Lilly's Sketchbook
#21
Quick Still lives I did focusing on light form.



I wanted to try something different and do a 15 minute study with a ref and then without the ref to see how much I got from it. Will try with longer times soon.



Two pictures I did for my art sketchbook for school. One more to go that I am gonna finish tonight.




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#22
Other sketchbook for school thing, and studies of mouth and eyes.





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#23
Ive been trying to do some movie studies for value, and applying them.
I feel a little lost at the moment, and out of focus.
I am trying to really study study more like the way AJ talked about, but I am not sure exactly how to go about it, and in general trying to figure out the best way for me to learn.
I also notice I don't go dark enough sometimes.











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#24
Hi Lilly! I think your eye studies are really getting there. The forms are really coming through and I think you shouldn't be afraid to go into more detail.

Your studies are really cool too and you're right that you could stand to make your darks darker but I think it goes both ways and some of your light areas could be pushed a little brighter too. I think your images can look a little flat because they lack contrast. In your first study, the shadow behind the man the shadow cast over half of him, are farther in contrast to the light on his face and collar than what you used.

The glow in the scifi thing could also stand to be a bit brighter as well as the sparks on the plane. Other than that, I think you need to keep an eye on your angles when copying shapes. The rest is great so far!

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#25
I agree with everything anisia said! The accuracy of the angles and shapes will come over time. There's no reliable way to improve that quickly short of tracing or taking measurements with your pencil like you often see traditional artists do

The thing with what AJ suggested is that it runs a bit astray of what most people do as studies, as he pointed out in the video. He was pretty much suggesting that you keep copies or reproductions to a minimum, and instead focus on observing a work in detail, analyzing it and taking notes based on your observations. I think that's a smart thing to do, and breaking it down like that might make it easier to really reproduce it; But I also think you should still reproduce it even after doing the analysis, to really use that knowledge the way it was used in the original.

If you're doing grayscale studies from films or photography, you might as well put it into grayscale. You may not have accurate values because the saturation and value ranges of the colours are tricking you into thinking they're lighter or darker than the real value of that gray. With that said though, you're doing pretty good at getting the values correct! They don't /need/ to be exactly the same, as long as the general impression is there and relative to one another they are correct. As anisia pointed out, right now they're condensed a little too much. You can push them brighter and darker, but not by too much

Read this if you want to properly convert a colour image into grayscale, if you haven't already

http://www.artofscholes.com/checkingvalues/

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#26
Thanks Anisia, and Patrick! I always tend to go a little mid value, and need to crank up the contrast a little more.
Also I do kinda tend to shy away from details cause its always been weirdly intimidating to me which is stupid, so I am gonna tackle that tomorrow.
Yeah AJ I think does analyze it more, and I need to do that along with copying, and find a good balance copying and analyzing.
I'll also start paying more attention to angle, and shape. Shape is something I feel I need to know a lot more about, which means I have to study study study.
Also, the reason I don't work from photos directly in black and white, is I don't want to resort to copying it, and having to change the color in value is so I think about it more, but that could be flawed logic. I am still kinda unsure if that is the best thing to do.
I'll try doing some more detailed studies tomorrow, and make them black and white the way the article you posted says.
Today I did 2 hour study then apply, then study of master focusing on form of shadow, then I messed with blocking in value, and then I blended what I blocked.





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#27
Nice studies. If I understand you correctly, you're copying the study from a color into black and white? Thats a good way to improve your eye for judging values. Another way to switch an image to B&W is to make a layer over top of the other layers and fill it with a black box and switch the layer to color mode. This make all the layers below show through in black and white with the correct values. That way you can hide that layer to switch back to color and only use the black and white to check your values.

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#28
good studies lily, like the way you approach it with doing the study an do it from imagination and see how you apply it. keep analyzing and finding anything from your imagination that doesn't correspond to the consistency of a visual reality, but i would say work on 3 things, drawing to keep your values in the right place, and keeping strong silhouette shapes and edges.

