Tensai Tokyo Sketch Thread - Sept 28 Exhibition + Commissioned Work Tests!

**tensai** · January 31st, 2006, 06:26 AM

well - i send the final file to the editors of the magazine and they really like it. im totally blind to it right now. but anyway here is the version that i send in.

ahh! seeing it in my browser and in srgb instead of cmyk changes all the colours again. some parts are a lot darker than my prints here. anyway -
comments and crits greatly appreciated

**tensai** · January 31st, 2006, 06:39 PM

guess i should have commented on my poster as well...

voraz - thanks mate for your crit. i think i came to a similar conclusion and tried to adjust for it.

bwkeough - thanks for stopping by man. about the shoe, i have the perfect model for it (...

) but dont have the shoe in her size yet...

Hyver - hey man, you know i love your book! lets see if we can find some stuff to trade.

some quick no meaning sketches...

comments and crits greatly appreciated.

**Flaskpost** · January 31st, 2006, 06:44 PM

you´ve got a really unique and awesome style, mate! but you allready knew that.

just keep working from life as well. will help to improve your other stuff.

**Shinryu** · January 31st, 2006, 06:49 PM

yeah, mate more of the quick no meaning sketches, they are always good fun

, the final looks great aswell

cheers

**voraz** · January 31st, 2006, 08:26 PM

Hi tensai, i'm glad the editors liked it. I personally like it much better now too!
Cheers
Fil

**madplanet** · January 31st, 2006, 08:58 PM

The final version looks great. I really like all the little lights in the buildings. Yeah, yeah, I know with all the other cool stuff in there that's what I like, but it just pulls things together in a likeable way for me. It's an active city that happens to have a giant consumer baby sitting in the middle of it. Looks great.

**tensai** · February 1st, 2006, 09:29 AM

thanks for the comments! will reply a little later, justed wanted to drop a little sketch i just finished.

cheers!

**sve** · February 1st, 2006, 10:05 AM

Hello, tensai, I'm looking at your baby already second day and thinking about it. I even took it to my PS and tried to put pink highlights near his right shoulders and cheek and yellow highlights from the yellow light in front of him on his belly. And bluish highlights from the second source on his left shoulders. I did it, then tried to softer it a bit and my eyes got so hurt suddenly, so I stopped

. But I think it could've helped though, to lighten up the baby's body more, because he is holding very bright objects, very close to him.
Right now the skin tone looks a bit dark to me, and the body itself is still a bit flat, in my opinion. But I understand that it's a stylisation, and if your clients are happy with it, so nothing much to say in this case.
I like the evening mood a lot in this image. It's here and the feeling of crazy, senseless life too. Actually the whole outcome impression from this drawing for me is a vanity, senseless existence.

Portrait are on the first and third pages are great, have a very nice personalities.

I looking forward to see you coloring and giving a volume to this mechanical desgn in your last post

.
Sveta

**Fellah.** · February 1st, 2006, 03:54 PM

The final looks great man, really cool idea! I dig the last sketch alot too!

**tensai** · February 1st, 2006, 06:27 PM

sve - thanks for the crit, and thanks for trying some stuff out. i still feel like i want to change a thousand things in the final one. but there three things i would perhaps also actually do- baby lighting like you said, McD lighting, overall colours. the thing looks so different though in my photoshop. i made the whole thing in cmyk and the conversion and downsizing made everything a lot darker. i might make a different 'web' version.

Actually the whole outcome impression from this drawing for me is a vanity, senseless existence.

thanks, thats a big part of what i wanted to show.

fellah - thanks for stopping by mate, glad you like the ill, but no crits?

keep up your insane book man...

**tensai** · February 8th, 2006, 11:36 PM

well, i redid the last scape. i migth send it in to the AD but im gonna see if i still like it tomorrow.
i wanted to have a red commy glow looming in the background, leaving it up for the viewer if it represents dusk or dawn. added some super hi-rise cause i thought the city needed to look a bit more metropolitan and to break up the sky. i also took some of sves crits to heart and added a bit of glow on the baby.

again, the black lines seem to overwhelm a bit on the down-resed version (the original is 5200 x 3600 pixels) and the colours on this thing seem to fly all over the place. hope you like!

comments and crits greatly appreciated.

