Did you draw today? ❒ Yes ❒ No

[Colour Coded]

Sweet sketches man!

[teapo]

thank you Colour Coded

some screencap studies; first two from livestream and third one done in crimson dagger hangout (fun place and the screensharing doesn't lag really)







page of clothing/fold studies and then some practice





value practice on a line sketch

[kingkostas]

i like the edges in 1684# thats what i was talking about, a good combination of lost and hard edges. Hahah sorry i didnt knew that, well i will probably do it when i will have a more proper site/blog. I putted some categories in my blog to start making it look more like a portfolio, although i still dont want to put anything hahaha.
Keep up these values !!!!

[Chips]

Subscribed! Really nice value control Digging the drapery too!

[kevin_]

really liking the pencil work, nice updates!

[teapo]

thx king! hehe your work is very professional-looking already that i'm sure you won't have trouble sorting out your images :3 let's keep up!

Chips, thank you. glad you enjoy it!

thank you kevin_!







hesitant about posting anything environment-related simply because they intimidate me and i haven't seriously studied landscapes in a long while. i feel i need to start tackling a new subject matter so this prompted me to try a few small thumbs. i can honestly say that there is no improvement at all right now with enviros but i will make an effort to slowly creep into it as it's not one of my main focuses at the moment XD





and some sketch i started during crimson dagger hangout with Lukas

[0000]

nice stuff going on here mr.

[teapo]

thank you 0000!

some hand studies, screencap study done on livestream, photo study, and an attempt to render that previous sketch :B not completely happy with it but i did learn quite a bit and it prompted me to study even more things i had trouble with (the hand in particular).

[teapo]

pencils from last night. tried thumbnailing costumes. it was a nice exercise because i rarely do fast scribbles lol. haven't been doing much work in the fantasy realm as of late. i think i like this focus at the moment but need to push it some more

[teapo]

sketched some heads last night for one of the pencil thumbs. seeing which one would fit :U



study things. had fun rendering the girl-- added 2 new brushes to my arsenal after experimenting.

[kingkostas]

yoooooooooooooo
Really good mate, definitely work enviros you will learn more about adding space to your works. In the enviro you posted, i see a lack of atmospheric perspective. Since you are no photograph try to exagerrate a little the effects. Do some experiments to become used to adding atmospheric perspective and you will get it immediately. Another thing to keep in mind, if at any moment you think, "but it looks a little empy blablablabal what to add blabalabl" then thats the sign that you need to add details and it seems that more details is better than less, because even if it becomes overloaded you can smooth them out later [but not the opposite as easily]. So try to think a little deeper. you have sand in there so maybe in the foreground [or in the focal point] pick a brush that have a sandy effect and throw out some strokes to add the needed detail. A combination of adding elements and unifying them to the whole composition. The same for your characters, try to add more details, how? by thinking what the certain material might have. Lets keep up !!!

[teapo]

thanks for the helpful feedback king! i also find that tackling environments is very difficult for me at the moment because i focus too much on figurative/character things but it is great to feel this struggle. i'll keep pushing for it!







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[kingkostas]

hello mate
Keep up the enviros, try to think of an enviro as composed of simple objects. Lets say that your valley is the surface of a table and it has some spheres on it [on perspective ofcourse]. Decide on a lightsource and render them out [for the greyscale, imagine them all of the same material so also the same local value]. that would be a great enviro and you will understand a lot if you do it right

Also here a paintover with some thought. Lets keep up mate!!!

[Grafguy]

Damn, this is a nice sketchbook!
I want to give you some critisism but you're nailing almost everything, I'd soly advice you to try some different styles and experiment with other approaches.
You oils are superb, but I don't like your 'artistic finishing details' the smudges etc, I don't think that they add something to the art itself. If you want it to look rough I'd suggest you use more aggressive brushstrokes in the beginning and not add some smudges at the end, but that's just personal taste

Just my 2 cents.

[ThomasM]

dude, as always great pencil works - nothing at all in here that I don't like! As for the enviro's. If you're hesitant... stick to value. Value is so pure and really shows whether or not you have the ability to move on to colour yet. P.s. check your messages I sent you a present for working so hard!

[Cabbage Caterpillar]

Awesome studies. The brushstrokes are so confident, love it!

[teapo]

thanks king! that is a brilliant paint over and i haven't really experimented much with gradient overlays so i will have to test it out on some things. as for environments, i will keep that in mind-- that is a good method to keep things simplified!

thank you Grafguy! glad you took some interest in my sketchbook. hehe, that's definitely right about personal taste on the oils-- though i don't really do much of it, i will be sure to experiment some more with it the next time (as well as digitals, yes?)

haha thanks Thomas! i feel like a little kid being praised XD but really, that video you sent me is really helpful. i will have to take it all into account and tackle them! and i too think that sticking to grayscale for enviros for a bit will help a lot.

ty Cabbage Caterpillar! i'm starting to love using brushes with the opacity jitter to off :3

slowed down quite a bit lately, but still gotta keep on!





