Icecold's sketch book, Why so Serious!?

[dU5K]

awesome updates man. the oranges still life really makes me randy haha. i also really like that little village alleyway study. really captured the sunlight well.

[Icecold]

teapo Thank You

NickyBeats You flatter
Thanks man, altho i see a ton of things to improve.

dU5K These are mandarins not oranges! Thanks !

BludHund Ah the person i value for the valueable comments! :")

THe weaknesses you've pointed out come from an obvious matter, the lack of knowledge which comes directly from lack of practice. I'm working long ours to earn that money for Watts Atelier and i'm soooo happy that i'm finally going there in a couple of months! But this leaves me with little energy and a blurry sight against studies and personal stuff. But it's the only way, at the moment
i don't really have any options left. The dollar exchange rate went crazy just because some rating agency said sh*t aboyt france and some other european countries and all of a sudden the european economy suffers from that.

The dollar to my polish zloty ratio is 1USD = 3.57 PLN! Thus making a 1k dollars for any american like a 3,4k dollars for me... i have to wait until things settle down and euro zone will become more stable again. That's a pesky example of how politics can mess up in your life even if you don't give a sh*t about it...crazy, I know.

I've also stryggled with some health issues for years, i knew it was food related but i dint really had a clue what was it. It turned out i'm allergic to cow milk and gluten which can be found in flour. That means i cannot eat 90% of the good stuff that's out there, but it will no longer get me in the state of feeling sleepy and energyless for all day. This is a milestone for me, believe it or not, that stuff made my little nightmares and hopefully it will be over for good once i'll start eating the "good" stuff.

P.S I already know what to focus on first at Watts, Head and figure lay-ins plus quick sketch fundamentals. This should help me improve on accuracy and finally start to draw like i should've a long time ago
I wanted to stay for two semesters and take 7 classes at first, but now i know that it's not a very smart chocie ( atleast in my case ). Trying to kick too many knowledge at once into your brain can result in no or little results.
So i've decided to stay for three quarters 4 classes each, taking a gouache painting and illustration techbiques classes in the last semester. As my biggest wekness is the lack of fundementals really, once i master them it should
move forward more smoothly.

Oh, you wanted to see some thumbnails, well I've got a few for you right here:

[Morningtea]

Wow, you're amazing~
I really love you're lines in pencil.Any advice on line flow or quality-whatever?

And good luck~

[Icecold]

Hmm, there's a good book called "Force".
It should help you with that matter.

http://www.drawingforce.com

[warburton]

You've got some great work going on here man, the studys are looking nice and your pencils are lookin prity tight also. Great job, keep it up.

[Icecold]

Thank you chums, it's a honey to my ears.

I can't say enough how much I hate the winter, I've no will to draw at all for the most of the time, while in the summer I fill in my sketchbooks daily... anyhoot here's a little update, nothing fancy just few studies and couple doodles.

[miycko]

Very impressive sketches & studies dude, don't let the winter slow you down. keep them coming

[Icecold]

miycko Thank you :>

It's funny that almost everytime I keep discouraged by having my small crises i'll find something that helps to raise the chin and keep that head high. Here's a text by Stan Prokopenko a succesfull russian painter.

"Many people begin attending art school with unrealistic expectations. The common misunderstanding is that after a couple of classes you will become a good artist. The reality is that it takes much longer than that. Commonly between 5 to 10 years of proper training to reach a level of proficiency.
And expect to repeat courses up to 15 times to truly master the specific topic. Some classes such as perspective, composition, and color theory might take only 2-3 times to learn the necessary information, but other classes like portrait drawing, figure drawing, and plein air painting take many years of repetition to master. Just because you have completed a course doesn’t mean you know everything about the topic. The curriculum for a common college program does not apply to learning how to draw and paint - complete course A and move on to course B. Complete course B and move on to course C)
When attending an art class you will only learn information that you are ready to learn at the time. When you retake the course a year later you will learn new information that you were not ready to learn a year before.
The problem is that when people realize this, many get discouraged. “There is so much to learn. Where do I start? 10 years is such a long road!” But it’s important to realize that you will see progress from the beginning. Those baby steps will keep you going. Every inch of progress is exciting.
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Everybody’s path is different. There is no perfect order for classes. Study the areas you are weakest in and eventually your strengths will outnumber your weaknesses.
If the length intimidates you, realize that the 10 years will pass whether you are studying or not. Everybody always wishes they had started earlier. The question is, when the 10 years do pass, where do you want to be? Do you still want to be wishing you knew how to draw? If you get discouraged and quit, odds are 10 years from now you will think “If I had stuck with it, I would have been really good by now.”
So, do yourself a favor and take that first step. Keep your chin up and stay positive. Celebrate every step no matter how small. You will not regret it. 10 years from now, you won’t look back and think “what if?”

