Turbosnail's Sketchbook

[Hoshimori]

The last pciture looks really nice. The tank has a little 3D effect that makes it just pop out there.

[Turbosnail]

@ Hoshimori - Thanks for the comments bro!! That little armoured car was built in Google sketch-up 1st, and then imported into PS and painted. Cheers :> )

Here's a few more pieces;
#1 - Was an enviro speedy - about 30 mins I think
#2 - a quick enviro I did in the summer. Don't really like it!!
#3 - another enviro, but with an industrial theme. Too clean cut for me and no atmosphere!!
#4 - is my practice piece after watching a Whit enviro tut.
#5 - haven't tried creature design so I thought I'd try it out. Will definitely try designing more creatures though.
#6 - a sci-fi enviro transport hub.

Thanks for looking!!

[Luckers]

Hey there, great sketchbook, I enjoyed browsing through it. It shows a lot of improvements

Since you asked for crits on your second last post, I'll do my best to give you some helpful advice.

In all of your latest landscapes it shows that you use a lot of the same colours. For example, in the first image of your latest post. You use the same brown throughout the entire image. You should try picking other browns in the colour picker in Photoshop, this way the image gets more intresting. You can also try using a color dodge, colour burn, overlay or multiply layer. This way you can use the same colour as you were already using, but it will turn out in a different colour because of the layer.

Anyway, I hope you get what I mean. The basic message is to vary and alternate in your colour use. Hope this helps Keep up the great work!

[LadyLooLauren]

Hey thar Turbosnail!

Thanks for stoppin' by my sketchbook, thought I'd return the favor!

After checkin' out your landscapes, my advice would be to experiment with a wider range of color. It's very brown/green, and that can give pictures a muddy look. Try to really vary your tones and colors, and don't use too many mid-tones. Have some good contrast, and that'll really make your images POP.

The Industrial-looking building is great, as is the Space station. They give a good sense of scale, and are quite eye-catching. I'm noticing a pattern with the small red flags, are they part of a series? I love hearing about the stories/themes people come up with for their art. It makes me realize how boring my stories are in comparison, hurr.

[Ian Barker]

The dinosaur looks like a sticker you stuck onto the background. Needs a more realistic shadow and some overall perspective in the piece. The environment is just 5 horizontal lines, not very interesting.

[doncam]

Hey TS, thanks for dropping by my SB, and the advice. Nice to see you're still hard at it, and nice work. Really liked the armoured vehicle piece, just a small crit, the guy looks like he's suspended in air. You need to soften his edges and blend him into the background, keep at it man, really like your stuff.

[Marian Rowling]

And he's back!!!! I really missed you and the rest of the guys. You all seemed to stop posting around the same time. I started to think you might have all run away to Drawing land where everybody just draws and paints all day long. LOL. These paintings look great and I'm pleased you haven't been slacking. It's great to have you back and I look forward to seeing more.

[ThomasM]

great stuff you have in this sketchbook, and congrats on 10 pages (bit of a milestone in my opinion). There is a lot of great stuff in here although I do have one crit for you.

You use a lot of texture throghout your images. I think this is great but remember that texture doesnt appear on every surface in the real world. If it appears too much as an image it translates more as "noise" than adding realism.. almost as if the viewer was wearing dirty glasses. You find almost no texture in deep shadow for example, or very bright regions. Sometimes less noise can add a greater feeling of solidity also.

Anyway just something to think about, as texture is one of those things that needs a little thought from any artist.

Other than that just keep up the great work and doing all those studies

[jeremygordon89]

It's good to see you doing good studies; I see improvement. My critique on the mobile phone would be: don't use white and black for shadows/light areas. Look closer at the object and see what colors the lights and shadows are, 99 percent of the time they are not pure white or black. It also will not look as realistic when you use white and black alone, since white and black are very cold dead colors. Try doing some master studies and see what colors the masters used. Keep it up

[Black Spot]

On that last piece, there are no shadows on the awning or any of the objects on the terrace. I agree with jeremygordon about the black. You use blue on the edges of the terraces, but black crept in elsewhere. It sort of flattens a picture and should only be used where an object is actually black and even then the black would need some colour thrown on it. All objects are affected colourwise by their surrounding objects.

