Monkeybread's Dribblings

[Alexandre Belmonte]

I find your choice of colors very harmonious and evocative. Seems very magical and dreamy!

[Adrian]

Really love the enviros in your SB. And thanks again for takin the time to write on that thread man.... what you've said about control was really relevant.

[Amit Dutta]

Thanks Alexandre, and no worries Adrian!

Been working (badly) to deadlines so kinda busy, but I snuck in a sketch working with what I love most, colour. I think I'm going to expand it horizontally and make it a full blown illustration. Not sure what yet, but it's gonna be colourific.

[Lyraina]

Really happy to hear your freelance career is working out great for you! :) That latest client piece really came out nice. Perfectionism really is a tough one, with time being such a limited resource…

And that latest one. Oh my!!! I love the colors. Please keep working on it! Can’t wait to see what you’re going to do with this! But it’s not just the colors that make it beautiful already, but this quiet, solemn look on her face. You caught something very precious here. I wonder what she’s thinking of…
Nitpick: Careful not to make the top of hear head to small/flat. Especially with the hair being rather thick, I think the top could be a bit „higher“. (I hope you know what I mean)

[KurtJeremy]

yo well done with the client piece mate. i also "freaking dig it"
perfectionism is a problem of me as well. what i try to think about all the time is that everything that im going to do wouldnt be perfect , i know it might be dumbly simple but its true.

[Veneq]

Damn - your sketchbook... quite good (I hadn't been in here in 3 freaking years!!!)! And you say you love colors - I want that. I want to love colors. They are my enemy though. Your approach and ownership of that incredibly important part of art is inspiring.

That illustration looks cool as hell! Can't wait to see what you do with it!

[Einver]

Man, some great works in here. I'm loving your environments the most. Your brushwork is sharp like using a palette knife, and very confident looking. The ones that smack of a post-apocalyptic world are my favorite.

You've got a unique sense of design and color that's nice to behold too.

I feel like faces and figures are probably your biggest point of improvement, but even then those aren't hugely problematic, they could simply use some more study to iron out the kinks.

Either way, it's been great seeing your work outside of the contest and DA. I'm so charged to paint some indigenous people and landscapes now! haha.

[Amit Dutta]

@Lyraina; Thanks! I fixed that munted head, and it is coming along a bit. Trying not to lose that expression and feel as I go! :)
@Foxfire: yeah, I have been slowly slicing it out of me over the last few years, yet still it rears it's head sometimes. It is good to practice letting go. Just be done with it. Feels good and the more you practice the better you get at it.
@Veneq: Hey dude, welcome back! Thanks for the kind words. Yeah I don't know what the dilly is with colour and me. I don't really try I just trust my eye. Maybe I have tetrachromacy lol. Whatever it is don't fear it, just dive right in.
@Taylor: Thanks man! Figures definitely need more work. Once the L.A. thing is done, I'm planning to get back to lifedrawing sessions. Nothing like that to amp up the skills. See ya soon buddy!

This thing I did for the 2D challenge over at Gnomon forums. It's supposed to be the planet Vulcan. Fun little doodlebomb.

[Lyraina]

Nice one! Interesting shapes and stuff going on, you really have a way of making your environments feel *special*.
Ok… since everyone, including myself, is praising your color choices, I feel the need to crit those :P In that latest one, I really enjoy what you did in the foreground and right part of the image - desaturated purples, sneaking in some cyans and redes etc… looking very rich! The red parts on the left are a bit intense and monochromatic though - I think it would look even more badass if you managed to mix in some neutral or cool areas, without loosing the overall feeling and atmosphere. If you could pull that off, it would lower the intensity of the color (since you do’t have a massive block of red anymore), but at the same time help to „refresh“ the eyes, and make everything look a bit more balanced. I hope that made sense … it’s something I appreciate when I see it in other’s works, but can’t really apply myself yet. So take it with a grain of salt…

Anyway, keep it up :D

[eru]

Hey dude do you have any black and white digital drawings or traditional drawing video recording, if you have spare time are you able to show us the process of your black and white drawings. Ive always like look of black and white comics but I cant see how your meant to draw those. Ive always wanted to try that look. To me it looks impossible to create.

[Amit Dutta]

&Lyraina. Always on point. Your crit is perfect, and taken on board!

@Eru, I'll see what I can do mate. It's pretty easy for the b/w digital things, I just use a simple round brush of black or white to define shapes and details. No other colour, and use a 100% opacity. That's it. The rest comes from just drawing and practicing. Instead of psyching yourself out to start with, why not just give it a go?!

So I wanted to take the time in this post to explain a little about the experience I just had of being a 'winner' (1 of 12) in the L.Ron Hubbard's Writers and Illustrators of the Future volume 31 competition. Before you switch off at LRH, and think to the new doco 'Going Clear' that just came out on Scientology, let me assure you this has very very little to do with all that shit.

Ok so Writers of the future has been running for over 30 years. It's affiliated and linked 'Illustrators of the Future' competition has been running for somewhere in the 20-something years. Both are open only to non-pro artists and writers. By non-pro they mean you must not have been published professionally in more than 3 publications and been paid for it. 12 writers, and 12 illustrators get picked each year.

As a winner in quarter 2, 2014, I can say that it has been a totally eye-opening experience. I submitted 3 images I had already done in Feb 2014 and didn't think twice about it again, until 6 months later when I got the call that I was one of the 3 winners for that quarter. That easy. Actually I knew I would get in, but I can't tell you how, it's a feeling thing. Anyway that's a different story.

