JyonnyNovice - from Novice to Master!

[monsterism]

Wow this thread is so inspiring, just gone through the thread and its amazing the progress you made.

How much do you spend on studying?.

[JyonnyNovice]

Monsterism Thank you so much! I'm glad it's inspiring. Still a long long way to go though... About study time, from November or so I got up to around 6 hours per day, sometimes more. The last week I've managed to up that again to around 8 - 10 hours a day. I got no work now so trying to make the absolute most of it. I built up to those hours slowly though, before November I was at around 2 - 3 hours a day (when I was working).


Totally ripped off Patrick for these, it's really fun!





And my illustration challenge... totally bit off more than I could chew with this one. When it gets to that point and I suddenly realise I don't even understand what I'm doing, it's time to stop and re-evaluate. The problem I made for myself was painting on top of my thumbnail after I'd done the lines. I had half done lines, half done values and half done colours all at the same time and it was confusing what to do with it all... I got into it, realised it was too hard, switched to a value painting which I didn't complete, then tried to switch back to colour, doing most of it on one layer... it was a real messy approach. Next week I'll try to be more straightforward and methodical.



Lines:

[LaleAnn]

Damn Jon! You just took a leap there! Amazing improvement you got on your gestures and volumes. Pretty jealous right now! Better get my ass working as hard too when i get back home! ;)

[KurtJeremy]

indeed the gestures look very good. the volumes as well i should also try to apply this sometimes. the illustration you did looks very well thought out. now you just need to add more lights and polish to it if you feel like doing so. but other than that i think i got the idea just seeing through it.

[Tygerson]

Wow, awesome to see a "time lapse of improvement" in your sketchbook! You really got solid in your perspective drawing. It's cool to see how you are now adding in value to the perspective drawings--a really nice, logical progression.

Your gestures look fluid and relaxed now. How do you get good lines on the computer? My pencil lines look okay, but the minute I pick up the tablet, it goes to chicken scratch.

Anyway, press forward!

[corneliussen]

damn remember talking to you about a year ago, damn dude you done gud!

[JyonnyNovice]

Lale That's ironic cause I changed up my style after seeing those nice clean lines on one of your recent gesture / figure drawings. Trying to get things in one nice line instead of my usual way where I'm constantly searching and restating lines while I'm thinking what to put next. Ends up too messy my drawings, I like this approach, it's good practice for me. Thanks for the great comment! We can level up together ^^

foxfire Thanks, yes I feel like I can sort of see what needs to be done on that picture, but idk don't quite have the skill / experience to finish it. Might go back to it some time in the future, for now I will try something simpler with less small little pieces to think about.

Tygerson Hey! welcome back sister! Wondered if you were still around. Thanks for the comment. As to the lines, I've done few things to make it easier to get nice lines:

1) Use the Lazy Nezumi plugin set to 'subtle smooth' (it's an awesome plugin, pretty cheap)

2) Remapped my tablet to use its actual physical size on my screen - basically so if I draw 14 cm on a ruler on my tablet, the line on my screen is also 14cm. It makes it feel like you are drawing more with a pencil, before I felt like I was drawing with a five foot stick, as a tiny movement on the tablet made the cursor race across my screen. You end up having to use a smaller section of your screen but I think the trade is worth it - if you wanna try it I'll post some screenshots of how to set that up

3) found a nice brush that I find fun to draw with (am using some pencil texture brushes Patrick linked on his sketchbook a little while ago) - really helps to like the lines you make, instead of just thinking of them as an undersketch that will be covered up.

4) Changed the colour mode settings (Edit > colour settings > Blend RGB Colors Using Gamma checkbox ON). It's for colors but does something with the light and dark and how dark / how much of the blurry edges of the line shows up, so when you're drawing the lines just come out different - hard to explain, better to play with it and see. Hope that helps!

Cornelliussen Thanks so much, I'm trying hard! Still a lot to do


As for my progress, I injured my hand (overdoing it with digital pen) so haven't been drawing really since the last update. Should be back at it soon enough. In the meantime some little sketches I did testing if my hand was better. A Pedro Perez study then I tried to re-pose the same character. Kinda fun.

