John's Thread (Used to be super active! Still the longest thread name ever in CD)

[gregorkari]

The rendering of the blouse is really amazing! It has slightly more contrast which makes it look a bit shinier but also more interesting! Do you start with big shapes and divide it into smaller when starting such a copy or do you have any other approach?

[John]

gregorkari - Hey.

Yes, I do start with big shapes. During the line art stage, I usually separate those shapes when there's a distinction between light and shadow. When the value/color change is subtle, I group them together. Sometimes I lump them together and deal with the color/value later in the next stage. Which is...

The coloring stage! Here, I squint to help me pick off the general shapes to subdivide them from the line art further. If I'm having a hard time choosing a color/value for that big shape, I try to match the color I see when I squint. Squinting basically averages the colors in that area. I fill all those big shapes first then tackle them later on individually.

I don't squint at the reference when I'm doing the details!

This is the step by step:



This is the final:



I think it's a good observation exercise. And a good chance to problem solve how to lay down brush strokes. I start off with hard edges then gradually blend them together with a softer brush if I need that smooth gradient.

Hope that answers your question!

[John]

Study. Without much color checking on the reference:



Some work in progress stuff:

[John]

Study


- Took more time shaping the shadow side than the light side. Not a good idea moving forward.
- I'm moving more and more away from doing an exact copy to, I'm not sure where to go yet. Probably need look at more oil paintings.

[neopatogen]

I really like your new motto :) I mean signature.
I would probably pick this for myself: “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”

Nice WIP, I wonder why whe's got her sword stuck in some kind of... metal support structure?
Also you became quite good at portrait copying, do you still do it just for fun? :)

[John]

neopatogen - Your motto sounds, to be frank, tiring! I'm physically bent out of shape to appreciate that! But sure, a lot of artists I look up to have that boundless amount of drive that I can only hope for myself. It's one of the qualities I admire for sure. I do remember Atey (or was it John Silva?) commending you for the ungodly amount of work you did for the Crucible challenges..

I'm fairly okay with portrait copying. They're absolutely fun. I think it's enjoyable mainly because doing it is comfortable, which is terrible. There are few things I do during those exercises to convince myself that I'm learning something (testing new brushes, making good judgments on colors, stroke economy, etc...). If I have to be honest, I think there's a little bit of guilt involved because I am not progressing with any of my personal pieces when I do portrait copies. 

Have you experienced something so good that in the back of your head you're wondering what the catch is, but in the end you go through it anyway? That's the same feeling I get.

And the sword isn't stuck on the beam! I hope I conveyed that well in the latest version!

---

Calling this done for now:


I haven't done slider adjustments on it. And there are elements I want to put. But I'm sick of looking at it to even push through. I'll probably shelf this til next year!

[Tygerson]

Really love the lady with the samurai sword! The colors are really serene. I know it's done, but I'd love to see a bit of shine on the blade edge.

Also, thanks for the recommendation to try Lazy Nezumi ages ago. I finally installed the thing, and it's awesome! The perspective ruler is life changing! It will save hours of pointless effort and wrist pain!

[John]

Tygerson - Awesome to hear about the wrist! And thanks for the tip. Which reminds me I have to go through that piece again before March.

----

A not so progressive 2 months! I did manage to stretch out the time for a certain piece. I redid it thrice since I can't seem to not make it to look like John Cena on the first two tries!

But I have the final version, just in time for the convention happening in 3 days!

John Cena versions:




Final for printing:


I wanted to give the old Barda piece a partner!

[John]

It has been so busy that I've been neglecting this corner of the internet!

Quick drop:



Thanks to Adam, Amit, Chub, Meta, Trigger, and that guy who pointed out the character looked like an orc during it's earlier stages! 

Sigh.. more reason to study..

[bonesworth]

@John, fantastic sketchbook, truly inspiring.

[John]

bonesworth - Oh you. You don't have to lie for me to love you. I'm an easy catch!

