The Sketchbook of MetroEast - Updated April 7th

[metroeast]

Hi guys,

Here are some of the stuff I have been doing lately. I really would like to hear what you guys think.


Astronaught Girl


Scuba Diver


Surfing Dude

Check out my online portfolio for some 3D stuff I have done too.

[Fellah.]

Hi man.
Nice and solid start. I like it.
Your strenght is your line work. Clean and controlled. You got that down pretty good. But you should work more on the anatomy - refs and life and stuff. It opens your eyes for strukture very fast - i learn that myself and was amazed at all the mistakes i did before.
For anatomy, check out mentlers threads - thats some hot stuff!
For killer ink and line work check out salarymans thread!
Welcome and good luck dude!

[Badger]

Nice work! I gotta agree with fellah, his crits are spot on. My mine crit is torso anatomy. Rip cages and hips. Your first too sketches are a bit too tubular is the torso.
Great hands, great character translations. I look forward to more!
-Badger-

[rick_hershey]

I have to back up Badger and Fellah on the anatomy issue, and you do have a nice clean line work. I also suggest working a little on your line weight. Where it varies it looks good, but it's not consistant. . .push it a little further and be more consistant and see what you think, I hope it helps.

[metroeast]

Thanks for you crits. I really love getting feedback on my stuff.

Fellah - I am honored to have you even look at my stuff. I really like your sketchbook. I am kinda surprised you like my linework over my anatomy. I would have thought the opposite. I checked out Mentler's thread and I see what you mean. The guy is amazing. Reminds me of Burne Hogarth and DiVinci.

Badger - I agree with you. The torsos are definately more tubular. It has been something I am working on. I am working on something right now where I am really trying to thin it up a little more than I usually do. Look below these messages and let me know if this is getting better. I know the girl's expression is a little wierd. I am working on it.
BTW - You stuff is pretty cool too.

rick_hershey - I feel my linework is the weakest in my drawings. I am so afraid of getting the sketches too dark. I used to have a tendancy to over ink my stuff and it got a little muddy. I will post one of my older sketches this weekend to show where I had come from a few years ago.



Keep watching the thread and keep the crits coming. I really appreciate it.

[metroeast]

Hey guys,

Sorry it's been a while. I have been working on and off an animation for a while and my car just broke down. Here is one that I did last week I just added some background elements.

Let me know what needs work.



I keep them coming.

[Fellah.]

Hi man
Thanks for the nice words about my stuff I love these sketchbooks - so much good stuff going on!
Again nice line work and chardesign on the last update. Nice job on the dude holding the girl - the ear closest to the girl is sticking out slightly too much, nice arm - the girls torso and upperleg looks fine, but her lowerleg is very thin maybe? The last dude with guns looks cool too, but the arm leaning on the container is very long compared to the other arm, and since its in the background it should be smaller. See it? The same goes for the frontleg, even tho its bending(bad english) it should be more in front. The hand and wrist on the frontarm are slightly too small too. Sorry for messing up a good inkwork man
This is smalltime stuff really - nice work mate!

[metroeast]

Fellah. Wow! I didn't expect such a quick response. I agree about the girls leg. It doesn't really look like there is any weight on that leg. I was too occupied trying to make her look semi-hot and not paying attention to realism. I need to keep it in mind.

I agree too on the gunman. Foreshortening isn't one of my strong points. I do think the left foot is in the right position to support the weight of the character, but I think it would help to have the knee go out more. No harm on the inks. I wanted to ink more, but I have a hard time doing it on the train. I will certainly work on it and post a new one next week.

In the mean time here is an old one I did a while back. I wanted to do more of a candid scene. I need to find really good reference materials. Got any ideas?



Here is the guy and the stripper inked in. I wish I saw you crit earlier Fellah. Next time I guess. I think the inks went a little overboard. The guys knees suck.



Thanks a lot Fellah. You have a lot of respect from me dude.

[Tomoran]

I love the guy with the stripper, Dave--but I don't think that you went overboard with the inks. Are you going to color it? I supposed that would make a difference on how you inked it.

T

[metroeast]

Hey Tom. Took your suggestion and here it is...

I love the guy with the stripper, Dave--but I don't think that you went overboard with the inks. Are you going to color it? I supposed that would make a difference on how you inked it.

T

I also started to ink a little more of the gunman in the alley. I couldn't rework the arm because it was already inked (Sorry Fellah). Let me know what you think.



I am going to work on another sketch. I scene of a girl in a bar (now there is a surprise) Dressed down and having fun. Like a Rolling Rock commercial. I will post when I have something to show.

Later

[draw]

You got some skills bro. Awwesome linework. Not 100% on the colour job (I hope thats not the burn tool) but love the drunk and the last three sketches. The girls at the start look a tiny bit masculine, I think. Maybe their squarish jaws and thick eyebrows? Anyway you shit on me in terms of dynamic movement any clues on how to improve?

