SouMeng's Sketchbook

[Nightblue]

wow, the newest landscape is full of awesomeness. I love the lighting on the trees. Beautiful work on the ground texture too!

[D@niel]

Amazing brush-work man!! So tasty!! Great SB.

[PieMonster]

Definitely 5 stars! That last environment is just ace.

[grenappels]

oh man, i gotta know what brushes you are using, it seems like only a few but they are so effective!(of course, your skill is what really makes them work, but i'm still very curious about the brushes themselves)

[wookiedabo]

that landscape really is gorgeous man, wow.

[NR43]

Awesome updates lately!

Donnow if it has been mentioned yet, but the gladiatior in post 189 and 196 is missing some abs and ribs. Just wanted to note because in a piece like that you want to show the gladiator's strength...

[pao]

really nice studies, the wave are really interesting, ça donne envie d'en faire tiens xD

[Jakers]

Im in agreement with the last landscape kicking ass! couple suggestions instead of pure ass-patting..

All the strokes are working wonderfuly together, aside from the lit bare trees that feel quite smooth. If you are keeping the brushes look (which you should) maybe rough them up just a tad for consistency? some may not agree with me. I would also say to make the silhouette of the tree on the left more interesting and sharp, to help balance the composition of that large hill. That one better get updated!

[James Wolf]

love the animal studies

[kidult]

The highlights on the water study are just sooooo pretty - really nailed the lighting on that one

[JesArt]

Ok that just wierd, like your first post werent anything, like the ones you post later, its like you got really amazin in one day, Iam confused. LOL. AMAzin

[algenpfleger]

JesArt is right, you're weird dude!

[Earendil]

Does S.M. stand for "Sexy. Magnificent."?
Cuz that's what you're enviros are...

Do you have any process videos? I'm really curious how you get your skies looking so good, so quickly. You really nail the gradients.

That waves study is great, was it from a photo? How much have you learned (if at all) from copying photos? It's an exercise I see a lot around here, just wondering if you did it.

Come visit my SB sometime! Need some good enviro crits!

Keep up the insane work! You really should take one of those WIP's and push it to the limit!

[SoufMeng]

Hehe thanks for the support and crits everyone, ill post the replies later and thanks for the rating too!
"Excelent" is quite inaccurate to refer to my work but ill do with that.
Oh and the landscape is still in progress so yeah i might change a few things and post it over again.

Im just here to dump this quickly 'cause its pretty late here and im getting up early tomorrow...
An apple, from life in PS, half an hour.
I used a brush i did a lil while back and had been dismissing so far but now i really enjoy it, only thing is it mustnt be used for details but for earlier blocking in stages i think...



Now that i look at this painting again i must admit that theres some funky stuff goin on in it.
No chance to fix anything anyway, i fear ive eaten the "sitter" already...

[nickmarshallvfx]

I have to agree with Algenpfleger, i see a lot of Whit Brachna in these works, which im sure u are aware is a huge compliment.
U really have pulled your work into a new arena lately, this latest stuff is fantastic. 5* from me for pure awesomeness.

Nick

[cucak]

Some very very very nice paintings!! Big inspiration!!
Just, take out car.jpg please.

[~Faust~]

Aw come on! Downplaying your abilities also results in a severe downgrading of the skills middle-classes like me have for example, thus is considered a severe insult on my part. It's what drives me mad about other Excellent artists such as Algenpfleger, too, this rating-system is relative, so I vote 5* to everyone considerably better than me. Doesn't mean you're perfect.

Like that apple, for just half an hour it came out nicely, It surely is recognizable!

[chr!z]

Yeaah, these Gladiators are awesome...pretty cool anatomical skill! The colors in the environments are beautiful toO!

[DanielC]

eeenooorrmme : )

[Savoru]

Great enviros, Subscribed!

[Idiot Apathy]

Great stuff!

[kikindaface]

Ton sketchbook il est génial continu comme ca !!

[SoufMeng]

Hi everyone!

Clochette: Merkiii!

~Faust~: Too nice to be true!
Thanx.

Mbyle: Thanx!

Lakka: Thanx for the stars!

oomgawa: Woot! seems its thanx to you! Thank u.

Call0ps: Thank you, i will.

Wasker: Thank you im glad you liked it.

algenpfleger: Hmm i checked that dude's stuff, indeed it looks alot like mine.
Im sooo young and i already have copycats. *sigh*

Nightblue: Im glad u liked it! Thanx for looking.

D@niel: Thank you!

