Heh. I like the idea of just winging it and seeing how it goes in the future. Sometimes you have to approach companies and bands and shit to get work because sitting on the couch posting art on Instagram and Facebook is not going to cut it apparently so we gotta do our best to become visible to companies and organizations. I don't like going up to people to do things but fuck... that's what you gotta do.
Anyways, I hope you get the courage to work on your portfolio some day. You do way too much work and practice to not make a portfolio!!
Well this here is musketeer take two, the evil like teenage cassanova type. Much more interesting right? Obviously the background and tilt helps, but even then he's more interesting and engaging. So, they say third times the charm right? noticed a few important things doing this
A: Don't expect to get good shapes while doing a rigid construction method
B: Im better at composition than i think i am.
C: There is design in anatomy and how someone's age and size will represent them.
D: If he's a fucking teenager, fuck it, he's a teenager.
E: The worst place to have expectations is in a loose free for all of brush strokes.
If any of yall like this dude, i might just render him, but I kinda wanna see what else I can do. Sycra's journey with pointey chins always is in my head how he like just drew a lot and found what shapes work for him. I need to do that too, get some direction going.
Also reading about getting art jobs is stressful and headache inducing, because I only seem to do it probably when im in that state of mind lol.
Quote:(don't need a holy war with ya john, we've gotten in some spats before, though honestly i can't even remember what it was about.)
I don't seem to feel any hostility coming from you before. And getting into fights was not my intention. If it was anything at all, it was an earnest attempt to spark up a dialogue.
Quote: I guess the reason I never made a portfolio for anything is built, well, on fear of rejection!
I hear you. That's one of the reasons why I don't give out my online handle here. I don't think anybody wants to be embarrassed by exposing their failures out there. There was one time, during my comic artist days, where somebody verbally trashed the art work I made for the book. It was embarrassing just to stand there and take it from a stranger. It was years ago and it still bugs me to this day.
But if that taught me anything at all, it made me realize that I like doing art more than I wanted to quit. I treat it as a good indicator that there's improvement to be done and I have to hop onto it.
I'm not even saying to go spread your artworks now. I don't think anybody wants to be told what to do.. Just saying, I understand it's a tough thing to feel vulnerable. But I hope you do realize that there's no shame in bombing. I think everybody here in this forum subscribes to that philosophy.
I sincerely hope you try to get into Paizo one day. Yeah, your artwork is still a bit rough, but I've got to hand it to you, flip this SB back 20 pages ago, I can honestly say you are a different artist now.
You know the resources to get you where you want to go. Treat this as my halftime speech to you, trying to keep you going.
Don't stop improving!
If you are reading this, I most likely just gave you a crappy crit! What I'm basically trying to say is, don't give up! ---- IG: @thatpuddinhead
This is pretty sick! It has a really epic feeling to it :) For the face I think the lips are a bit too wide although i guess you could be going for a real sinister look. The lips are wrapping around the face which is good but it should be placed onto the denture sphere and like a bit poking out. Seems a bit flat right now and there are some shadows/shading missing around the mouth area and the corners of the mouth. As the pupils get farther away from the center they become a bit elliptical. I'm not sure I would double check the pupil placement. Also the perspective is confusing, correct me if I'm wrong but we are looking up at her right? Some things read as if we were looking straight on at her. I really like this piece though :D keep it up! Is there a story behind this character? Seems pretty cool!
John: thanks for the encouragement man... And yea, i think there is value in your more refined way, and my chaotic rough way. Eventually the two extremes gotta meet, and will make something quite tangible. I love posting daily as well, because if i am wrong, I wanna know. Yea I might make a few things in Paizo's style soon, just to see if i can control myself and paint more sophisticated and presentable!
Prox: Thanks for the critique! I tried my best to take into account what you said, so what i did was i tried to fix the eye to where it was different, but maybe more consistent. I'm sure the perspective on this is very flawed lol, but I don't know where to start as far as fixing it. It seems correct for now, but i'll definitely see as time passes why it's wrong. But I'm glad you dig it so far and thanks so much!
