luthertaylor's sketchbook

[rookie]

After some consideration I decided to give another crack at doing forum sketchbooks.
as much as I love to lone wolf and put every time into improving, this is a visual field we are in and socialising is a must i guess, especially with other artists.
I joined conceptart in July 26th but figure will scribe up here as well for those that are not on there. more people to socialise with.
here is everything from July 26th til now.

----CA sketchbook opening statement----------
Hello denizens of CA
I'm Luther, recently turned 23, male from England, London.
stop me if this sounds like a song already sung - I've known of this site for a while, but never had the desire to join up until recently.
I've been drawing everyday desperate to improve my freehand drawing since the beginning of this year but my efforts have continuously been rising.
admittedly, I started off quite lazy, but since June, I have noticed I have been getting more intense as if I am getting consumed. my life as I once
knew it as is definitely gone.

my method of main improvement is repetition of something i like to call memory recall.
it is just simply a matter of studying a subject and attempting to recall the general details immediately from imagination, after which i then experiment with said subject in different situations.

Before, at the beginning of this year, I was concerned with improving my digital painting so set off trying to learn colour and how different light situations affects it.

I use to do a lot of digital paint studies, but nowadays I do not even touch digipaint as much as I use to.
I am first set on competency with the pencil and rendering scenes from imagination professionally. once I am happy in my skill with the pencil (and that wont be until a very longggggg time) I will then concern myself with colour. every now and then I do get the urge to paint though..and get flabbergasted at how much I truly suck in the process!!

I have a lot to learn but will be totally appreciative of any hints I get from here, and hope to inspire with my effort and make new friends along the way

The subjects of immediate study at the moment is trees and forested scenes (or how about just saying nature in general you fool!), armour (modern and recent), human anatomy, animal anatomy, clothing/fashion, urban and city design/architecture, vehicles and weapons(modern and recent)

so here are some crap I have done recently, the digital stuff at the bottom are just speed paints. they weren't intended as finished pieces.
I will try to update every couple of days, time permitted, but please note CA Image attachment is totally not time friendly, time is something i do not have in abundance to waste, so it will probably be in weekly dumps on the weekends where I deliberately slow my self down.

good luck to all who are in the same boat trying to improve don't give up!!

p.s. please forgive my writing in the images and the quality of the drawings itself , it is scribbling that was only intended for my eyes. xP























































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DONE!!! OMG WHAT A MISSION!! FUUUUUUUCK! alright from here, both sites will be updated together, posting and statements will mirror each other. if it turns out I am actually just wasting my time with two sketchbooks this one will probably phase out. the intention is to get at the people that are here exclusively.
time will tell. peace out

[Veneq]

Hey hey. Wecome to the Crimson Daggers. I think there are quite a few people doing the same thing (myself included) maintaining the same sketchbook on multiple forums. I would also suggest CGHub's sketchbook forum as well.

As far as your work goes: I can already see a bit of improvement just in the stuff you've posted - it appears that these are pretty close to chronological order with the newest stuff last. Are you flipping your canvas when you're working digitally? Even when doing photo studies, it's a great way to see where drawings are getting skewed. Another great exercise I can suggest is to replicate your studies from memory - as in, as soon as you finish a study, replicate it from memory without looking at the photo or the study. It's a great way to get more out of the study.

Anyway, best of luck and keep posting!

[Ursula Dorada]

Hey there, welcome!

As pierce said, there is already improvement to be seen here! Good job!
I second Pierce's post, and I would like to add something: work on the quality of your lines. Be gentle to your pencil, and do long sweeping motions when drawing - this is called line quality, and is largely addressed on Loomi's books. It helps a lot to loosen up :)

Keep it up man, I'll be watching, update often!

[rookie]

Thank you Pierce and Ursula! :D
I've never actually flipped my canvas while doing a photo study, that is primarily something I only do when I work on a personal piece. will definitely remember it.

and recently learnt I have been holding my pencil wrong so to speak. I have been holding it as a pen when I should be holding it much further back from the lead, and delicately. I will need to read into loomis about line quality.

I take it easier on the weekends, do some reading and practice my japanese.
here's the small stuff from today.


been wondering if I should do my quick gesture practice digitally instead. I would prefer to do them on paper but with the amount i plan to be doing from monday onwards, I would burn through my paper far too quickly. Doing them digitally feels funny and I can't replicate my technique with pencil digitally. hmmm any thoughts?

[ramalooke]

Well, well, you have some really nice start going on here. Sorry but I have no feedback to you. Just keep pushing yourself and you'll be a super sayajin in no time. Cheers.

[rookie]

Well, well, you have some really nice start going on here. Sorry but I have no feedback to you. Just keep pushing yourself and you'll be a super sayajin in no time. Cheers.

Hahahaha Super saiyan! That cracked me up too much, thank you for the comment xD

so lately I've been doing a lot of repetition drills for anatomy and figures, anything. anatomy and poses, I do a rep of quick sketches over and over, what happens is that each time I return to the image, I start to know instinctively where muscles or key features are, and then it gets more and more refined as I go along. Now I can draw the muscles of the arm from any position roughly. It's a daily thing I must do.
for portraits, I do a quick gesture of shade and line Before I delve into a traditional graphite study and then once complete I do it digitally. lol REPETITION BABY.


















I think I may refrain from taking photos of all the gestures of the day in the future.
scanning is out of the question, that is a mission.

