Hey, just want to say it's a good idea to have goals for what you want to get out of an excercise. That's always better than randomly copying a landscape... *cough* me. 500 figures (or however many) could be rewarding. Have you used line-of-action.com? If not I'd recommend trying figure drawing there- for a lot of drawing, it helps to have constant new visual fuel to go off of so your ideas don't get stagnant. It's cool that you want to put narrative in your pieces- a lot of artists get caught up in making something technically well (not to say studies don't matter, they absolutely do) and not putting any story into their work.
1. Use the biggest brush possible for a given passage. 2. Paint large shapes first, followed by small shapes. 3. Save your tonal and chromatic accents until the last. 4. Try to soften any edge that doesn’t need to be sharp. 5. Take time to get the center of interest right.
Or, the briefer version: (B.L.A.S.T.) Big brushes. Large to small. Accents last. Soften edges. Take your time.
Lol i didnt see razors and darkistes posts before i went to uplaod lol just beaus,
Slash, thanks brother, im working on like... finding the "magic" right now, like what is gonna really set me apart. I think at this point its gonna take something besides just grinding, maybe more a mental thing. I really appreciate the kind words, and, yea necks ill remember that!
Darkiste: as usual, thanks for the uuuh, critique!
beau: well i have done my share of hundreds of hours on quickposes, line of action, croquis, draw this!, new masters academy, most the others suck lol. but yea im trying to like break out of that type of drawing, like life models are beautiful and have nice rythm and eloquence to them, but very rarely is there a story to it, like... if you put it on paper what the model is doing, its "girl sitting" or "girl standing with stick" "man with leg on block" you know, "girl reclining" i mean, you can find some generic story there, people do sit and stand with one leg up, but you kinda gotta force the story in there. sooo... thats why I did what i did today!
Instead of doing stickmen, i did a few and realized that most of what im doing is verbal, its language based, my language is the extent of where i can push my drawings. Because the things that are so abstract, that i cannot put into words, i couldnt get much of a relateable illustration anyways. So i decided to make a list instead of the things that could happen in a scene, a series of verbs, places and subjects. this was EXTREMELY brain draining and i couldnt finish the last 100 i even got a headache trying to think this much.
I used the ideas i saw from norman rockwell paintings, kim jung gi's work, dean cornwell, and a few others to get some ideas. As well as writing prompt websites, word generators, etc. After i got to about 200, i was really struggling, by 310 i was desperate. I vaguely remember this exercise from something, like schoolism maybe or robert watts composition course. So incoming long post, feel free to do the exercise (without repeating yourself) or explore these prompts. cheat all you want, as just finding ideas can inspire you. I really like the idea "Stand on a bazooka" ill probably reread these tomorrow, it took about 8 hours to compile all these.
Just simple word associations can get me on a roll, a tree twists, a pretzel is twisty and salty, the ocean is salty, the ocean has wetness, salt dehydrates, thats a contradiction. Like free flow, i imagine this is similar to what freestyle rappers do
dumb reading
excited about 10k check
admonishing
smirk in response
lifting
cocky look
scratch dandruff
applying makeup
writing an angry letter
hair drying
doing laundry
smelling BO
taking photos
making tea
charismatic pointing
flirting
tattooing
praying to two fighting
on a carrier shuttle, hanging on to rail
dying from wounds
eating rice with family
slicing up mermaid/ unusual thing
walking and kissing
whispering sweet nothings
hands in back of pants
waiting for bus
sitting around a head as dinner (animals)
being an astronaut and meeting a turtle/fish
old soldier zombie
hammerhead shark eating sandwich
part of brain coming off
dog attack
playing an instrument thats not one
girl with little but angry dog, sexy pinup
vortex of bodies
big monster eating girl
strut with other students