PS, it's supposed to be a young teenage boy, but I can see why you'd think it's a lady, since the style i kinda drew his face in would make him androgynous. Naw i don't have a story, it's just a sketch that ended up having a cool angle hehe. but I do have characters with stories, just gotta make em cool enough to get people interested i suppose!
SO the burning church in the background turned into a sort of cylindrical pillar thing. Layed down the law with the colors and layer modes, gonna go in and try to make those black areas more colorful and harmonious. Also did a few "crickets" as sycra calls them today, and i'll take a photo of them later when i have more to show. Surprisingly educational though, definitely give it a shot if youre working on finding your voice with proportions.
Aight, wrapping this guy up. Gotta do something better after this, something more coherent. I like this dude though, as flawed as the picture is, I see what i need to do as far as research and study in like how a costume works. I feel I got a cool comp, colors, attitude, etc. just need to make a more coherent design.
So next up im gonna do some kind of wizard or a rock golem, since i think that'd be a manageable endeavor. I definitely feel like I fully understand how studying works now. You have to like have a goal in mind, and work as quickly and effectively as possible to meet that goal. It could happen in a split second, for instance, you're drawing a womans fingernail, so you pull up a reference to get the shape right, bam that was a study; didn't take an hour, took a minute, you learned something. Or how do you design a wizard, find some designs of wizards, get some ideas, write down the stuff you enjoy; ugh, it's so simple but so complex in theory.
I think the more you can write down and observe objectively the better you are at observing. Maybe not in a still life painting sense blah blah, im tired...
alright, so this may look like complete ass, but it was a big anvil of reality waiting to smash my head lol.
But i do have good news! For once, the problem isn't the anatomy! (maybe the open hand sucks tbh)
So anyways, yea, i need to learn a good process for getting a design from my head to the line work without too much interference. My biggest hangup was drawing a figure, adding all the anatomy, then adding the clothes on top. Which, you know, is a logical approach. Then as i was adding the clothes, I realized more and more i can't design clothes well, or drapery for that matter. And trying to do it all with a max of 1 layer is interesting because I use painter, and I don't have the luxury of easily using multiple layers. (painter can make multiple layers but it gets very clunky the more you add very quickly)
Hence!
Some thing to FIX ASAP
1. figure out how to design cool flying drapery
2. Figure out how to layer robe like clothing
3. Figure out how to get a figure in a good pose for robe clothing that doesnt make him look stupid
4. continue practicing the art of refinement and clarity, stop using cheap tricks to hide your lack of knowledge.
As you can see in my previous piece, i do a lot of that. Crazy color levels, blurry details, composition tricks all to distract from the holes in my abilities! Did learn a lot today though, made some write on top studies to increase visual library.
I tried all these steps which made me feel really awkward, but I don't see them as bad steps. I did a rough idea of the face, tried to design a cool outfit with a rough sketch. Couldn't refine the idea much because I am lacking knowledge in the area of outfits. But it's not anatomy that's the problem! This is good, very good, because I know how to fix this problem. Will take a bit of legwork and concentration, but I'll sort it out soon, you'll see!
Well uuh, feel like i lucked out on this one, or cheated maybe.. Or maybe I just needed to sketch a few more gestures! That really made all the difference in the end, was finding a cool shape and pose to start with. I suppose I'm also much better and more equipped to painting more sinister/rougher bodied characters, which I can live with. This in total took me about 4 hours oddly, and feels stronger than most things i've done, in my personal opinion.
Guess I'll start on my rock creature tomorrow, that should be interesting.
aight tommorrow im gonna be preparing for caricatures on saturday, so no concept art tomorrow lol, Also I'll be gone on sunday, and monday... maybe tuesday as well, so I'm breaking my streak! who knows how long it is, who cares, but I'll be back on as soon as i get back :)
Lotsa thumbnails for this guy, was a lot of fun to paint! started with some written studies of golems i'd found, i'm getting to where I'm doing that way more often than drawn or painted studies. I personally am seeing how analytical I am and find that the intimidated sense i feel when i see an awesome painting, can really be broken down into make it not intimidating at all.
