ABANDONED HIDEOUT

[Jeso]

Here is a portrait of a friend i did.


And also something i need help with. Im doing this new illustration, and i just finished watching game of thrones season 1-4 and i was like.. Fuck... i wanna paint a duo just like the Hound and Arya.. so.. big ass ugly dude and little girl. So im trying to figure out the composition. The biggest problem im running into is that I have my characters kind of striking a pose, the big dude is wipping off his bloody sword and the girl is like just making a cool pose. So as im trying to make sense of it i tried putting dead boddies around the composition, but its mkaing everything look so crowded, and they dont really fit. Dont know if not putting them in though, would make it look weird that they are making a pose and nothing is really happening. Then again, thats what most of the cryptids cards look like.

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[/quote]@Jeso: I'm freelancing, doing a bunch of different things. Card art, online game banners, book illustrations, indie game environments, matte paints and concept work for a movie and documentary. Incidentally I'm in the middle of Hollywood right now for the next week so not much work from me. It's a such a superficial place, no way I would live here.[quote]


Yo Amit, any advice for someone trying to get that first job? tips and tricks? cheat codes? lol, Im still trying to work my portfolio to be able to get work.


If you guys click on my portfolio link in my signature, do you guys think I could take on low lvl card art jobs? like those from Fantasy flight games or character illustrations for PAIZO? those are what im aiming at for my first pro gigs.

[Amit Dutta]

Yo Amit, any advice for someone trying to get that first job? tips and tricks? cheat codes? lol, Im still trying to work my portfolio...

First I'll answer your question with a question. Have you tried to send your stuff to FFG or Paizo?

If not, your first cheat is to f%"c@$ g just DO IT. Don't censor yourself first. You will know pretty quickly, within a few weeks once they run their new series of runs for artwork if it makes the grade. You'll get a bulk bcc email asking for interest in taking jobs. That easy. If you don't send it, you won't get it. That's actually the best tip. Cutout your self censor.

I think some of your stuff is probably up FFG's alley for style and quality. I think I've seen worse that has been published. They have shit starter rates so most pros won't stick with it for too long I would say, so they are always looking for new meat. Don't know about Paizo, haven't sent them my stuff yet.

realise that you are as good as your worst folio piece, so be brutal with your "maybe" pieces. If there are obvious or large flaws in any fundamentals of any piece really reconsider keeping that as representative of your work in your folio.
Better to have 3 awesome solid pieces only than to have 3 solid and 7 flawed ones.

The other main thing I learned is that you need to shotgun your folio like a beast consistently. I always sent at least two emails each night after an hour max of researching for new companies/recently successful or about to be successful kickstarters that matched what I wanted to do. Researched and stalked ADs to contact directly, publishing houses, indie game boards, boardgamegeek forums, polycount, conceptart.org, even reddit gamedev subs. All resulted in some work eventually. after 3 weeks of this I already had a large list of places to send my stuff to that I still haven't got around to but will. I also plan on resending my newest work to the best clients or ones I would want to work for in the future, after a few months or when I have some spare time. make it a priority to promote.

Make sure your emails are polite, get to the point quickly (no essays on your art struggle), don't talk about your work except if you want to highlight specific areas of interest/specialisation relevant to their projects, but don't harp on about it. Don't use desperate language and don't be chummy or too informal either because it comes across as unprofessional. Make it appear like you are very interested in their work, that you are available, and then a link to a folio, And maybe attach a couple of your best suited pieces (check if they have any submission requirements, some don't like attached images, some do).
. Give it a go today, don't put off what you can do today to tomorrow..
Then just repeat.
Hope that helps!

[Gliger]

Next step



I gonna try to update more often. Also Jeso, I've done a couple jobs lately that kind of came out of nowhere but pretty much just studying.

[Jeso]

Studies of little girls, preparing for upcoming illustration, x.x i wanna sleeeeeep... good night. and good luck.

[Jeso]

PAUL - Lawl! you over painted the shit out of my shitty study.. lol HahAHa aww man im loling right now, cause now my original looks like a deform abomination compared. I was aware of those misplaced eyes tho, it was like.. 3am and i was like.. "oowwww man, im so done right now, im dying, those eyes are fucked up misplaced.. but im dying.." And there you have it.

Thanks a lot ~Little Gnomes~ , moral of the story is... measure more render less, and be subtle! and for fuck's sake, study lips... lol

[Gliger]

Man... talk about a struggle of a piece
Next step, still WIP, everything is still wrong.

[Eurogin]

Hey, been busy the past few weeks. I was wondering if you guys can give input on something. When building a visual library most people look at things, study etc and after some practice can visualize things. For me I don't remember things visually at all, when I read books I don't see anything I just get the idea, not images. Do you guys think I should take a technical approach with detailed form study (with measurements or something) or should I just draw something repeatedly so its more of a feeling. I know visual libraries are really important so I don't want to dragged down by this.

[Jeso]

Eurogin, Check out Alex Negrea's interviews on youtube, There is a couple of them on there, im not sure which one is it exactly where he explains he's study process. He goes over visual libraries and pretty good techniques to help retain the information. Good luck.

[JyonnyNovice]

Eurogin What works for me is to draw something (maybe from 2 or 3 different reference images, just loose but trying to keep the proportions accurate).

