flaskpost]

Great drawings and paintings, man! Five stars for sure!

[MarkBehm]

Thanks guys.
Richkid: I'm like a rash.
Acrylic head done last week at work. It's like double real sized - wierd for me to see it like that. Had little to do for a while and this sorta popped out. Might get some more in this week.
307015
Digi sketch...
307017

[MarkBehm]

As promissed, a video timelapse recording. Painter X. 39 minutes down to 5.
Oil Camelhair & Airbrush.
312007
better quality vid inline on my blog: http://www.markbehm.com/blogger/2008/02/quick-paint-demo.html
But here's the crappy youtube version:
OWoySW59AAU

[Flutic]

Nice timelapse I learned allot from it thanks!
Your characters are great, I love them so stylish but still bit realistic.
Keep them coming!

Greets,Tom

[Beelow]

Post more! All I have to say. I am fan of your work. Later.

[MarkBehm]

Thanks Flutic & Beelow!
Davi changed my username for me. I was convinced during the Seattle workshop that your name really does become your brand. In the end, my brand is how I eat.
Anyway, this is for this week's DrawerGeeks (http://www.drawerGeeks.com) topic.
PainterX
317402

[El Jeremie]

I really dig that kind of tarzan vision, a dirty and hairy guy from the wood.
The girl with the gun is good too.
Post more

[STANIforth]

I dig your stuff, awesome life and personality to all of your characters!

I really dig this tarzan as well, however i'd like to see some of the light that is present on his hand in the foreground breaking through the trees in the background as well, perhaps it might help unify the feeling of the piece. Right now i get a happy warm feel from the foreground and a dark, cold, lonely and stormy feel from the mid/background, just a suggestion;)

[Hethabyr]

I find your work wonderfully inspiring, Mark. Lots of variety and inventiveness. Another five little twinklers to add to your collection.

Re what you say about your name being your brand... yes, I think it's true in most areas, although a lot of the folks who are working in designer toy production nowadays are using oddball names, and that somehow contributes to their mystique. I'm interested in that area, so I maintain this online name, persona, call it what you will, as distinct from my personal name - the one that publishers, art directors, know me by. Whether it's counterproductive in the long-term... I'll need to wait and see. Actually, it can be an interesting exercise, to see whether your alternative styles have got what it takes to grab peoples' interest, without any reliance on an established name.

Keep up the "consistantly" excellent work : )

[Chermilla]

Haha, your charactures are great. Love the last image!!

C

[Hive_minD]

Love the last dude! haha!
Great style. Keep 'em coming!

Chris

[MarkBehm]

SpookyBabyDoll: Thanks. He probably smells good and ripe too.
Staniforth: Thanks for the crit. I did start it that way but I felt I was loosing the first read to lead your eye in. Could have been a bad decision tho!
Hethabyr: Thanks man. I think the only reason I switched from a handle is because I already have a brand (however small it may be) and was simply hiding here under Abo. That was a bad decision for me. My thought is that it doesn't matter what you use as long as you stick with it, right?
Chermilla and Hive_minD: Thanks!

Photoshop worm.
322875

[MonkeYoakum]

great stuff, I love your style. I missed that Tarzan love the shadow light mix. Keep up the great work!

[Quinn Simoes]

Wonderful work Mark! the Photoshop worm is very inspiring.

Quinn

[GriNGo]

nice brush strokes man! great colors.

[Leo Ki]

Awsome art, well beyond mere technique...
Please keep posting, I'm addicted.

[carnalizer]

Great stuff! Love that "painted cartoons" style.

[tensai]

wicked stuff. love the figures and the distorted portraits..

[DeMoon]

you are a wonderful artist ! I give you 5 stars with pleasure !

[iatriki]

cool stuff in here! keep up the good work!

[mirskov]

awesome exaggerations and fluidity to your figures. It really looks like you have a lot of mileage and understanding even in your quicker sketches. Great!

[Sviatko]

Alex: Woohoo! Thanks!

Lunchtime quickie paint (drawing yesterday) Anatomical problems abound. This is one area I need to do more foundational work in.

I want to write down my current goals so I have something to look back on...

Anatomy
_Hands & Feet - structure and value study
_truer understanding of the shoulder girdle

Man-made/mechanical

Environmental

Very good job!!!

