❂❂❂ The Sketchbook of Ian M. Ellis ❂❂❂ [08.21.12]

[IanE]

Background: Hi :]

Warning: This sketchbook does contain nudity. And architecture... lots of architecture...

[Kaffinated]

Cool stuff, mang. Watch out for you proportions. On some of these imgs you put the calf muscle to far down on the leg or make the breasts to far apart.

[Euphemism]

Your stuff looks great; I like your buildings and indoor sketches the most - they seem more loose, colourful and expressive in line and composition. As well as watching proportions, I'd like to see your method of loosely sketching locations applied to your figure study work.

A lot of your anatomy studies have a confident, structured and angular look that's unfortunately missing from your female figure drawings. Apart from heavily rendering portraits of women, you could analyse and structure your female figures inside-out, and give them more of an edge or a stronger prescence by using angled lines instead of an overall soft linear look. I hope this helps!

[ohnojenny]

You graced my sketchbook with a critique?? Why, I'm honored. :3 No better way of saying it. I love your stuff! There's such variety in your work, Ian, from what you draw, to what tools you use, to how you use them...
I even love your scenery designs. Good Bridgman studies, too. I'll keep an eye on your stuff -- I could learn something! Keep it up!

[gardenrusalka]

Gorgeous anatomy studies! Inspiring.

[Zombunny27]

Great collection here...I have the sudden urge to run off and try to fatten my sketchbook now. Sorry, I guess that's not very helpful to you, but thanks for sharing!

[IanE]

Ryn: I'm gonna answer your post in my other sketchbook here just to get things moving in the right direction. You're definitely right about the rendering still! Trying to bump up my rendering and value further so they aren't as flat. Good call with using boundary boxes to layout the perspectives of characters within environments... I totally understand what you're saying there and I think it'll be a great help. Update your sketchesss!! Thanks for the crits, miss!

Kaffinated: Good call on the proportions, that's always a critique everyone should listen to... always watch the proportions! Thanks, man.

Euphemism: Being an architecture major doesn't provide many opportunities to sketch people, which is something I'm hoping to change with this! Thanks for checking in.

ohnojenny: Wow, thanks so much haha. Not sure if I'm actually honorable yet but wow! Glad you liked it!

gardenrusalka: Thank you kindly

Hadesdream: Then go! Run! Flatten! Draw! Thanks for stopping by.

Spent some time with George, did a hatching exercise, and started working on some COW prelim ideas. This week's topic is "Shave it, baby!" and my concept for the creature is some massive, slow-moving thing, enormous in size that lives in the coldest seas, growing ice (much like a glacier to give you a sense of scale) from its skin in which the humans in the near future will rely on for fresh, unpolluted water! I like the thumbnail in B4 the most, something flat and massive with frozen tendrils and parts underneath it that gets carried around in the currents. Quite the passive creature

[katinki]

thank you for stopping by my sketchbook!

you've got a nice clean style. everything looks very controlled, which is a thing i appreciate!

on your chow - the idea sounds very interesting, nice interpretation of shaving! i find thumb B4 a bit boring - i would love to see a creature designed of C3! C4 would be my runner-up.

[AsaB]

Thanks for dropping by

Whoa, impressive SB. Really impressive. Initially I thought the first few of your work were scans from anatomy books! Your studies are so accurate and obviously time-consuming, I bet they're paying off every day.

I don't feel like I'm in a place to crit your work, so I'll just leave this comment with plenty of sugar instead I hope you'll keep on updating regularly, this is great stuff!

[HumbleEgo]

Nice studies. It's good to see someone really digging into those fundamentals. Keep up the good work.

[AsaB]

You're welcome, man!
I don't know how I missed you were an architecture student, I'm one myself! So I know a bit about them technical and precise drawings, heh Good to see how you use that skill into your fine arts.

A bit off-topic here, but since you mentioned that, I find it so odd how lately people studying that hardly can draw. That used to be so fundamental! In my class we're only about 3 or so that can do decent human figures, with myself as the biggest enthusiast. Seems quite crucial to me to understand the human body and its needs, considering how all architecture is designed for humans. What's that about? We only had one drawing course, doubt there'll be more.

Ah, sorry about that rant, just ain't that many architecture students here on CA that I can converse with Just so this isn't a completely pointless post, I'm gonna tell you again that your work is wonderful. If your fine art is not as strong as your arch stuff, well, then I can only expect that you're receiving awards daily for your buildings Heh, keep it up the great work.

