Mat Kaminski Sketchybewk

[matkaminski]

Wow... it's been awhile. I was here back in the day.
Either way, here's where I am currently, and there will be a crazy journey to come.
LET'S DO THIS!

Blemmye Rendition

Title: Blemmye Rendition
Date: October 10 & 11, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 6" x 9"

Notes: Again, using Ashley's rendition of the creature, I wanted to take it to the full illustration.
Not only was this an awesome test of painting, but also of concepting. I wanted to make something that would really push me in both aspects, and with such awesome concepts being bred by mah lady, I can't help but start to really try my ass off to get something awesome from her ideas!

"A more powerful witch who devours soulds through her eyes, which are mouths. She is otherwise blind and sustains her existence on the soulds she captures. The captured remain animated, but soulless. The soulds reside on the stomach of the witch and remain visible there until fully drained." -- (creature created by: Ashley Webb)

Ashley's Version of a Bakhtak

Title: Ashley's Version of a Bakhtak
Date: October 15 - 18, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 6" x 19"

Notes: The original version of this is from Iranian folklore.
Again, I'm just trying to push my painting skills further and further. This was an excellent test of my painting skills and also some character study. I'm trying to push further and further outside of my comfort zone to really see what I can do.

"My version of the Bakhtak:
Gives you bad dreams, a constant weight on chest (you are unable to move). They take glee in filling people with bad dreams, suffocating, or causing sleep paralysis. She is a woman that can grow roots from her fingertips that secure into the mattress and tie her to the intended victim. She lives in trees and draws the life force from them with the evil of nightmares, therefore she obtains some of the power of mother nature and uses it against her. She has wisps in her eyes, not pupils. She uses these to hypnotize her victims if they wake up. She is generally beautiful and delicate looking. She has words on her skin from the influence of people's nightmares, which she feeds into trees - killing them. Her rival is mother nature." -- (creature created by: Ashley Webb)

I'm sure there will be a shit ton more to come... I'll update here as often as I can, if you want to see where I've come from, you can go pretty far back on my blog. But here you have it...

[matkaminski]

More of the good 'ole studies!

Model Portrait Study - As Final As it Will Probably Get

Title: Model Portrait Study - As Final As it Will Probably Get
Date: October 21 & 22, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: I don't think a whole lot changed from the other one, I just messed with proportions, and tried to get the face a little closer to realistic. I also realized that I had written previously that this was in September. That's not true... this was in October hahaha.

Nervousness

Title: Nervousness
Date: October 23, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: I was trying to get a quick color study as a warm-up before I started the Foundling piece that I needed to work on. This was more of a speed-paint turned into a slightly more refined painting. It still has a bunch of areas to work out, but it was merely meant to explore crazy color combinations and interesting lighting situations.

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More work soon!

[matkaminski]

Independent Study: Foundling Final

Title: Independent Study: Foundling Final
Date: October 22 - 27, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 11" x 17"

Notes: The final shot of the Foundlings. I was trying my damndest to not make him look like an insane gnome, because that's not what the Foundlings are at all.

Independent Study: London Underground Environment Studies

Title: Independent Study: London Underground Environment Studies
Date: October 27, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 8.5" x 11"

Notes: The next race that I have to look into will dwell in an abandoned version of the London Underground. It was more or less militarily quarantined, so I think it would be smart to look into the London Underground as it is today, as well as abandoned subway stations, tubes, etc. More on this soon...

[matkaminski]

Mustachio

Title: Mustachio
Date: October 28, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Same as Above

Notes: This guy had way more tattoos than I first thought. This was my first paint on a new monitor. It looks a little washed out now that I see it on a different monitor, but meh, paints paint!

[matkaminski]

Speed Painting Brush Test

Title: Speed Painting Brush Test
Date: November 1, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: I think I'm gaining an appreciation for multiple brushes.
Keep in mind this one is purposefully rough because I was only using this as a thirty-minute warm-up before starting to work yesterday. Regardless though, I think it turned out okay for what it is.

