FLIGHT

Just a bunch of random sketches for various projects, sketch challenges, etc.

Feel free to crit!































-Seth

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Cool.

your Adam West Batman is publishable. If you had a whole portfolio of similar images and if you put in the time and effort you could make a career of illustration.

Your drawings straight out of your head are lacking the confidence that comes with experience.

My advice: let go of what you think makes a "good" drawing and focus on your storytelling.

For example, your Cheshire Cat is just a "normal" looking cat in a tree, with a scary face. The line work looks over-done and doesn't really do anything for the mood, emotion, or storytelling of the piece (I'm using those terms as synonyms).

How could your shading, line work, angle and composition intensify what you're trying to say about this particular incarnation of the magical feline?

Also, it seems as though when you're coloring digitally that you're rushing through things.

Simple solution: slow down. Go away from your piece for a while, then come back and look at it later. What could make it a tad better?

Find someone who can teach you the principles of light and shade, someone you respect and who you know is a better artist than you are. Make friends with that person, be enthusiastic and open-minded to suggestion, and watch how they will eagerly take you under their wing to help you become a better artist.

Lastly, make sure you really believe that you're a great artist.

This final part is the most important and the most overlooked by people who decide to put in the time to become good at art (or anything, for that matter).

Most people tend to think they are AWESOME artists, but never put in time to really improve and move forward. He'll go through life thinking "my stuff is soooo bad-ass!" but the rest of us all know he's not really that good.

The other type of artist, who is in the minority, is a crit junkie that puts in countless hours in drawing workshops and reading books and learning from different teachers but in his heart doesn't believe he is a great artist. The ironic thing is he believes he's better than the cocky guys mentioned above, but will never really reach full potential because he refuses to believe that he is truly a great artist. His confidence dangles by a thread of compliments picked up here and there from folks who are working on the same things.

I hope that crit was helpful. Keep up the good work!


Frank

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"I do not get discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward"
--Thomas Edison

http://www.frankstockton.com

Wow, Frank... I did not expect such a thorough response from anyone. Your work you post here always blows me away, and I really appreciate you taking the time to give me some input.

Thanks for the kind words and the thoughtful suggestions. Most of these were done pretty quickly, just messing around really. But you're right... I need to consider composition, lighting, etc. even on these. What's the point of practice if you're not pushing yourself, right? You can definitely tell which ones I was using photo ref on. Digital coloring is something I've just been working with in the last year, and I definitely still have a ton to learn about it.

You can see a bunch of my finished artwork/stories on our website, if you want.

Thanks again for the feedback, Frank!

-Seth

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Seth... cool sketch dump man. Keep on drawing.

Frank: its rare to see such a great and deep critique. It helped me too!

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M@TtHeW

"We are the music makers, We are the dreamers of dreams" ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy

Here's a couple more.





-Seth

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Been awhile, but here's a new one...



-Seth

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A few more various things...















-Seth

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Well, we went ahead and put a bunch of these into a book. SKETCHINGS will be a series of collections of some of our better sketches. Some of them probably shouldn't even be called sketches, as they are pretty developed pieces that took quite awhile. But there is also a lot of just quick, fun stuff in there.

This first issue only features my work, but future issues will display the talents of some of my studio mates. Many of the sketches you have seen here on my sketch dump thread, but there are some new ones in there as well. It mainly consists of realistic drawings of real people and looser images of various characters. Several people have asked me if I was going to put some of my extra drawings in print form... so here ya go. It's 32+ sketches all in one book. I hope you all enjoy it. You can order Sketchings #1 from the Indy Planet Store.

-Seth

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Here's a couple new ones. Did these at our last convention... I discovered why everyone loves drawing zombies so much!






-Seth

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Here are some more sketches I did for some of my students that bought some of our books. It's always fun to take a crack at established characters. I slapped some color on the Iron Man. I was feeling inspired after watching the movie.








These next two were requested by a student who loves cheese and tacos. A kid after my own heart.




-Seth

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Here's a couple of old scratchboard pieces I recently scanned in. Experimenting with lighting and textures...






By the way, I have a deviantART gallery now. A lot of these pieces and more are in it, if ya feel like checkin' it out.


-Seth

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This is Scott Morse'sMagic Pickle, from a graphic novel I just got. It's a great, fun read! Superheroic produce... ya gotta love it. This was really quick and easy to draw.



One of the comics I'm picking up every month right now is the Perhapanauts, by Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau. It's about a group of paranormal adventurers that include a bigfoot, a ghost, a psychic, a mothman, an interdimensional guy, and THIS guy... Choopie (the chupacabra). It reads like a really light hearted Hellboy.


-Seth

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Hellboy and a tooth fairy:



If you've seen Hellboy II, then this you understand this even more...

-Seth

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I love your rendition of Adam West's Batman the most. good job.