AfricanVoodoo's Sketchbook

[AfricanVoodoo]

Whop whop two weeks later (i actually started this post two weeks ago but y'know me)

Ooooo in two months, it will be my one year anniversary posting on this website. That post is going to be a behemoth because I want to analyze the fuck out of my progress as an artist. But until then, Imma keep on chugging on.

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(More crowded sketches that only i can decipher sorry)
(Art): Pretty much my warm-ups and cool downs that I do. I just take some 2 dollar cardstock and just fill an entire page of bullshit in it. I am certainly experimenting a lot with dynamic poses, simplified styles, and overall exploration with the construction of the human body. I feel genuinely shocked that I can put some character into my poses now holy shit... Also some exercises from Sinix and random boxes in some places. 



So I finally watched Sinix's video on the design theory of Big-Medium-Small. It was stuff that Keinan Lafferty already taught in his videos but it is nice to see bigger art channels spreading the word to future artists out there. But anywho, the video made me think about the drawings that I do and whether or not I subconsciously put the design theory in my drawings.

Yes, I said subconsciously because I almost never think about it unless it is specifically said to me. I used the "Bullfrog"'s helmet to see if I did incorporate the design.



Notes: Verdict? I actually did follow the design theory but it came with a few hiccups. I'm not going to change shit now, nothing to lose sleep over.




(Art): A bunny florist and a fully digital fanart of literally the best thing that came out of Pokemon. Let's be real, this thing is cute af. I'm still working on the cell-shaded style. Should I look at how BrotherBaston does it? I make it look complex and almost painterly while keeping the very flat shadows that cell-shading is known for. I should of drawn eyes on the top Oddish, the red makes Oddishes pop out more imo.






So, on my first day of school, my art teacher randomly gave me this extremely tiny sketchbook. I originally didn't know that this was suppose to be a sketchbook but I wanted to draw in it anyways because it was blank i dunno. No joke, I take this thing out every single time I get in class. It is such a bite-size sketchbook that no teacher is going to drag me for because they can't even see it. 

There are a few more pages than this, but the others are unfinished sketches and I kind of what to finish them first.

(Art): More character design-type things while drawing in my bite-sized sketchbook. Also edited versions for the social medias.

Fun fact: I was listening to this piece of music when I was drawing bare-fist Arron up there.


The composer usually does normal, chill, jazzy shit. But I can tell he was inspired by some RPG's and he wanted to create some good-ass battle theme of his own. I genuinely think this is his more weaker stuff but this song made me experience that nostalgic Final Fantasy vibes. So that inspired me to do that drawing.



So... yes. At the end of the summer, I asked a very tiny Youtuber called "TTBN Gaming" if I could do some art for them because as an artist myself I always empathize with lesser known entertainers and I try to support them as much as possible. I showed him my """(((portfolio)))""" and he liked it so he hired me to do his Youtube banner. 

Let me fucking tell you... although he appreciated all of updates and sketches I presented him, I had this constant anxiety lingering over me like a fly that won't go away and this was primarily on the illustration. As you can tell by my thread, I don't do illustrations with backgrounds a whole lot. I just had to remind myself that this man was extremely fucking enthusiastic about the stuff I showed him (he even changed his profile pic and banner IMMEDIATELY on all his social media after I gave him the art which was cool but I never felt anything...) and I should just push through.

I'm happy that I actually finished it for someone and pushed my anxiety aside but the final product for the banner is not okay with me.

(Art): So he asked me to do a banner and to remake his logo so I can put it on the TV in the banner.  I actually like the balloon aesthetic I did with the logo and I made it a little bit more vibrant and colorful than his old logo that he had. 

Then there was the illustration... Here is the thing, the Youtube banner was going to literally crop everything but the rando's head and the TV. Everything else was going to get cut (at least in the web and the mobile version)(And that also explains why I just said fuck it when doing the table...). I should of used reference for the guy's head because I am not that well-versed in the back of the head views (I used ref for the TV, the "Playstation", and even the letters for the logo but not the dude's head... sigh, why am I like this?)

I also, tried to do a static effect on the TV but... you just have to squint REALLY hard to see it.
 
And I applied Big-Medium-Small on the shines for some reason.

Yup. That's it.

[Artloader]

Hey African, impressive levels of improvement here! Your figures on these latest posts are on another level from the ones on the first page of your sketchbook.

Keep going with the construction from boxes and simple forms. That stuff saves my life each time I draw something complex from imagination. It also helps me loads when it comes to lighting and working out which areas are lit and which are in shadow.

You're doing great, good luck with your posting dude and don't go swimming in deep water again unless you are sure you can remember how to swim!

[AfricanVoodoo]

Artloader: Thank you bro!! It has been 7-8 months since the first time you posted on this thread and I am glad to see that after all this time on this website, I am getting a little bit better. It just takes patience, and patience takes time (i hope that's how it goes) :) Thank you my friend!
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Hi there! 

Sunday 8/27




Well... I finally fucking did it. Thank god I chose to do this today because I would've never done anytime soon.

(Note: The colors are probably off a bit...  They were slightly muted when I uploaded it on Imugr so I tried to remedy it. It's kind of close to the original now i dunno)

(Art): The Bullfrog. I imagined this thing being an actual guardsman in one of my stories but because of my weird color choices he ended up looking like one of those landsknecht mercenaries from the olden times. 

I REALLY could of done better (especially on the lower part of his design), but the cartoony and kindaalmost cel-shaded style is making me happy right now so I won't spoil my mood just yet. I will say, I like the shadowy blues that goes with the greens. I always liked it when people bring in colors that doesn't exactly line up with the dominant color. Since blue was next to green, I might as well use some blues and dark blues for the shadows!

The version with the thick outline is speaking to me tho... like the regular version is cool but that thick outline with the cell-shading is giving me those happy signals.

