Will Warburton's sketchbook

[EduardoGaray]

i agree with everything ramalooke said, plus, to give you my two cents:
I remember someone on the old conceptart.org saying that you could think about this field as a piramid. There are the top guys, they are visible to everyone and seems to be very few of them.
Then there are all the guys and the bottom, who are also visible because therea are a shitload of them. But there is also a lot of room in the middle.

Also, you are right saying that looks like everyone works equally hard on the internet, super pros and ok artists alike, but i'm pretty sure that isnt true in many cases. We all like to give a "good" image of ourselves in the internet, we are never lazy, we never say something stupid and we never make mistakes, but in reality most of us, do. What i'm trying to say is, you cant judge another artist by his/her online image, think about avatars in online games haha.

Fear is the mind killer mate, i also feel like i'm wasting my time every time i tackle my most difficult subject, which is drawing from imagination (and drawing in general) but once you start looking at things with a bit of perspective, things get easier somehow. I dont expect myself to get good at what i'm practicing now until 2016 xD So no need to rush things.

I wrote a novel there, sorry!

PD: you must be crazy to be doubting yourself after this update, you have improved in all the areas you were already good, your figures are crazy good (you seriously need to teach me one of these days!) and your control over edges and overall rendering is getting sharper and sharper.
Inspiring! Makes me want to start working inmediatly. :)

[MrFrenik]

Both Eddy and Ramalooke make great points. Keep working hard (only YOU know how hard you're really working, so keep yourself honest ;) ) and eventually things will pan out. It's just has to, right? People don't ignore exceptional ability, and the only way to get there is to put in that work, like you're doing.

[iCi]

You are getting dangerously good, Will.

'The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it huts' ;)

[Ursula Dorada]

AH yes, Will, indeed.
I got this deeply ingrained idea my silly brain too. "This is it, this is how far you're going to get and you're still mediocre", and even worst lately "your skill is acceptable, your ideas that are weak. The things you wan't to paint aren't exciting at all and you'll never do a killer piece"

So yeah. Been there too mate.
The more I am tormented by this, the more they feel like demons. Just hold on to that torch and keep navigating the dungeons, there must be an exist somewhere, right?

I like to believe to at least.

You're doing great <3

[Warburton]

Ramalooke - Thanks a lot for the long response man, it's super encouraging and I agree with everything you mentioned. I must admit, it's a bit depressing and also inspiring when certain artists just disappear off the map to go onto bigger and better things (Dan and Dave cough cough lol) but your totally right.
On the mention of being tired after work. I understand this too mate. After my shitty day job im both mentally and physically exhausted. I usually spend the time afterwards doing comfort zone stuff to chill. Ive cut all my hours down now to as few as possible (2 days a week) to combat this. Yes I'm skint, but it's all about sacrifice I guess, everything worth doing to a high level always is ive found. Anyways, your stuff has improved no ends since last year man, and thanks again for sharing your thoughts mate.

EduardoGaray - Essays are good man, I love them haha. You put across some very interesting points too and a agree with them all. I guess my main concern came from the time aspect, and seeing how fast things are going. (can't believe it's December again already 0_______0) Ive noticed in all walks of life, there's a cut off point where people just start to slow down, both physically and mentally, and I think it's that more than anything that's scares me the most. Sounds stupid I know lol, and like you say, fear is a mind killer!
Thanks as always mate for the kind words and support mate, I appreciate the shit out of it! There are huge areas of my anatomy which are completely broken haha, but if there was anyway I could share my knowledge or a specific area which you wanted to know I would be happy to do so man, just let me know. ;)

MrFrenik - Great point man, I just spend too much time in my head haha. I'll be sure to work harder! and thanks as always for the kind words.

ici - haha cheers man, deep stuff right there! I just want to be a pokemon master, is that so much to ask?? <3

Ursula Dorada - Thaaaanks sula, it's good to know I'm not alone in this thought. Kind of funny really how our own brains try to sabotage us with such ideas and distractions :/
I don't know about you, but ive found this mind set comes when things fall into routine. For some reason doing the same sort of stuff, being in the same place, at the same time kills my productivity. Maybe it's linked to comfort zones. I guess this whole journey isn't only about getting awesome at a set skill, but also learning about yourself too. And by the way, your stuff is crazy good, especially your pencils! So don't get too disheartened ;)
Thanks again for the love and support!

So much ramblings, I need to learn to stop writing long ass messages lol

study


apply, kind of...


mind fart


1 hour speedy


30 min speedies
lonely rhino


bottom dweller


urkfhjdkb


and a piece I spent way too much time on, tried some stuff out, failed a lot and learnt some stuff in the process. After my last few pieces which seem 'lacking' in detail and thought I'd try to opposite with this one, but got a bit carried away lol.


<3

[JakeB]

Just been reading through your last couple of posts man, that stuff really resonates. Definitely feel like I plateau sometimes, just not improving, or going backwards even. And that thing about getting into a routine and becoming less productive.. Happens to me all the time lol. Sucks, but at the same time it's reassuring to see everyone goes through it (I guess lol, mostly it just sucks :P ) so cheers for putting it out there.