Tank Girl Warm-Up

Title: Independent Study: The Displaced 1
Date: October 30, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: Tank GIRL!
More of that brush test that I was going on about earlier.

Independent Study: The Displaced 1

Title: Independent Study: The Displaced 1
Date: October 29 - 31, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS6, Pencil
Scale: Varies

Notes: And so begins the final characters. The Displaced. They are literally homeless people that live in the London Underground. They are sickly, they are disgusting, they even have strange, rat-like growths on their bodies.
I have been bouncing back and forth between that idea and the disgusting body-builder like build. But then I decided, ultimately, that they are too close to Fallout 3's super mutants in that form.
More on these guys soon...

Inktober Wrap-Up

Title: Inktober Wrap-Up
Date: October, 2013
Medium: Pencil, Ink and Brush, Whiteout Pen
Scale: Varies

Notes: I almost managed to get one for every day of the month... I'm short five drawings. Damn. So close... Ah well, you can only do what you can while trying to keep up with school work.

[Ignatz]

Hey Mat. There's some nice stuff here. I like the way you captured some of those inked environment pieces with just 3 values and your figure drawing, particularly the displaced sketches, have a real character to them. On the painted pieces it would be nice to see you push the rendering some more, especially on the Tank Girl pic. You captured her attitude perfectly with that pose. Nice work.

[Tatar88]

I can see that ink works wonders for you:)
thanks for stoping by.
Ive got a suggestion about value studies.

http://quickposes.com/

pick chiaroscuro and set the timer for 2 minutes.

Cya!

[kikindaface]

your inktober sketches are nice dude ! Concerning painting, all i can say is to really solidify your subject ! most of the time, we don't feel the solidity of the body or the face you're painting ! Try to be aware of edges, at least that's what your paintings lack ! keep it up !

[futurespaceghost]

Hey man i looked through your sketchbook and the biggest thing i see you having problems with is anatomy. even in the studies you did from photos the anatomy is still off! If i were you i would pay close attention the lenth of the bones, the size and volumes of different parts of the body relative to other parts, etc. also your rendering is really rough and scrathy. try doing some value scales in black and white, in one color, and from one color to another. keep filling up this SB! :)

[matkaminski]

Because I'm a little slow on the pickup, Marc Brunet has this awesome tutorial on how to make custom brushes. Because of this, I've pretty much changed (again) my method for painting digitally. I made a slew of custom brushes that react very similarly to real art tools. Plus some neat brushes that I've been wanting for awhile that don't exist (at least that I've found).

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futurespaceghost:

Hey man i looked through your sketchbook and the biggest thing i see you having problems with is anatomy. even in the studies you did from photos the anatomy is still off! If i were you i would pay close attention the lenth of the bones, the size and volumes of different parts of the body relative to other parts, etc. also your rendering is really rough and scrathy. try doing some value scales in black and white, in one color, and from one color to another. keep filling up this SB! :)

Anatomy will pretty much always be something that I struggle with. But as always, gotta keep trying, right? The rough and scratchy technique is because of not only the speed of the painting, but also because I'm trying to use a more blocky technique of painting. I have quite a few more studies to do before I feel comfortable enough to call any of that stuff 'done', but yeah... thanks regardless, I'm onto more of those studies...

kikindaface:

your inktober sketches are nice dude ! Concerning painting, all i can say is to really solidify your subject ! most of the time, we don't feel the solidity of the body or the face you're painting ! Try to be aware of edges, at least that's what your paintings lack ! keep it up !

Thanks! I agree that I'm using too much 'lost edge' technique, and need to maybe start trying to blend the looseness and the hardness of the painting. I'm honestly just glad that I can finally approach digital painting without running scared. Slowly but surely wins the race I guess?

Tatar88:

I can see that ink works wonders for you:)
thanks for stoping by.
Ive got a suggestion about value studies.

http://quickposes.com/

pick chiaroscuro and set the timer for 2 minutes.

Cya!