tiger tutu ballet
girl up in corner of page
tall and small
mouse samurai command forward
war from over shoulder
sniping in school
machine cutting trees
operating an AA gun
sitting on a tank
checking a truck
girl next to artillery
laughing at a fight
run from dogs
stand up to tigers in circling
ride off on a pig/donkey
carry someone on your shoulder
dance with an animal slow
give food to an animal
my hand is on fire
pile tons of animals on an old plane
explode with lightning, being fat
torture a guy with tattoos with a baseball bat and little girl
cram little figures everywhere
Lament your employee
string someone up by their underwear
hippo rides a bike
animals coming out of my head
Looking at a map with a tiger
riding a yak
arm around tiger, showing friendship
transforming into a tiger
laying out your guns
be a powerful elephant surrounded by treasure and animals
sitting back to back witha boar drowning a pig
having a house as a head and flying
giving tea to samurais
crying on the couch
3 very different figures in chairs talking, parrot above
the sculptor and the model
she doesnt want to go, and lots of ppl passing by
husband didnt like dinner
whispering in a girls ear behind couch
recline as she collapses, or maybe die with her
getting home to find a newspaper etc
man by crib, background disentigrating into orange
tellng a story to others drunk around a table, varying poses
climbing a goopy tree
lighting a flare
90
cowboy out front talking to a knitter
losing a duel being consoled by allies
being walked off from duel by buddy
coming out of a well naked
having a mechanical hand close to the screen
95
finding a head
sword in a body (admiring)
the greater african man
rolling in leaves
making snow angels
100
being at a birthday party
getting your teeth checked
devouring a goat as a pretty girl
wave on a uniped
skateboarding
105
being a short person with a big head
carrying a body
giving a tattoo
sleeping next to family
flirtin, with hand on chin, body angled towards
110
giving a gun to cowboy
parents look at paper, schematics, little girl plays with blocks
children lean heads against one another, puppy shows emotion
playing at a fire hydrant that exploded
struggling to give baby a bottle
115
doctor examining mouth
father/brother reenacting war with air gun for kids
lugging a mermaid in a cage
self portrait
being a fat kid sleeping, next to dog
120
looking at photographs
being exhausted reading books
dog stole your pants
drying off with a towel
holding 2 busts, as if they were to kiss
125
playing cello for a girl
surrounding objects like bags, bandages, and jars can show story of say, camp
no swimming
girl with shiner by principles office
boy with baby carriage
130
run cuz a dog is biting your butt
santa looking at globe with magnifying glass
look in mirror with funny face
get a haircut
have someone watch you get something
135
put someone to bed
get in bed with someone
put a bed on top of someone
get underneath the bed
become a bed
140
head in a christmas reef
singing christmas carols
reviving a corpse to fuck her
zombies taking my bride
praying for someone
145
taking a picture of someone
introducing a shy person gregariously
revering a master as a slave
shadow puppets
men playing checkers with clown
150
read a baysitter manual while baby pulls hair
looking out a car window
drawin a heart on someones coat
trying to figure out the next composition
soldier feeding girl soup
155
listening to the floor for danger
gathered round to chat about stuff, vary levels in a circle, soldier etc.
all around the girl to make her explain
playing hide and seek, and not covering your eyes
angrily telling ethnic children about something
160
feeding puppies
pouring water next to a dog
working at an ice cream shop at 12 and flirting with the girls your age
reflecting on an old bride gown
pulling your pants down for the doc to get a shot
165
mom fixing your baseball uniform
being tired of the baby crying
cook enjoying the young couple at a restaurant
trying on glasses at the doctor
drinking coke with dog
170
bringing a cow to the barn and many stop to look
happy birthday, written on chalkboard for teacher
building a dollhouse with your dog
cupids bringing you a nice mirror for your sharp suit
fixing your tie in a mirror
cop talking to boy at a restaurant/captain america etc.
