My Sketchbook

[bogan]

Hey Iven, regarding your earlier thoughts on considerate vs. impulsive line:

I think there is a way to combine them; you can use gestural lines very lightly and sensitively and then when you are more sure of the line you can hit it with a more considerate line and then quickly transition back into light, gestural impulsive lines without your pencil ever leaving the page. I've found this to be the most successful way to approach quick drawing. Try to combine your sense of structure with your sense of gesture by running around and over the underlying structure of the subjects face (or whatever is is you happen to be drawing).

Hope that helps, keep up all the hard work you've been doing!

[Magyar]

From the first page you have increased a lot in the strength of line and also expression, now your portraits for example have better proportions.

A lot of improvement - well done :o)

[Rhubix]

Hey Iven, sorry it took so long to reply, I've been bouncing back and forth to Newfoundland for a while.

The exercise I mentioned can be done in any medium you use. I just used digital so I didn't have to scan anything ^_^
The thing I'm trying to enphasize is not only line thickness but how light/ dark your lines are.
Ideally you want your guide lines to be as unobtrusive as possible. The better your line control, the easier it is to keep things light.
Also, when your cleaning things you want as much line control as possible. Animation calls for clean, clear lines.
This was one of my biggest struggles in college. During clean up class an exercise that took a more experienced artist 5 hours took me over 20 >.<. I twas really frustrating feeling like I was the slowest all the time.
My teacher was really great though, she told me that if you take your time and worry about getting it right all the time speed will come on it's own- and that's definitely something I can vouch for. I have scores more confidence in my line work then I did when I started.

Other warm ups I use:
Drawing, cubes, vases and lamps, focusing on the 3D construction.
Trying to draw the same simple shape in 2-4 views while focusing on proportions and construction.
Also, lots of the games / exercises I do are similar to this DA group http://design-a-character.deviantart.com/ - lots of fun stuff to try in there.

Breaking lose like Heinrich Kley
As you can see I am more struggling with CLEAN drawings but I practice structure
and try to slow down and be impulsive with my 6B Pencil. It is fun to use
shadow as a line, if I draw RETRO I am clean and my line doesn't really use
the gesture only if I analyze the character and it's shapes.

I really admire HEINRICH KLEY I think I am going to develop 2 different styles, what do you think?
The Kley approach comes naturally to me, I will explore this MASTER more.

I live in Toronto and I really like how many different cultures live in this gray scale
metropolitan city of business and art. I don't like all the cars thou.

Thanks you for feedback and suggestions, I will return the favor.

1. Less important than 'clean' (unless you are doing a clean-up drawing) is clear. If your stuff is clear, your doing ok. Cleaner can make things clearer, but try not to feel too constricted. You can always clean something up later.

2. Try not to worry about style at all. Play with this, try some of that. You don't need to pick one thing and stick with it- and there's no limit to how many things you can try.
Developing your own style will happen naturally as you pick up things you like here and there along the way.

> Your video was super cute. It was a little overly sketchy (for my puritan disney loving taste lol ) , but your shots were fun and dynamic. I think you've got a knack for storyboarding - something I have lots of trouble with.


K, that's it for my rambling- happy sketching

[strings]

That's great Iven, let loose those lines during warm up. I remember a teacher once told me to keep drawing any and every ideas that I have on paper, just for the sake of getting them out. I think what he meant was for me to keep being creative.

[kiwigarbage]

Hi Iven! Nice to see some gestural stuff happening. You're getting a good handle on the medium.

By tonal studies, I meant using some sort of lighting setup with a still life or figure and studying the way the light and shadow change over the form

By the way, your big-headed cartoons seem very marketable to me, keep it up!

[iven]

@kiwigarbage YES I know, thanks for the hint thou, I have done this commercial

@strings YES thanks I agree with you, let lose those lines I find drawings like Heinrich Kley much more interesting
compared to clean drawings. They express so much more !!

@Magyar Thanks, I still I draw them to big sometimes keep an eye on it OK !

@e-nat I followed your advice thanks a lot, what should I do next to improve !

@keith eager Thank you keith, put your seeds in the ca forum and many others will germinate them,
who else will teach you something, I don't know anybody in Toronto I would compare to you BRO !

@Rhubix Thank you for feedback, I don't agree with the cleanup opinion, animation has many faces,
one of them is rough you speak from a industrial animation view YES they are clean. NOT in general, do you agree !?
I like what you say The better your line control, the easier it is to keep things light. true true thank you
so much also for the link I like deviant art very good link much appreciated !
#2 I don't really worry about style I have already my RETRO Style what do you think?! I mean I can identify with KLEY
sooo well it speaks to me more than Disney LOVE IT !! I did pretty cool warm up exercise with the bubbles and cubes did you see them?


