Ixius's Sketchbook - Draw to learn! (NSFW)

[Jai Kamat]

Hello all,

I'm a 22 year old student who has taken a few art classes, but I want to make it a professional lifestyle. I am attending RIT for Illustration.

I'm a long time lurker who finally garnered up the will to draw each day. I'll post my progress as I continue.

Thank you all for your time and inspiration!


UPDATES ARE USUALLY IN MY LAST POST

[Ivan Turcin]

these are very good. wish you all the best at RIT. And don't hesitate to be more active around here. Take care!

[Jai Kamat]

Ivan: Thanks man! Yeah, I lurked for a while but now I plan to be more involved here. This place is so amazing!

EDIT: here's a small update. I had to adjust the brightness/contrast because the scan was just too light. Thanks for looking!

[Jai Kamat]

Sorry for Double-Posting, but the edit button did not work on my PC...

Here are some more drawings, crits are very welcome!

Thanks for looking!

[Jai Kamat]

UPDATE:

This is my first-ever environment digital painting, crits are very welcome! Thanks for looking!

[Jai Kamat]

UPDATE:

More figure studies...I think I'm getting better (and learning that patience is key)!
And, a short head study. My designs right now are based off of the stuff on characterdesigns...I'm not too keen on coming up with machinery and accessories from my head. I just need to draw more and use more perspective. Ah well, Practice makes perfect!

[MyioDeSopsia]

I love your values--especially on the ones in the 3rd and 4th posts.
Yes, I think patience is key as well

[Jai Kamat]

MyioDeSopsia: thanks! I try to get a pretty good value range...I just can't seem to lay down deep blacks though. That'll come with practice I suppose.

Here's another pic...sorry for the quality. My scanner's not big enough to handle a large sketchbook

[Jai Kamat]

Update! New pics are up. The last one is a picture of Solid Snake, I'm trying to make it into a finished piece in photoshop. Again, sorry for the picture quality. I can't really afford a large format scanner right now

[Jai Kamat]

after a week long vacation, here's an update. Didn't get much time in for drawing, but when I got back I tried my hand at digital painting...must say, it's pretty hard, but relaxing in a way.

First pic is still a WIP from reference, and there's a lot of messiness...I got a new brush pack and couldn't resist trying all of them out

The other pic is of a cup lid I had on my desk.

[Jai Kamat]

Hey all, another update! These are some excerpts from my sketchbook...I bought a smaller one, and I have to say, I'm more comfortable working smaller rather than in a massive 14 by 17!

There are some N.C. Wyeth studies in there...I absolutely love his work, and being a novice in environmental design, I found his artwork approachable to study in terms of tone and atmosphere. I learned a lot from doing it!

Thanks for looking!

[Jai Kamat]

Hey all, I've taken a loooong break from this site, but want to get back into the swing of things by posting more. Art school is awesome, but also kicking my butt in a lot of ways.

Taking after Andrew Jones, I'm doing a portrait a day, but not necessarily a self-portrait. Here's my progress so far, crits and comment are very welcome, because I need to know what I'm weak at! Thanks a lot for looking!

By the way, painting in color is a real pain!

[donalfall]

Awesome sketchbook man. Those NC Wyeth studies are off the chain!

[Jai Kamat]

donalfall: Thanks for the comments! I appreciate it!

Hey all, here's today's portrait. It's another Sargent master study

[MiladThaha]

Your B/w's are stupendous mate! Would like to see more color though (I'm not good in that, but I guess your work with color would be great). Love your lines, somewhere between rough and smooth; keep it coming!

[Jai Kamat]

MiladThaha: Thanks a lot man! Yeah, I'm still trying to get my head around color...it's pretty difficult. Right now I think I'll focus on black and white's for a bit then really go at it in color

Here's today's portrait, it's a self-portrait. I love doing stuff from life. Master studies are great, but when drawing from life I don't feel limited by someone else's brush strokes

Thanks for looking!

EDIT: The bottom Pic is a recently completed study...I'm a huge fan of Magic Man and I tried to emulate his airbrush approach...mixed results on that one

[Jai Kamat]

Hey all, I did a brief master study today (of Kekai Kotaki), just trying to iron out tones. I must say that it came out very well IMO and was most definitely a learning experience!

