smrrfette's Odyssey

[Artloader]

Wow Smrr - long time no see! Good to see you posting on here again :).

Nice updates - love the girl in the hood - very mysterious.

Looking forward to seeing more from you :).

[darktiste]

I think you should apply the principle of area of interest and area of rest inside your character.The hatching make it very detail heavy it can be overwhelming to look at and figure out what is what.It might work on a blank background but in a scene you want to make sure the character doesn't blend with the detail of the background.

[smrr]

Gliger - cheers man!

ArtLoader - hey man long time no see forreal! hope you've been well! thank you!

darktiste - took me a while to realise what you were critting but now I see - you mean for the character concepts! yeah you have a point there, though I like the hatching feel, I'll be more thoughtful with areas of rest -- I definitely wouldn't work a character this hard if it were in an illustration

here's a little update
things are gettin' a bit busy -- may be a while before an update, we'll see


I'm redoing this chick, she's apart of the dnd concepts above, so she's rendered but like. yeah. lol


redoing a portrait from earlier this year:



here's some old stuff -- just sketches, playing around, having fun, not caring about style -- haven't for a while actually. whatever happens, happens




couple quickish digi sketches from imag





and a commission I just finished

[Fedodika]

This is really nice

http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/attachme...mbnail.png

I think widowmaker has the similar issue to the DND guy i said his neck is jamming his head in. I think the finish on this is really nice, just her head breaks the whole image for me, she needs a longer neck and a smaller head with a smaller more feminine chin. Also take another look at her arm and hand, the fingers are half the size of the thumb and the arm just, just pretty goofy looking :D Specially where i think youre showing the wrist bone (ulnaris?) tilting into the carpal bones of the hand, its out way too far.

But even if its "old" its still good and if you fixed those things itd be great ;)

http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/attachme...ce_wip.PNG

I can see in your work process with this, you arent fleshing out the skeleton of the image very precisely before adding details, and perhaps using the tools of digital to makeup for that, but thats gonna hurt you in the long run of the "ill fix it later" mentality. Ive learned that if im not saying golly this body and face i drew are incredible, id hate to ruin it with clothes! the body i drew isnt worth adding detail to.

your faces are really coming along and have a lot of personality but your anatomy is lagging behind and id reccomend you take some time and really sharpen that up or else youll run into the DND character problem. Work on locating major landmarks, like how proko would draw ribcage, spine, and the bucket for the hips, get that super tight and youre figures will hugely benefit! XXX <3

[RottenPocket]

[smrr]

@RottenPocket -- hit the nail on the head haha

aight I might as well kick this off now rather than later!

This year I have a goal regarding studying and getting a good grip on the fundamentals - and as it turns out - crimson daggers has been the only era in my art journey that kept me consistent with my studies 

over the years, I've learned a lot about myself and what can/does and doesn't work for me regarding discipline (esp. after burning out) - although, I have a ways to go and tend to re-evaluate like clockwork (such is life haha)

There's just something about cd and the cd sketchbook; the commitment to almost daily posting, sharing of thoughts and/or reflections, having a unique space for all of the experimenting, studies, highs, lows, successes and failings - something no social media has ever provided to me; even Discord groups (unfortunately).
 
I've learned that I do well in situations where I feel held accountable, and there's no place else on the internet I have felt that than here at cd. 
Whether it's seeing others committing to their sketchbooks, or even just in the philosophy itself of being a dagger; when I'm active here, I feel like I am held accountable to the values that I, well, value.

-

currently, I'm still sifting through and molding a flexible schedule that works for me... 

Living with my girlfriend over the past years has been some of the best years of my life, but also a bit of an adjustment regarding routines. So, forming and adapting to a new routine + schedule has been my priority as of late, while also getting into the swing of it all again
All while knowing that - willpower is a muscle
And like strengthening a muscle, the first most important thing is: building the habit of showing up, even if it's showing up, completing 20 push ups while listening to music, then calling it a day.
 
I gotta keep it fun and manageable so that I wanna show up the next day and the next day to kick all of my weaknesses collective assssssssssssses (looking at you, anatomy)

Also, I'm gonna be real - if I'm able to commit to this - I'll be reading all of the comments and feedback, as per usual, but I'll probably only be taking away the constructive crits I find applicable to my goals. 
In the end, I have a much clearer vision than I ever have with my art, and my sights are focused heavily on achieving what I've set out for myself this year
Just letting y'all know now, in case anyone wonders why I'm not working on feedback that may be suggested or smth -  know that in my mind I have a rolodex of things I know I need to improve on, but for now, they're staying in the back of my mind

Anyway!

here's to taking the first step, continuing on in this odyssey
 
here are some recent things so that I actually have some art and this ain't just a lengthy worded post 
that Storm piece ain't finished and it shall remain that way lol, just a repaint of a sketch from 2018 I fiddled with yesterday

but yea, hope you are all doing well and life hasn't been too much of a dirty asshole for ya (and if it has, that you're showing it what you got! )

[RottenPocket]

