Andrew Sonea -14/5/2013

[Andrew Sonea]

Okay new rule: I will stop with the promises for regular updates. I will update when I can with what I can, but they may or may not be regular. I have been busy, lazy, on vacation (so didn't draw for a full week), busy, lazy, and lazy and now am apparently the new moderator and leader for Illustration of the Week (which will begin within the next two weeks).

I appreciate all the comments and will respond to them next time. For now, have a longer photostudy I did. I know it is full of problems (pose isn't hunched over enough, feet at the wrong angle, butt too big, sun peeking through trees too much, head and hair all wrong size/shape etc etc etc), but I was focusing on getting as realistic as I could in terms of lighting, colour, and rendering. I've included the original photo as a side-by-side as well so you can compare. I think I achieved about as good a finish as my skills currently allow...although I don't yet have a very efficient painting process (DAMN YOU HAIR). Painted with basic round brush, starting with a hard edge and then finishing with a soft edge, then a couple textured brushes painted very lightly on top to prevent it being too plastic looking.

[xinranliu]

very sexy, andrew

[a la bapsi]

i'm so happy that someone finally painted a model's face

good job andrew

[Alex Eh]

Great job andrew, yeah a few issues with the shapes, but it reads beautifully, good job!

[Nibras]

Sweet painting

[lancer_idenoure]

oh good, now i dont have to kill you...got my eye on you mister!

....nice photostudy by the way

[Andrew Sonea]

p sage: Thanks!

Aksel: Thank you!

Dalibor: It's been my main focus for a while now

Ryan: NO! YES! MAYBE?

Metal Fingers: Thanks man!

Lain: Back, not back, who knows!

Kevin: Thanks for taking the time to look at my work. I am indeed just out of high school and without any art training. I'll try to study the face more (really need to do that) and rhythm like you said.

Ludic: Thanks!

cannibal: What a compliment! I'm glad I can actually inspire someone.

lancer: Oh please do. I don't work without someone making sure I am keeping up.

Xin: Thanks man! You are improving so fast it's not funny 0_0

bapsi: Thanks! I was tempted to leave the face out I had so much trouble with it D: (plus all the cool kids leave the face out)

Lain: Thank you! Then I achieved what I wanted

Nibras: Thanks!

lancer: I get away this time...I gotta watch my back.


Here's a little self portrait. Started off as playing with edges and saturation, but eventually moved on to playing around with textures and different layer types and stuff. Turned out okay, although I suspect will look very different on different monitors. Hope you guys like it!

[Ven S]

I finally decided to check out your sketchbook! You have such nice pencil sketches dude. Nice job!

[skMOP]

Nicee SP, though the hard edge around the bottom of the nose throws me off a bit. Really nice range of colors

And haha so now you're botth Teen Challenge and IOW leader? Intense, dude.

[Aksel Ludvigsen]

Damn boy-girl, what drugs you be taking?

Also, your study was hotter. I want one.

[Forrest_I]

That last nude study is crazy good man! Damnit now I have to do one or I'll feel like a failure!

[Aksel Ludvigsen]

Yeah, Forrest_I, you would like to "do one", wouldn't you?

[Andrew Sonea]

Wanderer: Thanks! Although I don't do many pencils these days...

skMOP: Thanks for the crit. I intended for the nose to have sharp edges like that, but I guess it doesn't look as good as I thought haha. And yup, I'm leading IOW with Nyctalgia.

Aksel: Pretty sure I am hotter.

Forrest_I: Do it! Seriously, long studies like that teach you a lot. Plus you get to admire sexy ladies and get away with it

Aksel: Haha! Don't we all.


Okies....sooooo haven't done much lately. Basically wasted time polishing two longer pieces from my imagination. Really gotta crank out some studies soon.

The chick with the sword doesn't make a lot of sense. I should keep working on it and fix a few issues (texturing, materials etc), but I am pretty tired of it. And as I said, it doesn't make much sense, so is a bit of a stupid piece of art haha. It was more a test of realism from imagination. The other one is for this week's Teen Challenge.

