First Sketchbook of Julius Obvious Magnus

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Hello.
Been lurking around this site for quite some time now, and finally decided to post some stuff of my own.

I am 22 and completely self-taught. I have no formal training whatsoever. This has served me rather well up to a certain point, but then it starts to show that I am not making any considerable progress To fight that, I have started doodling things that are not in my personal interest sphere along with some serious studies - something that I have not done in almost 7 or 8 years. The biggest weakness is color - which I simply do not know how to work with. I've never done it, even as a kid, always prefered black and white and that is also something that needs to be corrected. While my work may have stagnated in that area, I am almost done with art history studies at the university so I guess that kinda fits in together nicely.

I now aim to compensate for that almost-five-year-or-more stagnation and over the course of the next year or two take my work to the next level, where it might be even considered commission-worthy.
I realised that I basically need to reset myself, so to speak, and start all over.
Old habits die hard, some are useful while some are directly counter-productive. Since one is not always able to objectively judge his own work, sharing it from the "new beginning" is something that sounds like a really good idea. I think this site is a very good place to start with that new beginning heh

Also, I am always on the lookout for challenges or new ideas. If anyone has any requests or challenges feel free to submit them below.
Any and all constructive criticism is welcome, so don't be shy and comment please.



For starters, here are some older works, from about three years ago, including two recent digitally colored doodles.











This is my very first (and so far only) attempt at drawing a horse.





And now for the two recent colored pieces. The very first works I can call "colored" while maintaining a serious face. Done in Painter, but I have abandoned that software after these in favor of Photoshop 5.5.





More to come!

[Thugbear]

I really like the first orc. His "throne" fits him well. I would really like to see some anatomy studies.

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

That orc is a remake of a really old drawing I did as a kid, glad you like it

Anatomy coming soon, working on it as we speak hah.

Meanwhile, a quick doodle from yesterday's class.
It's a bit messy, but oh well.

[dierat]

Hello there, and welcome to CA!

It's hard to give you much focused feedback at this point considering some of the work you've posted is several years old, but based on what you have here, I think it would really help for you to focus on the gesture of your figures. You're great with costumes and texture, but the figures' poses could be improved to be more organic and forceful. I know the last one is a doodle, but in that image especially it looks like you're skipping ahead to the details of the image before you've nailed the figure as a three-dimensional object existing in space.

When it comes to the color images, you have to keep in mind that the color of an object is relative and it's affected by everything around it as well as the light hitting it, so painting colored objects in a white void isn't super effective; everything will come out feeling plain and dull. Personally I think the best way to study color is from life. Find a variety of simple objects that have different colors and textures and paint them one at a time (and play with with different colored light if possible). That will also help you with value, perspective, texture, and your painting technique in general.

Good luck and godspeed!

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Thanks for the feedback, you make some good points
Yeah, one of the main problems I had (and am working to correct) is impatience with setting things up properly.
That's why I've decided to go back to basics and do loads of studies and sketches of all kind, and to actually share them since feedback is both motivating and can be very helpful for advancement.

Speaking of which, here's a bit from today's bag o' bones.

EDIT: The image was taken by phone, and the angle made the upper part look slightly disproportioned. Oh well.

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Another oldie. Very fond of this one, although I am aware of some of it's flaws hah.

Alice in Hell, inspired by a song from band Annihilator "Alison Hell"

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Daily doodle.
Sorry about the poor image quality, I'll have to figure out a different way of getting them on the computer.

[Carrie Sprod]

Nice stuff! Love the feel in it.
Your line and tone work look fantastic, just need to keep up practicing form I think, which it looks like you are already doing, so I'm effectively offering useless advice for the sake of trying to help out I guess

I look forward to seeing more recent worked up pieces =]

[Shahan]

Nice sketchbook, the arm bones and the drawings you took far and spent alot of time on really show. also you have some sweet creative pieces here.
i like this drawing a lot it really caught my eye.
Lol i also really like this one, i'd love to see more like this and see it furthered:
wifi robot
also the pencil work is really nice too i noticed. nice shading and forms.
Keep it up man see ya around!
looks like you know what you're doing, so just waiting for more posts man, keep em comin!

