Doolio's doodles

[Doolio]

Today, Hampton continuation:) And, I've got to the anatomy chapter, yay! So, tomorrow I plunge into the anatomical goodnes:D

[EduardoGaray]

hah school girls my only weakness!

good practice man, its good to see the way you are hammering hampton.
The only i would recommend you is (if you arent doing it already) is to add some exercises from imagination to the mix.
Like for example, i've been doing an excercise of drawing the same head in all angles until it rotates completely from left to right. Its really good help retaining the studies.

[Doolio]

Yes, I'll have to add something like that to the routine soon enough. Though I'm kinda counting these stuff I'm doing from imagination (which is almost all except Hampton's book) as "applying Hampton" too. And I think it already helps, like the basketball girl is sorta dynamic for example and this last witch girl seem to be okay-ish in terms of general anatomy... of course, for my current level of output, not generally:D

As I delve into the anatomy chapter, I assume I'll get acquainted with basic muscle groups, so I could start drawing nekkid ladies and gentlemen from imagination to complement the studies.

[ImSkeptical]

Wow your Hampton studies are awesome! I feel like you need to find a way to integrate it with your anime stuff though. Maybe try really nailing the cel shaded lighting design, I remember looking at this persons drawings http://paintdump.blogspot.com.au/ helped me with that.

[Doolio]

Thanks man:D

There are some awesome sketches on that blog lol:)

I am trying to incorporate what I learn from various sources (these days it's obviously Hampton lol) all the time:) I mean, maybe it doesn't show because I still suck:D, but I try to apply the approach whenever I do stuff other than Hampton studies.
Now, cel shading per se is a strange beast to me. I mean, sometimes I really find it unattractive and then I see something that I really like and so on. I've always regarded cel shading as something you do by boiling down the realistic shading (I see it as a specific approach but only in relatively small regard). I suppose I'll hone my own approach as time goes by, as right now, I don't know what exactly I want my anime to look like:) So I'm basically experimenting with things and I think that could take a while:) I mean, when I'm looking at the illustrators I like, I'm jumping from one to another going "oh boy oh boy". I don't have a clear style in mind...

[Lyraina]

Hah, you always manage to spark such interesting discussions in your sketchbook... you really are thinking a lot about those things (like stylization without "anorexia-tion"). Always gives me a lot to think about even if I can't really contribute because I'm still quite clueless :D

The little with on the last page is cute! But yeah, the hair could use some work. I know it is easier to say than do as I struggle with it myself - but try to think of the strands of hair as design elements, supposed to add a nice rhythm and flow to your image... maybe even a bit like flowing water. (Example: http://fav.me/d5nhpz0 )

[Doolio]

Hah, you always manage to spark such interesting discussions in your sketchbook... you really are thinking a lot about those things (like stylization without "anorexia-tion"). Always gives me a lot to think about even if I can't really contribute because I'm still quite clueless :D

Yes, that's how my brain works, I suppose:) I mean, I actually don't dwell on it too much time-wise, though it might seem like I'm in a constant limbo of overthink:) It's just, I analyze things like that, trying to understand the principles underneath, even if it's about unimportant or simple things:)
That's why maybe I'm in love with psychology and philosophy, finding patterns and mechanic in this and that:) What is funny, I'm legendary stupid when it comes to math:D
Oh, and I think you can contribute as good as any of us clueless people here:D

As for the anorexia and other such things, it's simply something I'm fascinated with, because I am very far from doing it:) And then, naturally, I'm like "omg how they do that god damn":) Because the feeling I have isn't one of those "ok, they do it like that and I have to practice for a long tame before I would be able to do it" but it's rather one of those disheartening "I don't know how it's done at all, what is this sorcery" stuff:)

The little with on the last page is cute! But yeah, the hair could use some work. I know it is easier to say than do as I struggle with it myself - but try to think of the strands of hair as design elements, supposed to add a nice rhythm and flow to your image... maybe even a bit like flowing water. (Example: http://fav.me/d5nhpz0 )

Yeah, some time will pass before I draw a decent hair:D
If I try and analyze it (!), it may be that I am too fast and "yolo" when it comes to hair, as I never saw it as a key factor in a drawing, as I was drawing realistically and likeness, value and rendering were the things I cared about. And the "likeness" of hair could be accomplished with two or three strokes. I even think I already mentioned this "theory" on this topic before. Ah, well...:)