[Warburton]

Great start dude, already seeing improvements just on this page. Keep hammering the studies like you are doing now, and don't slack off or give up, and you'll do fine.
Keep it up man ;)

[ramalooke]

Oh wow. I was scrolling down your sketchbook. Seeing all the hard work you putting into your art. Then I've got to the last post and was like 'holy shit'. Those last two faces are so much better than previous ones. Just keep doing what you do. Good stuff.

[kidult]

your hard work broke my internet connection...good stuf!!

[rookie]

Thank you everyone for the feedback! been really busy lately and not been able to draw as much as I would like. back on track now so will post some things up soon.

Great start dude, already seeing improvements just on this page. Keep hammering the studies like you are doing now, and don't slack off or give up, and you'll do fine.
Keep it up man ;)

Thanks dude :) These studies get excruciatingly repetitive but it's gotta be done! from now until end of september I'm studying gesture poses and human anatomy.

Oh wow. I was scrolling down your sketchbook. Seeing all the hard work you putting into your art. Then I've got to the last post and was like 'holy shit'. Those last two faces are so much better than previous ones. Just keep doing what you do. Good stuff.

T^T thanks Ramalooke! Gotta go hard or go home! lol

your hard work broke my internet connection...good stuf!!

Looool So gotta use that phrase! Thanks dude :)

[JakeB]

Looking good so far man. Prolific.

One thing, you mentioned not liking the feel of the tablet when doing gesture studies.. If anything, that's a great reason to do them digitally. Not saying stop with the traditional work, but if you plan to do a lot of digital work, going outside of your comfort zone will help a lot. I'm still working on it myself. But just think how good it would be if you felt as comfortable doing gestures with a tablet as it does with pencil on paper at the moment.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Hope that makes sense. Love what you've got so far, obviously working super hard. Keep it up, definitely gonna be keeping an eye on your SB :)

[rookie]

Looking good so far man. Prolific.

One thing, you mentioned not liking the feel of the tablet when doing gesture studies.. If anything, that's a great reason to do them digitally. Not saying stop with the traditional work, but if you plan to do a lot of digital work, going outside of your comfort zone will help a lot.

PERFECT SENSE!! You are correct and just cemented something I had been debating with myself!
Thank you for commenting on my sketchbook.
really need to check out the recent others that have been posting here. Feel like a douche for just taking the critique and not posting anything back :S

some family issues been happening that has partially prohibited me from going as strong as I want with my studies but here are some random mediocre stuff from me recently


a lot of back and forth on this one, 1.5hr no reference except for the facepaint. did this one for my sister in law who was holding a facepaint day. I wasn't pleased with this in the slightest.

still trying to get female anatomy down. Again no reference Sorry for the nudity, we are all artists here anyway



after my Samus studies, did this for a friends birthday about 3-4 hrs


again wanted to try doing line art first for a painting rather than my usual block ins or paint overs. they come out looking more like illustrations than paintings.
conclusion: gotta jump back on my digital paintings.
I have a plan don't worry. Now to go spam peoples sketchbook.

[DK]

Ooooh shit, ssj3 haha! Tons of hard work in here man, keep pushin it.

[rookie]

@dennis Thank you kind sir! :D

don't think I can handle running between two sites updating, so tired right now!

TRADIONALLY I HAVE DONE ABOUT 300 OF THESE GESTURE SKETCHES SO FAR. i CAN FINISH THEM CAPTURING FORMS WITH ONE STROKE BUT DIGITALLY IT'S ANOTHER STORY  IF I COULD CONTROL THE WACOM PEN LIKE A PENCIL *A MAN CAN DREAM*

[AngeliquevdMee]

Heh... finally ;) Welcome back to the forum! :) Lots of improvement indeed... and the two portrait studies people mentioned above are magnificent! Keep on pushing, and keep on posting!

[rookie]

Heh... finally ;) Welcome back to the forum! :) Lots of improvement indeed... and the two portrait studies people mentioned above are magnificent! Keep on pushing, and keep on posting!

Hahaha I cracked in the end! couldn't escape. Thanks for the post and hope you are well

Quick and dirty studies focused towards colour recognition and composition! have to go outside now for the rest of the day, and all day tomorrow as well. People dragging me out of my cave :(

[DK]

Good studies Rook. Make sure to pay close attention to the edges of the figures/faces. Keep it up man!

[Ursula Dorada]

Nice color studies man!

And if I were you, right at this moment, I wouldn't worry too much about texture - worry more about shape, about getting color right, edges, specularity - textures are finishing touches mostly :)

[rookie]

Good studies Rook. Make sure to pay close attention to the edges of the figures/faces. Keep it up man!

Thank you Dennis :D

Nice color studies man!

And if I were you, right at this moment, I wouldn't worry too much about texture - worry more about shape, about getting color right, edges, specularity - textures are finishing touches mostly :)

Heya ursula, I totally agree about that, in all honesty I'm not even too concerned for correct shape at the moment, more, I'm doing these in repetition to help my ability to recognise colour and apply what I learn to my imaginative stuff. I find working on too many things at once I don't learn as much, like doing extremely detailed renders :( so, quick and dirty is the way it's gotta be for me for now. Isolate and repeat seems what works for me the best. They will get better as I get better.

Some stuff from today!!! guhhh. 2 imaginative quick sketches and some more quick and dirty colour studies. No scans today!