okay, time for another journal

so i keep getting the same questions over and over again. how did i learn to do this.

i was self taught. by this i mean, i took the initiative and seeked out the knowledge, as no one was offering it.

i draw on average 8 to 10 hours a day, every day. by average i mean that some days its 6 and some 12


so... the argument.
i keep hearing this one. well i want to be a professional artist, but life is hard, i need to work, i don't really have the time....

let me put things in perspective here.
i used to work as a night guard on the beach. every single night from 8 pm to s6 am. after that i would go meet up with my dad who gouarded another beach to get a cup of coffee. we had a bite to eat, and then both went to haul and sell fruits and vegetables.
every evening i was drawing. when the sun set i sat under a street lamp and drew through the night.

every night. this was on occasion interrupted by a fight  with some  exceedingly drunk people who wouldn't take verbal persuasion not to throw beach property in the sea.

i drew, i drew constantly and relentlessly.

seven years of drawing got me to the point where i was hireable. it was then that i started getting paid for my work. for doing a job i wanted to do.

i kept working hard and i kept improving, and i will keep on doing the same.

it is like an rpg, you will grind, but you will unlock those new skills.


now listen, there is nothing wrong about treating this as a hobby, it is a wonderful satisfying hobby to have. but if you want to be a professional, be it a comic artist a game artist a n animator a designer... you will have to put in the time, you will have to pay your dues.

life is a bitch, it will do you no favors. all you can get out of it is what you are willing to fight for. it is a hard battle, but it is worth it.

see, at a certain point it truly is about this. what is it that you want to do in life, do you want to spend your life being slowly killed on the inside  by the job you hate while dreaming of your could haves, or will you fight for your dreams.

let me repeat this cause it bear repeating. it is a bloody fight, but the rewards are beyond amazing.

rest is up to you. seek the knowledge. in this thing you need no colleges, you need ambition, and thirst for knowledge. and knowledge my friends, at least in our line of work is a mere google search away, see in this work they dont ask you where you were schooled, they only ask what can you do, and how fast can you do it.

if your answers to that are, everything, and as fast as you need it....  you will get hired,


and if anyone asks where is art in all this very jobcentric rant of mine.....


art is living in its parents basement talking much about how big he or she will be.

this is about professionals!

so as many of you have noticed first one is up...in which i am dealing with a badass case of  pollen allergy. for the curious ones, the sound i keep making that sounds like i ate a chiuaua whole is me trying to scratch the back of my throat... and ears..and eyes..and brain at the same time...


aaaanyways,  im trying to figure out the themes for the next ones, to kinda give them structure, definitely on my list is reflectivity, details, and techniques  and crap like that

then ill definitely have one on some digital inking tricks

prolly gonna do some zbrush ones too, but dont expect to learn that much from me without actually trying shit out on your own too.

and again to remind you all, these are nothing but techniques. if you want to learn how to actually draw... then..draw. if you fail...draw more, if you are the best ever..draw more.... im just here to show you some tips n tricks XD

i mean sure, you might end up pickin up on some stuff from me. but there is no substitution to practice

ill be there  giving out sketches like oprah gives out cars XD

aaand 11 years of work  finaly comes to fruition...

now to walk the full 12 issue journey.


and  to get it to here....whooo boy it took its steps

10 years ago this is how it looked....
and then got redrawn, changed and upgraded about 20 times, hundreds of pages discarded as i progressed
but now, it finally started. over these 4 years i have to get all twelve 160 page issues out... and the last one 200 pages

lots of work to do!

just an announcement , this weekend im starting  on some video + audio tuts... expect rude dickishness if the walk it off you pansy kind! XD.  by that i mean , no tutorial will replace practice, it is meant to boost practice..so funtimes ahead!

so issue 1 is finally coming out this Wednesday and the reviews are pouring in

[link]

[link]

[link]

[link]

[link]

[link]

aaand they seem to like it XD

buut for a democratic balance, i did find one  that pretty much reviews it as worst comic aver XD

[link]


this is a very good thing. hype needs to be kept in check.