PieMonster: I dont get it, you guys are really too nice. Thanx

grenappels: Thank you! Hehe I could talk about brush making all night long but im way too tired. Heres a few advice though:
Experiment with the settings, make crazy things with them and try to understand the technical side of that stuff.
Discard anything you're not comfortable with, no matter how cool that brush or setting is supposed to be according to other artists. The coolest brushes will always be the ones u enjoy working with.
Thats all ull get out of me about it right now.

wookiedabo: Glad u liked it!

NR43: Thank you. Didnt focus on that but thanks for the crit!

pao: Oh mon dieu merci, trop de réponse en anglais, une ptite pause c'est pas du luxe!! Just kidding, thanx! keep up the nice work and be careful wiv comfort zone .

Jakers: Thank you! In fact im a bit shamed; u took the time to type a thoughtful crit but the thing is im a bit sick of that enviro so after today i think i aint goin to update it anymore... Thanx for taking the time tho.

James Wolf: Cool im glad someone noticed them it seems the enviro caught all the attention!

kidult: Great! Thank you.

JesArt: I appreciate the compliment and ill just trust your word blindly on those first crap pages; i dont dare to go back to them and see for myself; i fear i wouldnt be able to repress the urge to delete it all...

algenpfleger: Hannes stop spamming my thread please!

Earendil: S.M were supposed to be my initials but your suggestion will do just as well! No process vid sorry. About skies its just like for all the rest u've got to really open your eyes on what ur looking at, so the time devoted to observation is not wasted. Yes i used a photo as reference for the waves its a really good exercice, do it!
But as u do it try to undersand what u see, why things look the way they do, etc
Ill drop by your thread; i was planning on doing so before ur invitation anyway.

space-sprayer: These are really nice compliments, thank you.

cucak: Thank you.
Though, i must admit that being french i dont quite understand what u mean by this: "Just, take out car.jpg please."

~Faust~: Relax i said it was mooore than fine with me. Now its up to me to live up to the rating! Thank you nonetheless, i take your overreaction as a compliment.

chr!z: Thanx.

DanielC: Oula un V.I.P!! Merci beaucoup!

Savoru: Thank you!

Idiot Apathy: Hey Thom that means a lot to me, thanx for looking sir!

Walid D: Merci


At long last i bought myself a good laptop and a decent internet connection!
Note however that it doesnt help that much in making better art (sigh).

I could type two pages about what made me drop this pic and move along but since im helluva tired, heres a quicker presentation:
Booo00obz!


Fiddled with the last enviro a little and got bored.
Heres a higher res though.


And a cyclops for fun and also to practice value from imagination, head structure, colorizing a BW sketch, blablabala


Im off to bed now!

cheers.

(note to self: Do never ever undertake to update or/and post replies at 2 am.)

[kidult]

Sick updates duder!

[algenpfleger]

Awwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeesommmmmmmee!

[DeeLock]

Wow, fantastic...

[Jacfat]

wow your work is beautiful my friend just been getting better and better. Love how u nail values and then are much more creative with color. Just back from the massive black workshop in New Zealand it was truly amazing made me believe in myself.

[Clochette]

Mais !!! Mais naaaan !!! Rolalaa c'est pas possible! :] Trop chouette ça : http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...4&d=1226971636

[SoufMeng]

Kidult: Thanks mate.

Hannes: Thanx, where the crazy updates man?

DeeLock: Thank you.

Jacfat: Hi! Thanx for looking!
Oh man you are soooo lucky! I envy you and im glad it helped you! Saw a few pics in the workshop thread, must have been AWE-SOME! Why come here and tease me?

Clochette: Hey! Ché pas pk mais ca m'étonne pas que celle la te plaise! Merci d'etre passé!

Heres a lil enviro ive just finished.
Mixed feelings about it as always.
Clouds are hard to render, in this one i think they're a lil too scrachty, dunno...

Share your thoughts, c&c are welcome as always!

[PieMonster]

It feels like it needs something on the side. The right side is very defined, but the left looks sort of unfinished. It's dark, and that's pretty much it. Also, to me it looks like you added a bit of canvas to the left side, since that area is much darker. But I'm no expert. I sort of like it cropped at that dark area, but if you did indeed expand it, I can see why, as it feels a little cramped when cropped at the dark area.
Maybe if you moved the figure to the right a bit, something like this? This is just my opinion though, and I can't paint for shit. Haha.

Apart from that, the environment is insanely good, and those clouds are super-awesome!