Sketchbook & Progess Log - The journey is the reward!

[Cyprinus]

Wow thanks for all the replies guys!

@construction: thank you so much!

@sam: yay, thankies! I will!

@Othrandir: thanks so much, glad you like them! I really miss my watercolours right now >:

@Forrestimel: no problem, you're welcome! Thank you so much for your kind words and the reminder again!!!! I had a look at my gestures again and I know what you mean. I'm going to pay extra attention here when doing gestures and stuff. I knew this was important but I tend to forget that orz

@Jaik: Thank yo so much! And yes, I agree, I should really practice drapery and also different fabrics. I gotta collect some nice references and then get going!

@brianhermelijn Thank you!!

@Nowio: Thanks! And glad you like the train sketches, although they are so wonky, haha...but I need to put that time to good use! XD

@Eve: No problem, you're welcome! Thanks for the advice, I will surely pay a lot more attention while doing my new gestures! Oh, I didn't even notice they are all so short...well, most of my sketches from imagination are all original characters and although they have a fixed body height I often fail to convincingly draw it, also because I'm not so familiar with proportions like I want to be. The character I'm drawing most is very short though, but I definitely need to pay attention for the others, so thank you for reminding me of this!! Not sure though if I can try the things with the legs, All in all I'd like to keep rather realistic proportions.
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I'm somehow took a seat again in the mental rollercoaster, I'm kind of living a total change of motivation with frustration, then motivation again and so on. I know that it's important to just power trough the frustration or give yourself a bit time to relax when there was too much pressure, but sometimes I fear that I will never be as good as I want to be because ...yeah. Because I'll hit my limit or my brain doesn't have the capacities or whatever. It's terrifying. I mean, theoretically I know that there is no limit and that it is possible to get as good as I dream of, but...yeah. I mean when I noticed that already half the year is over again and I didn't progress as I wish I was really heartbroken, dammit. I'm sorry for ranting like that, but...gah. I'm sure you all might know this feeling. >:

I took the advice and had a closer look at my gestures, watched Proko's video about it again and restarted with the new approach. I don't know why somehow I strayed away from it. I think I began obsessing so much over anatomy that I didn't pay attention to anything else anymore.





I still have such a hard time here and there. I gotta really train my eye and see those movements.

Studies, still a bit focusing on the head









Leyendecker <3



Aaaaaaand stuff from imagination

[matkaminski]

Gestures are pretty important, but remember that they are only the essence of the character only.

Most people forget simple shapes.
Try this as an exercise sometime: Using the three basic shapes (square, triangle, and circle) try and create a few characters using these as basic foundations to use for the attitude of a character.
What I mean is look at the psychology of shape as it relates to your character.
Square = very solid.
Triangle = aggressive, angular.
Circle = very rhythmic, flowing.
Try and combine these three shapes in interesting ways to create a basic character.

These newest from your head are very interesting and I hope to see more like these and that Leyendecker study is a helluva good try!
Another thing to try for is brush variation.
Try and pick out three brushes that you really enjoy and use them in tandem at different parts of your painting.
For example, use one jagged brush for your glass materials, one smooth for flesh, and one textured for things like stone.
It can make some interesting results and also help you find your focal points in your more illustrative work.
Are you trying to be a designer? An illustrator? A painter?
You can of course do all of these, but it's good to narrow focus at first so that you can work individually.
I can't wait to see more, and I think you are really on a good roll!

[pnate]

Ah yes, the art mental rollercoaster! Yup, happens to everyone, which is confirmed by Brad Rigney talking about how he felt like that all the time while he was working his way up. One thing you could do is completely change your daily routine, or just create a schedule and force yourself to follow it for a week or two. Anything to switch it up a bit. Love the graphic design style of that scifi portrait in your last post. Is that the kind of style you are passionate about? Would love to see all those studies applied to the type of work you enjoy the most. Keep that art train rolling Cyprinus

[Nowio]

Wait a second, is that a selfie? :D:D:D

Also like the dude with the floating thing :)

The mental rollercoaster... I get what you mean, kinda enjoying the ride myself at the moment xD
But seriously now, it will end, but where you'll be standing when that happens depends solely on you. I mean in the end it is up to you if you create and/or something or not, as Dave Rapoza said in one of his streams "motivation is not a gift, it's a choise".
My motivation right now is in my current situation: if I don't do something, doesn't matter if unmotivated, tired or asleep, I'll end up in debt and problems... don't want that one to happen so I'm pushing through as good as I can and trying to learn as much as I can :/
May not be the healthiest method but it works xD
A good "therapy" that I discovered is to doodle mindless stuff like this for example
http://instagram.com/p/m2Qn4kMKD4/
most of which I don't show anyone, just my dark little secrets :3

