Grue's Cintiq experiments ---Update January 16 2010, Page 4, post #118---

[sourgasm]

WRappiii: Thank you mate That's what I strive for. Simple ideas with mood.

Why would you strive for simple ideas?

[grue]

Why would you strive for simple ideas?

I like to start a train of thought and leave the viewers take it to whatever lengths they want. I firmly believe that when you show everything in a picture you diminish it. The human brain has the wonderful ability to combine senses and experiences. By showing part of something you allow the viewers to piece the rest by themselves into something that mixes the new (your picture) with the familiar (their experiences).

Don't get me wrong. Technical knowledge is and will always be a priority. What I'm trying to do though, is to eventually strip it down to its absolute core and essence. That way the picture might not be 100% realistic but it will convey its subject undoubtedly and with such force that will leave the viewer staggering.

Thanks for looking.

[sourgasm]

I get that. The problem is, a lot of these images have taken that "simplicity of idea" and applied it to the entire approach and presentation- more a methodology than an idea. Choosing a random painting for example, I grabbed this guy:

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1245349744

We don't have any reason to care about that creature. Compositionally, its just stuck in the middle of a vaguely implied background. Thematically, its just another alien thing. Conceptually, there hasn't been enough attention given to the actual design of the creature. If you want the viewer to get involved, you have to get more involved in the process as well. Think about what the purpose of this creature is, spend some time adapting his body to that purpose and then, if you choose to present us with an illustration of this creature, place it in a situation that relays all of your ideas in an interesting manner. If you choose to present us with concept art of the creature, spend more time working on the actual concept itself.

Presenting things simply and allowing your viewer to write their own story are pretty important goals, but providing the former does not ensure the latter.

If your intent was simply to provide an example of your cintiq experiments, then the only issue is that you should be posting in a sketchbook, rather than the finally finished section.

Sorry for the windbag response ;P

[grue]

No offence taken sourgasm

I really appreciate your comments and suggestions. I will surely take them into consideration.

Though, I'm not a concept artist per se. I'm a proffessional graphic designer that happens to have been drawing all his life. Thus, the artworks I post here are made by me for my own personal amusement. I love getting critiqs, opinions and suggestions regarding each one on its own merits; as a picture. As you can see I'm experimenting with many different styles and subjects (although I do tend towards the darker side of the force ) trying to stay away from just a distinctive one.

I'm not doing it in a sketchbook (although there's much more traffic there) because those are not sketches. At least for me. I put a lot of thought and time into each one but I always try not to exceed 3-5 hours as a self challenge. I don't post my exercises, sketches and colour palletes here.

If you ask me what I'm doing here when I 'm not a concept artist I'll tell you that I love this community and I take to heart everything I read, see and hear.

[sourgasm]

You don't have to be a concept artist to post here, of course. Its always good to push your boundaries, especially with two fields that interrelate so well. You should try to work the two together even more. A lot of people are responding well to your use of texture overlays, maybe try pushing your design elements into the creatures and what not? Mess around with shape design and even font manipulation (a graphic design standard) can lead to interesting illustration ideas. Fusing the two practices can make transitioning easier and more fun.

Check out Dave McKean and Jason Felix to get a better idea of what I mean, if you haven't seen their stuff already.

[grue]

You don't have to be a concept artist to post here, of course. Its always good to push your boundaries, especially with two fields that interrelate so well. You should try to work the two together even more. A lot of people are responding well to your use of texture overlays, maybe try pushing your design elements into the creatures and what not? Mess around with shape design and even font manipulation (a graphic design standard) can lead to interesting illustration ideas. Fusing the two practices can make transitioning easier and more fun.

Check out Dave McKean and Jason Felix to get a better idea of what I mean, if you haven't seen their stuff already.

Heheh, they are legends

I don't want to do more graphic design for my entertainment. I want to explore pure painting but in dirty and digital ways.

Thanks for taking the time to converse though, even though I'm a hardhead.

Here's one more painterly and dirty digital picture. Fresh from the oven.

[grue]

Here's something a bit more graphic-design-y. I'm not so sure about it. It also has a spelling error.

