Those comps studies are looking insane! whatever your doing its working!
I was just looking at your walk cycle and I think you should always rough out a basic walk cycle and then follow it up with colour after you tested the cycle to make sure it works.
Iv done a few walk cycles before and I think we both had the same problem, that is making the character go "backwards" or they might be moving their legs but going nowhere.
You should look up basic walk cycles and try to rough them out and see if you can change them to your character. Walk cycles
Also you should make the character bob up and down when they walk, It just makes it look more realistic. Like this
This is over exaggerated but you get the picture :P
IrishWhiskey: Thanks man. Was hitting a low point for awhile there. As for the walk cycles-- Yeah, I looked up the same stuff, haha, thanks so much for pointing it out though. I think I need to redo a lot of it. I was being kinda sloppy, but I guess it's going to take me awhile to get back in the game.
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Is it just me, or is Krita not as smooth as Photoshop? I dunno, it's been awhile since I used Photoshop, but maybe it's the brushes I'm using? I dunno, they are either not saturated enough, or too saturated, and I have no idea how to fix it to make me more comfortable with it...
I find a pose easier to do with observation of the actor, and then following through the steps yourself. Standing up doesn't take a whole while and your understanding of the action becomes far better.
As for the portrait in your latest post, there are a couple things I can pitch in. The angle of the head is suggesting the face is pointing towards the left (seeing as the right side (our right) of the head is exposed far more than the left) but the nose doesn't follow along, instead pointing towards the viewer. Also you used a pure black next to it which, in my experience, you should almost always avoid, just like pure white. If you do use it, though, remember to still have a bit of detail beneath it, since it helps to distinguish shapes. The right eye should be slightly larger than the left one as it's closer to us. Same with the mouth- it should be pulled a bit more to the camera.
Understanding this kind of stuff is a lot easier when you simplify the head and study up the skull, both of which helped me drastically.
i'd write more but i don't have a whole lot of time so hey hope that helped
Shadows in this one are real good though, like them a lot.
It may feel like you're stagnating. Sincerely though, you're getting better by the moment. Just don't stop like I did and you're guicci.
My biggest issue was the brushes. I had no idea what I was doing... So, I uninstalled Krita, deleted all the content, and reinstalled it with all the defaults.
Then I started playing with brushes, and re-did the portrait. I think it looks much better now. I was really starting to question my work, because I don't think it's been improving-- It's actually been looking worse and worse, and I think it was definitely in part due to the brushes.
Now that I'm understanding a little better about how Krita works, I feel that I'm doing much better now.
So, that just goes to show you the importance of tools, and knowing how to use them, I guess.
Okay, so.... Ideas for my environmental mentorship with Amit... I'm definitely going with the world based on the Secret World.
I want to do a view of Agartha-- Maybe the view from Seoul looking into the portal of Agartha as well... And maybe a couple of shots of Beeness. I dunno. We'll see. I'm just excited about this project, and hope I pull it off okay.
Hey Bookend just wanted to reply to that last post you talked about '' I was really starting to question my work, because I don't think it's been improving-- It's actually been looking worse and worse, and I think it was definitely in part due to the brushes. '' I think that all artists go through that phase once in a while, it's just your eyes and brain messing with you. Just look through all the pages and you will see you are leveling up with every piece you do, but there are just so many fundamentals to focus on that maybe you don't realise it straight away. Try to focus on one thing when studying. I feel that from the first to the last page you are doing ok with picking colors - assuming you eyeballed them - but your values (black/ white) can use some work. Also some paintings/studies look really soft, maybe you can try to play around with some hard rounds or 50% hard :)
Don't worry too much, we have all been there, and everyone's here for you :D Keep on going!!
Have confidence in your understanding and ability. If you feel a piece is unsatisfactory, you can make it better for sure.
Take a deep breath, and start analyzing. Cross reference with similar images, make experiments, have discussions :) Its a golden opportunity to clear out some blind spots.
Having a comfortable brush workflow is important surely, though I feel your portrait of the old guy can benefit from some more TLC in terms of light consistency and shading of the forms.
The general forms shaded well in relation to the light source will feel harmonious, even if the texture is plain and uninteresting. Here is a paintover, I hope it brings up ideas you can work with!
AngeliquevdMee: Thanks a lot! I appreciate the support! The issue with my work before now is that I was using too much hard, and unable to blend! Oi! I was just experimenting in that last sketchyness. :) Looking forward to do some actual finished work soon.
dodeqaa: Wow, thanks so much for the tips-- Very helpful. I'll post the original reference so you can compare and maybe give me tips based off of that. I wasn't taking it all the way because I was just playing around with brushes at the time.
Sorry! I had no idea it was a study. Thank you for providing the reference!
Here's what I feel can be considered in the process of studying.
In Photoshop, brush used is a Hard Round Brush with Opacity and Flow mapped to Pen Pressure, Spacing 13% and Roundness at 45% for a more angular stroke.
(1) Analyze the light sources in the image, which surfaces are orientated towards the light sources and which surfaces are orientated away from them.
(2) Analyze the general structure of the face and hair, looking out for spatial relationships between forms as well as which forms protrude in space more or less than the others.
