The New Adventures of Bendragon ~ My Life As A Concept Artist!

[Bendragon]

Hi everyone! I've started a new thread to help me leave the remnants of my old self behind, locked forever in the dungeon that is my old sketchbook. Here is a new leaf! A new beginning! Quite literally too as I have just graduated having spent 3 years studying Animation Production at the Arts University at Bournemouth, UK and now seeking work and a new journey!
I am starting a new sketchbook to document my next phase of my artistic development. If you have time, please help my cause with some critiques (pretty pweeeezzzz!!!!!) Much appreciated :D:D:D:D

OK, first off I'll show you a mix of my old work and recent work so you can have a feel of where Im coming from and where I need to go.

Old Sketchbook (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=909779#post909779)

Update: I now have a job as a concept artist at a games studio. You can find in the old sketchbook my time in art school from beginning to end. This sketchbook is started after I graduated and now it documents my first steps in the industry. Hope you can learn something here and help me learn too :)

[dannE-B]

Hey ben good to see you starting a new sketchbook, now start filling it with the most awesome work you can, i will check by every 2 minutes for the rest of my days!!!

Nice work too btw!

[Bendragon]

Dan u is crazy

Oooookay... Some enviros. Ive targeted environment (speedpainting too) as a key area for me to improve upon. So lets see how this goes. I used to work on paper first before scanning it in and paint but Im trying to break out of the ole comfort zone and tackle my fear. Hey, I gotta face it at some point in time so it might as well be now.

[dannE-B]

hey Ben those last 3 speed paints are definatley heading in the right direction, keep pushing for that everytime, looks real nice...je VEUX PLUS!!!

[RedSquirrel]

Cute cat, some nice enviroments there. Post summore

[Bendragon]

Dan - Cheers Dan. Hoping to push the standard further. Ive kinda tried to go for speed n rush parts of those urban ones so now Im gonna take an easy and spend some quality time with the paints :D
RedSquirrel - Ha! Cute? :P More coming up!

Another wip update! Lets see how this develops. I guess Im still kinda new to the speedpainting process so I am a bit surprised with how this is coming along, because the beginnings were almost aimless and lots of fiddling around. Gwwwaaaaaaa!!!!!

[Bendragon]

Heres some layouts I did for my grad film. I did a bit of touching up to them soooo here u are!

[Kuidf^!]

some great designs here keep it up dude ! :) you live in the uk sweet ! which university did u graduate from ? :)

[daveneale]

Real nice with that waterfall speedpaint dude...how are you getting those textures? Looks like photo overlay to me, or is that just a sweet custom brush?:P The lighting is pretty awesome, keep doing what your doing!

[RandAlThor]

Looking good dude, dont forget to share the speed painting process with us, ya hear ;-)

[Pixie Trick]

Really nice start to a new sb! Great designs- I like how even your enviros are quite unique.

[Bendragon]

Thanks for the comments guys!
Kuidf^! - Hey good to see another UKer here. I graduated from the Arts Institute at Bournemouth which is now renamed the Arts University College at Bournemouth. I did animation there. Keep an eye out on the UK thread, there might be some UK meet going on sometime.
DaveNeale - Hey Dave! Thanks man, the texture is a mix of both photo overlay and custom brush with some other stuff I guess. I blocked the shapes in with a standard circle brush but got quickly frustrated with the generic brush and wanted something to add bits of random details in to help me and keep me thinking. So after blocking things in I added photo overlays to give me a guideline to work from. Theres been custom brushes too (Painter's palette knife). But something I found useful was getting a new canvas open and just splash a load of custom brush texture on it(in grayscale). Paint an abstract piece and get lots of texture on it (dont worry about the range of values atm) then go to levels and pull the output levels dark and light in towards each other (the bar at the bottom) so that the contrast in low and will not affect your painting's value when you overlay this on to it. Erm... yar I guess thats it :P
EDIT: Oh and I also use the Smart Sharpen filter. That might have brought some textures out more. Its also great for giving a finished work a more crisp look.
RandAlThor - Thank you! I actually havent saved any progress shots for this. I didnt think it would turn out well cause Im still trying to figure the exact process myself hehe. But next time I try something like this I'll get some sort of process documentary going for ya :)
Pixie Trick - Cheeeeers! Ive been trying to improve in the environment department lately so Im glad you liked something there :D

OK, heres the end result... unless I work on it again. I might if I see something wrong so lemme know if you spot anything too!

[Cranberry]

Great start, damn! Love your style for both characters and enviros... Love the chinese/japanese enviros a lot!

Keep it up!
& come have a look at my sketchy if you like :)

[Bendragon]

Cranberry - Thanks! Will do :D

Here are some screenshots from my grad film. Thought I'd post these up, Im not allowed to upload the film on the internet yet so you will likely be able to watch this next year!

[Bendragon]

OK a lil quick update of what Im painting atm. My neck is starting to hurt so this is my lil break. Been doing some small freelance stuff too which has kept me from working on my own stuff. But Im back in action again!
Gonna try do more urban environments. Its all fun to do made up places but I feel I need a mix to show that I can also do the naturalistic ones too. More to come...

[sourgasm]

loving that last one. oh, and the rest of 'em ;]

[Pixie Trick]

The room interior looking good! (The floor looks a bit slanted tho!) Screenshots are nice too.

[jatherip]

yeah, cool concepts, variety of styles, anything we want :D
keep showing your stuff to us!!

[iphigen]

I LOVE the medieval town picture up there, it's ma favorite though all your pictures are great :)

[Bendragon]

Thank you for the support guys!!!! :)

Sougasm - Thanks man, youre not so bad yourself!
Pixie Trick - Good spot, gonna work on that cheers :D And thanks for dropping by again!
Jatherip - Thank you. Yep yep, gotta keep experimenting and not grow too comfortable with a systematic approach.
Iphigen - Thank you for the kind words. I'll try my best to up my game some more :)

OK, been listening to Bobby Chiu's live stream and felt really inspired and motivated! Time to kick my ass in gear. Stop fucking around and get some serious work going. Dont let the shitty drawings get me down too much and think of it as necessary exercises to get through for me to level up. Im feeling rather ill at the moment but screw it, Im gonna keep drawing and painting!
Got myself a new sketchbook yesterday to encourage a new start to life! Ive been concentrating most of my efforts on environments becasue that is what I need to work on most. But I want to pick up on some characters that I have neglected. I enjoy characters more at the moment and these are something that I did for myself, taking a lil break from the environments to award myself a tad.
First one is a character from a book I was reading until the english translation of the chinese novel ended as it was incomplete!!!! Agh!!!! Its called Demi Gods and Semi Devils by Jin Yong, a Wuxia story whoooo! The character is Mu Wanqing. The other sketches are from the Korean series Hong Gil Dong. Currently what Im watching, tis goooood :D

[derbz]

Lot of talent on display in this thread, great set of enviros.

keep them coming!

[Bendragon]

Derbz - Thank you, will definitely keep it coming :)

Coloured!

[Ammo]

such cool work! I love the ones in the frames

[Sukizan]

your environments are siick O: drop by my sketchbook sometime and leave a criti.

[Bendragon]

Ammo - Thank you man :) Hehe, thought that might be a nice lil gimmick hahaha! Glad you like!
Sukizan - Thank you, will return the favor and drop by your thread and leave a crit or two! Cheers!

Felt like doing an interior painting. I have been focused on outdoor subjects a bit so heres something to mix it up! More to come!

[Bendragon]

EDIT: Ugh! Sorry for the double post! :(

[Pixie Trick]

I'm not too fond of the grain texture. I flattens the image. I think you could push how different substances reflect light, and add some small details. A little extra hilight on metals, A brighter edge on uneven tiles etc. And I have yet to see a kitchen in that state of repair with such a clean floor! :P The overall atmosphere is very neat. Nice characters too. The fabric lacks the feeling of gravity on it in a few places. ....ahhhh didn't mean to crit so much. :sungod:

[Janaschi]

the interior painting is awesome! I love the natural tones! keep it up!
careful observational work really helps to improve the color-understanding. you will see more colors and use more colors in your work from imagination.

[nooSens]

Amazing landscapes !

But your graphite sketches seems dont have enough anatomical rigour.
And I think that you should also work your lines a little.

[ChristmasBunneh]

Really presh stuff! Also like the animation stills.

[Bendragon]

Pixie Trick - Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated :) Yar, perhaps some of the grains were too much. Good points!
Janaschi - Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to answering my question. Again, much appreciated :) Makes sense, I'll make sure I get some done! Cheers!
T.a.i.v.a.s - Thanks, you make a good point. I'll be looking to work on those at some point. Im mainly focusing on environments at the moment. Thats the area I want to strengthen up on most.
ChristmasBunneh - Cheers! Presh?!?!?! :P

Heres a wip Im working on. Im saving progress shots for this so I might do a lil tutorial if ppl r interested... Anyway here u go!

[kitehiGh]

Heres a wip Im working on. Im saving progress shots for this so I might do a lil tutorial if ppl r interested... Anyway here u go!

Definatly interested in a tutorial :yum:

[Krato]

interesting Asian inspired environments.

[mariusz]

Hi man!

Great SB! I like to see more from you.

all the best,
Mariusz

[Sycra]

Awesome, I'd love a tutorial!

