Ninjac's Sketchbook

[MephistoLV]

You have some really good pieces in here, but at the same time you are wildly inconsistent. For each well done concept, there are 2 or 3 where you are failing to pay attention to basic things like proportion and perspective.

I think you have the potential to be a solid artist, but never, even in your most casual doodles, can you neglect the basics.

Keep at it.

[Ninjac]

Liffey: Yea I love the tactile feeling of pencil and paper so that will stick with me throughout my art career. I enjoy experimenting with Painter a lot so I can understand that it might bog down my pieces. I'll keep limited palettes in mind. Thanks!

MephistoLV: I appreciated your comment. I think that inconsistency is a problem I have in areas of my life other then art. So it helps me to face it head on. I think that I get lazy on a piece and neglect things that should be second nature. The first college drawing class that I took my teacher said that I had done more "bad drawings" then "good ones" and maybe I was working out the bad habits or things that didn't work. Anyway I'll keep going, Thank you for your honesty.

Everyones' encouragement makes my happy
Here are some studies of Luis Royo's drawings. I find that he has really captured the sensual female form with some gritty atmosphere that contrasts quite well with curvy forms. The last three pages are some sketches trying to implement the techniques learned from studying Royo's lines.

[danlambert]

1st of all, three cheers to naked girls....now the immaturity is out of the way, you've got a great selection of sketches here man. You're being really sensitive to the forms and shapes of the female form and it's making for some lovely sketches. I think in a few sketches the breasts look too stiff (if you get what I mean) slightly unnatural in shape or the way they are hanging. Hard to explain sorry. Would be awesome to maybe see you develop one of them into a final image.

Great update man, and have a good new year!
Peace
Dan

[Ninjac]

danlambert: Thanks man! Gotta say that I am a sucker for a beautiful girl so I don't think that I will ever stop drawing the female figure. Looking back I would agree to that some of the breasts look a bit stiff. I think I end up focusing on trying to get a perfect curve that it looks less and less natural. I'll keep that in mind in the future. Hope you had a great holidays!

Here are some drawings from a life drawing session that was hosted by a friend. It was about 12-15 of us over the night drawing and creating art with a live nude model. It being free was the bonus ^_^
The first page is some blind contour drawings. I haven't done that in awhile so it was a good warm-up. The next one is some quick 1-3 min gestures. Then a 15 pose and the last one was a 1/2 hour pose that I scanned in and worked on digitally from imagination for another few hours after leaving. Some of the light seems still a bit off so any advice on that would be great!
The last image is a master copy w.i.p. of a Waterhouse painting.

[RBeek]

heya man its to bad u dont update more often this stuff is great

I rly like ur last masterstudy great color
And also uve done well with the figures , the more you do the better they get!
Hope to see more of your work man!

Get active and work harrrrd

good luck!

[danlambert]

I agree with Roger, it's a shame you don't post more!
That last artist study is great, you've handled the tricky foreshortening really well. I really like that sketch from the model as well, although I think a few more defined/harder edges would really help it pop a bit more, it looks slightly smudgy at the moment.

Peace
Dan

[Ninjac]

Hey CA!! It's been awhile since my last post. Been keeping busy though. Here is some new work

Dan and RBeek - Thanks for the encouragement. Sorry to hear about the ssg but stuff happens. I kept the hard edges in mind Dan and I hope it shows.

The first sketch is from a live model in motion. The next two are stationary models from life. Then two oil paintings on canvas. They are rather large so unfortunately the quality of my camera isn't that great but you get the idea. Lastly a new personal favorite "Blue Flame 2010 Remix"

[Ninjac]

Made some alterations on the last piece. Gonna put it in the finished thread and see if it stays.

[RBeek]

hey man, cool to see another update from you side
I havent forgot about you yet ..

The last piece is looking quite cool..
Though the ear is rly bothering me..
its rly out of place, but maybe you intended it like that?
also i kinda feel liek the eye is a bit to small for the nose and mouth.