[Adam Lina]

Nice figures Jon! About your hand. Have you tried out Workrave? http://www.workrave.org/

I used it while back when I was working a lot in digital and it helped a ton in keeping my hand from getting soar.

[JyonnyNovice]

Thanks man, I installed that program straight away, this is what I need ^^

[CoreyH]

Good to see you've been working hard man. Thanks for the encouragement in my SB, really needed it. Your form is getting so fucking crazy, instantly made me want to get out Robertsons book. Nice work!

[JyonnyNovice]

Corey Thanks man, appreciate it! Hope to see you keep updating!

My hand is mostly better now, still gotta take it easy but that workrave program is so good to help me keep things in check. Been spending all my time learning Zbrush. Here's a render after doing this monster of a tutorial from Digital Tutors:



Now I'm gonna start to use Zbrush to help me get better at anatomy and heads and to understand 3D forms better.

[KurtJeremy]

awwwesome finally getting to the 3d foray! what tutorial is that from?
about the hand thing , Stop when your feeling something. i have this injury in my wrist that never goes away and i need to see a doctor for this. someday.

[JyonnyNovice]

Thanks man. It was this tutorial: http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/10...-to-ZBrush

[nymph0]

I haven't go through all of yout post, last stuff shows you'r on good way, no to say the dedication from the start will only add to it :) keep that hardwork man!

[StardustLarva]

I like that last model, Jon. The variation in shape fits nicely. Good expression too. I'd be interested to see what else you'll do in 3D.

[JyonnyNovice]

Nymph Thanks! Thanks for stopping by.

Stardust Cheers mate, I'll try and do something as interesting outside of a tutorial.


I've been finally back with drawing for a few days, trying to tackle my weaknesses and fears. I've known for a while that still life & master studies are really tried and tested ways to improve but I neglected them both (because I had fear and they felt really hard). Anyway, I'm trying to tackle that now - going to do a still life everyday for this week, then switch to master studies next week (then switch back to still life etc. if I can keep it up).

Here are the last three days:







I'm working on, mainly; proportions, draftsmanship, construction, rendering accurate relative values and not killing my line undersketch by shading over lines and cutting into forms. All of this is pretty weak right now - I feel like a GCSE art student (16 years old) - but I will keep at it!

[StardustLarva]

It's good to see you're attempting to tackle some of your direct weaknesses, that is indeed how one can get better with them. I'd say you're getting it with the still life stuff. I would probably say that some of the tones could be emphasised and made darker, in the first and second pieces. Still, looks like you're getting the hang of it, so just keep at it.

[KurtJeremy]

Yo my friend!
im glad your tackling those fears! im gonna be honest with you , i fear still lifes too. cos i always get bad results with them,and i find them extremely boring (at least for me).
so whenever i do them i usually have music on. so i can sing while doing them XD.

anyway , are you aware of this book? ii definitely recommend you use it as ref , while doing youre still life challenge. this guy really put in the effort of organizing such a invaluable book. donate to him if you can. its just that awesome!

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthr...-From-Life

(if the links doesnt work ill give you a copy of a pdf if you want)

keep it up man !

[JyonnyNovice]

Stardust Yes it's (another) problem of mine, getting dark tones in there. I use a 6B and even an 8B sometimes but when I press down hard I lose control and end up killing things so I'm too hesitant... need to improve skill I guess. Thanks for the comment!

Foxfire That book was really really great, I read the whole thing. It really helped me in a few areas. Thanks so much for sharing!


Yesterday's still life was a failure but came back to attack it again today. Posted up my process in case anyone has any suggestions on how to improve it.

Thumbnail to frame things up and identify the lightest and darkest areas. Then v.light undersketch construction with a 3H pencil, then values / rendering with 2B / 6B mainly trying to play up the light / dark areas. My planning tends to fall by the wayside as I get into the rendering but I am getting better at keeping my original intentions in mind, I just can't quite achieve them yet.

[JyonnyNovice]

Today's effort: