AztcFireflower's Figures 'n' Stuff

**mike weaver** · February 25th, 2007, 12:14 AM

Hi !

Akiko told me that you were on here, good seeing you however briefly at Laafa. I started a sketch thread of my own: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1228200

Keep in touch
mike weaver

**dan liimatta** · February 25th, 2007, 01:41 AM

the quality of the works in here are staggering, the line work and the sense of form, besides the wonderful design (love the rat) is warming - 5/5 subscribed.

**Don-key** · February 25th, 2007, 03:12 AM

rusty?

goodness me thats rusty? im sorry i never have anything helpful or constructive to say...just know that you inspire me...i think you and rebecca should write a book together " 'anatomy'... the genius approach"

bloody hell

**mondegreen** · February 25th, 2007, 08:57 AM

Well I'm sorry to hear you won't be posting so much. I wish you the best with that job opportunity, I hope it all goes well!

Wanted to thank you also for all the help you've provided to me through messages and forum posts. It's really helped quite a lot, and led me in some new directions.

Thanks, Ben

**Bard** · February 25th, 2007, 11:57 AM

Hey..good luck on the job!
Your art is very special to me and will be thanking you forever for letting us know hows it's done right..

Great posts, great responses...hope you the best!

**Brettbbean** · February 27th, 2007, 12:03 PM

Beautiful work. Graceful and correct it's hard to get both down and you do it making it look easy. Just gorgeous.

**Konstruktion** · February 28th, 2007, 12:28 PM

Wow amazing stuff, them oils really made me want to paint. I think I will some day. Keep up the good work inspiring people

**Orbital** · February 28th, 2007, 12:50 PM

Really great charcoal work - it has a "masters" flavour to it. And I love your signature about craft/art!

**Chromosome** · February 28th, 2007, 04:57 PM

wow. I love those oil studies. What do you use normally to mix your skin tones? (sorry if some one asked earlier) I'm still using a limited palette of white, yellow ochre, terra rosa, burnt umber, and black, and that works fine, but I'm a little worried on how to tackle skin with more colors. Also, the study of the woman with the frizzy hair....... super neat!

**Orozc0** · February 28th, 2007, 06:05 PM

Amazing work. I was considering going to the Los Angeles Academy of FA instead of Laguna CAD. Seeing your work makes me think it is a worth the try. The cool thing about LCAD is their character design course. Well let me know what you think. And how old are you by the way?

**Longxiang** · March 2nd, 2007, 04:44 AM

Would I be out of line if I said STOP NOT DRAWING HANDS AND FEET IN YOUR SKETCHES!

Heh.

Also, post more updates. Your public needs you.

**vigostar** · March 2nd, 2007, 10:22 AM

Hey, no new posts??? I have something to ask actually... I am planning on moving out in June of this year an I am trying to collect artwork from my fellow CAers so that I can have for my new place.. Really, what I want are sketches only... Im a huge fan of the sketch.. So, I really admire your artwork and would love to have one of your lovely sketches on my wall. I would pay for any shipping charges and even put in some money for the actual cost of the artwork depending on how much your asking.. Just let me know.. thanks

**Helzon** · March 2nd, 2007, 10:28 AM

Aztc:

Nuff said. ROFL!

**darkos** · March 2nd, 2007, 10:39 AM

sexy! Love your figures

**Chance.** · March 5th, 2007, 02:12 PM

No, I never did get that gibson thing. Life kind of went crazy.

Lovely quickies. You do all of them from life? How do you pull that off? Is there some sort of life drawing get-together near you? or do you have friends that pose for you? I can see how drawing from life is better than photos.

Cool critters. Looks like they'd be fun in a video game or a comic.

I look forward to more updates.

**dimitris c. milionis** · March 5th, 2007, 03:46 PM

impressed in general

**Elnady** · March 6th, 2007, 07:21 PM

Amazing work Esmerelda

your anatomy skills always inspires me
keep it up!

**Moai** · March 6th, 2007, 09:33 PM

Where all dose updates at??

**FactorZero** · March 6th, 2007, 09:40 PM

you're too good to stop drawing. keep updating

**RaphaelLuebke** · March 17th, 2007, 04:54 AM

youre fantasy art is great!
love this one
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1167689967

**rupeshtalaskar** · March 17th, 2007, 06:43 AM

really nice work up in here.

