★ TheDirtSyndicate ★

[TheDirtSyndicate]

im still experimenting with this technique, only this time i brought in some photo elements. the figure is mostly a self portrait, i enhanced some of the muscle definition with some other photos and painting on top. the goat head was actually created from a horse skull that was mirrored, chopped up and stretched and painted... the horns of course were from a big horn sheep, i painted in extra details there too. actuall, all over the damn place, i painted tons of shit into this. anyway, it was lots of fun, i enjoyed it. thinking of doing more.

__________________________________________________ _________
- Ayin -

ayin is the 21st letter in the arabic alphabet. it means "eye".

this characters background is based on a story i was developing with Michael J. Haywood many moons ago. This of course is Baphomet/Lucifer/the devil, etc. but i didn't want to be so "on the nose" with his name. Ayin means "eye", and in the story we were developing, lucifer was desperately trying to be "good" by punishing sinners in the hopes that he would be able to get back into heaven. unfortunately there are souls so evil that he isn't powerful enough to keep them in hell, so he released them back to earth where they became vampires. during the day he keeps an "eye" on them, literally the eye in the sky (the sun) that keeps them in check so that they dont take over the world. or something like that... ask michael if you can find him, he wrote most of it. ha

[magnut]

As usual, it's a great job.

You've got a clear feel for how to create mood and texture so well, it speaks volumes. I look at your illustration and my imagination soars with what the character could or would be doing in some situation.

Very nice.





Okay, I'll be the one to say it...

When are you going to do environments with perspective? I'm DYING to see you do stuff like that, too!




Now back to this piece. DAMN NICE WORK!

[Stark]

Damn man, this is sick. Thought you had painted the whole thing before I read the description. You need to keep this style going, but try to incorporate some color into it. It looks so dreary. Works, but see what expanding your palette will result in.

Keep rockin' and see ya.

[TheDirtSyndicate]

thanks stark
magnut... i've actually done 2 environments with this particular style... im just too self conscious to post them. i think they suck. haha
royzy, blightedart, soros: thanks!

[TheDirtSyndicate]

hey guys. been busy lately searching for a job so i haven't been drawing much. however, last night i checked out the character of the week theme and had a few ideas. i posted the sketch there, figured i'd post here too.

"my idea was to go sci-fi with it. make the guy a little cyborg-ish... less feeling/emotion/etc. i tried to make his facial expression show disgust, (mostly in the mouth), but indifference with the eyes/eyebrows.
i also planned on making his armor white on white. my thinking here is that he believes himself to be completely pure which justifies the things he does.
for the animal i was thinking of a squid. i've always thought they looked kind of evil but totally indifferent. instead of putting a squid in the drawing i used him for inspiration when designing the armor/sword.
i really hope i have time to finish this, im pretty happy with it so far.
anyway, here it is, feedback would be greatly appreciated:"

[TheDirtSyndicate]

another update...
i dont know if you guys have ever heard of a slack-line, but i love it. search for it on youtube to see what it is so you can understand these photos i took of myself yesterday:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/underto...7623862853922/

[Magic Man]

Some sexy stuff mate! Your proportions and textures are really improving. When you're doing linework, try to keep them efficient in order to aid readability.

Other than that, keep on keeping on brother!

Darren

[TheDirtSyndicate]

drink and draw sketches from last night
the best robot i've ever drawn, a few random faces, and wolverine as a cowboy.

[Seage]

Well then...what a strange way to find your SB. I stumbled upon a thread from 4 years ago, where the 'legends' of this forum were acting like immature brats and ragging on u for something you said, when you were telling a story from years ago. I know it was the past, but gosh...that was a bit much. I guess everyones changed a lot since back then, or at least i hope so, since even kids look up to the MB guys, but if thats how they still are, then i wouldnt want to be around them, too much negativity, and im all about the positive vibes!

Anyways, on that note, really loving your sb. Some nice lines going down in here, and that last piece with the photo in there is just killer. I hope to see some more of this.

[TheDirtSyndicate]

haha, yes. I've changed a LOT since i've joined this forum. in fact, this forum has taught me a lot about how to act in the professional world. the old threads definitely show a different person... it almost makes me want to go back and delete those posts... but i dont because its a reminder of how much i've grown and matured.

well, this is the last bit of time i'll have available to work on my chow entry for this week... for now this is my final. if i get some more free time i'll do some more clean up, i know its sloppy as fuck... anyway, here ya go:

[Kiung Yoo]

this is some great stuff!

[TheDirtSyndicate]

drink and draw stuff here... i went a couple weeks ago and just now got around to scanning them in. im really loving ink right now... i did all ink this time except for the one pencil sketch.

i also went this past thursday night and did a zombie theme. i'll scan those in and post as soon as i can.

anyway, here ya go:

[jackpot_anjr90]

Cool stuff! Like your ideas! I'd say work on some anatomy and gesture studies to help with your poses. Keep it up!

[TheDirtSyndicate]

ok, got em all scanned in.
these are from this past thursdays drink and draw, i randomly decided to draw zombies.

[magnut]

The first and third sketches of #313 are SO solid and lush with substance and character! The third sketch, the emphasis of the guy's arm muscles are downright sublime. Nicely distinct, very intuitively instinctive.

I think 'emphasis' is the key word here. I truly believe that any concerns about anatomy that people might have should and does take a back seat when you're able to convey such emphasis of emotion, tension, power & anxiety.

In other words, you have a brilliant instinct on how to make the characters you draw LIVE.

There are times when the anatomy gets out of hand, but mostly I believe you really have a great eye for creating believable characters. So when there is less accurate anatomy, or a lack of 'smoothly rendered' drawings, it really doesn't matter, when what you're creating is so distinct and character-filled.