175
Sneaking in late at night
serenading your crush
play baseball with your fat grandpa
be a hobo cooking weiners
fire a cannon
180
comb someones hair
starve to death
dehydration
look up with disdain
shake leaves/ice from a tree onto someone
185
smoke a cigarette against a wall
smoke weed in your hand
light a pipe and be an old man
rob a bank with automatic weapons
hide behind a car in a shootout with police
190
Join a terrorist organization
overthrow a local government through revolution
start a band
become upset when people dont get your taste in music
hang up pictures of hot women in your bedroom
195
come out to your parents as a homosexual
find an eerie skull or bone in a remote location
break a joint or bone
get in a fight at school
share a meal with someone
200
do a line of cocaine at a party
shoot meth in your room by yourself
have someone supervise you as your do psilosybin mushrooms
become a glass of orange juice after taking salvia
stand on top of a bazooka
205
break an instrument in frustration
chop vegetables
transform into a different species
commit suicide by stabbing a light outlet with metal
be disappointed about a report card
210
Fail your drivers exam
dont pay attention in class
teach religious people about atheism
teach rednecks about veganism
Teach X political ideology about its opposite ideology
215
disgrace your family by stealing jewelry
be at the bottom of the ocean and meet a creepy fish
avoid an explosion in the arctic
accept tithe from a bodyguard
be a cheap used car salesman showing a tawdry car to clients
220
Go through a boundry of energy
fletching arrows
throwing darts
poisoning someones drink/food
taking care of your drunk friend
225
shooting a bow and arrow at fish
pet a machine and make it purr
be a referee challenging a doll to a fight
push someone off a cliff
lead a charging army of nerds at jocks
230
eat too much chewing tobbaco
break your pencil sharpening it
dream of not being a nerd
dream of your girlfriend being a man
pass out at the computer
235
meet your rival
deface a church
walk accross a bridge
hide in a bush
attack a policeman with a knife
240
Burn your house down
put odd things in a blender
bake a souflet and sneeze on it
buy guns from a redneck
buy guns from a nun
245
ride a canoe
sign a treaty with a bunch of animals
do a bunch of math/chemistry/science
blow your nose
answera phone call
250
Prank call someone
throw a refrigerator or stand on it
fly while holding a chicken
let a sheep shave your head
get a tattoo from a giant ant
255
tripping on a phone line
not clapping for someone
giving someone a balloon
getting out of a hot air balloon
being scared by one
260
dancing by the beach
seeing your lover for the first time in years
sharing a pile of expensive nuts
ride on the top of a trex
brush a dinosaurs teeth
265
picking bananas
weeping for a camera
singing in montanna
moving in formation
ants hanging an ant from a flower
270
streaking in a church
guilting someone for buying something
dying your hair
eating your hair/trichotillomania
become a cybord
275
recieve maintenance as a robot
be a cyborg cow
be connected to an alternate reality
be a slayer of an odd thing
be a miner
280
be a harvester of wheat
share carrots of kids
be a fly sucking
feed a puny nerd a salad
Be a fat redneck feeding it to him
285
Accept an apology
get denied from heaven for fucking too much
go to a different gods heaven and dont get int for not fucking enough
hanging with a sexual looking tree
read a book with glasses
290
Flex your muscles for an odd group like mice/fish
falling into a pit
coming up from a pit on wings/hovercraft
fall down a flight of stairs
fly a jetpack
295
ride in a siege tower/trojan horse
float on a hoverbike
smell a flower
turn a dial on a machine
ride a horse/camel, any animal
300
fight a sasquatch
hurl a lightning bolt
catch the lockness monster
sneak into area 51
wrestle alex jones
305
take pills
turn into a cartoon
watch television
go into the television
become an RPG character
310
tie someone up for force feeeding
spy on someone
creep around someones house
dude looking in window while girl reads
jump on a trampoline
315
use a grapple hook
usea urinal and violate the splash zone
whap the back of someones head
use a time machine
get buried in snow
320
shop for goth things
have a clerk buy stuff from you
split in half and live
contort your body
swing on a tire swing
325
make microwave food
argue with someone at dinner
drag someone by the hair
scalp someone
kiss a bald head
330
flutter your eyes
be frustrated with pancakes
become scrawny from not eating
beguile someone into sex
execute someone with a scary black hat
335
be black in the kukluxklan
be white in the black panthers
be muslim in the english defence league
be zionist in isis
be a nazi intersectionalist
340
be the first woman/atheist/muslim/sikh/etc president of US
sweat over a business card
cry becase you cant get seats at dorsia
be a sports fan
play football
345
learn a new language and make a deep connection with a native speaker
help endangered indigenous people from extinction
be a conquistador
take mescaline and go spirit walking
wrestle an orc in Azeroth
350
endure eating a feast
bribe someone into stealing an expensive rose
hit someone with a frying pan that has pancakes in it
present an athlete with a gift of hot food which they wont want
have a walnut break on your head and be able to eat it
355
sell pamphlets about objective morality
play with legoes
lying in death, you see thoughts
be blindfolded in the woods
denying a marriage
360
break into your own home
do a belly dance
appear in court
be an angry judge
be a rich asshole
365
be a poor asshole
sleep in a box
pass out drunk in a garbage can
put someones hand in water to make them pee while they sleep
save a kid from explosion
370
change an axel on a car whilst talking about moral axioms
check your blood pressure
crack peanuts
pretend to be a goat
shit on a golden toilet
375
annoy people on the internet
have an obvious mental disorder
confuse people with who you are
jump rope
scoop snow
380
follow a handsome fox
turn a light on
have a light over you head go off
burn your hand
get fired from work
385
get laid off from government shutdown
sit at congress
carve a statue that offends people
build a chair with an odd material like cotton candy
let a spider sit in your mouth
390
blow a bubblegum bubble
see a ghost
fake your own death and see your own ghost
show someone a hydroponic farm
steal things from a pharmacy
395
Get stuck in an elevator
get in a tussle with an alligator
meet a genie
discover a strange animal
faint in the desert
400
steal candy from a baby
kick a puppy out a window
fly on a vaccum cleaner
do something that in a video game gets a good result but IRL wouldnt work like cooking or smithing
Give kisses to a koala
Word association, interesting. I look forward to seeing what results this yields. I wasn't saying that figure studies have story to them, but that I like that you think about narrative when you draw something. Very cool :)
1. Use the biggest brush possible for a given passage. 2. Paint large shapes first, followed by small shapes. 3. Save your tonal and chromatic accents until the last. 4. Try to soften any edge that doesn’t need to be sharp. 5. Take time to get the center of interest right.
