:Suarez Sketchbook: (Ringling) ~HYDRALISK and trick 07/27~

[Suarezart]

I've been going through my archive of old sketchbooks looking for stuff fit to scan, and it's a bit of a slow process.
It's not a problem of thinking the stuff isn't good enough, it's just that most of it is really unfinished, like missing legs and ears.

So, I'm going to be finishing up the best ones and updating whenever I can.

Moved my first post down. Just wanted to make it easier to update the thumbnail.



Also going to be trying to be updating my blog around the same time as I update here.

And as always any Comments or Criticisms are welcome.

[Suarezart]

And these are from a little sketchbook I usually keep on me. It's full of pen drawings is the only sketchbook where most of the drawings are actually finished.

[d3rCatalyst]

Excellent, very bold style, and a nice mix of cartoonism and realism. I'd like to see more realistic art from you though, it would be interesting to see how that would look.

[Scoopula]

I like your style very much, especially your pencil drawings. The cartoon look adds so much to the characters, they have a lot of personality. I think the eyes are what I noticed first, very good job. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Suarezart]

Scoopula - Thanks! I've been trying to make my drawings a bit more cartoony and stylized for a while, I felt they were looking too realistic. I'm happy to hear it's been working.

d3rCatalyst - Thank you. I have a few life and master studies lying around that I just need to add some finishing touches, I'll post them soon.

Small update this time! These 2 were the only one I had time to finish up tonight.

This is my only other Pyramid head drawing. They might seem like alot, but it's the movie's fault. Need to get to work on a Demon Nurse drawing, hehe.

[Suarezart]

Found this one that I had forgotten about, and it was already scanned in!

[wiggum]

PYRAMID HEAD RULES!!!! Seriously though, this stuff is absolutely awsome, keep posting!

[Suarezart]

Another small addition. I'm having a little trouble because I'm not sure which version I like more. The second one is just a multiply layer in PS to bring out some more value and highlights.

So does it look better with gray? Or should I just leave it as black and white?



Also I need some suggestions on how to make the gray-scale version pop out better. I usually just add the white outline so your eye doesn't drown in the gray, but I don't think that's the best way... I tried added a lighter shape in the background but I don't know...



Any comments or criticisms would really help.

[An-G-eL]

danm those are nice drawings XD...lol how long u been drawing for.

[Suarezart]

Hmmmm... I'd say about 5-6 years. Started doing it alot in Middle School, and then in High School started trying to actively get better and find out how to improve so I started using online art forums to get advice and critiques. Eatpoo helped me alot to get to where I am now.

[Kman.]

Hey there, cool stuff! Refreshing style. Keep up the good work, you handle value very well!

[Suarezart]

I started this one about when the last Blizzard contest was announced, and I think I finished it half way working on it off and on during a month. Then these last 2 or 3 weeks that I've been attacking all my unfinished sketch i took it the rest of the way.

I might post this one again later, I'm not too happy with the quality of the scan. I don't know what happened, it just looks like a lot of the detail got left out, hopefully scanning at a higher resolution will fix it.



I also have a bunch more updates coming up since I just about finished up another batch of sketches.

I've never been that good at finishing drawings in one hit. I always start a few and work on all of them little by little at the same time. Keeps me from getting bored of a drawing since I can just switch over to the next one. Also helps a lot in finding or avoiding mistakes. It kinda keeps your eyes fresh and also because what looks good one day, doesn't always the next.

[woo4]

Hallo, very strong and expressive look, like your rendering alot.

[InFlame]

Hey, this is cool stuff! Oh no, keep that realistic style please, it works really good! Your pencil work is impressive!! Keep it up!

[dierat]

Great faces and sense of value! Do you have any full-body imgs to show us?

[Suarezart]

Thanks guys!

Two of the next batch are going to be almost full bodies, they end right around the knees... haha. They're Harley Quinn and Live Wire, made them both kinda realistic while staying true to the Bruce Timm Paul Dini style.

