Sketchbook 2011-!!!2011 HERE we go (page 91 COLOSSAL UPDATE) :) --->

[BludHund]

Hey hey Kostas, sorry I only had time to pick at this a little bit until today. I tried to punch up the
contrast a bit and get the characters to pop out of the background. White stockings in the end
really helped the Kungfu fighter, I think he has a lot of energy now.

I started by going back to one of your earlier stages where the thumbnail really jumped out at me.
I was going to add back in the railing / hitching post in the foreground but I have to admit I really
got confused on the perspective.

To that end I decided to experiment, slapping in abstract value shapes in the background that seemed
to frame the characters and push them out from the background. Then I tried to work with these
abstract shapes to see if I could come up with a scene in perspective. In the end, I did not like the
result as well as the way it was before, so I junked it.

Also I firmed up their silhouettes a bit...although the gunfighter's legs are getting lost a bit still :/.

You mentioned something about not being sure about the style. I really have no idea I guess
I maybe a 'cinematic' style? Sort of combining the sensibilities of Sphaghetti Western and Wuxia
or martial arts flicks? So Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon meets The Good the Bad and the Ugly

Anyways thats my crude marks for now. Unfortunately I will still be super-busy until like mid-January...

---

Oh yes, and really loving your works as usual. You say 'quick color study' I say 'cool unfinished concept
design' heh, you certainly are a fountain of ideas. I really like the blue woman with her cobweb veil and
the grasshopper-frogs...definitely a creature concept worth developing.

I also really like the guy on the middle-left of you last post, nice way to combine the ideas of armor and
courtly dress uniforms. I think you could maybe try some more ideas for his head/helmet though.

Honestly your anatomy is looking pretty solid to me, don't doubt yourself, just keep checking and refining
as you go along. Keep it up man! Of course also don't be afraid to take 'mental health' days now and then,
I believe its extremely important to take take regularly to re-focus on your priorities get perspective on things.

You should never be busy just to be busy, always have goals and put the important stuff first.

[Vablo]

Hey man!
Looking great here, I really love your designs and there's something about your brushwork and use of colors
that really makes your pieces interesting. Keep up the great work!

[TheGnoll]

holy shit dude, you just never stop! your output is really incredible, it's aaaall good

[Hyunjae]

Wow the amount of work in here is amazing! Keep up the great work. Really like the animation of rotating figure, seems like a great exercise.

[tylerfontes]

thanks for your input on mu dinosaurs earlier this week.

just started a new sketchbook forum today. input is most greatly apreciated
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...tes-Sketchbook

[zou]

great updates as usual

the last skull is very nice designed

great varied brushes strokes

so are you building yourself a portfolio ?

[jozulus]

MAN, you never stop! There was a long time, I1ve last visited your thread. Awesome amount of work you put in the STUFF, and its worths all the pencilstrokes!!! MEGACOOL mindblowing works i found on last pages, keep on, you're a fuckin'badass sketchbook hero!!!

I especially love your sci-fi armor works, and great to see how improve the steps of your workflow!

[Cameli]

KAli Xronia kai gamw ta updates!Sinexise re teras!

[kingkostas]

Sorry for being absent mates, i have been taking a break [not meaning that i was not drawing but not that much ], have been spenting the holidays with some brother like friends and i am now beginning to come back. I will post some works later tonight.
Thanks very much for the support happy new year and lets have the power to keep up like crazy
man euxaristw polu re kai esu trela works

[kingkostas]

Sorry for being absent mates, i have been taking a break [not meaning that i was not drawing but not that much ], have been spenting the holidays with some brother like friends and i am now beginning to come back. I will post some works later tonight.
Thanks very much for the support happy new year and lets have the power to keep up like crazy
man euxaristw polu re kai esu trela works

[ForScience]

Wow Kostas! I go afk for a couple years and while I was gone you have gone and become amazing! Are you freelancing or are you in a studio?

[kingkostas]