[Doolittle]

I just checked out your website and blog. Your stuff blows me away! I can't wait til your book comes out. Will be a "must buy" for me. I love your Shazam and the "eldery Wolvie" drawings!

[TIO_MATT]

Great Stuf!!!

[Dougbot]

Hey man! Great stuff, I had no idea you were on here. Great meeting you!

[Jamie Romoser]

sick brush strokes man good sence of form in your work to.

[Saurus]

ooo love the style of painting...is the way you posted in the video, the way you paint most of your stuff? great stuff!

[johanson]

Holy crap your work is a lot of fun. I'll have to remember to check back more often. Thanks for sharing.

[zulu]

awesom stuff dude! really good sb! waiting for updates!, cheers!:)

[TheDirtSyndicate]

heh, your life drawing reminds me a lot of my own from back in the day when i was going to the art institute in dallas... i constantly had people asking me "why is everything so angular"
ha
do you get that at all?
i prefer to think of my work as having a combination, angles and curves, which is what i see in your work too.
i'd like to see more life studies from you, im really enjoying them.

[johanflod]

thanks for sharing the timelapse video

[MarkBehm]

Thanks everybody!
Dougbot : Hey man. Yeah, that was very cool. Still loosing sleep about it!!
Saurus : Kind of. I don't really do anything the same way twice, but it's close to my general process. I recorded the zombie too so I suppose I'll put that here when I upload it.
Complete2 : I have heard it. But I've heard the opposite from just as competent teachers. I wouldn't sweat it until your work begins to loose movement or rhythm. It's a tool like any other. I've lost interest in copying life. I think design is more interesting, and much scarier to explore.

Sorry it's been so long. It's been crazy. Quickie zombie last night.
379575
30 sec & 1 minute
379584
379585
3 minute
379587

[Hybrid_75]

I like your style and colours, awesome SB!

[pals]

awesome ..too gud

[Chaichan]

cool sketch book

[Arteater]

great work, you have some serious skills

[TimGillette]

Faaaaantastic.
Absolutely love the proportions of your characters & their facial style.

[ik0r]

I love the grittinesses of your work and a majority of it is so pleasingly random in design and concept. But that's what makes your work interesting! Keep it up!

[Bojee]

So nice! :)

[HyperGiant]

very cool stuff. great stroke with the digital paintings! the line work of the figure drawing is very thoughtful

[MarkBehm]

Here's the zombie vid. Sorry it's so fuzzy.
VQmtfuCWl0w

[julkillo]

Really amazing work Mark, I love your sketches and paintings,very impressive

[Camara]

Great,man!!I use to visit your blog almost everyday since long time ago.I really love your style and the way you give volume to your characters!
Thanks for the vid!!!

[MarkBehm]

Thanks Camara and julkillo!

More stuffs. Did the cyborg last night.
The others are life drawings. I usually approach life drawing more...academically, but this guy's physique was just too fun not to distort. Btwn 1 and 5 minute poses.
390848
390849
390850
390851

[ditchman]

love that zombie video - I'm gonna try that building from a silhouette thing myself sometime. awesome!

the hand on the last study page is a bit massive, but I'm guessing it's probably a stylization thing?

[anjin]

the cyborg has a great style! :)

[Wasker]

Cool line quality to the lifedrawings! The cyborg human thingy also looks rad but there's some anatomy issues, I can go with the waist, but the elbow is just too far down.

cheerio!

[julkillo]

Amazing works,as usual,thanks for the video

[Nubb]

Love Your works, especially the way You deal with light and shadow. And those faces are crazy! Funky expressive style You present :).

[Giorge]

Awesome stuff, love the clip... really useful . Oh the zombie looks nice to , one objection , his skin is kinda shiny , decaying skin is mate you could ad skiny spaces , maby on showing bones , blood , but his skin stays rotten. Cheers ^^
p.S. What do you use to record your work, program i mean?

[Patrick Warner]

Your work is inspiring man, the drawings have alot of life in them. The zombie sketch is def. a favorite.

[DoomSketcher]

CRAZY! The way you render form and light, This is where it is at!

Cheers

[Mitchell]

wow really great stuff! I love how you distort the figure drawings, inspiring!

[MeTaL-Mike]

fucking brilliant sb man. love your life drawings very cool.

[matejkovacic]

Great powerful poses and characters!
I also like very much the figure studies.

