Sketchbook & Progess Log - The journey is the reward!

[Cyprinus]

@ Adam: Yes!!! I hope it will be. This year's been so chaotic, and I'm so tired of it by now. I hope that I can finally find a good rhythm again (:

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So why is it that always, when I work out a plan and a schedule, something happens that totally destroys it...it's like murphy's law, probably. Also, it's been so unusual hot here and it really affects my productivity. Hm.

A lot of boring stuff this week....figures and figuring out perspective. I feel really bad that I'm so behind on a fundamental topic like perspective. It's really embarassing, and sometimes I feel pretty hopeless, because it seems like my brain can't process this information. I'm being very frustrated with me and my results, but I guess I somehow need to power trough it. Being frustrated also means that I'm out of my comfort zone which is a good thing, because
I'm learning something/ challenging myself (HOPEFULLY).


From photo ref



Gestures from dancing videos




left from imagination, right from life. The thing at the bottom is my I Pod stand and it's been a struggle. I'm not going to leave this thing alone though because it feels like a good study subject to me. Definitely will be going back to it.



More of the stand and figures. The construction stuff concerning the figures is copied from Krenz, from  his study material that he posted on deviantArt back then.



Bridgman/Hampton. Don't know why I didn't continue here, either I ran out of time or it was too hot. I really want to deepen my anatomical knowledge, hm.

I want to add some colour to this post so I'm posting some stuff that is a bit older. My friend gave me his gouache paints a while ago because he won't use them anymore, so here's some stuff I did, ACEO-size



First try, in combination with watercolours because I was too afraid to use the gouache paint for skin.



Second try. I noticed that I don't know anything about facial anatomy and so I can't paint it. Back to studies, it is.



Posting this because I kind of like how it came out, I thought I could maybe add something I'm not as frustrated with for a change as well! XD

Planing to continue studies on backgrounds and perspective this weekend. Let's see how this goes.

[meat]

That arm bone study... doesn't the humerus turn at least a little bit when the forearm flips upside down? Does it really stay completely in the same position? I"m not criticizing your study, I'm just rather curious now. It _feels_ like it might be turning when I feel my own arm, but that may very well be just the muscles enclosing the humerus bone that are moving, and the bone inside isn't budging at all. .... Wouldn't it be great to have an X-ray machine and a willing victim to watch them move their body parts and we get to study the motion while only seeing the skeleton?

[Cyprinus]

@meat

I just tried it out myself and it does move a little! I feel it's also depending on how much attention you pay to the movement, like if I do it all sloppy it will move more, but it's also almost possible to turn the wrist without moving the humerus much.

Those studies were done from Bridgman. I will definitely check back on them this afternoon and compare if I missed something. I'll also dig around in my Bammes Book for the arm section.
Thanks so much for pointing this out, I wouldn't have given a second thought I think!!

And yes, A willing victim and x-ray would be perfect ;_: I think up to know I didn't pay enough attention the skeleton, although it's so important.

[Bookend]

Heyhey, nice work. If you find you're having trouble deepening your anatomy knowledge, I find it really helps to compare proportions. Like, which line is where, and what's happening. Then, once you think you've got it, try to draw it without looking. Start with the skeleton and build on it. It seems like a lot, but I think that the hard work makes up for it.

And, hey, the journey is the reward. It's nice to be reminded of that when I visit your sketchbook, haha. So, thanks for that! And for the inspiring colourful pieces, too!

[Cyprinus]

@bookend:

Thanks! Glad you could find some inspiration here (:

Now I have to thank you for reminding me to think about my study methods again instead of copying mindlessly. I've been really tired this year so I've been going easy on a lot of stuff. Regretting that deeply now, but it can't be helped. I will keep your advice in mind for the next anatomy studies!

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First of all, I didn't really solve the humerus mystery yet. I've compared with Bridgman where I took t he study from, and there the humerus doesn't move - but I guess it's not the main focus of the drawing anyway so maybe it's a bit secondary for that one depiction. I tried to find a solution in Bammes but didn't really find one in the pictures, I have to read the text thoroughly which I haven't yet. As I wrote above, when I test it with my own movements, it feels like it moves. The solution is not forgotten, only postponed though.

Not much of an update today. I've been thinking a lot and I've been going back through my sketchbook here, thinking about what I wrote. I think I realized some important things for myself, which is good, and it will hopefully help me in the future.




rough freehand stuff from animation backgrounds. Baby steps, Baby steps...


I didn't realize how badly I messed up my screen until I scanned it, lmao


I thought it had already been a month since the last self portrait so I did a new one. I somehow mess up face shapes very badly. I wonder how many I have to do to get a good likeness...




And scanned some sketchbook stuff from imagination.

[Bookend]

I like your newest work! Amazing perspective stuff, here! Lovely self-portrait! I'm sure it won't take long before you're able to do a likeness.

What really helped my observation skills was doing copies of master paintings and putting a grid over it. Holy crap. It took like 50 hours or something for one of my pieces, but it was worth it. It looks almost identical. After that, I didn't have a lot of trouble with comparing and putting down lines. It's just about taking that extra bit of effort to make it 'perfect', lol.

