My Sketches (NSFW)

[Sargatanas]

Any feedback would be awesome. Thanks for looking.

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[smrr]

I found your sketchbook!

Looking good! That anatomy in the first one is fantastic!
Hmm, you might want to try creating more contrast in it - it'll really help bring out the human form :)
also, I think if you're able to harden up that trees edges will also help give it that 3d look

Good start so far, looking forward to more!

[Sargatanas]

This wasn't very well thought out. As with a lot of things I work on, it started out as something else that I wasn't happy with. I have a hard time coming up with an idea and sticking to it.

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Thanks for the kind words. And, you're right about the edges and the washed out skin tones. The tree lady didn't start out that way, but ended up with what I've got above. I guess I should start working new images instead of re-working old stuff.

[Samszym]

Yo, thanks for the comment!! Finding your sketchbook was a bit of a puzzle, you should put a link to your SB in your signature to make it easier for people to visit.

From the little I'm seeing I'd say your figures lack form-revealing lighting, it looks as if everything your paintings is under super-diffused overcast light. You have to know what is in shadow and what is in light, and place your values accordingly. I suggest doing some studies from hard-lit reference or a still life, then drawing the terminator of the shadows with a line and filling in the shadow side with an even tone. Once you learn to definitively separate the lit and shadow sides of an object then you can focus on halftones and reflected light and edges and all that "fun" rendery stuff. Your forms will jump out of the canvas!

Like smrrfette said your anatomy's looking pretty good! I like how you drew the tree-girl's face a lot.

Looking forward to seeing more work, keep it up!

[Sargatanas]

Thanks for the good advice, Sam. I can see right away what you pointed out and I can't agree more. I think I get a little carried away with rendering, losing value in the interim, when I have already missed that critical step in defining form and then I get a little lost and everything comes up pancakes. I will try to get some real ...well, I guess a still life using real objects would be the way to go.
This is exactly what I was looking for. I don't have anyone local to bounce off of and gauge whatever progress I might be making, so this place is great. Thanks again.

[JakeB]

Hey man, cool start. I think you're right, still lifes would be great to help your understanding of light. Just set up a light and some simple stuff, and really think about why it looks the way it does. Keep thinking about the light source, and how that effects the materials. Designs and stuff are looking cool though. Keep it coming! :).

[Sargatanas]

Still not pushing things like I want...not sure if this is any better.

[OtherMuzz]

Hey man :).

If you are having trouble pushing your stuff don't be afraid to get nitty gritty and do some photo studies.

I can't see anything where you are massively off course, just make sure you keep pushing it all.

[Samszym]

Sup dude, seems like you're playing around with values of the background vs. the character. One useful exercise I had to do in my first figure drawing class was deciding whether the figure was a dark on light read or a light on dark read, and making the entire figure lighter or darker than the background. This is simpler than what you see in real life, but it helps the whole figure read as one silhouette. So you might want to try doing that instead of having some parts that are lighter and some that are darker.

[Sargatanas]

SAM: That makes a lot of sense. I hadn't thought about it that way. I've never had any art classes, so I think I missed out on quite a bit of stuff. But I'll keep working it.

MUZZ: Thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep kicking it around and see if something useful will fall out.

[Yarrnick]

Hey man, going good. it looks like your trying to understand light above just copying the black and white value :)

one tip though, this is what I do anyway;
Whenever I find a photo to study on I always find one in color. So I understand exactly were the specular light is, and then i make it black and white and generally ignore the specular and add it afterwards. since diffuse light is only needed to render form and specular is something additional. it can be confusing to understand what I'm looking at if the photo has alot of specular and I see it directly in black and white. I hope this makes sense

But maybe you allready knew this ;D

[Sargatanas]

I think I get what you're saying. I'll try that tonight and stop BSing.

[Sargatanas]

Photo referenced. Doesn't quite match the photo, but my aim wasn't to copy it exactly. Value study..not sure if I succeeded.

[Samszym]

If you're looking for help/crits on these you should post the reference next to the study.
It looks okay to me, I would have tried doing a smoother, simpler surface for a value study, less wrinkles and texture to worry about. You've separated the shadow from the light side, great to see that starting to happen! And I think it's smart how you've left the details in the lights and haven't detailed the darks much, but I think the ear should have just a liiiiitle definition. Not sure how that hair above the ear is so light, since from its position it seems like it would be in shadow.

Keep up the good work dude!