Keep working hard and you'll keep improving.

[JailHouseRock2]

Good stuff man!

I see you've been watching Whit's eviro video, it's soooo good, so pay attention to it!

I think using some stronger more solid brushes, or even the default brush, would help with the clarity of your digi's. At the moment they seem quite washed out and blurry in places, some stronger larger strokes of colour would help me thinks

Really good improvements mate, keep it up! And thanks for the sb visits!
Cheers man,
matt

[teapo]

lot of improvement on the environments turbo~ seems like the Whit tutorial has helped you bunches continue with studies though!

[poetry man]

Nice improvements! I like the machine gun.

[Rotor]

Hey man, how you been?
Nice to see you posting, let's keep kicking butts.
I like how intricate your stuff is, very detailed. Just remember that form comes first.
Keep it up mate!

[kingkostas]

Interesting stuff mate.There is a lack of color when u do the renderings.I mean your coloring becomes tonal (that means u simply "add" black to produce the shadow color and white to produce the light color)
Ok as long as u keep improving in greyscale tones these problems will be erased easier later when stepping in color, so i would suggest keep improving your values and how to render the forms.
Try to think and work the piece as a whole and not focus to much on an area.
Keep up training your values and drawing skills and keep up the good work mate!!!!

[jsn]

It's great to see you trying many different brushes and techniques!

keep progressing!

[GoGoJojo]

Hehe, that creature's adorable, I love it!

[Turbosnail]

@ Luckers - Thanks for the comments!! I'll try out those tips in forthcoming wips. Cheers : > )

@ LadyLooLauren - Thanks for the comments your highness!! I got the red flag addiction after watching an enviro tut by Xia Taptara over at idrawgirls.com last year. They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said , "No, No, No" lol!! Cheers : > )

@ Liffey - Thanks for the input mate!! I agree that the enviro is boring. Cheers dude : > )

@ doncam - Thanks for the comments don!! I've brought that guy back down to earth already!! Cheers : > )

@ Marian - Thanks for the kind words Marian!! I try to update more regularly from now on. Cheers : > )

@ ThomasM - Thanks for the advice mate!! I'll try and tone down my texture fetish. Cheers : > )

@ jeremygordon89 - Thanks for the comments Jeremy!! I'll definitely try some master studies in the near future. Cheers : > )

@ Black Spot - Thanks for the comments Mrs Spot!! Using black in the shadows was another bad habit that I'm trying to kick. Cheers : > )

@ JailHouseRock2 - Hey Matt, thanks for the advice bro!! I'd better shut up and draw as well as I have an ass that is definitely unsuitable for burlesque dancing!! Cheers bro : > )

@ teapo - Thanks for the comments mate!! I must watch Whit's tut again. Cheers : > )

@ poetry man - Thanks for the comments mate!! Glad you like gun. Cheers : > )

@ Rotor - How the hell have you been Sgt Major Rotor sir!! Thanks for the comments bro!! Cheers : > )

@ kingkostas - Thanks for the advice king!! I'll work on those values and kickstart those drawing skills again. Cheers : > )

@ jsn - Thanks for the comments mate. I've binned a LOT of brushes and am trying to stick to a chosen few. Cheers : > )

@ GoGoJojo - Thanks for the nice comments Betsy!! Glad to see you back. Cheers : > )


Well, it's been a while since I posted and guilt has gotten the better of me.
Here's some stuff that is a bit older and I'll post some newer work later on.

1. Ship Down - Just playing around with some different colours and eventually settled on this pic.

2. The Sacrifice - played around with a limited palette for this one.

3. The Gateway - a piece from last summer in which I got very lost painting far too windows. Won't be doing that in a hurry again!!

