10-03-2018, 03:24 AM
UPDATE:
So, I never followed through with uploading to this sketchbook last year and want to snap myself back into making progress. I recently got an iPad and I can now sketch and paint much more frequently, so I really want to jump on the improvement train this year. (And I need all the feedback I can get, so please don't be shy to pipe up if you're casually going through this thread!)
I recently acquired an agent here in the city and I've been taking illustration jobs through them (which has been great!!), but I really need to level up my skills all around. I want to eventually be able to compete with the agency's top artists for work and be really proud of the stuff I'm putting out! Ideally, I think I want to specialize in book covers. Ultimately something in the range/style of Greg Manchess', Jon Foster's, and Julie Dillon's work. Love all of them!)
Here's my present portfolio on their site. ANY FEEDBACK WELCOME!
This past year I fully illustrated two children's (educational) books through my agent (still under NDA), did several portraiture pieces for various publishers (also presently NDA'd), and took a few private commissions here and there to round things out. I have now left my daytime job to do illustration full time, so it's really important for me to get on the ball and do studies going forward. I don't feel like I have grown much as an artist skill-wise this past year (despite taking jobs), but now I've got the time to really devote to doing studies and I'm excited to go!
To start things off, here's a piece I've been fooling around with. I sketched the idea out the other night, nothing terribly ground-breaking, just something from a story everyone knows -- Alice in Wonderland. The issue I feel like I'm presently having --> I like a lot of my sketches, but start to hate them once I go and start rendering things in. They just feel... wrong... and I can't put my finger on why. They seem to work compositionally (in sketch phase) and, when I convert to black and white after moving to block in, they largely work value-wise, so I'm not sure why I'm having trouble moving forward. I'd really love someone to help me point out where I'm going wrong so I can start this piece over and do it correctly! Attached is the sketch I did (on my iPad), plus where I've gotten to blocking-in-wise with values/colors. (Did that on main computer, not iPad.)
Help!
Also, I'm also currently working on a private Star Wars commission. I've blocked things in roughly and I'm getting ready to make corrections to the anatomy/poses and start pushing forward with rendering. (Context: they want their OC and two other friend's OC's fighting Snowtroopers on some Hoth-esque world. I have nothing to do with the one character being sleeveless in the snow, not my outfit design. I just do as I'm told. lol) Any feedback on this piece going forward is very welcome, too!
Now I'm off to do master study or set up a still life to paint from. (Thinking the master study might be more helpful at this point, so I can continue to work on composition, as well as rendering.) I've slowly been switching my workflow from Corel Painter over to Photoshop, so that's been a thing I've been working on too. Slightly different brush engines, but I like that my iPad and computer will be similar now tools-wise. (I love Corel, don't get me wrong, but I think I have a tendency to over blend because it's so easy to do so in that program. I'm hoping that swapping for Photoshop will eventually make my brushwork more purposeful and 'brushy' as I improve. Besides, Photoshop is pretty much the industry standard anyway and Corel currently has no ability to prep files in CMYK anyway, which I need to be able to do now, so... yeah.)
Will post progress, even if it's only incremental. Hoping to post here at least a couple times a week, if not more. I just joined the group on Discord, so hit me up on there under 'stark' if you'd like. :)
So, I never followed through with uploading to this sketchbook last year and want to snap myself back into making progress. I recently got an iPad and I can now sketch and paint much more frequently, so I really want to jump on the improvement train this year. (And I need all the feedback I can get, so please don't be shy to pipe up if you're casually going through this thread!)
I recently acquired an agent here in the city and I've been taking illustration jobs through them (which has been great!!), but I really need to level up my skills all around. I want to eventually be able to compete with the agency's top artists for work and be really proud of the stuff I'm putting out! Ideally, I think I want to specialize in book covers. Ultimately something in the range/style of Greg Manchess', Jon Foster's, and Julie Dillon's work. Love all of them!)
Here's my present portfolio on their site. ANY FEEDBACK WELCOME!
This past year I fully illustrated two children's (educational) books through my agent (still under NDA), did several portraiture pieces for various publishers (also presently NDA'd), and took a few private commissions here and there to round things out. I have now left my daytime job to do illustration full time, so it's really important for me to get on the ball and do studies going forward. I don't feel like I have grown much as an artist skill-wise this past year (despite taking jobs), but now I've got the time to really devote to doing studies and I'm excited to go!
To start things off, here's a piece I've been fooling around with. I sketched the idea out the other night, nothing terribly ground-breaking, just something from a story everyone knows -- Alice in Wonderland. The issue I feel like I'm presently having --> I like a lot of my sketches, but start to hate them once I go and start rendering things in. They just feel... wrong... and I can't put my finger on why. They seem to work compositionally (in sketch phase) and, when I convert to black and white after moving to block in, they largely work value-wise, so I'm not sure why I'm having trouble moving forward. I'd really love someone to help me point out where I'm going wrong so I can start this piece over and do it correctly! Attached is the sketch I did (on my iPad), plus where I've gotten to blocking-in-wise with values/colors. (Did that on main computer, not iPad.)
Help!
Also, I'm also currently working on a private Star Wars commission. I've blocked things in roughly and I'm getting ready to make corrections to the anatomy/poses and start pushing forward with rendering. (Context: they want their OC and two other friend's OC's fighting Snowtroopers on some Hoth-esque world. I have nothing to do with the one character being sleeveless in the snow, not my outfit design. I just do as I'm told. lol) Any feedback on this piece going forward is very welcome, too!
Now I'm off to do master study or set up a still life to paint from. (Thinking the master study might be more helpful at this point, so I can continue to work on composition, as well as rendering.) I've slowly been switching my workflow from Corel Painter over to Photoshop, so that's been a thing I've been working on too. Slightly different brush engines, but I like that my iPad and computer will be similar now tools-wise. (I love Corel, don't get me wrong, but I think I have a tendency to over blend because it's so easy to do so in that program. I'm hoping that swapping for Photoshop will eventually make my brushwork more purposeful and 'brushy' as I improve. Besides, Photoshop is pretty much the industry standard anyway and Corel currently has no ability to prep files in CMYK anyway, which I need to be able to do now, so... yeah.)
Will post progress, even if it's only incremental. Hoping to post here at least a couple times a week, if not more. I just joined the group on Discord, so hit me up on there under 'stark' if you'd like. :)