Ohwell its looking cool, i like how you rendered it and all..

Good stuff man!
Keep it up

[Ninjac]

RBeek: Good to hear from ya! Yea there were a lot of anatomy issues with the last piece.

Here is an update on Blue Flame Remix and a new piece in the works, Tribal Trance.

[Ninjac]

Update on the last piece. Still need to work on the overall lighting and clean up.

[Ninjac]

Time for a large art deposit on my SB I am working on diminishing the gap between my work from life and imagination so you will be able to tell the difference here but I hope to make it less clear as I study.

[Ninjac]

Part 2: Some more light studies, some of my first environment speed paintings from imagination using some custom brushes, quick character and dragon sketches, and lastly some updates/new refined pieces.

[Klaw]

WOW! I really like your style! Both the sketches and especially the digital pieces are very nice!

[JasonHickey]

hey nice stuff. How much did you learn from the female figure class?

[Ninjac]

Klaw: Thanks!

JasonHickey: Thanks man, I learned a fair amount from the female figure class. A lot about how to approach a portrait from imagination. the class made me realize that I have to think more about painting the figure in light so thats what I'm trying to achieve. I love watching Zhang Lu paint so I try to steal all the techniques from the videos that I can and implement them in my own fashion.

Some more heads and skulls from imagination.

[Ninjac]

Go go gadget self portrait!

[element1988]

the one with the shark chewing on the diver makes me smile.... yeah i need help. good work

[Ninjac]

element1988: Thanks, yea the shark attack one makes me smile every time too.

Oil on canvas from life and imagination.

[Ninjac]

Some more head studies from ref and some sketches. I've been thinking more about mark making and the concept of transparency in my work. Thats what I am exploring in my paper sketches. Oh yea and I was accepted into T.A.D. so heres to the future.

[JasonHickey]

Congratulations!!!

[Ninjac]

JasonHickey: Thanks man! I'm super excited to start classes.

Here is some more head studies and a quick character sketch from imagination.
Off to Seattle for a week, I'll come back with lots to update with.

[Ninjac]

Here are the rest of my head studies assignment from the Art of the Female Figure class. They are a mix of imagination, photo, and life reference. I decided to mix up male and female. The other photos are from my recent trip to Seattle, WA. Had a blast visiting museums and getting some fresh air. The first pic is the glass hot shop in the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. The large vase they are working on ended up popping off the rod in the furnace which is 2300 degrees! They had to start over O.O. The others are a Rothko, De Kooning, Tribal Masks, Sargent, and a sculpture from the Seattle sculpture park. Check out my facebook for the rest of the photos if you wish.

[Ninjac]

More head studies for the art of the female figure class. Most are from imagination, a few from photo ref. The oil study is both imagination and photo.

[danlambert]

Loving it man, I'm really liking the way you use hair in your head sketches, especially in this piece http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...0&d=1275078813.
My only crit would be to get some value into your sketches as well.

That oil is sweet as well man I just picked up oils again and it puts me to shame :p

Peace
Dan

[Ninjac]

danlambert: Thanks man! I love the feel of oils I agree with more value in my sketches, I'll work on some now. Until then here is some more art!!

[Ninjac]

Heads heads heads!!! First 3 from imagination and the rest from life. Digital portrait from life.

[Ninjac]

More life studies. First one is 20 min. Two heads are 5 and 10

[pixel cheetah]

I like the sketches you posted in December (post #122). You should study Royo more often, it really shows in your lines! ;-)

[Ninjac]

pixel cheetah: Thanks pixel, I do love Royo's work and I might return to some master copies of his in the future.

I'm really starting to see an effect of the 100 heads homework from the "Art of the Female Figure" class. All of these heads are close to 5 min each. Some of the quick full figure sketches are 5 min and the others are between 10 and 1/2 hour from today. All from life except the tiny one on the first page. Next are the rest of the 50 full figure sketches from life and imagination