[Max]

Hey guys.

[scroll down to see updates. thanks]

Actually I started such a thread over at conceptart, however I thought you might be interested in some non digital stuff too from time to time.

These are some of the sketches I drew recently. Many similarities in style and technique with other artists.
I am trying to get a solid understanding of composition, charater design, and so on. Digital art got too much of a bad habit for me lately.
Tradintonally you can hardly fake something when it doesn't work, you have to bite through it. And so far I have learned quite alot this way.

Hope you like them. Ref used just for a few of them in form of photography, only as inspiration for various expressions or poses tho.

yes, mostly girls - Who would have thought it?

[Critical Pete]

It's good to see more traditional work. I like the second to last and last ones best.

[Tinusch]

Max, you have gotten so much better over the past few years it boggles my mind. Fucking awesome work, you've got so much character and life and movement in your sketches. Inspiring to look at.

[Max]

Critical Pete: Thanks alot. Glad you like them!

Tinusch: Wow, thank you so much. You know, that's really motivating. It pushes me to work even harder. Thanks alot, it's great to be able to inspire other artists : )

Let's continue with more stuff. Please give me some crits! I need to get better...

Not about the following girl tho, i know her anatomy is completely screwed. Hehe,.. : )

[Max]

I got more stuff,....I'd like to get some feedback tho,...hehe, otherwise you'll never get to see it







cheers!

[eyewoo]

Nice work... lot'a work

My comment would be, loosen up. Everything seems a bit stiff and posed. Stay anatomically correct and keep the detail, but loosen up. That's your challenge...

...and keep it up...
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[Max]

Thanks alot eyewoo!!!

Yeah, that's pretty much what I try to do. It's very hard tho.
At the time you try to be correct and precise everything seems to get stiff and looses flow.
The combination of dynamic poses, and super loose yet detailed style is what I try to achieve.
Digitally that's even harder, therefore I study it with pencils and paper ; D
Thanks again for the hint!!!

as promised

[eyewoo]

It's interesting to see a body of work all in the same place... You clearly have a good grasp on drawing the clothed human form...but...

There's always a but, eh!

Look at the expressions, the mouths, eyes... they are all essentially the same in expression. The poses - pretty much straight up and down with head straight up... Much of the variety in your drawings comes from the detail in clothing. it should also be there in the physical personalities of the characters.

You are close to getting over a threshold... keep at it...
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[Synnical]

hey Max, some nice sketches you've got! and i enjoy seeing girl sketches!
just a curious question, what's the paper size you did these in? standard A4?

I think you have a good grasp on the overall human porportion; anatomically, they could be better with more consisitancy, but that will fall into place with more practice...They could also use more dynamic expressions since your backgrounds have that dynamic quality to them, and you can play to the strength of that by giving the main figure more movement in their poses.

other critiques i have is that try be precise with your lines, by that i mean avoid adding wobbly strokes around your main outline which don't really serve any purpose except being visually distracting. If you want them to achieve a certain goal, put them in with emphasis or don't have them at all.

Another thing i have trouble with is the directional arrows you have in some of the pieces - I find them odd, as i was expecting them to explain something to me due to their high visibility, but then I realized they're only random shapes, which makes them look out of place. I'd suggest making them less obvious or abstract.

overall, nice work!

[Synnical]

hey Max, some nice sketches you've got! and i enjoy seeing girl sketches!
just a curious question, what's the paper size you did these in? standard A4?

I think you have a good grasp on the overall human porportion; anatomically, they could be better with more consisitancy, but that will fall into place with more practice...They could also use more dynamic expressions since your backgrounds have that dynamic quality to them, and you can play to the strength of that by giving the main figure more movement in their poses.

other critiques i have is that try be precise with your lines, by that i mean avoid adding wobbly strokes around your main outline which don't really serve any purpose except being visually distracting. If you want them to achieve a certain goal, put them in with emphasis or don't have them at all.

Another thing i have trouble with is the directional arrows you have in some of the pieces - I find them odd, as i was expecting them to explain something to me due to their high visibility, but then I realized they're only random shapes, which makes them look out of place. I'd suggest making them less obvious or more abstract.

overall, nice work!

edit/ what's with the double post? sorry

[notic]

hey max, great sketches!

as far as critiques go, i think eyewoo is spot on. i'm also having troubles with "stiffness", but in order to loosen up, i find that a simple thing such holding my pen differently makes it easier, as far away from the paper as possible. when the "rough" is ready, i move my hand nearer the paper.

but i think the "looseness" has improved from the first images to the last, you're a quick study

keep it up!

[designboot]

very nice sketches ...

[Max]

Thanks for all the comments guys!

eyewoo: Thanks! I really know what you mean. And I think you're totally right about this. I haven't thought about it this way yet. Several people told me that so far. It's so hard to concentrate on everything at the same time. Especially those facial expressions are pretty complicated. I'll definately try to breath even more life into those characters. It's much harder than creating good anatomy and detail tho...I am not sure how long it will take me to get these qualities.

