Moai's Sketchbook

[Moai]

Here's the final for my Winged Healer CoW. Well, more or less. I may still work on it, since I'm not really satisfied with it as it is. Cloister helped me out with a very nice paintover, which is why I changed the composition so much.
Also, a WIP for my Waterfall City. The messily colored in stuff is as ugly as sin itself, but I'm pleased with how the rendering is coming along for the jaguar.

[KarylGilbertson]

Good stuff man. You seem to have a pretty good grasp of colour (though it gets a little saturated in places-- my vice as well), and the studies are real good. Sometimes your posing can get a little uninspired and boring, but overall it's a good little sketchie you've got here! Keep it up!

[Alex Alexandrov]

hey Moai you hawe preaty cool stuff in hire i really like some of your creature ideas keep drawing men ... and hawe some stars from me

[Moai]

Ookchk- Thanks for the comments! For the boring poses, were talking about my life drawings or of just my general work?
whiteeeeeee- Yay! One of my favorite creature designers! Thanks for the comments and the stars!

I don't have any work to post today, but I have been drawing...I'm just unable to post them right now. Still no scanner, and the new image I'm working on at school is still on the school computer. I'm drawing some actual buildings and rocks that I'm happy with (buildings and rocks are hard for me), and I'm doing a copy of one of Doug Chiang's paintings from Robota. Just in case you were wondering.

[theredshoe]

hey Moai:

i like how you're not afraid to experiment with colors. you're pretty good with it as well. good studies as well; i just recently saw this dvd from gnomon regarding drawing dinosaurs. it looked pretty interesting...

cheers!

[Moai]

Thanks, theredshoe. I'm glad you like my colors, but really, I have a lot more to learn on that subject. Go look up Idiot Apathy's sketchbook; no there's a guy who knows colors.

[Camara]

I´m in love with the last one!!!

[Moai]

The flying monkeys or the waterfall city? Whichever one, thanks!

[Yautja892]

Hi fellow sketch group Wow I saw great improvement from your first page to last. Seems like you are getting a feel for color, and lighting. I really enjoy your one dinosaur piece from post #127. I can cleary see your influences with the dinosaurs/ creatures in general. Alot of your character designs have a great feel of character and personality to them. As for as crits keep pushing your contrast is some of your pieces, I really enjoy your cows, but it seems like you start with a good execution, but stop at a certain point on them and feel like if you spent just a little more time on them you would have some great illustrations. Maybe pick a certain project, and really try to complete it from start to finish, and if you can't try simplefing it slighty to meet your schedule. Overall though you have made a great journey, just keep pushing... you'll get there in time.

[Camara]

The flying monkeys or the waterfall city? Whichever one, thanks!

Aaaammmmmm....both!!

[amer-nazri]

Howdy! I really like your monkey piece, lovely way you've painted the trees and bushes. The final composition is very nice, provides a direct focal point to the piece. I can feel the behaviour and movement of the monkeys by the way you've drawn the poses, which is very cool. I'd make the colours warmer by adding touches of red in the fur, but that would probably change the look of the piece. Looking forward to more.

amer-nazri

[Moai]

Yautja- You know, what you said about working to a certain point and then stopping was a very appropriate crit. That's a problem I've noticed but never really thought about. I just get to a certain point in a piece and don't know how to take it further. Of course, a lot of these pieces in here are just works in progress that I've been neglecting, but still, putting a nice polish on things at the end is something I need to do. Thanks!
Camara- Awesome!
amer-nazri- Thanks for the comments, man! I'll see about warming up the blues of the monkeys' fur.
This sketchgroup business is pretty cool!

Since I haven't updated since day before yesterday and I don't want to break my own every-other-day rule, here's some doodles for ya. Recently, because I'm without a reliable way to put paper sketches on the computer, I've come to use Photoshop as a sketching tool. Basically, variations on the theme of my flying monkey; or, as the fictitious scientists call it, the pterosimian (same thing in Greek/Latin). Some pseudoscientific ramblings, because I enjoy them:
Pterosimius sphinx, commonly just called the Sphinx, is the largest pterosimian. It's a powerful glider, but also the only pterosimian to regularly venture to the forest floor. Pterosimius gracilis, the Golden Dovetail pterosimian, is the fastest and most agile of the pterosimians, and the most completely adapted for a life of flight. Dermadactylus mariposa, the Green Mariposa (Spanish for butterfly), is the smallest pterosimian, with the largest wing membrane, proportionally to body size. It eats mostly nectar and fruit. The Aborigen, which is distantly related to the pterosimians, is able to use tools and language, and has a technology level similar to Amazonian tribes on Earth. The borer bug is not really an arthropod, nor is it a really a mammal; it is a member of a separate class (or subclass, the classification is uncertain) of six-legged, four-eyed, furry, toothy-mouthed creatures, most of which live in tree wood or underground. The fantiger is the main predator of the arbolisimo (giant tree) ecosystem. Its body is wide and flat, to better grip and climb tree bark. The little flat-faced guy with the long tail is something like an alien kinkajou. I couldn't think of a name for him.