[nooSens]

Good, I would like a tuto please :D

[Pigeonkill]

Nice environments, I think the last one could use more people or a crowd watching.

[Krato]

Update! :p

[icarus2912]

Man, your sketchbook is great.
Makes me wanna do the erasmus even more (so much awesome work from the people there). I'm def. subscribed!

[Bendragon]

Thanks guys. Im glad I started posting again because Im finding it helps keeps me motivated to work. Also found Bobby Chiu's live stream super inspiring and motivating!!!! Oh... and cheers for the 4 star rating!!!! Didnt see that coming, cheers!

kitehiGh - Yup yup, will put that together soon :)
Krato - Yus, I have a big interest in asian themed stuff.
mariusz - Thank you, I will definitely get more up! Soooo stay tuned hehe
Sycra - You got it!
T.a.i.v.a.s - Thanks for the interest. Will put one together.
Pigeonkill - Great minds think alike :D You got the idea. Though the crowd was tough to do.
Krato - Thanks for the reminder dude. Please feel free to kick my ass if Im slacking. Keep it coming :D
icarus2912 - Thank you, the exchange is really good and the ppl who went on it really enjoyed themselves so I think it is worth it.

Here is the finished version. Don't worry, I haven't forgot about the tutorial hehehe. I haven't put it together yet soooo..... to be continued :D

[The man with no name]

Cool composition in this one, has good atmosphere to it, the dragon looks great :D

[dannE-B]

Hey Ben these latest pieces of work are really taking you to that next level, i can see the improvement, im loving these more realistic pieces your doing.

Keep pushing this, do lots more so you really get it nailed down...i think i may have a little attempt at some similar pieces myself, give me a Private tutorial...it sucks that i cant just come next door now n see how the works going...you wanna come live under my stairs???

i wanna see more, interesting developments

[Bendragon]

The man with no name - Thanks!
Dan - Hey dudester! Yups, been pushing myself. Have a listen to that Bobby Chiu streams I told u about, found inspiration in there. Yar, go try out some of these stuff, I'll put a tutorial together some time soon. And I might have to take up your offer of living under the stairs!

Heres a lil portrait of Fernando Torres!

[kingkostas]

Mate you have a very interesting sketchbook, and i wanna say thnx for sharing the animation stills in the previous page.They include some info i really wanted to see :D
A lot of great works!!!Keep up

[Krato]

I wish i could paint environments like you.. They are really nice especially the people who look both sketchy but believable. With regards to the soccer player you need to push the values a little more.. for example i believe the inside of the mouth is darker.. depending on the light

[Bendragon]

Jens - Awesome critiques man! If I can thank your post twice I'd at least thank it 3 more time!!! I completely see what you mean... so I made another attempt at a portrait...
kingkostas - Hehe, cheers and no problem :) What is it that you wanted to know/ see? I'd be happy to go through it more if you'd like. I might be able dig out more stuff on the subject.
Krato - Thank you man! You know, if you set yourself that ultra intense challenge you r doing all the time and stick to it you will be going places! Keep it up! Btw, its football not soccer hahhaa :P

OK heres another portrait attempt. Of a character from a Korean TV show. And yeah... shes crying :nohope: Maybe its because I used the dreaded dodge to do the tears !!!!!

EDIT: Added my reference pic so u can lemme know any errors :)
EDIT EDIT: Made a few changes

[Krato]

Krato - Thank you man! You know, if you set yourself that ultra intense challenge you r doing all the time and stick to it you will be going places! Keep it up! Btw, its football not soccer hahhaa :P

Hey thanks :D, i thought he was a soccer player or FUTBOL if thats why you mean :P

[Krato]

double post hehe, with your last picture i say increase the contrast again if i have time i will try to show you what i mean, hopefully sometime tommarow it will be done.

[eclectic rhapsody]

Wow, your artwork is so crazy cool. I'm totally impressed and what have you.

[Bendragon]

Krato - Yeah hahaha, just not using the American way of naming it hehe. I think I know what you are saying... but Im interested in what u'll pull off.
Jens - Thanks again! I posted up the ref image so things should be easier. Thanks again, your crit is much appreciated. You are spoiling me :P
Arrogantchild - Hehe, crazy sounds good :)

OK heres a stab at a tutorial. Dunno if Im qualified to make one but hopefully it'll be helpful.... heh

First I thumbnail the idea with big shapes and no details (Im a fine one to talk, I have to fight this temptation myself sometimes haha). I have a general idea of what I want. The brief is a festival so I wanted something dynamic and so chose a low camera angle and wanted the focal point to be some kind of parade through the streets. So that the direction. I put on some vanishing points on different layers to turn off and on throughout the process. The vanishing points are from a custom brush I got somewhere (I dont remember where from, but its just a one point perspective, so its easy to make).
Second step. I dig up some photo references and use them for textures on the buildings and ground. This is to throw on some extra details to help guide me through the drawing phase. Its much easier to look at than a blank canvas so it helps to give you ideas. Manipulate the photo with skew transformations to have it fit the perspective as much as possible.
Third step. As you may notice, Im not one who go though the whole image at the same time. I usually go to one part and work my way out of that. But this is just myself. Using the guidelines of the photo textures I start to render out the buildings and the dragon. I use the lasso and line tool a lot in the rendering of the buildings. The dragon is more freehand as its less rigid.
Step 4 - 7. More of the same really. I upped the contrast in step 5. Using the lasso and line tool to draw the buildings on the left and block in the tones and use photo textures for the windows. A photo was used for the crowds too that I repeated all over the place. I had to paint over them to break up the repetition and to correct perspective and lessen the details (otherwise there is too much to look at). I tried to add a guy in the foreground running with a lantern to lead the dragon but didn't like it.
Step 8. This is nice and easy. All the hard work is done in the previous steps. The drawing is complete, the values set. I use overlay to paint the color. You can make a layer on top of everything to paint normally on top. When the image is finished, I use the Smart Sharpen filter and sometimes Add Noise.

Hope that helps! Cheers guys :D

[lupre]

wow.. nice environment, thanks for the tutorial. looking at it closely..

the portrait of the woman is quite kool. like the colours..

peace

[Krato]

EDIT: Added my reference pic so u can lemme know any errors :)[/QUOTE]

yea you have the darks down you just need to light up the face and clothing a wee bit more.

[nooSens]

The portrait seems to me a little too much lengthened. But your tuto is very useful, thank you, thank you ! (sorry if I don't write a book but I still have a little problems with the English language)

[Nightblue]

Thanks for the wonderful step break-down! I've always wondered how these crazy cool environment pieces came to be. It's mind-bending!

Your characters are looking better too. The girl's face is a bit long and may make her appear less appealing. Making the shadows in the fold of her mouth and eyes more dark red rather than black will help the skin tone. Also, don't forget about the brown-ness in asian hair :) we don't have black hair per say... the brown/reddish color is especially obvious when the hair strands are being lit from the back.

[SMILEFACE]

wwwwWWWWHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAA WICKED PAINTS SOOO COOL !!!! THIS LAST ONE ROCKS THANKS FOR THE STEP BY STEP

[Yuki_slider]

Those are wonderfull freeky,
i like the apartment, progrettion :)
are these from bankok?

[Bendragon]

Hey guys! Whooooaaa!!! What the heck is with the 5 stars?!??!?!?!? Thats quite generous but still... thank you! :) Im not sure if the work here merits that but I will try improve more and more. But its a nice gesture :)
And Im glad ppl found the tutorial helpful. I might just do more in the future then! So hopefully you will see more of that and get something out of it.

Question: What do you think I need to improve on? Im trying to target weaknesses and strengthen things up. I already have ideas of what I might need to work on but Im interested in what everyone else thinks.

Anyhooo this is a wip of one of the ChoW characters Im working on.

Lupre - No problem, glad you found it useful!
Krato - Cheers, I tried it a tiny bit and edited the post.
T.a.i.v.a.s - Yup, looks like I have a tendency to do that. Bad habit... will get rid off :) Your english is well, I can understand it so just keep it up :D
Nightblue - Hehe, in that case I might do some more in future! Thanks for the pointers. Makes sense, I tried correcting these and updated that pic.
Grandmassa Mr. Spect - WHHAAAA CAPS LOCK :p !!!!!! Hehe no problem, happy to help :)
Yuki_slider - You referring to the dragon dance one? The photos I got for it were from Manchester in the UK, I actually got to be part of the dragon for Chinese New Year that time. The dragon was surprisingly heavy for such a hollow thing covered in cloth. But I guess it was massive anyway hehe (thats my lame excuse)!

[Krato]

Question: What do you think I need to improve on? Im trying to target weaknesses and strengthen things up. I already have ideas of what I might need to work on but Im interested in what everyone else thinks.

i say work with people, work out the colors and values.