[metroeast]

You got some skills bro. Awwesome linework. Not 100% on the colour job (I hope thats not the burn tool) but love the drunk and the last three sketches. The girls at the start look a tiny bit masculine, I think. Maybe their squarish jaws and thick eyebrows? Anyway you shit on me in terms of dynamic movement any clues on how to improve?

Yeah. I agree. My color sucks (as sad as it looks, I didn't burn it).I gotta go the same way you did. I got to do more studies. I definately need to work on the ladies. I got to get a swimsuit calendars or something to work off of.

As for the dynamic movement stuff. I usually do a lot of gestural sketches. You know the old sphere, cube and cyclinder stuff they teach in art101. Looking at a lot of reference helps too. I have been trying to work off of DVDs lately (I haven't posted these here yet). Watch good action movies, like The Transporter, The Replacement Killers, or whatever.

Thanks for the crits

[metroeast]

Hey guys,

Here is the Stripper reworked. I took out some of the linework in the guy and a lot out of the girl. The linework on the girl made her more muscluar than I wanted. I also thinned her lips a bit more. I took mostly the line work out of the guys face to make him look a little younger.

Let me know if I am going in the directionyou guys were suggesting. Thanks for the crits.

[Tomoran]

Dude, that looks sweet. I especially liked where your removed the linework in the woman and added the soft shading. Wow. I didn't think that she looked bad before but she honestly looks much better. I also like the colored lighting on her arm and his shoulder--nice touch.

Is there any way you could remove some of the linework in the guy's arm? Don't get me wrong--it looks good. It's just that now the linework in his forearm stands out when next to the shading on the girl.

Nice work.

Tom

[metroeast]

Dude, that looks sweet. I especially liked where your removed the linework in the woman and added the soft shading. Wow. I didn't think that she looked bad before but she honestly looks much better. I also like the colored lighting on her arm and his shoulder--nice touch.

Is there any way you could remove some of the linework in the guy's arm? Don't get me wrong--it looks good. It's just that now the linework in his forearm stands out when next to the shading on the girl.

Nice work.

Tom

I didn't think of it at the time but now that you mention it. I gave it a shot. I didn't erase it completely. I changed the opacity of the linework on that section of the arm. It is about 15-20%. This way I keep the detail but I de-emphasize it.

Let me know what you think.

[metroeast]

Here are two I did this week. I was pretty inspired by Fellah's stuff lately, so I did a roman guard. I think I went too far on the detail. I also over shaded his chin.


The other was an attempt at doing a candid of a girl at the bar after a softball game.

[metroeast]

Here are a few more studies.

[Tomoran]

Yeah, that looks great. It matches with her body now--nice job.

I like the roman soldier alot. You may (or may not) want to do some more crosshatching on cloth portion of his uniform to make it look darker than his arms. Perhaps a light crosshatch over the entire area, then darken up the wrinkles with more dense areas of hatching. Either way, I like him.

The pencil sketches are very dynamic. I especially like the one of the girl seated.

POST MORE! LOl

Tom

I didn't think of it at the time but now that you mention it. I gave it a shot. I didn't erase it completely. I changed the opacity of the linework on that section of the arm. It is about 15-20%. This way I keep the detail but I de-emphasize it.

Let me know what you think.

[Badger]

I have no images Bandwidth gone? or is it just me?
Thankyou for the kind words by the way, its very nice of you to say that in a forum with so much talent.
I shall await and edit this post i'm sure....
-Badger-

<<EDIT>>
Thanks for the mail, nice stuff. Good ideas you have (thats sounded sooo Yoda)
I did an attempt of a paint over, i hope it helps to see you art from a different angle
here it is
I'm not very good at anatomy, but i'm ok on perspective so i tried to tackle some of the issues.
I like the green colour job, really nice work their.
this one is great, the minimal tone shows a lot of confidence.
Nice anatomy work... i should prob go do some...
I'll be watching you (in a none hiding in a bush way)
-Badger-

[metroeast]

Here is the Mighty Max redesign I had in mind. Not a huge departure.



Go Here To View This Colored


Let me know what you think.

[Badger]

Latest one is sweet the bird rocks!!
The boy's left arm need to stick up more before it dissapears under the right, unless his arm is made of paper.
The planes that he's on mean he looks like he's falling backwards, you'd need to pull him to the left a tiny bit.
Th guy standing, could lower his sword a bit.
Hope that was ok, not too harsh...
Great stuff. Impressive detail! how even each blade of grass, dedication my friend!
-Badger-

[Fellah.]

NIce roman mate. Nice ink.
When i start hatching in ink i often - not allways - do some fast strokes on another piece of paper for warm up, to get the hand loose. Often i hate the first stokes i make on a drawing if i dont. Get loose an take that feeling with you to the drawing i guess is what i mean A tip i find usefull is start with inking the face - it is the hardest part to give an organic touch with ink - easy to mess up really - for everybody - and its a shame to have made a lot of work on the costume and not be happy about the face. Believe me i know
Take care man

[goosehole]

Execept for the guy on the surfboard, all your other character faces look deformed...
...but if that was your intention, then you dont have a problem.

