graphite & wacom from march08 to feb10

[Jaro]

Woah, those plant designs are sweeet. I'm impressed by how you managed to vary shapes and make each design unique but still very plant-like. Not an easy thing to do I'd imagine. They're all beautifully drawn too, really amazing work. I might have to try some myself, they look like they were a lot of fun.

[JMonsterDesign]

Hey luness, as always lovely pencilz! Like the plant studies and... POST MORE OFTEN lol.. Very inspirational!

[luness]

Wow guys. Never expected such reaction about these plants. It means a lot to me and makes me feel like giving some love back, right here or in your sketchbook threads, in form of comments, suggestions, or just as a hello full of gratitude; so here we go:

liyanghe – thank you!

sony – ahhh, thank you! I do like to spend some time doing research and gathering reference. Feeding your brain with information is quite entertaining

JailHouseRock2 – haha, thanks for the kind words. They mean a lot.

Taneli – I have and have had the real plants that inspired me to do these batches of fantasy plants. For example, I have a fairly tall and old Lucky Bamboo (picture attached) right beside my drawing/computer table and I love the texture and color variations of the woody part and also the leaves’ shape. So it’s part inspiration, and also part research because I also looked for pictures on internet. Then I just started to play a bit with familiar shapes and that was pretty much it. I guess looking at reference, trying to absorb like a sponge what’s around you, fuels the imagination because you have something to start from, and you can twist it, distort it, looking for something new yet familiar. And no, my brain is a pit full of bad messed-up stinky stuff

Lapada – haha, thanks!

Quinn Simoes – thank you man, and you’ll see them pretty soon. I already started coloring some of the plants, so come back soon!

burialchamber – thank you! Once you have the basic and also common elements you would like to work with, it’s easier to come up with ideas; like adding a bit of this, ignoring that, exaggerating with some other stuff, etc.

Mike.R – thank you man! And talking about golems, I should go back and do some retouching and start working with some other golem designs I have in mind.

MeTaL-Mike – thank you!!

comixnut – hahaha, thanks!

Sublimus – wow, thanks for going through my demons-titties-soldiers-golem-andsomeotherstuff’s sketchbook thread. I’m very glad you liked it.

XuperNova – hahaha, thanks…ohh you guys and your crazy comments, they make my day!

Zoio – thank you!

DeKal – no problem man, I had to speak. Sorry for the “bitch slap” thing but I did it with the best intention… and it looked somewhat fun in my head, like a Tex Avery cartoon or something.

Fred Rambaud – thanks so much! And hey, I had to browse your last posts to see if you had a sketchbook and you do! And it’s full of great stuff! You should add the SB link to your signature.

Jaro – thanks so much for the kind words, and yes, you should give them a try, quite fun indeed!

JMonsterDesign – thank you!!

So, I started to color some of the plants. These are just wips. There’s still a lot to do, like more work on the edges, the lightning, more contrast, more work on the cast shadows, etc. Also, there’s a picture of one of the plants I have at home and that inspired me to work on fantasy plants.
I just wanted to post something so then I could say thank you all for the kind words. Now I’ll spend some time coloring the plants and will come back anytime soon.

Cheers!!!

[IanE]

I have 4 of those canes in my office! Excellent choice

These wouldn't look nearly as good had it not been for the excellent linework under it all. Always a pleasure!

[dU5K]

very awesome update. the characters in post #368 are hella sick. and im also diggin the whole fantasy plant studies. i can't say i've ever seen that done before. great job. and keep up the work

[Flick]

WOW you are a GOD at tones and rendering I JUST LOVE YOUR WORK. I've been looking at your work for so long now I use it as a reference to draw my own stuff. It is truely truely amazing.

AMAZING.

[Mike.R]

great start on the coloring and thanks so much for visiting my sketch and giving such great advice.

[Jakers]

OMG dude, I love you...err your work!

Honestly, you have some crazy shape variation - I really need to get more reference. I love designing plantlife as you do....it feels like there is soo much freedom with organics and its majorly relaxing.