Monday

Didn't take a nap or a break today! yeah! 





(Art): Some shit at school. The first page was just my warm-ups and some figure practice. Then the second pic is something I gotta do in Drawing Honors, take a picture of some shit and then draw it. Lame as hell right? I have a giant house plant in my house so I decided to draw it my own way. 

I also need to do better boxes. I dunno why, but I just kind of freehand a box without thinking about an imaginary perspective grid first and I need to start doing that because some of those boxes look jank as hell.





After my virtual school session, I decided to start on some finals with Arron's coloring. 

(Art): On the far left was pretty much writer friend's choice in colors. I kept the blue pants, but I made the shirt a 3/4 shirt now and I lightened and saturated the vest to help with the values and the overall presentation. I then said 'fuck it' and did some more variations. Like I said last post, I wanted to try something with the design that doesn't feel too flat (and not too complicated either, I have to draw these characters over and over in the future yall...). So, I made a camo vest! And I REALLY HOPE he considers the camo vest because I like camo vest (I dunno why I'm making a big deal about this cause the characters are gonna wear different outfits throughout the days in the book so... camo vest is makin' a comeback!)

I was going to do two more of these but... I am fucking tired right now and it was 9PM i wanna sleep.



Oh yeah, and I forgot to upload the values version of the preliminary color pass.

Ehh... not as much sketching as I would like to do today but I won't cry about it.

So goals tommorow!: 

• Cry and beg for writer friend to make Arron's vest camo
  
• Start working on a new character illustration that I wanna do in the same style as the Bullfrog
  
• Start drawing in my sketchbook more to get some ideas out.  
  

Tuesday

 I woke up groggy and miserable this morning and it fucking sucked. Then, all day in school I was just in this constant state of low energy and I just wanted to fucking sleep the whole day. My classes were pretty much doing something new every single day with no time to let it sink in and... i just wanna sleep.

My goals? I talked to writer friend and he liked the saturated yellow vest with the 3/4 shirt and I was like yaaasss. He also agreed that the characters will be wearing different things in the book so CAMO VEST HERE I COME

I didn't work on my new character design because of how tired I was today and I barely fucking drew in my sketchbook because my brain was just not with me... I know everyone got that day when we are just not having it but I can't be prancing around saying that I am going to be productive when this shit happens. I just need to roll up to my Pinterest and look at some ref and inspiration because I need something to boost me up again.



(Art): This was literally all I could manage today. Nowadays, because of the boxes, I am thinking of perspective about everything that I draw now. I want to learn how to put perspective into my human figures well (even if my proportions is shitty).

Wednesday

Heh heh, I did more than yesterday and I am more energetic today! Nothing really productive today, just a couple of studies in my style today. I had to go to school, go to my Youth group immediately after, then my friend was suffering through abuse so I had to comfort her and help her move out... Today was something else.



(Art): I literally had this one expression reference sheet of just people yelling/screaming on my phone for literally months and I just wanted to draw their faces. I learned a little bit more about overlapping forms in the human face while doing these. Nice



So... this is pretty much writer friend while we both were waiting for Youth to begin. He had an interesting gesture in the way he was sitting so I decided to draw him. (He looks less nerdy than this... promise.)

(Art): When I took a second glance at how he was sitting, I noticed that his abdominal area was tilted towards me instead of his entire upper body just being straight while his leg are the only thing in action. It wasn't super noticeable in my perspective, but it is something to think about next time.  

Also, the man is tall like... I am really tall but he is slightly taller than me which is omega tall. He tall. I dunno if I captured his tallness here but whatever. The leg that is raised looks... weird to me. I can't pinpoint why but I don't like that leg. Givin me dirty looks y'know?

Writer friend will most likely come over on Friday since we have a school day off. So if we aren't going to be lazy and fat all day, then maybe we might design some concepts writer friend has in mind for his book. ooooo, can't wait. 
(And he might find out how much sketching I ACTUALLY do at home)

Thursday

My last day in school for this week since we got a day off tomorrow. I left school in such a foul mood because everybody was actually being aggravating that day. The only thing that made me happy was that my friend is safe and okay. Other than that, fuck this day and my classes.

Anyways, art.

 

(Art): Y'like my squiggly boxes? (Actually I was pretty surprised that most of these turned out okay actually)



(Art): Update on the plant. I originally disliked the idea of the large blob of black because I thought it would make the plant unrecognizable but the majority of the people who sees this can tell it was a plant (except writer friend, but hes weird). 

No joke, I looked forward to coming to Drawing class every day because after a long day of assignments and quizzes that we only had one night to prepare for, teachers who are low-key dismissive, and just annoying people in general... I wanna draw my tree dammit. I just pop in the Bayonetta soundtrack and just fill in them streaks of black. 

After I am done, I am gonna scan it and (maybe) color it digitally... whatever. This was a fun experiment tho.



(Art): I know you guys probably do not remember the conch shells that I drew at all in the slightest, but they are making a comeback because every single fucking time people see them and say "*gasp* these can be stickers!!" now I want them to be stickers. Fuck...

I ultimately went back to this because of my new way of coloring things now. I am trying to see if I could implement the coloring style of The Bullfrog into the conch shells and... I might have to sleep on it for now. I honestly don't know if it is the colors... or the way that I am doing the flat lines of shadow. Maybe the thick outline will actually make this 10x better and I should just wait?

[img=0x0]http://media1.giphy.com/media/tO5ddHjpXB6lG/giphy.gif[/img][img=0x0]http://media1.giphy.com/media/tO5ddHjpXB6lG/giphy.gif[/img]


So I was watching JelloApocolypse's monthly podcast The Tip of the Tongue and their new video discusses how to get "internet famous". I normally watch their podcasts because they are actually very entertaining and it is one of those podcasts where you can watch and/or listen to it and I think that makes his videos more accessible that way y'know?