Or, the briefer version: (B.L.A.S.T.) Big brushes. Large to small. Accents last. Soften edges. Take your time.
Spent today exploring my style, hitting some areas i thought i was done forever with but turns out i wasnt lol. Ended up wanting to be able to execute pen drawings at the quality of digital drawings i do, spending lots of time dabbing the eraser and undo tool on. Ended up with this cool venom sketch i photod and colored. didnt really have to change much anatomy so that made me happy, hopefully i can keep this up :D
Hello Fedodika,
you've made a great progress since my last visit here, your motivation and willpower are exceptional! Most of all I like your digital painting made from the screencap, it looks really gorgeous.
Also, I noticed you've still grinding dynamic poses, so have you heard about the croquis cafe youtube channel? Although they don't have any comics-like dynamism, they post every week a new video with some live naked models posing in from of the camera. This is a really great exercise, IMHO. Also this month they post a new video every single day. I suppose, it's a great opportunity to learn posing, anatomy and so on.
Good luck for you!
for the illustration practice I'd recommend you to try what I was doing a fews days or weeks ago on my sb, find an adjective dictionary online, pick one at random and do an illustration based on it
Roanna: yes, Croquis is very nice, i have a deep fascination with 3 of their models, its uh... Saturn, Katelyn, and Artistique physique. I think their bodies are amazing, saturn is one of the sexiest women ive ever seen, katelyn has an unbelievable body, and AP is just a very inspiring weightlifter.
Thing is, ive drawn soooo many friggin life models, im trying to get my head into the space of inventing figures and life models arent the best springboard for that. Illustration poses are dynamic, moving, wild, or very specific. I wanna do high impact stuff currently, and i still love croquis. I feel as far as the best drawing recourse for that sort of thing, Draw this! is the best ive seen, the sessions are 2+ hrs and has a face cam and body came simultaneously. Only problem is the music they play is kind of irritating after youve heard it alot.
Gliger: thanks bro, funny enough i got arachnid so i just drew spiderman lol. Maybe try tomorrow doing some quick ones, just stick man kinda things
Was giving a buddy on discord some tips, did quite a few paintovers today. I think my goal is to be able to draw men better because i feel confident with females, i just havent explored drawing men very much. I want to get that under my sleeve, get a few decent pieces of males, then really start drawing sexy women so i have something to balance it with and show versatility. Really digging this ramon nunez guys work, definitely want to head in a super expressive dynamic figure direction like that
Hey Fedodika! I got to say, holy cow! Just finished browsing through most of your sketchbook from post 1.
You've been busy these last years! So much work!
NOTE: This post became longer than intended! I do love me some philosophy(maybe too much?) :)
Now I'm just feeling curious, what do you want to do with your art? What are your goals?
In an earlier post you mentioned something about not having fun, that everything you drew felt the same, be it a tank, a girl or what ever. That perhaps drawing became a chore? Correct me if I'm wrong.
I've personally been through pretty much the same tings lately. Why do I do this? And I think it is important to get a reminder of why we do this. Why do we make art? To me it's fun, challenging and rewarding. Also, gut wrenchingly frustrating, at times. But fun! I have been thinking a lot about what my goals are, and what I need to learn to reach my goals. What to study etc...