Also...I think you are really getting a nice balance of lighting and retained detail in your colored pieces....NICE!

keep doing your thing, if I were given a pile of drawings, I bet I could pluck yours out.

[luness]

IanE – thank you so much man. Your kind words and comments and greatly appreciated.

dU5K – thank you! Plant designs are quite rare to find around but Bruno Gentile (aka Hydropix) has some crazy ones. I really like their look and presentation and you can see that influence on this wip post.

Flick – hahaha, nahhhh. I appreciate your extremely kind words, but I still have a lot to learn. I’m glad you like what you have found here. I do my best

Mike.R – thank you!! aaand welcome!

Jakers – haha, thanks! All the nature around is always a great inspiration and reference to start from. I’m sorry but I don’t get what you wrote at the end about plucking out. My English proficiency is not that bad but there are things that I just don’t get, specially phrases and stuff from the urban dictionary


Alright, I kept coloring most of the plants and these are some of them. One thing I would like to try is a bit of hard lights, and also some more texture here and there. We’ll see. They’re all wips but I’ll leave them in the oven for a while and come back to them in a few days. It’s easier to find the flaws, wrong spots, and unfinished areas this way, once you clear your mind a bit. I’ll do some pencil in the meantime and perhaps some color studies. See you soon.

Love and hugs.

[Delmar]

Hey luness !! Hope everything is fine! I know your art is...hehe!

I don't want to be overhasty.....there are still some tests and research i have to make.......but.....i'm pretty sure you invented a new geometric form.!
Really luness i'm serious. I will inform you as soon as the results are in.

It's just you could always tell if it's made by you and yet no design resembles another or gets lame....so i guess i just want to say thank you for these awesome designs and line quality.

I really hope we can hook up with each other some day....maybe at one of the mb workshops in the future.....would be great.

All the best!

Andi

[Zord]

Really digging the work. I don't usually have in interest in flora, but you've made it interesting enough to keep the attention

[PeNcIl ReBeLlIoN]

Damn dude, some highly unusual stuff you've got on here, but it's imaginative and different, not to mention well executed. Definitely inspiring!

[luness]

Oops! I forgot to post these wips.

Delmar - hahaha, thank you man. Things could be better but I'm alright. Life is also about tests, obstacles, how you deal with them, and about turning the bad into good. Easy to say, hard to do, but here I am, designing fantasy plants
Thank you so much for the very kind words and yeah, it would be fantastic to meet you and hang out with many other artists I admire. One day, one sweet day.

Zord - and PeNcIl ReBeLlIoN - thank you!!!

So yeah, the last group. As I said, I will leave all these concepts aside for a while, do some pencil concepts and color studies and then I will add the final touches and retouches.

Bye bye and thank you for all the love. Much love back to you.

[Ftj_zzc]

I love this one

[Quinn Simoes]

Really great to see these plant designs in color!

Thanks for sharing!

[gmc9987]

Oh my god this sketchbook is amazing, I will have to come back and read through this one later when I have more time.

[/\/\use]

All I can say is that you have an amazing imagination and absolutely beautiful artwork. keep it up, I really have enjoyed your stuff.

[Henchman 21]

fantastic paintings. really realistic.

[JMonsterDesign]

wow... Loving the plants man, they are very colorful. The batch in 429 is my fav! Stop by my book sometime, It would be an honor. You ever think about doing a sea worm tube plant? Those plants are actually living and can be quite colorful.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2...0223124700.jpg

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WormPIX/P...orm%20blur.JPG

[Jakers]

nice I love these bud! I'm glad you are taking these to the level they are in, awesome practice. Perhaps you can think about adding a slight rim light, like bounced sky light on the shaded side to add even more form...however, I'm pleased to death with what you are doing.

Oh, what I meant up there was that your drawings are recognizable - so if I were given a whole bunch of random artists drawings, I could probably pick yours out from the pile!

[luness]

Ftj_zzc – thanks for stopping by!

Quinn Simoes – thank you man! I’ll come back to them soon and will post the finished pieces in the proper thread

gmc9987 – haha, thank you

/\/\use – thank you for those nice words about my work. Very kind of you.