Wowza, thanks a bunch that website is awesome! It's like the upgrade from posemaniacs, but not quite as high level as pixelovely. I'm going to try these out very soon! :)

Ignatz:

Hey Mat. There's some nice stuff here. I like the way you captured some of those inked environment pieces with just 3 values and your figure drawing, particularly the displaced sketches, have a real character to them. On the painted pieces it would be nice to see you push the rendering some more, especially on the Tank Girl pic. You captured her attitude perfectly with that pose. Nice work.

I'm going to try and start rendering out more often once the semester is over, the final for many of my illustration class projects tend to be pretty rendered, so I'm staying pretty loose with most everything else. But yeah, more rendering for sure! Thanks!

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Anyway, on to the art...

Independent Study: The Displaced 2

Title: Independent Study: The Displaced 2
Date: November 4 - 8, 2013
Medium: Pencil, Photoshop CS3
Scale: Varies

Notes: More of The Displaced. This is mostly just some pose / outfit studies, and trying to really get a feel for what their hands and bodies look like. They are essentially dirty homeless people that live in the abandoned tunnels of the London Underground. I'm trying to find an interesting way to blend rats and humans essentially.
Oh, there are also some Marionette redesigns on the bottom right... as well as page layout for the booklet. More soon!

Anatomy Color Studies

Title: Anatomy Color Studies
Date: November 4 & 8, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Varies

Notes: Because of those custom brushes that I was going on about, I was able to streamline even further the anatomy study. It's a much more chunky paint style that I rather enjoy. Of course, I need to refine it further (these were all timed at about tenish minutes). I'll probably continue doing a jabeebus load more of these as always.

[matkaminski]

Thirty-Minute Portrait Study

Title: Thirty-Minute Portrait Study
Date: November 18, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: 4.4" x 6.6"

Notes: I watched a bunch more oil painting demos, and wanted to try and see just how big I could keep my brush while painting. I guess this is a step towards that chunky painting that I enjoy so much. Honestly, I want so bad to learn oil painting just because it seems like the ultimate middle-ground. I love gouache painting because of it's blending, and I hate acrylic because it literally dries in like two seconds. Therefore, I can only assume that oil paint would be like a super opaque version of gouache because of the drying time. We'll see if I'm wrong or not in the coming months...

Thirty-Minute Landscape Study

Title: Thirty-Minute Landscape Study
Date: November 17, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 2048px x 1360px

Notes: Yet again, another attempt at that chunky painting. This was much more about color interaction than the one above, as I wanted to start playing around with colors and how they react. More of this to come as well!

Comics 1: Final Comic - Bakhtak

Title: Comics 1: Final Comic - Bakhtak
Date: October 30 - November 18, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Each page is 5.5" x 8.5"

Notes: Comics are harder than one would think to do. Sure I can do the art all day, but the dialogue is a whole different ballpark.
This was more or less a comic created for Ashley, she came up with the creature, and I wanted to really push myself and see if I could create an entire comic based off of it. Whether or not it was fully successful is up to everyone else, but I tried to make sure that I could hit the deadline with this one. As always, there are a few things that I would change now that I look back, but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't late with my project.

Independent Study: The Displaced - Finals

Title: Independent Study: The Displaced - Finals
Date: November 13 - 18, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Varies

Notes: Man-oh-Man. I didn't think I could do it at first. Crank out three full character paintings in a week. I kind of surprised myself with these.
I wanted to show the proportions they have in comparison to their bodies. Those hands are huge, and that waist is tiny. Damn sewer rats.
Now all that's left to do is rework that first piece (the marionette) and start cranking out the booklet, and then I'm done (at least for this class -- I still have a ton more work to do to flesh this world out to the max).

Illustration 3: Communication Arts Submission

Title: Illustration 3: Communication Arts Submission
Date: August 20 - November 9, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: 20" x 7.15"

Notes: This has gone through so many changes and revisions since first being conceptualized. Personally, I love the color palette.
I'm trying so many techniques with this one. Steelyard, Accented Analogous Color Palette, Reflective Light, Material Testing. Basically all the building blocks of things that I've learned since I started school all combined into one illustration. It's a long process, and I still feel like there's more to be done on it. I guess I'll see after critique?

