Bookend's Sketchbook

[Bookend]

WIP.

[Bookend]

Jessica and Paul Atreides wander the desert after their air craft crashes, and realize that they must be close to the Fremen when they encounter plant life.

[Bookend]

Not really sure if I want to continue this one.

[PurpleScissors]

It seems like you get bored in the process. Your brushtrokes are not neat, they seem random. I really don't want to offense you but maybe you should paint more cautiously. Keep pushing :)

[Bookend]

PurpleScissors: You can't offend me, I promise!  Just unload me with awesome criticism so I can be awesome-- I can see you're trying to help and I really appreciate it.  And, it's also true, lol.  I get bored.  It's my own fault.  Been listening to streams to try to help with that, and I'll try to push that Asian guy further. ;)  Thanks so much!  I will keep pushing!  Woo!


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Video study of this AWESOME DEMON 'Eligos' from Ash Vs. Evil Dead.  Omg.

Really great exercise in strong darker values.   Will probably do moar of this guy because this was such a positive experience for me.

If it's looking blurry, I'll try to fix it.  I dunno, the stuff looks way more detailed in Krita for some reason.  I'm wondering if I'm saving in the wrong format, lol.

[yangdaniel027]

Thanks for dropping by my sketchbook :)

I think one thing that will help you out immediately is to block out your values/colors first. Start by using the largest brush you can, squint and try to place/locate where all the major value shifts are happening, from there you can slowly use smaller brushes to clean up and refine more detailed areas.

[Bookend]

yangdaniel027: Hey maan, thanks yourself!   You're absolutely right.  I forget about that quite often.  I might go in and redo the Asian and get that shite done.  Thanks man!

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Just playing.

I'll say I'm at:

60/10,000 hours.

It's probably more, but I'm punishing myself for quitting my timing.

I feel like my work is getting good again. I keep quitting and getting rusty, lol. So, yeah. So far I'm doing good at not getting discouraged.

Me and Wifey got an apartment, so that's exciting, but kinda scary too, because whenever some kind of environment change happens, I fall off the wagon again. Going to sign contract stuff tomorrow, and then we're gonna start moving shite in next Tuesday. Whoa.

Well, just gotta keep doing it!

[Bookend]

Study/copy of demon from Ash vs. Evil Dead again.



Then there's the purple dude I did mostly from memory and a bit of playing around too.  Can't just copy, gotta apply.

[Bookend]

Doing some gestures, imagination, and WIP of a portrait.

I continue to be impatient, but that's okay.  As long as I'm doing something everyday, I'm making some kind of progress.  I will build patience and discipline by working at it.

70/10000

[EduardoGaray]

sup! :D there is a little game if you want to see it like that, that will probably help you with your brush economy (and thats more important than some people think)
Choose a subject to study like you are doing but put a limit to the number of brushtrokes you can use and keep count. Like for example, i can only use 50 brushtrokes this time.
And see what you can do with that limit.
It sounds silly, but its a (imo) fun way to getting accustomed to think before painting.
Because the limit, you will also have to plan how you are going to blend each brushtroke in advance, so you will be designing and planning edges too.
It basically turns your studies into chess haha

Anyway, its just a suggestion, keep practicing!

[Vornag]

Nice to see you back in the swing of things.

The prophet in post 211 shows how far you've come in terms of understanding lighting (I think it's from imagination?) The strong light looks fantastic. Brushwork still seems to be an issue, though. Try doing what Eduardo mentioned. In general, go for the less is more approach. A few bold strokes can tell a lot more then a lot of timid and small ones.

[Bookend]

I'm moving into a new apartment and losing internet for awhile-- Not to worry, I'm still working hard at my studies.

[meat]

What else is going on in your surroundings while you study? I find that patience can be trained, and there are different ways to do it. One way is to buy a kitchen timer (preferably one that beeps instead of obnoxiously ticking away to end in a raucous ringing), and make yourself suffer through 30 minutes to 1 hour of absolutely nothing but sitting there drawing - no touching keyboard (not even to change music, if at all any music), looking up at any screen, or even bathroom. I have, unfortunately, an obnoxious kitchen timer, and I'm still working on making this method work myself.