The last 40 or so pages here in your sketchbook, it looks like you have been working mostly on studying anatomy. Which is good! But, to me it looks like you might be a bit stuck in that routine as well? What are you studying anatomy for?
I believe there is great value in studying the fundamentals. Heck, it's something that needs to be kept up to date. But the dark side of studying is getting into a routine, of getting good at studying. Study study study, but not using the knowledge you gain. (I've been there so many times)
To me it looks like you draw really fast. In being fast you can produce tons of drawings. Tons of sketches. But few finished pieces. Finishing something takes time. I think it's scary to push things to a finish. The more time and effort you put into one piece, the scarier it gets. The anxiety of it not being good, can be terrible! But I believe that is where we learn. When we push through those boundaries.
It looks like you are getting comfortable in studying anatomy. I think you need to get out of that comfort zone.
You are plenty capable of pushing your work to a finish. You have the skills! No matter if you work with colors or black and white. Try spending 10-20-40 hours on a piece. Slow down and take your time. Get some good reference. Even if it's just a portrait or a study of some fruit. You'll learn a lot about yourself.
I tend to be a restless draughtsman, I want results quick! Instant gratification! But I end up frustrated. When I slow down, and remind myself to to deliberate strokes. Thinking about my moves, taking my time, the work gets better. I believe there needs to be a balance between studying and making work. When you really don't know what you're doing, then you study those things and go back. Rinse repeat.
Sorry for the long post and the tough questions. I write this post with love. I do not intend to offend you! I have been studying art in various art schools for the past 9 years. Heck, I'm in an art college now. Frustrated like hell, because the most I get in feedback these days are: "Oh that looks nice." Or: "This is interesting"... No one is willing to give me any serious feedback. To go deep and give some good critiques.
I guess that's fine arts in the modern world. Anything can pass as art if you have a good enough explanation, hehe.
It's OK if you don't get anything out of this looong post. Take what ever resonates with you, leave the rest.
I think you're doing good! I'm looking forward to seeing what you post in the future. :D
Eraiasu: Thank you for the long comment bro and no i didnt find any of it offensive, im not sure what could be in that... Is art a chore for me, well its not exactly the most entertaining thing, but its something i can certainly sink time into and enjoy enough to do it for multiple hours every single day. What do i want out of art, I'd like a career, i want to make money, i want to be a hired gun to bring peoples visions to life to pay my bills, move out of my parents house, and finally in my late 20's begin my adult life.
I say late 20's because i have constantly incorrectly estimated and overesteemed my own abilities and competency of landing work. I'm a choosing a conservative estimate, though things could pick up even in the next few months, i can't really know. Ive been studying anatomy because it has been the thing that has compromised the speed at which i could have become a professional. I wasted about 3 years of my development building bad habits of sloppy, formless drawings and excessive time obsessing over rendering and brush techniques. So i always hesitate to do paintings because after exploring drawing, i see how much more technical it will be than painting.
Painting just feels very easy to me, be it digital or traditional.
I like your suggestion about the longer effort, and i was feeling doing that for a while, so i started one. Im gonna do a nice fanart of raven, with a somewhat challenging background of a cityscape. I like this idea so far, i am skeptical about it though, flying on a cityscape in a cross legged position isnt something you see everyday
"Frustrated like hell, because the most I get in feedback these days are: "Oh that looks nice." Or: "This is interesting"... No one is willing to give me any serious feedback. To go deep and give some good critiques. " Will Terrell in his "why artists fail to get good feedback" notes that this is the hardest place to be. good but not great. It'll feel like the longest time of transition to greatness, as there are many minor factors at work that add up to the work just not being inspiring. You have to really bolt down those fundamentals, thats the secret. thats where style comes from.
But thank you for the writeup and i hope youll keep posting. Im enjoying a lot of the newcomers to daggers as of these recent months, and i'll be here because i dont have anywhere better to be. Even when (if) i get good enough to get work, i'll still try to post at least a scribble, because i like this forum, and well, most other art forums have collapsed or are just stuffed with beginners :D
Just be careful with the perspective on her. Her right hand (our left) is just as big, if not bigger than the one that's closest to us. Same issue with the feet. The leg closest to us feels more like shapes rather than a proper form.
Anyway, that's just my quick little two cents. Looking forward to seeing where you go with her, if anywhere
I noticed that you had a big step up in your art some months ago.