Anyways, one of the first points that he mentioned struck me hard... "Doing fanwork is super important and people will not care about original stuff most of the time". I discussed this WAY earlier in my thread but... yeah. Fanwork really does get you dem likes and recognition and it fucking sucks for people who want to create but this is the reality...

I have something planned if I want to truly get into the fanart scene but I learned my lesson and I won't tell y'all. If I do it, then I will show it. If I don't, then forget it until I draw it. 

All I will say is that I will start to utilize DeviantArt and Tumblr way more if I do this sort of stuff because those two platforms are pretty much where all the fandoms are so what a great way to get a viewership huh? I want a following but it is honestly and truly not my goals right now because they are not gonna payin deez bills right now so I am not going to work myself up on it so much...

Friday

Barely drew at all yesterday. I invited two friends to my house and all we did was play Super Smash Bros. and it was fucking fun to play with more than 1 person for once. Honestly... I just needed a break from school and it was fun.

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Overall, video games got me again over this weekend. It's the third week of school and I am already so fucking overwhelmed by it all. I assure you that this "video game phase" will die down quick because I don't have anyone to actually play with other than my friends, who can't come to my house as often because of schoolwork and the likes. 

Someone I follow actually went on my Instagram profile and liked my Bullfrog picture and I was genuinely surprised. Being social on social media actually works... 

Anywho, I won't let video games fuck me over. Productive AfricanVoodoo mode is makin a comeback tommorow.

[AfricanVoodoo]

*winks with both eyes* Hello beautiful.

Monday

I'm back on my productiveness! Let's see how long this will last.


Ooo my boxes are extra shit today ( probs cause i didn't draw in 2 days)


(Art): I'm back to figures from the interwebz. Honestly, the biggest problem I have right now is how big my heads should be. I would sketch the head and then plan out how big the head would be, but then when I want refine my heads and add features to them, I end up making them smaller on accident. 

I think I lean in too close to the paper when I do the faces, I get tunnel vision when I do that... yeesh. I really need to watch out for that bullshit

I was doing my virtual school and other chores around the house after this so... 

Goals for Tuesday:
-Practice measuring on the figure and not leaning in too close
-Writer friend has a new character for me to do concept sketches of tomorrow

Tuesday

Well damn... fuck those goals i guess...

[img=0x0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNFkGiP0dZw&t=782s[/img][img=0x0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNFkGiP0dZw&t=782s[/img]
(Art): This was from Friday but apparently I didn't post it so I'll post it now.

I really need to stop thinking I can produce a whole lot of things when I am currently a high school senior who has homework and projects and SATs and virtual school and sleep and projects and homework to do all the time. Just... getting my daily mileage should be my goal.

Oh and my ceramic teacher was giving a demonstration on what our sketches should look like and she used me as an example. She was like "see he can do human figures very well and that is his strong suit" and I was like



Wednesday

I always draw the most on Wednesdays for some reason...



(Art): Uhh.... birdie. (I really got to figure out how birds move...)



(Art): Random sketch of a football player. I MIGHT (not) refine it. I like it but those straps on his left shoulder is giving me trouble because I am trying to emulate the right shoulder's straps. I might have to do a tiny diagram to help me...



(Art): Uh... colorful birdie. And if I can, I might do a full design on this thing. Not what I wanted to draw but I do like this birdie. It's like a chocobo but green and not a chocobo. (oh my god i googled chocobo and i never want to see a realistic chocobo ever again)

Thursday

... sigh. 



(Art): I actually drew that monster lizard thing on Wednesday but it was underdeveloped and I didn't feel like posting the first version. So here it is now.

Also more Steam Soul practice on the characters, I am getting more accurate with my drawings of the characters but there are still not perfect. (Arron's forehead is too big tho and his hair doesn't have an s-curve)



(Art): I did the tree and edited it. I might re-print this version to my art teacher so he can bring it to wherever the fuck he brings it to but imma keep my version and hanging it up.

Friday

Today we have a day off because of the hurricane and I rather stay in the house with no electricity than deal with these terrible ass teachers roaming through our school. 



Admittedly, I just had to chill today. So I walked with my friend to the store and I hacked Super Smash Bros. some more. I honestly don't know why school is giving me so much fatigue but oh my goodness. It might be the cascading information that these people are giving me and it will kill me faster than Irma will.

(Art): A 1 hour study session. Even though this was one pose over and over again, I was learning how to look. I just sit there and analyze the figure to see any tiny intricacies. 

My figures are still... eh. I honestly need help with figure drawing. Like, I know form and putting shit in 3D is not my strong suit but... I dunno. I feel like there is something more specific with it and I was just fumbling in the dark trying to find it but obviously I can't. sigh... I finally reached the point where I think I didn't really improve that much. I mean, last year's figures...






Nightmares.

But right now? It's the same old same old. Like I think I still have the same level of skill as my 50 Women Challenge drawings and jesus fucking lord I hate those drawing now. All of them. But I am trying to figure out how the fuck to make my figures ultra super 3D and real but... I dunno how I can do it.

And I want to do more character designs for myself, writer friend, and even random people on the internet ?!?!!?! (pffffttt lol anyways)
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Okay, imma end it here just in case the hurricane fucks me up. Byeeeeeeeeee.

[Fedodika]

Bruv I live in Alabama dude BRING THE FUCKIN STORM!!

[LK Crown]

Not quite sure, if I got u right, but I think you wrote that you do not want to bother yet with trying to build a following? If so, I would say you rather should start immediately, because you will never reach a point were you think the time has come and even if it would, you would then have to start at 0. rather do it on the side while getting better.

