Insatiable Curiosity

[qlotzan]

nice update my friend thomas

keep it up

qlotzan

[Pigeonkill]

Nice bridgman studies!

[ThomasM]

Still alive, just about! practically living and breathing spanish at the moment, but still finding time for some sketching here and there... all from life in London this weekend


Also, discovered a great band today which I thought I'd share too - well worth a listen I feel!:

[ThomasM]

Another..

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Tom always good to hear from you. I think those London sketches look great and will keep your eye in whilst you are busy with your Spanish.

Can I ask you what watercolour brushes you did get. I haven't brought the Joseph Zbukvic DVD's yet but I'm looking for a large size mop with a nice bit of spring to it for having a go at pen washes at life drawing class. I remember you splurging £40 pounds and I wondered what you got and how you rate it. Thanks

[Marian Rowling]

Just popping in Tom to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

[spraix]

wow, I can't believe the amount of progress, soo skilled

[merl1n]

Hey, great stuff in your thread!
Just sometimes you use uneccessary effects like those square brushstrokes or splatters in those jockey watercolors and so. I would wipe them out, they are there now only to make that whoa effect while every spot you make should support your concept.

Cheers and keep it up

[bobmeatbag]

awesome, you've got really amazing stuff in here!

[teapo]

haha wow tom. really good to hear that you're actually doing it! oh, immersing yourself in South America that is. seriously cannot wait for another update including your sketchbooks and what you get to see out there. there's no doubt you will absorb a lot of knowledge and references for your visual library. well, i know that learning a second language is always best by listening to music of that language... so, i thought of you when listening to some CSS today

CSS- La Liberacion (lyrics are a bit silly, but good song and band )



Estoy cansada de esperar
Hoy salí corriendo por ahí
Loca loca, poime a gritar
Desnuda por la calle a sonreir

Ha pasado mucho tiempo
El caballo halado no llegó
Me estoy desesperando
Histérica subiendo las paredes ¡ay que horror!

¡Grita grita mami, (mami) mami, mami grita!
Para la liberación, deja que liberes
¡Grita grita mami, (mami) mami, mami grita!
Para la liberación, deja que liberes

Grita, grita, mami, corre conmigo
Uno, dos, tres y ya,
Quieres llegar primero,
Saco una foto sin ropa por detrás

Ha pasado mucho tiempo
El caballo halado no llego
Me estoy desesperando
Histérica subiendo las paredes ¡ay que horror!

¡Grita grita mami, (mami) mami mami grita!
Para la liberación, deja que liberes
¡Grita grita mami, (mami) mami mami grita!
Para la liberación, deja que liberes

hope you had a great holiday too ~!

[ThomasM]

tepo - thanks very much man, its pretty interesting. And yeah you're right, its great to immerse yourself with all aspects of another language, especially music! Thanks for stopping by

bobmeatbag - cheers bob

Merl1n - useful bit of criticism there, and thanks. I am still just starting to explore the potential of watercolours, so they aren't anything serious. But either way you're right, its good to focus on the goal and not on flashy effects.

spraix - thanks for stopping by, I hope to make the same level of improvement in the coming year


Marian - good to hear from you Marian! Yeah I ended up buying something which I thought was not too pricey, but also not cheap. Isabey have some nice mop brushes which are nicely made. Personally I bought a size 6 and its served me nicely so far. I doubt you'd need anything bigger than that really unless you are working on paper sizes. Its nicely made, and I can't complain at all! - recommended from me as it was good value for money compared to some others I've seen.



Hi all! Wow so yeah... as I've already said, I've been studying spanish intensely and now I'm actually in Ecuador - living in Quito for a few months learning spanish and volunteering for an animal trafficking charity. Although I hope to start TAD this year in Autumn, I'm still interested in Zoology, so I'm doing that as a side thing 2-3 days a week.

Now that I'm actually here, I need something to give me a break from the intensity of learning spanish - and the reversion back to sketching was smooth-ish. I'm a little rusty, but having fun and I've bought some of my watercolours and water-soluble pencils out here, along with 3 moleskins which I hope to fill during my time here!

