Crisi Miki Wiki Piki

[crisimikiwiki]

Whilst i'm meant to be focusing on a couple of illustrative portrait commissions which are deadlined for the next couple of days, I can't stop thinking about my other commission. I'm actually living on a barge at the moment, and my living space is the back cabin. It's cosy, but verrry small, and the big Plywood board i'm painting on takes up one entire side of it. Which means I fall asleep and wake up to the creepiest face gawking at me! But this is good, people forget how important just staring at your own work is sometimes. If i'm ever 'stuck' with 'what next'. I usually find some time away and a long stare does a world of good.

Anyway, i've not put much more actual paint on since last time, but i'm just doing some photoshop doodles over an existing photo to see the direction i may want to push it in.

Voila.

[crisimikiwiki]

Someone requested to buy a print of one of my recent sketches, so, as with any of my original art I manage to sell, i'm doing custom doodles on the envelopes and making a small art package of little bits and pieces. It might be slight overkill, but who doesn't love a parcel with a difference?

Attachment 1695261

[crisimikiwiki]

At the moment, I primarily want to try to keep this sketchbook as '2d' work, but I do like keeping my fingers in other pies as well, so will every now and then post some other forms of my work. (I'm not sure if that's the 'done' thing in these sketchbooks, but if it's alright with y'all!)

Here are some play-around wax and sculpey figure heads from the past couple of years.

[Royzy]

Feel free to post it all! Love to see other art forms. Since 3D work will have a positive impact on your 2D skills anyway, it is still relevant.

Those pen sketches are really nice, very striking line quality. Are you displaying them for sale somewhere, or are they coming from requests?

Btw, this particular image is probably my fave in your sketchbook so far.
Reminds me a lot of Wesley Eggebrecht's illustrative stuff.

Keep it coming.

[crisimikiwiki]

Cheers mate, I definitely find my drawing improves my sculpture and vice versa. It's all learning. Glad you like the pen work, most of them were just pictures I did anyway and are now for sale, but i'm selling ones by request also. I checked out Eggebrecht, wow! His work looks great, and glad that picture reminds you of it!

[Candra H]

Lovely work in here. Those face in your first post are amazing - you really caught the likenesses there. Also love your drawing and mark making style - it's clean and crisp and wonderfully expressive.

Great stuff, and a great start to the rest of your artistic life. keep going and good luck!

[GrayPersona]

those sculptures are really cool,also lovely ink sketches on the first page,interesting to see how this developes.

[crisimikiwiki]

Candra - thanks a lot! You have some beautiful studies. I find it very interesting here seeing what people like and what people comment on. It's so difficult to see it for yourself sometimes! I shall surely keep on going - it's all i live for!

GrayPersona - Thanks for your interest and for stopping by! You show great potential in your studies.

[crisimikiwiki]

These are some quick bits i did a couple of years ago on some scraps of MDF at work.

[crisimikiwiki]

I've been playing around with logo ideas for a couple of weeks. I've never really been very good at graphicy things before, i'm more organic. I had a few things that kinda worked, one of which was this one:



It was meant to be a reflection by a river, as that is where I spend a lot of my time (on a boat). I quite liked the idea but it didn't feel entirely right so my mind was still going over ideas while getting on with other jobs. Then today I had another play around and got this:



Tilt your head left and it almost looks like a Trilobite, tilt your head right and it looks like a boat. I'm quite pleased with it, mainly because it's made me appreciate design in a new way. Something else i'd like to try soon is Typography. As an artist I tend to always be looking at and studying 'shapes within shapes' but recently i've been doing it more and more with looking at words, and the shapes within letters. Anyway, it's way past my bed time.

[Betty86]

great sketches, #31 is just epic! love it keep it up!

[crisimikiwiki]

Thanks Betty!

Found this photo of a lil biro doodle from a couple of years ago.

[crisimikiwiki]

Got a couple of commissions signed off and out the door today. I wasn't so happy with the pencil drawing, but i didn't spend too long on it and didn't charge much!

