Crimson Daggers — Art forum

Keep it up, looking strong!

rafa zanchetin thanks so much :)

iCi thank you :)

Got too lazy to post last night cuz I got home late, so heres a morning post. And I will be sure to have another big dump of stuff later tonight because I'm goin hardcore today! :O

More thumbs and studies :)









Sorry for crappy camera phone quality :/



WIP of my next illustration

phew! Today has been rough, here's what I've done :D The illustration still isn't done, should be able to finish it tomorrow though :)

So it's been another week down since I started my "In an Art Shell" thing on DeviantArt. So here's all I've done this week, including the finished illustration I've been working on and some doodles from my livestream today :)

Also, I got critiqued by Ryan Yee today since he was in town doing a card signing thing at my local hobby shop place. I feel good about how it went, the main thing he told me with his critique was to use photo reference (since I don't ever use any). I'm not sure if this is useful or harmful for me though as a developing artist. Will I learn quicker or slower by using reference in my images? I'm not thinking it's cheating or anything, I mean I use pictures and 3d in my images all the time, but that's experimenting with techniques. This directly affects whether I can apply my gesture/body language studies. Anyway, I'm going to try it out but still do my studies and only use the reference image if I get stuck or need a refresher, not constantly have it up. Do you peoples have any thoughts on this?

Nice improvement, really looking forward to see more. I especially like the thumb studies you posted earlier.

Thanks Vasburg :)

Here's some junk yay! I've been in a major art funk the last few days. Been pretty not happy with most things I create, it's weird but it actually helped to just write down the things that I wasn't happy about, not just with my art but with life in general. Then as I was writing it down and feeling like a whiny little emo kid a fly landed on my hand and in my head that fly was telling me in a deep black man's voice, "Shut the hell up and go draw." So I did and that art funk is over now :D LETS KICK SOME ART ASS!

soo many studies ;O keep pushing!

Thanks Nimao :)

So today was kinda weird and cluttered, I would do art for a couple hours and then go do something else for another couple hours, yet somehow I did a good amount :P Including some fun experimenting with Dave Rapoza's style with some Samurai Champloo fan art :D

Decided to do a bit of streaming, click below if you care to join me and chat and stuff :)

>>STREAMING<<

Studying and starting to work out a final character design before I move into the final for my portfolio :) Really going to get serious about my faces so expect a lot of portraits and face studies in the near future!

Looking good, really love how the costume design works on the figures! How did you apply the flower pattern texture, did you just wrap a flat made image or did you paint each individually (in the orage/violet piece)? Nevertheless, keep on it!

Hey forrest,
Your sketchbook is fking awesome man! Look at those sketches! argggg
Your work is fuel to my motivation !!

Gonna stream before posting my stuff for the night :)

>>STREAMING<<

DomSinkevic I made a custom brush based on a design I saw on some samurai armor :)

JeanDoe thank you :)

So I'm bein lazy and saying if ya wanna see all that I did over the last two days you can check it out on my weekly bunch of stuff. Here's a full size view if you'd like to check it out:

http://forrestimel.deviantart.com/art/In...1406448065

Impressive stuff Forrestimel, thanks for posting it for all to see! You produce a mountain of work each week, If I can ask, how many hours a day are you working on stuff, your time schedule says 9-6 work day,do you find your keeping to this?

Hey Richie, I don't really follow that schedule anymore, I make myself a shcedule every night before bed for the next day. On average I paint 8 hours a day, sometime more sometimes less.

Here's some junk. Been kinda falling in and out of motivation lately, really sucks. Feels like I wanna get good at everything and that there's just not enough time :p

sylvanis op <3

So I haven't posted in awhile, I've been going through a weird phase. Just generally not happy with my art. Haven't been studying much lately and have been trying out using reference instead, definitely like studies more, I'll still use reference for little things. Like I don't really see much of a point in having to study something like a lion paw if I can't get it to look just right. But if I have to study a whole lion then I will take the time to do that, even if it's just a quick sketch.

Anyway, I'm just kinda on the down part of the whole art rollercoaster right now. Feelin shitty about my work and about most of what I produce. I'm trying to keep a level head and know that I just need to make more time to doodle and sketch my own stuff from imagination so that I don't become a study slave and that after I finish this book cover I'm working on for a client I can start back on a new portfolio piece. I just kinda have been freaking myself out lately with wanting to get better as fast as possible. And I got really nervous about me not using references and had to really struggle to decide whether I want to get better or if I want to get better work out more. And honestly I know I can do both, I don't want to become a slave to reference but only use it here and there if I'm stuck on a part of the pose or something. And I apologize for writing this long of a thing in my sketchbook, just kinda feels nice to write out my thoughts on what I've been thinking about. It's been the reference thing, getting better, worrying about getting work, worrying about my portfolio, blah blah blah. I've been considering just taking a break from Facebook and maybe only use it at the end of every day to check messages and maybe post some art on there, I personally just can't handle seeing other peoples work on there. I have some issues with jealousy and I start to get the idea in my head that likes = better when it doesn't. More likes can mean your better but it could also just mean more people see your work, or you connect with more people so they want to like it. This is actually why I quit posting in the daily spitpaint group on FB. An image of mine got a lot of attention and I was really surprised and happy, but afterward it sort of set a standard. Like "ok, my next one has to be just as creative and just as good or better." But really it could mean so many things other than how good it was. I wasn't taking the group as a fun activity and instead seeing it from a business perspective, I was marketing myself. Just another place to show that I do art. So anyway, gonna try that out and try and stay a little more positive. Take the time I don't spend on Facebook and go outside and do junk or something.

For now here's some art. <3

So it's been another week, here is this weeks in an art shell dumpage. If you wanna see everything in higher-res go here:

http://forrestimel.deviantart.com/art/In...-472748020

whoa so many studies dude :O

you should definetely keep doing the artshell thing, is producing awesome results, you gotta be careful tho man, because even though its good to just focusing on the studies, from time to time you need a breath of fresh air, specially us, artists, gotta keep our minds with constant different stimulae in order for our creativity to bloom. so yeah man, you probably just need to alternate a little bit more between the studies/work and something else that keeps you motivated..

It's really great that you're rationalizing the fact that you're down right now and that you're sure its not a definite thing, that makes it much easier to overcome!

Just keep doing the same awesome drallings you do man, because even though sometimes you don't believe it: you rock!