PLAYTIME W/ JAKTRAYTER

[Lyraina]

I like 1, 5 and 6... 12 is good too, but that mostly depends on the atmosphere you want to achieve, as it is very symmetrical/static (quite the contrast to 6, for example).

[devinn]

@arthurJ- oh sweet, then I guess the one I think is obvious should be the one I bring to finish! haha I'm happy there isn't a thumbnail that overpowers any of the others. As a matter of fact, nobody mention the one I deemed as "obvious" I like 10 too.

@Benflores- thanks buddy, very sound advice; I still need break out of that stiff method of drawing I accumulated since foreeevver. I'm reading hogarth's dynamic anatomy, and I belieeeeve I skipped that part by mistake haha

@lyraina- yeah, a good point...I wanted to convey the contrast between the hero and the huge dominating presence of his foe. whether it's a tentacle/plant creature or a dragon/serpent/monster creature. Thanks!

Thank you everyone for the input; I love you all!

[devinn]

Study



Study



application reffed from study



application reffed from study



study of Kekai Kotaki's red dragon piece,



study of Xia Taptara's Green Dragon Creature Illo piece.


Each image took 20 mins. This method of studying was inspired by JakeB's 4x Study Exercise

These are all studies for objective 3

[devinn]

Shit snake study (40mins) and some work on my piece. Had some good thinking going on whilst pacing back in forth in my kitchen unit; a rare moment in my brain where things begin to click.

[devinn]

Hot damn; 11 pages! Who woulda thought.

Drawings from inside my brainsss. Trying to suck less. Less, I said.

[devinn]

Sketches, studies, shit, n shit, dat snehky snaaaaake. *slither, tongue-airtaste*

[devinn]

Sketch, 35min SHIT studies...yeah. sucking.

[smrr]

Oh Man, keep it up, you're doing awesomely! These studies look fantastic, I can't wait to see where you take your piece for objective3

Really, keep it up Man, I'm seeing so much improvement!!

[Nexuun]

Man that last dude you drew is mad cool. Awesome job with making him look so sinister and those hands are starting to look impressive.

[devinn]

@smrrfette- thank you! This narrow, SPECIFIC method of studying makes my life worth living again. *puts down the gun*

@nexuun- you think so? Sweet! yeah, i'm glad he gives off that vibe; it was how I imagined it inside my braaains. I just want to stop sucking...maybe if I stop being bad at this, my mother will learn to love me again.

Sketches; practicing dem foreshortened figures from my braaains and did some STUFF on my OB-JEKTiVe 3 PEECE.

[devinn]

Still hammering at the DS objective 3 piece...but here are some sketches from my brains.

[devinn]

Finished this painting of a mean mean snake

"learned alot" lol.

[Tygerson]

Really great pattern of studying, then applying, then studying some more.

The first cave study in 207 has some nice light going on.

The final snake is not bad. The colors work well together, and the hero is dwarfed by the monster. It feels like the left half of the canvas doesn't have much going on, like you could crop a lot while keeping the feel of your image.

[Amit Dutta]

Great dedication man. Keep pushing. Gonna come down hard on the snake piece. It feels rushed. I don't think you gave enough love in the first design phase to justify taking it on further and it shows. I am always boring myself to tears by repeating the same shit in the crit threads, but here it is again. Put the love in, up front. Iron out perspective, volume, form, comp, values in the thumbnail and sketch stage first. Only when you are happy with having solved the problems there, should you go on and render. I understand you are doing these to some deadline I think, but if that's the case, start earlier to get that important phase the time it needs, or don't bother too much about hitting the deadline until you can do the piece justice. This is just about finished illos of course, which I think is what your goal is? In any event keep pushing, but yeah sometimes taking the time is worth the time.

One other thing, never say you suck, to others, to yourself, even in your mind or in jest. Why? Because telling yourself and others this will reinforce this idea in your brain making it more likely that you will suck. It's called a self fulfilling prophecy in psychological terms. You don't suck. You're in development. That's the reality, so call it like it is.

[smrr]

Manny! I have to agree with monkeybread about how your objective 3 piece looks rushed... it was such a cool concept - it deserved some TLC :D! Something that we value in DS is quality, as well as meeting deadlines. Sure, we may not meet with deadlines atm, but that shouldn't deter us from trying to produce something that we're proud of! Even if that means having a wip piece by the deadline, but continue working on it after the date has been met, y'know?

Also, on the "sucking" part - haha I do it as well :3. But even though I may mention I suck at pencils or form, value etc - I know that I can and will get better, it's just a matter of time, thought and effort. So deep down, I really and truly believe in myself and my use of the word "suck" is simply a place holder for "I'm gonna to kick this in the ass!"

I wonder, how long do you spend on your studies and personal pieces?

Remember, it's cool to think of study vs application as a player training for a soccer match. Said player would train and train and train, like double the amount of time right before a match, which is only 90 minutes. It's the idea that when you study, you're really are training yourself. You're trying to both learn about what you're painting and the way that nature effects it - which in turn builds up more of your visual memory[/u] as well as learning how to paint it! And with this, you're trying to find a technique that you find easy to use and will be easy to apply later.

Making images is all symbolic. You're not copying everything you see, you don't have to draw every single line - or paint every leaf on a tree. It's all to do with how we decide to work with the image, using our artistic license, though I'm sure you know :3.