[Fishspawn]

Hey Bendragon! Amazing improvement since i last saw your stuff! You've got some really awesome ideas going on and they are well executed too, keep working hard~

[hp]

thanks for the tut! your environs are really great! :D

[Incinerated]

Gorgeous stuff, great composition, I'd like to see some more non asian looking, test your versatility more. :)
-Inc

[Bendragon]

Hey guys, Ive had a few things to sort out so haven't so Im afraid I haven't been painting like crazy in the last few days... *for shame!!!!!* Anyway... just a lil update on the chow piece. Been feeling frustrated about it a tad but hopefully we'll come up with the goods :) Erm... might have some things that I cant show here, but I wll still update this with personal stuff :)

Krato - Hehe, a while back I thought my environments are weaker. O the magic of the forums and critiques :D Cheers!
Fishspawn - Nice to hear from you again! Lets keep going :D
hp - Thanks, no problem too! I might try another!
Incinerated - You are absolutely right! I noticed myself so I will try explore other subjects. Boo hoo, I had more I wanted to do with the oriental flavor... will have to wait :(

[Bendragon]

Still life!

[mcunha98]

LOL !!!!
Nice design, and good colors.
I wait more village's in your design, I really love !

[007-r0b3r7]

awesome work, bendragon!
your stuff is awesome, especially your environments.
what brushes do you use for texture?

[nooSens]

Anatomy of the character seems to me strange for the head and of the left arm especially, I also think that more cordial colors would give more strength to picture. But I like the design of clothing !!

[Krato]

Hey thanks for the helpful words on my sb, also nice still life i like the colors but is the shadow right? it seems at least to me that there should be a little bit more cast shadow near the middle but not too much more.. either way its your still life so you decide whats best.

[Bendragon]

Just had a lil chat with Pao and asked for some advice for my work. He points out that the lighting can be worked on more. And also set me a lil challenge that he recommends: for the space of 2 months do loads of studies from life or photographs. This has a Pao promise of improvement! :P So heres some quick ones I did tonight. I'll have other things to work on so I'll work these allong side them.

mcunha98 - Hehe cheers! Do you mean you like the village paintings? Anyhoo~ Thanks! :D
007-r0b3r7 - Thank you, erm... you know Im not an expert on texture brushes, Im still working things out myself but I use the brushes I got off Pao (check his thread to find a download, I cant remember the page Im afraid). But most of the time I paint with a basic round brush and texture comes later. Thats just me anyway.
T.a.i.v.a.s - I can see what you mean with the arm but I dunno how the head is off. Im drawing some Loomis studies to try work up the anatomy, hope to keep that going. Cheers forr the feedback :)
Krato - Hey no probs man! Its a bumpy ride with ups and downs but what is at the end of the road is going to be so rewarding :) Hmmm... do you mean the area where there is that orangey reflected light? I think that might have been too strong (I don't have the apple here anymore lol)! If it helps for u to know, the light source is my table lamp (in a dark room) that lights it from the left, just a bit in front of the apple. I cant remember how the shadow was now heh :P

[hp]

great studies, i think as far as characters go you should be loose with them like your environment sketches. they look a bit stiff. also i think the girl you posted in #64, if she was looking straight at us it'd be much better.

good luck with the 2 months! i'll be doing the same thing coincidentally! so i'll be on your butt about it if you slack off =P

[lupre]

hey i love this kitchen-scene in post#25. very nice textures. and in general u are an awesome environmet painter.
maybe u should try to do some sketches of people and then paint over it to get the faces impressions right and geometrie. but geez, u are ligthyears ahead of me..

[Cam Sykes]

With the life studies be aware of hard and soft edges. It makes a big difference although can be a bit tedious to change the hardness of your round brush when need be. THis will also help you mix colours.
The first landscape study in your latest post looks good.

[pao]

hehe, nice man, better to studies from master : ) but thx for the big up ^^

you should have a look at monet / sargent / sorrolla etc so many great colour

[Callumbo]

ooo well hello dear. yeah, studies from the masters sounds like a good idea.
Nice apple by the way, golden delicious? Did you model your chow on Raquel? Looks like she's about to reveal a breast but the puppet's not interested. A desperate cry for attention. anyway, toodles BH

[Krato]

Krato - Hey no probs man! Its a bumpy ride with ups and downs but what is at the end of the road is going to be so rewarding :) Hmmm... do you mean the area where there is that orangey reflected light? I think that might have been too strong (I don't have the apple here anymore lol)! If it helps for u to know, the light source is my table lamp (in a dark room) that lights it from the left, just a bit in front of the apple. I cant remember how the shadow was now heh :P

hehe its cool, you probably know what it looks like better then me since it was Your life study.

i really like your enviroments you seem to have them down really well. I think as a challenge you should do an environment in a dark area with unusual lighting. For example a dark cave on an alien planet with purple lighting.

[Texahol]

heyheyhyehyeheyheyehedakajdd sklorp!

I think you should do some more still life studies [multiple objects as well] with good lighting, and really focus on how light interacts with form. Take some time and really get it correct. Right now you're missing it, especially in your imaginative work...the lighting is really diffuse and generalized..comes about from many different angles and breaks believability of forms. ._.

really focus on the shape you are seeing [ the three-dimensionality of it], and the position of the light [main light source, reflective lights, intensity] and how it is interacting with the forms.

[Bendragon]

Hehe, time to throw my mug out there with a self portrait. First one in using digital paints... or any other paint for that matter... Anyway here you go. Sad looking self portrait expression!!!! WHaaaaaaa!

Hp - Yar I think you are right! I might do more environments next, but I wanna sort out the characters at some stage. Guess that'll have to wait a bit... And do feel free to kick my ass if Im slacking off :) Lets a goo!
Lupre - Thanks, Im drawing from Loomis when I can to try sort out some anatomy issues. Hehe, its just practice I guess, my old sketchbook was full of crap!
Cam Sykes - Thanks, will try push the edges more. Gotta take my time with that. Cheers!
Paul - Hehe you are the master lol!
Callum - Golden delicious all the way Cal-boy! Hahaha, I see what you mean but no tis not Raquel!
Krato -Good suggestion! I think I'll do some night scenery. I want to focus on some naturalistic environments next.
Texahol - Thanks for the useful pointers! Seems like lighting is the order of the day... and for the days after :) I hope these studies will help further my understanding of them. Thanks again!

[Krato]

nice self portrait i think the far side of the face may be too far away? But im not really sure since there are facial skeletal differences between Europeans and Asians --at least with the nose. What you should do is look in the mirror briefly and look for any differences between what you see and what you drew.

[hp]

i'm not sure if this is a stylistic thing or what, but it seems that a lot of the non environment things you post are really long (up and down) wise almost like you took the image and made it skinnier.

good portrait tho, maybe define some subtle structure in in the brow area.

[Pigeonkill]

Nice! Hurray for big crowds.

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=791566&stc=1&d=1254324505

That portrait came out great. I notice in the video she's more wider and yours thinner. I like your thinner version better and the detailed tears.

[Dile_]

heeeeeyyyyyy, think of how hard / soft the edges are that your painting.. its even easier to think of how hard/soft the materials ACTUALLY are and how long time it takes for them to turn in space etc...! turns fast = hard edge, turns slow = soft edge.. etcccc ;D

good stuff lately bro!

[Sycra]

Wow, thanks for the tutorial man!

[Bendragon]

Krato - I think you are right, I painted over that part and it looks correct. Good eye!
Emily - Hmmm... I think thats true with faces sometimes... Bad habit I guess, will try keep that in mind. Do you think the characters are too long too? Cheers, will see what I can do with any future portraits too!
Pigeonkill - Thanks! Hehe yar the crowd was always gonna be there :)
Dennis (or which ever name u prefer) - Thank you for the info. I like bits of knowledge like that, useful stuff!
Sycra - No problem.... hmmmm may work on another soon.... we'll see :D

[hp]

hmmm well based on some of the studies you have posted, including the apple (which may just have been skinny) and the girl's face you did a page or two back with the photo ref posted, they are skinnier than in real life.

nice design. it needs some punch tho. either define some harder edges or create a stronger light source. it's mostly the feet that need more structured edges.

go go go!:cheerleader::cheerleader:

edit: just as a side note, the font on your grad short kind of bothers me, it doesn't look as pro in quality as the film stills. just a thought!

[Krato]

nice update! Something to look out for is if your going to make similar limbs make sure they are identical to a point, it seems like your left upper leg near the base looks different then right leg near the base.. Its a little to stretched out. Also i'll pass on what i have been told about a million times -- design the robot so it looks like it can work, make it believable, like it can simply get up and move and it wont fall over. :P feel free to comment my enviros when i put them up someday since they are your bread and butter.

[drd]

Great work man, tis a good sketchbook! Put a hot-red glow behind that crotch grate! ;)

[Pixie Trick]

I know people have mentioned the long-ness of a lot of the still life etc stuffs, and I really must say that I agree. A know that I personally tend to have things tilt up to the right a bit and just knowing that helps me to correct it. If you took a photo, and then tried to copy just the lines, then put it over top the photo/original it will really help to point out in which directions you are stretching/compressing your shapes. Another thing is to get a whole bunch of blank paper (scrap works) and find the centre of the page by eye. You just fold it in quarters to tell it you've done it right.

Keep the studies up: they'll pay off big time. :sungod:

[Callumbo]

This is a cool looking design Ben'o. Works well as a silhouette, the objects are well defined. However, like Krato said, the leg is letting it down a bit. I think it's partly to do with the perspective not staying true, making the robot's right leg look shorter than the other. I also think the right foot should be foreshortened more to sit flush on the ground plane with the other foot. anyway, much manlove to you.