Everyone's right though, it has to pan out eventually, no doubt. Just gotta keep going. One final push for December, then in 2014, we all kick ass!! Gonna be a good year. Crimson Dagger's resolutions all around ;)

Keep pushing man, so much awesome stuff in here. Inspiring as always, makes me wanna really get my ass into gear. Go go go! :)

[pnate]

I found myself agreeing with what everyone has said here man. And you really are getting better and better, even if it's hard for you to see it. Like Brad said, "others will see your improvement before you do". Stay strong because, at least in my experience, these thoughts always come in cycles. And don't feel bad about changing up your schedule because of your day job. I had to do this also when I had an office job and I know how exhausting it can be to come home after work to do more work. So hang in there :) We are all right there with you.

[ramalooke]

One final push for December, then in 2014, we all kick ass!! Gonna be a good year. Crimson Dagger's resolutions all around ;)

Couldn't agree more. My guts are telling me that 2014 gonne be a great year for all of us. I'll drink to that. And as always great update!

[Bjulvar]

I have much of the same thought going around here. I've recently started an education that I don't want to do, but have to. Swedish law if you want those benefits! But it drains energy so hard that I just find myself playing games when I come home. But I suppose there will always be highs and lows, hard to hold on to momentum forever. At the same time it's comforting to see that a lot of hardworking people here are going through similar things. So it must be natural in a way.

Agreeing with JakeB about 2014, we need to find that inner warrior that just wants to zerk out all over the canvas without remorse.

Great update man. Feels like you're constantly moving forward and getting better with each new post. You're an inspiration! That's one badass cosmic blacksmith-guy, love the flowy and consistent brushwork. It ties together with the galactic motif and feels believable.
The lonely rhino also has a very strong atmosphere in it, I'd love to have one of those as a print on my wall and worship it everyday.
Keep it up man, love ya.

[MrFrenik]

Your speed paintings are turning out really compelling, man. I look forward to more.

[Ursula Dorada]

:)
Let's do the december 2014 push then. Starting now!

[Warburton]

Jake B - Yeah man, I guess that's one of the awesome thing about these forums, we all get to share our thoughts and help each other out, it's super cool. 2014s gonna be a good one man, I can feel it! Also, I'm glad you get motivated by this stuff, I get like that every time I drop by your sketchbook too, so it's win win all round I guess lol ;) Thanks again dude.

pnate - Thanks again mate for the awesome words of encouragement. Your stuff always gets me super motivated 0_0. On the topic of day jobs, I really wanna quit my job now, just scary taking that leap into potential bankruptcy if it doesn't work out lol. You mentioned you used to do an office job, does that mean you full time freelance now? Just curious I guess because from what ive seen art jobs don't fetch that much money, so I'm just curious as to how others manage it to support themselves comfortably.

ramalooke - Thaanks mate, and yeah, 2014 will be a year for all the daggers! I can't wait ;p

Bjulvar - Yeah man, it's all natural to go through this stuff I guess and it's motivating to hear we all have to same shit going on under the surface ;) I just try to be as honest and transparent as possible without sounding too much like a whiny self absorbed douche haha. Kind of funny that Swedish law makes you go through education which actually hampers you from learning and progressing in your chosen field haha. Says a lot about modern education systems. Just try to imagine it as a test, your being tested to show your dedication to see whether your actually worthy enough to be great at this. Obstacles are put in place to separate you from the average. A lot of people would give up under such strain and pressure, but the dedicated and great ones like yourself persist no matter what. That's how I try to look at it anyways ;D
Shit I went on ramblings again! Thanks for dropping by mate and the kind words <3 and stay strong!

MrFrenik - Thanks man, I'm glad you like them. I guess the trick is to keep them simple as possible and as dramatic as possible. Strong basic comps, big colours contrast etc etc. Compared to most of the speedies people do in that facebook group my are noob level lol. Still appreciate the kind words either way mate!

sula - Your on! Super pumped for 2014 :D

My new years resolutions will be to reduce my ramblings lol
mainly experiment stuff so nothing fancy :s
study




I don't know who the original artist to this was, I think it might have been noxizmad. Such a badass

tried applying the technique

study, so many levels of fail

apply



apply


speeeeeeeeedies

chain lightning

3 headed orge

sketch thing, Zelda + deku + brain farts =


<3

[Zipfelzeus]

Them studies! I think you are on a good way. Can't really say much else sorry.
Cheers!

[ramalooke]

Again awesome stuff. Very inspiring to see so much of hard work. It kinda makes me feel guild for not finding time to do my own personal stuff. Oh well. I can see some improvements here and there. Your composition and narrative skillz got stronger. I also like those applied studies. I need to start doing these as well. I don't know if this is your monitor or mine, but I feel like your values are to dark sometimes. It makes the whole image muddy. It's visible especially in the figure study below the bananas. Keep this in mind when you do your future work. Great stuff. Cheers.

[mateusrocha]

Mannn, keep it up!!

Talking about ups and downs, I've been there, and just got back! Glad I did, so much awesome stuff I've been missing, from you and everyone.

And I agree with Jake! (: 2014 will be remarkable.