-- s'pose i gotta experiment more as well ( !! Grafguy lol)





will visit sketchbooks sometime on weekend~

[kingkostas]

lovely mate!!! Just a thing and i am off, semi close your eyes and look at the chubby male's costume and tell me if you see the chest appearing as 2 brighter soft spheres. The light would go more evenly and less bumpy there.Ohterwise its like there is something inside the costume that drags the costume inside the chest in the middle of each breast. Anyway this is just to keep in mind more things, trying to think in planes some more. In case you really wanted it to be looking like pinched in then you would have to put a value that is not as dark as the core shadows and more like the grey that is next to the highlight of the costume.
Keep up the great work, lovely characters

[NigredoMac]

wow seems like your practice regime really is paying off, good to see! also dig the progamer gif if Im seeing it correctly !

[Cabbage Caterpillar]

Hahaha cool! Man, those hand studies are really nice. They look so 3D. You really nailed the clothing texture too. Btw, that 3rd painting you posted: Do you use a special bursh for the shaved mustache look? It's so subtle yet works so well.

[teapo]

thanks king! that is a very helpful tip. planes planes planes!

ty NigredoMac! haha yes those are some old portraits i did in that gif. glad you noticed that

thanks Cabbage Caterpillar! in regards to the 'shaved' / stubble look-- yeah there is a speckled brush i used just to overlay some texture. tried to make it subtle but not sure if it comes across? XD







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so i've been busy looking for a full-time job and i finally found one. i know some may see it as a 'sell-out' on being an artist, but in all honesty-- if you need an income to make ends meet, by all means go for it, ye? it may hinder my growth in my work or it may not but it will be nice to have some structure for myself once again. time management is really key here and i need to use my free time wisely now. this doesn't mean i'm giving up on my art! i still want art to be my career but as things are right now, i gotta pay some student loans as well as the bills :B

anyway, i don't start working til March 9th so i will try to squeeze in more things before then! let's keep going~

[PoringMaster]

whatt!! I love your studies!!! dammnn I'm just inspired ; w ;

[teapo]

thanks PoringMaster! :3





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[Marian Rowling]

Hey Mike it's great to see the progress you are making and well done on getting yourself a full time job. I think it's important to be able to support yourself and pay those bills, so I don't see it as a sell out at all, just a means to an end. Plus I find doing other work other than art does open you up to new areas and different people and things which is all good for the artists memory reference library.

Just make sure it keeps you motivated to draw and don't let it drain you or even worse become comfortable or complacement. It is an easy trap to fall into.

[lupre]

wow. your line is so sharp.
the brush strokes so smooth.
and the style vibrant.

[Cabbage Caterpillar]

Hey Teapo, your recent stuff really rocks! Those movie stills and portrait drawings look amazing. I'm impressed that you are still pumping all these good stuff despite having your FT job now. And totally no worries you're not a sellout, we are all trying hard to make art and life co-exist.. but Plz don't ever stop posting!!

ps. those speckled brush comes across great, it's realistic and blends really well with the whole painting. I think it's very effective.

[teapo]

thanks Marian Rowling; that's something i've been encountering here and there while on the job. i feel drained at times but i'm striving to get better even with such obstacles

thank youlupre!

thank you very much Cabbage Caterpillar! yeah, working full-time and doing art is a bit rough sometimes but i really want to make my career in art happen let's keep going~

not dead here, just letting you guys know i'm still alive! i think i will post more on the blog (in signature) in the meantime; work is work and i do get drained by the time i get home... so my studies and such have been inconsistent. come follow me at my blog though if you haven't the chance yet



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[Nemome]

Awwwwwwwwwwww yiss!
This is how we're rolling now you say?
Looks great Mike. I finally saw your sketchbook update, haha.

Keep posting (why not daily? Would be an awesome goal... cough..)!

[teapo]

hehe perhaps Lukas... perhaps

[orochigenocide]

Hi teapo,

Sorry, I haven't visited your sketchbook in a long while. I miss you guys at CA. It's been a very busy school year.

Great stuff so far, but I feel like your improvement rate could be faster. Have you been working on your weaknesses and experimenting artistically? That helps with artistic growth tremendously.

Also, your pen sketches seem better in quality than your pencil sketches. I think it's because you're forced to use sharper lines instead of using softer lines, which in found a lot in your work. Same with your oils too. Again, they have more visual clarity than your digital pieces.

Well, I'll leave you to it. Keep up the hard work ethic, man.