[AfricanVoodoo]

Fedodika: 

(please stay safe)

LK Crown: Did I say that?... I mean, I AM building a following on Instagram right now (I just reached my 100 follower mark after like... a whole summer of posting frequently, it takes very long). The thing that I want to do is branch out to other social medias like DeviantArt and Tumblr but those sites are... "fandom" sites. Sites where people congregate to talk about cartoons and tv shows and shit.

Posting art like the ones I am posting now won't garner enough shit because nobody cares about personal projects. There is nothing familiar attached to them. I hate doing fanart because I want to do my own thing... but I have to do it. It's tough shit but, I want to try. 

Some say I am too young to be doing so much on something that isn't even guaranteed but sometimes, being early is better than being late.

[AfricanVoodoo]

the mood 

Saturday



(Art): Doodles. Was waiting for the hurricane to just go by and shut off everything but...

Sunday + Monday

Nothing actually happened. Strong winds and lots of rain yeah, but the hurricane was not that bad over where I live which I am grateful for. But Irma is going to keep on going upwards into Northern Florida and other states so I hope yall are prepared and safe (even though I believe the storm will be weakened).





(Art): Warm-ups, characters, and fast gestures. The gestures were pretty fun to do actually and I tried hard not to clump them together which worked for the top half but the bottom half is... a WIP. Honestly, I think I like doing these more than finished shit because it is so abstract and quick I don't have to think too too hard on it. I know that sounds bad but like... 




(excuse the two goofy drawings)

!!!

A new challenger approaches.

(Art): I designed another character for writer friend. The short-haired man is Karn, Sorn's older brother. Just like Sorn, he is a soldier for the Resistance, a hidden underground organization where their main goal is to overthrow a bad person leader... dude... i dunno, writer friend never go into the antagonist of his story that much. (Which would suggest there is a mystery around the antagonist but there isn't so..  and we see him in the prologue.)  

 Anyways, the dude is like... top-tier in the Resistance. He has the "Unkillable" (or something like that) prestige in the place and he is highly respected. I mean... was respected... right after Sorn and Karn disappeared, they just said "welp theyre dead lol whoops, whose in charge now?". Karn is passionate about what he wants to achieve (which can lead to tiny rants coming from him) but he is also calm and is always a "think, then do" type of person.

Here is what writer friend gave as a description for him before I drew him:

"He has a similar face shape to Sorn, but he has a sharper chin."

"His face is generally more rugged" [compared to Sorn's]

"He has short, military-cut hair"

"His eyes are really [tired looking], he's obviously sleep deprived.

But y'know Ol' classic me doesn't like to EXACTLY follow the description religiously (also writer friend has an incredibly vague idea of what his characters look like (exhibit A: the quote), which is fucking weird and he is coming up in here like "what if Steam Soul was an anime?" im like... "bitch...") . I made him look similar to Sorn but gave him naturally narrow eyes and his eyes are sunken in. I like when siblings in fiction show a resemblance with one another but also have features that are specific to them.  

I gave him a giant scar on his forehead (and another on his chin, by request of writer friend, but it is hard to see), and more stubble action than Sorn to exaggerate the "ruggedness" of his face and to show that he is truly a soldier that had to deal with a lot. Ooo, and I should make the eyebrows more horizontal to make that t-shape on the face. He is kind of fun to draw since tired and mad looking people are my favorite i suppose.

I am still experimenting with his hair since "military-cut hair" is so low you can see the flesh on the top of your head. In the sketches above, it almost looks like he actually have hair. Hmm.

But yeah anyways, if you guys have any tips for me on this then feel free to say something!



(Art): Some practice on Photoshop that I wanted to do for fun, plus I wanted to make something cool with these two. 

I like designing characters for writer friend because now I can finally fucking imagine these characters in my head when I read his book :)

Tuesday

oh no... *touches soil* something is awry...




(Art): Is it my two pages of fast gestures that were fun as hell again and it helped me find longer lines of action which is ultra helpful? No... too easy of a target.



(Art): Could it be some of my figures in perspective studies which I am getting a little bit comfortable with but there is still so much to fix with it? A bigger suspect... but the clues don't lead to this one. (i mean, those figures are from yikesville tho.)

What could it be?...

o it was random anxiety never mind, case closed.

Wednesday



(Art): Okay, these are just getting big now.



sorry, the most bottom machete is the most recent sketch, i don't want to confuse anyone.

(Art): This is Sorn's final (for now) weapon and I am learning how to put it in perspective. I feel like I am fucking it up but... I'm learning. I am pretty surprised that I actually told myself to do this, I wouldn't normally do something so... new like this so impulsively but better now than never.

Writer friend and co. liked the sword and character designs but they caught themselves looking at "no eyebrows" Sorn from the page from yesterday and it was kind of funny.

Thursday

...



(Art): My warm-ups this morning. shoes are cool.




(Art): bodies.

Friday




(Art): 

(okay the last one was an experiment to see what a six head figure would look like. i don't think i pulled it off that greatly)

Oh and I made a cardboard ver. of Sorn's weapon. I only did it so I could use it as ref for when I do need to draw the man holding the weapon. I'm not going to show it because... it looks... really stupid.

Saturday

Went to a friend's house today, it was fucking lit because I got free Moe's and a free copy of Final Fantasy X. I wasn't looking forward to coming to this friend's house because I kind of wanted to draw today but... I was home the entire week because of Irma and it was nice to just get out and see other people for once.



(Art): Warm ups and a daily reminder that head positions that isn't 3/4 fuck me up. The tunic was for a little visual library improvement.




(Art): Even more warm ups before I had to leave for my friend's house. I am noticing that I am making my torsos small again and that might be because I place the ribcage and pelvis a little too close together. I dunno, its wierd because they look like they are close together but when I try to draw them close, the torso, consequently, will look stocky and bunched up. Gotta practice and look more.

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Overall... this week was... okay. It was underwhelming cause of the fact that only one thing happened, which was the design for Karn. Other than that, it was 1-3 page of blind exploration with drawing everyday.  