[Bendragon]

Made some changes for a less steampunk robot :P

Hp - I see what you mean. I got rid of some of the background for the robot which was probably too close in value and colour to the actual robot which might have taken some drama out. Ooooo, will look into the font thing. I dont think I have an eye for that kind of stuff. Any suggestions?
Krato - Aha! I see it now, hopefully I corrected the leg enough in this version. I tried to to make most of the limb joints more flexible, dunno if that worked. Hehe, I dunno if enviros are my bread n butter... I cant eat them! (har har Im not funny am I?)
Drd - Lmao, hahaha nice suggestion! I thought having that over the crotch might be a bit risque so moved it sadly! Cheers!
Pixie Trick - YUps, I'll have to keep that at the back of my head next time. Hmmmm, thats an interesting thing with the paper and trying to find the middle. Do you know what its meant to do?
Callum - Thank you my boy! Drop by Manchester sometime!

[Dahami]

Great sketchbook!

[Bendragon]

Dahami - Thanks!

Heres something Ive been working on... will finish it soooooooon :D

[dusty imp]

Good stuff here.
Some of them, I think particularly the ones from the mind tend to fall a bit flat - try focusing on the light source more (direction, intensity, the shadows it creates), it will make the forms read better.

[Krato]

Krato - Aha! I see it now, hopefully I corrected the leg enough in this version. I tried to to make most of the limb joints more flexible, dunno if that worked. Hehe, I dunno if enviros are my bread n butter... I cant eat them! (har har Im not funny am I?)


hehe well its what you seem to be best at either way good job with the robot i like how you fixed the legs and you even gave him some wings on his head! Great add ons. I like the city too, perhaps you should do a study of a roman era building.

--I cant believe i missed a whole picture to comment..now i have to comment for two entries! im so sad now ;P

TIDE: How did you make the stone floor shine? I believe its an overlayed picture, did you burn it or something?

[Tripage]

Fantastic Environments man.

[Bendragon]

Heres the town! I forgot to put a foreground character in there! I'll probably do that now and edit this post! EDIT: OK decided to scrap that idea because it looked wierd having one guy there, it would have needed a lot more ppl!


Dusty Imp - Thanks, yups! Lighting is something to work on for sure :D
Krato - Hehe, your run of replies has broken! Hmmmm nice suggestion. Atm Im trying to get a few urban environments. So maybe after a few more! Erm... I tried to look at my layers to try find how I did that but I flattened everything heh. I didnt use burn on it, I think what I did was I painted the light patch underneath the texture and so when it was applied it that area came out brighter. Then use an eraser to get rid of excess details.
Tripage - Thank you :)

[Krato]

final product looks good honestly how did you make the windows and things? they look almost like pictures

[AlexEh]

Awesome stuff in here, found you on the animation forum on CA that I didnt even knew existed till today. Looking forward to seeing your graduation project :anime:

[hp]

looks good! a bit grainy, dunno if it's from sharpening it or just personal style tho.

[Bendragon]

Heres some studies I did before bed and one when I woke up :) Was a lil tired of the generic round brush but couldn't find a substitute till I discovered the magical combination of the Smudge tool and a texture brush! Whhhaaaa!!!! It got some of the effects I was craving for!!!! I pretty much only just found this out so it was used mostly in the second piece. Also, Ive been studying some Bridgman, might scan them in... (I just hate my scanner :P It squashes the scan for some reason).
EDIT: Hmmm... the second one turned out much blurrier... I have my settings at 8 bits, would it be better to have it at 16?!?! The only problem is I save a lot and when its at 16bits it saves slow.


Krato - Hehe, thats because they are photo textures! For windows I paste them in, correct the perspective and then fiddle with the blending option. Even still, you'll have to adjust the saturation and levels to try get a nice blend. If something is still off about it, just go over it with a brush!
Dy.laneA - Thanks man, glad you had a look through the animation section :) Actually I heard recently my film got selected for an online festival in Korea so it might be available to view there! It starts at 6th November so pop by here at that time and I may have a link :D W00t!
Emily - Thanks! I think its from the Noise filter I added. I did sharpen it heavily too. Not too sure if I went overboard yet :P

[Bendragon]

some anatomy drawings, I dont usually post these up since they arent much to look at but I figured they could lead to some pointers, so heres a few pages that are ok on the eye. The others are just a mess so I wont bother with them. Felt like adding some strange speech bubbles in there too, theres also a mix of imaginary sketches.
Urghhhhhhhh... tried to do a study of that man with the hard to spell name (Bouguereau) and the hard to study paintings! But there were some subtle shades in the figure's face as it was in shadow which lead to many struggles :( Couldn't seem to paint after that bah! Off day I guess... will make up for that tomorrow!

[Krato]

nice nice, i too am sick of the generic brush its really... generic hehe, if you look at my work i found a nice small set of brushes i really like right now. anyway back on topic the faces are pretty funny, but i think you would learn more if you tried to make legit faces. ;P Nice updates though digging the atmosphere in BOTH paintings!

[Texahol]

I did a color study of one of bouguereau's paintings a few years ago. I ended up spending about 40 hours on it...

just keep chugging along on it, until it's perfect...it's totally worth it.

[jeremymoore]

nice bridgeman studies!

[hp]

i think they're a bit short from rib to hip area. i think you need some proportion work, so probably copying them from real photos like the ones at characterdesigns.com might help.

nice hands! maybe work on the line quality some.

[AlexEh]

I agree those last to studies look great, I've honestly never even considered the smudge tool. I'm tottally going to give it a shot!

An online animation festival? South Korea's interesting, Star Craft is national sport (I'm assumeing) and online festivals. Hehe!

The figure being used as a foot rest gave me a laugh.

[Morgado]

Heya Bendragon!

I agree with Krato, for faces, try doing some more "personal" faces, instead of generic ones.

You have a cool stylization going on, I'm really digging it :)

[Bendragon]

Ach! I have an announcement to make... Im an idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!
I found out why everything appears to be stretched... I had a different screen resolution!!! I got a new monitor before the start of this thread, I looked here on a different computer and found that everything was indeed stretched like ppl had been saying!!! So I think I corrected that now and resized a few images that I really couldn'e get away with. Erk! How embarrassing :nohope: Some images are still a bit stretched but I couldn't be bothered to change em hehe.
Anyway, thanks for letting me know about the problem, I hope its correct now. Sorry about not posting any actual work too, just wanted to fix this problem. Will get back to posting work n replies later! :D *what an idiot :P*

[latigid]

Love your stuff you got a nice style going on man i gotta work harder

[kingkostas]

Once again great enviros!!!Some proportions problems in some of the figures, but they are studies and fast ones.
Keep up :D

[hunchback]

dauummmm i like the studies youve been pullin off her : D

i gotta do some of those photo studies :D and naked people.

searches for reference.....

[Bendragon]

Didnt have much painting time today buuuuut still got something done! A study from photo reference. Think it was about 1.5 hours (I dont usually time them) but I tried to simplify a lot of things which helped loooads! This is probably a personal thing (or perhaps just a one off) but I found it useful to start with a softer brush to paint, since it isn't as solid as a hard edge and so the paint marks isn't too defined and I could visualize the figure better. Just something I felt during this piece.
And also a lil environment Im working on. Might make a lil tutorial out of it, Im saving some progresses but its a lil messy :P


Krato - Hehe, yeah Im trying to try out some other brushes and find what use I can make of them. Hehe, will get more normal faces in too :P Cheers! Hope ur enjoying ur SCAD days!
Texahol - Thanks man, its good to know. I wonder if Im just cant paint when that happens :P hehehe but he is a master for a reason :D I will have another go at it so thanks for the encouragement :D
Jeremy - Thanks! Will try get more done too!
Emily - Hehehe, I thought someone would point out the line quality :P So theres really no excuse hahaha! Thanks for the link, actually got this study off that site :)
Dy.laneA - Yups, though I'd imagine some risk with over usage of the smudge. What I do it paint things normally and use it to work on the edges somewhat. Hehehe Yarrr I heard they're nuts on Starcraft, they always beat up my friend :P
Morgado - Yo dude! Thanks, can you really see a style here?!?!? I never thought there was :D
latigid - Hehe, you and me both! We all got to keep it up :D
kingkostas - Cheeers! Will look into this proportion thing!
hunchback - Same here! Heres some naked ppl for ya!

[AlexEh]

Wow great colors!

[hp]

really nice lighting and colors! yes please make a tut! and i've TOTALLY done that with the monitor resolution thing while doing a demo.

[Bendragon]

Dy.laneA - Thanks!
Hp - Hehe, glad someone else blundered too!

Just finished this one from photo ref again.

[Bendragon]

Finished version (will try piece together a walkthrough later, its pretty unorganized as I dont work too methodically). And re-doodling on top of the robot :P

[Pigeonkill]

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=799142&stc=1&d=1255140150

This has a nice emotional quality to it. She's really thinking of something. For both of your nude studies. I think the nude study of the guy. His feet are missing.

[Cam Sykes]

your enviro work is improving tons.

[AlexEh]

Hehe I see an Easter egg :D

[hp]

nice environ, but feels a bit lifeless and empty, i mean do ppl sit in the chairs and yell at each other across the room? lol

and i think maybe some things could look a bit older, like the rug, or the poster, since the fridge and stuff look a bit worse for wear.

i love the new robot design! the head doesn't seem quite right in perspective though, but i'm sure that's a quick fix.