OK Volks first of all TAHNK YOU for advice and feedback, I will come back to your
Sbooks and see how I feel about your stuff, which is the hole point of beeing here. Feedback and inspiration !!

I was working my ass of for my new website which will be basically to show of @ Concordia !
They told me they want to see personality which I put in here I am curiouse about your opinion, regarding to colors and navigation/ composition !

I am also curious if you like it or not, please be hones OK I use it for clients and school now, I wonder what do you think about
the icons are they clear to read, for example if I tell you go to Sketches/Photos and find my concept art account button do you get lost !
What about the COLORS any feedback from the painters here?

Thanks man !!

[keith eager]

Hey Iven, I gave your sketchbook some thought and talked it over with a friend last week. I think that the biggest obstacle you are facing with your drawing right now is patience and thoroughness. I was really impressed by the studies that you were doing at the ROM. It might help to take that same careful approach to drawing all the time. This may be counter to everything you know so far, but if your goal is gaining a strong representational art foundation, you might not be ready to be doing quick sketches right now.
The problem of conveying form and correct proportion might be the thing to focus on right now. The easiest way to do that is by drawing from still life or plaster casts using the sight size method, I've included a couple of links below. Drawing less complicated subjects with an eye for proportion and value will allow you to focus on only one problem at a time instead of many(I'd also recommend watching Whit Brachna's downloads from this site, they gave me a much clearer perspective on art). Better to have solid drawing skills before approaching the figure. Once you have sight size down, you can move on to comparative measurement. I don't mean any of this in a dogmatic way, it's just what I'm able to see from my perspective.

Bargue Drawing, do these first(you can download the whole manual online, or I can give them to you on a disc, I don't remember where I found them):
http://drawsketch.about.com/gi/o.htm.../clytie-1.html

Cast Drawing, do these after:
http://drawsketch.about.com/gi/o.htm.../clytie-1.html

[iven]

This may be counter to everything you know so far, but if your goal is gaining a strong representational art
foundation, you might not be ready to be doing quick sketches.

@Keith I really like what you just said because of that I posted a hand which I would approach in a personal
way and the other hand I draw for a sheridan portfolio! Anyway thanks to you friend is he on ca too, do I know him?!

The links you posted they are very very good thank you so much for that, I will
read through them!

Guy's so I have a lot of nice color studies which I love I haven't done this so far. Please
let me know what you think about it?

I have also some sketches which I framed RED, I am doing a board for children in the
school where I teach, subject good human qualities.

They basically mean watch your character, your words, your thought !

Underneath you can see a sketch for a company I am doing right now, it will
be a character/ logo for a TV station and for a project for a friend of my,
and the controller is maybe a character for a Retrogames store for Toronto.

The girls with the black hair was a job for a company called plycoco
Watch the video on aniboom

I think it is very interesting because I approached the job with 2 different
methods first I did tweenings than I did the classical version which was
much better I will never mix them again, that's what I learned but I really like
the result.

Any feedback helps so don't be shy show me how to improve thank you !!

[Rhubix]

@Rhubix Thank you for feedback, I don't agree with the cleanup opinion, animation has many faces,
one of them is rough you speak from a industrial animation view YES they are clean. NOT in general, do you agree !?
I like what you say The better your line control, the easier it is to keep things light. true true thank you
so much also for the link I like deviant art very good link much appreciated !
#2 I don't really worry about style I have already my RETRO Style what do you think?! I mean I can identify with KLEY
sooo well it speaks to me more than Disney LOVE IT !! I did pretty cool warm up exercise with the bubbles and cubes did you see them?

The super clean thing is definitely just preference- like chicken or beef. . From a professional stand point I'll do whatever the art director likes. It's not an animator's job to have an opinion, and I've no aspirations of directing any time soon.
If your down with the retro stuff, it might even be a fun idea to explore editorial cartooning.
I found this site a great source of inspiration.
http://www.acomics.com/best10.htm
Happy sketching!

[batcustard]

big improvements from page 1.

[in2eternity]

Nice sketches here, I also like a lot your cartoon works))) Keep drawing!

[smuli]

I really like your loose sketching style! Especially the female nudes on post 126 look great! I think the skeleton-like mannequins in the center of that post is the kind of studying that could help boost the proportions and sense of balance on your figures. Some of your sketches of people from life have a mix of stylized and realistic look, like stylized facial features or oversized heads. I don't know if that's a bad thing but focusing more on learning to draw realistically could give you more insight to utilize in how you stylize faces.

