They're still far from decent ... they'll have to do for now tho. There is no possible way in which I could actually get to learn how to <everything I need> for this piece until 21. (especially that I will also be leaving for some days soon)
I'd practically have to :
-learn to proper anatomy;
-learn to folds; (yes , learn to folds)
-learn to paint.
So instead I'll try to focus as much as I can on it and hopefully be able to give a result that will be in the "shit to decent" area. I usually don't like leaving things unfinished. (also part of the reason why I don't start any ... lol)
Soon enough .. I'll give each of these subjects the time they deserve.
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Side note: I can't believe this thing took me about 23 layers so far :|
Very side note: I sat too much time in one place .. I'm in desperate need of a shower.
Hey man, for a quick and straightforward way to give depth to this kind of illustration you could try cell shading - basically just choose a bluey colour on a layer set to multiply and paint on the shadows (can knock the opacity of the layer down to get the desired look), leaving hard edges is fine don't need to sculpt it too much, then for highlights set another new layer to colour dodge and paint the highlights sampling the colour underneath (i.e. highlights on the trousers, sample the red colour, on the jacket sample the brown colour etc.) It's a nice and simple approach with just three colours for each part.
(09-13-2014, 02:57 AM)JyonnyNovice Wrote: Hey man, for a quick and straightforward way to give depth to this kind of illustration you could try cell shading - basically just choose a bluey colour on a layer set to multiply and paint on the shadows (can knock the opacity of the layer down to get the desired look), leaving hard edges is fine don't need to sculpt it too much, then for highlights set another new layer to colour dodge and paint the highlights sampling the colour underneath (i.e. highlights on the trousers, sample the red colour, on the jacket sample the brown colour etc.) It's a nice and simple approach with just three colours for each part.
This was exactly what I had in mind since I highly doubt I could tackle it in a painterly style right now. However I know a person that has a style that is sort of in between that I really like. I sorta tried to mimic her style. OF course I couldn't ... but I think it turned out much better then I expected it to.
Side note: I'm starting to see what most of the tools of MS5 can do ... and honestly I think they are awesome and quite straight forward. It was nice to play with them in this piece.
At the moment I don't really think I can do much else to it.
With the colour dodging, you can try experimenting with using a colour dodge (or linear dodge) layer, with a dark saturated colour, and the brush set to linear dodge, colour dodge or screen at a low opacity. It creates a bit more of a compound glow that looks a lot better imo. Experiment with different combinations and see what happens :) Keep up the good work :D
Thanks Jaik , I'll try to see what I can do about it tomorrow. (Edit: I actually don't know if MS5 has that sort of setting for brushes ... or I'm completely incapable of finding it. One out of two xD)
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Well ... apart from being a bit busy irl this week ... the last two days I had enough time to draw but I didn't. Been feeling a bit out of it and wondering about a lot of things.
One of the repetitive questions that came to my mind frequently was "Do I really got what it takes?". Of course not talking about "talent". I'm sure that with enough work anyone can get where they want.
Thing is .. it seems that every good artist I see simply loves life far more then I do and far more impressed by a lot of things in life. I'm just .... eh. Life wouldn't probably miss me either.
This is the sort of thinking that keeps blocking me a lot.
Checked the perspective to be sure nothing is wrong. And looks like my eye was good at eyeballing everything. I should give him a treat ... what do eyes like ? lol
Hey man, great looking character, such an improvement from a few pages ago!
As to your comment above, about loving life and doing art. I believe this love of life is something that's nurtured and developed just like drawing, it's not something that comes as standard (it might to some but that's just because their past and their conditions have allowed those feelings to blossom). For anyone who's suffered heavy trauma, feel a bit melancholic in themselves or feel distant and uncaring of the world it's a job of work to bring forth nice feelings about the world.
So what can you do? From my experience it's about getting out there and trying new things - go for a walk in the woods, sit in a park and watch the world, join a rowing club, do some volunteer work, go rock climbing etc. - anything that you've ever had a slight interest in seeing or doing or trying, just go and do it (as long as it's outside away from where you normally stay). Set yourself a goal of once a week / month / day (depending on what you can manage). If you get a good habit going you build up the mileage and you will start to think differently. Look at religion too - maybe it's a spiritual gap that needs to be filled!
Those are my thoughts anyway! (not saying you don't do that stuff already, it's just what has helped me)
I feel you are right about that ... I also think I have been trying certain things without even realizing it at that moment ... like volunteer work (Horse-related) as you've mentioned there. But now that I think about it ... there were certain realizations that killed part of my inner world long time ago. (uuu , that would be an awesome drawing ...lol). Indeed I think my best bet would be to just forget about those realizations by trying new things like that. For now tho ... I'll have to go through a lot of monotony to finish university studies. I don't even know if I'll be actually doing something with it ... but oh well. I'd like to fully blame my parents for this university part ... but it's not only their fault.