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#29
I haven't posted in awhile cause school had me super busy, so I mainly did school art. I did a few color studies, but the rocks were a little over my head. Time to apply them!
Ill upload the portraits I was working on for school later.
I should upload more art for winter break, which I am super happy for.

Thanks James, and Adam.

I'll try doing the BW layer thing with color mode, and edges, shapes, and values are stuff I really need to work on more!





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#30
hey, thanks for stopping by my sb. you definitely have a great sense of color and perspective, and a very sharp eye for details. esp. the eye studies are ace. keep up the good job! :)

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#31
It is winter break and I am really happy cause it gives me a chance to do way more art, and a break from school is always good.
I've started working on what I am planning to be my senior project, which is gonna be a card game based off of Greek and Norse mythology set in a sci fi setting. Its going to be very difficult, but I feel it will be really good for me for many reasons, and push me. The reason it is going to be a card game is just so it works for a senior project but my main focus will be the illustrations.

I started by doing designs for Zeus. I feel like they take me longer than they should, and I don't feel confident in my designs but they are also super fun.

Also thanks James!








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#32
Hi Lilly, it's so great that you set yourself assignments like this out of school, you're working so hard, I wish I'd been as focused when I was at school!

A couple things that might help you with your cards - firstly don't worry about how long it takes you, speed comes with practice as I'm sure you've heard before. That said when trying things out for something like this it can be good to do a really fast paced brainstorm - start with a page and write a few keywords down 'zeus' 'sci-fi' 'thunder' 'god' etc, then just start drawing whatever comes to mind, doesn't have to be a character straight away, could be a lighting bolt, a gun, a guy with a beard, part of a costume, some gesture lines for a pose - keep going with that and keep drawing, maybe set yourself a 2 - 5 minute timer or something and when it's up just start drawing something new somewhere else on the page. Keep it super loose, don't worry about getting nice drawings, drawing small can also help.

The idea is to get all the kind of 'cliche' and standard ideas out of your head and to reach deeper for more creative stuff. Maybe an eagle pops into your head, draw it, that might lead onto something else, draw that too - keep the chain going, doesn't matter if it has nothing to do with your keywords or initial idea, just keep going - you will engage a different part of your brain and disengage the part that tries to control everything. At the end of it you'll have a jumbled page of stuff that'll hopefully inspire you with a character design. Take pieces you like, throw away stuff you don't and try to refine them into some kind of design, after that you can go back and do another stage and bring everything together into a nice clean drawing.

This isn't the only way to brainstorm but it's a fun one that doesn't give you time to think and analyse everything.

Here's a video from Jazza that shows his character design process, it's good too although in the video he's still only scratching the surface of the creative potential: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpj2J4tn4YI

Best of luck!

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#33
So instead of being a person who did productive stuff i mainly did fun monster thumbnails cause I found a way to thumbnail that really works for me digitally, and lets me really be loose.

Thanks Johnny! I will for sure try your thumb nailing idea, it reminds me of the write down anything for brainstorming idea but with art, and I'll check out the video.





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#34
So today I did a study then applied it.
I kinda came up with a new technique for starting out my drawings, that I like but I need to work on more, not happy with end results.
Also I have technical problems. On my computer when ever I try posting on other threads it doesn't show my comment it just shows up as undefined, so I don't know what is going on there or if anyone would know why that is happening.



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#35
So I am trying to get use to a new method and right now it's hard for me, but I feel like it will be very beneficial in the long run. Basically just start with black and white, and use a clipping layer mask. It will help with my edges, I think with my values too, and shapes.
I need to play with it a bunch more.

I did a study where i used that method and I am trying to start a image where I use that.



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#36
cool stuff , keep it up
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#37
I was being lazy today so I only did this study. May do more later today but i need to step it up tomorrow.

Thanks 44!

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#38
Lilllllllyyyyyy~ lovely studies keep em coming! :D

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#39
Thanks mar!






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#40
Nice job with the studies! Who painting is that with the head coming out of the building? It looks sick!

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