NeecHMonkeYing Around ...

[Capital G]

Nice work here, I like your Starwars characters, looking good!

All the best

-Gerard

[NyeAlexandaFrayne]

quality stuff yet again!

[NeecHMonkeY]

nyje & Capital G - Thanks guys.
Neferinn & Moonrage - Thanks for pointing that out, I do really need to keep values in mind more. Something I hope to rectify with my next piece.

This is my rough block-in for the next Nuclear Dawn promo image I'm working on. I'm saving each stage along the way so I should be able to put together a 'step by step' once it's all finished:

[Istmin52]

I agree with the person said in post #29. I really like your environment thumbnails though. It inspires me to do some myself.

[adamsimons]

i like comp on this latest piece.

[GaiaReborn]

Wooo Love your image of the Huron Scout!! Super strong and imposing! Great anatomy also! Looking forward to seeing lots more from you!!!

[poetry man]

Hey man. Props! that vehicle sketch is dope. The movie stills are dope. I also like how you said not becoming a slave to reference- we got like minds haha--

also, I like how you simplified the head study. Reminds me of my animation days... well, technically they haven't ended lol. But yeah, keep it up man. I see real talent in you.

God bless.

peace ma brotha!

[NeecHMonkeY]

Wow, I feel kinda dirty that I haven't posted in my Sketchbook since February this year. :/ It's been pretty busy and I've done a lot of work but still, you'd think I'd be able to keep up something as simple as posting my work into an online sketchbook.

Let's try again (and btw, thank to the last few people who posted in this thread):

First up, here's the progress that went into the last image I posted (I did finish it).


Some more Head/Face studies - one of my weakest areas (I think anyway).


Some bust studies looking at material and the way light interacts with each.


Next, a quick mess around painting of the Space Jockey because I'm really excited for Ridley Scott's Prometheus.


A personal character design (and also a study in anatomy, pose and balance and forcing myself to keep some areas 'lost' and unrefined).


And lastly, a personal enviro piece.

[diana6echo]

nice last two works

[BlueHabit]

painting of the Space Jockey because I'm really excited for Ridley Scott's Prometheus.

What sci-fi affectionado in their right mind wouldn't be? I just hope there is more of a direct tie in to Alien 1979 than Ridley Scott has let on.

Nice work on the space jockey.

[NeecHMonkeY]

diana6echo & BlueHabit - Thank you.

This is a 2hr sketch of my Tywin Darkwater, my Dunmer character from Skyrim... in his Thieves Guild armor.

Started out as practice for faces and lighting using a photo of Christian Bale as reference and turned into this.

[thedestroyer]

Hey NeecHMonkeY. your character sketches are very good and that last environment kicks ass. really good.

Cheers

[LastGen]

Nice job, NeecHMonkeY! Star Wars Universe combined with medieval armor is an interesting idea!

[dlincoln83]

i love your stuff and thx for showing a process gif thats pretty awesome!

[NeecHMonkeY]

thedestroyer - Thank you very much.

Last Gen - I wish I could take credit but it was actually the film director's idea and I just had to visualize it.

dlincoln83 - Thank you, I checked out your sketchbook and love your figure/anatomy studies.

[NickyBeats]

hey man! awesome updates! really love the lighting in that last enviro! and the latest characters are looking nice too!

[NeecHMonkeY]

Hey Nicky, thanks a lot.

Crazy past 2 weeks but I've been keeping up with my sketches and studies as much as I can in-between work.

Some more gesture/pose practices:



Some anatomy studies, these focusing specifically on the front of the arm. Rather than just sketch them straight from the book, I wanted to take it a step further and paint them as I would normally and really try to understand how it all works, the form of each shape, etc, etc. I will continue to do these same kind of studies with the rest of the body as it has really helped me.

[NickyBeats]

be careful on that arm anatomy bro, at the moment it looks like you raced through this one. the arms look very lumpy with odd lighting too. the bicep looks a bit too long, and the forearem muscles look way too defined. also it looks like the deltoids are sitting on top of another set of deltoids. i would take a big soft brush and soften up the entire middle length of the arms, where the light would hit first. then go back in and begin to softly build up some forms using a hard edged brush. try to compare your study to photos of arms, and see how they match up. sometimes that can make obvious mistakes jump out. but keep it up man, i love seeing your new stuff!

[NeecHMonkeY]

Thanks Nick, that's a really good comment. The more defined versions on the far right are a failed attempt at trying to go for a more exagerrated 'comic' look. I never liked my work on them but I like to keep my failures public to humble me and force me to try harder with the studies.

Now that you mentioned it and I've taken a look at some other reference, you're 100% right... those deltoids are messed up. I know I was trying to show the separate overlapping muscles in that area but I think it got out of hand. That area has always confused me.

If the Biceps, etc are also suffering, it will be best to start from scratch and post the new efforts.

Thanks again for the guiding words and keeping me honest.

[NeecHMonkeY]

1hr warm-up sketch inspired by Whit Brachna's Outdoor Enviro video.

[Aurora=]

I like your sketchbook The way you paint is so nice
I love this work the most

[NeecHMonkeY]

Thanks Aurora. Yeah, the scout is a fav of mine too.

I really need to update my Sketchbook, I've just been so busy with work stuff, etc. Maybe I can post a few WiP's from that stuff in the next week or so.

[NeecHMonkeY]

It's a sad day when one of the people who has inspired and influenced you passes away.

Rest in Peace, Ralph McQuarrie.

[NeecHMonkeY]

Finally, an update.

First up, just a quick sketch of a random EVA suit dude - playing around with shapes on a blank canvas to see what came out.


Next up is another tribute to Ralph McQuarrie, trying to emulate his style based on his work on The Empire Strikes Back.


Last is something I did fairly quickly today. An idea that's been swimming in my head for a while now to revisit some of my work from a few years ago when I first started digital painting.

Lots of fun to see how far I've come in those 4 years.

[Xamllew]

I love progression shots like that, it really shows the evolving skill. I especially like that page of figures up the page a little and the Huron Indian on the last page.