On with the other jobs, then I can get back to experimenting with my own stuff. Got some good things planned, and constantly inspired by the talents on these boards.

[Yemi775]

Your paintings and pen works are the shit, i love them!

[crisimikiwiki]

Thank you sir! I didn't read your 'the' the first time I read your comment! I thought 'wow, this guy is impressively honest!'. haha.

[GrayPersona]

those last ones have a real neat graphic quality to e'm,in your pencil work I would suggest to add contrast and because the drawing look a bit photographic also maybe use broader crosshatching
and more consistently in a certain direction.
keep it up.

[crisimikiwiki]

Thanks GP - i will take that into account. I have been enjoying using pens so much recently my passion for pencils has taken a back seat. However i'm going to do some more soon so will focus on my technique.

[Deceptive]

Hi Crisiminiwiki!

Nice sketchbook you have here! the best things are your pencil and pen drawings, my personal favourite is the eye u did with the pen,
it's absolutely stunning! I like the way the light reflects in it and the details! Ahw man!

Keep it up !

[n1frit]

Creative!

[crisimikiwiki]

Deceptive - thanks! That one was fun to do, i'd like to do more stuff like that. I'm glad you like it!

n1frit - same to you! love your SB.

Thanks for stopping by. Broke my thumb this morning, not on my drawing hand but it's still rendered me a little disabled for now. Boo!

[crisimikiwiki]

My thumb has hindered my recent efforts but i can just about manage to upload some old work. Here's some zbrush sculpts from the past couple of years. I have since learned quite a bit more about sculpture, so would like to have another 'serious' go at Zbrush some point soon.

[Stew9]

That's so weird, I was just looking through your work when I suddenly realised why I recognised the style.
I think my brother Jack went to Art college with you.

Its good to see your still sketching, I remember my brother showing me your stuff a while back when you where working on Dr Parnassus.
It's a shame you've got out of the industry.

Anyway I really love those portraits you've done in ink, there really amazing.
The line work reminds me a bit of Moebius' stuff.

[crisimikiwiki]

hahah, hello stew! yeah small world eh?

I remember Jack telling me you were relentlessly sanding a super sculpey baby you made (was it a baby?)

Yeah I had quite a few issues with the industry, and wasn't prepared for any more of it, not for the moment anyway. I want to really discover something about my own artwork for now, then I could always apply it elsewhere later.

Glad you like the ink man, and i love Moebius

I had a look at your SB, and guess who it reminds me of? Your bro! Very nice stuff - both of you. Jack was one of, if not the most talented guys on the course. I used to love his paintings.

Thanks for stopping by!

[Stew9]

Haha, yeah that was me. It was made of silicon though.
It was for that "Life before Birth" documentary a few years back.

Its a shame your out the industry but I completely understand why you left. Its not the easiest job in the world.
I've only stuck at it this long cause I don't know what else to do

Sounds like you've got a plan though, hope it all works out.


I don't come on here as much as I used to so a lot of my new work is either on my blog or on Deviantart.
I might try and rekindle my old sketchbook thread though. I know Jack updates his still.

Anyway thanks for the comments and I'll make sure I check your thread out regularly

[marc_redd]

damn, so good. the pen and inks scream AWSOME.

[crisimikiwiki]

Stew - The industry really took its toll on me. It got to a point where i was working at least 12 hours a day for a while, sometimes doing 24hr or longer shifts that I didn't charge for due to budget reasons. I met some great people, but the particular situation I was in got too intense, workshop politics etc. I'm sure other places are different, but from the places i've worked at, if you wanna 'get somewhere' you have to 'play the game', and I don't wanna play the game anymore...like I said, not for now anyway

Here's an industry related joke i'm sure you will appreciate:

How many art directors does it take to change a lightbulb?
"Does it HAVE to be a lightbulb?"

Yeah i'm gonna get my head down and my hands dirty in all sorts of areas, try to make some money off it. Enough to be comfy. You should update more on here, i'll drop by your blog to see your progress, lemme know your DeviantArt name and i'll follow you on there too. I find this community here more helpful and inviting than DeviantArt.

marc_redd: Thanks man, really appreciate it! Love your sketchbook, it has a great energy - it's obvious you are extremely passionate about your art - keep it up man.