takashmen- Thank you very much mate , i will try to become better, thanks!!!!
lionheartGFX- Thankiees mate . I will continue with the queen. I will definitely share more insights, for now keep in mind thats its not about color as a hue but more as a temperature. I will have to compile an image with my thoughts to make it more readable, although i am still reasearching it. Values are more important, color without good values qualities cant do much.
SixWingedAngel-Pou se man kalh xronia . THank you very much lets keep up !!!!
Care- Thanks very much mate !!! Glad you like it, i will try to share more thoughts and stuff.
FatMoStank-Thank you very much for encouraging mate !!!!
Gpozzo-Thanks man!!!Thanks for going through it, i will try to provide better stuff
Kungfoowiz-Edward !!!I also love the rgb sliders but i needed the wheel to test some temperature ideas and geometricaly analyze some stuff. Experimenting is good anyway
bludhund- Yo mate!!! Sorry for the delay.This piece is one of the most challenging i have ever worked on. I cant find what may be the problem. I played with it and croped and moved some things but still i am not sure. Thanks very much mate !!!! Lets keep up
Vablo-Thank you very much mate !!!!thanks for encouraging, i have to become better till may
TheGnoll-ahhaah mate thanks but i stopped for some weeks .Now back to the rythm . lets keep up
Hyunjae-Hello mate , thanks very much!!!Yep i was doing such animation trainings back then, i think it helped me some more with seeing more in 3d although i still have to do more training
tylerfontes- No problem mate, thanks
zou- Yo mate thanks very much !!! for now i want to stabilize some things, i am never satisfied with my work and everytime i realize the mistake i want to go to the next piece to try out. Maybe thats my curse hahahaha. But i will have to have some categorized selected works for the workshop so that will force me to do it soon hahahaha . Btw these works i mostly did them having in mind the notan book.
jozulus-Yo mate whats up? Thanks very much, hahaa thats encouraging mate, i want to become better and provide better info.
cameli-pou se man!!!! kalh xronia man, pame dunamika re, maresoun polu oi douleies sou, me tetoio drawing skizeis, h bash se ola einai to sxedio.
ForScience-Mate i am happy seeing you again . Thank you very much, i also like the new stuff you uploaded. I am freelancing right now but actually i will go to the workshop in london in hope to find a studio work or something, its encouraging to hear that mate, thank you very much!!!

ok i will not say much for now, i will start getting in rythm again . lets all keep up and learn and reach our goals!!!!
Thanks for supporting!!!

[Lucarky]

Konstant, your works are impressive as always, and the explanation to build a character in your last posts are really useful. Will try it so far as I can make it.
I asked to ForScience if he had some advices on books to look for enhance in environment painting. Considering that even you are a professional artist, can I bother you asking for some advices on books to look at. Unfortunately here in Italy bookstores and library don't have anything on the line, and I wanted to look at the book to see if is worth for spending money. But I trust on your judgment, so I can have an idea. Any of your suggestion is appreciated. Thank you so much.

[kingkostas]

Lucarky- Hello mate, i will now make one of my classic crappy text answers haahahaha but at least something useful might be found. Lets see, well i guess both me and you are in the same position as of resources at libraries etc, but lucky us we have internet and the search engines. Now if you want to do a kind of research like a do, use google and try to break down the thing you want to learn. In forscience sb you say you want to become a great environment artist right? thats great, although there are 2 kinds of environment artists, the concept artist that can do everything as well as environments[well he can be better at environments right?] and the environment artist the modeler of assets. Now forscience is a level designer by what i understood and he does a great work on using the assets to the best possible outcome. Ohh i already feel the text to be crappy but hang on . So we have added some keywords to our list. Environment artist[3d]--->check how they work, what things they need to check blablabla, conceptarists[environment], level designer--->check how they work, what they pay attention to[its really important because a concept artist who knows stuff about level design, can imply them in his work and make the level designer life easier and also enhanced. [so to make a synopsis, search about environment artists[3d] and level designers, hmm maybe also check matte painting, yeah check it]

Why i haven't mentioned anything about concept artists category? Well because its very general at it goes into the fundamentals of art. Thats an important aspect for every artist. All things are shape and all are arranged in our eyes. Composition is the arrangement of elements/shapes. In your mind you have to analyze everything as shapes, as different forms blablabla. well i am not sure how to explain that clearly. Lets say something abstract. If i paint a series of overlapping spheres[overlap is a classic lovely depth mechanism ahahah] and also add space[by atmospheric perspective, level of detail, low contrast in the depth, edge handling[softer back there] and other mechanisms] this will look like an environment with the distinct characteristic that this world has a spherical bumpy ground surface. Now why i am telling this? to make you think that you should approach things more abstract at least mentaly. Next time, you are not painting a mountain but a shape that looks like a mountain because you brain was trained to perceive that shape in the horizon as a mountain.
Ohh i am killing it again right?ok i will not make it a lot more tiring, just some more stuff and it will be better if we approach it with more specific questions.
You have to keep honing your fundamentals and become great at depicting 3d forms in space. Since everything is revealed to us by light, values are really important. Color can come later even as an element of atmospheric perspective[to do that at greyscale we said that you can use less contrast in the background and softer edges]. Values values values values. Then thing about composition, every enviro element around you is composed, i am going crazy lately because wherever i look i see everything composed and i say why?why this has to look good ahhahaha. Its probably because everything is relative and because we perceive that as well composed. For example now i see out the window, in the midground, the buildings that are a vertical repetition in the x axis make an opposition to the mountain range in the background that have a horizontal arrangement. That opposition is a composition principle and creates harmony. This is going crazy but i will be happy if it gives you info for brainstorming.
Please make more questions if you have any, it is something that it also helps myself.
Now about books specifically. The books i read are books on composition, the books of andrew loomis, searches on google, youtube videos[seeing the approach rather than the actual work],stuff on visual perception, gestalt and whatever can come to your mind. Well i could say take this take that do that do this but i dont want to do something like that.Everything around us are shapes with labels that we put[a cone shape with spheres on it is it a christmas tree? or a cone shape with spheres on it?] dafuck right?