I wish you started studying colors with the same ferocity as figures and learn to grasp things like how light affects colors and air perspective, because you can use that stuff, even for the stylized illustrations. I'd like to see some photo studies or studies of objects you have lying on your table. I really like the watercolor sketch of the standing guy on post 128 though.

[iven]

@batcustard Thanks man I am working very hard!
@Rhubix Thank you very much for your feedback and time/ links love it, let's stick together, let me know when you are in Toronto!
@in2eternity I do like my toons thankyou, some new ones are on to go!
@smuli I am just about to post my first Photoshop steps, coloring cubes, cycles,
and a brand new batch of drawings is coming where I use a lot of watercolors.
And I will stick to what you say, I will draw more realistic/ objects !
How do you like the drawing after the first blue line I was very impressed that I drew this, he kinda looks at you with his sunglasses !

I will use water colors for the Skyscraper Monsters, and I will use PS for it as
well and see how it turns out !


@ALL, 2 pages from my life for my Concordia portfolio,Mr. Allemanno said that they are looking for personality
in portfolios, so I had this in my mind right away, cause it show what effort I did to be where I am NOW !
I will color these 2 pages with watercolors.

And I changed my new website completely to make it very personal !

[Trixtar]

Thanks for visiting my SB
-not sure what I was supposed to do with the link though?

Seems like you are doing pretty well here, and I look forward to see your life in watercolors

[smuli]

That website of yours is awesome, so much fun stuff to explore! Only critique about colors I can think of is the window popping up because the landscape has more contrast than the slightly pastelly colors of the rest. Maybe you could try a transparent white layer to add air perspective and push it to the background, or just make the colors more pastel-like. Apart from that nitpick, it's a visual treat and delightingly carefully done!

About the sketches, I like the scowl and slightly disturbed pose of the sunglass guy but my favorite's the hunching guy with a mustache at the bottom. Keep them coming!

[aks9]

your life-story pics are great!
they have a smooth-line quality that i like that some of your other work doesn't
youre drawing a lot, don't stop!

[iven]

@Trixtar Hi there well that you know what I was talking about,
because you told me that's it's supposed to be a ANGRY HAMSTER !

@SmuliThanks for you feedback, do you mean the REAL window with the ROLLOVER or
the speak bubbles !

@aks9 Thanks man, well it's a totally different approach when I draw comic, RIGHT.
So it looks for sure different !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So here are the colored versions, man this took for ever. I also made a POP up
for the Portfolio, it's basically @ the last page/ last piece from the portfolio as an
Ahhh FX. I also took the NFB character on put him on to of the roof, I cut him
out as well to make him POP out from everything else. 2 point perspective

I also felt in love with the fly, so I decided to show them what I do
when I look for the right line/ medium.

And what do you guy's say about the NEW LOGO I am still deciding on what
color for the fond I will use. The LOGO I will put on TOP of the cover on the portfolio.

Now it's your turn for feedback, what do you think about the composition,
my new LOGO, and the colors. Thanks for links and suggestion !

[Vay]

I don't know how stylized you want your stuff to be. It doesn't look like you have a firm grasp of the fundamentals. You want to pick up some books on the fundamentals.

If you are heading towards a representational fine art style, I would recommend these books to start off:

Perspective for the Comic Book artist by David Chelsea(perspective)
The Watercolor Artist's guide to exceptional color by Jan Hart(watercolor)
Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck(anatomy)
Color and light by James Gurney(painting in general)
Alla Prima by Richard Schmid (painting in general)

I also highly recommend you download Andrew Loomis' collection of books. His figure drawing book is being printed again. You can buy Andrew Loomis' figure drawing book online. In the collection, you will find a variety information critical for a representational fine artist.

[Justyna]

hey,
you certainly work hard, I can see the progress from first page, keep it up!
On the page there is something wrong with sound, when I turned it off I couldn't turn it on again (I use Chrome). You also can't turn the sound off on that page with a window on the left.
Hope it helps.

[Nibras]

So much improvement, thats always nice to see. I know you're trying to get a portfolio together and they usually say "thought process" But you've got a lot of that already so now focus on quality. Do some longer stuff and put the hours in. Don't just focus on creating what THEY want to see. Make what YOU want to see and give them something original. Best of luck

[iven]

@Nibras I think I did the colored biography very well that came out of my
guts, and the POPUP is very iven'ish, but you totally GOT ME I feel
my strength is creating in Pencil the polished stuff is a result of cute
stylized flash animation @ www.iveno.de

You should see my recycle paper sketchbooks VEEERY BIIG and a LOT of pages.
My Strength is creating, not clean up, but hey guy's I am just being my self
in that way, right, I AM A CREATOR, but I work hard to understand
form and light, color will come more and more !