[Pixie Trick]

In post 101, the sketches seem to be saying that you aren't that certain where the muscles go. You seem to have a very clear idea of what you want to be showing and in which style, but not the knowledge to back it up quite yet... or maybe not sunken in quite yet. :)

The basement room: You've picked up the vibe of the place very well. The floor seems to be tilting one again! :P Are there two levels? Another thing to watch is the furniture being 'through' the wall. The far recliner is one ex. One last thing to take into consideration is scale. According to our perception of the pic, the gas can-thingie is quite massive if you take the desk to be waist height. I think this would also be the time to do a general perspective check. Also, just in general (more of an observation of human nature more than anything), an average person will not have such a large open area in the centre with everything out to the sides. They may try to break it up into groups with a table and two chairs in one spot and face them away from the piping etc. in order to make them less obvious, and then the fridge and and TV with a couple more chairs. Maybe just a coffee table in the centre. That sort of thing.

Anywho... what was I saying... yes: Marvelous studies! :D Love the 'bot. Like the use of texture more and more too. Feel free to ignore anything said above. Have a marvelous day on top of that. :sungod:

[towy]

really beauty sketchbook, 5 stars

[Incinerated]

try putting backgrounds on those robot pics, I know you have the skills.
plus awesome robots needs bg's. :)
there's something weird in that last interior environ, there's some distortion on the left wall, :P.
-Inc

[Morgado]

Morgado - Yo dude! Thanks, can you really see a style here?!?!? I never thought there was :D

Actually I do, in your more cartoonish works :)

Dig the light on the female piece!

[Bendragon]

Pigeonkill - Thanks, hehe yeah, the feet were partially covered in the reference by another model.
Cam Sykes - Thanks man. As long as there is improvements going on Im very happy :D
Dy.laneA - Hahaha, glad you noticed something :P Maybe the guy who lives there likes my grad film hehe
Emily - lol hehe I see what you mean! Will remember that for next time. Cheers!
Pixie Trick - Cheers! Hopefully the studies will improve my knowledge. The plan is to always improve. Hehe, yeah I see what you mean about the large space, its good that you notice these too! Thanks
Towy - Thanks, not sure if I deserve that hehe. But I'll try my best to keep improving! Thanks!
Incinerated - Cheers! I'll prob put some kind of background for any other concepts like the robot for ya!
Morgado - Ah ok! Thats pretty cool to know. Thanks for the feedback!


Here is another lil step-by-step of the previous environment.
1 - This time, I planned out a bit more what it is I was painting and did some thumbnails. I picked one out and scanned it into photoshop and blocked in some kind of colour as a guideline.
2 - Just like last time, I put some perspective lines in on separate layers that I turn on/off constantly to check on if individual objects are following the same perspective.
3 - Turn the drawing off. I have painted on top of rough line drawings before and I found that personally (with my messy lines) it doesn't end up as crisp or sharp as painting directly into Photoshop. Using the lasso tool to isolate the walls individually I can paint inside and keep it looking crisp. Note it is simply just a box. I believe rooms and landscapes are almost just a box itself and that you start building more shapes in there to break up the regular shape of the box until it looks complex because of the amount of shapes overlapping each other and breaking up regular shapes and disguising the box.
4 - Painting in the elements to disguise the box and break up the straight lines. I overlay some textures on the walls and ceiling (use transform so it follows the same perspective). This is used as a basis to paint on as it can be a lil daunting to paint on just blank spaces. Oh and I rejigged with the size, I found the almost square look to be boring. Oh and flipping hte image to keep check on mistakes.
5 - Keep painting! Not many fancy tricks used. I paint these kind of things using the lasso to isolate areas so I can get a clean look, brush to paint of course :P, and the line tool to get block out a drawing when I need to refer to the perspective lines.
6 - More of the same techniques and Im done. Ive been adjusting slightly the levels and contrast too. And put a Smart Sharpen filter at the end. Dunno if you noticed but the flipped image made some text come out backwards :nohope:

Hope that was useful!

[Bendragon]

A sketch using an old painting as foundation.

[Krato]

ahh i have missed so much :< nice updates especially the the basement pic

[AlexEh]

Looking good!

[Hellfire]

Awesome artwork!
That last landscape is really good.
Very confident brush strokes.
keep posting man!

[hp]

looks good but a bit too centered IMO, you could just use the offset filter and then paint out the line. thanks for the tut!

[Bendragon]

Krato - Yus, where u been eh?!?
Dy.laneA - Cheers!
Hellfire - Thanks, your stuff is looking good too!
Emily - Ooooo, never knew about that filter, had a lil play around with it, pretty cool. Yeah I thought it was pretty central too early on and tried moving it around but it ended up moving back to the centre again somehow :P Ach!

Just a small update for now... something Im still painting, my neck is hurting now so its prob time for a break...

[Krato]

nice, really like the textures on the wall especially the round camera thingy on the left, well i was at Atlanta and Savannah didnt have too much time to sit around and paint :< Ah well im back and ready to work!

good stuff here dean :)

noticed your stars are bouncing around so i five'd ya, your indoor enviros defiantly are 5's

[hp]

hehe recognize some brushes in that last one :D coincidentally i also used those in a portal scene. looking good so far.

don't forget to get up sometimes and walk around! or else you'll get all sorts of other pain hehehe

[AlexEh]

Looking forawrd to the finished product :D

[Bendragon]

Tennis-ball-head - Sooo where were you again?!?! jk :P Cheers, I dont really mind much about stars, everyone should know what level theyre at and what they need to do to improve :) Sooo lets a go!
Emily - Really? You talking about the wall textures or the hexagon patterns?!?! Thanks, Im feeling better now :)
Dy.laneA - Here you go!!!!

This is for an art blog activity between some of my friends. Heres the link: Art Actuate (http://art-actuate.blogspot.com/)
Ok... gonna watch some football now hahaha (thats soccer for ppl like Krato)!

[Kuidf^!]

Nice work its good progess keep it up :)

[hp]

honestly this last one is feeling a bit flat in comparison to your normal stuff. i'm sure it's still WIP but the humans are kind of bringing it down. i think if you made the guy on the left have a stronger silhouette and figure (think mr incredible, but not that stylized) it'd be great.

i think maybe the flatness also might have to do with a lack of variation in the color. looks like you might have just gotten around to toning it tho, so ignore that if you want!

keep it up!

[Krato]

futbol you say? Good stuff, i prefer it over FOOTBALL, to be honest. I dont think the values are that bad on the last one, what is lacking is perspective, look at the bottom of the tele, its set up different from the rest of the pic, the things following that should be set appropriately. Ex look at the size of the person who should be significantly closer, he is the same size as the far away guy :)



though like i said before (i think) , i like the colors and textures. Update now.

[Bendragon]

Thanks guys, had a lil play around with the last one. Cheers for the feedback guys :)
Anyhooo... I'll get s proper update up soon :)

[Bendragon]

Felt inspired by Paper Blue for the first one. And some figures from imagination :D Erm... yar the line work is very messy :P

[Bombur]

Great use of texture in your works :D

[Krato]

Well Dean, its quite evident that your understanding of environments is much greater then your understanding of anatomy and people, i suggest you face your weakness and improve at it. :>

-- i really do like the latest enviro though, it reminds me of the smurfs :o

[Pixie Trick]

Love the textures and colours of the latest enviro! Really nice. The anatomy looks a bit more solid in the sketchies too. Nice work! :sungod:

[hp]

i think you need simpler lines, not necessarily cleaner ones, but just not so many little dips and stuff in the lines. awesome hands! :D

[captain-brushpen]

Awesome details, and thanks for posting some of those texture suggestions! I love the composition on this piece.

[Bendragon]

Bombur - Thank you!
Tennis-Head - Yes sir! I'll try tackle those! But.... smirfs?!?!? What!?!?!?!?!
Pixie Trick - Thanks, studies are helping out!
Emily - Roger roger!! Hmmm... I always thought my hands suck Cheers!
Captain-brushpen - No problem and cheers!!!!

Guess what....... another environment! Actually, I felt pretty uninspired and out of ideas when I started this one but it turned out well somehow?!?!? I find natural scenery easier to do since they are almost abstract, you can add a tree, mountain or rock anywhere you like!

[Krato]

Oooo, your defiantly an environment person. how long did that picture take you? But yea do more people studies, pictures are only as good as there weakest link :D But nice use of colors


And yea i just see smurfs in the last enviro it just seems fitting.

[Junpei]

do you mind explaining more in tutorial how you do the perspective? you're perspective is seriously one of the best I've seen, especially for those landscapes and indoor shots. :O

[Bendragon]

Release-the-Krato - Cheers cheers! I'll get some ppl down soon... In fact next I think! The last piece was fairly quick 4-5 hours thanks to some sneaky Photoshop tricks :P I manipulated some old paintings to form the base for a new painting. And again, I did the same using the environment in the last post to make this environment.
Junpei - Ah, I forgot to put a lil perspective tut together.... I'll try do that for the next update. But really Im not THAT good with it. Thanks!