----

Been awhile since I last bumped my thread up. It was for the best that I figure things out myself rather than listening to people having me pulled to different directions. Pretty interesting experience since it doesn't seem like I needed to work for a ringleader of some circus. Not that I'm saying that my experience here was a bad thing either, since I've made my bones here in this very forum with the help from a variety of people. Besides, I needed to experiment without having to please too many cooks to make the soup. Amit once told me that I should develop my own skill in judging my own work. Not only he's right about it, but it also solved that problem of me annoying him with my incessant tugging of his coat. I guess I'd chalk up my absence to that; and just being tired of seeing a lot of "your piece needs to work on anatomy/light/value/perspective" from all the threads.

(Having said that, I am most likely guilty of giving such generic monotone crits anyways! Who am I to judge!)

Just dropping by to say that I am still at it. Pretty cool to see there are still new members coming in. Also, it's truly inspiring to see some of the old members still updating this small corner of the internet and taking their craft to the next level. I guess its like witnessing people I look up to, like Karla Ortiz, Marko Djurdjevic or Dave Rapoza's old sketchbook threads on ca.org. Except they're still in that phase where they're still trying to figure things out.

After that long winded yammering from yours truly, here's a medley of the works I churned out, ranging from 'cringe' to 'I guess this is decent enough?':

[John]

Just a quick drop to say, I am not dead!

Life is just crazy busy. It's that point in everyone's lives where one has to make ends meet while still trying to make this thing we all do into a semblance of a career. I've been looking for work on top of my full time graphic design gig. Making comics for next year's convention. Putting more stuff into my illustration portfolio. Doing sketches with other people, which is life saving. Not only that you get something out of it skill-wise? But there's something far more important I believe. 

Drawing with these guys, especially when these people aren't really so heavily invested in art, is one of those helpful things I did to maintain sanity. Especially when people are having fun doing it? It reminds me of why we're all here in the first place. Making things in and of itself is supposed to be awesome. Plus, it keeps my ego in check too. Not like I don't have it anymore. I mean, I catch myself getting really bummed out when I don't get enough like-y likes in social media. Bummed out to the point where I ask myself if it's even worth doing this thing I've been doing for years.

There's that feeling of being content with attempting to make cool shit. Probably lame for everyone else. Probably lame by my standards in the next 5 minutes of finishing the work. Yet I'm pretty happy that I am in that place where I'm still able to make stuff. I don't want to break my hand, go blind, get in trouble financially; all those excuses that would make me regret if I didn't draw and wasted all my able-bodied life doing absolutely nothing to push out there in the world what I'm itching to make at the moment.

Never really reflected on it til now. Kinda nice to untangle thoughts just by typing the stuff I've been dealing.

And finally, something unrelated to whatever I just wrote:

[neopatogen]

What made you get back here though John, given that you wrote in the thread about dying forums?
Can pretty much relate to what you wrote, especially about excuses :P
Nice sketches btw, except the one on the left 's face looks kind of broken in perspective to me (the eyes area).

[Rotohail]

Heya! I saw your latest post and I feel I connected a lot with it, also the previous one but it has been a few months since so maybe you have a different view on things now.

I think this is the feeling I find myself coming back over and over to, the wanting to do stuff just because it's fun, to try new things, to make something cool that maybe will make some kid stare in awe! ha. I honestly though, don't like nowadays social media aspect of likes. At all. I dunno if you have come across those "one in a thousand" comments from someone, where you can feel what they are experiencing, whey they tell you they remember, feel and how they connect to something you have done? They pour their soul on the feedback they write.
Now that! is why I keep putting up stuff, to hopefully receive one of those reactions. But with a likes system and the usual "cool", "nice", "good" or two-word responses you get almost constantly, I know I sound like an ungrateful ass-hat ha, but it seriously makes me feel like whatever I do doesn't really matter, I don't even know if there's an actual person leaving that comment or is some digital account just bumping stuff (hello paranoia! How long has it been? ha). So I'm glad for you, don't lose that spark ever! I sometimes have to remember myself about it, but I think that's been the most important aspect to what I do, reconnecting with it, as most as I can.