ultimately tho , like any other story, ravine is what you bring with you into it.
if you enter as a cynic, refusing to suspend your disbelief, it will be a pile of ass. same can be said for pretty much any story.

so good, reviews, bad reviews.. it ultimately doesn't matter, it is what you get from the story
i certainly do hope you enjoy it

update
[link]
3 out of 5 rating here, and i loved the review, because the writer of it gets the challenge of writing a new world. fantasy books always take that bit of a first read adjustment... hell. first time i tried reading the game of thrones i gave up after 60 pages.. same goes for hobbit... but fantasy... good fantasy, takes its time to spread its wings.. and when it does.. well....

[link]

soo..bloody..close....aaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh

[link]

soo... close...skips around giddily in the most undignified manner ever looking like a total dumbass

a stupid thought... given the implied size of smaug in the hobbit movie... i cant help but to wonder.. is he made of ..like...pudding? see reason why i am wondering this is, either bard in the end shoots his one shot kill arrow out of a missile launcher.. or smaug is made of pudding

i cant wait to see the beast of a bow he ends up using XD
(and i loved the movie... it is flawed...but what isnt?)

i dont usually like doing cross promotion. we both just kinda do our own things but damn it all if this is not the most awesome thing i ever saw XDXDXDXDXD

[link]

its a strange  dubbed version of one of her strips..and...and.. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD THERE IS EVEN AN EMAILING SOUND... and music .. and timed text appearing  with actual voiceover doing some pretty cool acting at the same time... and...


damn...XD

AWESOME!

just in case this fever turns into a fullblown flu gonna post this one in advance

2012, you go to hell and you die.... boy this year sucked too many deaths in the family, and in the families of friends, here is hoping next one will be better

hope you have a great one!

[link]


honestly... i am geeking out , smiling... and a little teary eyed XD

it is a special feelign when a 11 years in the making project is finally about to hit the light of day

[link]

newsarama bigass preview. to you  faithful viewers it wont be big news cept  for the upgraded look of many pages...

which makes me think i could post a sort of an evolution overview of ravine with artistic development stages...could be fun


oh also for thoswe interested in how i make all this stuff and who havent had the cnace to see
[link]

here is my youtube channel.  this week  i will be making a few short simple and efficient photoshop tuts

okay, so next week i will have actual video tuts of my own with audio  showing some brush tips, but till then...
MY WIFE HAS HAD TUTORIALS ON THAT FOR OVER A YEAR AGOOOOOO!!!!

but googling how to make brushes in photoshop is soo tiresome ...

ugh...


so, here is where you find her video containing that stuff
[link]

and here is a folder full of here tuts on brushes and other stuff
[link]

look through all of it if you want to learn some neat stuff.

then after actually trying some of it out, you will understand better how i do my stuff.

and then next week you will hear my charming lovely voice ranting about photoshoppin XD

should be fun, and seriously, my voice is ooh so sexy XDXDXDXDXD... with a slight hard r  russianish accent XD

you know hov ve keep varm in croatia.... ve play...hm... diablo XD

tetsuyo nomura is one pervy guy, and i know my pervy...

im just saying that the shiva sisters from final fantasy 13 is one pervy concept... its two chicks..that you ride on.. and guess what , if you put your girlfriend behind you, one of the shiva sisters is eatin ass....

i....just...wow..    back to drawing

WARINING- EITHER READ THIS COMPLETELY OR DON'T BOTHER, AS THAT IS ONE OF THE  CHARACTER TRAITS THIS  JOURNAL IS ABOUT!


okay, so after a swarm of questions many of which left me with my jaw on the floor... i realized something...

people are afraid of pushing a button to see what it does

okay, to backtrack first. i am self taught in photoshop, had no books had no tutorials, had a borrowed i think 7... dunno which was before cs2 when i started,  i learned it by ....pressing a button and seeing what it does

i explored, i tried stuff out.

i had no teachers no schools no education on this stuff

i saw a button i pressed it.

