Denikina's Improvement Sketchbook

[denikina]

Another one :)

Some early sketches and concept:

[Mike]

Woa, that last one turned out fantastic. Great realistic look. I like the design and the studies especially that shiny torso :) Keep going and good luck. Nice to see someone from the same country ;)

[Lyraina]

Agree with Mike, great character design. Especially love her upper body and head for some reason, haha :) Her eyes seem quite asymmetrical to me though, was that intended?

[denikina]

Lyraina - Well, the concept is for my boyfriend's 3d model and we agreed on the face of one model (Olga Moskvina - http://indulgy.ccio.co/2/DF/w6/312437911...zVAj6c.jpg), who has indeed asymmetrical eyes. :D I thought about changing that, but since the concept is heavily texture based, I only thought it makes the face less...artificial and more human. ;) As an artist I started to realise, that I actually like those small feature flaws and how they add character to the face. But I also still make anatomy mistakes :D

This time something in a rather different style: part of private project I am working on with a friend.
Big break form textures and quickness. I aimed for something more stylised with a bit of an unreal, exaggerated feel to it.

[edit] Is anybody else going to THU2015? :))

[crackedskull]

Love the colors on the last enviro, also great characters!

[denikina]

crackedskull - Thanks! I'm hoping to post more of those in the future :)

Inspired by some amazing individuals here and on other fora, I decided to spam you, guys more frequently with more studies and sketches, I hope nobody minds ;)

November became my enviro study month. I don't know, if I'll manage, but I'll try to do one very day.
The first one's here. Around 2 hrs.



And some quick pose sketches - I started drawing those again, cause I almost forgot how it's done... D:

[rafa zanchetin]

Hey denikina!
That last character lineart is great! You have a great sense of design, I gotta learn myself some of that.

[Samszym]

Cool stuff!!! I really like the flatter look in Artemia too. colors in the environments are tasty. I think you could make use of some more soft edges in those

[denikina]

rafa zanchetin - Oh, thank you! If you meant the clothes design - then I recommend everything fashion-related. There are tons of inspiration there.

Samszym - Thanks! Yes, I guess some softness would be nice, though I am generally prone to making too many soft edges, soft color changes, etc., which can lead to a really bad looking art. So, I am trying to use more hard brushes and painting considerately, avoiding many, hastily made unnecessary brushstrokes.

Today's definitely not my day. I got only half of the things done end everything takes eternity to finish. Oh, well... So the second 'landscape for breakfast' is not very good, but I hope to get better tomorrow, and if not - then on the next day :)



Some quick thumbs done during break:



No anatomy sketches today - they were just too ugly :P

[denikina]

'Landscape for breakfast' day 3 :) Took me more time, but I liked working on it very much. :)



+ a design sketch I have no time to finish :C



I am exhausted - goodnight/good day, everybody :)

[CoreyH]

I love that character in #24! Do you use a particular method to study anatomy? I can see some hampton like construction under those poses I think

[denikina]

CoreyH - Thank you! Yes, I studied Hampton, a bit of Loomis and probably will look into some other techniques in the future. What helped me a lot was indeed following the Hampton's steps: 1 gesture 2 shapes 3 landmarks 4 volume.
But I believe by doing a lot of dynamic gestures and poses you develop your own workflow and 'shortcuts' for human anatomy, that work best for you. :)

Quick update - day 4

[denikina]

Day 5

Being less cautious - experimenting more with colours and shapes, while keeping eye on the value. I'm also getting faster with those after establishing some workflow and having basic stuff under control. :)

That week was hard and I can see that my new November schedule isn't working very well. I put some activities in really bad hours and was a bit unrealistic about what I can do in 24 hours. When you can't do the stuff you planned in 13 hours of work, this means you planned something wrong. ;) So I'm rescheduling some parts for the next week, acknowledging, that my focus on the activities is limited and even with blocked internet sites and no distractions my mind just resets itself after too some time.
I am really happy the morning study hours work. I keep focus and feel accomplishment and development after each finished piece, which makes my day better. Now I need to 'summon' that focus, when I'm doing personal works in the evening ;)

[StardustLarva]

I really like the painterly texture you've orchestrated in that last piece. I like your rendering of the composure of the landscape and its subjects as well. What I would say is that I think the reflection in the water could have a slightly blurred texture, perhaps just to add a bit more realism. Anyway, keep going!

[denikina]

StardustLarva - Thank you, man. I think I might have done that, but I think in one of those exercise days I will try water reflections once again and see if I'll improve. :)

I didn't manage to put stuff online during the weekend, but I did paint, nevertheless.

Das 6 i 7 from imagination, day 8 - back to studies :)







And a visualisation of a Silent Town for Fallout:Lonestar group.