So last night i tossed and turned about how to make a nice pinup and all that stuff I read from Paul Richards hit me at the same time. Shapes. So I took about 40 different images of pinups I enjoyed and made really in depth notes on them about shape relations, overlaps, parallel lines, conjoined lines, curves of lines, lines of action, initial reads, negative spaces, etc. and it took a few hours but, hey it really has me thinking in an entirely more productive way about using shapes to create images.
You can look at literally anything and see how appealing the shapes are based on how they relate to one another. I see that the most powerful images have shapes that recur in them across the composition.
Shapes are... wow such an incredible dimension of things. I feel like since I'm now aware of how shapes relate to eachother there is just a whole new wild dimension to explore in art. Like the thing I could spend the rest of time trying to understand in how to make cool shapes. Like, drawing girls is just a thing I can draw to hold my attention. But I feel like once I hit about 100 of those studies I had done on top of photos, I could essentially go on and learn anything else quite quickly.
So much of art is just intuition, just making logical choices about what comes next, even if it's cerebral. I guess for me since I'm analytical that's how it works. It's tough to make my own style though, I feel it's very derivative of the people I enjoy. I am enjoying drawing ladies for now, since I still don't know exactly what I want to do, and it feels good to remind myself that I don't have to be sure right now.
Maybe I could very well study card art and learn to replicate it without too much trouble, I sort of would like to get some work somehow, but I'm still kinda conflicted on that. I could do it, but I want to make it my own, but idk what "my own is." So there's a little piece of the puzzle I just identified... hmm, we'll see. the daily uploads CONTINUE!
alright, here's a little more degeneracy, and some not so degenerate stuff. I enjoy doing these pinups as a way to warmup, somethin to look forward to before the grind each day. I'm quite happy with both of these, so there must be something really wrong with them lol. aight, tomorrow, I'll fix these leaf shapes, then maybe add some color, though it won't take a ton of time to paint since I've mapped out everything using a lot of things I learned from the shape studies.
Kimonas: Yea, if I had a nickel for all the things I said I'd do that I ended up quitting, I'd have a lot of money. Truth is IDK what I want to do. If that's a comfort zone, cool, but idk if I'll feel like doing pinups tomorrow. Maybe I'm schizophrenic, I have like multiple personality or something. I kinda think that because the last few pinups I did are in wildly different styles. not consistent at all. Hmm, idk we'll keep figuring it out. Fedo the old art machine!
Soooooo, I'm watching the Shining for the 6th time, if the comments I left here are incoherent, blame it on the Absolut. I had some really dumb entitled thoughts today about deserving recognition or some shit but I feel ashamed of that, because the world owes me nothing, and I am not special. Also, Tony, the finger character in the Shining is smart, but a bit of a jerk.
WE GAT DRIED PRUNEZ DRIED APRICOTS, AND A WHOLE LOTTA ICE CREAM DOC!
Don't ever buy an underwood typewriter, they're old and tacky.
Well, this new approach I have to compositional studies has been a perfect for me. I have a very analytical/logical way of learning things and I get nervous when people suggest to "just draw" you know. But when I do these writing out and finding what works in images, I feel secure and confident that I am actually learning something. And I can study multiple things at once, which really helps. I wished I would have done at least one composition/breakdown/painting analysis a day since the start, but I wouldn't have been aware of a lot of the fundamental and literal knowledge of how and why things work in paintings.
So, I did this goofy little sketch to apply the things I've beens studying; it doesn't make a whole lot of sense but it's actually in the direction of what I like, which is weird, but good. Dark Sexy Funny, hard to find a balance. It's usually either too dark or too funny, I have a tough time making things sexy, even if it's blatantly trying to be sexy, it's usually just cringe. Only thing is I wished the comp studies gave a little more to show, but I'll leave one here, but it's just an analysis.
this one's by Donato Giancola, I did about 5 or 6 today. He is AMAZING at composition btw.
Did about 5 more studies today of Ruan Jia's more Epic paintings; man they might not look like much but these take anywhere from half an hour to two hours to completely analyze to my satisfaction. It is a great skill booster for me right now however, since now, when I draw from imagination on the computer, everything seems to have a sense of purpose or direction, well, not entirely but, a lot more than it used to.
These application sketches are a lot of fun, though tough to get started. My plan is to kind of develop such a good foundation with composition that I can create cool shapes and ideas without having the slightest plan beforehand. I can kind of look into the clouds if that is the expression of the blobs of paint and pull something out of it. You just can't always have a clever idea, especially if you want to execute this every single day. Feng Zhu will tell ya that.
