VagaBOUND to debauchery and failure! (or how i learned to love my sketch book)

[saint manji]

I've got one month and i turn 24, so i figure it's time to get in gear. Too old to be jerking off to free internet porn and Final Fantasy androginy.
So in an attempt to record my own "progress" i'll start one of these. Hopefully it'll put a little fire under my ass so i can actually start posting finished art.
My main problem is that i start off feeling good about the drawing, but i eventually lose steam when it starts to suck, which is all the time.
Hopefully posting these sketchbook pages will inspire me to actually finish something and give me the backbone to not quit.
Also backgrounds is something i suck the donkey balls at.
So in an attempt to fix all those things, here goes;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img022.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img023.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img024.jpg


Edit: C & C welcome. These images are from the beginning of this month. I didnt want to post anything from before because i dont think it'd show of where i am skillwise currently.

[saint manji]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img0170.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img036.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img035.jpg

[saint manji]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img034.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img033.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img032.jpg

[saint manji]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img031.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img030.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img029.jpg

[saint manji]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img021.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img006b.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img004b.jpg

[Spidey]

I'm really diggin your style man, you hone it.

[Mr.Hades]

I'm really diggin your style man, you hone it.

Agreed. Lots of energy and character in your work. More please!

[Norman B8s]

Seconded. Somehow, even the 'static' poses are dynamic and full of energy. Keep it coming.

[Maverick]

I'm enjoying the poses and your style, hope to see more!

[saint manji]

5/18/07
Batman!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img101.jpg

[saint manji]

5/20/07
Robin (Dick Grayson) taking a peek.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img041.jpg

[jojomonster]

5/18/07
Batman!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img101.jpg

OMG i LOVE it! Amzing expressions <3

[kman]

Your faces are top notch, sir. And you've got a great style that's very loose and fluid, but at the same time it's capable of some great subtle detail. Keep up the good work.

But what's the rush to get "good" before hitting 24? You've got the rest of your life to continue maturing into good art. Sticking with it is more important than becoming complacent in your style (then again I don't turn 24 for about 8 more months, so maybe my opinion will change by then). But maybe I'm reading into it too much; all the same, bravo for the gumption to get serious about it; I think we could all use that.

[Spidey]

How are you at coloring?

[saint manji]

Spidey - i'm terrible at coloring. I'm sure i can do it if i jus take the time to learn. But as it is, my time on a computer is limited. I need to find a weekend to just hop on photoshop and hustle for the two days i have off.
Why do you ask?

5/24/07
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img043.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img042.jpg

[Dri]

Jack, can I join the love bandwagon too? ;) Whatever I'll say will be redundant. Lively style. Bet you are impatient. How often do you sketch and where do you want to take it out of curiosity?

[saint manji]

Yes you can join the bandwagon.
But only you, dont bring your friends from university. heh.
Is my impatience that obvious?
I sketch about every day or every other day.
However, i just started doing that i'd say about a month or a month and a half ago. Had to get in gear.
As for where i'd want to take it?
Hell, love be to drawing my own comic.
I'd actually like to do that more than i would anything for the big two. But the big two pays good. :(
Does my art look like it's going nowhere?
Cause if it does, i'm gonna cry.
Dont spare me!

[Dri]

Anyone can be a comic artist it seems. It's all about application. Sure, these labs help refine technique but any style is marketable provided you know how to draw perspective, storytell with two or more characters interacting with each other, etc. Looking at professional work one thing that is very clear. Each page looks labored over, clean and consistent. From what I can see, you do characterization well. You are conquering the hard part of depicting people so you are on the right track. Just refine your proportion to fit with your style and be consistent and you will be on your way.

Your age shouldn't be a concern cos Charkxl (one of those College dudes) is the same age as you. I gotta say when I saw the amount of work he has done over the years and the stuff he did on penciljack it motivated me to sketch everyday and participate here. So to answer your question, your art is definitely headed somewhere. Draw from life as much as you can too. Buildings, people, trees, etc.

[Spidey]

I ask because I'm on the same boat with you in the getting inspired to draw then losing steam halfways leaving a lot of unfinished drawings. I wanted to know if you'd be willing to take on a challenge of finishing a drawing to its complete stages. I mean background, inks, colors, text and logo. I was thinking of redoing a comic cover or making on up. Or if you really wanted to challenge yourself we could draw and ink one of the scripts from the writing lab.

Let me know if you are interested so I can start the challenge.

[saint manji]

Yes, i'm definitely willing and interested. :D

[Spidey]

sweet. so which one are ya up for? cover or script( 3-5 pages)?

[saint manji]

I would much rather do a script because i cant use photoshop yet.
The farthest i can take it is to the inking stages.
Dude, i really need to learn to color. Haha, it's embarrassing.

[Spidey]

Alright, I'll decide on a script and pm you when you I start the challenge. Sketch away meanwhile, dude.

[saint manji]

5/27/07 3:00am
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img045.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img046.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img047.jpg

[saint manji]

More late night/early morning crap:
Right now i'm concentrating on getting my figures down really quick. The pages on this post and last were drawn in an hour (timed, minus the ink on the two faces). For the next few days i'm going to concentrate on fast "dynamic" poses, anatomy in places that still confuse me. Still waiting on spidey's challenge and trying to get my poses as natural looking as possible.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img048.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img049.jpg

[Dri]

I've bought a book recently called Force : Dynamic drawing by Mike Matessi. It's like an animator's style of drawing but worth checking out since your style will be suited to it. Try blue pencils to get quick gestures. I picked up a brand called Lyra and the coloured pencils are sweet as. It's got beeswax in it that makes it smooth.
The gestures may not be too much of an issue since you have a lot of energy in your drawing style.

Experiment with some mediums and have fun in the next 6 months - 1 year.

[Spidey]

Accept the challenge (http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77384) already, mofo.

[saint manji]

7/3/07 4:13am
Been sick as a mule for the past week or so, but now i'm better.
Huzzah.
These are the pages for the now defunct batman script draw off. They're rushed, but i still tried to put as much attention to my weak parts as much as time would allow to meet the deadline for the draw off. Imma do these again sometime this week.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img050.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img053.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img054.jpg

[saint manji]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img060.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img061.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img057.jpg

[saint manji]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img058.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img059.jpg

[Dri]

Jeez, man..Thought you flaked out. But it's just like holidays. When you stop working you get sick. It's too compensate for the stress on the body. Too busy to get sick when you are working.

[saint manji]

Heh, yeah.
Goddam ear infection.
It was throwing my balance outta wack so it was hard to just sit there and draw.
Had me walking in the direction of the pain.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/img062.jpg

[Dri]

I had ear infections growing up. My parents thought I had a learning disability but it was an ear infection and I was deaf for a bit. Can't remember now.

Funny drawin..It's like that. Can't lie anywhere and not have throbbing pain. What's worse is when you are trying to sleep.

Good to know your alive tho.

[NickRocks]

great energy in these! im loving it post more!

[saint manji]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img063.jpg

[saint manji]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/saintmanji/PJ%20Sketch%20Blog/img066.jpg

[Dri]

Damn! Is that all you got since you haven't been workin' a jobby job? Delete the pron and start workin' man. Bridgeman, Hogarth or whatever exercises to build your skill, just post it. Even enter some draw off to you slacker.

All seriousness aside, I'd watch that small bulge the lil lady has.

[saint manji]

I would but it all really really sucks.
I wanna show off stuff i dont want to puke at.
And yes, that bulge needs to go.
I'll change it when i can get to my scanner.
Damn greendri, putting me on the spot like that.