About the link... yes, that's good hair:) And the flow is the thing I think I lack the most, maybe ("maybe" is there because I lack like a hundred things about hair:) ). Although, stylistically, I was going for that "toilet paper" look, a bit more simplified. Something like this maybe

http://s297.photobucket.com/user/kinderl...e.jpg.html


Of course, I failed, but I just wanted to say that I wasn't going for that "hairy hair" (with which I might even fail less!):)

Good example for the stylization without anorexia would maybe be this
http://mayafreaksblog.files.wordpress.co...thic-5.jpg

I mean, yes, she has twigs for legs and she is pretty much anorexic, but they are VERY thin and yet the stylization isn't over the top and she is still attractive. So, the artist somehow accomplished to create a presentable girl who isn't cartoonized (where everything goes and exaggerations could be quite extreme and still convey what they should) and whose legs are twigs:)

When I try to do that, I draw ten times wider legs, which are MORE anorexic:D For example, see the black and white girl with the spear (I think it's on the first page):)




As for today's update, that's questionable. It's 00:15, I've just come home and I've got nothing, being all day out of home. But, as I said I would update every day, I'll have to do SOMETHING, so I'll go respond to another post and make an update, small one, but better than nothing:)

[Lyraina]

Ah yes, I see what you mean ... still, the exampe you posted has that "flow" I tried to describe... just nice curevs (S and C curves?) placed together in harmony/rhythm. Nice description btw. Toilet paper hair. :D

I agree about the not-anorexig-twig-girl... I think it just is a multitude of factors that come together - simplification (less pronounced knees than would be realistic for example), exaggerated proportions (stretched legs..) while still keeping the basic anatomy right (muscle forms and distribution). Any factor of those can be varied in different degrees, resulting in different styles (and possibly, if done careless, turning out anorexic or, what happens when I do it, over-sexualized, instead of just twig-like and pretty like the example you posted).

[Doolio]

Of course, I have absolutely no flow or harmony or sense of unity or whatever you want to call it, in that hair I drew:) That goes without saying:) I put the example just to show the kind of approach I was after, as that is something that eludes me the most - if we disregard the flow thing, the fact remains that I tend to draw tentacles instead of paper rolls and it's something I can't get rid of yet:) But, repetitio mater studiorum est or so they say:)

About the twiggy-ness, maybe we could add that flow into the mix too:) The right "amount" of curves for the knees and calves, for example, which dances on the verge between cartoonization and realism.

Argh, must make update:D

[smrr]

Killing it with the Hampton studies, Doolio!

And I have to agree with Lyraina, your sketchbook is full of interesting reads... and the thing is, yep, you really do talk about topics that catch my eye, that by the time I finish reading and viewing what gold nuggets you've left behind - I'm like: "shit, gotta practise!" and forget to reply to your thread lol.

So anyways, keep up the great work, keep being yourself and have fun :D

P.s: haha I absolutely suck at math as well xD

[Doolio]

Thanks smrrf:)

Maybe I should put some warning in the thread title, not to sway people from their practice:D

But yeah, generally I love to talk (being it a dialogue or a monologue lol:D). And there's so much to talk about here. Every update brings some new or old topics... for example. in one of my previous posts (the biggest one I'd say) I've written about some stuff that I think present some major problems with aspiring anime artists and with whole anime tutorial stuff. And the thing is, it seems that almost nobody talks about it:) Almost like it's some kind of taboo. And then I get interested and annoyed and curious etc. and then I talk about it and analyze it like forever:)
And a lot of the time I simply want to get things out of my system or think aloud, so every update begins with a mini analysis:)


And today's update is maybe the smallest this far (let's hope it will remain the smallest:) ). I have two uniforms (frankly I had one portrait from imagination as well, but it was so horrible that I simply exited the photoshop without saving it and sat in the corner shivering for some time:) ).

---

Ah, stayed awake a bit more, did this too

[Doolio]

Okay, I tried doing some thumbnail compositions. I want to delve, like, REALLY SLOWLY into environments and backgrounds and space in general, as I virtually never did that. So, please don't laugh:D

Speaking of which, do you guys know any sources/books/links that would help me start with that from scratch? I mean, are there any specific sources about environments and landscaping? I know I need to practice perspective, composition etc. Oh, and I have ordered Scott Robertson's book, can't wait:) And I have ctrlpaint's tut on perspective. So, perspective-wise, I am armed for the war. But I don't really know what else to study and, in general, where to start from?