@Justyna Thank you so much I just don't know how to use action script
properly that's it, but I hope you had fun and can see my strength as an artist.
Please always keep it in mind and consider it when you post that would might
help me as well !

@Vay Hi Vay your book tips are pretty cool thanks I will look them up, I think
I have to just draw and see what comes out of it with the stylization.
I started life drawing the way you do it in OCT2008, it's hard to not mix it up
so much, but I guess I have already a hand writing in the stuff I design/ create.
I did some perspective please take a look I kinda like it !

YEEEAAH and another portfolio is done, so much work always here's a a movie
I created as well 4 them please click and see what I did I feel very tired from ART !

[greyskill]

Hey Iven! You have made some good progress over the course of this sketchbook.

I can see from it that you are working hard!

It is obvious that you like stylized cartoony drawings a lot.
In some places though, it looks like your style is forced.
I have found that when I can't really figure out on my own what something would look like in a particular style,
or in my own style, rather than make it up myself every time,
I will look at the work of people I like.
I will usually then copy the work, or do work inspired by it.

This does not mean by any measure that you should merely copy other peoples styles,
but use elements from a bunch of different styles and throw them in together with your own style.

In my opinion, this is a good way that styles can evolve and transform relatively quickly into something that appeals to you.

Keep working hard!
Your ideas are really good, and you are doing a great job improving so that you can give your ideas better shape!

I hope any of this might be a bit helpful!

P.S. thanks for your stops by my sketchbook!

[aks9]

iven!
just going to throw this out there:

your pieces are missing value! study value.
as in, they are mostly empty white spaces with gray lines to show the forms,
but they would be x2 more readable if you blocked them out in simple 2 or 3 values
this is especially important for storyboard stuff too!
value is one of those things that is easy to grasp but difficult to master
take care

[iven]

@greyskill

In some places though, it looks like your style is forced.

Could you please make a screen shot which piece you are talking about in particular.
It's an interesting observation I am very curious now !!

@ask9 You want me to use value more I think I get it, I seem kinda a line person right now,
do you see any pieces where I did what you ask me to do ?!

@ALL:
Screen shots are my favorite I am a visual learner that would be great if you
guys could do that, it will help me very much, thanks again for feedback !

[iven]

I am constantly updating my website to boost my portfolio,
i am very curious if you find it user friendly, can you find
MUSIC VIDEOS
or
PHOTOS SKETCHES

or my FANPAGE ON FB

etc.

I WOULD APPRECIATE you feedback !

[greyskill]

Well, it is sort of difficult to explain what I mean, but keep in mind, this is all just my opinion.

Basically I see sometimes in your work you push something like a feature too far, like the head in the kindergarten picture.
It is large enough that it is not really helping the picture to be that large,
it makes the body look puny.

Another example would be overuse of symbols in observational drawings.
Symbols are when you just draw what you think a nose looks like instead of seeing what is really there.



The second set of examples are places that I think that you used your style very well for observational pieces.

I guess that all I was saying is that I think that you could expand your range of characters you could portray in your art by expanding your knowledge more from life and other people's styles.

Keep up the hard work! You are doing well!

[iven]

You really got me on my balls bro THANK YOU !
But I think the only damn thing I can do about it is drawing.



Keep looking hard thou and tell me whats in you mind this was great,
and don't be shy, that is the hole purpose of me scanning my stuff in
the computer for just lines like this/ feedback !

I understand now what you are saying, I THINK that it might end up
in becoming another style. Thanks for posting with examples !

[greyskill]

Hey man! Get back here and start drawing and posting again!!

Practice is the only way any of us ever get better!!

Hope stuff is going well with you!

Cya!

[freakmod]

Heya Your sketches are looking cool, keep going! One thing I noticed is when you're shading you zigzag back and forth like scribbling. Try making your shading a bit neater, I think it will help the overall appearance quite a bit!

[iven]

@greyskill Thanks man for pushing me, I did a lot of digital work

@freakmod YEAH you are right, I am one of those smoking hot pencils.
I am very fast and impulsive with my line. YES I even tried it as you can see!

I am not drawing very much right now, I am on this project: ECO FOOTPRINT

After this PORTFOLIO 4 concordia I am kinda done with art right now, I will
try to make more digital stuff for CUTV where I learn a lot about video editing.
This was another project I did for CUTV, I like the crafty look: CUTV clip

The digital color portrait is done in flash. FEEDBACK?!

Whats also always in progess is my website it's biiiiig and fuuuun !