[habrok]

The red mech thing is pretty nice. The grungy-shiny look to it is pretty interesting. I also like the orc on the throne. Your hatching follows the form pretty well. Sometimes the armor looks a bit flat/thin, though. Specifically on the shin armor.

Your poses are a bit stiff. I'd say work on your gestures and anatomy.

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

Yeah, more form and anatomy practice is a must. I'll try to focus on that now, but it's kind of busy with some other obligations so don't have as much time to dedicate to this as I'd like.
Hopefully that will change soon.

Here are a couple of random things...nothing special, but posting only the most polished stuff would hardly be constructive hah.
No reference used for anything.

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Greyscale value experimentation, work in progress

[kuumehike]

Thanks for stopping by my thread! Youre off to a good start considering the fact that youre self taught, like myself i like the second orc, nice detail. Just like Dierta said, that figure/ pose studies would help alot..keep going!

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

kuumehike - Thanks for the feedback. Yep, gotta get to doing more studies.

Meanwhile, here is this. I've spent way too much time on it already and this is as good as it's gonna get for now.
Fixed some things like the axe/scythe actually leaning on the shoulder now. Tried a few versions of the face, since the distorted skeleton didn't work out. The hand holding the weapon is horrendous but that's where the studies will come in hah.

[GaussianRaider]

Hey man, as I told you before I think you'll develop some cool compositions! This one for example is pretty badass! http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...0&d=1334840097
I'd suggest you to work mainly traditionally at this stage, in order to develop a good line quality and control over your strokes... I agree with habrok, it would be useful to do some dynamic poses/construction practice (I think you can probably get some very good tips from Sporus), as long as composition thumbnails and geometrical form exercises (I can probably help with this)
...With some focused practice and plenty of our lord's beloved tennessee whisky, Jack Daniel's, I can see you improving quickly
Might do a lil' quick paint over of this last one, if I have some time later on
Rock on!

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Thanks!

Yeah, more excerscise is what I need but the impatience to get to something "more concrete" always screws me over. Must learn self control, hah. I mean there's really not much more to say than I gotta get serious.
I was thinking of maybe doing something like thinking up an unusual composition, with poses that I have not done so often. Do loads of studies for them, then incorporate it all into the final piece. That way I can get both the studies and a nice "real" result of all the work.

EDIT: Or I could just stop bullsh***ing and do some goddamn studies.

[Shahan]

hey, i totally hear you on the "no bullshitting" ... i am guilty of that dude.
if i had some specific advice it would be the foreshortening on this arm looks good but not great. these arms are better!
anyways thanks for the post on my SB, working on stuff atm.
keep at it. and nice last creature lady.

[ashess]

hey julius; you still out there? I wanna comment, but I think as you already got so much usefull advice it'd be better if I wait for the new batch.. is it comming?

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Well, I'm back and I'm restarting this sketchbook.
Hopefully, for a more productive run this time around.

Here are a few studies and doodles, including a nasty surprise from a magic lamp.

More to come!

[FROZ3N]

Dont listen to anyones advice...keep drawiing digitally. dont stop..dont go back to pencil unless you feel like it....etc..
draw.
you have talent. All the fundementals will come with time.
the last few posts show dramatic improvement
props

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

I think I might finally be getting the hang of coloring... WIP

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Another WIP. It has many problems, but no point in posting only successful stuff, eh?

[melman]

Hey there. nice work. I am really digging your ability to put details in some work. Put some effort into value studies and you will improve fast=)

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Melman Thanks! Glad you like it. Yep, some value studies are a must.

Meanwhile, here's a Panzer Commander. Just an image that popped to mind, no reference used.

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

Here's my first encounter with posemaniacs.com's time limit pose drawing.
I really like doing that, it's quick, fun, and a nice challenge since I have rarely done things like that. Doing these on a short time limit made me realise how slow I actually draw. Looking forward to improving my lines, making them more fluid and actually getting things to look good while doing them quickly like that.
More to come.




Also, here's a random Bluebot.

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

[CrashPoint]

Digging your concepts bro, definitely try to do some more studies and then applies those to your cool ideas. Upward and Onward!

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

CrashPoint, thanks, glad you like them! Yep, studies and studies is what I must do all winter long, on a daily basis. No more excuses heh.

Here are some random doodles from a few days ago, not the best pics but you get the idea.

[JuliusObviousMagnus]

[JuliusObviousMagnus]