**AztcFireFlower** · March 18th, 2007, 05:41 AM

Much thanks to all my kind visitors.
rodrigo Putting much effort to loosen up the linework. Glad that some of this effort is showing through.
BrendanN! Hiya! Glad to see you here. Thanks to you and rodrigo for mentioning that quality.
Hey Skeiff Thank you for the comments. I love GIbson's work. If I can get a fraction of his sense of rythym in lines, I would feel extremely succesfull.
bhanu Yeah, ga 'head. We both will learn lots by diving in and working through, in my case, all the mental blocks. Thanks for keeping the watch.
Hey Bloodstone I admire your seemingly effortless & fresh images. Your painting work is outstanding. I love how you unleash the power of digital paint.
@work Hey Thanks for stopping by. You flatter me, 'cause I consider myself still very much a student with SOOOO much to learn. My goal is to meld the traditional discipline with digital media. Something that I find is not an easy transition. Thank you for the generous comment.
Helzon Thanks for the insight. That's the truth: Getting my feets on solid ground for concept exploration at the moment. Actually it's been tough. Having dropped that part of my growth for so many years, that now it's truly having to be reborn. You're suggestions are right on. And I thank you for always giving me a positive alternate view.
designboot Thank you.
vigostar Thank you. I consider my studies as archives for me to study what worked and what didn't. Don't generally part with them because they are not at a level I want floating around. Quite flattered by your appreciation of my work. Wow. Moving out to Cali. Big decision to travel across the nation.
maxtormer I had fun designing that character. I was looking at the movement of the entire critter, down to the last hair on his tail.
I have to get that sense of working back again. Thanks always for your visits and support. Much mighty stuff happening in you SB!
Bendragon Hey, thanks for stopping by and your nice words. Drawing is my therapy. It really is grand feeling to get lost in a study of form from life. Definitely get in there with pencil & paper.
enthombed Thank you for the visits. Will do.
shidoken Hello! Thank you for the encouragement. Love looking at your creations. Hope the mental blocks melt at least a little bit. I do have a plan for that. Let's see if it shows in near future.
whiteeeeeee Glad you liked my "handling" of particluar characteristics. I may not be girly (grew up with 3 older bros)but, I am definitly a gal.
jarri Thank you
Hey Rebbecak Love when you stop by. I really appreciate the extended visit to this book. I guess, documenting my past ideas, helps me to understand where it is I need to go. You flatter me as well. After a bit more concentrated effort to build up my skills, I think I will have more to offer. Thank you for thinking I'm at this level.
Yeah, have seen the LAAFA front, and I guess, hafta admire the confident effort and belief in the school. They do have some incredible artists teaching there. My painting skills, I can definitely attribute to particular teachers there.
Traditional will always be the root of my passion in what I create.
Likewise.
I will always remember the warm welcome by you at CGTalk.
bojee Thank you for stopping by and you nice comment.
DanielC Flattered that you would want to.
Hey Mike, So glad you revived your account here. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Will I see you a Sean's camp this April?
dan liimatta Hello! Thanks for visiting. I'm glad you like the rat folk. Still evolving the line quality. This is a reason I decided to do Gibson studies. So, must be true to my words and git on it once again. Thanks for the support.
Hey Don-key I simply appreciate the fact that you take the time to stop in and look at these pages. Always feel free to crit anything that strikes a discord with you.
Ha! Rebbeca is a pretty awesome figure artist. I like the fact that we are both learning this digital thing at the same time. Good example of keeping the cycle of energy going. YOU, young man, have some great designs. I so want to see one of them developed to a finish.
mondegreen Always nice to see you write in. Seems that when studies are stepped up, for me, I become AWOL. Not wanting to, because I love to be among the energy of all the talents here, but, don't get the time to scan or photograph regularly. Will try my best, not to lose the connection here. Too valuable.
Bard Hey, glad you're stopping in. I really do appreciate the generous view of my work. I hope to keep this SB alive awhile, yet. This may be the means to get that awesome concept job, while honing my, one day gallery, fine art skllls.
Brettbean Thank you. Appreciate the nice words.
Sarcophagus Thank you. Oil is such a rich media. I highly recommend it to everyone. That is the media I am most interested in perfecting.
Orbital Thank you. What a grand comparison. I try my best to understand even a smidgen of some of these geniuses. BTW, your nic is one of my favorite music artists.
Chromosome Thank you. Your palette is wider than my current "zorn" palette. In some of the earlier paintings, I used prussian Blue and Ultramarine for greying out the red. Also love to mix some Alizaren for the darkest shadows. My FAVORITE color is Olive grn. Awesome for translucent, deep darks in mixes. Still experimenting. Mostly my studies have been in simply getting as much color out of the 4: yellow ochre, cad. red., titan. white and ivory black at the moment. Once I master that, I believe anything is possible.
Orozc0 Thank you for your comments. Don't know much about LCAD. But, the instructors at LAAFA are some of the best. My painting skills were born here. Let me answer your other question, by saying this: I've been drawing on and off for over 18 years. I have alot of experience in one area, and still refining, but, now it's time to catch up on the other stuff; color, oil, digital, etc. I want to use my skills in a professional mode, one day. Oh boy, that would make me really happy.
Longxiang I will stop not drawing hands and feet less as I get more time on the model. For quik-sketches generally allows for gesture. And for the moment, I am trying to get a solid read on the torso and limbs. But, yes, I need much study on these body bits you mention. Thanks for the support. Always glad you come by.
Helzon Quiet U.
darkos Why thank you.
Q-caddlewick Aah well. There are many means to the same goal. This is just one exercise. I know you have the drive to succeed with your artisitc goals, as I'm sure you'll discover many new paths there. Thank you. All from life. 3-5 minutes. I go to a workshop once a week, just enough to progress at snails pace.
Glad you like the critters. Hit a design block, recently. Maybe trying too hard. But, more stuff will appear soonish.
dimitris c. milions Thank you.
Elnady Glad I can inspire. Thank you for dropping by once more.
Moai Ha. Thaz'sa gittin heah.
FactorZero Awwww. So nice to see your words. Thank you.
xbert Thank you! I hope to get better. Nice of you to comment.
rupeshtalaskar Thanks for stopping in.