[Cyprinus]

@mat: yeah, I guess you're right! I hope though if I get my gestures a bit more fluent, everything will look a bit more dynamic. Thanks for reminding me of the shapes again, I really should practice this as well (the list of things I should practice gets longer and longer....orz ). Glad you like my newest stuff (: And yeah, brushes...I should also definetely check out brushes...the thing is, the longer the list, the less I get done XD I should really get some clarity about priorities as well...and whoops the list got longer again...

@pnate Thanks so much for mentioning Brad Rigney, I knew his artwork actually, but I dug up the crimson conversation with him yesterday and it was such a great thing to listen to! I'm glad you like the little portrait, I was experimenting a bit here. And yes, I'm really passionate about this stuff, at least the drawing style, I'm not always sure about the way I want to colour though...I really really really love such flat bold colours, but I also like the subtle shades of my watercolours....I'm so confused when it comes to sorting this thing out, it really gives me a hard time.

@Nowio HAHA NO, how did you come up with this idea? Yeah, you're right, it's ultimately always your own decision. Wishing you all the best and a lot of energy to power trough your situation! And that little drawing is cute, doesn't look like a dark secret at all...

@jamesarc thank you so much, glad you like them! Lately I didn't have much time for watercolours but I'll take them with me next week to lifedrawing again, so I hope I can post some new sketches then!

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Here is just some little update. I started reading "Force - Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators" by Michael D. Mattesi. I think it will really help me to understand the dynamics and energy of a pose better. Copied a couple of drawings out of the book and will continue to do so as I go on reading, also tried to put into practice what I already learned yesterday at lifedrawing. I was really suprised, man! I totally had a blast, because suddenly I wasn't analyizing the figure for anatomy any longer but rather felt it, and I really saw those curves. I'm curious how this will develop, above all it really feels fresh, I like it a lot. The results suddenly look as if somebody else drew it, and are a bit messy, but yeah!

studies





lifedrawing





Only problem are the proportions again, the more dynamic I get, the worse the proportions. I hope this will get better as I go on observing and practicing.

Did a couple of studies of details out of Kim Jung Gi's work...the man is fantastic. Was trying to analyze what I love so much about his work besides the fact that he can draw practically everything that exists in this world. Out of his head. Without a sketch.



And a couple of pages out of my new train/tram/whatever sketchbook. Not giving up on the dream of having them look really cool at some point in the future. Set myself the goal to do at least one page every time I get on a train or tram or whatever, if it's possible, that is.





That's it for now, see you!

[Samszym]

woo mattessi! I think using a looser tool, like a crayon or charcoal stick or something, might help you loosen up. Al your art is really clean and tight and I love that about your drawings, but I think drawing really rough would help you get more dynamism in your drawings. You can always clean up a rough sketch on tracing paper if you want to go cleaner.

cool stuff!!!

[aks9]

Aw I was sure I'd commented here before but I guess I haven't.
Your figure drawing is solid and really awesome, especially those watercolour ones. They're really beautiful. Nothing I can say for crits really, keep it up : )

[Jaik]

Thanks for dropping by my sketchbook :)

Nice job to see you pushing through on teh gestures. I agree with Pnate, that scifi graphic design like portrait is great, should follow that rabbit hole for a bit and see where it takes you.

For gestures, its most important to get the action, worry about correcting proportions later. Once designing a dynamic figure becomes second nature you can then work on your proportions. This is why anatomy classes always start with learning how to do the gesture before you go into specifc anatomical detail.

Keep it up :3

[ZombieChinchilla]

Aaaahhhhhhhh man I love your style so so much. <3 <3 Those lines tho. And I love that colored portrait you did, it's just so fun and whimsical and I simply adore it.