Next - important - write down notes next to it (notes just guessing things like 'this side part is about 1/3rd of the length, width is about double this other part' etc and writing down about the texture, overlapping parts etc - anything that seems important to me, stuff that 'represents' this thing - like a Church has a steepled roof and a cross on the top).

Then draw the same thing from memory, maybe from a different angle. Then, the important step for remembering it is to draw it again from memory the next day / then next few days / then next week.

We remember things best when we pull them from our memory right at the point when we were about to forget. So drawing things from memory at 1 day then 1 week then 1 month after the first time tries to hit that 'just about to forget' time.

If you want to remember something very precisely - like human skull or something - do the same process but just do more reference drawings, make more notes and do more memory drawing at shorter time intervals.

That's just what works for me anyway.

[Jeso]

This group is been kinda QUIET for a while... whats going on folks? come on, dont be shy, what have you been up to?

[JyonnyNovice]

Just been putting all my time into learning ZBrush. Here's what I've been up to though:

[Amit Dutta]

I've been in Hollywood for the last week for the writers and illustrators of the future awards ceremony and workshops. Check out writersofthefuture.com for how to submit your stuff. Having gone through the whole week, I can wholeheartedly recommend applying. No professionals allowed, you can apply once a quarter and they fly you out to LA, put you up for a week culminating in a massive awards ceremony. I won for the 2nd quarter in 2014. They also publish you in an anthology book of all the writer's stories.
I got to meet and be in workshops with Larry Elmore, Dave Dorman, Nathan Fowkes, Cliff Nielsen and a whole bunch of others, also met a whole bunch of writer greats like Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Todd McCaffrey etc etc. It was frikkin sweet, and Hollyweird, but so great overall. I expect you all to apply!


During the crazy week this is all I managed to do in my spare time. Random scribblings. The last is a 24 hour illustration we had to do given an emotion (mine was trauma) an object (A glass dice thingy) and a pose from a life drawing session we went to. I did it in an hour, as I had been up till 4am drinking bourbon with other artists...

[Jeso]

Hey Jyohny , nice work, i learned Zbrush myself, through digital tutors too.. and its hella fun, and you'll learn a lot about fundamentals over all. I recommend it...

Amit - Sounds like a hell of an event man... I'll try that out next time.


Now fellow daggers, i need your help pronto. Im on a deadline and i need to choose a comp quick. My teacher said the pose of my character (the little one) wasnt working so i cape up with several more.. I need your help to choose the best one. You know, the one that works the best. To me.. 1,6,7 could work well, what do you think?

[JyonnyNovice]

Jeso For me 1 and 7 are good as poses, but none of them feel like they fit with the bigger guy - he is really loose and relaxed standing, kinda casual and the little ones are all really dynamic, action stances. Maybe try some more casual / relaxed poses for the little guy? (or re-do the bigger one with something more dynamic / action-y)

Amit That sounds like a hell of a trip! Congrats man! I'm gonna make myself a goal to enter that in first quarter 2016.

[Paul Kokshin]

Jeso What Jyonny said. They all have the same problem. It will help if you decide what's happening in the piece. Maybe it's in the middle of the battle, or they are just searching for something in the woods, or casting a spell, etc. And I did a quick paintover so maybe it will lead to some new ideas. I feel like if you overlap two figures more it will add depth to the piece.

[Amit Dutta]

@Jyonny. Thanks dude, it was an amaazing experience. Do it man. If you have any questions just let me know. The judges love narrative as well as technical skill.
@Jeso? Submit away man. Also I second what Paul said. His paintover adds narrative. Think about the "why" of any piece first. If you don't know why you are painting or doing something, what the message is, the rest will come out kinda hit and miss based on your technique. Sort out the why first, then the how, then the what. If you are clear on your message and intent which is what speaks to people first and foremost, all the rest is just technique.

[Jeso]

God.. You guys are right.. Jesus.. Alright.. ill come up with something .. Thanks a lot Paul, that definitely sparked some ideas in me for a possible replacement. Ok! time to make more coffee..

[Veneq]

@amit - That sounds awesome dude! I'm going to look into that pronto!

@Jeso - Same thoughts exactly as Jyonny here. And Paul's paintover has tons of feels in it. But yeah, 1 and 7 work interestingly for the little guy's posing for me.

[JyonnyNovice]

Hey guys! Long time since I posted any drawings here.

Trying to face my fear of still life and do one everyday for at least this week. I always had this real fear of them and weirdly feel strange kind of shame in posting them. I guess all my weaknesses are exposed or something...

Anyway, I will keep doing these til I get better! My main weakness, I think, is draftsmanship (I can visualise what I want but cannot get my hand to respond right) and rendering (I often end up killing my nice careful line drawing by shaving off a corner of something or cutting into a curve too sharply with shading). Here is the last 3 days:

[Caisne]

@JyonnyNovice hey man! hows it going? XD Check the tutorial by Feng about how to do approach this stuff https://youtu.be/UrbfOpIP_UY?t=5m20s and part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDNhFLcsgh8

Whenb doing still life like this - try to analize and divide light from dark. Find the darkest and the lightest spots and emphesize on them. Dont think abnout line and countour too much, as we pople suited more to see values - wich is light and dark.

Thanks guys for keepeing the place alive. I cant thank you enought. I might have less time to contribute, but i always lurk around here