That's been a big source of stress for me though, is not thinking my ideas are "clever" enough, but in reality, people don't care too much for that, and they are more looking for great execution. yea basically, have my hand do the thinking is the goal here, since well, my brain is tired. It seems the more of these I do, the more I think I should do, that and study Hogarthe fingers and toes, because he's really got some nice shapes on those ;)
Well figured I'd post some of these studies since that's mostly what I did today; I did about 4 more of them, but Idk if I should post them since it's just me drawing over other peoples stuff. Did some shitty fashion things too, I need to build up that visual library more imo. I know what I wanna see in that regard, so that's a good thing
Hey Fedo, wanted to drop by and say thanks for taking the time to post that post you posted.
It's quite interesting to hear your thoughts considering how rapidfire and abundant they are and how it contrasts with your drawings, which, to me, have an uncanny-ness/morbidity(?) to them. By all means if it's to warm up and exercise or relax, go for it. For larger audience purposes...Going to have to really push that style so others know what you're going for specifically instead of wondering whether it's supposed to be sexy or a statement on mishaped bodies, you know.
Could be due to factors others have pointed out, but some things I feel would really help is practicing more shape/proportion design (if every feature is big, no features are big and the face looks small instead), seeing if you can add some polish or refine your sketches further, or considering contrast between active and inactive areas (subtle curves to contrast the intense curves on the faces) cause you're like a machine gun when it comes to sketching.
"Hey Fedo, wanted to drop by and say thanks for taking the time to post that post you posted."
My pleasure
"It's quite interesting to hear your thoughts considering how rapidfire and abundant they are and how it contrasts with your drawings, which, to me, have an uncanny-ness/morbidity(?) to them. "
Hmm, I'm not sure what you mean by this, as both my drawings and thoughts seem to be rapidfire and and all over the place haha...
"By all means if it's to warm up and exercise or relax, go for it. For larger audience purposes...Going to have to really push that style so others know what you're going for specifically instead of wondering whether it's supposed to be sexy or a statement on mishaped bodies, you know. "
I think it spurs a lot from not knowing what I want to see, and kind of being rushed into all of this. It has a lot of psychological implications that end up looking very ugly. Since, I somewhat became an artist reluctantly, it will take time to figure out what my actual desire is to show in art.
"Could be due to factors others have pointed out, but some things I feel would really help is practicing more shape/proportion design (if every feature is big, no features are big and the face looks small instead), seeing if you can add some polish or refine your sketches further, or considering contrast between active and inactive areas (subtle curves to contrast the intense curves on the faces) cause you're like a machine gun when it comes to sketching."
See, I've done that a lot, learning different styles and proportions and it ends up making my work look even more disjointed and strange. But what I think you mean is refinement, which I can see the point of. Some of my works look like they're from a completely different artist even consecutively. I suppose that comes from me being able to do impressions well, but it could mean other things. But yea, I don't know, I'll try to figure something out, refinement sounds good, but I don't know what I want to refine...
it'll take me time, this sketchbook is truly a psychological battlefield, the different phases and mindsets I go through. Hopefully, someone will get a thrill seeing these things happen in real time since I post daily. Thanks for stopping by, my friend.
I guess my thoughts were everywhere as well, haha. I blame you.
What I meant was that a lot of what you post consistently gives me this quick and fast vibe, as if you, as you said, reluctantly became an artist and they appear as though you feel inclined to bang sketch after sketch out. It's great that your work is varied and you've picked up several styles (even if temporary), however I do think there is a sensitivity when combining the styles and proportions, a point where you have to hold yourself back from going too crazy, slowing down and stepping back to question why something is or isn't working. I personally can't tell how much time you spend on sketches, but the fast and loose lines give me the impression that it was done really quickly, and that's why I think you might autopilot often.
Hozure: I think ultimately I should use what I've learned from the stylized stuff on my more inherent style, which is pretty much realism with certain stylizations. I think the hastiness comes from my starting out and seeing people like Algenpfleger who posted tons of things with each update. It's kinda stupid I know, I'm tryin to grow out of it lol. It's about working smart at this point, no matter how many faces I draw, I've got some muscle memory down, it's gonna take research and care to make them better.
Yea I definitely Autopilot a lot, which I will try to stop and the working over the composition thing has taught me a lot about being effective with your time and placement. I guess the fact that I was shy of showing those studies, made me actually appreciate the effort and learning that went into them. I think Feng Zhu said, to "Paint something, then don't post it." And that's been good advice really. I've done that with a few pieces I was happy with, and it kind helps kill off that dependency of approval.
