René Aigner's Sketchbook

[matkaminski]

Why oh why do sketchbook pages always look so bad-ass in those toned sketchbooks.
I need to go and dig mine out and do the same thing. Keep-on-keepin on! :)

[Lyraina]

Ooh. That's definitely a book I'd bick up just because of its cover. I think 2 (and 3) work best.

[DoubleThink]

those bookcovers really speak to me.

Great job!

[ReneAigner]

Mat, Lyraina and Double: Thaks a lot!

No updates in the last days- just about everything I've done I can't show because of NDAs, but I did manage to squeeze one portrait in tonight:

[Tygerson]

I really like those muscle studies--so solid looking! I like the different ways you've broken down the muscle. Is Bridgman where you learned to draw those contour lines on them and make those shapes?

The last portrait is so lovely! My favorite part is where the light hits her shoulder, but I also love the grace in her pose.

[iCi]

Spank me silly, this is awesome!

[ReneAigner]

Tygerson: Yes, these are Bridgman studies. I've studied from Vilppu, Bammes and Hamton before though, so there's a bit of a mix of methods I guess.

iCi *spank* thanks! ;)

---

Finally got green light to show you this. It's a big project I'll be working on over the next few months with the Norwegian studio Grimnir: http://www.grimnirmedia.no/ - I will be providing artwork for a point on click adventure set in the viking age. I'm very excited! Obviously I won't be able to show you all the artwork, but I expect from time to time I'll get around to showing you some selected artworks for promotional purposes.

[ReneAigner]

the finished book cover:

[Jaik]

Man, this is such a good sketchbook. I only just pieced together who you were in regards to deviantart and facebook.. Turns out I have seen your work for quite a long time, and watched your tutorials many times over :) Good work man, really appreciative of what you are doing here,

[ReneAigner]

Thanks a lot Jaik!

[alexfreitas]

Amazing sketchbook! amazing works, really jaw dropping :D You mentioned in your first post that you were attending a non art related course, have you finished this already? Apart of you being some light years ahead of me, I have the same goal of speeding up my skills so, when graduate from college I can pursue an art career. I'm curious if you did that already...

[ReneAigner]

Thanks alex! No, I'm not done yet. About a year to go until I graduate.

[matkaminski]

Man-oh-man.

You and I are in the same boat, but you are ahead of me. Oh well. Push on forward, right? One year to go.

Have you done / considered any internships or anything? Also have you done any freelance already?

Regardless, you're doing well. I suppose I could suggest maybe doing some basic character sheet layouts (front, back, 3/4) just to be completely rounded.

Also, what school are you attending?

[ReneAigner]

Thanks for the suggestion about character sheets. Character design is something I need to get into at some point, up to now I've mainly been focusing on environment/vehicle design and illustration.

I have been freelancing for about a year now (not that I could make a living doing it, but that also has to do with the insanely high living costs in munich. As soon as I'm done with Uni I'll move somewhere cheaper...), mostly doing book covers and some illustrations/concept stuff for indie game studios. I wouldn't do any unpaid work like internships. Ever. If I'm not good enough to get hired I'd rather work a normal day job to support me and keep working on my weaknesses on my own instead of slaving away in a random studio on stuff that I don't want to do.

I attend Ludwig Maximilians university in Munich. I study Psychology and English linguistics there and will hopefully graduate with a "state exam" (equivalent to a master's degree).

[MW-Art]

I think you should totally be able to make a living as a freelance artist...I wonder why you dont do so already, considering your skillset..

[ReneAigner]

People keep telling me that. I'm not too sure- of course one always has the tendency to undervalue one's own work, and I'm aware of that, but when I look at the stuff full-time pros post on FB, cghub etc.--- man. Perhaps I'm setting the bar too high and just looking at the top something-percent of all fulltime artists. In that case I should be fine when I finally have to make big decisions a year from now when I'm done with uni.
In any case- much to learn and improve upon until then. Trying to learn Modo (which is one of the reasons why I don't post as much at the moment). Feel like a complete idiot sometimes :D

[Blewzen]

I think only you know at what level you are whatever people say, don't lie to yourself, you must know what you do well and what not. Setting the bar high is the way we learn, this is all about pushing ourselves to higher levels of knowledge.
Your work is good but don't ever stop pushing yourself and dont become lazy, those are our biggest enemies as artists.
Well you can do whatever you want actually but that is my opinion haha

[ReneAigner]

Oh, don't misunderstand me, this is not about determining a point at which to "stop" learning or whatever. In that regard I never compare my work to the work of others, the motivation comes from within (and I think it has to, otherwise you're going to end up in a bad place).

This is purely about evaluating the work to decide at which point to start sending out portfolios and really pushing for work/ fulltime positions.

[Blewzen]

I know you were not talking about stopping learning, but somehow i wanted to talk about it haha (I might talk shit sometimes).
Anyways I think comparing your art to pro artists art as a reference of quality it can be beneficial. And at some point we all have to take the risky step and start sending portfolios.
Peace

[ReneAigner]