I also find myself with that feeling of dread about getting hurt when I go downhill some mountain track on my bike and thinking. "I shouldn't be doing this shit!" ha, although I take it quite mild nowadays, I really don't want to end up finding myself on one of those situations you mention, not able to draw anymore. To me that's a signal I have found something I love above all else, and that's why the stakes feel so real? Maybe that's what you mean too? Maybe I misunderstood. If not, then I relate!

From the last sketches you put I really like the girls, the one with the two-finger salute specially, the gesture is very nice overall and the proportions are spot on to me. The guys on the other hand feel like the heads are a tad small and the proportions a bit on the young side, children almost, on purpose? The hands seem to go along with the head effect. From the old post above I'm digging quite a bunch of them, mostly the girl portraits but the spiderverse one has a ton of energy and movement, the portraits some due to color choices (I like your avatar btw!) others for mood and lighting!

I hope we both find what we are looking for!

[Fedodika]

reeeeeee :d

[John]

neopatogen - Hey Neo. It's been a long time. What got me back is sentimental attachment. Like how people move away only to come back to their old stomping grounds just to move away again.

And yeah. To be completely honest with the work, the face of that guy really needs work. I don't think you can make a face given that low angle perspective. And anatomy-wise, the girl on the left should have her shoulder lifted up. And as Rotohail mentioned, the guy's anatomy on the right is way off too.

And yeah man. Told Amit I wanted to do comic book stuff a long time ago. The excuses I make up for myself are just really eating at me.

Rotohail  - That's the thing about social media. It's an impersonal network that tricks your head into thinking that their approval system is an indicator of value given to you by another person. Not discrediting that it might be. The factors that come into play: real users vs bots; algorithms that play to your bias; the engagement you get isn't as, for the lack of a better term, genuine as the ones you get face to face. I've had people online rip me a new one because of how I draw faces, or anatomy or how I paint (evidently, just by looking through this thread alone). But the same piece could generate a tamer or a complete 180 reaction when you're confronted with real people in conventions or workshops. 

On one hand, yeah, treat it like a business. Be the best prostitute you can possibly be. Work on your craft. Play to the crowd and give them what they want. But on the other hand, kinda nice to remember that just fucking around for the sake of it is fun too.

Fedodika - Whatever you're smoking, I'm all for it.

----
Not much going on. Or I'm just too tired to rant. But I made it a point to put up some drawing or painting whenever I'm posting. Needed to pump something fast before I go back to my regular programming. Ergo. More questionable work from me.

[darktiste]

Really nice contrast and value i think the only concern is the use of digital marker end up creating strong value change rather than a soft feel do you have perhaps a softer brush would be more suitable for skin rendering.In traditional medium i use a copic marker with 2 end one broad and one is a brush it really nice to create a hard or soft feel to your mark making.It call a copic ciao if you can afford a few i recommend taking some in the grey range so you can later on scan maybe and turn from a greycale image to a color image with some color overlay layers.

I know it probably just due to yourself limiting your brush but i think you should atleast always have at least an hard brush and a soft eraser if you intention is to have a limited brush palette.

[Leo Ki]

Welcome back! I see you are putting extra attention into facial expressions and attitudes. This is invaluable since you are working on a comic, and comics have a lot in common with theater play. Any layouts coming to discuss them?

[Demon Lizardman]

Good stuff man, love the way you render. I'm going back to rendering in Photoshop, any good tutorials that you might recommend to someone looking to get back into it?

[John]

darktiste -  Always?



Leo Ki - Glad to be back. Nice handle. Your name reminds me of Thor's mischievous brother.


There's nothing much to share really. Swear to god, the rest of the pages are not as good. Might be the story. Or the lack of to begin with. It's just fun to draw and render out. I probably have to hunker down and think about what this story is really about. Kinda have to deliver now since I already registered for a con. Don't think it'll be wise to have a booth with nothing to offer.

Which reminds me, I don't have any idea what to make for prints yet.

Here's me asking for suggestions!