Speaking of... character designing is just... ugh, right now. There is this combination of a lack of a visual library (since I am forgetful) and this dissatisfaction with how my figures look right now that is just not making me want to do characters. I dunno what it is but the only thing I can do at the moment is to... keep on drawing I guess.

[AfricanVoodoo]

fuk school



the mood

Monday - Thursday






(Art): pitiful

Saturday






(Art): A whole bunch of 30-45 second figure sketches from the Quickposes website (which is really fucking good, I dunno why I didn't use it sooner). I still have trouble with bodies in perspective. Especially the ones where they twist and turn... ugh.



(Art): Whoop, I want to do another character design. This is a Dragon Knight, devout soldiers to the King and their country who takes battle to the skies with their dragon-inspired armor and weaponry. The most feared yet respected Dragon Knights are the ones who has actually slayed dragons and obtained their hide and scales to wear on their person. (i really hope i didn't just type in some bullshit cause im not good at this)

Anywho, I am going to make some minor design changes with the helmet and then I will get into measuring the helmet with the side view to see which falls into what, and then I will try to turn the helmet in my head but obviously I need help with that. (I need to take some notes on digital sculpting and zbrush because i need it bad)



(Art): So it was Batman Day. Here is Batman.

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Bleh, I was pretty fatigued this week due to school, but I don't want that to stop me from doing my thing (even though it does).

I... honestly don't have much to say right now. I was mostly drawing one thing a day and then the weekend came and I drew a bunch.

[Mysti.S]

Hi, thanks for visiting my sketchbook, great work you have around here, I really can see the progress from the first post to the last, keep working.
:D

[AfricanVoodoo]

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HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!

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to me

   Jesus, one year felt like an eternity to be honest (on this site). Being on this website was... cool I guess. I dunno, it wasn't really anything, I post my progress on an art forum and then people would occasionally give feedback on it. *shrug* The people on here are cool though and it is nice to see how others do things in terms of motivating themselves and battling self-doubt, ect.

I am not sure how people see me on this site, but I am sure my impact is not that huge since all I do is give people pat on the backs and some book recommendations (except that one reply where I made parallels with the game Shadow the Hedgehog and life choices oh my lord I went off on that post). I don't get that much compliments and I don't get that much critiques so it's kind of like... damn, what is it then? Oh well, I don't think about that sort of stuff often but when I do I start over-analyzing for no reason.

There are only two progress sets that you will be looking at: my figure drawings and my character designs. These were the only two things that I focused on to the point where I can make progress sets on some random art forum. 

 Let's go.

Figure Drawing

(Junior in High School)

[img=0x0]https://africanvoodoo.imgur.com/all/#6[/img]

(Summer 2017)

(Senior in High School)

So, here is the progress of my figure drawings in Year 1.

 the newer work looks better I guess.

+

- My scanning is a lot better oh my god (that is partially because I was using big paper at the time)

- A clearer passion for figures in perspective but not as clear as I would like it to be

- The forms on the arms and legs on the quick figures look... better (?)

- Fluid gestures has leveled up a bit

-

- I am still uncomfortable with larger figure drawings and longer sessions

- Fall back on quick gesture sketches just because they are easy

- You can still tell which ones are from imagination

- Anatomy, proportions, and head placements are still one of my downsides

- Still afraid to commit to linework/ still sketchy

- Still have this problem of making the figures too wide

Characters

(Sophomore)

(Junior)

(Senior)

Uh, don't know what to say about my character designs... my style slightly changed? (and I learned that thick outlines was within me since sophomore year... cool)

Fun fact: These are all the sketches/illustrations that I have done that made me feel... happy? Like, not only do a lot of people like them, I like them as well. The older drawings have less love than the newer ones of course, but by looking at these, I instantly remembered how happy I was to complete it. So yeah, the other drawings can go fuck themselves. 

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okay, im gonna set aside my shyness for a bit

ahem

If you guys think this is shit, tell me now. If yall think this art is pretty, tell me now. If you got anything to say about the progress that I am doing, type it in. If you got shit to say about the way I do things/think, speak up! That is the whole point of me being here, to get dragged across the mud so I can come back better. I'm sorry if that  sounds selfish (well, I think I sound selfish considering the fact that I don't give that much critiques myself. Not that I do it on purpose, I just think everyone's knowledge on art surpasses mine.) but FUCK, I don't know what I am doing. 

Don't shy away from telling me anything about my art because of this or that. Just speak out your mind and don't worry about me! I have been waiting for yall to get me and it hasn't happened yet and my tea is getting cold sweetie bring it on!

*shyness activated*

Well, that is all I got honestly. I know in an earlier post I said that I was going to "analyze the fuck out of this post", but I am tired and hungry leave me alone. Maybe next October 1st I'll do that... when I'm in college. (Oh god). Hopefully in Year 2, I can do more with my art other than just... "get better".

And next week will consist of art from this week and next week. 

Bye now!

[xelfereht]

OK ill oblige..
your figures, majority have good rhythm and weight, your construction not so strong yet.
your faces often bit samey, not such a terrible thing but maybe try some variety, maybe you can do portrait study of a different face a day to start seeing the range of variations out there.
your posing and designs are lacking just because you need to absorb more real world info.
its definitely not easy but if its necessary for the look you want you gotta study what you want to be good at.
youre drawing needs work like pretty much all of us, drawing is real hard..
even when you stylize something it should have some consistency to be appealing.
this takes practice so dont worry too much
what do you want to be good at? if you dont know its ok but try out heaps of stuff then to find out.
(my priorities right now are people and dragons..) its tough even when you narrow things down
if youre trying to be a concept artist, you definitely need to cultivate a more explorative mind.
if you want to be an illustrator you need to think about improving your shape language, stroke quality or rendering skills.
i advise working on a big but manageable piece, till its satisfyingly finished. you need to do this once to know you can do it
i had one landmark piece that i worked on over 2 years but was a solid learning exp for me.
if you know what you are trying to be good at, do it now. if its concepts, do like 5 finished concepts rendered more than youd realistically need to in a company.
your studies are ok, the observation is more important than the result
dry different approaches. draw quick, slow, loose, structurd.. and find which one lets you observe and retain that info the best.

good luck and get on it while youre young.. i duno how old you are but sounds young.. good for you.
you can always reach out to me if youre stuck and ill tell you what i think!
peace and power to you

[ThereIsNoJustice]

Hey, AV, a few things are standing out. You are on track studying fundamentals. You have been doing well working on gesture, form, and structure. And it looks like you haven't yet gone much into light, color, and composition, which you could start.

