Search form

Cobster's Gallery

79 posts / 0 new
Last post
Cobster's Gallery

Hi Everyone,

I'm Claire, I've been a member of this forum for a while now and thought it's time to get a bit more active in posting to it. I'm a traditional artist by profession and did an MA in Computer Animation in 2005. I have a short film on the go and teach a Maya animation class on a Foundation Degree.

My New Year's resolution for 2007 is to draw every day and I thought I share some of the results here on AWN. I work on paper and on the fab tablet pc I got for Christmas. I am using Atrage 2 and Sketchbook on the tablet.

Crit and feedback is always welcome, thanks.

I'll start with my first tablet drawings form Christmas Day, I think you may be to tell from the second one that I am currently reading Glen Vilppu's Drawing Manual.

Cobster's picture
Visit my website: Claire O'Brien.com

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Thanks for the kind compliments, Heathen, glad you spotted the doll-like look, that's exactly what I was aiming for.

Here are some more sketches done on the tablet pc. The boxy one is another Vippu-inspired drawing.

Keep the feedback coming.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I've been busy with my day job lately but I've managed to fit these in. I'm trying a new approach. I started by thumbnailing potential compositions for showing my angel in flight:

I chose the top-left one and blocked some of lardger masses in:

I then made a value sketch showing the direction of the lighting and refining the drawing a bit more:

Next comes the colour...

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

you go cobster !!! great work there! I agree with Doubt.

cart

Claire!

Great work so far! I like the fact that you're playing around experimenting with it a.t.m. cuz it will really just increase the overall quality of your end products! I really dig the angel painting too, very nice, and the models are really cool too!

Yours Truely
Da' Phreak
Neville Howard.
WWW.Comicwrx.com

Hi there,

Long time no post huh? Glad to see your still at it though. Man I wish i knew how to do 3d CG I figure I'm just to old for that now and continue with my pencils and stuff hahahahahaha,. Hope you have a Happy Holiday and best wishes from our home to yours.

So, Are you trying to create key framing so as to animate from or storyboarding?

cart:D

Here's the head that I chose attached to the body, any thoughts, crits?

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

hey claire!

lots of great work on your sketch thread! i had a look through it just there.

with regards to your sketch above, I would say i really like this drawing you did:

maybe it would be nice if you brought in some of that great line quality into your final image? its looking good and though both heads worked well, i would say the second head is the better choice for sure!

ken :D

More "Drawing on the Right Hand Side of the Brain" Drawings

Here is a pure contour line drawing made by looking at your subject but not at your paper.

And here is a modified contour drawing of my hand made by laying clear acetate over it and drawing the outlines in marker then copying this on paper using a grid system with added detail and value.

Comments always welcome.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I need to update my website and I am trying to create a self-portrait logo for it. Here are my initial doodles.

Crits are always welcome.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I printed my previous sketch out and used it to make the following drawing.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I like that final piece! Very good!

:)

Thanks Phreak, yeah I am trying to experiment, but I think my work is still too reminiscent of my traditional fine art approach, I want to get more toony, I love the contruction and discipline that goeas into animation drawing.

Here's the latest installment of sketches, a tablet pc sketch in Artrage 2:

Action pencil sketches on paper of angels and demons inspired by Gustav Dore's engravings for Milton's Paradise Lost:

Keep the comments coming.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I love how Arthur Rackham (see my post above) draws joints (elbows and knees). This has started me off on a quest to perfect my joints. Here is a pencil sketch of knee and elbow joints from an anatomy book.

Keep the critiques and advice coming.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I think I'd like to try this artrage stuff. where dose a person purchase this software?

I love the angels and the sketch pages of different action and movements. I don't think you are going to find a problem to translate your work as more toony.

cart:D

I dig the snow.. well, I dig how you've done the snow. I'm not much for the actual stuff. I can't actually see outside because of the stuff :p

Thanks Cartuneman, you can find Artrage here. It's a lovely program, very simple with the same natural media feeling that Painter has. There is a free version and a $20 version. The $20 version comes with more tools and layering capabilities which is great if you don't want your colurs to mix, I use this version.

Don't forget to post your Artrage sketches!

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Thanks Ken, here's some more:

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

coming right along there Cobster,

Ok i've tried the free art rage....I'm not really impressed with it yet but what the heck the free one dosn't have all the bells and whistles.....I'm going over to compuserve and see if they have the full on progra there and buy it.

cart

now thats using the ole noodle I always love to create from things I see. I'd love to see some of these finalized.

cart:D

I cant see them cobster! :(

Here are two pencil sketches. The first one is inspired by Tenniel and the second are doodles.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Here's may latest view of the angel, drawn with pencil on paper. Not the best of the three but I like the wing style on this one. Crits always welcome, thanks.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Hope you have a Happy Holiday and best wishes from our home to yours.

Thanks, we did have a lovely Christmas, hope you did too.

This scene of the angel in flight is taken from a panel from the storyboard I'm working on. The plan is to choose panels that I like and create paintings from them. Sort of an exercise in painting from imagination, a skill I think I need to improve upon.

So here are more updates, some colour studies using the colour layer mode and smudge tool in photoshop with mixed results:

I've chosen the last colour scheme for my final image.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Thanks for looking Ken. Yes It is a nicer, more confident line on that drawing, more cartoony than my usual approach. I'll bear that in mind.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

you have very beautiful work here cobster. i love the classical feel of your drawings. as for crits, the only thing i'd say is that it needs more highlights, some white paint perhaps? or just a really good eraser. maybe more contrast. anyways, like i said, it's very beautiful, i very much enjoy your wing construction.

