Crimson Daggers — Art forum

Hey Daggers! Long time no speak!

I've always been a huge fan of the work done by Dan, Dave and the Daggers, but never really got a proper chance to commit due to studying for a degree in architecture. That being said I did offer what little time I could on a weekly basis to art, as I always knew that even if I did end up becoming an architect art would still be helpful aswell as offering a means of escape!
Anyway, I completed that degree on Monday last week and I am taking a gap year before continuing with architecture for sanity reasons!
So, that leaves 15 months or so to focus on art. The first 12 shall be spent grinding at the studies as well as working up a portfolio, those studies shall be assisted by spending some time at the London Atelier for Representational Art (LARA), and after that I hope to get some freelance work / commissions before returning to sit a one-year Masters in Architecture. What happens after that, I guess, depends on how well this deathline goes.

So, overall goals (deceptively simple):
- Get a portfolio
- Get work!

Links:
- My conceptart.org sketchbook (documenting how I got here basically): http://bit.ly/mactire-ca
- My blog: http://bit.ly/mactire
- My twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/mac_tire


And to get things started, here's some recent studies and sketches to give an idea of where I am currently:

So, week one study report: This seems to be going well so far, already much more comfortable with most of the subjects tackled, in particular rendering faces and metals (though still, this is only the beginning of a great journey). Anyway here's the work, I've tried to adopt a system of varying the subjects daily and scaling the times of the studies to apply a sort of "T" methodology to the work, i.e. cover each to a particular degree, but focus on one or two to encourage development.

Felt like I was slacking last week, then again maybe it was because I have yet to get used to working from imagaination. I don't think I was applying the material as quickly as I was learning (e.g. the soldier studies and the soldiers from imagination were completed on two different days), but at the same time I did attempt to cover material I previously would have been reluctant about.

Decided to start a sketchbook thread here to better manage images, plus it makes for an easier way for others to comment and critique : MACTIRE'S CRIMSON DAGGERS SKETCHBOOK