Insatiable Curiosity

[Marian Rowling]

Glad you enjoyed the video Tom, my apologies to Athene for us artist's insatiable thirst for knowledge, which is never ending!

This last one is very nice loose and expressive sketch. These will be so much better than photos in years to come when you look back. I wish you and Athene safe passage and good health. I look forward to June to see what you have been up to.

[bharat]

very fine art found hear....keep up man....!

[poetry man]

That octopus creature is something.. you also have a cool selection of note-taking studies. Nice loose-shaded environments as well. Sorry, I don't recall if it's wash, or chalk, or graphite. Sometimes I have 20 tabs open on this thing, and I have to skim through sketchbooks. I'm a busy man.
Peace!!

[merl1n]

Yeah, nice updates. The last one is epsecially good.

[LtPlissken]

That's it! You just keep the oil
hot and burning!

[JFierce]

Finally read a bit of Vilppu and your right his stuff is pretty interesting. Then seeing all the intense studies here even with just simple stretch of shapes and cubes make me want to study a bit more haha.

Great as always.

[orochigenocide]

Good luck on your trips to Peru and Bolivia.

Keep up the good work and see you when you come back to post again.

[Cameli]

lovely sketches!Love the pencils

[ThomasM]

Right guys, its been almost two months now. I´m back home in about 2 weeks and its going to be a huge update! I´ve also started buying materials and equipment to start TAD which is has been pricey, but expect a definite jump in the quality of my work.

Nothing to post now, for the first time in this sketchbook, but just saying thanks for all the comments and hopefully the wait is worth it.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey, hey Tom welcome home. I'm feeling really excited for you and I can't wait to see what you think of TAD. I hope you still find time to post. All good things to come, I'm sure.

[The_Flying_Dutchman]

I dig the sketch and linework!

I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

[Ntropii]

Wow, what a fantastic sketchbook! It was a real pleasure to look through. I look forward to seeing your new posts!

[asa]

wonderful the last sketch
and those crayons are also wonderful

[PaintMyBrain]

Long time since i was at CA and I read that u are out travelling, awesome! I like that sketch and I look forward to see somemore from your trip. cheers

[ThomasM]

BAHAAAAA IM BACK! Its a bit late for a serious update now, and I haven't even unpacked yet, but here is something from this evening whilst drinking tea (so good after 5 months of no english tea - how did I survive!)

.. more than a little rusty on the old photoshop, but im sure slowly itll come back to me. Anyway, when I arrived home there was a large intuos 5 waiting for me, so there is NO excuse for not churning out those digital paintings from now on.

[Charles Ratteray]

inspiring amount of work post #1556- awesome work overall

[ezekrialase]

Very nice work! Great texture work on this last piece!

[Marian Rowling]

ha ha Tom, glad you're enjoying your tea, I don't think I would last 5 days without mine! That's great news that you now have an Intuous 5. I am sure it will become your best friend, but don't forget your pencil.

I can see you've been enjoying creating some cool looking brushes for texture in this last one. As always I can't wait to see more, it's great to have you home.

[Zporpnitteg]

It is really cool to see you progress from first page to last!

[ThomasM]

some from south america.. oh and the dark patches are ink usually on printer paper (couldnt get hold of any watercolour paper)

[Marian Rowling]

Lovely stuff Tom I especially like the one with the people sitting at the tables. Sketches like these are so much better than just having photo's.

[Mila]

I like the sketches! keep it up !

[ThomasM]

Marian - Its great to be back! I do like to have them around, although theyre just another in the pile of sketchbooks now!

Mila - cheers for stopping by



RIGHT! I'm applying for TAD at the end of July and I have just under two months to get something resembling a portfolio going. AND I WILL LEARN TO TO DIGITAL LANDSCAPES!

these are no-ref apart from looking at some inspiring digital enviros I've seen from some great CA artists

[Izene]

I love your lines!
Great work!

[rich4rt]

I'm digging those life paints! Easy on the eyes, reads wonderfully!

[ThomasM]

Izene - cheers, glad you like

rich4rt - nice to hear that, I found it a bit difficult to control the ink on the printer paper so its good to hear.

Just some more. Crits would be very appreciated!

[orochigenocide]

Are you going to start TAD classes in the fall? If so, that is great! So jealous.

I think your trip to Peru and Bolivia did you some good. It looks like you've sketched some really beautiful sites there.

[ThomasM]

Orochi - yeah will be starting in August, but its proving to be difficult to find a financial situation where I'll even be able to feed myself... so fingers crossed for the scholarship!

MORE! .. only slightly better than the last lot, but every little helps!

[Vritra]

Man, it's been a while. You've really stepped up your game. Those environment studies look beautiful. What kind of brushes are you using? Mind sharing them?

Also, I hope you have a good time at TAD. I'm sure the financial aspect will fall into place. Simply put, you deserve a good scholarship!

[ThomasM]

Vritra - yeah you can get hold of the brushes easily. To be honest I'm not even really sure what I'm using anymore because its a mish mash of other peoples, and those in turn are a mish mash of other's. But if I were you I'd head over to get Jama's Presets and Min's Brushes (which are a combo of a load of others).....

saying all that... for these landscapes I basically used a hard round oval, a palette knife on 100% opacity and one or two brushes with a little texture. From doing these studies I've really learnt that its ALL about picking the value correctly, rather than using flashy brushes or textures. If you get the right value, first time, it will save hours of fiddling!

Having said that, I've been playing around tonight since I posted, so heres a WIP.... Since 11 I've had one of those "I'll just play around for a few minutes" events, where you look at the clock and its 1 in the morning! Oh well, WORTH IT!