[ImSkeptical]

So much awesome drawing, can feel the weight in everything. Love those kim jung gi studies too, i've done so many xD. His shorthand for so many anatomical details conveys so much information so simply and executed so confidently. Tell me what its like when you get there before me :p

[Cyprinus]

@Sam: Mattessi is pretty cool, I really like the energy he conveys in his drawings, exaggerating like him really makes me help feel the pose more. Would you be very disappointed if I told you that the recent life drawings were done with a woodless graphite pencil, with a broad lead and stuff, which I already consider very messy XD? The thing is, I can't really get messy. I can't give up control. It's something I've been thinking about for a really long time already though and right now I'm trying find a solution that works. I need to relax a little. Thanks for the input as always!!! <3

@aks9: Hey, thank you for stoping by my sketchbook! Glad you like what you see so far, I'll try to work a litte harder!

@Jaik: You're welcome (: Yeah, I'm trying to do some every day; it's bothersome though, the quality is changing from day to day, I guess it depends on how relaxed I'm inside...I really want to master this though. I have a hard time sometimes though when I try to translate the gesture into "real anatomy". It kind of starts with a fluent gesture and ends up stiff like always. Guess I gotta keep pushing a bit more. I'm also planning on exploring the style of the sci-fi portrait a bit more in the future, glad you like it!

@ZombieChinchilla: Thank you so much! Glad you like my stuff!

@ImSkeptical: Ahhh thank you so much! I'm glad you see it this way, because I kind of had problems with the weight for a long time, all my figures looked like they were floating XD I'm really happy if that is better now! Can only agree on Kim Jung Gi. I love how everything in his works just looks so three dimensional. I think I need to go on studying more of his works, I feel I could really benefit from it. I think the confidence really plays a big part as well. It's something worth working on as well :3

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I'm always surprised how fast time passes sometimes! I haven't been idle since the last time I posted here, but I also didn't really excel at pumping out the studies. At the moment though I'm also trying to sort mental things out, as I noticed that sometimes I really tend to get to wound up about things and I overthink. It doesn't exactly help me with my drawings so I'm kind of exploring methods to find out why I'm like that, how I can relax and change my attitude. Just some mind-work. It all starts there anyway...
I continued my studies of the "Force" Book though, went to life-drawing, did some study sketches and work from imagination. I just haven't bothered to scan everything yet. I also got a bit back into digital painting, somehow.



Flat-brush only, kind of unfinished. It was taking too long...



Didn't plan on the flats here but I somehow forgot how to blend. I just couldn't do it anymore

And some stuff from my train sketchbook





The other day when I was doodling in the tram, somebody suddenly tapped me on the shoulder and I almost got a heart attack and mentally prepared myself to be reprimanded, because "I was shamelessly sketching other people without their permission" or something like that. Instead the woman said this to me: "Your sketch looks really great!" and she expressed this with such a genuinely happy face that I was really pleasantly surprised. And relieved! It was the first time somebody actually reacted to me sketching like this in public...

Oh, and the little experiment I did, which is now my new avatar



I should probably write less and draw more...

[matkaminski]

I think I get approached like that quite a bit when I'm doing my out and about sketching... Not the 'That looks great' part, but the 'WOW YOUR AN ARTIST?!' part.
People are kind of suprising when they catch you in the act - I always assume people think I'm a pervert or some kind of creeper, but usually people don't mind too much.

Anyway, these experiments are pretty damn cool!
I think that it's important to really see your subject through the flat brush eyeglasses sometimes.
I mainly say this because it really forces you to LOOK at the colors instead of worrying much about the blending and textures.
I'd say just keep on, and don't worry about the amount you do, just make sure that each one is to your maximum potential. :)

[clockodile]

Man Force is a great book. It looks like it is helping your gestures, the earlier figure sketches are pretty fluid looking to me, especially against the previous SB page's. In particular I like what you have done with the girl with the bags - the gesture curve flows through her body nicely, and the size comparison of the bags against her skinny legs gives them a sense of weight. Keep trying to find those gesture lines that travel through the body like that, rather than just getting hung on contours. (Not that contours aren't important regarding shape.)

It is rather unnerving at first when people talk to you when you are drawing in public. I get it a lot (usually at least once when I go out - and once I had some French guy snapping photos over my shoulder!) but it is pretty easy to adjust to. It taught me to draw under adverse conditions, like having 20 children clustered around me.