Illustration 3: Illustrator Interview - Joshua Newton

Title: Illustration 3: Illustrator Interview - Joshua Newton
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Each 'page' is 8.5" x 11"

Notes: I can't thank this guy enough. Joshua Newton, you are a badass, thanks for this awesome interview!

[matkaminski]

"What's This?"

Title: "What's This?"
Date: November 22, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: 800px x 1200px

Notes: Trying to continue on with chunky painting. Yet again, not only pose study, but also seeing how big I can keep my brush while painting. Theres a bunch of the background elements missing from this one as all the boxy objects in the background are pages from a book. I simplified them quite a bit.
~30 minutes.

A Still-Life Lesson in Subtlety

Title: A Still-Life Lesson in Subtlety
Date: November 22, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 2000px x 2000px

Notes: I was sitting there thinking about what to paint and I look over and light is streaming through the window and hitting this vintage gargoyle statue that we have and so I wanted to see if I could paint it. It was literally one color from the light on hard stone.

[matkaminski]

Comic Studies

Title: Comic Studies
Medium: Brush & Ink
Scale: 9" x 12"

Notes: These were some quick studies I did for my comic pages. They were all really fast and done with brush and ink.

Pencil Character Studies

Title: Pencil Character Studies
Date: November 19 - 21, 2013
Medium: Pencil
Scale: Varies

Notes: Just making sure that I keep my pencil work up because I've been doing so much digital work this semester! This is always my favorite thing to use material-wise...

Schnouzies

Title: Schnouzies
Date: November 22, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3, Pencil

Notes: Saw another of Marc Brunet's tutorials and decided to have a go at it. It makes drawing noses soooo much simpler!

[matkaminski]

Illustration 3: Mythical Self-Portrait

Title: Illustration 3: Mythical Self-Portrait
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 13" x 23"

Notes: Let me start off with, this is the biggest damn thing I've ever painted! I tried to make sure to keep pretty close with the stroke-economy. A few things that were said during critique that I applied were: Add more dust, change the color, only slightly, on the syringe, shrink his forehead only slightly, and possibly change the color of the floor and door in background.
Done and done!
Submitted to Comm Arts

Independent Study: Displaced Final

Title: Independent Study: Displaced Final
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 11" x 17"

Notes: The final for the Displaced race for Absolved.

Independent Study: Foundling Final

Title: Independent Study: Foundling Final
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 11" x 17"

Notes: The final for the Foundling race for Absolved.

Independent Study: Marionette Final

Title: Independent Study: Marionette Final
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 11" x 17"

Notes: The final for the Marionette race for Absolved.

Independent Study: Absolved Preview Booklet

Title: Independent Study: Absolved Preview Booklet
Medium: Photoshop CS3, Pencil, Ink and Brush
Scale: Each 'page' is 8.5" x 11"

Notes: This is the final for the entirety of my Independent Study. I've had the ideas flowing around for quite awhile, and so taking this independent study pretty much forced me to really get in and dig deep to get this all out. Honestly I hope to one day be able to turn this world into something, but that's for another day I think.

[matkaminski]

Winter Break has officially begun! So that just means it's time for tons of game playing and experiments.

Scott Burdick Attempt

Title: Scott Burdick Attempt
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Date: December 16, 2013

Notes: Oh man, Scott Burdick. Just learned about him from another artist just recently! His stuff is awesome to me because it follows that whole 'ragged, but right' thing that I enjoy so much. More of this upcoming I'm sure of it!

Space Man Cometh

Title: Space Man Cometh
Date: December 15, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: First paint since the semester was over. I wanted to try out a bunch of different things, such as lighting, texture, etc. Mainly just trying to push what I learned from the semester even further.

