christwriter In reply to nickolaus [2013-07-15 04:43:24 +0000 UTC]

Intriguing. Thanks for letting me know.

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christwriter In reply to Duamuteffe [2013-03-10 05:00:32 +0000 UTC]

Hi there!

Lines are much welcomed. Yeah, I've kept my DA site on here for YEARS. Is kind of sort of my baby.

Nice to see that you are here.

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Duamuteffe In reply to christwriter [2013-03-10 22:04:49 +0000 UTC]

Nice to see you too!
I mainly use this for our ongoing Half-Life project now, but it's nice to have a place to put the odd photo that comes out well or the occasional doodle. Tumblr's my main stomping grounds these days, but I try to check in on dA several times a week.

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christwriter In reply to Duamuteffe [2013-03-11 05:35:56 +0000 UTC]

I have yet to get into tumblr. It looks like it'd be something like fun, but it also looks confusing as hell and chock full of crazy...and like it would eat all my time forever.

(...I am a bad nerd. I have yet to play half-life. I finally got Half Life two and that will be my reward for surviving Spring Break. Portal 2 is still my favorite game in the universe.)

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Duamuteffe In reply to christwriter [2013-03-11 21:07:04 +0000 UTC]

Oh yes, tumblr is the epitome of crazy- especially the Portal 2 fandom, in fact; the only more- er- *enthusiastic* groups I've seen so far are the Homestucks and the Sherlock fans. And since you can track tags of whatever you're into, tumblr eats up a lot of time. But I've found a really good group there and I seem to be doing some mentoring, so that's pretty awesome. I definitely don't recommend it if you're trying to get anything else done though- the first few months I was on every spare moment, trying not to miss anything
When you get around to HL the original game has been ported to the HL2 engine as a labor of love, and it's free. Well worth the time; the original game still holds up after all these years and the new port is stellar.

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christwriter In reply to Joshuadsanchez [2012-07-06 05:48:29 +0000 UTC]

You're most welcome. Thanks for making it for me to fav.

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christwriter In reply to photoutopia [2012-07-04 05:16:31 +0000 UTC]

Most welcome

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christwriter In reply to Kozaczenko [2012-07-01 05:24:22 +0000 UTC]

Welcome

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christwriter In reply to saeto15 [2010-10-05 23:44:37 +0000 UTC]

I sketch infrequently. I'm trying to get better at that, though, and make it a habit.

I have a love-hate relationship with references. I DO spend a lot of time eyeballing pictures with elements I need (example: Finding pictures of water lilies to paint the kind that I need) but when it comes to trying for a point-for-point pose copy, I get frustrated. Mostly because I need to come up with an idea for the reference, and not a reference for the idea. I DO collect nice pictures that tickle my creative fancy, but I rarely find one that screams PAINT ME EXACTLY LIKE THIS. "Snow" was one, "Soft" was another, "Invitation" (which was actually my own poser render) and, I think, "Paint the Starry Sky".

I think this is because I am a lazy ass. Most of my more recent pieces are a result of a "throw paint on the wall and see what sticks" sketching technique. I don't have a problem with copying or even directly tracing a reference if it's what I need (and all the requisite copyright permissions are taken care of) but I'm too damn lazy to go out and FIND those references to work from.

What I ought to do is get my poser models back and functioning again (computer crash killed all my .exe files) but that'd be a lot of work (ALL my models were .exe files) And Poser figures are rarely as accurate as I'd like them to be.

I also like the learning aspect of working "on my own" so to speak. Sure, it might not be accurate, but it's more accurate than it used to be, and it will get better. There's a trade off in there, and I really ought to study more than I do, but eventually, if I work hard enough at it, I'll get where I want to go. I just have to do the work and make it a priority.

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saeto15 In reply to christwriter [2010-10-06 00:26:41 +0000 UTC]

I understand wanting to learn on your own, that's what I've mostly been doing myself, though I did attend art school. The best advice I can give you is to study the skeleton. Learn how the body is put together, where the muscles are, etc. If you know the underlying framework, you don't need photo reference as much.

Using reference isn't a bad thing in itself, either. It's just that there are a lot of people out there who don't know how to properly use it. Copying a pose or face isn't going to do an artist a lot of good if they don't understand exactly what it is they're drawing. Hence, studying the skeleton and muscles. There are a lot of great books out there that libraries usually carry- my favorites are Loomis' "Figure Drawing for all it's worth" and James Gurney's "Artist's Guide to Sketching". I also found a decent artist's anatomy book in the bargain section at Barnes & Noble that has been a great resource for human and animal anatomy ("Cyclopedia Anatomicae" [link] ). It's a decent book for the size and price.

Sorry if I sound like I'm preaching, lol. I suffered through four years of art school and got sick of seeing artists not being taught the most essential skills (or not bothering to learn them) and I can guarantee they're never going to find work anywhere. That's the bad thing about art schools- they just want your money, they don't give a shit if you actually succeed. Then again, it seems like everyone needs a Bachelor's or higher nowadays, so you're really screwed either way.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening.

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christwriter In reply to delira [2010-09-16 15:02:39 +0000 UTC]

Most welcome.

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christwriter In reply to Deviant-ZAngel [2010-09-16 14:55:59 +0000 UTC]

To paraphrase a favorite movie of mine: "Bomb away, for all I care! I knew you'd fave me one day."

Bonus points if you can guess which movie.

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Deviant-ZAngel In reply to christwriter [2010-09-16 16:19:05 +0000 UTC]

uhhhhh ..... pirates of the carribean? that's the only pirate movie i've seen that i can think of right now. If not, ah well.


i am still trying so hard today not to fav bomb. I love your stuff so much i wanna fav your whole gallery ;___________;

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