EDIT: Erm... Im a bit busy to compile anything about perspective sorry. And thinking about it, I think there is not much I can add on the subject really. Im very sure there are tons of tutorials you can find on it. Look into one point, two point and three point perspectives. Also horizon lines too, this is a very simple concept but a very useful guideline for referring to. There isn't much to learn theory-wise I think, its mostly putting it into practice Id say. I read about perspective and then the rest was just drawing and practicing it. Draw a lot from life so you can get a feel for it by eye. Hope that helps.

Heres one Im gonna dedicate to the great ppl I know in Bournemouth!

[Krato]

really cool enviro i like the use of color

[andres333]

Very good backgrounds, well i've just tried figure drawing and I know nothing about backgrounds.

Keep it up

[Hellfire]

Jeez man, those last two pieces you posted are incredible!!!!!
Awesome colors! By the way, how do you choose your colors? Everytime I try to paint a landscape I have to "steal" the colors from an actual landscape, or else it will look amazingly unnatural and to harmonic.

[hp]

wahhh great colors! i think tho the architectural elements are flattening out the piece, maybe throw a bit more contrast on it.

[Pixie Trick]

The latest eviro is definitely my favourite to date! The one before is very nice too, but just not as natural looking.

[Incinerated]

damn thats some pretty nice Environs, that last one the tower seems to be leaning abit,
Is that on purpose? 146# is awesome love it.

[Lakka]

Heya, great looking landscapes, lush colours!

I am with you when it comes to anatomy, that fucker just won't stick! ;)

Just keep working your ideas and fine tuning, and everythings gonna be Gooooooooood! :D

[jatherip]

latest enviro has (as krato just said :D) awesome colors! i like the variation of reds, greens and yellows and the contrast to the blue in the sky and the reflection on the tower, and this spacecraft and the river..... keep up good work!

[Morgado]

I'm liking your enviro's as well, perhaps you should try to use the rake less, and start trying out new palettes :)

[Bendragon]

Crate-o - Thanks B-Rock!
Andres333 - Hey, keep at it though! Believe me, I sucked at this! Cheers
Fred - Hey man! Hehe thanks! I painted these with a similar palette and then half way I played with some adjustment layers. Levels and Color Balance. So thats how Ive been getting them actually :P Then I carry on painting over that. At the end, I add another adjustment layer that desaturates everything some more and I erase into that to reveal areas where I want saturation. Hope that helps!
Hit Points - Thanks! I know what you mean. Erm.... Im afraid I was being lazy at that point :( I'll remember to put more attention there in future!
Pixie Trick - Cheers! How so? Maybe because of the weird colours :P
Incinerated - Yups, its intentional cause the horizon is tilted. Thanks!
Lakka - Heck yeah! Lets both get them anatomy down and beat it up :D Lets-a-go!
Jatherip - Thank you dude!
Dave - Hahaha, Its prob too apparent that rake :P And you are absolutely right about adding more palettes! Next few updates I hope!

Ok, heres a character for Bobby Chiu's ChiuStream art contest. The topic was set by El Coro and is a homeless fighter related to his Transient series.

[Ricardo Robles]

Hey Ben! You environmental stuff is very good, I like the brushes and the color, and definitely love the way you paint clouds. As a lil crit, I think some enviros look a bit blur in some points, try to define more the frontal areas.
That last character is very cool!
see you man!

[Krato]

i really like the concept, but like me you need to anatomy studies :D

[Bendragon]

Ricardo - Very true! Ive been thinking about why that is for a while. I guess its due to some low opacity brushwork. Hope to sort if out.
Kratoe - Yep yep, gonna try to do more!

Sorry about the lack of updates yesterday, Ive been drawing anatomy stuff... you know the type... the not worth showing stuff :P
Heres a study of Marta Dahlig'd work. I might do more since I feel I need to work on my rendering of body parts.

[BettyHime]

the eyes look a bit uneven in that last one but it's coming along :p

Hello dere!

[Morgado]

Ben mate, the colors on the chick are pretty good, as well as the rendering. The face is the place that looks kind of wrong, and you should define some parts of the hair a bit more with high opacity strokes as well!

[Krato]

its nice that you have a good understanding of values and colors in which you learned from environments because its transferring over to people

[hp]

face is a bit tilty, but otherwise great job and great mood. nice hands!

[sandeepbarot]

nice work

[Bendragon]

Betty - Hey its you! Hows the next generation of animators going? Everyone forgot about me already? hehe. Cheers that seems to be a reoccuring issue. Will have to bite the bullet and work through it.
David - Sure thing mate! I still need to work on that.
Federrer - Ha! I hope thats true but I dunno yet. That was a study so the answers were already there.
Emily - Thanks, purpose was mainly to practice the hands, (Im still scared of them). Will need to pay more attention to the face structure (after this study I think it still needs working).
Sandeepbarot - Thanks dudester!

Another study! Marta Dahlig again! Have some stupid wips too but theyre not much atm.
I also found an old sketchbook from 2006 and had a look through. WTF!!!! I dont remember it being THAT shit!!!! Oh man.... really... that was a lil before I found these forums and drew super crap! Gave me bit of hope though, seeing how crud I was back then. So its been a 3 or 4 years transformation.

[pao]

that's really sweet man, keep rocking !!

[Krato]

nice hands

[hp]

dude wtf you are the hand master. that sounds wrong. haha

her head looks a bit disconnected from the body tho!

[Morgado]

Good one Ben. I second hp's crit, and also, right now it seems that the umbrella is floating in the air (you forgot the stick part of it :D ).

[Bendragon]

Paul - Thanks Papier-Ouf! lol
Krat0 - Thanks, lets hope I can transfer it to imagination stuff.
Emily - Hahaha, I wish I was the hand master in every meaning of the word :P. I think youre right. I must have zoomed into the head and not notice the neck much.
David - True true! Have to be careful in future. Thanks!

Decided to work on some longer stuff rather than knocking them out quickly for now. Also working on multiple pieces cause sometimes I get tired with one and that may lose some quality in the end. So these are all wips!
First being an Evangelion inspired piece. Watched parts of the new movie, the animation left me drooling :P
Second piece was a sketch that Im gonna take and try refine it more than I did before.
The third is a ship based on a similar ship I saw in a dream I had back in 2006.

[tuchten]

The EVA is very expressive. Would be
nice to see a more even level of detail.
I feel as though the details on the head
need to be toned down or the rest brought up.
Hope that makes sense

[Krato]

1st one is neat, i love the excessive shoulders, not sure whats going on with the yellow orb thing though.. 2nd one looks really good can't wait to see it finished, 3rd one you need to tighten up the edges big time, and add details to it, not necessarily what you usually add though, make tight lines, creases, etc.

[hp]

holy bejesus the evangelion piece looks like it's going to be epicly awesome :D

the ship looks like it needs quite a bit of structure but it's obviously just a sketch, so whatever!

there's a weird tangent thingy going on with the front right rock (closest to us) and the edge of the water at the tip. but i'm sure as you refine it that'll disappear.

[jatherip]

lol...this enviro reminds me of dile_'s stuff....pretty awesome :) I WANT TO SEE IT FINISHED!

[AlexEh]

My stuff from around 13 months ago is just like at the absolute beginner stage haha. I love it! I really wish I still had all of my old doodles. I had hundreds of bad doodles with no understandign of anything XD And it was my falut I don't have them! I gave them all to my teacher for this final project and never went back to get them, at the time it dodnt matter enough to me. I hated my drawings :'(

Yay EVA :anime:

[Bendragon]

Tuchten - Hey man! It makes total sense but the reason for that is because its still in the wip stage hehe.
Kratoes - Haha, the orb thing should makes sense now :P Funny to hear other people's interpretation in the early stage cause it probably doesnt make sense! Cheers!
Emily - Hehe Thanks! This is actually a second attempt cause I realized the first one was very boring composition wise but I already worked a bit into it. But when its not working its not working and I tried to make this one more dramatic.
Jatherip - Thanks! Hmmm... dunno about that :P Dile's stuff looks different methinks but thats quite interesting to hear! I might have to leave is on the side a bit for the time being though.
Dy.laneA - Save your sketches even if they are bad! I got a bit of a lift looking back at them and it was pleasing to see the progression and gave me further encouragement. "I developed this much in this time... so if I keep going for longer I could improve at the same rate" was my thinking. But geez they did suck lol!

Not much an update sorry. More painting on the EVA piece.

[Krato]

nice update it looks good, more please

[hp]

Awesomeeeeee :)

update please

[Krato]

I... i need you.. to update


also how old are you? 23?

[Bendragon]

Hahaha thanks guys. Erm... Im 22. Wont be 23 till February time.
This one took a while in the end. Just as a lil warning.... Im not sure how much I'll paint tomorrow as theres a huge football match on :D If we lose I'll most likely be crying all day. If we win I'll most likely be screaming till I collapse...

Anyway... finished the painting! Inspired by the new Evangelion Rebuild film. Though afterward I was surprised to find a still from the film that looked a lot like my painting. I took a screenshot for you!

EDIT: I might have to take it easy for a bit... Im feeling a bit of pain sometimes when I paint for too long. I would have thought it would appear around my wrist but its occurring at the back of my neck, a bit closer to my drawing hand. Its not too bad but I might have to watch myself.

[Krato]

oo thats not good, try relaxing more next time you paint.. you may be putting to much strength/effort into the pen.

just relax :/

[Helaine]

Ahahaha, soccer! Good luck!


