Windmaker's Sketchbook Vol.2 - updated 20.08.12

[Windmaker]

Hello, everyone. After not posting anything here for... ahem... a lot of time, I decided to start a new sketchbook thread. Hopefully it'll motivate me to paint and draw more often and, also, post more often.

Sooo... here's the humble start of my new thread. Two sketches from yesterday's lunch break. And two environment concepts that I like how they turned out. In case anybody's interested what I've been up to, you can check my recent (and not so recent) finished works here.

Have fun now, and thanks for looking!

P.S. And of course, feel free to comment and critique. I'm always happy to get critique

[Nickodemus]

Wow, awesome start. The pose of the first one is very natural and dynamic, and the gestures of the dragons, the same.

I love the color palettes in the environment samples. Beautiful stuff, can't wait to see more of those.

Great work!

[raminafshari]

you have to work in a game graphic design team , good work .

[GearldsGrotto]

That reminds me of some old Squaresoft RPG stuff. Smashing job man!

[HolyMane]

awesome lil isometric towns there!

and also that grey scale guy, neat stuff! keep it up!

[GoredGuar]

Gorgeous! I especially love those two towns you've done, and the way you've painted them.
Looking forward to seeing some more.

[Windmaker]

Hey guys
Thanks for the nice reception! I always feel embarassed posting such sketchy work, 'cause... well... it's really sketchy and not all that pretty. But I guess the environments made up for it

Lunarsis Thanks! Really glad you like the pose. Usually I struggle soo much with poses. I wish we lived in a world where people could assume two... maybe three poses at the most. And most of those poses involved no movement of the arms and legs...

raminafshari Thank you And, funny thing, I do work in a game company. I'm a 3D environment artist at Ubisoft

GearldsGrotto That's the look I was going for! Glad it came accross Though I was thinking more of "Baldur's Gate" and the like...

HolyMane Thanks! The grayscale dude is a sketch for a concept I'm gonna be painting for my portfolio. As for the little environments- I love doing those, so I hope I'll be able to post more soon

GoredGuar Thank you! I really like how the environments turned out as well. Hope to post more soon

Sooo... here's two works in progress. A couple of orcs. I know they're a bit generic looking as far as their faces go, but I had a really hard time comming up with an appearance that's both bulky and brutish, and orcish, and at the same time, appealing in its female form. Sooo... I decided to stick with the more classical look.

Also, in case anyone is interested, I can post a step-by-step image for the orcs.

So, thanks for looking

[CountBlackula]

These paintings are fucking amazing, dude. Really. How long did that orc shaman take you to make?

[cakeypigdog]

You have a very interesting colour treatment in these last couple: that supersaturated purple/green combo is very unique. Exciting! Looking forward to more from you! 5 from me

[matjosh]

OOh, this is gonna be an awesome sketchbook, i can smell it!
Lovin ur characters : )

[alexson]

Awesome stuff! I really like these orcs, almost looks like watercolor in some places. 5

[Windmaker]

Oooh! Even more replies! Yay!

CountBlackula Really glad you like tha paintings As for how long they take... Uhmmm... That's a complicated question, since I work on them on and off during my spare time. But I think they've taken about ten hours each so far.

cakeypigdog Yay! I got stars I'm just sarting to get the hang of colours soooo... I'm glad it's apparently working. I still have a ton of drawing related problems to fix in my work, but working in colour is so awesome! Glad you like the stuff

Here's some work on a third orc. Which was actually started first. Then finished. Then I edited it a thousand times. Then I hated it. Then I hated it some more. Then I started it again yesterday. Sooo... I've spent about three hours on it so far. I'm posting a close up shot of the face and a step-by-step of how I've gotten it to where it is so far. That's so people can see how charmingly non-pretty my paintings are in the beginning. Hopefully they get better towards the end

Thanks for looking everyone, and have a nice day!

[Windmaker]

matjosh and alexson Thanks, guys! I'm really glad you like the stuff

[Emil_]

Beautiful works, really nice painting style.

[jeremygordon89]

Beautiful style; I really like what I see so far : D
plus FIVE

[BlackDelphin]

Wicked sketch book start! I really like your stuff so far, particularly your envo work.
I read on your dA account that you have a step-by-step of this. Could i see it?-Thank you.

Looking forward to see more!!

[The Sceptical Saint]

Mongol orcs! Why didn't I think of that? And fire away on the sketchy stuff, I like getting a look at a good artists' sketchy stuff - it looks awesome and it's educational (get to see the construction/rhythm/etc lines)

[Windmaker]

Hey everyone
I'm really happy you all like the stuff so far

Also, since I'm a big jerk and am almost late for a date, I'll be posting replies later tonight. But a big thanks for all the niceness! You guys make me happy

Here's an update on that orc dude. Damn, I'm slooow... I wish I were more productive. If anyone knows any magical secrets to becoming productive or something of the sort- let me know! Also, here's the step-by-step as BlackDelphin requested

Aaand... more comming tonight. Along with replies. Have a nice day now!