[Bookend]

I'm back long enough to update! Woot.

But, not enough to post up stuff, haha. I promise I will as soon as I have consistent internet.

Meat: Yeah, I totally agree-- Both willpower and patience can be trained, and you can get rusty at both if you don't keep practicing them. Same as with anything, really. I've managed to find an interesting method-- With the loss of the internet I've become more productive. This may be against what most people say is the right way of doing things, but I've found that it helps to start a few different projects and switch between them.

I'm studying faces on one page, doing a screen cap study on another, doing a composition study on another, and doodling in my sketchbook next to me. I find this to be my tempo, and it's working for me-- I'm not overly enthusiastic about it, so I don't think I'll burn out. I just find that I need to switch focus a lot with my ADHD-- I don't think that this means that my workflow is better or that I'm understanding quicker this way-- It just appears to be necessary to work longer periods of time. It may actually mean I'm understanding slower-- But, at least I'm moving forward.

To Vornag: Nah, I used a reference for the prophet, I'm afraid. No lighting learned yet.

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75/10,000. Just a guess. Could be a lot more. Going to start timing again.

[dodeqaa]

Welcome back Bookend!

Congrats on finding a way to work longer, you know, you could be getting really quick at learning with it :D

[BenFlores]

The study in #209 is awesome, really nice palette. Good to hear you found a workflow that suits you. Once it becomes a habit, getting your list checked at the end of the day feels good and your progress will start to show.

Waiting for the update!

[meat]

You know what all those pros like Karla Ortiz, Dan do Santos, Donato, etc etc were saying about how they made it when I attended their panels during Spectrum Live? All of their paths are very different from each other, and they all agree that the most important thing is to do what works _for you_, do it as often as you can, and do it _hard_. You're on your way to that by finding out what works for you! Good luck!

[Bookend]

dodeqaa: Thanks man!  I hope so!  I guess we'll see.

BenFlores:  Thanks dude, I love it too.  I have to give credit to the makeup artists-- Holy crap.  They did a great job, and that made it inspiring to do.  I think I'm seeing that progress happening, finally. I'm not going to jinx it and say that it's obvious, but I do think that I'm getting better.  And I haven't felt like I've been improving for a very long time.

meat: Aw man, I would've killed to be at those panels!  You're so lucky, man!  But, I'm glad you shared their advice with me, 'cause it really helps.  Hope I'm doing well.

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81 out of 10,000 hours so far!

So yeah, semi-consistent internet, so updating as promised.

Most of these are WIPs 'cause I'm bouncing between them.  I'm also doing a bit of perspective exercises, but those are kinda boring to look at.  You guys know the deal.  Cubes in perspective.  Staircase.  That kind of thing.  

I can't wait 'til I can fork up the cash to buy 'How to Draw' by Scott Robertson.  Agh.  I am dyin' here. lol.

Oh well.  Until then, I'm figuring out perspective issues on my own.

I've filled a lot of pages in my sketchbook in pencil and pen too, but a lot of it is crap.  I may take pics of some of the portrait experiments I was doin', I dunno.  Right now I'm not really sure if this internet is gonna crap out on me, so I gotta semi-hurry.

Silver-headed guy:  Just a WIP.  Pretty much refining details everywhere.

Portraits:  Mostly from Law and Order first season, and a random one from the first episode of a new show.

Floating forts:  Perspective study. Plenty of fail-- Lots to learn from. WIP. As you can see, it's a huge mess from moving shit around and adjusting.

Tunnel:  Perspective study and failures, lol. XD The tunnel on mine is too small and too high. Going to go in and adjust some more.

[Uiriamu]

You got some kickin' values goin on in the portrait studies in this last post, really sweet to see. Pay attention to the symmetry in some of them though, sometimes it feels like one eye is slightly above the other. :D the "So the light has dawned" woman is really good.

Keep on kickin' butts misty! Take care and a happy new year! : D

[Triggerpigking]

Nice updates, the silver haired guy is starting to really come together, his eyes look like they may be slightly too low though.