[Icecold]

Just a random painting, forcing and pushing myself thru the mental block.

[brentos8]

Nice sb man, amazing amount of work that looks as if its definatlery paying off. Keep up those studies man, keep pushing!

[Danny_K]

nice use of textures and good brush work, your edges have improved to although I think her back of the head is too blurry almost too distracting. hey man for some one who is working most of the time you still progress and that amazes me. btw do you still work with those guys who dont want to pay?

[Icecold]

brentos8 Thanks!

Danny_K Thanks Danny, i wnated the hairline to me a soft/firm edged, but you may be right on that i'll try to pay more attention next time. As for the second question, they did pay just were late with it. I'm so close to achieving my goal that if i even had to work as a waiter i'd do that just to get myself where i want and study with all those amazing artists hehe, so don't worry i'll make it, sooner or later, but I will.

[Vablo]

Wow, just wow.
You have improved a great deal from when you started mate, congrats on that! Very solid stuff, studies look really cool and also your personal stuff, even though there of course is a room for getting better (ain't there always).

But anyway, really cool stuff. Keep up the good work man, hope to see more from you soon!

[Danny_K]

just a suggestion but maybe instead of spending so much money on flying to the States and studying here only for few semesters why don't you just burrow yourself up for like the next year with your savings buy all the books you need and all the DVDS you need, sign up for some online classes like the ones in Schoolism.com which are great and there are tons others and study your butt off just like Cole, Hannes and many others did? I know there is nothing like studying with real people and getting suggestions from real tetachers but so much money can be spent on good equipment and studying books.
Later on when you start making the buck you can afford to fly to US and take courses, especially if your going to be a freelancer.

[Icecold]

The decision's made D, Watts for all it's worth
I could buy the dvds, i have alot of books , but not a single online course or book can replace the tiime spent and mileage built with the live model. That's why i didn't choose Concept Design Academy or any other school. I can buy online courses later. Besides money is just money, i never truly understood it's power, how it takes control over a persons mind. Sure it's good to have a welthy life, but there are things in life money can't buy. Plus i think that the best investment you can make is yourself. So it will be money well spent. And i've decided to get less classes per semester but stay longer, as trying to learn too many things at once is not always a good idea. So i'll stay for 3 semester and possibly a whole year if i'll get some freelance jobs in between. Imagine 1 year of steady work at this atelier= whole new world of visual experience.

If i wouldnt save it for that purpose i would probably just spend it on normal stuff like we all do. Buy a new pc when your old one gets uhm old, few playstation 3 games, an used car maybe. So it really doesnt matter that much ^^

I also have that litlle lazy Ice inside of me which i hope will be gone when i'll know that i can't stay forever and every day has a value. A virtual guard you might say. I'm glad that i've met you in that apple drawing thread a few years ago, i really am. Thank you my friend.

P. S Plus this is California and it's sunny weather. That means one winter less for me ! Yay! :]


EDIT: One more thing, each day i think more and more about fine art i might even pick up painting while beeing there.
Doing Warriors and monsters is always cool, but sometimes i have this need of something more..."pure" more "artistic" you know what i mean?

[Icecold]

Do you remmember that old song by The Mammas&Pappas? Well i heard it on the radio today and decided to go to the sunny california, atleast for that short amount of time while I was doing this painting

[Icecold]

[Kielbasa]

great stuff man! I love the fantasy image and the oranges still life, the colors are grrrrrrreat! The mood in those poker illustration thumbs are great too, very noir-ish.

