HSB's Sketchbook

[heysawbones]

Hey everyone,

Eny recommended this place. I miss art forums that focus on improvement so, so much. Thanks for being here!

I do contract comic book work professionally. Aesthetically, I'm interested in mid-century through the 70s' illustrators (Rob McGinnis, Bob Peak, etc.). I'm also a fan of Tomer Hanuka, Chris Visions, and the everpresent Sergio Toppi. I often feel like something is missing and my work doesn't look sharp and confident. It lacks polish, or has too much, or ???. Maybe my vision isn't strong enough. 

Here's some WIPs








Here's some finished stuff






Join me on a journey to. man I don't even know what. betterdom

[bonjidogen]

Oh god I think I recognize your work from some website a few years ago. Did you use to draw a sorta space-feudal comic/sci-fi with noble intrigue?

[heysawbones]

Oh god I think I recognize your work from some website a few years ago. Did you use to draw a sorta space-feudal comic/sci-fi with noble intrigue?

I still do. Small world!

[Zorrentos]

Welcome to the forums! Your work is looking great! I especially like the comic book artworks you have submitted. The anatomy and stylization are top-notch.

As for your paintings, I think they are good, but there is of course room for improvement in some areas. I struggle a bit to provide useful critique because I can't really put my finger on what is needed. Maybe you need to think a bit about providing clarity and ensuring that your vision and goal with the image comes through? As in, what do you want the viewer to feel and think when looking at your image?

Keep up the good work! Looking forward to seeing more! : )

[heysawbones]

Welcome to the forums! Your work is looking great! I especially like the comic book artworks you have submitted. The anatomy and stylization are top-notch.

As for your paintings, I think they are good, but there is of course room for improvement in some areas. I struggle a bit to provide useful critique because I can't really put my finger on what is needed. Maybe you need to think a bit about providing clarity and ensuring that your vision and goal with the image comes through? As in, what do you want the viewer to feel and think when looking at your image?

Keep up the good work! Looking forward to seeing more! : )

Maybe it is a clarity thing! Yeah. I'm not sure, either. I'll keep at it, though.

Thanks!

[heysawbones]

No new paintings I can post - it's NSFW contract work. DX

[Eny]

I'm gonna cheat a bit since I already know you personally, haha. I think a lot of your issue with rendering and drawing in general is indecisiveness due to a lack of planning. I know that you tend to wing it a lot and plan and edit as you go, which can be a fine and valid way to do things but I think at times it bites you in the ass.

I think you definitely know how to draw and paint, but I also think that you may have some blind spots and once you reach that upper limit of your abilities you begin to waffle and poke around until you stumble on something that works, rather than making an informed decision. I know that's how I always felt when I was first learning how to render. And sometimes it'd be something as simple as not utilizing something as silly, that I should have already known by then, like the hierarchy of shading/values on a sphere.

I wish I could be more specific, I think you know better where you begin to get hung up on than I would. I would just say don't be afraid to revisit the most basic of basic things. You're a fantastic artist, but sometimes revisiting the most mundane things bears the most fruit.

[heysawbones]

I'm gonna cheat a bit since I already know you personally, haha. I think a lot of your issue with rendering and drawing in general is indecisiveness due to a lack of planning. I know that you tend to wing it a lot and plan and edit as you go, which can be a fine and valid way to do things but I think at times it bites you in the ass.

I think you definitely know how to draw and paint, but I also think that you may have some blind spots and once you reach that upper limit of your abilities you begin to waffle and poke around until you stumble on something that works, rather than making an informed decision. I know that's how I always felt when I was first learning how to render. And sometimes it'd be something as simple as not utilizing something as silly, that I should have already known by then, like the hierarchy of shading/values on a sphere.

I wish I could be more specific, I think you know better where you begin to get hung up on than I would. I would just say don't be afraid to revisit the most basic of basic things. You're a fantastic artist, but sometimes revisiting the most mundane things bears the most fruit.

I can tell you where I get hung up: I don't know what an informed decision looks like, in my case. As in, with few exceptions, I don't actually know exactly what I'm going for. This is less of a problem with natural media work, which I suspect is because there are fewer options available. It's less of a problem with comics than with standalone illustrations, because a comic page has, if nothing else, a narrative structure that i have plans for ahead of time. I really need to work on my standalone illo storytelling skills.

Anyway, the intentionality thing you're talking about is why I go off looking for mentors every year or whatever. The planning issue's all on me and is solvable. "What is my art even supposed to look like?" is... I have no idea. I don't begin to know how to approach that. So, I just keep doing it in the hope that I'll figure it out.

