Paul's Sketchbook

[paulpratt]

I'll start out by saying that speaking here is a daunting task. It feels really over whelming. I'm totally humbled by the sheer amount of people in this amazing community, and the quality of work present. I hope that I'm posting in the correct area. I tried reading the sticky's to make sure I was doing this right, but it may still be wrong. I apologize in advance.

I'm going to give some background information about myself in this first post, so people know where I'm coming from and what my goals are. All my art work will follow after this initial post.

I'm a 27 year old man who is currently a sophomore in college. I had to put my life on hold in order to take care of my son, who is now six and in school. With my son now attending school, the free time has allowed me to get into school myself. I'm currently a drawing and painting major at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. I haven't even started any art classes yet. I start them on August 21st with 15 credit hours, all but 3 are art related. I've completed the bulk of my general studies.
I started drawing when I was a kid, but I became really interested in drawing during the early 90s. I was inspired by comic books and I wanted to become a comic book artist. Time happened, I got older, my wife got pregnant and priorities changed. I haven't drawn seriously in many years, but with opportunity to finally go to college, I had to make an attempt at "living the dream."
My art style is still reflective of my comic book "background." I need honest, fundamental core skills, and I hope starting at the bottom in school like an 18 year old will help and get me back into the groove. My tastes have changed, so I'm not that interested in comic books anymore. I should say that I still love the medium, but I would prefer to do something in conceptual design for motion pictures or video games.
So, that is my mission now, to become a conceptual artist, as I'm sure it is for nearly everyone on this forum. That is why I'm here, to learn from those like me. My goal is to expand my skills to the breaking point and beyond. I'm dangerously eager to learn and I have no qualms about how difficult the path might be. In my opinion, the harder it is, the more I will learn and grow.
Please forgive the amateur art. Dates are listed with the works.
Thanks all for giving this a look, thanks even more to those who might comment.

[paulpratt]

I'll start with something a bit more recent. This is General William Tecumseh Sherman. This is from a photo of him. Work from 2008.

[paulpratt]

This one is a bit older. I went through a phase where i wanted to try other people's "styles." This was a study from the work of Yoshitaka Amano, one of my "heroes." The work is original and from, I think, 2000.

[paulpratt]

This is a fantasy character i did in 2000.

[paulpratt]

I think this is the oldest work i may upload. This is from way back in my Junior year of High school. Sheesh. It's been a long time. Work from 1998.

[paulpratt]

This is a pair of doodles i did at my desk while working at a newspaper. Works are from 2000.

[paulpratt]

This was a character from a story. I used a photo to get the form right. Work is from 2005.

[paulpratt]

Noticing a trend are you? Yes, most of my images are from the front. I'm completely not comfortable with how a human can "flow." I don't do well with movement. This is a more recent work. I've just noticed how it seems like my skills have become frozen in time. I don't know if thats good or bad. Probably bad... Work from 2008.

[paulpratt]

I've always had a huge issue with hands and feet. I'm not sure why. They always seemed difficult. I need to get some hardcore anatomy drawing going. I wanted to experiment with some wild colors. Work is from 1998.

[MiniGoth]

Hi Paul!

You might want to hit www.posemaniacs.com and do some 30 second gestures.

these figures are not good for anatomical accuracy, but great for poses.

[paulpratt]

This is from the same page as the colorful girl. A brooding hero to match. Work from 1998.

[paulpratt]

This is an angel i did, plus, for some reason, a lightsaber on the same page. I don't know why they would be sketched at the same time. Maybe something for Freud to sort out... Works from 2001.

[paulpratt]

These are some dragons i tried out. From 2002... maybe.

[paulpratt]

Hi Paul!

You might want to hit www.posemaniacs.com and do some 30 second gestures.

these figures are not good for anatomical accuracy, but great for poses.

That's a pretty cool website. Thanks for the recommendation. I may start sketching things out of there tomorrow.

[paulpratt]

This was an attempt at a perspective drawing. I also wanted to try doing some cool gray marker action. Probably a bit, well much, too early on the marker thing, but i had to try. The whole gray marker thing is erotic, but i need to take baby steps. Work from 2007.

[paulpratt]

This is a steam bot that i did today. Work from 2008.

[paulpratt]

This is another one i did today. My dragon from awhile back and a turtle. I added some photoshop foliage in there. Various foliage brushes from sources on the internet.

[paulpratt]

Alright. That should give everyone a small overview of my various works. I'm tuckered out so I'm going to sleep. Maybe more tomorrow? This is a nice stroll down memory lane for me, but i think it's a good overview too. I've even learned a lot just looking at these. I'm in a very, very deep rut of doing the same thing. I need some direction on where to go.
I'm going to give that website that was recommended earlier a crack. I need a lot of practice drawing the human form before i can do it without a picture. It's kind of like starting all over again. Thanks again all.

[paulpratt]

I wanted to get a few more pieces that I had up.

This is another character from a story i wrote. Work from 2008.

[paulpratt]

These were both character sketches i did. I wanted to see how well i could do by getting close up and seeing the details. Both are from 2005.

[paulpratt]

Here are two characters from a game entitled Mutant Chronicles. I love this RPG. The characters are original, but their uniforms are from the game. Works from 1999.

[paulpratt]

These are more fantasy characters. The colored one i continued one with my experimentation with color. Colored pencils always looked really rough to me. I think color needs to come out of the equation. Works from 2000.

[paulpratt]

These two are both from 2004. One is one that i tried to sketch out in non-photo blue pencil, and the other is a sketch of a female Jedi knight.

[paulpratt]

This is the final sketch i did before i went into my dark age. I did it right after i got married in 2001. This was the last that i had drawn something for fun and the last time i had drawn something that wasn't a semi-annual thing. This will probably be the last of my oldies sketches. I'm going to try and use this sketchbook as a way to motivate myself into drawing, lest my thread fall into oblivion, which i notice happens VERY quickly here. Thanks for looking. I hope to have something new up soon.

[iheartmyself]

yello there
might i recommend uploading recent/new/today's work or doodles?
i doubt youll be receiving comments about work of the past as it wont help you if people did
i.e if i commented on an old piece of work, regarding anatomy, youd have to pick up from 2002, which isnt too good...as you may have already noticed this flaw etc
personally for me, i upload work, people will point out whats wrong/what i could improve on, and i go away try these things out, and come back with better work
thats what works for me, so give it a try! XD
the one i can help with is the girl sat in the chair, i notice is most recent, and i think, the better of the lot, the shadows seem to fall nicely etc
the bad - the proportions are out, the head looks pretty big in comparison to her body [more so the legs], id imagine this being a problem as shes sat down too
ill suggest the usual prescription of anatomy practice, people tend to learn bridgman or loomis, its up to you, so heres some free ebooks
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131117

i noticed that not many people had commented so this can be your welcome : )
well good luck, keep uploading, looking forward to your future posts

[paulpratt]

Thanks for posting! I'm going to start uploading new works as of today. I know what you are saying about the instant feedback "in the now" so i can immediately improve. I think i just wanted a bit of "art therapy" for myself too. HA.
The anatomy book links are awesome, thank you so much. I'm going to start doing some studies right away. Also, many thanks for the welcome!