I just like, grab the painting and write on top of it, looking at every little choice and big shape they put down and within a few minutes, I learned a hell of a lot more than if I spent hours and hours trying to paint it. Some people in art are more right brained, rightfully so, and I suppose get more out of experiencing a drawing or painting and feeling what it feels like to make the correct lines or marks, but for me I need to be focusing and thinking, and asking myself logical questions that i can literally verbalize in words.
I feel like if I know logically how a hand should look in a certain position, that will help me far more than drawing 100 hands. It should all be intuitive. I think this might be the biggest breakthrough I've ever had, but it feels underwhelming because it's kinda been there all along, just never took it seriously. And like if I really need to practice any little thing, I can zero in on it on its core principles, because I know what all those principles should be inherent as their fundamentals.
Anatomy: Look at how that particular limb works, to the extent you need, and logically understand how it's constructed.
Lighting on a surface: Look at how a light affects a surface, replicate it quickly with a simple shape or sphere, no need to spend ages replicating the whole photo or painting just to learn one thing.
Shapes: know the difference in round, pointed, and square shapes and how it affects a read.
composition: Learn composition theory, then try to find it in paintings you love.
Texture: Again, just blob it out, get a good texture brush and do it to it.
Lineweight: analyze where lines are thicker or thinner.
proportion: that one can be extremely logical, but I find having a fluid sense of it and gesture is a lot more helpful. That one is definitely the exception for me at least.
All this stuff can be put into words, like measured out in levels. Obviously there's a lot of "knowing what to know" that comes with all that, but it can just start with looking at a thing and saying, hey his hat has feathers, his hair is long, he has two belts on his pants, he's posed this way, the light is coming in this way, this composition is tilted, just super simple shit that's so obvious a kid could see it. oh well, more incoherent ramblings from a tired marsupial lol
Those designs look so good bro, it's putting me to tears (I am not kidding, I audibly gasped when I saw the golem.)
The hard work you put in your fundamentals and studies are finally showing itself in your character illustrations! That studio better hire you or I am going to file a complaint lol
When you researched golems, did you also look into different mythologies and interpretations of what a golem is in different cultures, then you mix it up to create your own unique design?
When I research, I instinctively doodle very small thumbnails or sketches along with my notes. Even in science class, I will doodle something related with my notes so I can remember.
I should try out just learning how to analyze things without drawing as well.
Voodoo: why thank you so much for the flattering words :3... Even a GIF! Wow! <3
As far as mythology and stuff, no i don't give much concern for the sentimental value of things... I guess that's why im more an analytical person, I just don't enjoy stories that much unless they are some sort of direct tie in to like an educational thing. For you Voodoo, this approach might or might not be the best route for learning. If you think yourself to be a very technical and by the books person, it certainly will, but it might not. I could be wrong, but you certainly are an expressive person, and you type a whole lot of stuff with each post and organize it very decoratively like its a story. I see that as more expressive and artistic, but maybe you could get a lot out of it.
I used to see Forrest Immel in like 2013-2014 when he would do very analytical studies and thought he was a try hard, but now I see just how much it helped him and fuck his stuff is so good now.
My best friend is more a right brained person on a lot of things, like we're into the same kind of music, and he really enjoys like the stories of the bands and their lives, but I don't see any use in knowing that stuff. I kinda zone out when he tells me about them, but I appreciate the sentiment. He knows like actors names and peoples names in movies/books stuff, i just cant care about any of that.
Art has been a big struggle for me because I've gone at it the wrong way, starting with niccolaides, who is a very emotional and like, cerebral teacher who talks about the abstract theories of gesture and weight and form. Maybe all that stuff did help, but I should have started with that "drawing on the right side of the brain" book. I guess the pun in the title is "the right" as in the "correct side."
I have all this paper in my room thats been scribbled on, and now i use very very little and learn much faster. Art has been such a struggle for me, i usually have a very rough start learning anything. Anyways, now that I know what to look for in things, im pretty sure i can learn a hell of a lot faster, since i can dilute things to their core elements, and even their more finer details. I really love alex negrea's approach, i think i learn most similar to him, he's very methodical and scientific in his studies. He went from this to this in a year, so must work pretty damn well.