Nnnnot quite dead yet. Haven't been saving anything lately.
Except for today's stuff that I'm planning to do for the following month every day. I was hoping to do double of what I did this evening here. Dissapoint.
Don't know how that will sink in while I have to go to university and all that other stuffs... but I MUST. Hopefully I'll get at 1000 by the end of the month. And hopefully I'll see some improvement. Hmm ... maybe I can take some anatomy book and study some in the meanwhile at univ too when there's a boring course or smth lol.
I've been following an university that I wasn't particularly interested in (Land Measurement and Cadastral Survey) for two years so far. The reason why I went here is because my parents thought it's most appropriate since I wasn't really interested in anything at the time. I have many things and people to blame around me for that fact ... but the most to blame in the end is still myself.
Problem with these sort of jobs in Romania is that they generally stay "in the family" ... so even if I would want to finish it .. I'll end up with a damn paper and nothing more really.
I've almost convinced my parents that I'm wasting my time here. (on the money part not so much since I managed to keep myself on budget money so far)
If I succeed in persuading them I'll have to work a lot to catch up ... all that wasted time.
It's a relative question but ... do you guys think I will succeed in getting at a good enough level to earn myself a living in 2 years + ? I'll probably try to do whatever it takes .... all day drawing and whatnot. They are of course very dissapointed .... and I don't know why really ... a damn piece of paper won't do much for me anyway. That's the reason why I put the 2 years limit mostly ... because that much more it would have taken me to finish the studies.
I'm unsure what it's like in Romania to work as an artist, although I do know that your currency lends itself towards you to supporting yourself by doing work online for clients in countries with stronger currencies. Although that's getting competitive in itself, I think(?)
There isn't so much a time limit on when you have to 'get good' in order to make it as an artist, but are you sure you want to throw away the back up option of 'the paper'? Two years is such a small drop in the ocean of your whole life, especially when you already know you want to be drawing for the rest of it.
As you know, there's no way of knowing how high you can achieve until you do it, but if you're able to be guaranteed a job no matter what 'in the family business' then it seems you have some very open options. No matter the decision, I hope to see more from you.
Sorry for a vague and unhelpful answer!
Thanks iKo
Yes , you are right about the currency part. And working for Romanian clients would be a no-no from the start.
Sorry I was a bit vague on my explanation ... what I meant was that it is not actually in my family , just that that's how these sort of jobs work ... people get employed based on relationships that usually run within families ... which means my chances of getting a job (words by a teacher here) are 0,1%. The other option is actually making my own company.. pff.
Example: X wants this job , Y(me) wants the same job. There's only one spot.
Y can be ten times better than X at it.
X is in a relationship with employers daughter or is employer's son or whatever else.
X gets job.
Sometimes X can get job even without former studies ... based on how strong the connection is.
It's pretty sad but true.
And ... above all else .. I wanna do something enjoyable for a change :)
Also my plan was to "freeze" the year should I really consider returning (return to nothing anyway). I can do that for two years.
Hey man, that's a tough dilemma! Although in 5 years times it won't seem as heavy as it does now, that doesn't help you at the moment though : )
If you've got two years left of uni, doing a course you aren't motivated to do, you run the risk of doing the bare minimum work and could fail, then it'd be wasted! Are you interested in your course? Or is it a struggle to get the interest up? - if the interest is there, and it's just the job prospects that don't look good my advice would be to finish it. You get all kinds of transferable skills from places you'd never imagine. But... if you don't have any interest in the subject... I dunno man!
It's an easy thing to say 'follow your dreams' - it's a hard thing to do sometimes but I reckon it's the most important thing - no one can tell you the right thing to aim for but you! Looks like you've decided you want to pursue art.
The safest thing would be to freeze the year, give yourself a good bit of time to study art on your own, in that year you can maybe pin down what kind of art you want to do, from that you can figure out how best to make money from it. It's quite an enviable position you know? The prospect of having a whole year to focus on art! But it's a tough call man! I wish you the best of luck with your decision!
Thanks Jyonny.
Yeah ... my interest in it is quite low.
I feel a lot of pressure right now to take a decision ... and I'm honestly scared of just taking it either way.
Man, this is a really tough spot you are in and a very hard decision to make. You are asking if we think you can make it in two years, but you should really be asking "Do I think I can make it in 2 years?" As we have seen from some amazing artists out there, it's definitely possible, but, as you know, it's a very rough road especially without a backup. I went the route where I finished school studying something unrelated, and although I regret sometimes not throwing myself fully at it from the beginning, there were pros and cons to both sides. If you can "freeze" the year like you said, that seems like a great opportunity to improve your art, especially if you don't have any debt or major responsibilities dragging you down. Best of luck!