As I don't have photoshop, or any other mediums other than things I can hold in my hand, its going to be a good back-to-basics session for me. Here goes nothing - watercolours

[Eightball_]

good to see you still kicking it man. the architecture studies are sweet. but i think you'd internalize the forms more if you "drawthrough" instead of using a more illustrative organic style. it's cool to see artists focusing on other stuff too, in your case zoology! those side interests also bleed into your art

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Tom great to hear from you all the way in Quito. What a brilliant experience for you, I hope. Thanks so much for the info on the brush it's a big help especially getting an idea for size. I'm hoping to do some ink washes at life drawing class so I may need to get bigger if I can.

So is that a dead cert for doing TAD in autumn? Have you managed to save up for the whole lot or just a few classes? Either way I can't wait to see what you think. I signed up for a year on the Visual Literacy Program but it's a bit disappointing as there is only me and two other people active in the forums. Doesn't seem like new content is added very often. Still some great videos though and a lot of figure photos specially shot for doing the pastel technique. All of which you'll get access to when you start at TAD.

Looking forward to seeing your sketches Tom.

[orochigenocide]

Hi Thomas. Sorry I haven't visited your SB in a while. Been having unreliable internet connection for the last month.

Really good progress here so far. Perhaps it may interest you to lay out your imaginative stuff in simple geometric forms first (in blue pencil or lightly with a regular pencil). It will help establish form before you begin shading.

And really beautiful sketch in the last post. The muted colors are lovely and the textures are well done.

[ThomasM]

orochi and Eightball - thanks for the crit, and don't worry I haven't been around this sb myself for several months now. Only just getting back into it having arrived in Ecuador. Your comment is pretty much an echo of that one before it, by Eightball, so thanks both of you for that. I could really use that sort of constructive practice. Otherwise I tend to draw things very flat in lines, or very rendered in pencil (as in this post). Anyway, I need to "draw through" so I'll start doing that asap!

marian - awww I'm a bit disappointed to hear about the VLP, but then I didn't really know what to expect from it really. And yeah, I'll be doing the full-time course starting in "the fall". can't wait, although I'm going to be burdening myself with some serious debt. But who knows, hopefully after two and a half years it'll be worth it and I'll be able to make a living doing what I love -worth the risk I think.

Right.. time to head off and do some spanish practice now, but here is what I did today! photographed creepily but then I have to get used to it. I won't have a scanner for some months now. They are loads of condors and hummingbirds around here, so I think I'll be doing a lot of creatures because there is so much inspiration about. Must. draw. real. things... so hard when there are creatures out there to be invented!

[Marian Rowling]

Ahh well that's great news about TAD, I know you will make the most of it and I have no doubt that with your passion and commitment Tom that you will be able to pay of the large debt without any problems. I think at your age this is one of those risks you would regret the rest of your life if you didn't do it. Rest assured I am still working on ways to find the money myself to do some individual classes. As the saying goes 'where there's a will there's a way'

Love the look of this last drawing, it's got some lovey detail and is really interesting to look at. Keep it up.

[ThomasM]

Marian - thanks Marian as always for the encouragement!

As I haven't really been drawing much recently (due to spanish, although thats my own fault for not getting a balance), I have been feeling a bit rusty over the past week as I started drawing again. Its pretty incredible how quickly you can get back into the swing of things though, without feeling like you've lost much ability.

Anyway, I started to take notes on and become interested in animation a few days ago and since then I think my sketchbook has changed drastically. Its a bit late now to photograph and post some pages, but I'm sure I'll find time at some point. Anyway, adding more gestural practice and movement has really added interest to my sketchbook, and I hope to get some basic flip book animations done while I'm out here. Obviously GIFs and more technologically advanced animations will have to wait until I'm back in the UK, but it feels exciting to be heading in a new direction again. I have 5 months to draw draw draw before my TAD application, and a scholarship of any sort is desperately needed so I have no excuses - time to work!

From today, a character design. I have never really tried one from imagination to any level of success before, but I'm pretty happy with this one. I know not everything is functional, or even makes sense aesthetically but I feel like I've got at least a slightly believeable pose and weight, and some interesting accessories

Post apocalyptic lady (shoes and lower legs still left to do!)

[I-Bomb]

I like the london studies and the warrior lady nice sb

[ThomasM]

udonhead - thanks, theres plenty more improvement to come though.

