Insatiable Curiosity

[ThomasM]

kikindaface - thanks, I really enjoyed doing them.

Mila - thanks, they were great fun

Shadowstalker - thanks, yeah some of them have something interesting to them.. Usually I do value thumbs, but I think that may be limiting my ideas slightly, because I am a lot narrower in what I think I'm capable of.

Just sketching today - I had so much fun drawing this. I have read a few books on animation and its such an incredible art that I feel I HAVE to try it! Anway, I think I got a good sense of movement in these, which is what I was striving for.

I went to boxing last night and now I can barely move, which means a whole day of sketching is in order!


oh, and thanks for the stars whoever that was!

[GEB]

Nice updates man. I'm diggin the thumbs

[Tea of Doom]

Man you progress liek crazy, good work.

Mech & kekai study look sharp!

Are you still working on those pigs? I like the initial sketch a lot, my only crit would be that the pig (boar?) on the utmost left looks a bit stiff. But that's normal, that pile of bones would scare the shit out of me too haha!

Thumbs are great, what made you switch from values to linework?

Also, how do you make your sharp edges ( mecha piece)? Do you use the selection marquee + brush, or do you just carefully paint in high rez and de-res afterwards?

Sorry for the multiple questions, I just feel like i'm dealing with the same issues atm so I'm looking for advice. I've got some new stuff in my sketchbook!

[NickyBeats]

wow Thomas!!! those enviro sketches look frigging amazing!!!!! really nice compositions! hope to see you do some more of these! they look amazing!

[Tef]

Wow ThomasM !!! The post 1713 is Amazing dude !!!
But sorry, impossible to see the last post... I see an error for your image. :'(

EDIT : It's ok i see. Excellent !!

[Satu]

those thumbnails

[I-Bomb]

I wonder which thumbnails you're going to continue with

[Ambiguity]

I like that you take notes, it's kewl that you actually learn from your own work ㅇㅁㅇ

[ThomasM]

ambiguity - yeah well the way I think of it, if you're not analytical about your own work, how can you hope to improve?

udonhead - so do I, I will churn out a load more though perhaps tomorrow, theyre so fun to do

Satu - thanks amigo

jaiswann - cheers

Tef - thanks for letting me know about that, I think it should be visible now?

NickyBeats - I definitely will do more, thanks for commenting

Tea of Doom - yeah you are probably right about those pigs, they are a little static, but I kind of wanted them to look tense. I'll have a think about them...

I switched from values to linework because I got sick of values and "painting" - after almost three months straight of it I need to change things up. Plus.. I felt like my portfolio was a little too line heavy, and now I think its the other way around, so now its time for some character, creature and structural drawing!

I do use the lassoo tool a fair bit yeah, and almost always paint with hard brushes. That..in conjunction with painting about 50% bigger than I usually have the final resize.

GEB - thanks, it looks like they're going down well!




Thanks for the continued support everyone, its good to be back to some linework! Here are some industrial designs from today done with some chunky watercolour pencils. I've ordered some proper "blue pencils" which are in the post, so next time I attempt this the results should be more delicate

oh... and if you don't watch the tv show "Breaking Bad" then do it, its the best thing on tv.

[Pedro Ferreira]

so many great stuff in here...damn.
do you have Kekai Kotaki has a refence?I mean like,as an artist is he someone to who you look up to?

[p sage]

Are you designing jet engines now, Thom?

Getting into boxing, learning Spanish... you're like a gene splice of Leo Davinci and Sherlock Holmes

Good show, ol chap, good show

[Cabbage Caterpillar]

your thumbnails are incredible! May I ask where you find your inspirations.

[Tef]

Yeah it's visible
Excellent studies !! I like that
these are sketches for a project ?

[Chompi'n]

I went to a few pages from all the 58
loved doing so - some really cool ideas with amazing execution!

the pigs on the last page creeeped me out :

[ThomasM]

Replies later this evening as always:

A few more thumbs

[takashmen]

great thumbs, really strong perspective skills and story telling

love them all

hope you wile put few of them into life

[ThomasM]

Some industrial stuff... sketched while I was watching Avatar on TV (that is a concept artist's dream really, even if the dialogue is atrocious! )







Takashmen -thanks, yeah I'm working on that exactly! Trying to make each thumb have a little bit of narrative, a bit of technical ability in there and a bit of a interest. Glad to see I'm succeeding to some degree!

Chompi'n - haha they creeped me out too painting them.. theyre such creepy animals anyway even without the setting

Tef - no project other than the my main project at the moment which is keeping myself busy while I wait to start TAD (on monday!)