(3) The forms and their spatial relationship with one another, under the influence of the light and environment, are responsible for the image you see. Squint at the reference and memorize the simplified impression of light and dark you see.
Draw and shade the forms simply and truthfully.
This will help you when you have to adjust proportions or darken/lighten planes to recreate the effect you see in the reference.
(4) Details can be added and shading refined. Pay attention not to lose the value structure, that forms in shadow/shade do not appear to be brighter than those in the light. Squint at the reference often to check.
Sorry for the long post. I hope it gives you ideas you can use in your study! Good luck with your brush experiments!
Sorry! I had no idea it was a study. Thank you for providing the reference!
Here's what I feel can be considered in the process of studying.
In Photoshop, brush used is a Hard Round Brush with Opacity and Flow mapped to Pen Pressure, Spacing 13% and Roundness at 45% for a more angular stroke.
(1) Analyze the light sources in the image, which surfaces are orientated towards the light sources and which surfaces are orientated away from them.
(2) Analyze the general structure of the face and hair, looking out for spatial relationships between forms as well as which forms protrude in space more or less than the others.
(3) The forms and their spatial relationship with one another, under the influence of the light and environment, are responsible for the image you see. Squint at the reference and memorize the simplified impression of light and dark you see.
Draw and shade the forms simply and truthfully.
This will help you when you have to adjust proportions or darken/lighten planes to recreate the effect you see in the reference.
(4) Details can be added and shading refined. Pay attention not to lose the value structure, that forms in shadow/shade do not appear to be brighter than those in the light. Squint at the reference often to check.
Sorry for the long post. I hope it gives you ideas you can use in your study! Good luck with your brush experiments!
Wowww, awesome breakdown-- I really appreciate the time you took to take apart a study process. It's something that I've struggled with, in terms of studying vs. copying. I think I will try this next.
dodeqaa: Thanks! With these tools and great advice, I can only succeed in improvement!
Jeso: Good question! I'm.. Uhm.. Reserving them for the Environmental mentorship for now. After the class, I will probably post them up here (and at the Revolvers thread XD). I just want to focus on Amit's critiques first, and get them nailed before I'm looking for more. I find that my work attracts a wide range of helpful critiques, but then I get confused and unfocused. It's quite a problem, with my ADHD aggravating it. So, that's how I'm coping with it.
Okay guys. I'm back from another long hiatus. Blah. At least it's not as long as last time.
This always happens. I get too excited/hyped and then I burn out quick. So I gotta maintain moderate levels of excitement to keep myself from going overboard. I also gotta stop getting discouraged.
Anyway... Here's a bunch of 'work' I've been doing the last 3 days. I'm basically doing copying of other artists, some of my own doodles, and trying to deconstruct things.
I'm going to try to focus primarily on the figure for now. Shapes. Forms. Simplifying fundamentals... Colour. Will add some life drawings in at some point. Things are still up in the air, but I will keep drawing/studying as much as I can each day.
Got inspired by Wesley Burt today. Waw, I wanna make pencil butter like that. Holy moly.
So, I tried to deconstruct his style and really think about how I'm making faces. Will continue doing more of those, and maybe LOTS OF HANDS.
Also tentatively... TENTATIVELY.. Branching from values into colour. I'm going to keep my work primarily on humans for nao, because... Well, yeah. ^^ That's what I like to do, and I can do better.
Hmm.. But, yeah. I will bounce a bit between subjects within that theme. I also have a few books I want to use to deconstruct what I'm doing, and maybe make doing the figure simpler.
I also took out a looot of books from the library on architecture/perspective (The book on perspective in particular is really awesome-- Things have just been click-click-clicking)..
So, rough plan breakdown:
Warm up sketching.
Constructive figure drawing (With anatomy by Michael Hampton)
Applying constructive figure drawing to generated gestures
Do some values of figure/portrait
Do some colour values of figure/portrait
Rinse and repeat.
I think that's less scattered and overwhelming.
Also: I'm working harder to put more detail and push my work further, instead of doing it half-heartedly, too quickly, too sloppily. My studies this week have been better, but still need work where quality is concerned. I CAN DO BETTER
Okay, not getting too excited. I AM AT PEACE. Moderate. Middle path. Woo.
Xenzo: Thanks dude, really appreciate it, and totally agree. Just gotta keep it at a slow burn and not get too ahead of myself.
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I'm really happy with my progress today. Feel like I'm finally catching up with my old self.
So I did this portrait. It's skewed, the face is too long, the nose is too long, I see it all. But... It's a massive improvement. I was really stuck on those glasses in the beginning, and was gonna give up. I ended up going out to do a few errands-- Came back and did this. So, awesome. I really feel like I'm getting the geometric shapes.
G...gordan freeman? is that you XD. Yeah that portrait looks good, the values seem a bit off especially in the darker areas but as you said it's definietly an improvement from your other portraits(and yes glasses are annoying as fuck to do draw XD).
Triggerpigking: Haha, thanks man. I totally agree. It actually looks different after saving it in Krita/Paintbrush, so I'm guessing I need to zoom in more and take care of smaller details to really push it up a notch.
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Gestures today and yesterday, experimenting and trying Michael Hampton's methods. It doesn't seem like much, but I honestly feel these are my strongest gestures.