Try and find what works for you, that's what's most important. If you need to work in greyscale to colour, do that. If you prefer painting with a drawing underneath, do that. If you prefer working by just putting paint down and finding shapes, do that! Experiment with layer management, tools found in PS, anything! Maybe you're able to see shapes easier than line. You never know until you try. With experimentation comes knowledge, and you know what they say about knowledge ~

Anyways, I know you have it in you Man!! Keep kicking it!! Looking forward to the next DS objective. ^_^

[devinn]

@tygerson-thank you! Studying is easier when you are actually, you know, studying for something opposed to studying without direction. I'm starting to learn that really helps. Yeah, idk, I was trying to balance the comp by putting the snake along one of the thirds and the cave is suppose to be the snake's grandiose domain. I was trying to give it that impression by making the hero small and the snake large and powerful looking....that was the idea at least. In the emptiness, maybe I can add baby snakes or giant eggs to fill the space...uggghhh something to think about. Thanks for bringing that up, never thought about that (:

@monkeybread- thanks man! Working hard is the name of the game. Damn, you think so? I THOUGHT I prepped and studied enough (thumbs, many cave studies, a 1.5hr national geographic feature on snakes, few studies of snakes iuohmhju9pjimj09u09u)...because I THOUGHT it was a somewhat decent piece. I spent quite a bit of time on just the lineart alone, just to make sure that I wouldn't be rendering a turd-y image. It doesn't show because I am still...developing. It was hard figuring out how much detail I should put in the background and foreground since the snake was the focus of the piece. FUCK, I don't even know dude...I guess it looks rushed because at this point in time, I am either still ignorant of how to compose and render a full illustration, still at a lower level than I perceive myself to be, or a combo of both. Yeah, studying my fundamentals is a given: I just need to work harder and study more efficiently. Take mooore time...

@smrrfette- I...I...I thought it was good ): It looks rushed because I don't know how to make it NOT look rushed haha I spent a good amount of time on all facets of this project...so I guess it's safe to say that my first illustration is not unlike manure for plants, crops, and juicy fruits (: I just need to study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study study until forever.
Okay, I'll stop saying I suck :l

Well, when I study anatomy out of a book, it's usually 2-3hrs. When I study portraits or any kind of painting study, my studies are always fixed for 2hrs. My sketchbook stuff from my brainsss are fixed for no more than 1.5hrs. But for this particular piece, I didn't have the luxury to study each reference for 2-3hours, so, I saved a lot of images and studied each for 30mins. After 2 30min studies, I would do 2 30min speed paints from memory, applying the studies from before. I did that at least 2 times. My personal pieces are alwaaaaaaays 10hrs+; if they look rushed it's because I am still...not as good as I would like to be right now, but -sigh- that comes with deliberate practice.

Thanks! I want to start the next objective as soon as possible (:

[Amit Dutta]

Nah I hear ya man. It takes as long as it takes, not denigrating your efforts at all. The main thing you realise after fucking up and wasting a LOT of time on illustrations and rendering is that the more you purposefully solve the main problems up front, the easier your job will become. And fuck me if I haven't posted these a million times before, but so so so so so so so so so so, pertinent.
http://muddycolors.blogspot.co.nz/2012/0...tures.html
http://muddycolors.blogspot.co.nz/2012/1...nails.html

Next time, if you post up your results of the above two processes as applied to your illo, I promise i will give some fucking useful feedback on them. Just fi*ng follow me on facebook or some shit in return :p

[devinn]

@monkeybread- Yes yes, muddycolors is a wonderful blog! I read the thumbnailing post when I was working on my image. Oh, and I followed you on facebook long loooooong ago! I would ask for the same in return, but naaaah hahaha my art isn't worth following at the moment.

Update: sketches from imagination; trying to figure out things on my own by drawing, finding mistakes and correcting those mistakes instead of studying from books and other references online...copying anatomy perfectly from a book isn't the same as building/drawing a body from your braaaaains. Screwing up and rectifying your own images, in my opinion, speeds up the learning process and helps make information stick. This I think this applies to other fundamentals and areas of study too. Copying is good at improving observational skills, however, if you want to know how to CREATE an image from your brain without using references, one must practice CREATING: forming an idea in your brain and translating that onto a paper. For this very reason, I think this is why some people who start sketching at a younger age and continue drawing well into their adult life and don't "study" often are beasts at drawing and painting.

That being said, I'm going to have to say that anatomy is indeed my comfort zone... :l That's all I draw whenever I sketch hahaha muscle dudes in somewhat dynamic stances. Whenever I deviate from that, and try to draw a dude with clothing, my drawings look stiff. SOOOOO, I'm going to study design really REALLY fucking hard next week so in time, I can couple strong design with my anatomy dudes from imagination. Off the DOME.

I want to improve my anatomy skill so much more though toooooo: I want to focus on more accurate proportions, different types of bodies, and more dynamic poses.

Yeah... my drawinzzz:

[Mayenla]

Be careful of your proportions, the middle sketch dudes waist is looking mighty thin! Nice work on those dynamic poses though! Drawing from imagination is really key to see that your studies are all sinking in, and yours are looking good! Keep it up :)

[smrr]

Great observation about the creating as opposed to copying idea. Its very true and I've only figured that out recently D:

Your figures though Man... man... MAN! Bloody improvement, they're looking awesome!

And as for everything else being difficult to draw and things looking stiff - I'm telling you: nothing is more important fundamentally than understanding form and value. Drapery wraps around form, form = structure = human body, value creates the 3rd dimension, etc etc.

Keep pushing Man!! o/