Felime's Sketchbook

[Felime]

Going to start off my sketchbook with some recent stuff from the last couple days.

Last couple days have been a bit off, practiced a decent amount, but mostly from imagination or from whatever subjects or images I had available, as I was at home for thanksgiving. (Copy pasted from elsewhere, so the notes with some might sound a bit odd.)

Next post should be whatever stuff I do today.



From a bit before break, slowly learning digital. I just got a new monitor, so that should be very helpful, as my old one was too small to draw at a reasonably size with a reference up:







From just before break. They worked where I had them originally, but imgur decided to flip them around because it's a jerk. Probably because I rotated them the proper direction in paint, but that's no excuse.







And, stuff from break:
Thanksgiving:



The 29th:







30th:

A sketch adopting something from an old manga how to draw book I found in the bookcase. Hands are from life.





And got sick of doing my own hands and serious studi- OI, WOT'S DIS DERE? A FIGHTA-BOMBA? BUT DERE'S ROKKITS! FIGHTA-BOMBA-ROKKITA! DED KILLY!

[Adam Lina]

Looks like you've got a nice variety of things you're studying. And your not just copying but also working from imagination I assume? Good job so far. Keep it up!

[Felime]

Yeah, I do a bit from imagination, usually doing something, then getting frustrated with it and using it as an indication as to what I should go study.

[Felime]

So, stuff today. Bashed my head against digital for an hour before flipping krita and my tablet two middle fingers and going to play with pen and paper.




Foot too small, have to keep that in mind.





And from imagination:

Tried to evoke a broad hipped, narrow shouldered look with the one on the right. I find that body type very interesting. Achieves a strong, sturdy look while still being feminine. Feet are off. ribcage needs to be slightly longer, and there are perspective issues, but the gesture and the impression that I cared about came out quite well. Might redo this one more neatly and sort out some of the issues.

[smrr]

Welcome to the forums again Felime!

You definitely have the spirit in you, and that is one of -if not the most- important of all.

Something I would suggest you start practicing now rather than later (like I did) is to observe everything. Take the time to look at things from life. For example, look at yourself. Look at the way your feet move, look at the way the bones and tendons move underneath the surface. Then do some feet studies - look at your feet again if you have to, before you bust some feet from imagination.
Yes, proportions are crucial. It's best to get a solid understanding of proportions now, rather than later down the track. I recommend Loomis' books and maybe some Hampton.
But it's always think about the forms (sphere, cylinder, cube) and build upon them (although you're already doing this now :D). Try to imagine the planes of an object, no matter how simple or complex. Break everything down into their most simple; especially when observing from life.
This includes with structure i.e. basic forms.
With light and rendering i.e. simple planes around the form and by using a maximum of 3-4values when you're shading.

Perspective goes hand-in-hand with good structure, though I can see you're already studying this - which is awesome. David Chelsea's Perspective for Comic Book Artists is great for perspective understanding.

Also, I suggest it's a GREAT idea to really analyse your hands and feet now - hands are sooooooo important and many studying artists neglect studying them (myself included), but showing a good understanding of how the hands (and feet) work and being able to demonstrate this is what marks a pro from a semi-pro artist.

Anyways, keep it up!
You have what it takes man :D

P.s. enjoy yo food

[Prabu]

What is that wizard doing near that volcano?

Lots of cool studies Felime. Keep it up. :)

[Felime]

So, had some busy day and didn't get the time to post anything. Rest assured, didn't stop practicing though.

Bit of a sculpture in the lobby of the art building. Really going back and working on my basic shapes and forms.


Really.


Just doodles.


Perspective. Bumbling through it and piecing stuff together myself feels like the most effective way to learn, but I've been looking through a perspective book a little.




And then, I found a book called "Constructive Anatomy" by George B Bridgman. Aside from some convoluted prose describing things, and the random bits of casual racism that come with a book published in 1920, it is an amazing book. His art manages to be simple, and have both amazing gesture and forms at the same time, and his studies are very helpful. It's in the public domain, I believe, so there's pdfs of it bouncing around the internet.

Copies


Life drawings of my hand

What is that wizard doing near that volcano?

Lots of cool studies Felime. Keep it up. :)

It was actually supposed to be a kind of skier, eskimo person on a frozen landscape, but I guess wizard works, was just playing with some concepts.

[Felime]

Got in another ~1:30 of practice. Bunch of 30 second gestures and more hands.

Can be kinda hit or miss with my faster gestures.

[ramalooke]

A lot fo studies here. They'll get you in shape in no time just keep practicing. As a piece of advice, try to use one smooth line instead of many shaggy ones. It will improve your confidence in making marks and makes drawing look much better. Keep pushin!

[Felime]

Getting off my ass and actually posting!

From class. First time using ink. I like ink. First one could have been better, It's expressive but doesn't really express the position of the face.





Doodles in new sketchbook, there are a couple unposted pages from the end of the last one I forgot and am too lazy to get out.