I wanted to ask you if you have notice it and why do you think it happened?
Is it something to do with motivation?
Is it something new that you take into consideration that you didn’t before? Like shapes, perspective?
Is it your ability to visualize 3d space that improved?
Nice dynamic perspective and I love her cape movement. Only one thing to mention: hands sizes (although mine are always smaller than they should be). "Standard" hand size for women - almost face-length, generally, three quarters the length of the head, from the chin to the middle line of the forehead. But, of course, there many different variations like pianist's hand or small forehead, nevertheless yours are bigger than entire head. Hope, this'll help.
You said that:
Quote:What do i want out of art, I'd like a career, i want to make money, i want to be a hired gun to bring peoples visions to life to pay my bills, move out of my parents house, and finally in my late 20's begin my adult life.
I just would like to ask a bit more, because, you know, there so many art routes to take. Do you have something specific in mind, like comic artist or concept artist for games? Thanks
PS Do you study any comic book artists recently?
Hey Fedodiko, thanks for replying to my long comment! :P
I get that setting deadlines for going pro like that can be difficult, I have done that so many times myself. The last couple of years, I find that I don't really care about the deadlines too much. Although, I have set a new one. Hopefully I'll be somewhere with art, by the time I'm thirty. Time will tell. (only loose deadline, turning 30 in 3 years.)
On the thought of getting paid work, I think roanna's question is interesting. And this is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. What kind of work you would like to get? I believe that can be a good way of setting goals for what you want to do. Perhaps going all in on drawing is more your thing, rather than painting. Or maybe not. It all depends on you. Then work towards the kind of stuff you want to do for work. Be it animation, illustration, conceptart, fine-art etc... Something to keep your goals on track.
It's cool to see you going for something longer!
As a comment to your Raven drawing: Your figure as it is now looks solid. I do think the whole image would be more dynamic if you twist her more towards the right. Seeing as you have the camera tilted. Or, perhaps even twisting the whole figure, so we see her from a lower angle. Having her looking down at the viewer, or something like that. Just my two cents. :)
Darkiste: Well i hope they stick around :O They should be careful if CA gets back online, and they dont go back, jason manley might throw a computer at them
AlfonsoX; well, its everything ive done which has been an effort to fix things i was not good at, which was drawing and anatomy. A combination of good critique, or, well taking critique, which is something i didnt do for a long time, doing prokos premium anatomy and figure course, learning the reilly method and going through watts ateliers online program, the drawing part and a tiny bit of painting, aaaaand memory drawing, has i felt been the best things to move my art skill up.
Generally if people are telling you how to improve, just do what they suggest, people wanna help, and for a long time i thought people critiquing me were attacking my ego. So after paying for critiques, i slowly developed a different take on it, which i wished id had all along! I've always been motivated, and i really had to be because well, i feel like i had to put in twice the amount of time and effort most people do to get where im even at now.
TL:DR, Watts,proko are awesome, bad habits are real things.
Roanna: You know as far as work, ill take what i can get really, theres nothing i really hate drawing, if the moneys right. I mean, id like to do illustration, so thatd be advertising, book covers, and like anything that would require scene or world building. My very first industry job i got about 2 weeks ago was conceptual art, just doing simple line sketches to show a character turning for a modeller, and i found that enjoyable.
What i'd ultimately like to do, is show people my characters i made as a kid, many of which are sexy gothic women from an avante garde bizarre world. I feel the thing id enjoy doing the most is something along the lines of pinup, as i spend a lot of time just browsing pictures of sexy women. It fills the void in my life of romance, i have a concern that if i had romance id lose intrest, but thats thinking way too far ahead. The reason i havent drawn many of them is because their designs are very strange, and i dont really know how to present them well, here is an attempt i did a few years ago:
This picture is only about 10% as cool as this character is in my head.
The material their dresses are made out of are a mix of many different lacey, spidery, unidentifiable things. That and i havent completely settled on how they will look, and i want them to look as amazing as possible before i go showing their designs, as they hold a deep place in my heart. One of them, for instance, has a waterfall dress, and i dont really know how that would work! One of them has a giant afro, a white hat that defies the laws of perspective, a sythe, cape, and angel/demon wings. One of them has a name thats 15 syllables (Adelfifificonronpolosiosisonotia.) One of them is a completely ripped off design which I need to rethink! And they all have ridiculous names that i somehow remember the exact spelling of like Zacckaruucheeszh
That being said, i want to cover all bases and be good at any type of art, creatures, interior, mechs, fine art, complex group scenes, 3D, etc. I will need that stuff when i go to create my grand project, which i will begin once i am comfortable enough financially and have the following to share it with. (so like at least 5+ years from now) And yes, i have been studying the works of Raul Moreno in the Masters of anatomy book 2, and i am itching for his second book. I also like John Grello and Ramon Nunez, who are comicy.