On form and structure, it would help you to clarify the perspective of things if you drew through your forms. If you conceptualize a torso as a cube, draw the hidden back side of the box as well and clarify the tilt. Or if you conceptualize the hips as a cylinder, draw in the full ellipse. Even if the figure is drawn from the front, put in some indication of where the spine is. Once you have a more complete idea of the perspective of a form it becomes easier to see problems, and how to stick anatomy onto the figure matching the perspective.

Some of your figures have extreme perspective applied to them, and it makes them look like skyscrapers, or just very strange. In general, with figures the perspective shouldn't be so extreme unless you are intentionally doing something dramatic with the image. Keep your perspective with figures subtle otherwise.

If you want crit on a certain image just ask.

[AfricanVoodoo]

I have been blessed. 

XFiles: 

your faces often bit samey, not such a terrible thing but maybe try some variety, maybe you can do portrait study of a different face a day to start seeing the range of variations out there.

Oh, word?.... And to think I was doing fine with diversity in faces. I guess I was staying in my comfort zone too much. It doesn't hurt to be a little free with shapes and asymmetry once and awhile. I do need to go on that weird website, earthsworld, again because the faces and people there are priceless.

dry different approaches. draw quick, slow, loose, structurd.. and find which one lets you observe and retain that info the best.

 Drawing slow, looking at the reference carefully and taking notes, and drawing something with reference and then trying to memorize it and draw it again are the keys to victory for me. I stopped with the whole "quantity over quality" phase because that was not helping me remember things.

Thank you all for this! I hope you all have a blessed day!

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... *pops neck unexpectedly* hello how are you doing?



the mood

Last Week









i apologize for the wide shoulder girls, it is was a sin i regret doing



(Art): 






(Art): A sketch for the Dragon Knight. This was sketch was mostly here to find a mood for the armor. I just looked up some reference on medieval armor, dragons and other video game designs and just... did something with it. Because of the body type, it didn't really look as cool as I would like it to be. I want them to look... threatening? Like, they are suppose to be knights and guardsmen for the royal family so if someone tries to fuck with royalty, then the Dragon Knights can pop up and growl at them or something.

I'll see what I can do with this. 

Tuesday



(Art): Hmm... I actually like the dark block of shadows on this one. Didn't sketch all day because school and people are draining and my A/B honor roll hunt is still going strong this year. This is the only thing I could muster. 

Wednesday + Thursday




(Art): So, I got this book that was like... the history of wardrobes and stuff and it is actually pretty cool looking. So I was just drawing the people that was in this book.  I am kind of mad about the man in the second image though, I don't like that I gave him a big head when the most defining thing about the ref is that he looks... macho. A small head with wide shoulders suggests this dude is tough business. 

I literally reversed the sizes and now he looks like a wimp. Which... I am fine with actually. No where in the book does it mention him being a knight, fighter, whatever. He is just that thicc. BUT, I think he is supposed to be that Prince Charming sort of person who gets the ladies so I suppose the body type is needed.

ANYWAYS, people like the drawing, i dont

(Oh, and I am doing more with the dark blobs of shadow. Ya likey?)  


The Plan

So uh yeah. I was given some wisdom from two lovely, wonderful, extraordinary,  terrific  people. And here is what I got.

 In a nutshell, my main problems is form, construction and a lack of real world info/visual library. Other issues include:

• Samey faces (i guess? I gotta ask XFiles for more specific answer) 
  
• Color theory and values
  
• Not as convincing or dynamic poses for characters
  

Yeah.

So, what I would like to do to get rid of this problem is to just...  do a variety of faces and figures like the guy up there (real creative). I'll go into Earthsworld and look at the faces, analyze and draw a face, then try to turn the head around to see how their features would look in different views. I'll try and do one face every single day, this is so I can focus on one face at a time (it also helps me contain more info that way) Then for the poses, I would just do more figure studies and studies like the buff leg bard person. The poses the people have in that book is pretty much what I was looking for in character designing so I might as well take advantage of this before I have to return this thing back.

Friday



(Art): Heh, still having trouble drawing Arron. The dude's eyes are the problem and I am still pretty indecisive about how his face should look like. Can't ask writer friend since he literally has no idea how his characters look anyways so I'm left on my own. I'm good though, just gotta keep on exploring.

(also.. the dark blobs makin a comeback ayyyy)

Saturday



(Art): Warm ups... at like, 7 pm. I didn't do anything all day other than finish watching some shows... It's a fucking weekend leave me alone.

FACE OF THE DAY - 1 



(cosplay by: ShinrajunkieCoslay on DeviantArt)

I was actually talking to writer friend one day while we were waiting for his family to pick us up to go somewhere and I mentioned that Arron was going to look similar to Wakka from FF10. He asked who that was and I was slightly offended but I looked up Wakka on Google anyways, this was when I saw this cosplayer and I was like... "woah. That's a good cosplay That is (kindasorta) what I want Arron to look like!!"

That was like... a month ago though.