The prize is, you get flown to LA and put up at the best 4 star hotel in Hollywood for over a week at their expense. As an indication, Bono was staying in the hotel in the week I was there.
During that week you are in day long workshops with some pretty big names: For the illustrators this year, we got Cliff Nielsen, Errol Gershon, Dave Dorman, Larry Elmore, Mike Valle, Nathan Fowkes and more, some of whom were judges for the contest. The writer's comp has even bigger names that I won't bother mentioning.

They basically run you through the business side of the game, and prop us up with everything we need to go forth and conquer and believe in ourselves. You do have to pay your own food and expenses, but that is minor. I got flown from New Zealand, another got flown from Poland. You can imagine the value of the prize in monetary terms is the best I have seen in any art competition ever, but so few know about it. They literally spend many thousands on each of us internationals, perhaps up to 10k. There are documentaries, and promotional posts and professional headshots etc.
As well as that they pay you for being a winner in the first place. Then they pay you for the illustration you do for the writer's story that you get assigned to illustrate. It gets published in the Anthology. On top of that, out of the '12 winners' a grand winner gets chosen from the writers and illustrators and they get an additional 5K. It all culminates in a grand Oscars style award ceremony where they really make a big deal out of you. Acceptance speeches, tuxes and gowns, book signings etc.

If this sounds too good to be true, well, it isn't. There are downsides of course. You have to endure a gruelling schedule of promotion and paparazzi-like behaviour during the week you are there, cameras and video cameras always in your face and on the periphery, some stupid shit you don't really want to do and Hollywood really is full of totally insecure dicks, that think the superficial shit like how you look or appear is the real deal. That said it is itself an experience, but in general the whole thing is worth the pain.

I am attaching an image of my bit of the award ceremony. If you want to know more just ask me questions, I will be totally honest about it all. Anyway, that has been my last two weeks. And now I'm back, I am sick, have 29 dollars in my account and the mortgage is due. That's life

Go to Writersofthefuture.com for more info on how to enter

Folio Reviews at the workshops


The ceremony


The book signing


Me with William Pomerantz the VP of Special Projects of Virgin Galactic!



But the best thing are these bunch of people here (the other artist winners). I have met a few people I know I will be friends with for a lifetime probably. You can't beat that.

[Adam Lina]

Woah, congratulations man! Dont forget about us little people when you're at the top schmoozing with the big dogs.

[KurtJeremy]

HOLY SHIZNIT! grats amit~! you deserve it i guess.
it mustve been a blast to be able to experience all of that(and stressful).
thanks for taking the time for sharing it to us youre fellow daggers.
i got a few questions if you dont mind.

how many people joined the contest?

can we see your winning piece that you used?

where do you live now actually?

if im getting a lil personal , feel free not to answer them.

P.S also the dickheads , fck them XD

[Blunt Pencil]

Congrats, Amit! You really earned it. Your work is beautiful. Keep updating the sketchbook, wanna see more!! BTW, is that Alex (guy with the hat) behind you in the 1st image?

[Amit Dutta]

@Adam. Haha, no way man. I don't roll like that!
Also this is why I'm telling you about it and pushing you all to APPLY so you guys can maybe experience this for yourselves!

@foxfire:
So it was very hard to get numbers of entrants out of anyone I asked. (again that whole Hollywood status thing, less somehow implied worse in their mind). As far as I can tell it went from somewhere between about 800 in the year, to 'thousands and thousands'. I would say judging from the contest director's total lack of understanding of how massive the targeted art community is out there, it wouldn't be more than a 1000 or so. So you have LOTS of chance to win unlike a dA contest for example!!!

These are the pieces I entered:
http://fav.me/d6mipeh
http://fav.me/d7a4358
http://fav.me/d6j7dxn

They really liked my environments, but also being able to show I could do character work was what clinched it. Because they focus on writers more, and are all about selling the anthology once it is done, they have a heavy skew towards narrative as well, so if you can show that all the better in my opinion.

I live in New Zealand.
And yeah, well I just chose to ignore the bullshit when it came at me, maintain my own integrity and still treat people with respect. Insecurity and superficiality isn't exactly their fault, it is a human condition that many people buy into, and when the environment is toxic like it is in Hollywood, well, you either fit in or run away screaming I guess.

@bluntpencil. Thanks! I will indeed. Yeah that's Alex. This guy's work is sick! In fact each and everyone had their own awesome unique thing to bring and it was so cool to see.
---------
Also about those 'big dogs' that Adam mentioned; One thing I have realised again in this trip, is that you should NEVER put anyone on a pedestal no matter how good they are at what they do. I met a couple of my 'heros' and they are just people. They can be (and one was) an asshole, and insecure and egotistical just like any of us have the potential to be. Be very wary of attributing people's skill and success to them being a nice person. Just sayin'
Also I met people who could have been the most self important douches on the planet given their success, but they were totally down to earth and friendly and honest. So it does run both ways, but in general, destroy your art gods. They don't exist.

[LaleAnn]

Congrats man! You deserved it :D I've entered it this year as well, fingers crossed! ^^
Keep up the good work!

[JyonnyNovice]

Thanks for sharing the summary and photo's, congrats again ^^

[Amit Dutta]

Good luck LaleAnn! Thanks all, I hope you all enter and good luck to you!

I have been working fulltime on trying to get my beast of a house sold so I don't have to be a slave to my mortgage. Means I haven't had anytime for either client or personal work and probably won't for the next two or three weeks, but I am trying to fit in some paints where i can. Here's a 30 minute speedy. Tree tunnel.

[Lyraina]

Woah woah, congratz on winning!!! That looks like an amazing trip. And rather intimidating, too, haha :) Thank you for sharing your insights and all! So happy to see your hard work paying off big time :D

Good luck with selling your house, so that you'll soon have more time for art again :)

[meat]

Good luck with selling the house! I bet it's a real hassle to get rid of all that stuff inside, and then deal with the selling and all...