I love your environment paintings, and I love how you use the texture. I don't understand how to use those texture brushes, and your look really wicked x.X


How do you study environments? Do you go outside and sketch real trees? Do you do something in color- like oil painting of real environment, or just digitally?


Would photo study help? I don't know how to start painting environment... x.X


Your SB is really good, I'm stalking you now! :D

[SMILEFACE]

HAHA WICKED UPDATES !!!! AN i FIND YOGA HELPS RELAX AN PREVENT INJURY SIMPLE STRECTHING THROUGH OUT THE DAY GOES ALONG WAY

[jatherip]

man, visit the doctor before its too late! did you hear that algenpfleger couldnt paint for a few months because of something like this?
oh, and dont take soccer too serious :D art ftw!

[Bendragon]

Krato - Yep yep, Ive been taking more breaks which helps.
Helaine - Haha! But really Id prefer to call it FOOTBALL! Lol :P Ive answered your question in your sketchbook which Im sure you saw :)
Mr Spect - Thanks, yeah the stretches are helping out. Got to warm up like a real football player :P
Jatherip - Thanks man, it doesnt seem that serious, after a bit of rest I feel great again! I did hear about Algenpfleger, quite inspiring stuff! WTF?!?!? You're from Germany and you are calling it soccer?!?!? Pppffffftttt!

Anyway I'd hate to update without any artwork to post but just wanted to update on the situation... The injury has gone after a bit of rest. I dont think its serious, but maybe down to lack of breaks or stretching :P But all seems great now! Actually had a couple of good news lately... We won in football!!!!!!!!! Yep, I was going mental for a while Im afraid. *Ahem* Anyway... Ive been doing a bit of art but I cant show them off yet. And Ive got some traveling to do soon so yet another warning that I might not update as much in the coming days and got to prepare for them.

[Bendragon]

Sorry.... just a small update. I'll get some serious stuff going soon! Promise!

[nooSens]

Good landscape ! I hope to see your promise !

[Krato]

hm, i think the castle may be to detailed, or maybe it looks to grainy, not sure. Well its a wip so who knows what you'll do.

[Morgado]

Krato is right on both aspects. I can tell you used a grain filter on it, next time try doing it in a duplicate layer, and then erase some parts, because the grain only makes sense on the foreground.

I also think it should have more atmosphere between BG and FG

I'm digging that you're trying to be bolder with your strokes however :)

[Meaisín]

Dude... "Serious stuff"... Looks serious enough to me. Pretty sweet :). I know people will comment on the graininess, but I actually quite like it. The added texture and apparent detail really drew my eye around the gothic form. Nice clouds. Do you think anything more could be done to the piece so that the figure drew more attention? Just an opinion; I know he's dwarfed by his surroundings but he seems noticeable enough to be important/narrative-driven, but too subtle for a real purpose.

I think the EVA is awesome btw. I started a new sketchbook for the new course. So much to do! My awfulness is only paralleled by my enthusiasm to improve :)! Trying digital portrait painting for the first time; difficult, but very satisfying.

Anyway, look forward to seeing more good stuff!

[HunterKiller_]

Hey dude
You're making some great improvements with the enviros. Keep it up.

[Incinerated]

good to see a update ... Hope you're busy drawing from life, and not just lazy.

I'm sure you have a valid reason to keep me from my fix :D

[hp]

yeah, the grain filter isn't really my thing, it makes the whole piece look like it's been oversharpened, but it's just my personal preference.

i think the shapes curving in are a bit repetitive, james paick was doing a talk about this, it's just natural to want to do that kind of repetition but consciously maybe try to stay away from it. just break them up a bit

moar update!

[Bendragon]

T.a.i.v.a.s - Thanks! More to come!
Krato -Your absolutely right there! Cheers! I usually add some sharpen and noise there just cause for some reason the jpeg compression looks mega crud.
David - Thanks man! I'll see what I can do about them. Good thing I saved the filters on separate layers hehe!
Francisck - Good point about the figure too! I'll see what I can do with it, Ive left that on the hot burner a bit though, working on some other stuff. Hows uni going? Say "Hi" to Parr for me and the guys in the third year.
HunterKiller_ - Cheers! Lets both keep the updates coming!
Incinerated - Hehe, dont worry I havent been slacking :P Reason for lack of updates is Ive been working on something I cant show here yet. But I'll keep posting any other stuff I can though :)
Emily - I think your right, usually I throw that on at the end when I upload casue I find the jpegs a bit blurry but I'll try sort that out. Thats interesting about the repeating shapes, I'll remember to do something about that. Thanks!

Aha! Just got this for now. Im going to paint it too but thought you might like to see the linework for it. Its a character from a personal imaginary world hehe. I would like to explore these more so stay tuned!

[Incinerated]

Good to read that you're working on something. On that new one I fear the arms are just alittle to short, very nice lines though.

Oh and I challenge you to do a cooler selfie than mine on Nov. 1st :P

[hp]

the right shoulder tip is a bit out too much IMO, and you need to rework the right arm pointing down, the indent in the middle of the arm is a bit off as is the thumb area where it connects to the hand (shouldn't overlap like that)

i think the rest of the hand to wrist connections could be worked on a bit, but overall looks good!

[Bendragon]

Incinerated - Yarhar! Theres been a few things art related I am doing that aren't artwork I can show here. Ive been working on those arms and colouring it in too. So you can catch that soon. A challenge eh? You're ON!
Emily - Good pointers there, Ive noodled around with the arms some more so I hope they turn out better hehe. See! Im not the hand master lol!

Some Halloween treats!!!!! Been working with some fellow artists and this is something we've been working on. We have a thread in the Finally Finished section, check it out here: Link! (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=172720)

Happy Halloween haunting!

[Hellfire]

Sweet Lord! This is creepy dude!!! hehe
Great concepts man. You really know how to paint.
Great job... as usual. =D

[Tripage]

Bendragon, are you done with school? You doing illustration full time?

Also, if that's the "Prince of Shadows," why's it got boobs?

[Krato]

:D cool stuff, i missed two updates >:( oh well im glad to see the great work!

I think im jumping back on the boat again, i kinda took a BYE week and did about 2-3 hours of study each day, back to the hard work again. Learning from hogarth i even noticed something wrong with the chick in your multiple arm sketch :>

MORE!

[Krato]

:D cool stuff, i missed two updates >:( oh well im glad to see the great work!

I think im jumping back on the boat again, i kinda took a BYE week and did about 2-3 hours of study each day, back to the hard work again. Learning from hogarth i even noticed something wrong with the chick in your multiple arm sketch :>

MORE!

[Bendragon]

Hellfire - Hey man! Thanks for dropping by again. :D
Tripage - Hey! I graduated from school this year so Im looking for work. I might be able to answer your question properly soon if all goes well :) Hehe, I didnt give the guy that name so maybe it was wrong lol
Krato - Good to know! Im gonna be doing some traveling around soon too so thats been taking a bit of my time as well. Aye! Ive been changing little bits of the bumps thats been too exaggerated in the hips and arm. Do you see any other area with issues? Cheers

This was for the self portrait day yesterday. I dont think ti turned out well but I'll post it up anyway. Failures should be shown too hehe

[bjornehoff]

Nice! The enviro with the castle and the landscape is a good one. You got a good sense of scale on the enviroment. It looks huge!
The castle itself doesn't look so big though. I think it would look more impressive if you put it a bit higher up in the picture.

The Evangelion piece is very nice! Love the colours you used for it.
I don't really buy the blood however. It was kinda distracting the first time I looked at the picture.

I'm looking back through your sketchbook now, and I must say that I really love your enviroment pieces. They're full of life, and I want to explore them!
Looking forward to see more stuff from you! :)

[cout<mecha]

Nice SB you have going here Bendragon, I linked over from an animation discussion you were having in the Motion Gtraphics forums. I hope to see some more of your animation stuff here. Also when you have time stop by my SB. I look forward to more of your work!

[DJ Ezio]

Cranberry - Thanks! Will do :D

Here are some screenshots from my grad film. Thought I'd post these up, Im not allowed to upload the film on the internet yet so you will likely be able to watch this next year!



I'd love to see that, looks amazing!

[Krato]

i understand, just keep up the hard work, thats an interesting way to approach failures, i tend to hide them away and study what i did wrong. :p then agian, in a few years when i look back at my stuff im going to think it was all trash :p


Touch ups 1st one worked with the arms a bit, nice legs btw, second is your self port, you need to push them values :D

[nooSens]

I like your selfportrait but the eyes seem strange !

[Bendragon]

cout<mecha - Thanks! Good to see another animation guy here :D Just gave u some crits :D
DJ Ezio - Stay tuned! Really soon I might be able to show something so check back very soon. I think around the 6th of November a festival is showing it online. I'll post the link up here.
Krato - Wow man! Thanks a bunch for those! Its a major help when you point them out like that! Hehe, I thought it would be good to show some of my trash as much as I hate them and want to erase them from history but it will be good for others to see and maybe kick me up the ass some more! Im gonna try be less embarrassed by my crap and let them spur me on. Anyway I look back at my old stuff and feel encouraged sometimes that I came from such a low level, so really you can reach the heights you set yourself if you keep improving that way.
T.a.i.v.a.s - Hehe I hate it :P Im sure a lot if wrong with it and not just the eyes. It seemed like a day when I couldn't get anything right :P

I dug these out from a while back. Forgot I did these hehe

[Krato]

lol nice improvement since then, it looks like they have a hanging Richard on the first one! :P

[Krato]

UPDATE

[Bendragon]

Hehe, Im afraid Im getting into the phase where I cant show some of the things Im working on. So I wont have anything personal to show in a couple of days Im afraid. But Im still alive n painting :P

[Incinerated]

Haha thats a pretty good self portrait man, not sure its better than mine :P.
Great to see so many updates.