Dont forget to check out how photographers compose. A photographer has the elements in front of him and tries to get the best arrangement out of it, a painter can make that arrangement, you have that freedom.
Really i havent read any books specifically on environments, i remember i found online a book of turners sketches.[joseph mallord william turner] Maybe you can try search some landscape painters sketches in google. How did the masters approach them etc. For now [even not environment specific] i am looking at sargent's watercolors, man i am amazed, what things can be done without blending like crazy. Craig mullins inspired me to search these things, you can find in the internet his posts in sijun all in one pdf, treasure stuff.

Now what else hmmm... dunno , btw thanks, as i said putting down my thoughts is also helpful for me. The result is this crappy disorganized text but lets say its whatever comes at my mind right now in its raw form

Thanks for visiting and for the continuous support lets keep up

[kingkostas]

Lucarky- Hello mate, i will now make one of my classic crappy text answers haahahaha but at least something useful might be found. Lets see, well i guess both me and you are in the same position as of resources at libraries etc, but lucky us we have internet and the search engines. Now if you want to do a kind of research like a do, use google and try to break down the thing you want to learn. In forscience sb you say you want to become a great environment artist right? thats great, although there are 2 kinds of environment artists, the concept artist that can do everything as well as environments[well he can be better at environments right?] and the environment artist the modeler of assets. Now forscience is a level designer by what i understood and he does a great work on using the assets to the best possible outcome. Ohh i already feel the text to be crappy but hang on . So we have added some keywords to our list. Environment artist[3d]--->check how they work, what things they need to check blablabla, conceptarists[environment], level designer--->check how they work, what they pay attention to[its really important because a concept artist who knows stuff about level design, can imply them in his work and make the level designer life easier and also enhanced. [so to make a synopsis, search about environment artists[3d] and level designers, hmm maybe also check matte painting, yeah check it]

Why i haven't mentioned anything about concept artists category? Well because its very general at it goes into the fundamentals of art. Thats an important aspect for every artist. All things are shape and all are arranged in our eyes. Composition is the arrangement of elements/shapes. In your mind you have to analyze everything as shapes, as different forms blablabla. well i am not sure how to explain that clearly. Lets say something abstract. If i paint a series of overlapping spheres[overlap is a classic lovely depth mechanism ahahah] and also add space[by atmospheric perspective, level of detail, low contrast in the depth, edge handling[softer back there] and other mechanisms] this will look like an environment with the distinct characteristic that this world has a spherical bumpy ground surface. Now why i am telling this? to make you think that you should approach things more abstract at least mentaly. Next time, you are not painting a mountain but a shape that looks like a mountain because you brain was trained to perceive that shape in the horizon as a mountain.
Ohh i am killing it again right?ok i will not make it a lot more tiring, just some more stuff and it will be better if we approach it with more specific questions.
You have to keep honing your fundamentals and become great at depicting 3d forms in space. Since everything is revealed to us by light, values are really important. Color can come later even as an element of atmospheric perspective[to do that at greyscale we said that you can use less contrast in the background and softer edges]. Values values values values. Then thing about composition, every enviro element around you is composed, i am going crazy lately because wherever i look i see everything composed and i say why?why this has to look good ahhahaha. Its probably because everything is relative and because we perceive that as well composed. For example now i see out the window, in the midground, the buildings that are a vertical repetition in the x axis make an opposition to the mountain range in the background that have a horizontal arrangement. That opposition is a composition principle and creates harmony. This is going crazy but i will be happy if it gives you info for brainstorming.
Please make more questions if you have any, it is something that it also helps myself.
Now about books specifically. The books i read are books on composition, the books of andrew loomis, searches on google, youtube videos[seeing the approach rather than the actual work],stuff on visual perception, gestalt and whatever can come to your mind. Well i could say take this take that do that do this but i dont want to do something like that.Everything around us are shapes with labels that we put[a cone shape with spheres on it is it a christmas tree? or a cone shape with spheres on it?] dafuck right?

Dont forget to check out how photographers compose. A photographer has the elements in front of him and tries to get the best arrangement out of it, a painter can make that arrangement, you have that freedom.
Really i havent read any books specifically on environments, i remember i found online a book of turners sketches.[joseph mallord william turner] Maybe you can try search some landscape painters sketches in google. How did the masters approach them etc. For now [even not environment specific] i am looking at sargent's watercolors, man i am amazed, what things can be done without blending like crazy. Craig mullins inspired me to search these things, you can find in the internet his posts in sijun all in one pdf, treasure stuff.