[Katfayheirti]

Hey new SSG friend! Your animal designs are SUPER-HOTT! I especially love the HippoCroc and the little lemur-esque thing on the base of the last update.

I've having a hard time trying to think of anything to crit Maybe you could combine your love of designing animals and your architectural/mechanical anxietys by drawing insectoid ships or buildings?

[Moai]

Katfayheirti- Thanks, fellow sketchgroupie! Hotness increases exponentially with each "t" at the end, I assume. Good idea with the insectiod ships and buildings. I am making a little progress in the architectural front; I recently sketched some pillars and such that I liked. I also drew the first ever rock that I was really happy with. Rocks are hard; so many planes! Anyway, thanks again.
Nothing form me right now. Pretty much my whole family is over this weekend, so not a lot of art time for me.

[amer-nazri]

Hey there! Nice update! I have to say the drawing that really caught my eye is that of the completed creature near the top right (whats its name again?). I can really imagine its behaviour, attitude. I think when you are able to portray its natural behaviour in the most correct way, thats when the creature comes to life. I must say I'm really impressed by your knowledge of nature and its wildlife. Well done!

[Moai]

Thanks, amer-nazri. Are you talking about the long-nosed, long-tongued guy? I didn't think up a name for him. It kinda reminds me of a Heffalump from the old "Winnie the Pooh" cartoon. I imagine it as some sort of slow-moving, placid herbivore, meandering through the branches. Yeah, nature and wildlife have been a lifelong interest of mine. Thanks!

[Turisas]

You have some very intresting designs! I could imagine these creatures being developed after humanity has gone for good.
You have great skill on that, fella. Keep it up! On a quick note... I really cant find anything to critique on. I myself aren't good at creatures. All I do is unnatural monsters and freaks.
Keep on posting! Cant wait.

[Anurizm]

awsome stuff your pumping out, I see you are studying hogarth as well. Maybe we can feed off of one another in our studies of anatomy?

[Moai]

Monsterkill- Welcome to the sketchgroup, man! Thanks for your comments.
Anurism- Thanks much! I'll be happy to work with you on anatomy. That'll give me some incentive to actually work on my own. I've sorta slipped back into my old creature comfort zone.

Uh-oh....It's been more than two days since my last update! Feel free to smack me, fellow sketchgroupies. Anyway, here's a much-delayed update from my real world sketchbook. I had to commandeer a school scanner, since mine don't work with Vista. The images:
-Here's various sketches of some rhino-like perissodactyl (odd-toed ungulate, such as horses, rhinos, and tapirs). I had an idea for a picture of it being taken down by a pack of smaller predators, but it never came to be. And also, some faces, drawn from imagination. The top two aren't very good, but I like "Mr. Squarehead" down at the bottom. I don't plan to include "humerous" little caption bubbles in my pictures very often; they're overused, in my opinion, and coming from me they're rather forced. No offense to anyone who has goofy captions all over their sketches, though.
-Horse foreleg anatomy. Though I draw creatures a lot, the muscle anatomy of the upper foreleg and shoulder has always been something I've sort of faked. I did this to rectify that.
-Sketches for that armored polar bear ChoW. I never planned on entering it; I just did some doodles for my own fun. I don't do armor very often. Armor isn't a creature, after all. Doing research, I was taken by the sheer size of a bear's arm muscles. Also, some thumbs for my unfinished EoW. I'll finish another one of those someday, dammit.
-Some buildings! Yay! They were all drawn, with the exception of the rock house with smoke coming out of it, from Architecture: A Visual History or something, by someone. The Turkish rock dwelling is that nice rock that I've mentioned a time or two that I was happy with. Old buildings made of rocks are much easier than newer buildings with like a billion parallel lines.
And there you have it.

[nilaffle]

Bears in armor! Sweet

Strong animal work and some creative concepts. LOVED post #127. But what I really enjoy are your environments. You've got some fascinating ideas.

[Moai]

Really? You like my environments? Since those don't come as naturally to me as creatures, that's really nice to hear. Thanks!

Edit: And lookit, I have stars!

[Caskin]

I'm loving your creature sketches here, they're really something spectacular! One doesn't really run across great critters very often.