I really want to draw hot ladies well, it's always been a big desire of mine but never a strength. So my next few concepts will be 2 hot ladies and 2 fetching fellas. Just no background concepts.
So today I got prepped for tomorrow doing caricatures, this is an example of a summation of like 70% of the things i learned that i can verbalize from my fave caricature artist atm Aj Jensen. He's from atlanta Georgia, which is very close to where i live, like a 2 hr drive, so I can dig that. Again, mostly what i do is just writing on top of pictures, i don't usually do these example things, but i could probably do it with any artist. kinda kewl.
(oh and for researching golems i just grabbed some pictures off artstation and DA and just analyzed them lol)
aight guys, nothing to share today really. Did some street caricature today, made a little money. Goin on a trip till.. Tuesday or something? I think i might not post until wednesday sooo, I guess I should explain why... See I met this monkey...
>Pic related
And he was just so fat! So happy eating all these free mangoes people gave him. I was genuinely blown away with how fat he was, and i want to get fat too. I want a big belly, I wanna rub my really big belly and laugh at how big and fat my belly is.
See, he's so fat he cant walk very far, but people see him and laugh and take pictures with him, so they just give him free stuff so he can stay fat! Lucky guy...
So, that's what I'll be doing is basically managing this guys food and learning his ways. I'm tired of eating fucking bland gum leaves all the time, the construction worker cocksuckers keep knocking my home down, and I've about had it. Time to get some free mangoes... take the high road, you feel me? pshh, wish me luck :3
I made a little list of cool artists i'm digging currently sooo... enjoy! Some you may know or if you've been around the block idk i'm just gonna post em anyways.
Whew im back, but im really jetlagged and groggy. gonna try to get a character done tomorrow, got some things i wanna study, but i could only manage to make a few scribbles of gestures today.
aight new WIP lol, studied a bit of Genzoman and crowgod on deviantart because i really dig their compositions and how they arrange fabric, picked up on the tricks they seem to use often pretty quick. It's a design theory I've come to see in just about all things. It's called the Small, Medium, Large property. It's in most good designs, the way sizes, and shapes are varied. could be the lengths of strands of hair, fabric, armor designs, even in nature, and practical uses, like bottles, fans, everything that is designed well really.
The idea of this is kind of an ape on a Guangjian Huang piece but I like being transparent where reasonable, so cards on the table.
Lets hope Fantasy Flight games will pay me 100 bucks to do a card eh?
Well gonna do about 2 more of these, then i'll have five pieces to send out that are like just designs. Speaking of design, I should probably study that and get some more like doohickeys and bells and whistles to put on things. Then I need to practice feet, then hands again, then every other thing lol
Aight, had a caricature today today, learned alot about hustling and selling IRL, if only i could do that online hehe; will definitely get to that soon.
So i really wanna draw that cool korean armor or whatever/ trying to break it down logically, it's quite interesting, just simple formulas and patterns to create the designs, need to study more though, so i get a big visual library for it
I really love that weird shaman thing you made, awesome work!. About the last piece, it mostly looks great but I do think the right arm and hand is a bit stiff, doesn't look like too comfortable of a position.
Anyway keep it up dude, looking forward to seeing what you do with that armor!.
TRIGGERED: Thanks man, it has a lot of issues, namely the forearms being different sizes, the chest and neck not connecting properly, and the warm light source I indicated which apparently isn't clear as to what it is. But my next angel character will not have the same problems, and will have a much better design!
So, studied a bit today, but had to nap a bit because the dude next to me at the airport shuttle had the sniffles and I got this terrible dry cough now and larengitus or however you spell that.
I learned that there are a lot of patterns people use when designing armor, it's mainly round forms against straight or angular forms, even in the minute detail. Also whenever I draw a very plain figure to add the things I learned on it will never look good because the figure doesn't have an appealing body basically.
Like, if you put anything on a bodybuilder or a super curvy well fit babe it will look good, but these little stick dudes, naw it's not inspiring at all. Take it from me folks! I have been studying this stuff enough to dream about it though, which is really cool :)
Need a better process for applying that stuff, maybe like focus on shoes or shoulder pads, then apply, then study more, then apply, yea that sounds more productive than trying to cram everything in at once.
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