Today I walked around Quito and went to the Basilica. Well worth a visit if you get the chance. Its not the most incredible cathedral I've ever seen, but you can go right to the top of the bell-tower and spire for two dollars and the view of the city is great.

I have been thinking about the comment a few posts ago about how I should "draw through" more with my architectural, and in fact all, pieces. Anyway, I am going to take advantage of the fact I'm living in such a mountainous city to do just that. While I was walking inside the basilica I decided to challenge myself and do a drawing of the top of the church, almost right above my head. This proved difficult, but that was kind of the point, to force myself to draw those strange angles that I find it hard to get my head around. When I got home I added some watersoluble pencil to it and called it done:

[teapo]

seems like a difficult task to be drawing from that angle but yes, i'm sure you gained more knowledge in terms of different perspectives and those angles .. xD i was staring at that sketch for a while and had some moments of 'optical illusion' haha. also, nice attention to detail on your post-apoc lady :3

[qlotzan]

cool my friend, every time i visit your sketchbook , I find new studies.

keep it up my friend

qlotzan

[jon n]

amazing stuff. fearless experimentation! you've built up loads of
different strengths and skills. your figure painting in oils is awesome.
i really like the metal gear influenced pic on the previous page too.

[AlexTooth]

Nice drawings mate, love the archtitecture, there is really something pen brings to that!

[ThomasM]

teapo - thanks as always amigo, appreciate the comments. I'll head over to your sb in a minute to check out whats going on

qlotzan - muchas gracias

jon n - fearless experimentation! I like the sound of that a lot... in fact, I think I'll change the thread title to that. Greybard's Tome was just something a mate came up with when I asked for a "fantasy name" for my sb. Cheers for stopping by, and your own work is looking pretty damn tasty too.

Alextooth - yeah I don't know exactly what it is that makes me so fearless when I use pen. I think its because I just accept that its going to look crap (as I cant correct mistakes). With pencil, I feel like I have no excuse, and perhaps that makes me more hesitant.



Ok.. so I headed over to William B Hand's sketchbook and was suitably blown away (as I'm sure everyone is) by his skills with watercolour pencils.

In the spirit of experimentation I bought some, had a go, and came up with this. I think my linework is slowly becoming stronger, and definitely my 3-d visualisation (if thats a term!), but what really needs work is my gestures and poses. Thankfully, I read a book on animation the other day which was heavily based on gestural actions (a free PDF of Walt Stanchfield's notes from various lectures), and its given me something to not only aim for, but also help identify my problems. Highly recommended!

I left the page next to it to show people of how I have arrived at this point artistically, which is also heavily based on taking notes and recording things I see. Drawing helps a lot, but I really struggle to learn without breaking things down into constituent parts and constantly asking myself "what exactly makes me like that"

[I-Bomb]

perspective is a heel lol

[John T]

Thanks for stopping in- Awesome stuff here too, I love the variety!

[Roope Maatta]

wow great start to a sketchbook. I dont really have any crits for you, because you seem to know that the best way to improve is to work your face off! keep up the good work, Ill be back to check out the progress

Thank you! Honestly It really means a lot to me that you took time to see my works and post a comment. Thank you for your encouragement, It really made my day. Honestly you have such skill in art, I especially like your sketches and traditional paintings. The drawings have so much life in them and a masterful execution. Of the paintings i particularly enjoyed your waterscapes and your polo players. You make them look so real and simple at the same time And you really nailed the colors head on. Your also at Cambridge!! + you have such a cool name. On top of that you have made such huge progress in your work in the past year in your sketchbook, that I'm just blown away. Man you are Brilliant!

I'll keep working harder and keep on improving and you do the same. You are a master in the makings. Perseverance and hard work is key to mastery.

[Velocity Kendall]

ecuador is a fantastic place, i loved it. have fun!

[ThomasM]

velocity - yeah I'm loving it at the moment, thanks

Roope Matta - really don't know what to say to that, except thanks. Its just hard work like you say, and you'll be where I am now in a few months time I'm sure. If it means that much to you, I'll try to stop by every now and again and leave some crits if I can.

John T - no worries, cheers!

udonhead - huh? I don't get it I guess. I've since been back and corrected that guys back legs, but don't have time to post it tonight

For now, just more practice with watercolour pencils.

[Kino_PuA]

That is fantastic! subscribed!