[matkaminski]

Larriva Study

Title: Larriva Study
Date: December 21, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 1000px x 1400px

Notes: John Larriva is pretty damn good at simplifying the form. I think it might be a good practice to either try and manipulate the paint in a similar manner, or try and do a bunch of studies using the technique. Regardless, this guy is definitely pro! Time to keep catching up.

Wired Scars

Title: Wired Scars
Date: December 21, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 1366px x 2058px

Notes: Tried out something new here by using photo filters to start the color (on top of a grey painting) and then sample from that to paint the final. It came out not so bad, and this image is the result. It's kinda creepy to me, but was a fun and new way to paint even faster. I might try this again just to see how far it can be pushed.

[Gliger]

Awesome, about guys who are good at simplifying form, Anthony Jones is pretty fast at creating the illusion of form, and Tyson Murphy is pretty good at representing form, maybe check them out. That's just my opinion though.

[matkaminski]

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Gliger:

Awesome, about guys who are good at simplifying form, Anthony Jones is pretty fast at creating the illusion of form, and Tyson Murphy is pretty good at representing form, maybe check them out. That's just my opinion though.

Thanks, yeah, I had heard of Tyson Murphy previously, and admired a ton of his work. But the other, Anthony Jones, I had never heard of. His work is pretty damn nice. Thanks for the toss up!

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Madam Smug

Title: Madam Smug
Date: December 23, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Original is 1456px x 2192px

Notes: Continually trying to combine everything that I've been learning into one painting. Still just focusing on studies, but it's a start toward where I want to go. After all, I want to do characters in the long run, so I will keep on pushing into that direction.

[Gliger]

Sweet, maybe do some fabric studies, and try to go for a focus point, even if it's just for experimenting.

If you didn't know AJ, check out his blog and every one of his livestreams, he posts art tips daily on twitter, he has a tumblr called the carbon line, super cool project, and a book called Heaven's Hell, it hasn't been released yet though. Oh, and his youtube account has some valuable information, he's making some sweet videos about color and light now.

Also, you probably already know him, but check Scott robertson's FTFs on youtube, I was rewatching some of his value and form tutorials this morning, super useful.

[matkaminski]

Sometimes it's good to just chillax for a few days.

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Gliger:

Sweet, maybe do some fabric studies, and try to go for a focus point, even if it's just for experimenting.

If you didn't know AJ, check out his blog and every one of his livestreams, he posts art tips daily on twitter, he has a tumblr called the carbon line, super cool project, and a book called Heaven's Hell, it hasn't been released yet though. Oh, and his youtube account has some valuable information, he's making some sweet videos about color and light now.

Also, you probably already know him, but check Scott robertson's FTFs on youtube, I was rewatching some of his value and form tutorials this morning, super useful.

Yeah, for sure, fabric study! I think I read this and then had it in the back of my mind when I did the study below... I may have under-rendered the fabric, but over-rendered the face. Ur, I love portraits I guess?
Thanks for all these links, helpful for sure! Keep 'em comin hahaha!

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Master Swordsman - Preview

Title: Master Swordsman - Preview
Date: December 23 - ?, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: This one might not look like much, but it's the start of an animation I'm working on. This is only the first frame, and I'm not trying to do any pressure on it. Just painting one or two frames a day. They are more-or-less my warm-ups. Trying to work on stroke economy really. Like I said, it doesn't look like much at the moment, because this is only one frame, but you'll see in time...

Cylinder Test - Mug

Title: Cylinder Test - Mug
Date: December 31, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Same as Above.

Notes: Working on doing some shape exploration combined with some painting from life. Glass has so many reflective surfaces that it's a good and hard material to study.

"Mock me, will you?!"

Title: "Mock me, will you?!"
Date: December 28 & 31, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: A push into more portraiture combined with some focal point exploration. Just mainly having fun doing some long-deserved rendering.

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Suppose I'll toss up a bunch of other WIPs that I have at the moment. Realistically, I need to finish these and/or just move on... But I can't stop until I feel like they have something there...