Henchman 21 – wow, thank you

JMonsterDesign – hey, I left some comments on your SB. I know about tube worms, very colorful. I remember them from my snorkeling trips. They are quite fun to watch, since they hide when you come very close to them. Next time I would like to try trees, and I could use tube worms as reference, why not.

Jakers – yeah, I’m considering a delicate rim light as one of the different details I want to add to every piece; and thanks for explaining what you wrote the other day. I get it, haha, thank you!


The other day I read about the discovery of a huge exoplanet (named WASP-17b) that has a retrograde orbit, which means that rotates in the opposite direction of its host star. Different theories around to explain it, but I liked the one about gravitational slingshot. I “wikied” that info so do not think I know what I’m talking about; it’s just that at the very moment I read that, I imagined the inhabitants of a similar fictional planet suffering the consequences of such phenomenon. Mutations and deformations at molecular and genetic level. So last night I didn’t go to geeky on this, I just took the phrase and let my imagination flow. Plus, I was watching "2001: A Space Odyssey" while sketching and all the music+ambient sounds were inspiring in a strange way. Here are the results…sorry for the weirdness.
The second piece is something I did few nights ago as a warm up for spending such a long time away from my beloved lead holder. Same thing, I did it while watching a movie, this time "Unforgiven," which is one of my favorite movies ever. No particular direction or design purpose, just getting used again to those curves, the pencil render, etc., and yes, I was quite rusted.

Alright, back to the drawing table, see ya later,

Cheers!

[sony]

mua muah

[Giorge]

wow, those plant studies totally blew me away, very nice. And the outcome of all that study, nice . Keep that up.
Can't wait to see what's next , cheers!

[luness]

Thank you guys!

I noticed that I never finished this guy, one of the soldiers I wanted to develop a while ago. There's also Dracula's castle. I guess it was one of those weeks that I spent completely away from the computer and then I forgot about them. Time to start working on these concepts again, since I like them very much.
So this is a soldier wip. Lots to fix, like the legs, hands, better work with the texture, details like that.

Bye!

edit - those red dots shouldn't be there. I usually keep them on a separate layer and I can tell I didn't hide the layer before saving for web, my mistake; but yeah, I use dots or arrows or exes to point out different things: stuff to fix, thumbnails I like, etc. Thanks Bones Weep Tedium!

[Bones Weep Tedium]

Are those little red dots something you use on a WIP to remind you to do something, or are they a graphical element of the illo that goes over my head?

[Ammo]

Goodness! You have such wonderful fluid lines!
Wonderfully organic drawings and colours. I really like your work

[Mark Tarrisse]

I already told you I was in love with your concepts and your pencil work.
But I must say, I'm not a big fan of your rendering, I know it gives a 3D feeling but dont know maybe I just like to see some brush strokes. Anyway it's just a personal choice ^^
Thanks for the awesome work !

[Dromer]

Your creatures and plants are truly alien and otherworldly, if not from other dimensions. Very unique shapes, forms and recognizable brush strokes.

[llex_paul]

hey man, i like your plants, not because i'm a vegetarian, but of the living sensation they have!

[luness]

Thank you very much guys!!!

Mark Tarrisse – it’s a personal choice so no worries. I love when brush strokes are visible and everything looks more visceral, but in a self-taught process I prefer to go step by step, learning one or two things at a time and when I feel confident about them, I jump to the next new technique or design approach or medium; instead of been all over the place. I’m happy that they seem 3D to you because that’s what I’ve wanted to accomplish. Getting that kind of render is a personal challenge and goal. I’m organizing my PS brushes and getting used to sketch digitally and render on top of that, so hopefully you’ll see plenty of brush strokes. Thanks for the tip anyways, cheers!

So, I was away for a while, spent few weeks out of town. I didn’t bring enough drawing supplies with me and there was also some power shortage problems so couldn’t do that much, neither traditionally nor digitally, but I did start rendering few designs I posted months ago. They’re on different wip stages but most of the work has been done.
There’s an alien cage-fighter , the ratibati, a suede-dressed alien space-funk reptilian, and two versions of a character I call Crustaccino .

Cheers!