Eraiasu: The way things are going this year, things are looking up for me financially; I mean its not like im rolling in cash or anything, but the commissions are getting to the rate of 1 a month now, and its usually been 1 every 3 months. Itll probably need to hit about 3 a month for things to get really rolling, but that could be soon. I gave a detailed description of what i want to do to roanna above, illustration, and eventually do a grand graphic novel thats about 1000+ pages with realistic artwork on each panel, using whatever means i can to complete it in a reasonable amount of time. ( reasonable being less than 20 years) I've been passionately planning this book for almost my entire life, so it will be my lifes work for sure. The plot is always refining as i get older and wiser, but i cant share much because things change so fast, and im not super confident in it as far as my writing abilities.
For raven, i think the lighting is adding a lot of dynamicism, the story came together quick. She was trying to meditate in mid air, and now these choppers are spotlighting her in the face and shes not happy. I agree i could make it more dynamic, its a little late for that now, but always next time. It would be nice to get more of the buttcheeks in there but, you know, ill do a nice ass picture at some point, its just hard to make a pic that isnt obviously a butt pic. We'll see, wont we :D
Whew type type, got a quick puppy commission coming up, but ill still be workin on raven tomorrow. I really like the lighting set up, it came together very intuitively, but i spent most the day twerking the drawing, like building perspectives and stuff. I'll probably overlay photos on a few of them but idk yet, and make some cool like skyline details, pallete outta be fun to discover, woo im excited :D
some progress on raven, experimenting with super hard edges, letting the style do what it wants. finally get to do some life drawing tomorrow after 2 weeks
really suckin at life drawing today, but was still fun. We had the model up on a chair, and on a platform, so perspective was double hard, img2694, lol i started that over 4 times, still barely got anything right; loved the experience nonetheless :D
whew, trying to push this as far as i can, im trying to sort out the contrast and organize the values neatly, i think im getting a lot right, its just uncertainty. I remember dave saying to push the contrast to where it feels like a little too much, then sleep on it, so thats what ill do. Also got the masters of anatomy book on female poses, which looks like a lot of fun, and hopefully get to work on soon. I want to try and do more frequent goauche studies to keep my chops up with painting because i find myself returning to palettes over and over and i want to expand, and keep building that skillset so i dont get caught with my pants down :O
Just a quick crit, the light bands don't really travel across her form and background correctly. If the building is behind her the light edges shouldn't just continue directly across in a straight line; there would be some offset. Same deal across the plane changes of her torso. Unless I'm mistaking the intent of what those are?
Definitely think the light bands are overpowering the quite nice value structure and generally might not even be necessary! A more diffuse light for the bands or even changing to a spotlight could work better.The fingers are a bit awkward esp her right hand.
The photobash could be integrated a little better perhaps? Try putting it through a...damn...I forget the right filter name for PS or Painter...but one that simplifies the shapes to various levels and reduces sharp edges. In Krita it's an 'oil paint' filter.
But generally this is a huge step up dude. Lots of nice things happening in the figure and lighting.
Lots of solid work Fedo, wanted to add a crit as well if you don't mind.Currently your values are a bit "blown out" or i guess the correct term would be overexposed, what i did is lower them with the curve tool in photoshop. also i corrected the perspective on the buildings,using the path tool i located a single vanishing point on top beyond the canvas and drew lines that way the buildings will feel parallel.Also what Amit sed about the cast shadows a good way to see this effect is to take a stick and cast a shadow on your arm, you will see that cast shadows follow form and i expanded the canvas a bit to the left so that she will be on the third, but also because right now her arm is hugging the edge of the frame a bit so feels almost like a tangent. And one last thing the arrows on the drapery, the face is the focal point so have as many things pointing towards it as possible, nothing is accidental in art so try to make every element serve the picture as much as possible. Other than these few small things looking good, if you keep fixing and working on this piece i think a really solid painting can come out, just don't give up on it and keep fixing it until it matches your vision!