Keep it up!

Matej

[RichKid]

i love the style of your life drawing, very strong and loose. i bought your book from you at con last week, soooo good. this year for me was just getting sketchbooks and i have to say that yours is definetly one of the top that i got. its very well put together and the prints are huge. awesome stuff man

what do you use for recording your videos, some guys where i work want me to put a couple together but all we have is fraps and i only know how to capture game footage with that.

[fancypants]

Wow, the values in your life drawing and pencil sketches are really good! really strong sense of shapes

[boybalasa]

wow really great stuff here.

[MarkBehm]

So long since a post!

Richkid-I remember you. Thanks! Great stuff. I've been capturing on a mac, so I probably can't help you. I used to use some freeware app on a pc that was great. It was ages ago, tho.
Wasker & ditchman-tons of anatomy issues. Like I said, I'm pushing it. I get paid to be either on-model or proportionately accurate. When I do it for myself, I push and pull where I feel it's most appealing and where it communicates what I want to say. Great many schools of thought here. I tend to be right in the middle. On my good days anyway. On my normal-bad days my anatomy is just plain wrong. If I put up something vaguely realistic, though, be brutal with comments about proportion and anatomy! Don't let me get away with anything.

I've been busy moving across the States - again. New house, new job, etc. These are doodles I've been doing on the inside cover of my book. They are in this really cool Atelier Interactive Acrylic stuff. It acts mostly like acrylic, but w a little water sprayer, you can...revive it so you can paint wet in wet if you want. Crazy business. Like acrylic but like oil but still it's own thing. I am really liking it. I've only bought a black and white (and a bunch of mediums and a sprayer). I just have to get myself back to Utrecht to get a fuller palette. I'd recommend experimenting with a couple tubes of this stuff to anyone who paints.
467462
467463

[ditchman]

interactive acrylic sounds great, but I'm guessing It's out of my price range (nice ape/monkey things BTW.)

[MarkBehm]

It's not all that bad, ditchman. If you are just playing, grab a tube of white and umber. You don't really need the mediums. Any cheap water spray bottle that can do a mist will work. As long as you don't let it sit for too long - couple hours - it can be rehydrated w water. After a while it starts to cure and act like reg acrylic. Then you want to use their unlocking medium. I think there's a slowdry medium but I saw no point in that. I did get a fixer medium which makes it more permanent - like acrylic.

[algenpfleger]

Maaaan your values are amazing! Mindblowing work.

[monotony]

great sb, dude. love you figuredrawings. it's amazing what you can do in just a few minutes and with nice stylization even.
keep rocking.

[MarkBehm]

EaSy4Sjii0Q
original: 10min (bad white balance, sorry)
sC7z6DM7-5Q
original: 19min
NL2OEOuC5AY
original: 13min
3 oil speed paints. Combo of oil and alkyd, really.
I sealed the lineart w acrylic too.
Ivory Black, Titanium White and Burnt Sienna.

[Leo Ki]

Thanks for the process films!
Your fertile style crossings and technical experiments are real joy!

[MarkBehm]

HBYWuBTM0y0
Atelier Interactive Acrylics. I tried to label where I am "rehydrating" the surface. More to come.

[Verehin]

Cool stuff!!!

[jedininjaman]

awesome style
man excellent use of your tools
thanks for sharing the vids, i think im gonna go paint now
-jedi

[Josef K.]

wow! great charakters man! the videos are cool as hell! thx for sharing!

[NothingbutZack]

Dude, thats so insane! Thanks for those vids, they look awsome. ;)

[Emil_J.]

wow insane paintings :drool: . subscribing

[Uli]

Brilliant vids, thanks! I'll try to get those colours, I'm right now experimenting with different types of acrylic use, so the interactives sound interesting.
PS: a question- when you do these studies, how would you describe the difference between oil colour and acrylics?

[redeemer]

quick question why can't i upload some work? any takers? oh yeah i'm new here so hello everyone great sketches

[Tofa]

loving your oil sketches. great stuff <3

[MeTaL-Mike]

fuck man your stuff is awesome. love your style and use of color. The vids are great, Thanks for sharing :D

[kischi]

These are awesome, and great to learn thanks a lot

[MeTaL-Mike]

hey man. can you post a link to this blog you mentioned during one of the vids?