Should have spent more time on your pencil work before going to the inking stage..

[metroeast]

The boy's left arm need to stick up more before it dissapears under the right, unless his arm is made of paper.
The planes that he's on mean he looks like he's falling backwards, you'd need to pull him to the left a tiny bit.
Th guy standing, could lower his sword a bit.
Hope that was ok, not too harsh...
Great stuff. Impressive detail! how even each blade of grass, dedication my friend!
-Badger-

That crit wasn't bad at all. You had good observations that I think I need to work on. You should have seen what this guy said in the finished section (Read his comments here).

Perspective is a real weak spot with me. I also find myself rushing to have something to show. I should have worked the arms and legs in Max a little more.

I like your paint over of the guy and the stripper. Your layout works much better.

Nice roman mate. Nice ink.
When i start hatching in ink i often - not allways - do some fast strokes on another piece of paper for warm up, to get the hand loose. Often i hate the first stokes i make on a drawing if i dont. Get loose an take that feeling with you to the drawing i guess is what i mean A tip i find usefull is start with inking the face - it is the hardest part to give an organic touch with ink - easy to mess up really - for everybody - and its a shame to have made a lot of work on the costume and not be happy about the face. Believe me i know

Thanks man. I really value any advice you give me. That is a really good idea. Do you ink the sketches that you post in your sketchbook? If so, what do you use for inking? Quill, brush, ink pen?

As always, thank you for your comments. I will continue to post more and look forward to seeing more of your work as well.

[Fellah.]

Hi man the last many posts from me (except one of the shamanheads on texture paper - btw try using different types of paper sometimes) are all pencils works. I missed that a lot. Still love the cleaness(?) of the ink tho.
I use ink pens mostly(a lot lol) they are a bit stiff in the beginning but your stokes can form them and make you lines very fluid - made sence? I also use brush sometimes and calligraphy pens - often in the same drawing if i want it to look like different textures. Thin strokes, big strokes, dark and light etc. From your work i see you already got a very good sence of inking, so its just refining it and make a lot of experiments.

[metroeast]

Thanks for the advice Fellah. I will try other papers. I have been trying to put more variation in my lineweight. I need to slow down. I see how fast and how often you crank your stuff out with the detail you got. I need to sit on this stuff a little more and work the details.

I forgot to attach a sketch.


Take a look at the Street Brawl I am working on in the WIP section Updated 6-28-05
Thanks

[metroeast]

Here are a few older sketches I did for an animation I am working on. It is going to be about 3-4 min long.

Surf Dude (main character. Kind of a goofy dude. You can see some previews of him animated on my site here. )


Beach Babe (I didn't use her. She looked more street than beach. I didn't want her to look too sexy, just really cute)


Little Beach Girl (This is what I opted for instead of older and cute. It also plays better in the story)


Let me know what you think of these.

[Badger]

nice work on the animation characters, being animation i imagine the large head was deliberate so i shall go on to say your girly has a few probs....
I kept trying to work out what i thought was wrong with her shoulders but then i realised its the ratio of hips to shoulders that make her look off. I think she should have wider hips, more inline with the width of her shoulders, infact she almost has no hips... Have a quick look at the shape of the pelvis.
Her lower legs are shorter than her upper legs. Hands should be bigger, put you hand over your face and see how much it should cover.
I love the lil girl though, makes me giggle, sweet expression. nice excecution on the flip-flops (shoesy thingys).
Must update own sketchbook...
-B-

[metroeast]

nice work on the animation characters, being animation i imagine the large head was deliberate so i shall go on to say your girly has a few probs....
I kept trying to work out what i thought was wrong with her shoulders but then i realised its the ratio of hips to shoulders that make her look off. I think she should have wider hips, more inline with the width of her shoulders, infact she almost has no hips... Have a quick look at the shape of the pelvis.
-B-

Good crit. I am going to work more on the hips. It is a real problem with me as you can tell from my others. I am going to start working on some sketches from photos for a while to get my bearings.

Here is a WIP of a concept of Skullmaster from "Mighty Max".
I wanted to give him a more zombie look, more like a ferryman on the River Styx. The staff has the Crystal of Souls inside the wooden sphere. I was also thinking about putting tattos on him (something like Henna tattoos. I am doing some research to see what tattoo came from Mesopotamia or Ancient Rome).

What do you guys think


Thanks

[Tomoran]

Dude, so far--so good. That looks great. Nice details and shading in the face--very impressive. Is his neck a little off? Maybe just a little bit back from the center line? It's certainly nothing huge, I still love the pic.

Cant' wait to see the finished version.

Tom