*UPDATED February 17th*Xelar's SKETCHBOOK

**Xelar** · July 2nd, 2011, 01:35 PM

Hello everyone !

So yeah, I'm new around here.
My Name is Felix, aka Xelar, a 17 year old from Germany.
I remember visiting this site about 5 years ago and being awestruck by the skill and creativity in this community.

I have had a tablet for about 4 years now but I didn't really start taking art seriously until late 2008 when I got an email asking if I would want to illustrate cards for a fantasy trading card game. I have already sold over 60 illustrations and I decided that I want to pursue art as my career.

However my artistic skills are terribly lacking in certain areas. I feel very confident when choosing colors and and compositions but my knowledge of human anatomy is , well, limited.
When I use references it's not an issue but when I don't my figures not only all look the same but also all are terribly flawed.

Since I'm now on my summer break I'll try to invest as much time into drawing as possible. I will probably do anatomy studies, 30 sec poses etc.
I also bought "Drawing on the right side of the brain" and "The artist's complete guide to figure drawing" and borrowed "Color and Light" and "Imaginative Realism" from a friend to help me out.

btw If you want to see some of my finished works
xelar-art.deviantart.com

Thanks in advance for critiques and advice or recommendations !

I deleted the first few pictures. I couldn't figure out how to change the icon without reuploading all of the old pictures and that's just too much work

**cerealist** · July 2nd, 2011, 01:39 PM

what da hell!!

17 years old and sold over 60 illustration plus wking experience in painting trading cards?!

u gonna have a good future as an illustrators.. u are sick!

**cerealist** · July 2nd, 2011, 01:40 PM

oh forget to comment..
ur grin face sketches looks great ...promising skill

**Xelar** · July 3rd, 2011, 11:10 AM

@Cerealist
Thx a lot

As I said drawing with photo reference is not an issue for me given enough time.

I started doing quick poses from lovecastle and its so damn hard ;_;
I'm so slow -.-

Right now I dont really have any great sources for learning anatomy outside of
quick poses. I'll have to dig up my loomis pdfs but if anyone knows a good site, author etc. pls let me know!

1: first one is a selfportait (mirror as reference), second one is a random chick
with the same lighting, 3rd is my hand
2+3: quick poses from lovecastle... they looked better on paper ....
4:random doodle in PS

**Xelar** · July 4th, 2011, 04:45 PM

Today's stuff

1: quick poses from lovecastle, random eye
2: Loomis heads and expressions
3: Loomis anatomy
4: Loomis inspired Mannikin
5: random doodle in Photoshop

Input or critiques are always welcome!

**tehmeh** · July 4th, 2011, 06:15 PM

Good sketchbook start, Xelar. Keep up the sketching from references and make sure you keep up with drawing from imagination to constantly assess what you learn. Life drawing will help more than Loomis with drawing figures at the moment too.

**§Hy9oD** · July 5th, 2011, 01:32 PM

HI XELAR thanks for stopping by

you have some great works here , just watch out proportions in some poses
if you need sources for learning anatomy outside of quick poses there are some links that i actually use to learn
http://learninganatomy.tumblr.com/
http://www.drawingsofleonardo.org/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garysev...7602588651653/
in books there is "Bridgman'S Complete Guide To Drawing From Life"
hope that will help

**Xelar** · July 5th, 2011, 02:57 PM

@tehmeh
Thanks for the tip!
I indeed need way more experience to be able to fully grasp Loomis' techniques :/

@§Hy9oD

Thanks for the links!
I've seen so many Brigdman studies on here so I need to give that a try

Here's today stuff

1+2

tudies from lovecastle
3:eek! poses from imagination and silly creature concepts
4:random doodle in Photoshop

btw my avatar got replaced by a smiley, whats that all about?

**Xelar** · July 6th, 2011, 04:05 PM

I feel kinda bleh about today's stuff -.-
stupidly humid weather should be outlawed or something

too bad I can't scan my sketchbook pages :/
1+2: poses from lovecastle
3: first one referenced from photo, rest from imagination

If you notice reoccurring errors pls let me know!

**HomicidalManda** · July 6th, 2011, 08:28 PM

I absolutely love the atmosphere and the mood in your landscapes! Wow!

**Xelar** · July 7th, 2011, 03:20 PM

@HomicidalManda
Thx !
Landscapes are comparably easy for me. I just play around in Photoshop for 20 mins and end up with random poop^^

I didn't really do anything from imagination today aside from the random scribbles
on page 4 and ofc the Photoshop doodle

Btw I feel like im doing a much better job at drawing women.
Maybe its because the guy in most of the nekkid pictures on lovecastle is so....
unattractive ?

**Naidy** · July 7th, 2011, 03:29 PM

Ahh, yet another person my age to contend with.

I say you're onto a good start. Those portrait studies show a good understanding of form, definitely keep them up.
I'd love to see you handle bodies the same way you do with faces, you show a nice way of shading.

Also, liking the colours on the last landscape.
Nothing really very constructive I can say. Just keep going.