Some people are in the game for the money, i was in it for my love of the craft. I live, breathe and will die 'cinema', always have, always will.

[walnut]

Screw it, 5 stars. See it as a welcoming gift Is there any chance of seeing more full-body stuff?

[Talonhardin]

Super awesome pencil work! I see the life in them.

[herionz]

@Crismikiwiki, I have to tell you, I'm speechless with what you have around here. Your designs so beautifully creepy (I've always been in love with styles similar to yours, but never actually tried them, think they don't fit me anymore that much at this point in my life, because I think I've changed a little bit over the years to actually be able to come up with things like yours, but they are so marvellous that can only look at them with eyes wide open! Amazingly wonderful, I could get lost looking at them for hours). Your use of pencils, pens, sculpture, 3D, hell... so good it hurts.

Moreover, reading your most recent post about the industry, your insights would be golden, because I would love to get into movie/videogames industry some day (although probably indie games, not AAA games) and just getting that glimpse about the amount of hours you have to put inside and the joke about the art directors

( Click to show/hide )

(I'm not sure if I got it right, but I understand that art directors are always asking you make changes everywhere? Sorry, for spoiling the joke by asking for the meaning, English isn't my first language, but I think a good piece of advice could come from it for someone as me that doesn't has any insight about the topic, that's why I ask ).

. I'm really glad you have come by my sketchbook, I'm also subscribing to yours, hoping it inspires me and helps me push forward when I slack.

Cheers and best of wishes with anything that you are going after, mate!.

[crisimikiwiki]

Walnut - thanks so much! I didn't even realise you could rate SB's til just now! I will focus on some full body stuff in the coming weeks and months, I guess I have got too used to doing just faces, and some practise is needed elsewhere.

Talonhardin - Bless you sir!

herionz - what a fantastic comment! - thank you so much. If you want to get into the movie/games industry, you can do it. I was lucky, I got to meet a guy at a company in the UK who gave me an opportunity, not because i had a good portfolio. From there I was able to build a better portfolio, but it was less 2d art, and more 'made' things. Don't get me wrong, the industry is great (i know more about the film industry than the games industry). I'm sure it's not exactly the same everywhere, but in my personal experience, and through speaking to colleagues and friends in the industry, doing the stuff we were doing was extremely tough. Not just on the body, but on the mind too. I was working with so many talented artists, and I don't feel they necessarily got the respect they deserved. It's an extremely competitive industry, and most people just want to 'get to the top', rather than help each other along with an artistic 'journey'. Most of the places I worked you were just expected to KNOW a load of techniques and processes, and if you didn't, you were treated like you weren't worth anything. This wasn't always the case, I met some great people, one in particular Benny Phillips (he has a sketchbook on here actually). Benny was a significant milestone for my arty journey. He's the most talented person i've ever met, you name it, pencil, sculpture, digital art, mould making, prosthetics...everything. We became friends and he would daily teach me things without treating me like a child. I tried to do the same thing when I would meet 'new' people, and most of the time they have really appreciated it, and now have better confidence in their jobs, and I have formed some great friendships this way.

The joke about the art directors - yes, you got it right! SO many times we would make something, then they would either change the design, sometimes many many times, other times, they would cancel the idea altogether!

I once made a large model for a movie with a couple of other people over 4 months, they ended up filming it over 2 days or so, it looked great, they loved it and the entire model including materials, time spent on the build, stage/camera/lighting hire and shooting costs will have been tens of thousands of £s. Ultimately it didn't make the final cut of the movie. This was very sad but is something you MUST get used to when working on such projects. It's so sad when you pour so much love into something, and it never gets to see the light of day. This is just my story, if it's something you want to do - go for it! I had a lot of fun as well, and i may return one day, but for now, I have too many ideas to experiment with!

I have also subscribed to your SB - thanks again for all the nice words.

By the way your english is fantastic!

cmw