So, I played around a bit with this idea that popped in my head last night. Did a lot of moving things, changing the shapes, gestures everything and I really like this piece and composition so far. I like the direction too, it's a cute gothy girl, a dragon thing, which I like, and a narrative that I hope is clear. I made this character I think in January, and I dug up that sketch and I still liked it to my surprise. Well I'll clean this linedrawing up tomorrow. If you have any suggestions about it, that'd be cool :)
Haha I was looking back from the sketches from this month and some of them I just laugh at. Most are like really cringey, but its like it's intentional haha. I want there to be cringe, so cringey it's funny. Man, sometimes I just want to push that cringey unpopular hideous stylization of girls I do as far as it can go, you know but it just feels dangerous or something, lol later on for sure I will. I promise I will make the cringiest disproportionate buck tooth down syndrome autistic sluts I can think of! With hideous expressions, completely uncanny bizarre ugly proportions and totally unemployable faces and compositions. Even the most horny neckbeard could not find it sexy, but instead wince his little eyes and click the next thing over.
But SLB creations has already done that on Deviantart I'm afraid, and well, it actually worked out for him, people like it.
Man when I get somewhere with this, I will use my inner crazy, and character for the greater good. There will be buttons pushed, hell to pay, lots of feelings hurt, you will feel my revenge in ways you never thought possible. But right now I'm too vulnerable. In like 15 years, when I'm finally able to get a steady flow of 100$ commissions, I will start the revolution, you will see.
But people have also done that already, so it'll be nothing new.
Aight, so went out today so didn't get much done. I'm definitely gonna rework this comp, because while I like the rough I did earlier, I lost a lot of the camera angle in the sketch. That and when I went to paint it, I felt really bored, and like there was too much negative space that was just very dark values. Also, the painting felt nowhere near as cerebral and symbolic as I wanted, it was very literal of what's going on. After studying a lot of incredible painters, I realized you can do a lot with just subtle shapes and poses to convey a narrative.
Things can interact on a much deeper level than just seeing eachother, they can wrap over one another, bite into, caress, overlap, fight, etc. And this can be very symbolic and strategic. So I'm gonna try to dream up a better comp, one more cerebral, I have a vague Idea, just gotta work on visualizing.
That and I've been spending a lot more time on these analytical studies and noticing I could spend a lot more time on them. There's so many tricks people consciously use, so many hidden patterns in things you just can't pick up on a brief few glances. I wanna study everything, but I gotta plan better, that's for sure.
WIP, really happy I didn't go with the previous one, just gotta stay loose and focus on improving the foundations of the image slowly on top of something that feels strong in it's most skeletal stage
Aight, had a great day today. Went downtown, did some caricatures, made some chump change, then got outta there. Wasn't able to work too much on this today, but I'm trying to fix the girl in it, I feel like the face is more attractive than yesterday, but I want to make it you know, more popoularly attractive, since I feel my sense of how attractive a woman is is generally not popular. That and I want to balance the warmer areas a bit more with the lighting, i like how the dragon looks and I enjoy the composition. We'll see, I think I can make this pretty nice if I just detail it a lot more and make the face on par with the rest.
Still kinda pissed at that dynamic online where I make peanuts for cash, but IRL I make seven times minimum wage, it's just dumb, but you know, it makes sense since there isn't any competition when I'm on the street.
Your colors are so on point as always (i really envy you for that haha even when its just hard work). Idk if its just me but the waist of the girl looks a bit small compared to her arm and face. Other than that super great. You are such a big inspiration for me cause you are posting every day. That consistency is a big goal for me. Just wanted to tell you that :)
Noodle: Hahah thanks miss ASS KICK!! <3 I fiddled with it a bit but I think I'm done working on it. It seems whenever I get better at something, I turn over a new rock and say Hey I need to learn this more! If ya wanna post everyday, just throw somethin up there, don't worry about impressing (or replies for that matter.) I know when I make it, people will be very glad that my journey is archived, because it'll be a big source of inspiration; I think Miles Johnston said that.
That thing is design right now, like concept or costume or whatever. The reason I'm not posting tons of things a day is because I'm just doing so many of those like draw over things and i don't consider that creating original art, so I'm not posting them, but I certainly am working, just smarter nowadays.
Looked at some necks today, tried to make sense of them, so I'll probably look and study a few more tomorrow, and really get the collarbones down which I think I have trouble with. owell, tired!