**Xelar** · July 8th, 2011, 03:47 PM

@Naidy
You bet

You're right about the me having to keep up with the portaits.

That's why today's stuff has more shading in it

But that shit takes some time so I didn't do that much today.

**Xelar** · July 9th, 2011, 11:35 AM

Update time

I noticed how much I suck at painting hands and feet so here we go

Sometimes its a little embarrassing too look at my pencil sketches since
I have been working commercially for quite some time.
Photoshop sketch took like 10 mins and looks nice without me even trying all that hard and I can't even manage to draw feet properly with reference in double the time -.-

**Naidy** · July 9th, 2011, 11:44 AM

Those shaded bodies don't look bad at all, and I can sympathise that the extra time it takes is frustrating, but it's definitely worth it in the long run. You always have to remind yourself that sometimes sacrificing quantity can sometimes help you retain what you're learning better.

Anyways, I'm loving the colours in those landscapes, definitely hope you keep them up, and the occaisional well-shaded body too.
Keep up the good work

**Xelar** · July 10th, 2011, 04:39 PM

No real shading today but I got kittens and horsies

**Xelar** · July 11th, 2011, 02:34 PM

Today's stuff kinda sucks :/
Atleast the ps doodle looks ok.
I actually had another page but I had to scrap it

**Forrest_I** · July 11th, 2011, 03:57 PM

Nice studies, you'll only get better from here on

**Xelar** · July 12th, 2011, 02:35 PM

@Forrest_I

I hope so

I seriously need to get better at drawing faces at certain angles.
I continue to mess up the placement of the eyes

**Xelar** · July 13th, 2011, 01:12 PM

I didnt feel like copying photos today so today's stuff
is all from imagination

Maybe it's a bad thing I mostly sketch with a 3H Pencil (occassionally darkening with a 7B). The shading in some of my sketches looks weird in photos.

**Xelar** · July 14th, 2011, 02:11 PM

I started doing poses from posemaniacs (2nd page) and it feels so much better
than the ones from lovecastle(atleast for male figures)
I feel kinda bleh about the colors in the photoshop doodle though :/
Maybe I should start referencing for those

**Ven S** · July 14th, 2011, 02:25 PM

Nice studies man.

**Xelar** · July 15th, 2011, 02:11 PM

@Ven S
Thanks

I find myself having a lot of difficulties with hands.
When working on bodies I usually start out at the waist/hips and have a good basis to start with. When painting hands I dont know where to start and end up with a horrible mess. Any tips?

**Xelar** · July 16th, 2011, 02:03 PM

Incoming art dump

I did these while watching Youtube videos so they are not that great, still better than the first ones ,though

**LordLouis** · July 17th, 2011, 02:01 PM

Hey Xelar, another fellow from Germany.
It's very impressive that you have sold illustrations already being this young.
It's good to see that you are not satisfied with this alone and want to push your skills further, away from human photocopiers to teh real skill0rz

I can recommend Vilppu's drawing manual for figure drawing when it comes to full body. It is very good for creating dynamic and flowing lines, slowly constructing the body. If you have the money, you could get Gottfried Bamme's "Die Gestalt des Menschen", which is some 80€. Cheap alternative is "human figure" by David Rubens. Many prefer Rubins over Bammes. Rubins is a very tight anatomy book, showing all muscles in detail. To understand the human body as boxes, cylinders and basic shapes, I can recommend George Bridgman's "The Human Machine" or alternatively "Complete guide for drawing from life". As for your hand problem, check out his book on hands: http://www.amazon.de/Book-Hundred-Ha...ef=pd_sim_eb_4

And always try to draw from life, draw your own hand, study it closely and how it looks in its real 3d form, not just the 5 sausages on a stick that you think you see.

Keep it up, good luck

**Xelar** · July 17th, 2011, 02:48 PM

@LordLouis
Danke Danke

Thx for all the recommendations !
Vilppu's drawing manual for figure drawing looks kickass.
I dont really like Bridgmans style to be honest, though - too rough and "scratchy" for me.
Ill probably get the free pdf versions for them since I'm way too closefisted to buy the real thing.

I really liked the pose I did in the first page so I decided to use it for a Miss Fortune (from League of Legends) fanart sketch.

**Xelar** · July 18th, 2011, 01:02 PM

Not sure if Im gonna continue working on that fanart.
Im still working on my hand problem and I think its going places now.
The last one is a quick face from imagination - Colors are ok but the jaw is kinda wonky

**Xelar** · July 19th, 2011, 02:51 PM

Today's photoshop doodle (from imagination) features horrible anatomy, cliche blood splatters and smudge tool abuse.

**global-wolf** · July 19th, 2011, 02:58 PM

I absolutely LOVE your use of color. I hope to be able to do that someday ^__^

**Xelar** · July 20th, 2011, 12:57 PM

@global-wolf

Thx

Colors are not really a problem for me, its anatomy that I suck at >.>

I went a little bit more detailed on the photoshop doodle but I really need to stop painting mountains so much ^^

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