[richart]

delicious stuff!

[Auspiciouspanda]

Oooooh love the colors and the looseness of your brushwork. More!

[Mengel]

This is regarding your post here -> http://conceptart.org/forums/showpos...9&postcount=12

I am working on developing my color/painting skills as well, so I was wondering why you set a base for that painting that you did of the orc (the grey background that you filled in behind the line work)

also, since you've been recently working on your color, have any tips or exercises that made a difference?

[Windmaker]

I suck at updating...
Sorry for the late replies guys. And a big thanks for all the nice words!

Emil_ Thanks! Glad you love the style. I'm really happy that painting in general is finally starting to come along nicely

jeremygordon89 Thank you! I hope I won't disappoint in the future

BlackDelphin Thanks! It's great to see that people like the environments. Especially since I consider myself to be better at characters. Me and perspective don't usually mix very well... Also, there's the step-by-step you requested. I hope it's helpfull!

The Sceptical Saint Yeah... I didn't want to go too cliche on those orcs, sooo... That's what came to mind. Aand... just remember you asked for the sketchy stuff yourself. I hope you won't be sorry when you get it...

richart Thanks! I preffer waffles myself though...

Auspiciouspanda Glad you love the colours! As for the looseness... I'm not sure if they aren't too loose. I sometimes wish I could work less messy.

Mengel Glad you like the stuff enough to want advice from me I'll write what comes to mind on the subject of colour below.

Sooo... here I am, writing what comes to mind on the subject of colour.

What I've found the most helpful is to look at a colour wheel while painting. This helps me choose good colour combiations. Be it complementary colours or groups of tertiary colours, or something else. Look here for examples.

Also, I look at a lot of artwork from artists that I consider to be really good with colour. Those guys in particular:

Tom Scholes
Emmanuel Malin
Julie Dillon
Jen Zee
Veronique Meignaud
Min Yum

Just look at other artists' work and try to find out what you like about it so much. I just love it when the colours are vibrant and saturated. And when there's random little pieces of different colours mixing with big areas of one colour. Makes it look so much more vivid!

Also, I reeally abuse Photoshop's layer blending modes to get those random happy accidents with colour and work from there. Quite often I use the difference and saturation modes to go over an area aaand... liven it up. I sometimes go overboard with this though. So be careful when using such things

I know it's all basic stuff, but it took me quite a while to figure out (since I'm mostly self-taught), so I hope this helps somebody

I can go more in depth into what I know about colour theory and the like. And more tips on the blending modes abusal if anyone wants. Just let me know. Or if you have any other questions- feel free to ask


And lastly- here's a little update on that orc dude. I hope I'll soon be able to post more than orcs... I have a million other things that I want to paint and draw

[Auspiciouspanda]

Veronique Meignaud is my hero. I would kill to get my hands on her photoshop brushes. She gets the most amazing texture in her illustrations!

Oooh another artist who does an amazing job with color (and painting in general) is Ruanjia (http://www.ruanjia.com/)

[Odayga]

wow. Beautiful work! lovely style! hoping to see more!!!

[HolyMane]

man i loved the concept and the colours on that orc concept ! cool stuff!

[Windmaker]

Auspiciouspanda You've got a good taste in hereos

Odayga Thanks Really glad you like my work. I hope I'll be able to spam you with a lot more of it

HolyMane Thank you I'm glad the colours are working.

Soooo... this is the last orc-related post. Here's all three of them. Aaand I plan on calling them finished. I know I can polish them quite a bit more, buuut... my lazyness is of epic proportions. So no more polish for the orcs.

Also, suddenly I hate the mage/shaman orc. But, following Calader's advice, I'm leaving the orcs and moving on. I've started my batch of "a hundred faces" and "a hundred weapons" studies, so I'll post the beginning of those when I get home tonight.

Thanks for looking all Feel free to comment and critique!

[Blueberry]

Your colors are amazing! I am learning a lot there! cheers!

[Windmaker]

Blueberry Thanks! Glad you're able to learn something from all this mess

Here's something quick for a project I decided to start. The idea is to make quick colour sketches of an imaginary village and its surroundings. As if a sketchlog from a travel. I'll try to not spend more than an hour and a half, (two at the most) on each page. With this I'll try to improve my design and colour skills. Also painting and drawing. Aaand... yeah... everything. So, here's the first page. A few shepherds. Next will be sketches of the animals they tend to and the area on the way to the village.

Thanks for looking

[Jasper_]

Sweeet work man! I really dig the perspective enviro things, they look like awesome practice! As for crits, maybe on your characters, try to let the form show through more instead of getting too caught up in the colors. I feel like some of the characters are losing depth. Awesome ideas though man, I'lll be checking back!

[Jonathan C]

love your work!