[Euphemism]

Oh, Arkytexture. I'm disciplined in Animation, but I hope we can find some common ground. Righto...

I like your Glacial monster studies! And something of a jellyfish nature would be really cool, like in the diagram you mentioned at B4: jellyfish don't normally leave behind a skeleton after they die and/or fossilized. That's one method in how humans could live on it's icy gatherings without being aware of its prescene! Woo... Now I'm scared. This should be good. Ahem. You could also research and refer to urban legends of undiscovered undersea creatures and USOs (Unindentified Submerged Objects, as opposed to UFOs ). The jellyfish idea could be a hit, and I'd like to see you develop it more...

[fractured1]

Great looking work in here! Love your studies. When you have reference you are pretty spot on. It shows a good, analytical eye.
Can't wait to see more from you!

[Jeff Bartzis]

thanks for stopping by again! Every time I look in here, I am amazed by your studies. I wish I had the time to do stuff like that, and at that quality.
Oh, and here's a joke for you.
What's purple and goes SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM?
(the answer is below)
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.a 4 door Grape!
haha!!!
>.>

[fractured1]

Ian, thank you for taking the time to hunt me down and to offer a helping hand. You are a Gentleman.

[.desk]

Wow you have some absolutely amazing stuff.
I love all the notes you write down in your studies.

[Alexandra]

Your studies are looking great. I hope you keep them up, it's really inspiring! Also, I love your unique take on the COW. My fav is C3 as it has the most interesting shape. Good work!

[psantha]

Hi there! Awesome SB. I really like your traditional style. Very good studies. Keep it up!

[{CKL}]

Damn, your anatomy studies are freakin' better then some of my finished studies. I'll definitely be doing some of that, thanks for the inspiration. BTW which part of Texas are you residing?

[Radost]

Great studies & sketches. You have the proportions down and some of of the dynamic poses worked out well. (Fixed my sketchbook problem. )

[Radio24]

your studies are coming along well! It seems your spending a great amount of time on these studies, despite your other studies. Stuff's looking good, I'd like to see a bit more dynamic figure sketching happening! The first sketch is the best! awesome.

[Ellr_XV]

Hey, great work, i'm truely glad i stumbled upon your SB. It'd be good so see some of your architecture studies if possible, i expect they are really impressive.

Keep up the good work, i might borrow some of your work with proportion, it might be useful .

[IanE]

katinki: Hey, thanks for checking in! I appreciate the COW critiques! I'm excited to see how it turns out and what it turns into! Clean is keen! haha

AsaB: Those studies are very time consuming, I'm not sure what a slow or fast artist is, but I think I'm on the slower end of the scale either way. It definitely transcends a lot into my architecture work, those drawings are even more precise and technical, so it really does help a lot! I just wish my fine art/tradition art side was as strong as the arch side. In time! Thanks for the encouragement, Asa!

HumbleEgo: Thanks very much, sir! I'm all about fundamentals. Gotta dig up some more! Thanks for checking in.

AsaB: I sent you a nice PM so we can further discuss architecture!! Thanks again for the support and encouragement!

Euphemism: Wow, thanks for the extra push on inspiration!! Glad you like the concept so far. I'm into it a lot myself. Gonna work on it more tonight and over the weekend! Thanks much.

fractured1: Thanks so much! Everyone says I'm quite good at technical, it's the no-ref, free-form organic stuff I'm trying to improve on, and hopefully learn from both aspects mutually!

Jeff Bartzis: Hey, man! Those studies are quickies! Get loose with em, sit down and do a page of Bridgman in between homework or waiting for friends to get ready to go out, it's all just loose, quick, get the forms correct, yea, but they're super fast!

fractured1: Always a pleasure. Glad to be of service, sir

.desk: I think verbally... you should see my architecture sketches :/ Thanks for the kind words!

Alexandra: Woo! Yes! Good to hear the COW concept is getting so much praise!! Thank you very much, miss!

psantha: Thank you very much! Traditional rules!

CKLamb: Good to hear there's some inspiration to be had from me!! I'm currently in San Antonio and it suuuucks.

Radost: Thanks very much!

Radio24: You're absolutely right about the figure sketching! It's definitely something I should get into... perhaps a thumbnail sheet and some timed studies are in order! Thanks for stopping by!