[MarkBehm]

Thanks everybody.
MeTalMike - Thanks! The blog is http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/ Walk through the early ones. Lots of stuff on stuff that people don't often talk about.
jedininjaman - I couldn't ask for a better response than that.
Uli - Give the ateliers a try - make sure you have a spray bottle! It's a totally crazy way to work. I still prefer oils & alkyds, but there are times and places where you just can't use them.
ZmIaHe-ol4w
I actually did a voice over on this. It's pretty scattered as I was really tired when I did it. 2 more parts to come.

[MarkBehm]

REYqDIy6dxc&eurl
part 2

[MarkBehm]

-B4OELhNVaM&eurl
Part 3

[grue]

Brilliant work MB! And those videos are great. :)

[MarkBehm]

584559
'nother quick alkyds piece

[Nubb]

Thanks for the video. Take care!

[MeTaL-Mike]

awesome!! so would you mind explaining your process a bit more?
what are you painting on? are you using only oil paint? i thought i heard you way acrylics somewhere there as well? do you do your linework in with a pencil or something else? do you use medium or terp to thin out the oil paint.

sorry for the basic questions but i think the technique your using is really interesting.

thanks in advance.

[MarkBehm]

Thanks Nub, sweet updates on your SB.

MetalMike- Hell u can paint on anything. Especially if it has a ground of acrylic gesso inbetween it and paint. I dug out an old study I did on matteboard with gesso mixed with wood ash a few months back. It's from 95! I didn't realize I was painting on dried lye! I doubt you could find a less stable surface. But it lives and is only mildly affected. These things will last til I'm gone for sure. Acrylic gesso is way more stable and resilant than old school lead based gesso.

These are on the interior of my little book (http://www.markbehm.com/blogger/uploaded_images/unBox-754797.jpg). So I guess it's a sheet of paper backed with cardboard of some kind.
I throw some gesso down. Spread it around with an old credit card.
Then put an acrylic wash down so I'm not painting on white.

This one I sketched first w a black prismacolor. Sometimes I draw w pencil, paint or not at all and just build forms out of the toned surface.

It's not oil, but alkyd. Very close to oils though. They have a more resin vehicle than an oil one. Dries faster so they are ready to ship out the next morning or so - unless I screw up an mix in an oil by mistake. They do mix just fine, btw.

I thin them w Liquin. It's a medium you can use on oils or alkyds and I think it's been around for a looong time. I believe that's mostly what the vehicle IS in alkyd. Anyway, it improves flow and drying time along with translucency. I do use a little turpenoid when I want a different feel. You just gotta play for a while. I like it for glazing too, not that I've done any of that for a long time.

[AztcFireFlower]

Nice trip back into your SB. Cool critters in post #87. Great charcoal character designs, well, all your caricatures are fun to look at.
Nice flow and shapes in your life drawings. Like the infusion of your design sense into the figure work in post #150.
Thanks for the Painter demos and describing your process above. Always like to look over the shoulders of talented folks.

[domo arigato]

Mark...HUGE HUGe fan of your work. Love the videos you post and generally all your work. Thanks for all the posts.

-Andrew

[natethegrate]

yeay... some nice styles on the vids... cool shapes you got there

[agelaos]

Those videos are sweet man, After watching these Im gonna totally try the same method now. Its great to see an artist trying to help his fellow artists. Awesome work man!

[Dan Valkar]

those oils sketches vids r pure gold....

bravo!

[Jephyr X]

I really love your character designs!! You have a great ability to be able to convey movement in your figures. Thanks for the vids too.

[MarkBehm]

Hey Jephyr,
Seeing your post in my mail inbox reminded me of how I neglect this book.
847513
847514

[Jephyr X]

Hi again,

Glad to see another post! Totally digging those characters!

Hope you had a great holiday season and New Year!

Ya ready for another upload? :)

Ciao fer now

[Lander]

oh crud. This is to much. Really cool stuff. Thanks for posting those vids.

[mike butkus]

Wonderful work, and demo, thank you.

[Ellijah Sakovsky]

awesome, man! Your vids are really usable! Keep it goin'! ;)

[phizpietl]

Ha cool! Great paintings! Really dig the method!

Phil Lietz
www.phillietz.blogspot.com
www.phillietz.com

[soros]

Thanks for sharing!