[darktiste]

I am not saying you need to thumbnail more but i think i am saying you need to thumbnail more.It literally the fastest thing to test something instead of investing hour into thing that can be solve before the stake are to high.Sure if we talking about render i think it come down to brush economy and planning.

I think the more i learn the more i realize how the first minute of a drawing are the most important.Small and quick thumbnail can save alot of trouble.If you don't have a clear vision there your ally.

Here a talk from feng zhu on the subject of thumbnailing i think it time well spent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsHD5GQ01og&t=359s

[heysawbones]

I am not saying you need to thumbnail more but i think i am saying you need to thumbnail more.It literally the fastest thing to test something instead of investing hour into thing that can be solve before the stake are to high.Sure if we talking about render i think it come down to brush economy and planning.

I think the more i learn the more i realize how the first minute of a drawing are the most important.Small and quick thumbnail can save alot of trouble.If you don't have a clear vision there your ally.

Here a talk from feng zhu on the subject of thumbnailing i think it time well spent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsHD5GQ01og&t=359s

I'm watching this now. I regret not having taken this advice before. I did fine with this in school, with time limits. Outside of that context, I tend to noodle and have avoided doing thumbnails (outside of comics, where they are an unquestionable necessity) in order to avoid getting off track and spending way too much time noodling on nothing in particular. Instead of avoiding thumbnails, I need to quit noodling. Thanks for the reality check, it's deeply appreciated.

[darktiste]

Well the big issue is also taking decision as artist we have so much freedom of expression but the intent is working with clarity of mind.It one thing to be creative but what really help us get where we want to go is being clear with where we want to go without being limited by how you reach this point.Meaning everything in your bag of trick should be use to reach that objective you have in mind.One advise would be to do list but that doesn't directly translate into drawing so instead of making the list on a separate page put your list directly where your working meaning on the canva itself this way your reminded that it is not about the list only but about putting something down.The danger of list is they can be useful to create clarity of intent what you don't want is a list of vague intent that where it get tricky because you need to narrow down your option which seem counter creative but i am sure you felt it but when sky is the limit you tend to have the blank page problem getting in the way meaning there is no clear direction coming to mind.So to solve that generally you want the story telling to be establish before the drawing start and than you want to use your creativity to translate this storytelling in a way that is engaging to the viewer.So you gotta find the element that are familar, that are cool and that speak create emotion shift in the viewer making impatient to turn the page always trying to leavespace for surpris.What is the viewer suppose to feel for example when timmy fall should they laugh or should they cry.How can you use facial expression, framing ,color and composition to best represent what is the focus of what going in that particular moment of the story.

Also remember it ok to want result just don't set yourself for trouble just to get the job done it actually require more effort than one might suspect to establish a clear vision right away.Don't be the guy who is like i am gonna solve this later down the road.Planning is always bit scary and you certainly can't plan everything.A lil planning is better than nothing.The planning eventually become more and more intuitive.

[heysawbones]

Well the big issue is also taking decision as artist we have so much freedom of expression but the intent is working with clarity of mind.It one thing to be creative but what really help us get where we want to go is being clear with where we want to go without being limited by how you reach this point.Meaning everything in your bag of trick should be use to reach that objective you have in mind.One advise would be to do list but that doesn't directly translate into drawing so instead of making the list on a separate page put your list directly where your working meaning on the canva itself this way your reminded that it is not about the list only but about putting something down.The danger of list is they can be useful to create clarity of intent what you don't want is a list of vague intent that where it get tricky because you need to narrow down your option which seem counter creative but i am sure you felt it but when sky is the limit you tend to have the blank page problem getting in the way meaning there is no clear direction coming to mind.So to solve that generally you want the story telling to be establish before the drawing start and than you want to use your creativity to translate this storytelling in a way that is engaging to the viewer.So you gotta find the element that are familar, that are cool and that speak create emotion swift in the viewer making impatient to turn the page always trying to leavespace for surpris.What is the viewer suppose to feel for example when timmy fall should they laugh or should they cry.How can you use facial expression, framing ,color and composition to best represent what is the focus of what going in that particular moment of the story.

Also remember it ok to want result just don't set yourself for trouble just to get the job done it actually require more effort than one might suspect to establish a clear vision right away.Don't be the guy who is like i am gonna solve this later down the road.Planning is always bit scary and you certainly can't plan everything.A lil planning is better than nothing.The planning eventually become more and more intuitive.

Making a list honestly never occurred to me. It's a great idea. I can brainstorm what's important about an image and try to focus on getting that stuff across. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the guidance, and I'm applying it right away.