boo

[maggie]

Thanks Hypnagogic_Haze! It's very useful I think and not that hard (yet haha) so give it a chance!

Caisne, thank you. If by 'pencil happy' you mean that I'm putting useless details, I would agree. I always get carried away and draw useless stuff.. need to work on that!


For today 1 skull, master study and perspective exercises. I realise how extremely boring the last ones are to even scroll by, but I'm just gonna put them here to 'mark progress' or whatever.



I've messed up some values and shapes.. my previous studies were better so I'm not happy with this one.

[maggie]

male skull /I know it looks a bit squished and long, but the skull really looked like that/


female skull


16th master study! 4 more yay
oh and I forgot the guy's stick but that's not important I guess



I had some perspective studies as well planned for today but I didn't organise my time very well. I haven't gone out in like ages, I'm just sitting home and drawing all-day-long.. it hurts haha:)

[BenFlores]

Keep up the master studies and hard work! Dont forget to push out of those comfort zones and try working in color.

[maggie]

You got me there! I really want to learn colour and light though, most of everything else. However, with those b&w studies I try to focus mainly on values. I have to do 4 more (20 was my goal). Then I'll somehow start using colour hah


Here is today's study from a photo. I wanted to make it not so realistic, but a bit more painterly and maybe change something, not make it look exactly like the photo. However, it seemed scary and I'm pretty sure the result would have been horrible.



here's my ref http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs42/i/2009/1...eeping.jpg

[ramalooke]

Hey, You got an awesome sketchbook here ;3 Master studies and still life painting is really healthy mix, add up some anatomy and you'll improve in no time. Keep pushing, your doing great ;3

[maggie]

Thanks, ramalooke:)


Here is a new version of the painting. I tried to paint the colours from imagination but I'm not really content with them.
If you guys have any advices on how to improve this, I'd love to hear!

[AliceChopper]

Hi Maggie, nice studies so far and please don't be afraid about doing copies as studies. They are useful for developing the internal dialogue that asks the right questions when drawing. Just don't labor on them without giving some thoughts about why did the artist had choose to do it that way, and do studies of good art as you have done so far :)
In your last piece the nose a bit weird, I looked at the referance image and you are right it looks a bit weird there too, but the cast shadow shape in your painting is starting a little too low which makes the nose look as if it was cutten, adding a centerline matching the angle helps to see if something is off.
Have fun :)

[Adrian]

Your SB looks good so far and promising maggie ! Interesting perspective exercises there.

Keep going :)

[maggie]

Thank you guys and sorry for the late reply.
AliceChopper, you're right about the nose, seems weird to me too.

Okay I'm rolling up my sleeves and start working on this painting/study! I've had a good 2-day break so hopefully I will be able to look at it freshly today and make it done by the end of this evening.

[Amit Dutta]

Hey Maggie, you have a really solid base already to work with as others have said and you are doing the study "right"

If you are unsure which way to focus with your own work then fundamental study will always help you no matter which way you go.

Having said that, study ain't everything. Remember to explore other things to inspire you from books, movies, travel etc. This experience will give you new horizons and may suggest a project or direction for you to focus on that you may not have now.

Don't be afraid to just do what you feel is right for you. Don't listen to others, or the pressure of the internet no matter what. Focus on what you enjoy and it will always lead to good things.

Keep it up! :)

[maggie]

Thank you! Right now I'm focusing on fundamentals because I believe this would help me learn to paint form imagination. That is something I really struggle with, now. But I have to step out of the comfort zone at some point and just try and fail and try again until I succeed. :)

Anyways, here is a small update. I'm stuck and I can't make her hair look right. Also her sweater is killing me because it doesn't look anything like that on the ref and I have to imagine it and look at sweaters with different lighting so... I just can't haha. Wish me luck, I don't want to screw this up, it's the best I've done so far :<

[maggie]

Small class assignment. Our teacher have us this incredibly ugly character (he drew it) of an old man and we had to draw his wife. I tried to make her somehow pleasant to look at but he kept trying to convince me that his style is better. Ghh! I wish I could have taken a pic of his 'art'.. looked like a cave drawing.



I went subway sketching the other day for the first time ever.
1) people are passing by SO FAST JEEZ !
2) so many of them stopped and stared at my sketchbook.. which was both weird and embarrassing because those sketches suck a loooot haha

[Adam Lina]

That teacher sounds terrible. Its good you're taking your art education into your own hands because thats most likely the only way you'll learn anything useful. Subway sketching is a good way to practice quick gestures. It looks like your focusing too much on copying the details like the persons cloths and face. Try to establish the pose very quickly with 4 or 5 confident lines. You can add details afterwards. Since you wont have but maybe a second or two before they move. If they stick around a little you can add details or just use your memory which is a good exercise for drawing from imagination. Proko has some good videos on gesture drawing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j39NqwL7s4

[Caisne]

Small class assignment... Draw an Old Mans Wife Damn sounds like a killer theme for a challenge. Where u study at? Is this some kind a concept design school?

Nice grandma btw. And portrait comes out really cool. Try hiding the ear in shadow a little. Pops in for me too much - flattens the image.

[maggie]

Hypnagogic haze, thanks for the useful advices. I've watched Proko's videos before, he's good. However, I need to focus on one thing at a time, otherwise I don't do anything. So gesture drawing will be later in future.


Caisne, thanks.
I study animation in a university that has all kinds of majors, not only art. There's not much of a choice here, in Bulgaria. I don't want to be an animator though.
I'm actually considering dropping out of uni since for 2 years I haven't learned a single thing there. We have like 90 minutes of animation per week lol. And we have char design, env design and storyboard all combined in one single class, also 90 minutes per week. Plus the teachers are so ancient and make us watch those sick, artsy, hipster animation movies that no one has ever heard of..
So yeah, basically I'm self-thaught. But I really miss the environment of a nice art school where you compete with classmates and stuff..

Whoa, so sorry for the long post!

[Paul Kokshin]

Hah :D Love the little elephant in subway sketches. *whispering* it's okay, I can see them too o_o
And don't think too much about what teacher says. draw your own version, hang it on the wall in your room and be proud of it :)

[maggie]

Haha thank you Paul, you're very nice :)

[maggie]

Finally something different to post here.

Tried something from imagination... at last!





Quick sketches with some color. Not finished obviously so lots of things to fix but I want to keep it loose and not spend more than a few hours on each.

Also, I finally finished this painting which you're probably already sick of seeing here, but for one last time:

[The Aether Technician]

Your rendering is coming along really great, but I feel like you could be a bit looser with your strokes. Just go nuts some time! Make some fun shapes!

nice progress here by the way!

[vymnis]

I really like the dark tones you use in your portraits, they're very evocative! Perhaps you could use a softer brush when blending the tones though, they seem a little choppy. other than that i love your paintings and drawings! keep it up!