that is how about 9 years ago when i first decided to try and apply digital coloring to early pages of ravine, i was dabbing paint on a page. i came to the point where i had to paint a waterfall. so , just for fun i tried putting scattering on the foam brush i made, a simple thing. and i was gonna see if smudge could be scattered. it had a weird side effect. it blended colors. i went on playing with the settings, till i realized that unchecking spacing completely eliminated the smudge brush lag, and turned it into a blender.

from there on i worked through the method of trial and error to develop my own approach in digital work. and don't even get me started on how many people told me i was doing it wrong back then.  but i persisted

i knew what i needed, i needed a balance of speed and quality that would enable me to tell stories the way i wanted to tell them. i worked smart!

now to the basics. i get a bunch of questions about techniques, people wanting me to make tutorials on the most absurd things...

and then it hit me... you lazy  unmotivated  wastes of effort!!!!!

you don't want tutorials, you want skills on a platter!

IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!

see, next week my usb microphone arrives... regular one don't work on my laptop, and then i will finally make some real and important tutorials

but that wont help you! see its not about tutorials, most i can teach  you is a few photoshop tips and tricks. what you lack is the relentless motivation, the competitive spirit! YOU LACK THE FIRE!!!!!!!!

what i do is not magic, it is a product of 17 years of persistent practice. 8 to 10 hours a day, . 8 years of that time i had no internet, i had no tutorials, i had no books, but i looked around, i drew from porno magazines... i was the only teenager i knew who bought those for drawing...too... XD

nowadays you have the internet, all the information readily available, want anatomy, google it, want reference google it, want porn...yeah.. you got that on speeddial don't ya?

see, , idf you really truly wanted to do this stuff your whole life, you would take it seriously enough to take the first step.to take that initiative. you can have all the tutorials ,all the books in the world, but if you don't put in the time, it wont help you one  bit.

see, i'm not gonna stop till i drop.  there are far better artists out there than me,  superior in skills, speed technique, you name it...

i cant allow that....

but also, i want to tell stories. i want to keep drawing them, that is my fire, that is my drive. and between that and my natural friendly competitive spirit, i have the fuel to go on.

so ask yourselves, do you feel the desire, can you forgive yourselves if one day you are working in some shitty job   thinking of what ifs. i can tell you this, it is the best job in the world, when you wake up and cant wait to draw something new

i went through shit and no exit hell to get to where i am, i had no contacts, no  open doors, no connections. just fire and perseverance, and trust me if i made it  so can you

so yeah, tutorials are coming, but the rest ladies and gentlemen is up to you!

unfortunately description of the story is outdated  and fails to mention that ron marz is handling the final rewrite to tweak my croatian butchering of english language XD


also pagecount is wrong, it is 140 pages

first issue is 10$

after that 15
for each issue. that on average brings you a series of fantasy graphic novels  of 140 pages each.. later some even more..cough
value to eny comic reader is i think obvious, every 4 months you get one issue, that in pagecount equals over 6 standard 4$ issues that are usually done.  my idea is a simple one. i dont want to drain people for the small floppy issues and have forced cliffhangers every 20 pages.
i want to make a true full blooded fantasy story, and for that, i need me a nice pagecount XD

but no worries, its loaded with dragons n stuff XD



[link]

many have been curious about my work method.

well to fully grasp that i must first explain my personal origins
1 i was a traditional painter and drawer?...that doesnt sound right...













2 i was a traditional sculptor..alas photos of that stuff mostly got lost



i practiced abour 17 yeears now to get this bunch of mostly self taught techniques to work

most of my stuff is a digital painting now, made or drawn in photoshop cs3. never switched higher as cs3 satisfied all my photoshoppin needs

i used to do quite a bit of modelling in 3d studio max, but  it was too technical of a program so eventually i gave it up and completely switched to zbrush as it provided me with excellent set of organinc modelling and texturing tools

aand some of that






my skills are practice based. they have improved over time, i was not born with them, they will keep improving with hard work and perseverance

now, for the curious ones who still havent seen these
these pics feature video links to real time making of




aaand here is the link to my most important weapon developed about 10 years ago...by pure accident XD



my workflow nowadays mostly consists of mixing 3d models i make in zbrush, mostly of dragons, monsters armors, immovable stuff , and painting, but it all depends on my mood as there is also the fact that i like switching styles around

aaand i have done quite a few of those XD

yes..even manga back in the day

and btw, just if you are curious... you wanna know what the veery first page of ravine looked like 11 years ago?