Ellr_XV: Can't show a bunch of my work because it either belongs to an engineering firm or is locked up in the university gallery but I shall try and dig up some elevations and such later, if I can find a way to scan them I'll post some up, us photo's won't be able to handle the size haha! Thanks for checking in, man!

Wow... yea sorry. Got a little busy with school and final exam time. Right, 2 weeks off! Haven't done any pencil sketching really, but a lot of you have asked about what I do for architecture, so here's a snack until I start drawing again later today!! Oh, and I also used SketchUp for the first time today to render a project. It's damn cool until you start getting into high poly counts. Was taking 5 second chops on my macbook pro! Not cool.

Right, anyway, here's 3 days worth of work from studio and the usual business at home. Materials concept model, completely finished and manipulated by hand (pun intended), based on the multiple lenses, intricacies, and layers of the eye... just old junk I pulled out of somebody's trash, cleaned, shaped, bent, drilled, painted, and assembled by me - especially eyes for animals with 3 eyelids - some prelim sketches on the desks, 25 unit hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, had one day to produce drawings and the model, then I spent one day doing it up in SketchUp, and my beloved assistant and tormentor, my cat. Sorry, I've got nothing small enough to scan. Studio starts up again in 11 days so I should have more coming as well as more real art!

[Ian Mack]

You can make a page of figure studies similar to your room studies by going to a place hat has alot of traffic. A mall, or a busy intersection. I've found it's god to sit and do many many studies of parts of the human form, hands/eyes, etc.

I think your architecture design is awesome btw. I would def. live there.

[Euphemism]

Hello again, I like your miniature buildings/archetectures (!), as well as the 'dramatic' photos you took of them! The most outstanding piece here has to be the cat, it's fur and pose are very realistic and I can see the amount of care and time you put into it.

Just kidding! Really! As if you dug out the bins near a taxidermists'/Vet's Secret Dumping Ground to get all that together.... I'd be very worried then. D:

[hatface]

Hey there,

I love your line expression, really really do... In your sketches, the sharp lines hold a lot of energy, especially in the hands. I think you're moving along quite well in the drawing arena. Architecture is beyond my ken and patience, but it's not just the school you're attending... Even SCAD really doesn't focus on teaching the Architecture students about drawing... not a lot of technique oriented classes in their Fundamentals curriculum.

By the by, how do you like Texas? I'm in Georgia for schoolin', but a Texas native.

[rebelionature]

Some inspirational stuff here! thanks for commenting on my book, from what i've seen i can learn a lot from you! if i can ever find a good critique for your work ill post it asap, as of now i've got nothing.

[gardenrusalka]

Did your cat chew those papers? Aww

[smuckers]

Thank you for the kind words ian.. i had perused your book earlier and i have to say i find your architectural and environmental drawings touching on a great atmospheric and melancholy quality that i love in those kinds of works..

[IanE]

Ian Mack: Man, I love doing a sheet of just 1 thing. Studies really do it for me for some reason, haha. I need to get some figure/anatomy thumbs going on today!! I'm glad you like the Blue Star Flats! The course I designed that for was insane. 5 weeks of design, 8-5 every day, finished product due at the end of every week so I'm glad that it's been taken so well! I really appreciate it, man. It's nice to get that affirmative push every now and then!

Euphemism: Yay for architecture love! Yea, the cat was really hard to render!

Mr Blackbird: Thanks much for the kind words. Yea, I was talking to the head of arch at my uni actually and he said it's strangely common that most schools don't even teach drawing. He didn't even have a single drawing class during his education. Right now I'm in San Antonio, and I've completely outgrown it. If all goes correctly, I'll be transferring to UT for next fall, and probably enroll in the Arch & Fine Arts dual degree, or maybe I'll just stick to learning on my own and from CA. It all depends :]. Georgia is beautiful... I've only flown over it several times but the landscapes I've seen have really blown my mind especially deep into fall. Thanks again, man.

rebelionature: I'll be waiting for that critique! Thanks for checking in!

gardenrusalka: Well, he did, yes. after he removed them from my desk, laid them out, crumpled them, slept on them, played on them... he's too adorable to be mad at, though. You, miss, have some excellent work on your website! Thanks for checking back in

smuckers: Thank you so much!! That really means a lot to me, man... seriously. Thanks.

Did some random concepts of structures tonight!