Xcarbon's Sketchbook

[Xcarbon]

kamikazel33t - thank you for the 1hr 60sec gestures i feel much more comfortable and my lines have improved a little

ninaren - hmmm if you dont want to feel like cheating you can do one thing ..apply those filters play around until you see a satisfying setting then observe it > delete adjustments and try to paint over it what you remember from observation thats one way i can think of :]
i understand job problems lol...
merry xmas to you too [altough its a lil late lol]

Im also impressed of the great job you do consider that you already have a full time job

wanna know a secret??
i asked about maybe a year ago on some site that i find it difficult to practice art after an 8hr job... i got a reply for sumone that actually proved to be helpful
now i dont exactly know remember word to word what he said but if if i were to explain it in my words it wuold be something like this
"From the point you wake up your brain starts recording activities and it keep recording everything. until you come home there is SO MUCH in you brain that your willpower to do or focus in anything is almost gone. The solution for this [it works for me i dont know if it would work on you or not]
when you come home "TAKE A NAP" you see when you sleep your brain starts to sort out everything that happened from the point you woke up to the point you go to sleep. take a nap of half to one hour when you wake your mind will be a little clear and you'll have a little more willpower. after waking up tell your self "oh yea i have to practice art" and then do so you'll find it easy"

this actually worked for me!! hope you find it useful! :]

Joakim Olofsson - Thank you



so sometimes i almost forget to actually practice painting ..did this on 26th
i know it terrible ...but this is actually my first time PROPER face study from reference
done in "art rage" with little to no color blending [wanted to fell a little more painterly]







I have to thank kamikazel33t for telling me to do 1 hr of 60 sec gestures ....they actually improved me... after doing those i did these......theses are done from imagination

















among all the practice i almost forgot i want to be a concept artist ....this is the first time iv actually done CHARACTER thumbs








and again some mech/ships ....my main influences for these things are scott robertson and Feng zhu

[Xcarbon]

my pc is not ok these days....something about Nvidia drivers stopped working and recovered...pc keeps hanging up if i open google chrome or play any video or game or open up and heavy software like photoshop..... so no digital work for now.


this was done last year just forgot to upload





Did these from photo ref from deviant art




the figure is from DA other from Micheal Hampton




been doing some practice and reading Micheal hamptons
the previous gestures practice really helped me alot i draw a little better figure now without any reference and my confidence has boosted a little.

These are done without any ref. just from imagination





only the foot on top left is from Hampton's







from Micheal Hampton













from mind



From photos





and just for fun

[Viconia]

Thank you so much for visiting and commenting on my sketchbook!

What I really like about your SB is how dynamic your figures are and I have to say that even looking at the first page I am already seeing an improvement in your figure drawing skills. They have much more energy and flow to them now. You are quite dedicated and honestly, just seeing the amount of studies that you've done really makes me want to work harder.

On post 61, I really like your character concept thumbs. They all have such great energy and they are just really fun to look at. I wish I could draw thumbnails like that but for some reason I find thumbnailing to be really difficult. Hehe, in any case I really hope to see more work from you soon and I wish you the best of luck in your drawing adventures. Take care!

[Xcarbon]

Viconia - thank you for your sweet words ... i used to think thumbnailing would be hard but it actually isnt .. all the thumbs i did i just made my hand move in different direction with very little specific directions and it just turned into something interesting.. id say just try and who knows maybe you might be alot better than you think dont let fear or anything come in your way!

something i forgot to upload!!

[Xcarbon]

Little update








watching "The late late show"

[ninaren]

Hey! I just love that you are so filled with enthusiasm, creativity and energy. Thank you so much for the wise words, I will try it out for sure, however I dont have a solid schedule so making it a routine is abit harder but it all boils down to willpower I guess. Either way I have been having some time to do some practise after all the holidays now. I see that you have been busy and you are already a nice way into page 3 in your SB, great job keep kicking ass

The painting u did on the 26th isnt terrible at all, like most of your drawings and paintings its filled with energy. Painting without blending is really hard and you should give yourself a big credit for doing that .
Me myself I never tried artrage, only seen people doodling with it and its quite a neat program
One thing tho, I feel tho that your reference have a very hard light on her left side and its..hmm whats the word? Abit overexposured especially around the eyes making it harder to see form. But I think that you did a great job capturing her expression and energy Keep em coming and do more studys, I wanna see more Something u should also do is to leave out color and just try valuepainting. like thoose charcoals you did

about your gesture and anatomy drawing its coming up really nice, thoose from mind are popping out more and more. I see a big improvement from mind and well, dont have so much more to say more than really nice updates and a great effort u put into your drawings and paintings.
Take care and have a happy creative 2013

[Xcarbon]

ninaren - Thank you for your sweet words
i would try value painting but my PC is not working properly [hangs up a lot]
but id be sure to do it once i figure out what is wrong with my PC and correct it.

FROM "HEL-LOOKS.COM"



Did this in office today while watching a video ... i realized a very simple thing for action you can always watch a video and pause it at poses you like the most.
This is from a youtube video just practicing skeletal landmarks.