EDIT: Here's today's self-portrait...it's a bit stylized, but I must say, I like it quite a lot! Done before bedtime, about 40 mins. Maybe tomorrow I'll go back into it and clean things up

[a la bapsi]

the portrait in post 16 is gorgeous.
Why don't you use that technique for your photostudies? It shoes good form and interesting textures and i think you should explore it a bit more. *_*

[MythrilWolf]

Very nice sketchbook. I like your studies, especially those done from N.C. Wyeth. They remind me a lot of Adam Hughes work. If anything I might critique the paintings because you have the same issue I do: finding a good balance between softness and sharpness for the edges of your forms and values. The forms in the paintings look a little too soft and it would be a nice break to have some sharp definition here and there to separate the values and add clarity to things. I hope that made sense

Anywho great work overall. Love it :3

[Jai Kamat]

a la bapsi: Thank you for the advice! I'll most definitely try that for photo studies in the future, I love crosshatching and I agree that the texture came out pretty well

MythrilWolf: That made perfect sense! I think I get too excited sometimes with the airbrush and mix everything up...I'll have to work on leaving hard edges here and there

[Jai Kamat]

Hey all, here's a pretty big dump of fairly recent stuff from my sketchbook, mostly a CRAP ton of gestures (to be honest, I love 'em, they're so relaxing) and some stuff from imagination and life. Don't mind the writing please, its messy 'cause I write random crap in my book

Also, does anyone here know how to scan drawings properly? The scanned midtone drawings towards the bottom look better in real life, I promise. Something just doesn't look right about my art when I scan it and do auto-levels...

Thanks for looking!

[Jai Kamat]

Another late-night-before-bed tonal master study (credit to Kekai Kotaki). Somehow I feel like doing master-studies REALLY help, and I have no idea why. There's something about his painting that just draws me to it. Yet I have no idea how these professional guys can paint in color, it seems like too much to handle! Anyone have tips, hints, or links on properly painting in overlay layers? I'd be very grateful for the help.

And I'm not sure if double-posting is frowned upon here, I see people do it but is it more acceptable to just edit my previous post? Thanks all

Best,
Ixius

[Vipin_U]

Really awesome work.. Liked the quality of your lines and shades.. Keep up the good work..

[Jai Kamat]

Vipin_U: Thanks bro! Much appreciated

Hey all, I'm really excited to show this one. Took me about 6 hours of hard work and thought, but I'm REALLY pleased with this one. I don't really think I've made anything this good before! Conceptart.org has really pushed me these past few months! Special thanks to Magic Man for his freaking awesome pastel/chalk brush.

Thanks for looking!

[Jai Kamat]

Hey everyone, here's a quick update of some sketchbook stuff. Sorry they're so messy, but I find my mind wandering too much to stay put on one figure. The last image is my poor attempt at character design...anyone have tips for rendering mechanical parts around the body?

Thanks for looking!

[JakehC]

Great sketchbook. Good to see someone so clearly dedicated to fine-tuning foundational skills!

[Jasper_]

YEAHHHHH DUUUUUUDE!! keep rockin the studies!!

[G_U_T_S]

Friggin awesome work here, great style, your imagination seems to be hitting the page without any obstacles. Can't wait to see more from you, take care.

[Jai Kamat]

G_U_T_S: Thanks! I'm tying very hard to stop using reference for finished works, but it's just so hard

Jasper_: Haha thanks man! See you around

lolbbq: Yeah foundational skills are freakin paramount. I'm trying to REALLY get gesture down at this point so my future works look more fluid

Here's a quick sketch before I actually have to do schoolwork. From imagination, but there's many inaccuracies. Hopefully someday I'll draw like Marko!

[Jai Kamat]

Hey all, here's tonight's photo study, done in about 1 hour. I think I'm gonna render some male torso now because i realized over the past few days I have no idea how to do that! Plus I just need practice anyway at rendering on the comp.

EDIT: And the torso study, I'm not really that happy with it, and hate working in color, but it was a good learning experience.

Thanks for looking!