*UPDATED February 17th*Xelar's SKETCHBOOK

[Xelar]

Another Loomis study
Digital this time, would have been too messy with pencil

[Xelar]

Moar Loomis

[PontusEuxinus]

Yo, great improvement , man. Keep up the studies, but dont forget to do stuff from head from time to time : D

[Xelar]

@PontusEuxinus
Thanks!
I've actually been forcing myself to do studies since I find it more enjoyable to doodle. But I really need the kind of knowledge that can only be acquired through studies.

Here's a doddle I quite like so far. Could be very challenging to finish, though.
so many figures ....

[CrashPoint]

Wow great work your studies have really improved! I would love to see more work from your imagination, that spirit thing looks cool! Keep on Posting!

[Xelar]

@CrashPoint

Thanks! You're gonna like this post then^^

Haven't posted in a while. School manages to keep me busy even though I don't really do anything for school. Oh well
no references used for these

[Xelar]

I was on a class trip so I didn't get to do much but I tried to do some scuplting
with Zbrush! These are my first 2 sculpts. (+one rushed sketch)
I saved the first one as a document because I'm dumb. The second one I did after watching a few tutorials.
All from imagination

[Xelar]

Although I haven't done too much actual work I've been making leaps in anatomical knowledge thanks to sculpting and Ryan Kingslien videos!
I revisited the last 2 sketches and I already figured out some of the stuff in Zbrush.

[Xelar]

Another alien done in Zbrush!
I'm starting to figure out the material and rendering/compositing options.

[Xelar]

Like I said, I liked the other sketch but I ended up repainting everything
so it doesn't really count as revamping I guess.
the anatomy and lighting is a bit all over the place but I'm fairly pleased considering
I didn't use reference. finished it on halloween

[kevin_]

colors still blowing my mind! great updates!

[Xelar]

@kevin_

Thanks!
I'm usually pretty happy with my colours but when it comes to fundamentals I'm still lacking in anatomy.

I've been watching some of Dave Rapoza's videos on youtube and they have been a major eye opener for me!
I really need to work on my visual storytelling.

Here's a pretty quick painting 2-3 hours maybe, no refs

[Flaskpost]

great loomis! and the pumpkin fellows are really cool. do you like Bridgman?

[Xelar]

@Flaskpost
Thanks!
I don't particularly like Bridgeman to be honest.
His figures have always seemed a little dumpy and crude to me and I definitely prefer Loomis
but I still appreciate what he has done for figure drawing.

Here's two quick sketches. I'm trying to do sort of an action scene and
I don't really like it so far. meh

[Xelar]

continued working on the sketches.
I definitely need to work on action compositions...

[Lakai]

i like the mood of the last two.
What u could do on the 2nd one to improve it:
- blur/unsharp whats out of focus and sharpen/give more details whats the focus.
- give more contrast between the sizes of the figures and dragon, place the vanishing point behind the figure to give a better focus

for the first one the same applies. Whats farther away is blurrier.
Hope it makes anysense

Hm sehe grade das du aus Deutschland kommst, nächstes mal dann in deutsch .
Viele Grüße!

[qlotzan]

nice sketchbook, keep it up my friend

[lionheartGFX]

AWESOME SB! *subscribes

i like those facial structure studies and muscles too, also a really like your lighting choices in alot of your imagination pieces keep it up man!

[Xelar]

@Lakai
Thanks for the crit!
I scrapped the second one. I tried changing the perspective and it still just wasn't working.
Auch viele Grüße von mir

@glotzan
Thanks! I will, hopefully more regularly than I do now

@lionheartGFX
Thanks a lot!


I know I haven't updated in forever. The last month or two have been quite busy for me.
Seeing as I'll graduate in 5 months and finals are coming up I might not be able to be super productive in the next few months.
I just made a cghub account: xelar.
As I said I didn't get the chance to paint a whole lot but here's a quick hobbit inspired elf painting and a Rise of the Guardians fanart sketch

[Skraja]

I'm really liking your sketchbook! looking forward to see more

[Xelar]

@Skraja

Thanks! sry you had to wait so long ^^


Haven't posted anything in a while because I scrapped some shitty paintings I started.
Here's a new one and I'm actually quite happy with it. The face is vaguely referenced.
I know this is really similar to one of Juan Jias paintings but I guess thats what happens when you
have it as your desktop background.
still planning on finishing the fanart thingie but that might take some time...

[prakashkc]

I've peeped through your sketchbook and oh maaan there's some great improvement. I know a lot of people have already said it, but the way you work with color is just amazing. I just wanted to say thank you for the inspiration. Need to work harder!

[Jordan_]

Great SB man, really stunning use of colour. The improvement is awesome to see, definitely looking forward to seeing more.

[Xelar]

@prakashkc

Thanks a lot! Right now I don't really feel like i'm improving so that's nice to hear^^

@Jordan_

Thanks! I find colour to be pretty easy compared to poses and perspective, atleast the way I approach it. Meaning I just use all the colours of the rainbow and call it a day.


The first one is actually a couple of months old and I finally decided to finish it.
Very Bao Pham inspired, I had one of his paintings as my phone background for ages and it rubbed off.
The rise of the guardians fanart still isn't finished, I feel kinda meh about it.
It's pretty boring and the colour scheme is too monochrome, I think

[Xelar]

Okay I'm done with the Rise of the Guardians fanart now.
I reworked the pose and face a bit and tried to get a bit more likeness.
I hope it's not too dark, I might have to calibrate my screen.

[SpaceJelly]

these are all pretty awesome. I love the way you handle colour and aren't afraid to have an unusual colour palette. Very nice work.

[RyanRyan]

v nice studies!
plz visit my sketchbook again, I'd love you to do a quick paint over if you have time

[R-K]

Good progress so far. Your use of values is especially improving. Are you using a lot of color dodge or some effect brush like that? Some of the saturated glowy colors look that way, in any case it might be wise to paint a couple of pieces without it, and see how you could portray light using other techniques. Maybe you already have done it and it's a stylistical choice, in which case feel free to ignore this. Anyway good work and keep it up!

[Mr.Pryminista]

Hey there,

To echo what R-K said, the new update is too heavy on the dodge/burn effect. If you could take a few steps back towards what you previously had, that would improve the piece. The values look stronger in that one. Also, his hand is on the large side, either scale it back or make his head a bit bigger, and the background could use some love!

Hope this helps man. All the best!