I wasn't happy with the head of my angel so I have made some alternatives in Sketchbook. They're inspired by classic statues, here they are:

1.

2.

3.

4.

What one do you think I should use?

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Thanks Leechkin and Cartuneman,

I don't think I will develop them as they were done with the intention of loosening me up a bit from my tendency for a fine art style of work.

Recently I have been looking at some amazing art on the Concept Art.Org Forums and it has inspired me to invest a bit more time on my sketches. So here is a bit of work that started as a pencil sketch from life which was then drawn in a more caroony style and then painted in Artrage.

The pencil sketch (with shadow values documented):

A looser line drawing:

Final Artrage painting:

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Thanks Scoob,

Here's another painting of my Grandma done with Artrage.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Thanks for the compliments and for stopping by Heathen. It's much appreciated. And thanks too for the crits. Agreed there isn't enough contrast in these drawings. For the first time, I've been using a sennelier or stump or whatever they are called to do the shading on these angel drawings and perhaps I have been a little scared to work back into the shading with a rubber. Something to work on if I use this technique again, thanks.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I've just got back from a fun week of skiing in Fernie, Canada, so I haven't posted for a while. Here is an Artrage sketch of the slopes as seen from the The Griz bar.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Howdy,

Funny that you suggested the one you chose I would have picked that one as well. Keep up the great work!

cart

Thanks guys, I hope this improvement continues. I will post more soon and we'll see.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Thanks Cart.

I actually didn't think much of Artrage when I first tried it, but I love it now on my Tablet PC. The natural media aspect of the paint mixing with the paint below takes some getting used to though. At least the pro version has layers if you don't like this. I bought my copy by downloading it from the website.

Anyway here are some studies of knees using Sketchbook Pro:

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Here are my latest installments:

A Vilppu inspired boxy sketch then colour study with a slight pose-change.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

thanks cobs,

I downloaded the free trial. It looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for visiting my gallery and the crits there. ya I'm not that great at digicoloring yet. I'm all self taught in photoshop and a couple other programs. I've only been computerized hahaha for about 4 years now. I'm from the ole school of pen and ink and markers. (crayons too hahhahaha) You are right about the other artist here including yourself. You all are amazing!

cart:D

Here's another crack at the angel from another angle, pencil on paper.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Nice roughs there noticed you went back to anatomy to capture the real feel of the joints. So where dose one get sketch pro and dose it help with ones art?

cart

looks pretty up there.

I've never been to canada .....some day......someday, nice lil piece of digi art. how long did that take you to paint?

cart:D

Thanks Cart, yeah that green one is awful. Anyway here is the final image, oil on canvas.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I am designing a realistic character, here is my initial pencil sketch inspired by Michaelangelo's David.

More to come, comments and critique always welcome.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

CG Talk Strange Behaviour Challenge

Here is an orthographic drawing for 3D modelling of Professor Branestawm based on W. Heath Robinson's drawing. It's part of my entry into the CG Talk Strange Behaviour Challenge. I am making the Professor's invention for peeling potatoes. Wish me luck.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I like the direction you are going with the figure...you may find when using the italic/caligraphic pens, that the weight of the line, as made by the various parts of the nib will yield better results...just a thought.

Yes, anything that I learn or read about I then try and apply to my drawings.

You can find Sketchbook here. How it helps me, is that I use it on my Tablet PC for sketching because the pencil line is less textured than the one in Artrage. If I'm going to do some colour I'll then import my Sketchbook image into Artrage and go from there. I use these two on my tablet because Photoshop and Painter are so so slow on it. On my desktop Photoshop is my overall favourite image-making program.

Here's a pencil and paper sketch of some knees where I'm trying to stylise them in my effort to get more toonish in my drawing.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Even more drawing on the right side of the brain

I continue with more drawing on the right side of the brain. Here is an exercise in looking at negative space.

And this is a drawing of my tiny kitchen which uses negative space and sighting to determine perspective.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

I've been trying out some Berol Italic pens. I'm not too pleased with the results but thought I'd post them anyway as it's all part of the learning experience.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Because I am obsessed with angels my self portrait is taking on a cheeky angelic look, here are my latest doodles.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Thanks, Leechkin, glad you like the snow, you should know how it looks by the sounds of it :) .

I have started a new job this week so have let my daily drawings slide to weekly. Here are some pencil sketches of character designs that are aiming to be cartoony and take their influence from real life objects.

Based on a truck thing on a building site.

Based on a speaker.

Based on a roll-on deoderant bottle.

All are daft, I know, but it's all part of my process of learning to draw for animation and get the creative juices flowing.

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Very nice. I always find it fun to let your imagination go wild. I like the speaker character :)

Wicked!...

Great sketches and paintings...especially the deodorant sketches and speaker sketches, they gave me a chuckle, i like there design...

Go now! Its Free! YES Free!
www.derrickcanyon.com
See my work and me at these other sites! WOW!
http://fearcomedy.com/ (Comic Book Freelance)
http://derrickcanyon.blogspot.com/ (Sketcheroos)
www.radicalaxis.com (Atlanta Studio)
:eek:

:) Thanks for the comments guys

Visit my website:

Claire O'Brien.com

Pages