[~KJK~]

Hey man, kewl environments man! hope to see some more! stop by at my SB too if you got the time!

noodle

[.:WoLf:.]

The kitchen in #25 post is kickass!

other studies are great too

[Bendragon]

Thanks guys, I'll drop by your sketchbooks afterward. I just remembered something...

My Grad Film Is Online Now!
For a limited time only! I dunno when it ends but follow the link, click the 'low view' or 'hi view' button on right to watch the film. Hope you enjoy it and do lemme know what you think :D

LINK (http://www.pisaf.or.kr/2009/e/c_stud/stud_0201.asp?seq=993)

Note: You will need to register with the site to view any of the films there.

[Bendragon]

Ach! Long long LONG overdue update. Feels fantastic to post again! I miss this place! OK Im gonna try push myself to at least do something for myself n post them up here more regularly. Feel free to kick my ass in gear if Im slowing down. Some of you have been and its helped :D!

Okay heres what Ive been doing today. Its just gone pass 2am I might try bust a quick one out before bed...

[Krato]

ahh. its nice to see you return.. really nice enviro but it doesnt seem like there is a place to focus on :/ its just one big ol' painting


just noticed you also snuck in a subliminal message on the far right side of the painting. KUNG FU

[Bendragon]

Krato - So true! So true! Should've spotted that myself :P Oh and yes! Subliminal baby! Whenever I can I like hiding Easter eggs in my work. Mayb your avatar will appear somewhere soon?!?!?!?

Heres some mechanical designs I was working on previously. And also a wip.

[Krato]

i really like your enviroooo the gun and vehicles designs look pretty flat though

[Bendragon]

Krato - Cheers, I'll see what i can do for future ones.

Heres something Ive just finished up, been painting it for a while and then neglected it. Finally gotten round to finish the job. Its a character from my own imaginary universe. Quite an evolved conscious being.

[Incinerated]

AWESOME STUFF! great designs, nice to see you flex those art muscles. :P

floaty-four-arm-girls neck is a little too long

[Holland]

Really nice work! Love the environments :)

[towy]

beautyfull work ! i hope you will finish this one too http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=827143&stc=1&d=1257984691 don't stop : >

[nooSens]

I love your mechanical design !

Vidaelus's face proportions seems me strange.

[hp]

i really like the outfit! but her hand to wrist connections are not too great compared to the rest of the image. just use some ref, prolly shouldn't take too long to fix.

[Bendragon]

Incinerated - Thanks! Yar muscles are flexing... but need more. Neck sure is long :P
Holland - Thanks! I'll try raise my game in the character department too.
Towy - Oh yes I plan to. Hmmm I have a few pieces I left as sketches that I need to finish but I keep wanting to paint a new thing. Will revisit that one though :P
Taivas - I was wondering about that myself... I need some one to point out what it is for me though :P
Emily - Thanks, yar I prob should have looked something up for that. Afraid I want to move on n paint something else now... maybe I will revisit it later?!?

Another wip! This kinda has the same composition as the last enviro I was working on (this was painted over it). Dunno if I want to change the composition though...

[Incinerated]

Good to read!
Define the last one more.

[Krato]

last one is pretty neat chap, the enviro looks great and the focus is one the red fella, gj!

[hp]

you could try throwing some old paintings over it just to make it look a bit diff maybe.

epic action! :D

[Ricardo Robles]

I´m loving the movement sense in this last sketches, very dynamic.
the ship shet is cool too.:)
see you mate!

[Helaine]

Oh wow, the last one is badass. Looks really cool, finish it plx! :D

The weapon design looks amazing too :D



Keep on posting! :)

[Munin Raven]

Oh, this is glorious stuff-very imaginative. I like your little cartoon-styled enviro's as they remind me of the good old days of point 'n' click adventures. The two enviro's in posts 146 & 149 are just my bag - loving your colour choices in these.

[jatherip]

awesome enviro...the right side is a bit messy though :D prolly you wanna fix that?

[Bombur]

Great work on that four armed girl. Her hands are little wonky though. Oh and I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love your enviros :O

[Bendragon]

Incinerated - Roger that! Here u go!
Krato - Thanks, heres a clean up version.
Emily - Thanks, I'll start some new ones from scratch next time instead. Also hoping to capture some action recently too!
Ricardo - Thanks man! Hope it retained some of the movements in this one.
Helaine - Glad u like it, here u go!
Munin Raven - Hehe thats nice to hear. I find natural landscapes easier to work with as theyre quite abstract... you can add trees and plants whereever u feel but with cities n buildings, everything had to be made for a purpose so that requires more thought. Ive been trying to get more of these done cause I feel its harder.
jatherip - Thanks, I hope the problem is sorted *hopefully*
Bombur - Thanks, u posted as I was updating hehe... Yeah wonky arms! What the hell!??!?!? Next time... It shall be unwonkified!

Heres the finished one of the last piece. Its based on my own imaginary world. I originally wanted to paint something gory and decided to set it in the world I was developing. So thats two birds with one painting! The two characters are under attack from an unseen enemy.

EDIT: Hey guys, Im gonna be offline for a few days (nearly 3 days) So no updates till I return!

[Krato]

thats really neat, good job! hooooowever i think the foreground and the guy in the picture need more work other then that it looks great!

[Incinerated]

Better man!...
Great to see you working hard

[jatherip]

now that looks better! try to get that hard edged style on the creature, too, would make it look more suitable.....
keep it up!

[Morgado]

Ah missed some cool stuff. That ID work is very good! :D

On this last one, I wouldn't call it finished yet!

Generally, I'd say you could try to be more precise and decisive on your strokes.

[nooSens]

Good composition & dynamic ! you have well progress !

[hp]

honestly i think the last one is a bit too messy, like not loose messy but "no direction" messy. i think you could use a softer touch in some areas and work on the lighting a bit more.

[Bendragon]

Krato - Thanks. I think it could have done with some refining yar! And update gawddammit!
Incinerated - Thanks! Not hard enough me thinks, should be doing better.
Jatherip - Thanks! Will try get a better balance next time.
Morgado - Thanks you are right! It is quite indecisive. It was one of those where I didnt know exactly what was going on myself n trying to work it out as I go.
T.a.i.v.a.s - Thanks, I hope so. As long as I am improving I can be optimistic.
Emily - Thanks for being honest! You are very right there. I dont think I knew what to do myself. Will need to address that... lets see what we can do...

Hey guys! Ive missed posting here. Ive been away for a few days working on some NDA stuff. So of course that means no show Im afraid! Anyway heres something I did for an art blog set up for students from the course I studied in. Check it out here LINK (http://aibjumble.blogspot.com/)
Got a bit more work to do that I wouldnt be able to show so I might not update again for a bit...

[Krato]

lemme get out my cup of tea and my thick english mustache.

With the girl she has a weird face, her left hand looks paper thin flat, her upper left arm has no muscle and its really wiggly, along with her forearm. Her right hand wrist is jello, or at least her arm is not properly attached to it. yea her face is also pesky. Oh well, i know anatomy is your weakest card, so im glad to see you posting the stuff and trying to improve!

[hp]

her arms are too wobbly with the lines. when you try to draw a cute char like this one usually fuller characters look better so there isn't too much definition. and her left arm (our right) is crazy long.

also think of folds like you approach buildings, there is a definite structure to them and even if they're a soft fold there is usually a sharp crease with definition among the soft folds. also remember there is usually a beginning and end to folds so they don't just appear out of nowhere and end somewhere random

i think if you softened the crease on her mouth just a tad it'd also make her look cuter.

that being said, it looks pretty good! i think you just could take it further.

[Pixie Trick]

Hmmm... I like the idea of the latest lady, and the colours are cute, but I have to agree with hp on everything. I first saw her and thought her anatomy was very off in many ways.

[Bendragon]

Krato - Ha! Yeah as Ive told you... Im back on the anatomy trail thanks to your poking me! Cheers!
Emily - Thanks. Good pointers! I made a few changes based on what ya said. Thats useful to know about the start n end fabric folds, havent thought of it like tat before.
Pixie Trick - Yeah I agree that the anatomy is well off! Im still doing my anatomy studies.

Heres an enviro for you! I have an announcement to make but Im saving it for later... just to be on the safe side :P Oh... and Im studying anatomy again n drawing Bridgeman studies and from Pose Maniac! More to come!

[Krato]

your good at foreground things but you need to work more with the middle and distance. + why did you tells us you have an announcement and then not tell us xD

[hp]

the rocks don't really have a good sense of form in the foreground. the colors are great though. i'm just pushing you to do better ^^

gasp! what is this announcement? i'm not going to kill you out of jealousy am i?

[Krato]

ok who's right about the foreground, me or hp. :P