Study the Masters: Claes Sundin

[gamary]

It seems everybody (rightly) loves Claes Sundin's drawings (and would love even more to draw like him ). So, since BH wants to discuss the spinner on that I-16, maybe we can make a Claes Sundin thread (and avoid cluttering up other threads)? I can't think of a better way to improve our skills!

Here is some of his work:









I'm particularly impressed by the texturing (especially the 262 "excerpt"). More can be seen on his website: Luftwaffe Fighter Aces Aircraft in Profile

[Jesters-Ink]

One day we will be saying the same things about your work Gamary
The more I see of Sundins work the more I see that it is thoroughly doable by anyone here. That is not to take anything away from him, his work is the best, but still doable.

[sparty72]

^^^^ Agreed and not just cus he's my m8 & mentor....1 thing ive learnt is that you NEED to look at what you want to draw..then LOOK again..THEN draw it... anyone who looks at my 1st work will agree the improvements ive made in each new drawing..eventually 1 day i hope that ppl will say "look at sparty's work....he's 1 of the best" still a long way yet tho ..so.... Cleas Sundin...i love his Fantastic Work but not unbeatable..eventually ..drone mode off folks..!

ps Gamary ...your? work is improving at a very quick rate so yourself will b leading the board at some point

Sparty

[GiantFlyingRobots]

As somebody who is relatively recent to this profile creation thing, until now I had no idea who this guy is, although I have seen a few pieces of his work here and there online. The Dora and the Mustang samples posted above have always been a couple of my favorite profiles bar none.

One thing is for sure, that whilst I am trying to develop a style of my own, this work is plain outstanding and a inspiration for what may be achievable sometime in the distant future.

[AGNT_Matt]

everyone has their own style, and no idea is too ambitious, remember the RAF's motto when you get stuck. 'Per Ardua Ad Astra' - Through Struggles to the Stars. so nothing in this world is un-achievable and Claes' work is an inpiration to us all.

[gamary]

Cut that, guys! You're making me ! One of the best things I've done to improve my technique was to come here and talk to everybody!

I agree that C-S's work is do-able (especially since we can study it!), but that's still a long way ahead. I also agree that everyone has his/her style and that is a good thing. I didn't start this thread so we could copy him; just study it, reflect upon it and ...improve our own work!

One ironic thing about C-S's work is that the detail is so fine that it looks a bit bizarre when resized for screen viewing. But I suppose that is due to the fact that he works in a printing-oriented fashion.

Another point of his technique that I like is his "crisp" shadows (look at the exhaust stubs on that P-39, for example).

I'm waiting for you guys to make observations too. And maybe start another thread with another master, too.

[Supah]

More lietle prop planes! :S

[AGNT_Matt]

Supahs wanting something jet powered i think

[BLOWHARD]

Ah, the spinner;
My point was after telling Kid to work on his spinner I notice Claes has used an almost identical solution. His works better because the bold strong light source is used throughout.

Certainly I would have said the same thing about Claes' spinner shading as I did about Kid's. I haven't looked at many photos of the real thing but perhaps this is how it should be? I would have gone to my "mind's eye" and done it how I described to Kid-

Notice that although mine looks more like a domed spinner, Claes' still looks more realistic.
This is a tough one


About the hard shadows he uses, like under the tail and exhaust, I think he's going for VERY STRONG sun light. You can find this in many photos.
But one thing I'd nit-pick is that shadows become softer and less strong as they get further away from the object that causes them. I'm a big advocate of that. Plus, if light bounces off anything, the shadow will deminish as light is reflected back to the shadowed surface.

No matter what, I still think he's the best! Sure, it's we can do it too but he was doing it a long time before we picked it up.

[anadc4]

It is exquisite work and I agree with the Me262 comment. The texture is astonishing.

Sundin's use of shadows is very much like the airbrush artists of the pre-digital age. They favoured the strong light source and I do like it.