I really wish there were Tabloid sized sketchbooks or widescreen sized ones. In my regular sketchbook there never seems to be enough space to comfortably fit an entire body and have it be big enough so I can render and detail it the way I want. I do have a bigger sketchbook, but that one is big all around. I just want something longer.

[dierat]

Yeah, when I needed a new sketchbook, I made sure I got a big one. It's A3 or 12x17", which is working out okay for me. Of course, you could always get an 18x24", and I'm sure you could fit your figures on that ;D

[Suarezart]

Yeah my big one is like 11 x 15 or something like that, big but not unwieldy. 12 x 17 sounds perfect.

Anyway time for some more art. I know how much everyone here loves the toned sketchbooks, I love them too. But I still have 3 regular sketchbooks I have to fill before I buy another. So how can I get the sweet textures and value of a toned sketchbook without the actual sketchbook?



Photoshop! It's still going to take some work and techniques to make the white look like white charcoal and I think the paper texture can be tweahed a little more. This is after all just the first try, so it's going to take a while before i can perfect.

But the good news is that it's really quick and easy to add the paper texture and pull out a few highlights.

I could use some suppestions on how to make it look more believable, though.

[digital_zombie]

I am sorry I have to say this b/c I LOVE Silent Hill....
Your Pyramid Head is f*ckin SEXY!!! lol

[BohemianChaos]

you have a good sense of anatomy, and your penwork is confident.. a plus. But watch your proportions... the girl's left forearm is really long in the post from July 22nd.

Keep it up! you have a great start!

[topiKal]

I really like your style. The boldness of your lines shows a lot of confidence and you have excellent form and rendering techniques. I hope to see more really soon.

[dierat]

What do you like to draw with?

In my lifedrawing classes for tonal drawings we used vine or willow charcoal (the extra-soft stuff for gesture drawing) and a chamois (it's basically a soft piece of leather that you can buy, strangely enough, in the auto department at your local Wal-Mart.. if you shop at Wal-Mart that is). We used vine/willow charcoal to tone our sketch pages before drawing because it's so soft that you can smooth is around easy and pick it up with a finger or a cloth just as simply. Some ppl complain that they can't get really white highlights with this method though, so it's nice to have some white charcoal handy for the occasion bright highlight. And the chamois (pronounced "shammy") you can use at first to wipe out your highlights, but with use it'll become drab and full of charcoal. At that point you don't have to use charcoal to tone your pages anymore; your chamois does it fine. Then to get really thick darks on your toned pages, I suggest Char-kole, which are extra soft and extra dense charcoal sticks. Your vine-toned pages may repel charcoal sticks, but Char-kole can blacken anything.

But if you don't like/use charcoal, you can tone that slightly textured drawing paper with thinned watercolor and draw on the dried paper with colored pencils, conte, or charcoal pencils. But you don't want to use that on your every-day sketchbook page because it won't be thick enough to handle the water.

Hope that's what you wanted to know, or else I'm going to feel a bit sheepish.. Eh, well, as long as I can come back and edit, who cares!

[asoir]

mm, really tasty lines. love the thickness you achieve, admirable.

[Jonny Dark]

Real cool! MORE MORE MORE!

[Sleepy_Head]

I love the lines and tones in these sketches.

Old dude with the gun get my two thumbs up. Smooth!

S

[effin]

You have some very awesome stuff in here. Love the style.

Keep up the good work!

[Nam]

Cool, your stuff is very expressive, definetely the first thing that caught me.

[Vorace]

There is some really cool pieces here!

I like a lot your girls portraits, the alien beast (is it an Hydralysk?) and of course, pyramid head.

keep it up !

[funfetus]

Wow, beautiful work. You have a really appealing style -- your faces are great, and I like the bold exterior outlines. The girl's face on the toned paper is probably my favorite.

I see that you've done a tiny bit of Photoshop work on the orc head. And, apparently, that "toned paper" is Photoshop, too. Do you do much digital work? I'd like to see a bit more color from you.

Keep it up!

[Enydimon]

I like your pencil shading. How long do you spend on these and how do you go about shading them?