[Nyx702]

Great stuff man. You make me jelious with your color choices...do you make any value sketches first or do you just start squirting down color?

Are those sketches for His Dark Materials I see?

[Moai]

Caskin- Oh, pshaw! Just look in your own sketchbook. I found plenty of spectacular creatures there! But thanks.
Nyx702- Thanks! Yeah, I'm a squirter. I like that verb. Squirt! Squirt! Ahem!...Anyway, I did a loose value study before colorizing my crocopotamus, but in the end the values were completely different from the sketch ones. Yep, those are from His Dark Materials. It was a Character of the Week topic; I haven't actually read the books.

[Moai]

Another pencil sketch update! I'm making a conscious effort to sketch environmens and structures as well as my usual creatures. The top right sketch is my concept for the current EoW. You'll probably see more of that. The bottom right is some sort of weird Lothlorienesque structure, influenced greatly by Lord of the Rings art.
As for the creatures, we have a small dinosaur (or dinosaur-like creature) possibly called an Akroterisaurus. That should mean "caped lizard" in Greek, but I have yet to find a good Greek translation site online. Also, a bipedal sheep. Lately I've been pondering the idea of drawing seemingly normal animals, only making them two legged instead of four legged. And lastly, some sort of very large, very hairy carnivore, that nonetheless looks strangely friendly.

[Yautja892]

Hey Moai nice updates since I last visited:

Post #162: Really awesome little sketches, and creatures. I really like the loosenss in the lines on the creature right below the sphinx name.

Post #169: Ha, really like the Mr. Squarehead, and also the two little faces next to him, see alot of character out of those too.

Post#169 Enivronments: I'm really enjoying these as well, I think I could tell what each one of these where without the descriptions , you pretty much did these justice.

Post#175: I'm likeing what your doing here as well, I think the creature above the temple stands out to me the most. You should take this guy further it would be nice to seem him fully fleshed out, and even painted or fully sketched. Not much to crit for now, looking forward to seeing your EOW piece. Keep going.

[Katfayheirti]

SWEET CRITTERS! I'm really lovin' the polar bear armour and the biped sheep. I like how the sheep is all emu-esque and fluffy and has this crazy stunned expression like "wha?" Oh yeah, and I also love the markmaking on the sheep and the fanged guy.

I don't really know what to crit. Hmmmm....your columns are looking a bit lumpy. Maybe use a straightedge next time?

Anyway, I really like the 'romanesque, gladiatorial' fringe on the bottom of the last polar bear armour pic. It would probably only look good if the polarbears always walked on two feet though...

[Bard]

I think your stars are well deserved, you dino-nut!;P
I should come to you for advise because I'm entering again for a draw-off,
villains this time and I'm thinking of doing Sauron...Squuaak!

So patterns on those creatures...you're just inventing them?
Or try to look at books and form something different but almost the same
so it has resonance to the viewer?

They look normal...in a good way! I mean...they really could've walked the earth from another time. That's what I like about it, that's it's believable.

Usual stuff of lovelies, mate!

[Moai]

Hey! I thought I posted a response already! Guess I forgot to click on the post reply button before closing the window.
Yautja892- Thanks for the comments! I don't think I'll make a complete painting out of my big fangy guy, though. My unfinished paintings are kinda piling up, so I think I'll just leave him as a sketch.
Katfayheirti- Thank you. There was some discussion on the ChoW forum on whether the bear should be bipedal or quadrupedal (since he's from a book), but I stopped paying attention before the issue was resolved. So, my bear's a biped. Speaking of bipeds, I'm glad you like my sheep. That expression is what I love about sheep, goats, llamas, and the like. I think it's the horizontal pupils that do it. Sighhhh...I guess I'll use a straitedge next time I draw strait things. Sheesh. Maybe I'll go all crazy and use vanishing points, too.
Bard- Thanks, man! For the patterns on my creatures, I usually just invent them, but they're all inspired (often subconsciously) by patterns I've either seen in nature or in other artists' works. An exception would be my flying monkeys, for which I made a point of using reference (the Asian blue quail). Most of my creature work is based on knowledge I already have in my head, rather than consulting reference, particularly when I'm just sketching. You honor me with your last comment.

Only the littlest of little updates right now. Only took about a third of a second to update this baby. Just some colored doodles I did on sketcher. Nothing special. Hopefully I'll have an EoW WIP up later, if I get some motivation.

[Mr Man]

Hey man, thought Id check how things are going. First of all that biped sheep is genius! The creatures are really developing well, I think you should have a play around with zbrush one day. Its a really simple program to use and lots of fun, Perfect for creatures ^_^

Ceep scribling chuck!

Rich.