[Jaik]

Man can't believe I haven't replied to this yet (I thought I did a while ago, but my comment isnt anywhere to be seen, so maybe I didn't).

Glad you are writing some of this stuff in your sketchbook. I can see you feel like you are complaining when you write it, I feel the same way when I write out stuff like this. I feel like every post is a complaint and an excise for why I didn't work harder. But I can tell you that from the other side of the fence, these sort of posts don't come across that way (or at least yours don't. Mine probably do xP )

I find that goals help. Really ambitious 'I could never do that' sort of goals. It goes against a lot of what people say, because if you are unrealistic of your goal, or if it really is un-achievable. When you realise this you get depressed and it works negatively. Well in my experience thats a load of shit.

My mentality is aim for the stars and even if you only get to the moon, guess what? You are on the freaking moon. No one is around for miles because they were too busy aiming for the moon and spent too much time wanking in the stratosphere.

And even if you do fail, everyone goes through ups and downs, so you are going to feel depressed about your work eventually anyway. I prefer to blindly chase the carrot on the stick that is always just out of my reach, people may say it is impossible to get the carrot, but its a hell of a lot easier to do the impossible when you don't know its impossible. And if by some chance you actually achieve this un-achievable goal. Thats when you get people saying 'How the fuck did you do that?', 'You are so talented, I would never be able to do that'.

And then you progress to the 'I'm a fraud, and don't actually know how I got here or what I am doing. Someone is going to find out I'm just faking it and it will all unravel.' Which a lot of professional artists seem to say. But, we as a group, as the crimson daggers will tackle that together too, when we are all great, because deep down, we will know that we are all in the same boat.

I guess my point with that last bit is to just take the problems as they come. There will always be problems, it's never perfect, the journey has no end and a lot of treacherous climbs.

/end rant
/end overuse of strange metaphors

[Lyraina]

Man, what an awesome sketchbook, so much progress. Your hard work really is paying off.

I just wanted to add something to all the great things others already said - I think it is really normal to doubt and be insecure every now and then... and it also is ok to talk or rand or 'whine' about it every now and then. It can help to sort out your own thoughts, and can even help others see that the 'way up' is a struggle for most people... it's easy to internalize all those negative thoughts too much, when it very often is something most people experience. Talking about it might even spawn nice discussion like happened here in your sketchbook. I do think your doubts are unfounded though, you have progressed a lot already and I see no signs of stagnation - quite the contrary, I think you're doing great :) That "piece you spent too much time on" is cool, those colors <3
Oh, and one more thing that might help - maybe do some studies in an area which is completely outside of your comfort zone? While that might not be of immediate use for whatever you are working on, it can help to freshen up the learning progress as a whole.

Keep it up! On to a great 2014! :)

[Warburton]

Zipfelzeus - Any feedback or comments are always appreciated man, no need to apologise, thanks a lot ;)

ramalooke - Thanks as always man, and thanks for the crit! I work off a tiny laptop so my monitor is defiantly warped on colours and values slightly, I see it when viewing my stuff of phones, ipads and other computers. Breaks my brain a lot of the time haha but undoubtedly my values and colours need way more work. I 'll keep it in mind, cheers again mate.

mateusrocha - It's kinda awesome that everyone has these same problems, and that we can all share our ups and downs. Share the load and all on our long journeys I guess :p With every down is an up, you just gotta ride the shit storm through man. Thanks for dropping by!

jaik - Awesome rant man, your words resonates a lot with me and I'm guessing they do with everyone else too. Kinda funny when you mentioned the 'I'm a fraud' bit. I felt exactly that way about this elemental rhino thing I did a while back. It got me my first DD and nearly 20000 views and all I could think was 'why?' and 'what if I fluked it and I can't do something that good again? what will people think of me if I cant?' etc etc. It tends to get more attention than anything else I do and I worry I can't live up to those expectations. Ive become defined by the fucking rhino piece lol.
Only through pain do we grow man, so the downs are pretty important, and hearing others thoughts, experiences and encouragement helps a lot. Gotta love the daggers, and thanks for stopping by and sharing your strange metaphors and words of wisdom ^ ^

Lyraina - Thanks for the kind words and sharing your thoughts, It's always awesome to hear others are going through the same stuff and helps a lot. What you mentioned about comfort zones too, that's a good point and something I tend to miss. (I always plan to do that stuff mind you, but some how never get round to it :s) I'll give it a try in the future. Thanks again ;)

quick update ^-(or not, still not mastered short replies) Hopefully be able to show some freelance stuff Ive been working on and taking a large part of my time. In the mean time..
studies





apply
fuck you foreshortening


environment fail


speed stuff
dino hatchery


rotten vegetables


???


midnight monster, I spent an extra hour or so into


fun scribbles


jack frosts familiar/pet. for creature design thing on ca. not sure which to run with but I want to paint all of them :c




<3

[Ursula Dorada]

Holy sh*t kicking so much ass man!
Love the studies. Loved the fails.

Have a digital hug and now go back to work :p

[ramalooke]

Awesome update! Your skillz are getting really strong <3 This time I don't have anything new to add. Simply keep rocking! And see you in 2014, killing it!