Now what else hmmm... dunno , btw thanks, as i said putting down my thoughts is also helpful for me. The result is this crappy disorganized text but lets say its whatever comes at my mind right now in its raw form

Thanks for visiting and for the continuous support lets keep up

[Lucarky]

Wow man! Now those are real great advices. Like you said everything is form, and I'm trying to look everything by that way. Not so much difficult I say, but composition is another story.
Probably my problem is that it's hard for me without a guide or a good teacher, that can help along the way, like everyone I think, but it's hard to keep the line with so much things to do and, above all, all the things that came to my mind. Have to organize my days in relation on what I have to learn. Amazon helped me on serching books to begin with and surely I will begin study on composition and gestalt rules and look for professionals. I love Turner's landscapes! I definitely follow your advices, and thank you for the patience and the in-deep analysis. Let's st-art!

[kingkostas]

Lucarky-No problem mate , thanks!!! Well its true thats a lot of stuff to keep in mind. Thats why they will come into your work when other parts will become second nature. There is some hierarchy and as we keep up , the older knowledge become second nature and we bring in new elements to enhance our work.
Lets keep up

Ok here after the doomsday of the site hahaah.
Something i did. I am doing more stuff, i am still not in my full creativity mood but these days i will come back fully

[Seraph Fawkes]

What can I say anymore? Shit is awesome, and I love your chatty attitude, sharing your thoughts on art.

[Lucarky]

My god. I'm seeing Craig Mullins works... BETTER THAN REAL I SAY! He's an incredible painter!
By the way I can't find his pdf that you mention. You know somwthing else?

[TFsean]

This is disgusting, take a good hard look at yourself and think about what you've done. Super great value and edge control and so many sweet ideas everything is so lively. God dang it x

[Hyunjae]

awesome updates, really enjoy going through your works. liking the magic the gathering style as well

[Eightball_]

man your forms, lighting and anatomy are awesome. your environment compositions just blow me away. really good design, really good lighting!

[Six Winged Angel]

For yet one more time I am blown away seeing the quantity and the quality of what you have dished out after a few days The thing that I absolutely loved the most were the several backgrounds for the EoW and their detail-inducing yet abstract lines!! this is exactly a style I would like to follow~ Lovin all your work so keep em coming!! btw Your step by step thought on the figure images are very helpful. I think I should play with gradient map a little.

[Yemi775]

Impressive sketchbook, wow!

[monstertree]

Just crazy good as always Kostas, loving how you render armour!

[Mr.Pryminista]

Love the latest updates man. Your work has a flavor to it that's quite unique (especially those color palettes), are you very much influenced by the great masters?

[Vulgar`]

Crazy stuff matie.

[- nat -]

I really admire your mind and artwork. You are meticulous with research and apply it to the designs which gives them a lot of depth. Amazing!

[kingkostas]

Seraph Fawkes-Kirill mate, thank you very much for encouranging!!! Lets keep up mate, i wanna share more organized info but i cant till i stabilize the experiments.
Lucarky-He is great. He did these amazing works with the mouse, a great proof that the secret is not in timeless blending. Lets keep up
TFsean-Thank you very much mate !!!!! Still things need to become more stable so that i can be more reliable.
Hyunjae-Thank you very much !!!!!! I am very glad that they have a magic the gathering vibe. Its true that on the side i am trying to open a door towards wotc, since their products are some of the first things that motivated me.
Eightball_-Thankieees very much mate!!!!
Six Winged Angel-Man euxaristw polu !!!!. Thanks man, well the quality will drop a little because i think i will start to update everyday whatever i do each day, even if its text thoughts ahahaha.
Yemi775-Thank you very very much!!! i am glad you find it interesting!!!
monstertree-Georgeeeeee!!!! You are awesome mate, love your work.Thank you very much!!!
Mr.Pryminista-Thanksss very much mate!!! . Heheh yep i can say i am but not that consciously
Vulgar`-Thank you very much mate!!!! I will try to step in eow some time soon.
e-nat-Thanks very much for encouraging !!! Nature and how we perceive it is really interesting. Lets keep understanding it

ok lets see, i kinda dont feel nice without updating everyday. I want to come back to that old rythm so i am gonna try to update everyday, but the quality will drop, however its a sketchbook so no problem !!!!Also I should probably scan some staff i do on paper.
Anyway, thank you really really much for supporting!!!! I am focusing a lot on some abstract things and how to translate them to all kind of descriptive subjects and i can say i am spending more on thoughts and doodles rather than other stuff. I am working a lot with mouse these days, its kinda nostalgic and a great training.

LETS ALL KEEP UP!!!!


[EDIT:adding some scans]

[Call0ps]

Always nice to visit this thread, not only for the art but also for the lessons thanks and keep posting mate