Well, spent 2 days on a COW #79 entry, and I realized after posting it, it's such a weak-ass design and clunky critter idea, in fact, people were jumping over me to comment on the images on either side of mine, so I pulled it.. LOL, that's how interesting it was. So, here I am, back in my own space, doing quick - sketches and master copies where I belong. I so need to learn and understand about concepting on the fly. Helzon, you ain't kidding about the mojo. AAarghh!

Well, here are a few quik-sketches from the last 2 weeks. This is the basis of all my inspiration and character work. Mind building that library of forms from life. Have to stay limber.
'kay. Some robot marker silhouettes. I LOVE doing these. I started with opaque sketches than did another over the top and pulled out negative shapes. Now just got to develop one of them. Very soon.........

Then a color-up of a previous post. Trying to find a good workflow as well as better skills in PS.

Thanks all for coming by with encouragements. Not gone, just laying low and pouring over concept books and tutorials.

**Brendan N** · March 18th, 2007, 06:31 AM

Hey Aztec! Thanks you so much for the post in my sb - that's the type of critique I need!

I absolutely love the robot designs - way big fun and well done. The remind me a bit of Idiot Apathy's robots (which you should definitely check out if you have not done so already!) The figures are always a dream to look at - so well constructed, forms are flawless and the opposing curves spot on - the bottom one on this page being my favourite of the bunch. damn damn damn I need to do more of those. The line work alone is fabulous, love the way you elongate the limbs and let the line go beyond its destination.

Finally the creature right at the bottom is beautiful - love how the purple and browns work together. It's both new and stylistically consistent with what you have produced so far. My only crit would be to repeat some of those purple hues in the shadows and background. Also love the hints of blue and turquoise - makes the whole thing pop.

Overall I really can't crit much. You're just miles ahead of me. now I'm off to draw some more!

ciao!

- d.

**hardsoapscum** · March 18th, 2007, 11:29 AM

strong figures...as always

really looking forward to your robot/mech sketches and see how you will develop them into kickass designs.

**Sonaj** · March 19th, 2007, 05:51 PM

Hey
I didn't comment here in a long time but i am always watching for your updates. Your figure studies are very impressive, your strongest work i would say.
I think it is really good that you are doing your homework studying character and conceptual design first more on your own before rushing in. Your approach to learning is very clever i would say. And your ideas so far are already a very strong start.
I have a question concerning your figures
What kind of charcoal pencil are you using? Is it a soft, medium or hard one?

Looking forward to your concepts, love your work

**wareagle** · March 22nd, 2007, 08:24 AM

amazing work, your knowledge of the figure is outstanding!, i also really like your recent thumbs, they are very cool

definate 5 stars( im pretty sure i already gave your sb 5 stars but 5 more wont hurt

)

also thank you very much for your comment and advice you gave me on my sb

**bhanu** · March 22nd, 2007, 08:46 AM

Great post Aztec, love the sutdies they are great as always.
the robots look very much organic,, even though they are made of prolly metal.the digis are improving very fast. Umm will crit later.

**enthombed** · March 22nd, 2007, 09:36 AM

i like so much this studies who you did in this last udpates.

i wil save this to my reference.

Cheers

**Chance.** · March 24th, 2007, 10:50 AM

Hey E
Figure studies are as stunning as usual. I have to say that of your work, studies like those inspire me the most. I can't wait to get to college so I can start working with live models.

Robot things are fun. You should do more like these. Don't you find it relaxing to scribble somewhat abstract little creatures in solid blacks.
You look like you could give invincible wombat a run for his money if you put your mind to it. He's always doing stuff like this.
Your knowlege of anatomy is filtering into these robots, giving them a believability to their biomechanics. Good job. It'll be interesting to see what you do with them.

From an exicution standpoint you creature rocks. Yeah, it could maybe use a little redesigning, but too much and it would loose the look you were going for. To me the head looks like a bit too much. The decorative crests and spikes would be more effective if there were less of them. It looks like it's head would snag on stuff all the time. Also it looks like it's weight is too far forward. Maybe it would look more ballenced if you gave it a thicker tail or something.

Keep plugging away

Q

**silvestri99** · March 25th, 2007, 12:33 AM

Suberb life drawing. I adore the way you block in the figure and give it so much weight and life. Great stuff..reminds me of getting back out to do some life drawing as well.