Doolio's doodles

[Doolio]

Guys, I am back from the dead, basically. Long story short, I "survived", but it was by far absolutely the most terrifying and the worst part of my life lol.
There was a time when I had to decline them snipping my nerve branches in my arm (an effective amputation), which I did more of sheer horror than anything - and I was right, it seems.

Now, I can work, not full time, but I can work every day and I can practice a bit. I hope, enough to progress through work and practice, with some average tempo. I can't work long, I have to rest after several days, I can't carry luggage, saw wood and all that - pretty normal - stuff:(

But at least, I am not getting some messed up hormone anti-pain injections three times a day just so I would sleep once every three days and not howl in pain lol. Which is HUGE.


So, let's restart this sketchbook, even though the output will be significantly smaller. First, I have to progress enough in order to be at the level I was lol. Though I think that will go really fast, like riding a bike. Then, we'll see.



So, ok, among other things, I decided to do a "daily street fighter sketch" :)
Each day, I'll do a sketch of a Street Fighter character. I want to see for how long I'll persist. In order to not run out of characters, grey area characters are allowed (perhaps non-playable ones, or capcom characters not in sf etc).

I'll attach the first two.







Also, I have an Ibuki sketch, a bit more elaborate.




And, I have some nda stuff, which kinda hangs in the air (there's been a long-ish pause), and it's too bad I can't show them now, as they are full fledged illustrations. Though, I'll probably attach some that have been published so far and some sketches/processes. Depending of what comes out of it all. There are two illustrations that are already on the company website as banners, so I'd say that should be safe. I'll post them tomorrow or something.

[ZombieChinchilla]

Wooaaahh, it's great to have you back, Doolio!! Sorry to hear about how hard it's been for you the past few years, I'm glad you're feeling better and getting back to it. Excited to see you back here, and happy to see you posting stuff again. Hope all is well and getting better for you

[Doolio]

Thanks:) Let's hope we all get time to work and post:)

[Doolio]

[darktiste]

That linework is kinda loose you might want to clean up those line.Just work to separate the layer correctly and you will be able to erase the extra scribble.Linework on a layer and color on a other layer under the Linework layer so you can erase properly those line if you don't want them or want them to be clean.Also you should try to learn about mask and how to use it to avoid coloring outside of the linework.Nvm my comment if you were going for a sketching feel.

[-echo-]

Welcome back Doolio, I hope you are feeling better!

I agree with darktiste here, your lines are a bit scribbly/chicken scratchy, if you want that sketchy feel I think still that the lines must be smoother/longer and drawn with confident. Try making an underdrawing, then drawing cleaner lines on a layer above, also think about lineweight, which will make it more interesting too look at.

Tough it seems you have a good understanding of anatomy some parts lacks form, especially the faces. Even if you are going for manga-style it is important to practice real heads to get a good fundamental understanding of its form and anatomy. I have seen this a bunch of times with manga artists, and it always make them better.

I belive that if you'll practice linework (including lineweight), form (boxes, cylinder etc.) and realistic headshapes it will make your art jump up a notch :-)

[Doolio]

Hey guys, nice to be back, thanks for the comments:)

Yeah, I went for that kind of look. Everything you say, Darktiste, was actually done, but I didn't want to go too far away, I wanted it to have a scribble feel, though I went through croquis, sketching, positioning, bones, muscles etc. in order to make those scribbles, I didn't want them to not be scribbles (layers are also separated). After all, they are supposed to be kind of a themed daily sketch thing that takes no more than 30 minutes a piece, perhaps 20 minutes. I even think the Sakura one is a bit overdone, I tend to do that. Another reason for me trying to go for these sketches:) I personally think these took too much, though I can't complain, having an arm at all in the first place:D

As I basically wasn't able to do this for a few years, I actually need to have them even more sketchy and quicker, in order to get back to decent figure drawing, if that makes sense. My hand is crude now:)

Oh god, the anatomy is always lacking, especially in the leg department:) In order to tweak it, one has to know it really good, of course, I am far from that. I am MUCH more comfortable drawing a non-stylized figure, face etc. Which is why I am approaching manga stylization VERY cautiously and studiously, because it's so much harder to do it than to draw realistically. But with these sketches, I wanted to exercise a bit and to get back in "control", to put it that way. I am yet to see whether I can even do the "heavy workout" without messing up the arm. These are mainly to get me in shape to "do drawings". Which is the reason lines aren't longer, for example. I can't do longer lines at the moment, I wouldn't be able to draw for more than 20 minutes per day if I did that, sadly. So, I have to go for "quick and short", rather than those confident, long lines, so I try to at least compartmentalize them by some logic of shapes.

So,

Even if you are going for manga-style it is important to practice real heads to get a good fundamental understanding of its form and anatomy

I agree with that and not only that, I perhaps even disagree slightly in how much I agree:) I think the main lack of understanding any type of stylization comes from people mistakenly thinking there are less requirements for it than for a realistic piece. That's why all those "draw manga in xyz steps" frustrate me to no end, because some kid out there is trusting them - and why wouldn't they, it seems intuitive. Which is the notion they survive upon. But nothing can be further from truth. That's why people sometimes tell me I am "too constructive" with my approach to manga, but I disagree. I think that's just the notion of manga style being "floaty". When I went for analysis of certain styles, there was so much to them, in a very sober, constructive sense, that it made my head hurt.
Approaching the stylization studiously, I maintain the stance that it's way harder to draw a decent manga piece than, say, a baroque piece. Being good at anatomy, figure drawing etc. enables one to be, like, below-average in stylization. It's a huge bite to chew.
And even then, after all that, one has to realize when to break the rules, which is another huge bite to chew, as it's not arbitrary (for example, when to go for something that would be impossible to make in 3d anatomically - which is a big no-no in majority of approaches, manga is one of the exceptions, and when to not cross that line, which is extremely important in this kind of stylization).

[-echo-]

20-30 mins sketch a day will make your more confident, and it is bloody fun while doing it, keep it up :-)

I agree with that and not only that, I perhaps even disagree slightly in how much I agree:) I think the main lack of understanding any type of stylization comes from people mistakenly thinking there are less requirements for it than for a realistic piece. 

Agreed! I think it is more difficult to make good stylization than doing realistic art, but it will also get easier to stylize if one know their fundamentals and know when to bend or even break the the rules.