[Danny_K]

The decision's made D, Watts for all it's worth
I could buy the dvds, i have alot of books , but not a single online course or book can replace the tiime spent and mileage built with the live model. That's why i didn't choose Concept Design Academy or any other school. I can buy online courses later. Besides money is just money, i never truly understood it's power, how it takes control over a persons mind. Sure it's good to have a welthy life, but there are things in life money can't buy. Plus i think that the best investment you can make is yourself. So it will be money well spent. And i've decided to get less classes per semester but stay longer, as trying to learn too many things at once is not always a good idea. So i'll stay for 3 semester and possibly a whole year if i'll get some freelance jobs in between. Imagine 1 year of steady work at this atelier= whole new world of visual experience.

If i wouldnt save it for that purpose i would probably just spend it on normal stuff like we all do. Buy a new pc when your old one gets uhm old, few playstation 3 games, an used car maybe. So it really doesnt matter that much ^^

I also have that litlle lazy Ice inside of me which i hope will be gone when i'll know that i can't stay forever and every day has a value. A virtual guard you might say. I'm glad that i've met you in that apple drawing thread a few years ago, i really am. Thank you my friend.

P. S Plus this is California and it's sunny weather. That means one winter less for me ! Yay! :]


EDIT: One more thing, each day i think more and more about fine art i might even pick up painting while beeing there.
Doing Warriors and monsters is always cool, but sometimes i have this need of something more..."pure" more "artistic" you know what i mean?

true there is nothing like real people and models and a real experience, for me that inner laziness is never gone but I learn better ways of handling it.
Sticking to schedules really help to get those lazy days or moments under control. anyway if you are going to be here in CA we can get together and do some art! that would be awesome...

Sick: http://www.angelfire.com/art3/kchendemos/

[Icecold]

Danny Thanks for that link Dan! I did see most of these but having all of them in one place is so muuuch better, and soo inspiring to see them again.
Wish i'd have that kind knwoledge one day...

I haven't done any car in a long time so it's about to change that. I find designing cars to be very similiar to drawing horses or females, alot of beatiful curves and rhythyms in them. So here's the first and hopefully not last.

[KateyParr]

Wooo you've improved so much since page 1. So amazing to see and very motivating.

I like you're studies, that one of male standing with his back to us is beautifull. Oh my gawd I can't believe how brilliant the anatomy is.

P.s: hell yeah for white on coloured paper! I love that

[Danny_K]

the car is sweet! did you use any ref for it?
Dude if you want that type of knowledge you acquire it I gurantee you! practice and practice and practice, than learn read study and than again practice practice practice.

[Icecold]

KateyParr Ah Gracias!

Danny_K Your comment on Da made me think of it, and you're right. It kind alooks that way hehe. Much apreciated. As for K Chen, i really hope i do,
because even tho alot of people are studying for many years they simply don't have that scientific mind which wishes to study every single bit of the subject.
Kevin Rocks. As for the refference question, my main inspiration were 2 brands which in my taste are awesoem, Aston Martin which the headlights are based of and the modern Audi designs of the back. And sure i had some car pictures opened up, and even tho it was designed by me it has some obvious elements borrowed from those brands i've mentioned above.

[Yemi775]

Impressive sketchbook man!

[Lightship69]

Glorious car concept matey, really very good thanks for posting that one. BUt what on earth was the little pixel art thing that whizzed by the spaceman LOL.

all the best mate and thnks again for posting

[Fetsch]

nice stuff mate, i see improvement!

[Icecold]

Yemi775 - Thanks, glad you've taken my advice, you won't regreat it.

Lightship69 Thank you.

Fetsch Ah improvement, the ultimate and unreachable goal of perfection ^^

A small update, have some traditional sketches coming soon.
Still have to force myself for this daily practice, but atleast i get something done, and even a small amount of practice is always a step forward, or atleast not a step back

[bish0p2004]

Damn man...that last image is hot. I started browsing your sketchbook a few weeks back, but I still haven't had chance to go through every page yet. Still, your work is a pleasure to look at so far.

Also, thank you for that quote from Stan Prokopenko.

[Fetsch]

good stuff dude

[Danny_K]

a suggestion, her nose and lips should be slightly sharper than her eyes because they are closer to the viewer but you could cheat and just sharpen her entire face and make it the focal area as it supposed to be unless you want the viewers eyes to jump from her eyes to her left nipple. get a better control on your edges you can do it, I can feel it in my pocketses.