Experimenting with watercolor



And studies from today.








Really working on being able to simplify things into shapes and planes lately.

[Felime]

Mostly doodles from memory. have a portfolio due tomorrow and need a couple things.








And a longer painting. Probably gonna go in and darken up the background and a couple areas.

[Felime]

Finals done, sketchdump time. Mostly quick stuff to fill out the specific things I needed in my sketchbook. Got an A+ on my portfolio and art class at least!

[Felime]

And back from a trip to upstate new york.

Bunch of stuff of various quality and attentiveness. I love uniball VISION pens far too much (and pen is so convenient.)

[Adam Lina]

Nice sketch book bro! Keep drawing everyday if you can. One little thing I can suggest is when your doing hatching instead of doing straight lines across, try to wrap the lines around the form of the object. It will help you think in 3D more and it looks nicer when its done consistently in a drawing. It looks like you were starting to do that on the crocodile man with the green lines. Just do that with the black lines as well.

[Felime]

Nice sketch book bro! Keep drawing everyday if you can. One little thing I can suggest is when your doing hatching instead of doing straight lines across, try to wrap the lines around the form of the object. It will help you think in 3D more and it looks nicer when its done consistently in a drawing. It looks like you were starting to do that on the crocodile man with the green lines. Just do that with the black lines as well.

Yeah. When I read that, I was thinking "Hey, I know about doing contours." Then I looked through and not much of that was there.

Aaaaanyways, art dump. Not as much as there should be, but didn't stop drawing. Mostly sketchbook pages with the occasional digital thing or thing for class. Also some silly things for streams and wips for a thing for an LP a friend is doing.

[Finnjamin]

Hey dude, your studying seems to be doing you a bunch of favours. I think I can see some Scott Robertson influence with the typeface practice and ellipses, right? Well, you need to do more exercising in Photoshop, do a bunch of perspective designs to teach you about line and angle accuracy. Stuff like this:
http://cargocollective.com/drawthrough/drawthrough-BLOG

This because I think you have a bit of a trepidatious fear of failing in Photoshop, and so you work traditionally to satisfy your desire to improve without -quite- fulfilling the necessities of your training. At least, that's what I felt like when I was working like you. In hindsight, the only traditional drawings that helped me were my scene drawings and portraits in ballpoint pen, they really crystallized for me what contrast and texture could convey and how facial anatomy was built.

Anyway, once you've strengthened your perspective and tonal control with drawings like Robertson's vehicles, you'll be a lot more confident and then have the wherewithal to tackle more ambitious stuff, like creative scenes.

[Felime]

I really need to do more to get comfortable with digital in general. With a lot of traditional stuff, I find it very intuitive, and I feel like starting to do some traditional painting's really starting to break into the digital stuff, that, and the freedom and ability to go over mistakes is very similar.

With photoshop, I just kinda stare at it, there's all these buttons and options and shit. With paint, it's simple, pick up paint, put on canvas, maybe poke it a bit. Having tools I like gives me some focus to using a program, find what emulates what I know, then branch out from there.

Some of those exercises were robertson inspired. Kinda flattered at the direction you're pointing me, but I've always had problems with crisp linework. Not really sure where to start with it, especially digitally. I tend to bash my head against it for a while, then get frustrated and go do something quick and loose and messy.


I'm sure I'm going to look at this post in confusion the next time I'm not 30+ hours without sleep.

[Felime]

» (report) Felime - 21-02-19:58 -- All these things are sounding silly, and I should draw in photoshop and just replicate things I'd do traditionally.
» (report) Felime - 21-02-19:58 -- And I want to do this now. Damn.
» (report) Felime - 21-02-19:59 -- this is dumb and I should sleep
» (report) Felime - 21-02-20:00 -- The bed is right there. I would fall asleep within 30 seconds why am I doing this to myself?
» (report) Finnjamin - 21-02-20:04 -- Feng Zhu would be so proud.

[Finnjamin]

Yeah, you seem pretty tired. Ideas will come, and if the only idea you can get is a lame one, make a challenge out of making a lame idea seem great. That you already have problems with crisp linework is exactly why you need to focus on perspective diagrams, as you'll probably realise the instant you read that with sufficient sleep behind you.

Photoshop can be as convoluted or as simple as you make it. Most artists just treat photoshop like a traditional painting experience anyway, and just pick colours and make brushstrokes.

[Felime]

Trying some different techniques in digital painting. Think I'm going to be replacing my laptop with a Surface pro. Moving from my cheap tablet won't immediately make me better, but it should let me draw and paint digitally in places other than in front of my computer, which I think'll help in the long run.

Very quick mockup of something for a friend. Rough, but I like the general idea


I like so many parts of this one, but it's got issues and I got frustrated, and I'm not too happy with it as a whole. I'd like to say I'll come back to it, but I very likely won't.


WIP of a thing, trying out an entirely different technique, we'll see how it goes