However, I'm detecting a pattern here. You do such amazingly great character drawings, but I'm wanting more and more to see you do complete illustrations (characters interacting with environments) in this pen style. Or any style you wish, so long as you do complete illustrations.

As much wonderful work as you do, you're making it - oddly enough - almost less desirable to keep seeing the same thing. I think it's time to step it up a couple notches.

Time to start doing full illustrations, yes?

[TheDirtSyndicate]

thanks magnut. you're right... i do need to step it up a couple notches. i just wish i had more time to. its really difficult to work full time and do that. when i finally get a chance to draw i just want to have fun and throw ink around! but you are right... i've been feeling this way for awhile. i am really loving the ink at the moment... maybe i'll take a couple of those sketched out comic pages i did (and didn't post here) and take the to finish with this ink style.
watcha think?

[magnut]

Yeah, that would do very well, I think.

Also, it'd be interesting to see you take on inking other people's pencils. Reason is, if you end up only inking your own work, then whatever problems you have with your drawing are then compounded by embellishing them in ink. But if you were to try your hand at inking other people's work, you can end up absorbing approaches and artistic information that you hadn't previously explored.

Here's the trick, though. You have a very kinetic, frenetic, almost agitated form of inking. It's bold, it's expressive, it's almost out of control. When you ink over other people's work, especially others' work such as Jim Lee or John Byrne's work... you are then forced to be more controlled in your approach to inking. It forces you to be more considerate of such a kind of way of inking that you're not used to.

This would benefit you in that you would gain more of a hands-on appreciation of how to convey the kinds of details that would make your work a lot more marketable to a wider audience.

You don't want to be the next Jim Lee? That's fine, but doing as I suggest gives you a better understanding on how to make your own work more widely acceptable. And since you're looking to spend the better part of a year or so of your life to create a graphic novel, you will appreciate that you are now a businessman, looking to make your product as successful as it can be.

So as much as you might like to rely upon the quite considerable charms of your frenetic, kinetic, almost agitated form of illustration... being a smart businessman, you know full well that you have to bring other, even more considerable levels of quality and gravitas to your project, if you are to have any hopes that it will be successful, and subsequently you also for your future projects.

Which brings me back to talking about the finished look of the project. Collectively, the story must be compelling. The visual storytelling must be clear and exciting. Your finished illustrations must be good enough to compete with the hundreds of other titles on the comics shelves.

You will have a tendency to still be as loose on their pencils as you are on your own. However, you will need to be attentive to THEIR drawing, as the inker is supposed to support, respect and embellish the penciler's specific work. This means no altering the composition, no fundamental change in the function of the characters' forms.

This is what helps discipline your illustrative focus.

This will absolutely knock you right out of your comfort zone. It will be a total disaster for a good long while, until finally, it's not. That comes with the repetition of trying to find your way, trying to get in the head space of other pencilers' work, trying to absorb how they approach their work.

I have suggestions of people's work that vary widely in style. The more you master inking each and all of the various styles, the greater you expand your inking/artistic vocabulary.

Jack Kirby
Jim Lee
Steve Ditko
John Romita Jr
Mike Mignola
Michael Wm Kaluta
Doug Braithwaite
John Byrne
Curt Swan

I can easily hook you up with copies of their pencil work.

I know you don't have the time for this, but this might be one of the most interesting exercises you'll undertake. You also have the advantage of taking your ink work to the weekly Drink & Draw events you attend, to get feedback from actual professional comic book inkers.

So there's no way this can't be an important and beneficial learning experience.

Let me know...

[~KJK~]

Very interesting style!

[TheDirtSyndicate]

my answer magnut:

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes pleeeeease

[TheDirtSyndicate]

hey guys, small update here.
for the past few months every monday night i've been going to a gymnastics gym that my buddy owns. we get there around 8pm and play until about 1am... its a fucking blast. when i started going i hadn't been on a trampoline in over 15 years, it felt so good to get on one again. i picked up right where i left off and started learning new shit: wall tramp.
a friend filmed me playing around doing some wall tramp shit, i took the footage and treated it, edited it, added the type etc/

hope you guys like it

VIDEO LINK:

http://www.thedirtsyndicate.org/TRAMP_web.mov

[TheDirtSyndicate]

just won an old school bobber on ebay for $2,560
cant wait for it to be shipped!

[TheDirtSyndicate]

the bike i won on ebay was delivered yesterday! i fucking love it.
here are some photos (of course i had to pose on it like a retard):

photo gallery on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/underto...7624657780082/

here she is:

[TheDirtSyndicate]

the bike i won on ebay was delivered yesterday! i fucking love it.
here are some photos (of course i had to pose on it like a retard):

photo gallery on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/underto...7624657780082/

here she is:

[hücumkedi]

cool sb!

[cout<mecha]

Looks good! I have I truck I'd like to call "ugly bitch" but I assume the bike runs. You named it yet?

[Devrak]

I love your style, so dark and filled with character!

[TheDirtSyndicate]

thanks guys
yeah, it runs. and she's LOUD. haha
but yeah, i named her ugly bitch. you get up close and she is ugly, but i love it.

[hammajamma]

So wonderful, your sketches are very emotion filled and full of action. I love them.

[NickyBeats]

holy shit your drink and draw sketches fuckin rock! absolutely love em. i wish i could draw while im drunk. would probably improve my social life actually haha. but i love these. great stuff!

[TheDirtSyndicate]

here's a batch of sketches i did a couple weeks ago. just not got around to scanning em in.