So this is it...

Hey guys,
I've got an announcement to make. This will be the last post for my Challenge.
I'll show a few recent experiments, studies and spit-paints, following up with an explanation-rant, why I'm stopping the challenge.
Jeez Some of these might even be older than a month.

spitpainting (Spitpaintings are speedpaintings without photos don in a maximum of 30 minutes) spacecowboy

turret mech thing spitpainting

jungle scout spitpainting

most recent spitpainting astronout wizard

1 h just for fun

alien queen advanced version of a spitpainting 2.5 hrs

Harlequin demon advanced version of  a spitpainting 2.5 hrs

done a few month back, cropped for this post, took about 4 hrs all in all

I've come a long way, I realized that now. 4 Years ago, when I was still in military service, I was literally lying in the dirt, and sleeping outside at -7 °C and now I'm in my snugly command-chair in my home office, doing my own thing and enjoying the life I envisioned back then.
I've struggled, pushed myself over the edge, payed for that and was rewarded with wisdom. There are still some more hurdles to overcome and one of those is to finish my diploma with excellence.

When i twisted my right ankle I've got a different angle on things again, had a lot of things to think about and also a few more new influence and thoughts on the way I handle this situation.
First of all I'm not happy with my internet presence, I can't give it the love I would like to give it and right now it is just not as effective as it could be.
I can't show the work i'm doing  for my diploma, so this blog is just putting on more pressure.
My calculations go in about 1000 hours just for the Project work itself, marketing and skull-cracking mind-work excluded. So I'm doing the logical thing and try to channel my energies on the tasks at Hand.

I prioritize some other things right now, for example deeper studies on action, rhythm and graphical statements or my lefty training which i started half a week ago. 

I changed my mind about that as-well, it is a great opportunity for growth and it will make me less depended on my right Hand (and it's occasional tendinitis fall-backs).

So that's it. You know where to find me :)

Have a great one guys and all the best to you

Michael

417 a productive week

Hi guys!
I'm quite productive as of late... this is as always a little less than half of the stuff i've done this week... wow.. its true, i swear! :D
I figured out a problem that i was having...
It took a bit long for me to get it but i guess I understand it now.
I didn't want to work on some asignments, and because of that i didn't draw and paint quit as much. Seeking distractions from those tasks i want to avoid...

Last week i stood up early one day and because of my right foot situation, i couldn't go to design school.
So i was up, and didn't want to go back to sleep. So i made a study, trying to use the lasso tool evectively, which you can find below.

After that i went on to one of those tasks and painted 6 hours on it, with a few short breaks in between.
The point being, that after the little work, done in the morning, i've had a lot more

energy to work on every little other task at hand. I worked from 9am to like 10pm and felt like i got shit done that day.

Well this kind of momentum is simply something that you can't seem to build up when you come home from design-school at 4pm with 4 sets of 1 1/2 hour classes.
However I've found out a few other things this week.
I picked up a technique that i'm pretty comfortable with, which also seems to be a huge time saver for the way i approach painting. It feels a bit like oil-painting. Still gotta go deeper into that technique, but it's results look promising to me so far.
The other thing is drawing in my Moleskin with a Pilot G-Tec-C o.25 and o.4.
Haha this showed me once again, that going about drawing in a stiff and tight way really just gives you mediocre results.

Spitpainting is growing on me too :) . Now enjoy my work and experiments and crit it if you like :)

Have a great one Guys!

yours

Day 410 or is it?

Well my dear Followers...
Its been a few days again. A Post has been long overdue...
Just a couple of things to say before I update u on my latest paintings and such.
Last Sunday I fell, on my way back home attaining this beautiful-piece-of-shit ligaments Rupture in my right ankle, once again. Now that one week has passed, I hope i can go back to the academy tomorrow, but it kinda still hurts and I will have to wear this splint for a couple more weeks...
That being said a test diploma will be due in a few weeks and this situation makes things a bit complicated.
So One could imagine that I'm a bit stressed, but not really.
The time where i bother with this kind of stuff seems to be over.
Although I want to deliver good work, stressing myself to accomplish something I don't really think is necessary, isn't part of that deal for me anymore.
I'm probably gonna cry the last few days and make it out with a c- or something like that, not that i'd be against any better mark. But the truth is Idn'tcr.
My real diploma counts and I'm behind schedule.

Anyway here are a few things, not all of them, I had fun with over the last couple of weeks, before and after the ankle thing has happened.

Who knows when you hear from me again?

Have a great one,

yours

Michael

Day 366 One year has passed - review

So guys. One year has passed and I decided i wanted to

make a review of what happened during that time.

I'll devide it in 3 Steps, which i think will show my progress.
And after that I'll show some Brand new stuff I've been working on.(Diploma Work excluded)

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So this is it for the paintings that lead up to what i'm doing now. Those were mostly studies but hopefully there is some Progress to be seen.

Now here are some of the more recent sketches/studies
I have to say they felt somewhat easy and fun compared to the Paintings I've done half a year back,
 yet they are still some little fun things I did on the side.

study from photo

In this progression I think you might see some evolution and how my technique is evolving,

but as always, I'm never quite satisfied with the things that I've got.

This now leads me to a rant about what happened this year and how my goals are progressing so stop reading here, it might get boring.

My goals were as follows:

1# To Create a stunning diploma, that I can be proud of and that could be sold with good consciousness. (The Work within that diploma is supposed to be my portfolio). 

2# To become super healthy and super fit. Which means that during these 800 days I want to do sports almost every day even if it is just 15 minutes of crunches and push-ups(weekends excluded). And to lose 25lbs for good, doing so.

3# To get a lot more organized and to work with more discipline.

Yea.

Some of it went well, and some of it didn't as much. But still I feel like a different man right now.

Rereading some of the posts I did back then, showed me what kind of a jackass I am.

I have gotten a lot better, BUT I see so many fundamental shortcomings, that I haven't a year back. I am more critical than ever before. especially concerning perspective and three-dimensional construction of objects. But knowing how much you suck and where your problems are, is the first step on the Road to improvement.
Speaking about Problems, my "art-problems" seem to be insignificant compared to other constant temptations and another shadow above me. I'm my own worst enemy. There is no one else keeping me down like myself.
For one year i've been working on my second goal on and off. Recent days have been especially lazy because i finally after a very long time finished my flat. And it is finally completely ready and tidy too.
This was kind of a big break for the third goal, but none the less it meant a lot of stress and dealing with it solo as I do, meant looking back for old ways to deal with those.
And Hell, I enjoyed playing them games, and Valve's Summer sales were really mean, as always tends to get out of Hand.
This showed me that I need some kind of compensation to maintain a balance in my life.
Sure Painting and working can be fun, but there also needs to be an end to it some time. Some time to breathe, to refuel. Making a great career in this industry means to be working hard every day until you have your big break. Doesn't it? Maybe. But maybe it doesn't.
I've been Asking myself, what comes After my 800 Days of struggling. And I realized that it will never end unless I decide to. I asked myself what it was, that I wanted. What exactly is it that I want. And when i came to the root of it all it felt mundane.
I couldn't give a clear answer what my Dream was, and I realized I've been asked before.
It hit me. I couldn't specify anything about the job i'm running for. I've been moved into this spot by people who told me, that I was good at doing what I do. I've learned so much, and one of those things is that everyone can learn everything, if they really want. There have been plenty opportunities in my life. But it could be, that my course changes again. I love painting and the life that i'm able to live right now.
I'll keep on improving myself walking this path, but with a more open mind then ever before, looking for new Opportunities and Dreams.

Cheers,
have a great one  :)