sliiight difference XD

also this was nebezial  in his first incarnation


motherfucker was  all no nose before voldy made it popular XD....tho honestly, he was very much inspired by general thade from  tim burtons planed of the apes.. bad movie, magnificent villain!

albert einstein defined madness as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results...

i call that practice, and  it does make a world of difference!

also , proper video tutorials coming soon... also  i'm green lantern!

imma keep this one simple....

style is just how the artist feels like treating his or her world at any given time!

it is influenced by the styles of other artists the artist admires

it is an amalgamation of influences mixed with personal sensibility....

it is perpetually changing and evolving

and it is not a trademarked property

see, i personally am a mix of influences from michael turner , adam hughes, marc silvestri, alex ross a few concept artist, and my design is greatly influenced by stan winston studio

my cartoonyer style is influenced greatly by disney and don bluth with a dash of manga and a healthy dose of j scott campbell who can probably tell you a similar story about the origins of his own style

its the nature of humanity people.

we stand on each others shoulders striving for greatness. so too will i influence quite a few artists who will adapt my own approaches into their workflow.

also.... i'm batman!

just to see who is still reading XD

okay so here is a tip

i have seen  in my life many artists who proclaimed they want to develop their skills, and kept bashing on everyone and everything on the way....and for some reason those guys never got anywhere...

here is why..

there is a value to different approaches, different styles. realism, manga , cartooney disney, my little pony, furries....don't waste your time tryint to bash any of the stuff you don't personally like

you are missing out, bigtime!

see there is a reason why that stuff is popular. and by that i mean on the visual side. so instead of flaming , trolling and bashing, try understanding the inner workings of it.

here are some specific examples

realism- it is a wonderfully complex base , reflects one's skill  in capturing reality, but in it there are differences between photo referenced, real life work and no reference. ALL HAVE THEIR VALUE AND IMPORTANCE! from photos you can learn alot,  gain analytic skills, develop an attention to details, so dont bash those who work from photos, ask yourself can you do it as good!

from real life you include the speed aspect to it. nature is fleeting, changing, and you are trying to capture the moment, so when  looking at a piocture you know was drawn from real life,  look at it as such, understand it's challenges

from mind-no reference. learn to recognize the skills behind this approack and be aware the people who are capable of this are actually well versed in both from photo and from real life artwork



manga- a very popular style that is unfairly summarized. there are different approaches. to some manga summarizes gestures and expressions to  facial emoticons but let's take a very popular naruto as an example. artist of it is a master of facial expressions and gesture. same can be said for genshiken. on a different side there are people like ken akamatsu who use a more polished stylized approach and uses facial emoticons to a greater extent.   you can learn from all of these approaches
look for what is useful, not for what you can hate

disney influenced general style is perhaps the best aid to learning gesticulation and facial expressions, as it generally translates well into drawing and makes expressiveness pop by making every motion just a little bit overly done

my little pony... oh yea im goiing there! never saw the series, but i appreciate the expressive nature or what i like to call gesture mapping. it presents creativity on a different level where you are taking and partially anthropomorphizing  horses in this case. the masterfullness there is the disneylike approach to  selling the character's quality through emotiveness  in animation

furries in any shape or form  they also are a creative approach. you will see people mixing different styles and influences , from disney to manga to cinematic to realism. you may dislike the fetishization of the genre. but have no  illusions they are the basis of many of the movie and videogame and comic monsters.


my point here is a simple one. LOOK FOR WHAT IS GOOD, SEARCH FOR USEFUL, DONT WASTE YOUR DAMN TIME ON FLAMING AND HATING IF YOU TAKE YOUR PROGRESS IN ANY WAY SERIOUSLY!