StardustLarva's Visual Explorations

[pnate]

Hey Stardust! Awesome to see you breaking down the forms of the insects. How's the book been? Make sure you take your time with each exercise as it can get really complicated later on.

[Patrick Gaumond]

I agree with nate, really take your time with each exercise and compare it with the stuff in the books. It's not about perfection but about progress

You have the right idea when the boxes are below the horizon line, but its completely off when it goes above it. Remember that in perspective, all parallel lines converge towards the horizon line. Yes in reality those lines are parallel, but to convey distance and depth, and because of the curvature of the earth and that our eyes can only see so much resolution, they appear to converge towards a point.

What you're doing right now is more like isometric perspective, which has it's place for certain things, but is not what you want to be doing if you're going for linear perspective. If you're not yet able to make freehand straight lines, then use a ruler so you can learn about perspective without struggling with straight lines. You can practice that separately and bring it in when you're more comfortable with it

http://web.carteret.edu/keoughp/AFA%20im...ve%201.jpg

http://art.nmu.edu/groups/cognates/wiki/.../e7fe3.jpg

[StardustLarva]

Pnate-Hi Nate! Yes, I do need to take my time with each exercise. Thanks for the little prompt there. I am liking the book thus far, it's pretty complicated but I think it'll be worth it if I take it in.

Patrick Gaumond-Very well then, I didn't think that what I was doing was entirely correct. I'll keep that in mind as I keep studying.

I haven't worked as much with the book recently (I blame Pokemon Omega Ruby), but I do have a couple of studies.



Study of the beetle Anomala cupripes.



Illustration of the domestic apple, Malus domestica.

[StardustLarva]

Some bits and pieces from today, value studies of basic 3D shapes and a bust. Most of them were referenced from photographs in Giovanni Civardi's book Drawing-A Complete Guide. Now to get back to work on perspective, as I am a bit behind on that...

[StardustLarva]

Been working more in graphite. Here's a couple more endeavours.



A quick study sketch from a photograph of a forest landscape.



A questionable concept sketch for the graphic novel I'm planning. Felt like trying hatching and failed.

[StardustLarva]

Just did this quick study of a male Dynastes tityus beetle. This is the first time I've worked in colour with acrylics in a while. I really suck at traditional painting, so any advice you have at all would be very appreciated, as it is something I definitely want to get better at. Reference used here.

[jamsession]

hi there! thanks for stopping by, your visit made my day : ))) i especially dig your collages on the book pages, very original idea. my humble suggestion would be to focus a lil bit on the values, particularly with the digital piece. your lines are very solid, the birgus latro blew me away! subscribin : )

[StardustLarva]

Hi there, thank you for your kind words. I'm working on stuff like that at the moment.

Haven't been able to draw as much the past few days, but I have a few study sketches at least. The last two were done with a new set of graphites I received recently (Cretacolor Monolith pencils), which are very good quality.



Portrait sketch of James Lovelock. I really struggled with the eyes on this one. Reference used here.



Value (kind of) study of an Allomyrina dichotoma beetle. Reference used here.



A quick tonal sketch of a monkey skull.

[StardustLarva]

A current work in progress. This one is to be part of a diptych. Spoilered because it contains mild nudity.

Spoiler

[Bookend]

Wow, really very interesting piece you've got going. I'm looking forward to seeing what direction you're going to take it. I love surreal pieces like this.

Keep up the great work!

[StardustLarva]

Thank you! Here's the finished diptych. I had to use phone photos because for some reason my scanner simply wouldn't cooperate with me on these. Spoilered as it contains naughty bits.

Spoiler

[Bookend]

Interesting work! Keep it up, eh?

Hopefully your scanner will learn to listen to the word of its God :3

[Othrandir]

Hey man! Thanks for commenting on my sketchbook. I looked through yours and you definitely have some progress. I would suggest practicing those simple shapes more, to get the values right. Anatomy has gotten a lot better, but it still needs work. I'm pretty much saying the same stuff I tell myself :D

Otherwise, really interesting work man ;)

[StardustLarva]

Bookend-Thank you. Yeah, hopefully it will, damn thing.

Othrandir-Thank you very much! Yes, I am working on the fundamentals at the moment. I should get around to posting more of my perspective exercises and stuff, though I don't think those things are very interesting to look at.

I acquired some Prismacolor pencils, and I love them. To test them out, here's a study of the beetle Megasoma elephas.

[meat]

Hey Stardust, your beetles show form improvement already, keep drawing, and keep studying the Roberson book. I'm starting that too.

[JyonnyNovice]

Awesome beetle man! Really looking 3D and dramatic! I got some prisma colours too recently, they're really rich and smooth aren't they ^^

[StardustLarva]

Meat-Thank you. I intend to keep chipping away at it. Hope it goes well for you too.

Jyonny-Thanks man. Yes, Prismacolours are probably the best coloured pencils I've ever used. I love them.

I have some various bits and pieces, though nothing too significant, to show.



Foremost, some samples of my recent exercises from the Scott Robertson book. I took the advice offered to me and used a ruler this time; hopefully the drawings look more defined!





A couple of samurai-related studies.



A study of the bat Plecotus christii, which I didn't finish as I messed up some of the colours.



Lastly, a painting I finished last night. This one was an experiment with abstraction and heavy brush strokes. Thoughts?

[StardustLarva]

My most recent illustration. My hand aches after this one...

[StardustLarva]

Hey everyone, happy new year. I'm aiming to try and push myself a bit harder with working on the fundamentals this year, so here's some bits to start off the year. The following are all general value studies.



A study of a caterpillar I don't know the species of.



A quick value study from a portion of this photograph.



Lastly, a value study of a mannequin. This one was done in gouache, while the other two were acrylic. Any advice on blending and generally controlling the paint in a cleaner fashion would be greatly appreciated, as I would like to get better at painting.

[IrishWhiskey]

Those gouache paintings are looking great! makes me want to try it now