(Art): So first, I looked at the ref and drew it, then tried to draw from memory, then draw it again from the ref to see how I fucked up, then I had to go to Dave & Busters....

...

...

... didn't come back till 12 am

...
(and no dark blobs for this one. damn.)

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So as you can see, I did not do that much sketching this week. Lots of school-related shit is happening, I learned that one of the biggest scholarships that I can get into is now out of the question because of one fucking credit, drawing and pottery assignments (which is gonna get worse since I am getting two drawing classes now), I STILL have to do a virtual school class, maintaining that sexy ass A/B honor roll and... sigh.

I'm doing well though, I think I'll be fine. I just need more energy for drawing! People of the world, give me your energy!!

[AfricanVoodoo]

Heyo.



its not the mood, but this song gives me pure energy

Sunday



(Art): Just some character sketching practice featuring Karn. I was testing myself to see if I remembered how to draw this guy. I still have problem with making the eyes shift to one side, I really need to watch out for that because his eyes are just... leaving for the party.

Monday



(Art): Another study... eh.

Tuesday



(Art): More costume book studies. This is... bleh. I should of looked at the shapes more. Dammit. Anyways do you see DEM HOUSE SLIPPERS. homegirl workin that shit honestly

Saturday 

I started playing Final Fantasy X today and it was actually really fun. But I got to the laughing scene so quickly like I didn't expect that shit to come so early. ALSO can we talk about this?



B U C K L E   B I T C H



(Art): woah what the fuck. how did i do this?

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Yeah... 

I promise you I am doing art! I am doing the arts right now! It's just... I am busy. All I did this week was tiny sketches and that's it. I might show it off next week but things just keep gettin worse with school bro. Still, I am good and all but I am just worn out.

I WANT to do portraits and more anatomy studies. But fuck... school is important.

[John]

Hey A.V.

The thing that I want to do is branch out to other social medias like DeviantArt and Tumblr but those sites are... "fandom" sites. Sites where people congregate to talk about cartoons and tv shows and shit.

I disagree about dA being just a fandom site. It was and is still an artwork based community. We could argue how much fan art there is compared to original IPs; but I hope we can agree that that silly argument can only prove who's better at that pissing contest!

Maciej does his Show Time IP over at dA. Wlop posts his Ghostblade illustrations there too. Pete Mohrbacher's Angelarium. And probably so much more IPs we don't even know. If the work is good, people will respond.

Posting art like the ones I am posting now won't garner enough shit because nobody cares about personal projects. There is nothing familiar attached to them. I hate doing fanart because I want to do my own thing... but I have to do it. It's tough shit but, I want to try.

Nothing is stopping you from posting in sites like dA, imgur, and the like. And I don't think there's anything bad will happen if you do post your IP there other than it's not going to get the attention you think you deserve. This is where the Gretzky quote comes in to play: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Not posting in those sites you mentioned is basically turning down the offer of free advertisement. You don't need this self-defeatist mentality especially when you're peddling your own stuff.

Good luck A.V.

And oh, try http://www.dorian-iten.com/accuracy/ if you haven't before. It did wonders for my portrait studies.

[AfricanVoodoo]

John: Hi there! Yeah, I started posting my work on DeviantArt and Tumblr so... that's that I guess. I just kind of said 'fuck it' and started doing it. I shouldn't of said that DeviantArt was a "fandom" site, I already forgot what I meant when I said that so Imma just apologize for that and move the train tracks along.

And thank you for the recommendation! I will definitely check it out. Thank you and come again!



i wish this was a mood

Monday

Welp, final grades came in for Quarter 1. I got 4 As, 2 Bs, and a fickity fookity fucking F in one class that I REALLY wanted to switch out of. I am going to switch that class out with something else because I am NOT going to a one shitty grade every single damn quarter. Nope.



I drew one of my characters for once. This is Scruffy, not his actual name but because his village was burned down at a young age by an opportunistic royal army and he was isolated from his family, he only remembered the nickname that the villagers gave him. He is an English half-giant with the strength of a thousand armies but the wisdom of caveman (but he's nice tho). He's a part-time husband and full-time masquerade arena wrestler who doubles as the fearless and individualistic fighter, Mr. Pappa Bear!! Little does anyone know, he is desperately trying to get the attention of the general who planned the destruction of his village 20 years ago. What is he gonna do to him? We'll see. (did that make sense?)

(Art): Hmm... still not doing well with the whole "variety" thing with faces but... sigh. I like this Scruffy tho.



(Art): Something that I was doing for drawing class but it seems like I don't have to do it anymore. The assignment was that I had to a 4 mini illustrations, at least one of them have to be on the bigger piece of paper. I wanted to draw two opposing kingdoms. The big pieces of paper would have the king and queen, while the small would have the knights, messengers, etc. I was doing this during class so I couldn't get much done... I wanna still work on it though.

Sunday



(Art): woah wtf. digital lineart? (This is a WIP right now.)

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mmhmm yup. That's it. I took a look at John's recommendation and it was Dorian's Accuracy guide. I've heard of this technique and it is definitely not what I am used to doing (plotting down horizontal and vertical lines at the beginning of a sketch opposed to just drawing the ribcage, pelvis, ect.). Although the main goal that I have right now is to find more shapes in the human face and not rely on one way of doing a face, learning how to see and be more accurate with my drawings is also a value so y'know, I'll try it!

someday

[John]

I took a look at John's recommendation and it was Dorian's Accuracy guide. I've heard of this technique and it is definitely not what I am used to doing (plotting down horizontal and vertical lines at the beginning of a sketch opposed to just drawing the ribcage, pelvis, ect.). Although the main goal that I have right now is to find more shapes in the human face and not rely on one way of doing a face, learning how to see and be more accurate with my drawings is also a value so y'know, I'll try it!

someday

Like you, I started out the same way. I got started with How to Draw the Marvel Way and Wizards How to Draw, which basically preaches construction above anything. I do get understand why the Accuracy guide isn't as attractive as learning construction. I disliked doing those exercises which are of similar ilk; like Bargue studies, and, especially, the grid method of copying.