**sve** · February 8th, 2006, 11:58 PM

You know you added crazy element to the piece, in my opinion, the city looks extremely restless.

I can tell you what I think, but please don't take it to close to your heart.

I think that center of the painting got a bit lost, too many objects are trying to grab attention of the viewer. And it has a good side, it increases the feeling of the confusion and vanity. Well, as a way to gather all this together I would suggest to make this red glowing (from sunset) round, and concentrate it closer to the middle of the painting. At least I would definitely removed it on the left and right sides of the city, because it shamelessly competes with the center of the piece.
The second thing, I would certainly made this round yellow light in front of the baby duller. Right now it's the most attention grabber, too brilliant and what information it is giving? The attention should be given to baby, I think. Maybe colder yellow will do. Block this object with your hand and you might see. It doesn't behave itself.

I think you are great, it's extremly complex painting with a lot of challenges. And you did a wonderful job.

Sveta

**pennington** · February 9th, 2006, 01:09 AM

your city sketches amaze me. where do you draw them? i see a bunch of things i would like to draw when i'm driving but i can't just stop. so i never get to draw them cept from memory and they turn out terrible.

**tensai** · February 10th, 2006, 05:09 AM

sve - a million thanks for critting, i do not agree with everything, but i do appreciate all of it. i did change some stuff around and altered some values. (i uploaded the newer version over the older one - bandwidth issues). im happy now with the way it came out, and some of the changes that i made were because of your crits that helped me see stuff in a fresh way. again, thanks a lot. now, its time to move on to another piece though.

pennington - first i have to say that i think pennington is a really cool name. is that for real? i think im gonna call my kid that.. second, separate from the memory issues, i dont recommend drawing and driving at the same time. im not sure i understand your question. you either draw from life, from ref, or your mind. its good to practice all, but for an elaborate illustration its often necessary to use good ref.

not much of an update, just some quick subway sketches

im trying to do some more simplified stuff as well, which always turns out more difficult

will post more soon!
comments and crits greatly appreciated.

**pennington** · February 11th, 2006, 12:56 AM

hey that's awesome! pennington, i wish it was my name! i'm scott o_o. heh i would'nt try to draw and drive either. so i meant that like #129 and are they from your mind or did you use refs for them. if they're from your mind i wish i could learn how to do anything even in the right direction to be able to do that some day. oh well. sorry. haha

ps. it'd be great to name your ked that!

**madplanet** · February 12th, 2006, 12:59 PM

On some of your subway sketches it seems like these people are looking right at you. Were they aware of you sketching them? The expressions on their faces are done well, I must say. The profile of the person with the hat is my favorite of these, there's almost a suggestion of a slouched over posture, like this person is huddled up from the cold. Oh, and the sky turned out really nice on your baby/cityscape; nice job on the lighting.

**salaryman** · February 20th, 2006, 08:59 AM

I love the robots, the shoes, the figure studies, the portraits but most of all love the cityscapes.

I want to see them on my wall.

More please!

Cal

**Shinryu** · February 20th, 2006, 09:47 AM

hey mate, the subway sketches are looking really nice, the last batch are excllently done, if you got time put up more

cheers

**purb36** · February 20th, 2006, 10:30 AM

konbanwa ka ohayou! dochi darou ka?

dude, these are hott! suggoi! i really like the latest version of the consumer baby godzilla type, especially the lighting. much better this time. so like, when you do these illustrations, how do you go about it? like, whats your process? thumbnailing? working in sections? these are really intricate. kanshin suru yo. thx for popping by my thread sometimes too; i appreciate it. mata kite ne; mata gambatte ne. 8)

**tensai** · February 22nd, 2006, 12:04 AM

madplanet - yeah sometimes people know that im drawing them, either because im not hiding it well, or because the person next to me starts to look from my sketchbook to the person im drawing and back. but people move a lot too, so i have to choose between some positions and try to remember their eyes open.

salaryman - thanks for dropping by man. if you want them on your wall that can be arranged. im printing these on A3+ thick archival watercolour paper. all you need to do is contact me and print one of those bitch ass sketch pages of yours.