So, these I did from references:




And these are home-made:)




The thing I notice the most is the poor content, I have these shitty claws everywhere and those are like only things I can come up with, apparently:) I didn't even know I do that lol:) So, everything is simple and scarce and poorly designed, even for thumbs. So, I guess some practicing from environment references is in order, to enhance the visual library. At least, that's what I would conclude from this experiment.

[Doolio]

Today, I tried putting people in perspective, approximately.











Whoa, two persons, checkpoint reached:D Yeah, they're awful but I don't think I've ever done anything with two persons without reference:)





And, I tried to be smrrfette for a bit and do a nude sketch:) which turned out to be quite creepy, but what can you do:)






If my updates turn out to be poor in quantity these days, it's because I'm watching instructional stuff quite a bit, which often demands undivided attention and looking at the screen, so I'm not lazy, just doing theory stuff:D

Also, I'm getting into that ol' disheartened zone lol:) I mean, I don't think it would affect my practice dedication, but it does affect me psychologically. Meh, I hope I'll get out of it soon:) It's just, I often see artwork that's worse than what I can pull out at the moment in every major area. But, I also often like it and save it to disk lol:) Whereas I pretty much dislike whatever I do and I also dislike my style (as in, how my personal input manifests in my work, not the quality or the direction of style as is).

[crackedskull]

Love the style of the anatomy studies.
The fact that you see your work as bad, is a good indicator, it means that your eyes are basically leveling up. Everyone goes through this, its natural, you just keep rolling with it and you are sure to improve.

It all boils down to having an inner battle with your lazy self, whenever you start thinking that you cant do something because you're tired etc... Just say to yourself(by witch I mean the lazy part): Fuck you, Ill still do it.

[Doolio]

Yup, that's what I'm basically doing since I've opened the sketchbook:) I must say I haven't had major problems with laziness since. Which is great, I just may be the laziest person on Earth:D

As for the seeing one's work as bad, I know what you're saying, but it's not that:) I mean, due to my "fine art past" I have "developed" eyes that are quite a bit above the level of my own artistic capabilities. Which is both good and bad, I guess...
But this is a bit different, I often find artwork that's below the level of my own (not that I'm on any decent level, it's just a comparison) quite appealing to my senses. And also, what I dislike about my artwork at the moment, it's not the quality, but the style. In other words, I think I would dislike something done by a hypothetical future Doolio who knows his stuff. I would probably say "this is awesome, but I don't like it":) And that kinda sucks, because sensibility itself is something which doesn't have that much with one's skill (at least to some degree).
But yeah, it may very well be just the odd variation of "I know more than I can do" thing:)

[Adam Lina]

If youre not liking your style you should try copying drawings by an artist with a style you really like. I was doing that with Frazetta drawings the last couple days. I copied his drawings and then tried to do my own original drawing and apply what I was picking up from the studies. I didnt feel like they were better drawings than I normally do but I definitely felt like they came out more "Frazetta-ish" due to the studies. I want to do that with more artist and maybe I can absorb all their awesomeness into my brain :D

[Doolio]

I do that from time to time, though I'm not certain it encompasses these things:) They are too subtle, it's less about "hey, I draw my heads like this and I don't like it" or about an actual style and more about the impression, it would show through a totally abstract piece, for example.

Well, I hope it will pass, either me disliking that or the sensibility itself:D

[Samszym]

Try starting those in-perspective figures with boxes and cylinders to make their forms clearer. Using those simple forms forces you to decide what's closer to you and what's further away so you can work out drawing issues without having to worry about anatomical details and stuff.
Keep killin' it!

[Doolio]

I did actually:D It's still hard as hell, due to the lack of experience I'd say:)

[Lyraina]

I actually can relate to that 'don't like the way my own art is looking' problem. I think this is mostly what made me stop drawing for a few years when I was younger (and also still believed in 'skill' etc). Which is obviously the wrong approach. I think it does help to just concentrate on studies, from life as well as from other sources, or maybe focus on a completely different area for a while, and see what that does for your art (like..perspective studies, or developing your visual library).