4. In the City - Another wip from last summer that started life as a model I built in Sketchup. Another piece where I fannied around with too much detail!!

5. In the Shadows - This painting emerged after my little girl told me about a dream where she was lost in the woods. She hasn't had any more dreams like that one again!!

6. The Hunt - a 20 minute speedy from last summer where I was trying out a couple of new brushes.

7. The Stroll - a piece from near Christmas 2010 when we were snowed in, so I painted a warmer piece.

Thanks for looking!!

[Marian Rowling]

Hey hey Snaily! These are looking good. I think you have the right idea when it comes to concept, compostion, mood, lightning and colour. Just need to work on honing your skills and techniques and watch out for those repetitive texture brushes. They are a real give away if not used well. Hoping to see more.

[Turbosnail]

@ Marian Rowling - Thanks for the comments Marian!! I try and watch my use of texture brushes. Cheers : > )

Two posts in one week is some sort of record for me considering my posting history over the last year or so.

Well here's some recent pieces I've been working on;

1. The Crow - a character that emerged from testing some new brushes.

2. The Loch - a speedy (about 30mins) enviro of a Scottish loch (lake).

3. The Arena - wanted to push myself with this one. Thanks to my gf for posing as ref for the warrior.

4. Castle mountain - another wip where I wanted to dip my toe out of my comfort zone of big enviros with stick characters.

That's it for now so........

Thanks for looking!!

[Naidy]

Hello, hello! Some really nice concepts in your sketchbook, good way with colours too.
No crits really, other than the generic 'keep on studying' which applies to everyone.
So, keep up the good work, mate. C:

[Punkie]

consider softening up the edges. the borders are often too sharp

[ThomasM]

maybe just a little too much texture on that waterfall. try to think about the texture of the surface you are rendering. Water isn't usually fluffy (except perhaps at the base, where the water meets the river) so try and use a harder brush if you can on that part.

The rest is looking very good, so just keep on doing what you're doing!

[darxx]

idd some edges feel a bit too harsh, but overall doing good work and showing nice progress

[reila_]

way cool! looks like you specialize in environments that is very awesome

[teapo]

dang turbo you've been busy lately-- i can tell ^^"

hmm... you have a nice way of implementing textures but i think in this image, the texture on the walls seems almost similar to the woman's skin texture. it sort of flattened out the image (for me at least) but i think messing with the girl's skin to make it appear 'softer' could help separate her from the wall's texture. or perhaps you meant for her to appear 'rough' and weathered ?

anyway, you're doing good buddy! can't wait for the next batch~

[LtPlissken]

The environment paintings looks pretty promising.
I think that they lack a little bit of depth, but
you can improve that with increasing the contrast
of the foreground components, and decreasing a bit
on the background. Overall, great improvements,
I wish you a happy painting.

[Rotor]

Hey mate, good to have you posting again.
Looking good. I like the use of texture. I think you could greatly benefit from value and perspective studies. Do a study of an image in grayscale for example.
Here's some links I hope you will find useful. I first found them about a year ago I think and I'm still learning stuff from them.

Article by Mattias Snygg:
http://www.mattiassnygg.com/tutorials/imaginefx2.htm

Linran's light and colour study:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...38#post2097738

Importance of contrast:
http://b.static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.ph...919819370&ev=0

Keep it up!

[Seraph Fawkes]

Looks to me that you're not putting much effort in your art. Well if it's hobbie than it's ok. But if you want to nail art - you've got to stop doodling around and start studying. Anatomy and perspective and stuff - that's standart. Your current issue in recent works - you pay too much attention to texture. Looks to me that you go strictly to colors and texture. But you don't have good base of volume knowledge. In result the pictures look flat. Try to do b\w studies, stuyind volume - you know, like the spheres and cubes, lightened from different angles... Anyway - wish you luck mate!

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey bro, some good stuff here, you are doing some nice drawings, yip,, I would maybe be for what Seraph says, I would try to isolate one particular thing which is bugging you and study for it.. Good luck and have fun.. =)