I did a couple plein air oils too but still have to photograph them. I may not even post them anyhow since they were pretty bad.

[lancer_idenoure]

whoooaaaaa whos this guy??? youre gettin good man now post more, im lazy without you

[ErikHolfelder]

Glad to see you're still at it Andrew. I love how clean that TC 128 is. Looks bright and classic - I like it.

Let's see some more!

[Jessibelle]

you're right, the painting of the warrior girl might not make much sense... but daymnn, those are some gorgeous skintones!!

[tformsopti8]

I love the lighting in the warrior girl painting. It makes the scene look realistic.

[Andrew Sonea]

lancer: Haha, here you go then

eekolite: Thanks man! I am worried it's a little too clean and neat, but yeah. I'll try and get more stuff posted in here.

Jessibelle: Thank you! They took a fair bit of fiddling and a lot of layers to get right.

tformsopti8: Thanks! I really tried with that one to get it as realistic as possible. I didn't really finish, but if I continued I would have done more texturing in the skin to get it even more realistic .



A little photostudy since the last couple paintings were all from my imagination (the photo I used was from Wanimal's sketchbook). Need to do more studies...

[Eightball_]

hey man, i'm really digging the sword chick realism test. reminds me of donato's work. with a bit more planning and narrative i think it could really be something the self p's looking nice as well. keep posting!

[Andrew Sonea]

Eightball_: Wow thanks! I'm a huge fan of Donato


So I met up with Hunchback, Trisquel and Pixie Trick today at the Museum of Nature. Was a lot of fun! I have a few pages of animals in pencil and (gasp!) marker. Still have to photograph them, so here is a Raeburn study I did over the last couple days before sleeping. Not sure how long the whole thing took, but not too too long (an hour or two each night). First time trying something on my laptop really (at least since I switched to photoshop over painter like a year ago), so it may look a bit different.

[SirGreenSock]

nice job on the studies! Your handling of edged and thoughtful brushstrokes has increased tenfold!

[Alex Eh]

Was cool seeing some new stuff, fight off the lazy!

[Fetsch]

cool work andrew you are getting realy good man. I love the nude study on this page especialy.

[lancer_idenoure]

look whos posting!

[Pixie Trick]

Bleahh.. you had to make me visit this sb and make me feel inadequate didn't you. Seriously though, the nude at the top of the page is great! It has some really small angle differences (check the crack- that just sticks out to me ) but the rendering is lovely.

[Twan]

Damn man, I'm as old as you are and you're ten times better than I.
Did you have some art lessons in your school? Had you learnt everyting on your own, then it's really impresive! You handle really well colors. Keep it up guy, you rock!

[Andrew Sonea]

SirGreenSock: Thanks! It's been a while since you last stopped by, so I would hope I have improved haha! But yeah, nice to see you around again.

Lain: Thanks! I'm just getting into gear. Gradually doing more and more. When I go to Sheridan I will be an art machine. In the meantime I will be doodling in my spare time .

Fetsch: Thank you! You've been doing really well yourself lately, nice to have you stop bye!

lancer: Yup! Here's some more.

Sheelah: Me? Make you feel inadequate? Haha! You were kicking my ass at the museum with those sketches of yours. I went out today and bought a couple Copics thanks to your inspiration. Now I just need to figure out how to use the damn things

Twan: Thanks! I'm just starting to get a bit of an understanding with colour, but I have soooooo far to go. And I do indeed consider myself self-taught. I have taken one or two courses here and there for like painting or something, but they were all wastes of money. Didn't learn a thing from them D: But yeah, don't worry so much about where you are; put in the work and draw lots every day and you can catch up and pass me.



Boop beep doodling at 3:30 in the morning. This one took a few hours of fiddling and scribbling at the canvas, but turned out decent. No reference, but influenced by Jeff Simpson.

[Aksel Ludvigsen]

God damn it, Andrew.

[Seb Ikso]

wow! what a progress in this sketchbook.
Those head drawing studies at the beginning, are those from the bridgman books? Im working with those books right now and your head drawings really help out putting things together.

[Ludic]

Fucking awesome work Andrew, quit it.