[Istmin52]

I'm really digging your recent stick figures. Something I should practice more myself. As for the painting of the face, make sure you're brush settings are correct so you can blend better in Photoshop. In brushes, then in Shape Dynamics change size jitter to pen pressure. In Transfer, set your opacity and flow to pen pressure. This should help you.

[Cojac]

Hi, thanks for stopping by my SB. I see great improvement in your drawings since your first post. The gestual drawing really helps to loosen up and make the figures more flexible. Keep going.

[ninaren]

something I noticed is that you are becoming more confident with your pencilstrokes. great job and what a great idea to use youtube like that! Its nice to see how you use your weapons with your figure studys aswell.
Speaking of the PC thing, you dont really need a pc to do that, thoose bowls that I did in photoshop can be done with just charcoal or led pencils. or any medium for that matter. have a light source (I used a desktop lamp, fairly bright) set up a still life, whatever u have, can even be food or just empty boxes. I did a few with graphite pencils and I really like it. when u feel that u wanna go into digital or if u wanna stay with traditional is up to you but either way its great practise for both digital and traditional
And thank you for the kind words I wish u a nice day!
Really glad Ive found you and your SB, you inspire me alot and keep pushing yourself. seeing this improvement on 3 pages, just makes me wanna see moar and moar

[dimi]

hi m8 and thnx for visiting my sb,your figures have improved quickly if hampton helps you with that stick to him,gestures will help to reinforce the sense of connection between the forms of the body its great that u combine them with the weapons,also nice eye for design i like your mechanic stuff keep doing them but try to sketch them in 3/4 so that u can find out how their shapes are as mass also i think you make the figure a little longer measure back for safety take care and keep up cheers!

[Marria]

A lot of awesome stuff happening here, seeing all the studies is very motivating!

[Xcarbon]

Istmin52 - Thank you ....well i already knew that but thanks for suggesting. but it was me who wanted to try painting without blending

Cojac - Thank you . yup gesture drawing dose help loosen up and im glad someone suggested me to do an hour of 60 sec gestures it really helped me greatly

dimi - thank you. i could do the mechanical designs in 3/4 view but i suck at perspective. [something i need to work on] trying to improve one step at a time :]

Marria - thank you. im glad its motivating you :]

ninaren - thanks
hmmmmm...... its not a bad idea to setup my own still life. too bad i dont have a lamp though..... i guess i'll have to work with torches or my phones flash light xD but ive heard that its better to draw from still life that is right in front of you rather than doing it from a photo. thanks for the suggestion.
you have a nice day too

and im glad i found YOU :] ... you are my VERY FIRST friend on conceptart and you inspire me alot when ever i see your environments i feel i should also do some they are THAT awesome!!

btw it seems like my pc is able to run light softwares like sketchbook pro and paint tool sai
so was able to do some studies digitally

so.... this is the next update

here are the pencil ones
just the regular stuff from hampton's





this one was done in the short sketchpad just for fun



from photo ref, done in sketch book pro



60 sec gestures done in paint tool sai. coz i need to practice drawing on tablet too.



studies done in paint tool sai







and finally JUST FOR FUN stuff done in sketchbook pro

[Xcarbon]

another little update!!

[frostsnake]

Huge improvement in your figure drawings. All of your studies are great, but cool to se some "nonstudies" also.
I like the helmet on this:
http://conceptart.org/forums/attachm...4&d=1358758503

On your last one, the ninja might need some more smooth/simple shoes, maybe with some of the forearm plate/pattern design. Now they seem to stand a bit to much out compared to the rest of the design.
Maybe there is some function to them that i dont know about. Anyway, keep at it.

[Xcarbon]

frostsnake - Thankyou ..yea well they are just some cyberpunk-ish / sci-fi-ish designs that i just wanted to do... not really anything specific!

another little update

im actually proud of this value study because this was done in sketchbook pro [the software that ppl say is good for lineart ]





and another design page .... im thinking of doing a single design page everyday to [maybe] improve my design sense and besides it just so much fun!!

[frostsnake]

Thanks for dropping by my sketchbook.
Thats a great value study. Its to bad studys aren`t as fun as trying to come up with your own stuff
cool arms and upper body on the guy to the right.
Thumbs up!

[Xcarbon]

yea studies are not as much fun but at the end they are quite rewarding when you look at what you've done
also you learn alot from them so its a win win situation!!
thanks

[mundanity]

really awesome stuff. I love the studies and the concept art stuff you've got here. also looking through from the first page you're definitely improving on the human body. keep up the great work.

[ninaren]

oh daaaaaang! That is some massive update. really love your digital (also traditional ofc)
Thoose valuestudies are really kicking some ass, you are improving in a fast rate imho
Thoose characters also are sweet. is that Chun Li from streetfighter in that upper corner btw ^-^ nice work on legs.
Clouds in the enviros are sweet and i like the atmosphere that you create.

