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SleeplessInWales ♂️ [3853284] [2006-12-28 21:55:45 +0000 UTC] "Geoff Beckett" (United Kingdom)

# Statistics

Favourites: 52; Deviations: 29; Watchers: 8

Watching: 18; Pageviews: 4840; Comments Made: 91; Friends: 18

# Interests

Favorite visual artist: Toulouse-Lautrec (at the moment!)
Favorite movies: Gladiator if i have to choose one
Favorite bands / musical artists: Currently playing Snow Patrol, Magic Numbers, Razorlight and Amy Winehouse (rehab!) amongst others
Favorite games: Singstar / Grand Theft Auto / Solitaire Showdown!
Tools of the Trade: mainly pencil/ink/oil/acrylic, but now starting on Photoshop - the results are comin straight here!
Other Interests: Art and alcohol. Not always in that order. And maybe a few other things when i get bored with those.

# About me

Current Residence: Deepest Darkest Wales
Wallpaper of choice: Currently En Voyage by the excellent deviant Eckster
Favourite cartoon character: Stewie from Family Guy, evil little genius :D
Personal Quote: I'm a realistic optimist - the glass is half full but soon it'll be completely empty dammit.

# Comments

Comments: 29

Jens2seas [2007-07-16 09:20:27 +0000 UTC]

Hey.. you've dissappeared! all ok?

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

elusive [2007-02-15 00:34:28 +0000 UTC]

Hey, thanks a lot for the watch

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Snowman11 [2007-02-01 01:18:06 +0000 UTC]

Very cool drawings of the human form! I need such pratice myself

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SleeplessInWales In reply to Snowman11 [2007-02-01 10:08:06 +0000 UTC]

thankyou! I can't recommend life classes enough, they're brilliant for getting lots of quick sketches done and can really improve drawing - you should see my attempts from last year, they were pretty rubbish lol.

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Snowman11 In reply to SleeplessInWales [2007-02-05 06:51:17 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for being a watcher

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livius [2007-01-21 14:51:48 +0000 UTC]

Thank you kindly for the watch and fave.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

lucyedge [2007-01-15 09:21:56 +0000 UTC]

Wow, what can I say! That harriet's hamster emoticon is just fantastic! It makes me laugh each time I see it My friend Kegg mentioned it last night to me on msn, so I just had to take a look. Excellent. Like your other ones too. Hey, and would you adam and eve it - I've finished and sent my BBC application!! Woo! Lol. Just hope I get it! It's down in Bristol, to observe and work on the TV set of Casualty and behind the scenes for a week! Sounds so good. There's also a couple of other placements too I wouldn't mind doing. I hope my luck is in...

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shingworks [2007-01-14 18:54:44 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much for the fav

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Sanglantefleurmorte [2007-01-14 10:21:05 +0000 UTC]

thank you for the fav on Seul...

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bloody-earth [2007-01-13 17:27:46 +0000 UTC]

Many thanks for the favourites on my work!

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lucyedge [2007-01-13 11:16:29 +0000 UTC]

Hey Geoff! Well well a self portrait, brilliant! Really nice piece of work and good use of charcoal As you said, I wonder how different the expression would've been had you drawn it a good few hours earlier! lol. Can't say you look too grumpy though, just a tad serious!
Working at night does seem more convenient sometimes - I know there's times when my creative juices haven't started flowing until gone midnight...or maybe there's some kind of deviant magic or spell that occurs when the clock strikes 12! Lol.

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ekster [2007-01-13 03:57:56 +0000 UTC]

Many thanks for your kind words as well as the watch! I really appreciate the support

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inkasi [2007-01-12 09:21:03 +0000 UTC]

10x for the fav

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kainwhite1 [2007-01-12 03:45:35 +0000 UTC]

nice self portrait sketch mate. how large is this?

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SleeplessInWales In reply to kainwhite1 [2007-01-12 10:46:21 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! It's just a small A4 sketch, next time i'll dig out some bigger paper (and maybe do it at a different time of day - 2 in the morning, no wonder i look a bit moody! )

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kainwhite1 In reply to SleeplessInWales [2007-01-13 02:42:31 +0000 UTC]

lol. yeah it's still really well done. well in case you want to know, i use cold pressed watercolour paper (300gsm), compressed charcoal sticks, and regular white chalk. i start with the dark areas and work my way up to light areas at the finish. i try not to use too much chalk because it becomes difficult to make changes after it has been added. and fixative every couple of layers is good for keeping the piece fresh. if you want to know more about it i'll be happy to share.