[Jaik]

That new DP looks really cool. Its great when experiments work out. But now you have thrown me off since a lot of remembering who people are is based on the DP :P

Its always good when people encourage you for drawing in public. I've never had a problem drawing in public but I do occasionally feel like I'm doing something wrong, I'm not really worried if people catch me staring at them but it doesn't mean I don't feel like I'm doing something wrong :P
The people next to you enjoy watching it in my experience. I even got a chicks phone number in this way. Kind of a cliche thing to use the ability to draw from, but procreation is a base instinct, so you cant blame me :P


Keep up the good work man, really inspiring to see :) And keep drawing in public :D

[Lyraina]

The flat brush exercises are really nice, I really like the colors of the face in profile. Even if it wasn’t planned like that!

[Cyprinus]

First replies ...

@mat Haha, I also already thought about that! Glad you like my experiments, it's true that it makes you focus on colour a lot. It's also fun playing with the shapes (:

@clockodile Thank you so much! Glad you think they are beginning to look better! I remember also that the sketch with the girl was really easy and fluent to draw. It felt good. That's what I like a lot about working with the Force book in mind, everything seems so fluid and effortless. At first I was always very nervous when I was drawing in public! I think I'm getting more and more used to it, so that I'm more bold. I think this also led to somebody actually commenting on my stuff. The point with drawing under adverse conditions is really important...especially for cons.

@Jaik Thanks! And aww, maybe it helps when I say that I don't plan on changing it again anytime soon?! Wow, a phone number! Good for you! Maybe I can hunt one or two like this as well XD And thanks again, it's nice to hear my stuff is inspiring in some way!!!

@Lyraina Thanks, glad you like them! Sometimes things work out well even if unplannend, and it's still a good exercise for colours (:

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So I'm still trying to work those mental things out.
Figured I've been too impatient and frustrated a lot lately, did stuff but wasn't really happy with it and felt kind of demotivated afterwards. I know that it's normal to live those ups and downs, but I got really angry at myself for not being able to stay motivated enough...this didn't really help as I was putting all my energy into being angry instead of being productive lol There's always one point though where sit at my desk and ask myself "Did you forget what was important to you?!" Not sure if I'm too strict with myself sometimes. I need to regain my passion. Anway, I'm working on the mess and I think this quote fits best for the current situation: "Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? - Lao Tzu"

Life drawing has also been very frustrating lately. Didn't even bother to scan the stuff. I hope today will be better. I continued with Force and tomorrow I'll start on the new chapter about forceful form.

Also continued anatomy studies from Hampton





Here's some stuff from imagination. I try to be more loose and to quicker sketches. It's not as clean as always, but of course in the same time I manage to do more, so I hope that quantity will help quality in the long run.






I kind of really liked this and because I have a new printer and can make stuff again I spontaneously put this on a tote bag. I noticed a lot of mistakes afterwards orz but I consider it a strike against my perfectionism. And it was fun.
I'm actually thinking about fixing the odd stuff and turning this into a real illustration.



And a digital study



Well. On saturday I went to the opera house to see "Yamato - The drummers of Japan". It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I can only recommend to everybody with an interest in the topic. I was totally energized by it. I wish I would have somebody playing the drum for me every morning to get motivated, haha. Most importantly though, when I sat there I felt the passion and love of those people for the drums. Such mastery. I imagined how much they trained, and how hard it must be on mind and body. And so I sat there and thought that I want to draw and paint like they play the drums.

[rafa zanchetin]

I like the most cheeziest quote to keep myself going, "just do it". Even if I fail time heals everything, so I dump a lot of time into it, lol.
Keep posting!

[clockodile]

Chiming in with the motivation advice, I just look at my really old work (usually from a year ago, or more, since it is a solid unit of time) if I'm feeling bad about my current stuff.

That design printed really well, the graphic sort of style along with your line style suits that sort of thing well. Good job with the imagined sketches as well - I had a quick flip back, and I think you are starting to be a bit more confident with more awkward poses - the fairy girl leaning forward stood out in particular, because tilting the torso that way can be tricky.

Edit: Oops, forgot to reply to that. Good to hear you are getting more used to the people sketching! And you probably will get people coming to talk to you - not that it is necessarily a bad thing, I've met a ton of interesting people I would never get to talk to normally.

[Samszym]

Duuude you have a printer for cloth? super jealous that sounds rad. I love the robot guy too, that graphic design style works great!
Sorry to hear you're having a rough time with motivation, maybe try drawing something you're not used or with an unusual medium to to shock your mind a little? Good luck, can't wait for next update :D

[PacaTatuCotiaNao]

I love your style, man! Keep freaking posting, please! haha

And thanks for all the help!