Just saying that the accuracy guide is there to help you be consistent. I like to believe that that exercise made me more aware of my proportion issues, especially when doing sequential art. There are plenty of times where I draw a character that can look one way on one panel, and a different way on another. There was nothing consistent about how I drew the character except for the hairstyle and clothes he's wearing. If you happen to run into that issue, maybe it's a good idea to give those traditional exercises a go.

I hope it doesn't come across that I'm forcing anyone to do anything. I do believe everybody will get to where they want under their own terms better than people who would like to tell them what to do.

If you guys think this is shit, tell me now. If yall think this art is pretty, tell me now. If you got anything to say about the progress that I am doing, type it in. If you got shit to say about the way I do things/think, speak up! That is the whole point of me being here, to get dragged across the mud so I can come back better. I'm sorry if that sounds selfish (well, I think I sound selfish considering the fact that I don't give that much critiques myself. Not that I do it on purpose, I just think everyone's knowledge on art surpasses mine.) but FUCK, I don't know what I am doing.

Don't shy away from telling me anything about my art because of this or that. Just speak out your mind and don't worry about me! I have been waiting for yall to get me and it hasn't happened yet and my tea is getting cold sweetie bring it on!

For starters, reddit and 4chan are good places to be shat on!

Personally I believe it's hard to know which art works and which doesn't, especially when we're talking about works that are stylized. There's nothing really out there that's 'correct' to base your art against. Who am I to say Jamie Hewlett draws his heads too big, or Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's tendency to draw elongated torsos do not work?

That is probably why most people have a hard time critiquing anything, especially stylized work. Artistic license is enabling two things: one's propensity to do 'good' art, and/or one's greatest excuse to justify what they're doing. Sometimes it's hard to tell one from the other. Sometimes it's the same thing altogether. One can even argue if it's even important to care in the first place.

You said something about coming back better. How do you quantify 'better'?

So, how's that for speaking my mind sweetheart :)

[darktiste]

You got to understand that a critic can be rather random when you don't insist on what you want to improve for that you need to be able to see flaw in some area of the fundamental you leak and express that you wish to improve something before something else.So it important you learn as fast as possible what fundamental are important for you to grow .I would have to say that i believe learning is a stair the more you work on the fundamental the more you can climb to the more complex drawing.If you have weak fundamental no matter how hard you try it won't hold together because everything follow perspective unless you fall in the abstract.

I advice you refresh you understand of what are the fundamental that you wish to improve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piKV5nXL-C4&t=7s

One exercise i advice is to look at the table of content of drawing book and inside them you can see what is within a specific fundamental.
Write the following



Perspective

Form and construction

Proportion

Gesture

Composition

Value

Color theory

And try to add the vocabulary that are related to those fundamental
For example in anatomy you can write any body part
For proportion you can say perspective grid ,1pt ,2 pt and 3pt

The more can you break down a fundamental into specific subject there more you will be able to determine what you need to be studying without the help of critic.WARNING THIS DOESN'T MEAN YOU GOOD NOW AND YOU DON'T NEED TO POST YOU STUFF ONLINE.But now that you have a richer vocabulary you can ask specific question related to some problem you may face but before that you need to learn to be self-critical­.

I will stop for now in fear of missing the point.

Hope i help if not feel free to let me know and explain me why.

[AfricanVoodoo]

Woah, people are talking to me.

 : 

There are plenty of times where I draw a character that can look one way on one panel, and a different way on another. There was nothing consistent about how I drew the character except for the hairstyle and clothes he's wearing. If you happen to run into that issue, maybe it's a good idea to give those traditional exercises a go.

And don't worry, you are not forcing me to do anything. I feel like this exercise is going to be very beneficial to me and I thank you for putting some attention to it!

That is probably why most people have a hard time critiquing anything, especially stylized work. Artistic license is enabling two things: one's propensity to do 'good' art, and/or one's greatest excuse to justify what they're doing. Sometimes it's hard to tell one from the other. Sometimes it's the same thing altogether. One can even argue if it's even important to care in the first place.

 OOOHH! Ok, that makes sense. I had the sneaking suspicion that that was the problem. In general, I do try to make my human characters look proportional and identical to actual humans in real life, even if I simplify a lot. For example, with Scruffy up there, his head and anatomy is not... that far off from an actual human head... right?

Well... whatever. I'll do something about this.

You said something about coming back better. How do you quantify 'better'?

I was referring to the majority of the people on here (and in real life) that says that I improved a lot since [time frame]. I dunno... I feel like that is just not enough for me. It is cool that I am getting better but is that really all you can say about it?... So... I was hoping that along the road, I can improve enough to the point where there will be more than just "well... you can got better".

So, how's that for speaking my mind sweetheart :)

what
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:

You got to understand that a critic can be rather random when you don't insist on what you want to improve for that you need to be able to see flaw in some area of the fundamental you leak and express that you wish to improve something before something else.

Oh. ok. 

I'll jot some notes and vocabulary down since... yeah, I don't really know the ins and outs of a fundamental all that much. Like with form, I see it as just cubes and cylinders that are sometimes put together to make a complex 3D shape. But you are right, I do need to broaden my knowledge on words.

The main fundamentals that I am working on right now is (from important to not as important) Form and Construction, Proportions, Anatomy, and Gesture.

Whenever I do studies now, I am going to try to be specific with what my study is and what problems I faced with this study from now on since I don't type enough already.

WARNING THIS DOESN'T MEAN YOU GOOD NOW AND YOU DON'T NEED TO POST YOU STUFF ONLINE

 ok.
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Well, thank you two for your input, it is greatly appreciated!