There is one thing tho that hits me of one of your enviros, The one that comes first, there is alot of bright greens and I dont think Im not even close to do a paintover when it comes to critique so if u think im wrong please dont be mad ^^
But I tried to town down the bright green and mute it abit. not sure if i did a great job even since i have to go to bed. took just 3 min so sorry for the rush but i felt like i wanted to respond before bed so I dont forget tomorrow when im even more tired.
but then I was the one having trouble with vibrant colors maybe im the one thats wrong?

Still, good job and keep kicking ass You are seriously on a roll!!

yours fast changed one

just took a big brush sorry that i couldnt do much more but i need to sleep. gotta go up in 5 hours ;P

cya laters

[Xcarbon]

mundanity - thanks... im trying hard to understand than just simply look and draw and that has helped me alot, uptill now...

ninaren - Thanks !! yup it was sumone cosplay/dressed as chun-li so it was a real person!! those legs gave me a really hard time i erased the kicking leg atleast 4 or 5 times and i still think it looks off
oh thanks for the suggestion i see where your going with this.. and man... your brush work is good that actually looks like a believable environment... thanks for showing me that ...that just shows how good you've become that it only took 3 minutes to make that study look this good!! :]

today's dose
60 sec gestures ....in sketchbook pro

i feel like my 60 sec gestures have improved a little from how horrible they used to look before..... hmmm maybe its time to make it 45 or 30 second gestures



and as usual one design page

[ninaren]

hey again I was tired when I wrote, sorry I didnt explain more about the green. James gurney talks alot about it in his book "color and light". a really good investment and pretty cheap for that goldmine. one of the best books imo on colors and light. check out his blogspot first tho. lots of free stuffs and he talks about greens here. http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.se/200...n-problem.html

It is a hard color and I dont think that my way that I showed are right in every situation. It was just something that I thought about when I looked at it. And dont thank me, you did all the work and I really love the atmosphere. mountains looks good. I think its hard to do greens, usally I try to mix in other colors with it, like what you have done with the distant grass. But look at different lightning conditions. I cant belive thoose were done so fast (the gestures) fucking awesome

and nice concepts again. I like the siluettes alot.

[TomSeas]

Great sb, looks like you know what you're doing, you're motivated and have a clear goal in mind which is awesome.
The only thing I'd suggest is work on your line for both your short and long studies. Try to work with less lines, that way you don't lose the right and accurate line amongst all the wrong ones. Also putting down a bunch a lines and curves is a waste of time (for 60s gestures for example). Try and think about what you're seeing, over which forms you are and then put a single stroke, The ones in your last post are a testament to that I think, a minor reason why you might have improved, you had more time to think about things.
Looking forward for more!

[StressCavity]

Hey dude, thanks for dropping by my SB! I gotta say I absolutely adore the work effort you've got, gestures are so hard for me and I give up after like 5 xD You update a lot too which is awesome, keep it up! I wanna see some crazy shit come from you

[Revidescent]

Those loose character designs are really interesting, it'd be neat to see a couple of them taken to a more finalized, linear state, or painted up. =) Liking the Hampton studies, too! You should try bringing some of his ideas into your gestures; some of your gestures are missing a sense of weight and form. If you try doing the quicker gestures (which is always a good idea!) it can be fun to start with quick ones then slowly up the time - if you've just done a bunch of 30 sec gestures, suddenly 60 seconds feels like all the time in the world.

[Xcarbon]

ninaren - yea i have that book in my wish list...will buy when i finish my other books :p
it might not be right in every situation but your skills are quite good and thanks :]

TomSeas - thanks yea i guess my biggest problem was to look at them as stick ppl...now its alot clear to me

StressCavity - Thnaks :] ......... crazy shit you say... what kind? might i ask.

Revidescent - O.o that is so right ... i should do that .....do 30 second gesture and then moving to 60 seconds would feel like i have all the time in the world. thanks for that

all right
this is from the past 2 days

me doing the very basic exercises like a boss



















saw Daarken's video a looooong time ago and finally made a chain brush
he said to draw/paint something with a completely random brush

Nightmare's Anomaly


something just for fun



this is so terrible. i hate you so much MUGS

[blazingdimensions]

thanks for stopping by my SB! love all your sketches you make me want to study more i can definately seeing you going pro, so dedicated. keep up the great work.by the way what book are you using to study figures?

[Xcarbon]

blazingdimensions - no prob :] and thnaks
im studiying from "michael hampton : figure drawing design and invention"
its a really good book and the visuals are so good that whenever i pick up the book i actually want to read it rather than just look at the drawings

[StressCavity]

When I said crazy shit I meant something super duper awesome, and your stuff is already getting there I especially like your studies, I can't do them to save my life haha. Keep up the good work dude! You're improving super fucking fast

[maths82]

Yo, your figures and observed poses are coming on great.. especially your "paused youtube" drawings... really good balance and tension in the poses. Also, those cyan coloured characters, done in a more graphic style are really cool.