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SleeplessInWales In reply to kainwhite1 [2007-01-13 17:31:10 +0000 UTC]

I never thought about using watercolour paper for charcoal, sounds like a good idea. Am i right in thinking that you dont smudge too much either? Once i start rubbing the charcoal i often go a bit overboard lol. My life class is starting again next week, i was concentrating on shape and form last year but i'll definately go into the tonal work a lot more now. Inspiring stuff!

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kainwhite1 In reply to SleeplessInWales [2007-01-14 01:49:57 +0000 UTC]

no i don't smudge too much. the cold pressed paper has a really rough tooth so you can apply a lot of charcoal but in gradual layers without it looking smudged and overworked. i usually start the image by using a half stick on its side and covering the whole page, then i rub it in with a rag. then i usually erase the light areas out to give the basic forms. this way of working helps get more softness than other ways i've tried. the ways of working with charcoal are infinite, but you might get something useful from my approach.

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SleeplessInWales In reply to kainwhite1 [2007-01-14 14:10:44 +0000 UTC]

hmmm i've definately got to experiment more with the paper, and i'll definately give the rag a go too. I've never managed to get a really soft effect but perhaps creating that base layer will sort me out! Thanks for all this advise btw, there's always new stuff to learn about art isnt there? If i manage to create a really soft charcoal picture i'll make sure you get a great big mention

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kainwhite1 In reply to SleeplessInWales [2007-01-15 03:21:01 +0000 UTC]

lol thanks, but i'm just sharing a few bits and pieces that work for me. if you achieve the result your after you have noone to thank but yourself i'm just looking forward to seeing what you end up with

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Jens2seas [2007-01-11 15:17:10 +0000 UTC]

Hey, im new here too, i dont know if u can help, how do u get the recent watchers window on ur page? nice gallery btw.

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SleeplessInWales In reply to Jens2seas [2007-01-11 16:27:32 +0000 UTC]

i cant decide if i should reply on here or on your page so i've done both lol

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Kegg [2007-01-10 21:13:48 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the watch!! I really like your gentle hills! no innuendo intended.

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lucyedge [2007-01-10 17:55:59 +0000 UTC]

Hello, how's illustrator going? I've put a couple of my early animation tests up (as requested!) Quite annoying though, cos Deviant won't allow quicktime files and such, only Flash, which means I can't add my film. Nay mind, it will do for now. How's illustrator coming along? Like your photos - it makes me want to go for country walks! Mum was so lucky to live on a farm when she was a wee lass!
Hey, some cool gossip for ya!...Matt was on his way to a job interview today somewhere outside london, and he literally bumped into Matt Damon at Waterloo whilst he was filming!! I'm so jealous! I am gonna whoop his ass when I see him next, haha!

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lucyedge [2007-01-09 15:07:58 +0000 UTC]

Stalking eh!? Tut tut tut! Agh, we all do it! Haha. Yeah I was in such a foul mood last night because of that fiasco - 4 hours of satisfactory photoshop work down the drain and all because I was too forgetful to save it! I like the blaming Tom concept - it was a bit of a coincidence that as soon as he gets onto my laptop, it crashes! Grrrrr. Nah, I hold sole responsibility Don't think I'll start it again just yet though, I can't bare to look at it today! As for illustrator, I had a couple of tuitions on it, but haven't done much, just played around really. Let me know how you get on with those scary vectors!!
I like your new pictures by the way. Love the landscape sillouette effect, and your life drawing, very nice indeed, your favourite one in particular. I don't know much about inks and such, but I did life drawing classes at uni and they're so much fun aren't they!? Think we had about 4 regular models, mix of male and female. I definitely preferred drawing the female form actually - something about the curves...how about you?
I've just added a couple of pics taken of my character sculpture, so it's filling up slowly...world domination sounds good!

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lucyedge [2007-01-08 21:46:59 +0000 UTC]

Hey you! Why thankyou very much! Glad you like, I told you they'd be on in due course, hehe! I think studying animation really helped a lot with capturing human emotions.
Lol. No Harriet doesn't know they're up but I doubt she'll mind - she knew all about my animation and how I used an early photo of her as a starting point to the character. I hope to put some animation up soonish, but it requires alot of fumbling around with files, so all in good time! Will have to at some point anyway for my showreel. As for BBC app...well..hmm...little by little!
So, hows using Photoshop going? Do you like it? Your woman character is pretty cool, love her dress! Really nice effect on it. Thumbs up! Can't wait to see more

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SleeplessInWales In reply to lucyedge [2007-01-09 10:06:40 +0000 UTC]

hehe i'm not sure where to reply to you these days there's so much stalking potential these days lol

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jvgce [2007-01-08 17:07:27 +0000 UTC]

welcome to DA.... keep it up your good work...

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SleeplessInWales In reply to jvgce [2007-01-09 09:48:51 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for being my first lol, much appreciated!

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