So, keep working hard! Glad that you're gonna think more about your anatomy studies. It's important for your growth.

[Bookend]

Great figures and value studies! My only suggestion is to allow yourself to go in deeper when you're working with values/colour-- You're gonna wanna refine it and get the most out of the gradient/palette. Other than that-- Keep it up! Looking good!

[EduardoGaray]

you know i like all your stuff, but this one in particular really rocks:
It really shows how less is more and how important fundamentals are. 
The shading looks like it was designed, it doesnt look random and i guess thats one of the reasons why it stands out. 
I definitely would like to see more of this style!

[Cyprinus]

@bookend: Thanks for all your input again! Values are a point I'm still struggling with a lot. I feel it has gotten a bit better recently, but yeah, much to go! I'm planning on doing a master study soon. I just need to block out enough time for it to work on it.

@Eduardo: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like this little piece, it felt like such a struggle in between.... I totally agree on "less is more". Although there are still artists with a detailed style which I admire a lot, I'm definitely more drawn to the "simpler" things recently. I think it has it's own appeal and beauty. Even when I do sketches and stuff. Why use a lot of lines if you can express what you want in a single one? I'm definitely going to play around more with gouache as well. Gonna share my results here or on my tumblr :> Thanks for stopping by!
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So yeah. Recently I've been feeling antsy and restless lately, because I can't seem to find the right balance between work, personal work and studies. I want to finish all my projects and also start new ones, but I feel bad if I don't do studies, but sometimes I just don't have enough time to do both. It leaves me in an endless frustration and I'm advancing not one bit. I need to try combining both more.

I started following Proko's Anatomy course. My more than insufficient knowledge of perspective is getting in the way more and more. Suddenly all my stuff looks wrong.





Colour Studies, 30min (nature) and one longer. First time I tried to paint such a forest scene. Also trying out
more different brushes...





Stuff on my desk. The angles came out better than usual here, I think...



And yeah, in a moment where I was totally out of my mind I decided to tackle the 30-Day RPG-Challenge. I didn't want to, at least not this month, but then suddenly I had an idea and I felt so inspired that I HAD to go for it. So my idea is about an adventure under water, which is....challenging in more than one way, because more than often I finish my sketch and realize stuff that doesn't make sense. So I'm basically searching for creative solutions all the time, like in the bar, where I happily drew bottle after bottle until I thought "Wait, do they even drink?" Or the granny with her basket and stuff that doesn't float around....because she puts it on little pins that are in the basket. I think it just shows that I'm dumb and sometimes don't put enough thought into what I'm doing before I start to draw. On the other hand, I was so happy that I felt as inspired as I hadn't in ages that I didn't want to lose this feeling, no matter what, so I started right away. GAH. So...I consider this as brainstorming sketches. Like....put every idea down at first, regardless whether it sounds stupid, illogical or whatever.

Also I can't draw environments and backgrounds, but that's not new.




Sadly I feel that my stuff for the challenge is getting worse instead of better at the moment. The inspiration magic from the beginning feels kind of gone, I think because I more and more realize how stupid some things are.
I still think that I'll take some sketches and make something more out of them, mostly the character designs.

I'll probably try to redraw the stuff that involves environment after I participated in Amit's class.

[meat]

Make a list of stuff you want to do, and leave space next to them, so each time you do something contributing to each item, you put a sticker/check mark next to that list item. This way you can see better "Oh, I haven't got any sticker for [insert personal project name] at all in the Week 1 of September. I'll carve out 1 hour tonight to do something towards that goal."

[lurch]

I really like the stuff you did for the 30 day RPG challenge, I can see what you're saying about considering the practicalities of your designs afterwards, but I guess working at that pace, the main thing is to see through the initial ideas to a finished drawing, and maybe you can refine afterwards?

Your ideas are really strong though, loved the weak enemy design and the addition of the faces in the drops on the oil monster.

You seem to have found a real good balance between studies and personal work that I'm struggling with, I'm either studying to the point of misery, or doodling personal work and annoyed that I can't pull it off!

Great sketchbook, really like your style and ideas. Keep it up.

[Lyraina]

Omg, I love your sketchbook so much <3
The designs for ‚Unda‘, the quality of your drawings, … but I totally feel you on the perspective frustration. Good job on deciding to tackle that weakness, it may be annoying, but definitely worth it in the end :)

I’m curious about the Unda project … how are you going about designing those? Are you doing thumbnail sketches first, then draw them out nicely? Or do you directly jump into drawing the final thing? Are you drawing bodies first, then put clothes on them?
I don’t think it’s dumb at all to just draw all the ideas when you feel inspired. You can always draw more, or change things later after all, but putting a lot of things down on paper is never a bad thing! :)

Agreeing with meat on the scheduling issue. Also keep in mind that there is NEVER enough time, and never enough time to do everything we want to do. It is as it is, and we have to make the best from it, and prioritize.