Shinryu - thanks man. i havent had that much time but i want to at least sketch some everyday.

purb36 - doumo doumo. process is written about here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...0&postcount=43
glad you like 'm.

not too impressive but some train sketches -

and from ref

with one in gouache for fun

aight - ill post some more soon,
comments and crits as always appreciated.

**pennington** · February 22nd, 2006, 02:15 AM

hey cool update! you ever try to watercolor those. i'd be pretty cool with some bright colors. nice gouache. i like the sleeping guy from the side, nice and big and great composition too. do more of those odd angle ones. oh shoot, i forgot what i wanted to say. umm... oh yeah, do you draw on the way to work or do you go out and spend a day just drawing people on the train and stuff. i finally got around to drawing some unsuspecting people at lunch on sunday.

**IanE** · February 22nd, 2006, 02:59 AM

Wow....rediculously awesome cityscapes, sir!

Great work, it's crazy... crazy crazy crazy!! Post it up!

-Ian

**tensai** · February 23rd, 2006, 12:49 AM

pennington - (im still laughing sometimes when read that name) i do the drawing when im on the train. i always have a little pocket sketchbook with me (A6) and draw if the train is not too full. i like to draw people next to me but its even more obvious when im turning my head 90 degrees every ten seconds...

IanE - thanks for dropping by man, glad you like m.

quicky update with a marker sketch form ref.

comments and crits appreciated

**pennington** · February 23rd, 2006, 03:56 AM

true, but ya gotta be bold about it. then you can show off your skills. just kidding. latest guy is great! i really like how you pause your strokes it's very japanese traditional style. i need to get some markers. the nose loooks a little flat i think it's cause the lines on the side are too dark not just in this one either. but maybe i'm wrong i cant really tell what it is. not to much to worry about just something youcould maybe expiriment with. n e ways, always a pleasure to be here.

**tensai** · February 25th, 2006, 12:47 AM

pennington - i agree about the nose being flat in the value sketch. when im doing the line sketches with pen i find mostly dont draw lines at the side of the nose because i dont see them - most japanese just have a very soft transition over there (ie. flat nose). with value you can do it of course. good call. i love markers. its very nice to sketch with. buy some grey (10) 30 50 70 (90) % and get cracking!

That fat kid - thanks for stopping, although i dont know where you saw any clean lines in here..

you really are drawing up a storm man.

oh, and i have to say i love it to have stars!

i always vote for peeps with more than one page in their book. thanks a lot.

quick sketches -
thumbs for a new ill

peeps

quick sketch mostly to check some colours, marker and ps.

aight! comments and crits appreciated. again, thanks for visiting.

**salah** · February 25th, 2006, 03:37 AM

nice sketches Tensai! you got some really mind blowing cityscapes, great work!!

**tensai** · February 25th, 2006, 08:20 PM

salah - cheers man. you know i love your book.

quicky update of the thumbnails

as i was sketching, an old guy sat next to me on the train last night and said i should definitely go with top left one, or bottom right. i agreed

update more soon!

**Sirio_Brozzi** · February 25th, 2006, 11:27 PM

Nice thumbs dude. Totally agree with him on top left.

Most interesting of the bunch.

**sve** · February 25th, 2006, 11:47 PM

Hello, tensai, you are totally deserved the stars, and even medals

for your dedication and skills.

My favorite is this lovely sketch made with marker on some very nice porous paper.

It is absolutely beautiful, style is very originally looking, at least I didn't see anything like this before. The simple and very effective manner, colors are so pretty and pleasant and soft. I love this simplicity and beauty. Please tell me what those objects are, btw.

I hope you do more and show all of them to me. I feel so charmed looking at it. i have no idea what did you do with paper, but it looks lighten up softly, such a wonderful golden lighting. Makes me wonder what the source of this magic light, the UFO or angels

, Real great sketch, tensai, please consider to do more.

I like the environ thumbnails too and the portrait with clever use of an orange color. It's a very nice style.
So thank you
Sveta