[grue]

Mr. plouffe inspired me big time

[jameli]

the composition looks really nice... I like this house and colors very much... Only crit I have: I think there are too much textures this time... This texture is very nice but in this kind of picture I think it could be more delicate... keep posting cheers

[grue]

jameli: Thanks again
The thing is that I like that heavy texturing. It makes the picture look like we've zoomed in in a detail.

[grue]

One more square enviroment. I aimed for the colour palette that was used on most of the sci-fi pulp books in the '60s.

[grue]

I think that's my best so far. It has its mistakes but I like it on the whole.

[DeJakhalz]

Very interesting work! I love the creative and imaginative work.

One crit: You tend to overdo things, most of the times you use textures too much or you make it a bit too sharp. Try to be carefull with these things.

One advice: Maybe work on a piece a little longer, these drawings look neat, but it doesnt look really finished yet. It looks like you got a lot of ideas but you can't really stick with one idea for long to really complete it.

ps: Ive gotten cintiq 12 too, it owns indeed ^^.
Keep it up man!

[grue]

DeJakhalz: Thanks mate

I like the dirty, hard look of over the top textures. I aim for that look since it gives each piece an authentic tone which I long for on the clean too "digital" looking works. I'll try toning it down but not by a large margin.

I plan to work on some piece a while longer but for now my time is limited and I want to do many different things.

Thanks for looking and taking the time to comment. I appreciate it!

[grue]

Run for your lives!

[grue]

Please don't judge it as concept art. It started like that but I took it in other directions.

[grue]

I'm trying some more complicated stuff. My bad knowledge of anatomy shows plainly but I'm trying to improve it daily with exercises.

Macbeth's witches.

[Karen Stidham]

I want some of the drugs you been taking lol

[jameli]

really nice light and composition Grue about anatomy - there's something wrong with their elbows and with whole arms of witch on the right... Hmmm and I was thinking that it would look great when some pieces of their faces will be lit too - more dramatic ^^... but it's just my subjective opinion cheers... and keep on that more complicated stuff

[grue]

Karen Stidham: Heheh, no drugs at all and I even quit smoking this year.

jameli: Thanks jameli I think I don't care so much about the anatomy (everybody will go for my throat now ) as long as the general atmosphere of the piece satisfies me somewhat.

Here are two quickies of today.

[sourgasm]

to state the obvious, care about anatomy. care about it way more than atmosphere when illustrating with human figures, for sure. all that atmosphere goes down the drain when all we see is shoddy anatomy.

study without thorough accuracy is a bad idea in general. if you're going to post in the finally finished section and say "I didn't really care about anatomy," you'll end up getting flamed like crazy. a good chunk of people who submit work as finished pour over anatomy for years, and continue to do so. so writing it off as secondary to atmosphere just comes off really lazy, and your work only suffers from it.

[grue]

sourgasm: I've never downplayed the anatomy. I'm only talking about myself saying that my stuff -in my eyes- work on a different foundation. As I've said before I'm not doing concept art, just trying to do art in my lopsided way. That doesn't mean that I don't listen to your advice, I do, and I'm still working on the anatomy. But until I've grasped it somewhat I will continue to also finish stuff.

[sourgasm]

It's cool, but if you throw up an illustration/painting/conceptart/doodle featuring a human, and the anatomy is wrong, someone will point it out. If they point it out, and your response is "i didn't care," you're likely to get flamed no matter what the reasoning behind that apathy

I think you'll find that if you hammer away at foundational knowledge fundamentals, when you do crank out an experimental illustration, it will be far better for that practice. Laying down experiment after experiment is fun and what not, but it doesn't do anything for the inherent understanding necessary to pull work straight out of your head.

Check out the sketchbooks of guys like algenpfleger to see that kind of intent in action. Pays off like crazy if you stick with it.

[grue]

Ok, here's today's nonhuman thingie

[grue]

I went to the dentist again today.

[grue]

Been reading China Mieville's "The city & the city".

[grue]

Inspired by Romero's Dawn Of The Dead.

[grue]

An earless shady guy .

[grue]

Here's on from the Daily Sketch challenge, a bit off topic so I'm posting it here.

[grue]

Trying new things.