Synnical: Thank you very much for the detailed feedback.
The paper is standart (very smooth) A4 paper. Dynamic poses are very hard to create because anatomy becomes complex. Since I also try to sharpen my pure rendering skills too I avoided that so far. It would definately make my work more interesting tho. Hmm,..about that outline strokes. Actually I thought that might loosen up tha whole thing,...maybe it's really too distracting? I'll think about that. Those arrows,...actually just put them in as visual elements without any special purpose. I think the work quite cool in one of the first pics, the one with the mirrow girl. Without them it would loose some dynamic feeling. imho ;D
Thank you very much again!

notic: Thanks. I think that stiffness is not only because of the poses but also because of the rendering style. It looks to finished at some places altough I try to avoid that. It's a hard comination, I want a rough yet detailed look. I'll work on that. Thanks for the hint!

designboot: Thanks mate!

Two character studies....still slighly stiff...urgh ; /

[Max]

I'll keep posting. No matter what

Here's some more random sketching stuff. Trying to get looser. I think I am slowly progressing. Most of the stuff looks kinda unfinished tho. Maybe I'll work some more on some of these,...




Yes, her anatomy looks heinous. Can't draw hands eighter..., definately gonna study them soon.







Thanks for looking. Keep me motivated ;D

[Leopard Snow]

ow, i love this sketchbook ) nice pencil, it's make me think about new different things in design of characters. and these organic lines in design of armors is realy cool.

i think this is 5 star thread of SB, but here's no of rating mod in this forum, hehe
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[notic]

very nice update!

[iandredd]

I really like your work Max, the sketched lines you first lay down have a lot of life to them.

[Max]

Leopard Snow: Thanks alot! I am really glad you like my stuff since I love your work too man! Thank you!!!

notic: Thanks buddy : )

iandredd: Yeah, often this life gets lost when working on them some more. It's hard to keep that fresh look. Thanks!


Getting back into the flow here

[Naeem]

can't believe i forgot to comment on here.
good job max! really like your stuff. it seems like you've found a style, and you're going at it. by style, i mean, ideas. i guess its the shapes you draw, etc. its great. good job

[Max]

Hey Annis, thanks alot! I appreciate it : )

more random stuff

[Jabo]

Your pencils rock, Max!

I love the flow you got in every piece. Great clothing too, esp. in this one.

More, please
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[Petri.J]

good work, and good improvement.
Btw, all your faces are drawn from the same angle. Try different angles and you will learn the form of the face better.

[Capt. Fred]

Stunning leg! I like that drawing alot.

[Max]

Jabo: Thanks alot! Yeah, I really try hard to come up with new cloth designs. It adds so much to the expression of the character.

Petri.J: Thanks!! I am aware of that. And I really try to use different perspektives, it's just so hard ; / - I'll keep studying! : )

Capt. Fred: Thanks buddy, heres another leg >>>

[Max]

Hi there

I started to work on some Creature Designs for my portfolio. I made several pages (just scanned half of them) of thumbnails to get into the flow and try out different variations. It's great to get to know a theme. One after the other until you ran out of ideas which can take quite a while sometimes. It was alot of fun. After those thumbs I choose the ones I liked best and took 'em abit further. There are still many I'd like to work on more, however I'll start character Designs soon, my deadliens are tight, hehe : )

Anyway, about 6 more finished creatures will follow soon.

I tried to create more dynamic poses and compositings this time. I hope you like those. It was alot of fun for me.

Thanks for viewing!!

[Leopard Snow]

Max, awesome, update as always this (http://max.flasheye.at/maxarts_creature06.jpg) girl is nice )

PS and i remember your colour works with much of girls and without evil men and creatures , do you plan post there here? there were really pretty cool
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[Max]

Leo: Thanks alot. You can see my color works on my website. I won't post them here because they are rather old.
I will work on colored stuff soon tho. Atm I am more into pencil work.

Hope you guys like those. I tried to push my rendering skills abit further...
No reference at all for all those creatures by the way. I am trying to work only from mind to sharpen my imagination,...

[Capt. Fred]

Excellent work Max, these are great drawings.

[Max]

Capt. Fred: Thank you very much. I am really glad you like them!

These are the last three concepts of my creature series. I'd like to do more but have to concentarte on characters now, which is going to be alot of fun too of course.

I'd be glad for some critique. What you like and what you don't. I am really trying to get aware of the things that work and those I still have to take care of. Renderingwise I still have alot to learn. However things like expression and originality are hard to analyse on ones own sometimes. You get blind after a while. Thanks for the interest !!





This one's my fav of the creature series altough it's not flawless at all.



Please tell me your thoughts.
I'll be back with characters soon hopefully. (maybe even colored ones, *hides*)

[MCMA]

Alright Max, knock it off. This is the third time I had to pick up jaw from the floor while browsing this thread. It's not funneh anymore.

You rock, Sir Max.
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