Cabbage Caterpillar - this is an annoying answer.. but "from life". Everyone has that ability I guess, but its taken me almost three years now to be able to actually express some of the ideas that I have thought of over the years. And even then, they are so crude in comparison with what I'd like to display. Anyway, yeah study from nature! Thats not the only way, but I think its the best.

p sage - haha well I can basically speak spanish now after south america, and watching a hell of a lot of tv (I always watch tv series' in spanish when I get the time), so I have made a return to the old boxing, and it feels good! Thanks for the comment - I'll stop by your sb soon

pgf95 - yeah Kekai is someone I look up to, although more for his "style" of digital painting. I don't find his pieces have as much in the way of narrative as those of Jaime Jones and Mullins.. (amongst a whole list of others) which is what I am aiming for in the future really. Its not for everyone but personally if an image has that narrative, which strongly implies what may happen after that split second or before it, I find it incredible.

and if this doesn't blow your mind... what will? Although I now spend more time doing art, I'm still fascinated by zoology and the environment: I can't help but be amazed by almost everything I find in nature.

[Marian Rowling]

Well Tom, you know they say if you can dream of yourself doing a job you will be capable of getting it in reality. You must be getting so excited for Monday, I am off on my course on the Tuesday.

I really like your little dragons fooling around in post #1717. Would really like to see you finish that one up if you get the time. No crits really, I do agree with those who has posted about making your pieces more readable. Although they look good, some, are a little confusing as to what they actually are, but reading you talking about narrative makes me know that you are well aware and working on it.

I can't help but feel you are about to start another major chapter in your life and I feel so excited for you Tom. You've worked so hard to get this far on your own, that I really feel you deserve the opportunity to study at TAD.

(P.S. thanks for your reply to my email Tom.)

[ThomasM]

Marian - Well yeah exactly, I've always thought that was true, and I guess its working out slowly!

TAD is going to be a MAJOR (definitely the MOST MAJOR to date) period of my life, and hopefully one where I will flourish as an artist and develop into someone very capable (I hope so!)

I haven't replied to your email yet, but I'll do it asap (been very busy as you can guess)


So YEAH! Got into TAD wooop! I'm incredibly excited, and when we are in the classes online the excitement is palpable. I said I was going to work my derriere off and I will do that. Our first assignment is a 1.5 hour figure drawing from reference. Its been a while since I did any life drawing (over a year now) so I thought I'd do three and the first two could get me warmed up.

Bleurgh, my first TAD pieces!

[p sage]

So YEAH! Got into TAD wooop!

Wooooop!!

(nice looking figures too)

[Delmar]

Hi Tom!

Looking through the last 4 pages really shows that you are fully dedicated...that's a huge motivation and inspiration, so thank you for that.

Congrats on getting into TAD! Also i wanted to ask if you attended a futurepoly workshop ? ...you know because of the Kekai notes.

I love the line thumbs, and i agree that greyscale thumbs can sometimes limit yourself.....I also started to go straight with color.
A nice inspiration is Nathan Fowkes....http://nathanfowkes.blogspot.co.at/..
...but i guess you already know his stuff.

Anyway...
I'll keep watching your SB for sure.....and i hope i can catch some of your studymania attitude!!!

cheers

Andi

..oh, and breaking bad is in indeed the best thing on tv.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey, hey Tom, great to see your first drawings for TAD. The proportions look good and I always like your watercolours. In an effort to help with the charcoal drawings I think you need to soften some of your edges on your darkest values and darken down the value of the core shadows. You might not have had time to do this, so sorry if I'm telling you what you know.

By the way the Henry Yan demo's and drawings are yaw droppingly stunning, unlike my own efforts, which are painfully awkward and ugly.....hehehe . He was drawing right next to me yesterday, which was so cool but totally put me off my own attempts.

Don't worry about replying to the email just focus on your TAD studies, they are what are important now.

[Sebastian Wagner]

oh wow. I love your environment thumbnail sketches. So cool!!

[Andofryn]

Big congratulations man!
The best of luck with TAD, those figures look awesome already

Also thanks for replying to my Cambridge questions, I'll be sure to check it all out.

[Velocity Kendall]

Yay well done on TAD, youll be worked hard but itll be worth it! plus lessons are superfun.

im in cambridge too! down the cheapo end of mill road, but spend my afternoons chillin accross the road from CB1, you can smell the greenery from the street hehe!

have you been to kettles yard?

[Deadlyhazard]

Grats on TAD! Way to leave me in the dust, man. Getting better and better, as usual.

[LtPlissken]

Your sketchbook is becoming a true example for
“If you put your mind up to it, you can accomplish anything”.
I know your work from a year or two before and the improvements
are beyond understandable. I am truly amazed, and inspired to draw more.
The industrial sketches on the previous page are something very special.
Do come back when you can and post more and more and more.

[ThomasM]

Figure class



Gridded spheres



2 minute figure drawings




pastel master copies




Its been a while, but here are some works from TAD and personal sketching. These days I haven't been updating my CA sketchbook very often, but I will try to from now on. Since I last updated I have moved from Cambridge to Bristol, am now working part time (basically full time!) in a café to fund my TAD lifestyle, and am living with two friends and my girlfriend. Phew.. anyway, hundreds more pages of sketchbook works that I really don't have time to scan these days!

[I-Bomb]

fucking awesome studies you did

[Velocity Kendall]

excellent stuff!

paying your own way through TAD, thats taking care of business. i wish you every success, keep working like this and youll kick ass.