slow hand ~ Andrew Ken's sketchbook

[aks9]

fantasy. gotta get some knights in i dont know how to do 'em. crits super appreciated

[aks9]

did a bit more on the soldier:






and some sort of space boss ship which I am considering painting

[Lyraina]

Very nice armor on that soldier, I like the organic look! Not sure about the composition though, the shield is a bit "in your face" and also chops off the left part of the image - especially since there's nothing going on. Also it's a bit confusing with the spear and the shield, like he's entangled those somehow. I think it might look better with the shield removed altogether.
Really love the armor design though :)

The space ship looks cool. You have a very unique way of designing and drawing, I really like that.

[aks9]

Lyraina: thanks for the crit! You're right about the shield. I just noticed how cumbersome and unlikely it would be, too, for him to have the spear behind the shield and not infront of it. Perhaps holding the shield down behind him would also do for a better comp.
Glad you like the ship, thank you : ) The way I draw has a lot to do with drawing gestural abstract forms and then finding patterns and structure in the chaos.

[Cyprinus]

Wow, I can only agree with Lyraina about your unique way of drawing and designing. Really digging that armor of the soldier. The sketch for the space boss ship also looks really interesting, I'm curious to see it with some colour. Keep it up! (:

[Salmanazar]

Cool drawings, I like it!

[Wardy]

i love they way you use lineweight so well. its the same kinda effect feng achieves in his linedrawings, ive never been able to recreate it- any tips? its that floaty effect grounded by the bold lines at contours. great sb

[aks9]

Cyprinus: Thanks! That's kind of you. I might try to get round to painting the boss ship thing, and fixing it up a bit, I tend to get sucked into these things and spend a long time on them, and I'm a bit busy, but fingers crossed
Salmanazar: Thanks!
Wardy: Hmm, to be honest I'm not sure what you mean with the line weight thing. Could you take a screencap and highlight an area or something? Perhaps it's just the brush I use; its the default photoshop chalk brush with opacity and flow set to 100%, size set to pressure sensitive. I change opacity with the number keys on the keyboard.


So on a whim I experimented a bit with some mecha stuff, this needs more time, here we go:





And I made a new timetable for myself, with specific art subjects each day, let's see how that works out for me.

Also I recommend todoist.com for todolists, this is the best one I've tried so far. Very easy to add items via keyboard shortcut, has web/desktop/mobile versions, all free, slick interface, etc. Is especially effective if you add a date for each task, so you can go through the list and cross them off and see how much stuff you have left.

I started using the GTD method of just dumping every single mental todo that you have into the program to get them off your mind, and then you can just go through the items one by one.

Anyway I wish I could post stuff more regularly, I'm currently working on some big pieces which are quite slow and I don't want to just post small variations of wips of that.

I do post some sketches and links to interesting things on twitter everynow and then, if you guys want to follow/connect this is my link: http://twitter.com/000aks

[aks9]

a bit more wip on that robot

lots of work needs to be done on his limbs still and on the crazy tech things going on there

[aks9]

did some dragon themed comps today, painted two of em, will probably paint the rest too. any advice or crits to improve these is much appreciated








and some more of this stuff from the world i'm painting : )

[aks9]

So I moved to Edinburgh. If any of you live here, lets meet up and paint!!!
I keep saying I will update this thing more frequently, urgh. I don't have a scanner anymore, and in the past 3 months Ive been focusing so much on these 4 large pieces that I don't want to show anything but snippets of, so I've been neglecting sketching and studying.

Since getting here I've been getting back into that, but its not really worth photographing. But heres some bits and bobs I've been accumulating recently.


Firstly, I finished this thing! Could use some work in certain parts of the body and background but don't have more time to put into this







Comps!



Some more colour comps



And some line landscape comps




Figure study



Char Silhouettes




Char Ideas




And a sketchy thing I worked on for some time and has been abandoned... need to focus on doing values and all that before getting into details, or I will die before ever finishing more artwork






Next post some wip detail shots on some of the personal work I've been doing...

[Lyraina]

Always super excited to see you post new art :) Your mind is a mystery to me. Love seeing whatever you're coming up with.
The finished robot is very cool (as always), but I think I liked the colors more in some earlier stages. I'm not exactly sure what changed, is the overal pinkish tint stronger than it was? It clashes a bit with the intense red of the weapons. I think toning down the overal colors back to some more cools and desaturation, and just letting the weapons vs. cyan work as a contrast would be more harmonic. THat is really just me nitpicking though.

The pencils are very cool. Looking forward to whatever you're going to post next :)

[aks9]

thanks Lyraina.... is so nice reading your comments. thanks for the crit on the robot, I'd like to take some time to test out some of your comments. it is pretty saturated overall
got a job in a warehouse, 10h shift and 5h commute means im not painting much at all these days... am totally out of daily routine. feel like i am going crazy a lot of the time. i have these 3 or 4 large pieces that i just want to finish so i am not really doing studies and all that.
i'm taking time to do comps of some ideas i have, but they are so rudimentary as to just help me retain the original vision, not really comps in the sense of figuring out composition or values etc. so not scanning those

heres a little bit of wippage though on what im doing...

[aks9]

'gathering'
bunch of interdimensional creatures hanging out

[Adam Lina]

Glad to see you posting again. Your style is so unique! Its a shame you dont have more time to paint. I dont know what field of art you want to go into but Id bet plenty of people would throw money at their computer screens for more of your stuff. Maybe you should try marketing yourself more?

[aks9]

Thanks bud. I appreciate the encouragement. I should start marketing myself more; I hate that
stuff. All my internet feeds are full of that crap.

I've been in such a major rut and depression recently. But heres some stuff.

This doodle I've been slowly building up over the past few weeks in small doses.
I'm in love with corel painter's symmetry features. If I finish this it won't be fully symmetrical though. This is all in pastel brush.

[aks9]

mer

[Lyraina]

Sorry to hear you're not feeling good … hope you'll get through this soon. Keep doing your art, even if your time is limited, perseverance is key here. I also agree with Adam Lina, your art is beautiful, unique and recognizable, I'm sure you can find a way to make money off it, if that's what you want. You don't really have to spam "promotional" things, just make sure to post your art in all the right places, for the right people to see - and let them know you're available for work, or licensing your art, or whatever works for you.

The colors in your latest painting are incredible. So many colors, yet so harmonious and working together beautifully. And not just the colors, you also have such a great way to find rhythms, shapes, patterns… <3

Keep it up!! All the best to you!

[aks9]

Thanks Lyraina!
Yup re:perseverance. Always gotta keep touching into the art, keep that flame going, big or small. You're right about the art stuff and getting it out there :) I'll read your comment whenever I need reminding.
Your comments are real nice too <3

Here's a bit more of that piece

[Cyprinus]

Ohhhh I missed so many cool posts from you during my absence here! Your artwork is always amazing to look at, I can only agree with the others about the uniqueness in it! You really have a good feeling about those colours and details when it comes to to bring them together in a harmonious way. I feel that your works have some meditative quality about them, if you know what I mean.

I'm sorry to read that you're kind of stuck and not feeling well. I wish you a lot of strength to overcome your hardships! Like Lyraina said, persevere! The other day I read this little saying somebody posted on Twitter (I don't know where it's originally from, though): "An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it's going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming". I don't know about you, but for me it felt really consoling reading that. Something good is surely coming along your way! Keep up the awesome stuff, and all the best for you!