Yeah it was a hot minute haha, It's good to see you back! I missed seeing you here and your links were busted. That's about as far as I look so when I saw you online I Yayyed.
Mariyan has started a new discord with a small group that is more study-centric - and I think it is posted on the forum somewhere but here's a link: https://discord.gg/2ghqRAWV The only other one I would recommend is the Self Employed Artists discord.
I can empathise with finding a new routine - especially when factoring other people into your life. I am glad you're taking action and making a new push to study and create more. I'm excited to see what you have to share. <3

[neopatogen]

Great to see you smrr!! Makes me remember my fist crusible when you cheered me up <3 Good luck with what you're up to!
Mariyan's group is good and very cozy. Although I'm busy these days and don't post much anywhere for now. Came here today for the old portrait class

[smrr]

RottenPocket -- <3 <3  sounds good! I've joined up, I'll probs be more active when I'm active on Discord once again (just so happens this is a break period for me haha)

neopatogen -- aww cheers neo! <3 It'll be great to see what you've been up to when you're not as busy 


Ight so had my booster shot on Sat, which knocked me out for a couple days surprisingly

I forced myself to pick up the pen and study _something_ , even if it was a small amount and not fully "studying" per se, just contour observation stuff... getting the ball rolling. 
Tomorrow I will be tackling actual study. I'm proud to have just picked up the pen today. 1% better.

So here's 2 pages of hands from ref + imagination





And a bunch of random drawings from this sketchbook I've had since 2020 . . . I aim to fill it out completely by the end of this year. 










































edit: Gosh -- I remember this feeling of posting my not-so-great drawings from imagination/whatever into my cd sketchbook. Yuuuup. I can feel the *need* to get better. The actual *want* to study again lmaoo

Big goals I'm tackling for 2022 re: art: 
1. getting a good enough grasp on anatomy that I can pose base figures in a composition from imagination
2. finding a more consistent voice

Lastly - It's a new kind of beast for me juggling studying with running an art biz + all other priorities, but here we are lol 

[Zorrentos]

Great looking sketchbook pages! It's cool to see that you have decided to come back after a few years! Looking forward to see where all the studying will take you!

[RottenPocket]

[FallowGround]

Your journey is genuinely inspirational. Somehow I always forget how consistency and effort will always lead to results.

Really digging your sense of form, and thank you so, so much for sharing the more 'boring' exercises like ellipses etc. I always have a hard time convincing myself they're a necessary part of improvement, no matter how often I hear it said.

[smrr]

Zorrentos - thanks man

RottenPocket - lmaooo

FallowGround - hey thanks for the kind words. haha no worries, I'll never shy away from showing all the weird practise and crappy drawings where I fail - because if that ain't working at improving a skill idk what is (and CD is the only place I would post these)

so here's a 2 year later update - I've changed my career path  
I learned that basically: screw running an art business, it's not for me, and especially in this kind of world that we live in now. Ultimately, I just couldn't sustain my passion for art and thrive, because as it turns out: I value my health in all its forms a lot more than succeeding as an artist.

it's taken me over a year after making the decision to change careers to even pick up a pen again and feel like drawing just for me. baby steps but I've been feeling good lately

so here's some stuff from 2022 and some recent stuff (will be going more in-depth with my understanding of anatomy and physiology in future posts bc of changed goals). 
oh and, something I'm actually understanding better recently when drawing from imagination: the importance of weight distribution of body parts and the plumb line (even though it may not seem like much from these sketches).

my goal with drawing has always been to be able to draw characters anatomy from imagination and now I feel like I can just focus on that (when time permits) without worry thanks to my change in priorities

looking at my sketchbook name feels pretty apt right about now

[Jephyr]

Welcome back.

I don't know if I ever dropped in on yer SB — but looked over the last coupla pages. I had a friend many years ago who drew characters/figures like you were doing on the last page — purposefully exaggerated at times but really engaging.

It's good to see you mixing in some anatomy study recently, too.

Digging the cat lady, the witchy woman and the sketchy chick you just posted.

Hope to see more from you again

[smrr]

Jephyr - hey Jephyr, cheers! it was cool to hear some of my drawings reminded you of your friend

here's a small dump from the past couple years
plenty of sketches, kinda finished stuff, finished stuff, fan art, commissions, sticker designs, total wips and some failed attempts

being able to see what I worked on and what I wanted to finish all in the one spot will be handy for future me

note: a lot of these came after completing ArtGerm's Arttrober challenge in Oct 2020, of which I learned *so* much from
I'm thinking I'll put all those sketches in here at some point. the good, the bad and the ugly and all

oh and my profile pic illustration is in here somewhere too. that illustration kicked my ass in all the good ways. I came back to it two times over before landing on this version (of which I feel it's: good enough, time to move on). I may find the original two versions of it too and post 'em here if I can find them. humble reminders to work an illustration until it's at a satisfying point that I can put it down and move on

[smrr]

another dump, full of the same kinds of things. I'm trying to find all my old stuff and posting here so I have a clean slate for when I do work on new art down the line when time permits

it's been good to see how much I drew what I felt like drawing in 2020-2022. hence the fanart. I think drawing for me when I could really helped in fleshing out more of my tastes and got me to where I currently am with my art - feeling freer. but woof, it was a strange couple years overall, challenging at times but not without it's successes. onward

[one_two]

Great stuff man!