Bookend's Sketchbook
Uiriamu: So great to see you man!  I've been watching your work from afar-- You've come such a long way since I first started seeing your work-- Wow!  And thanks--  Symmetry and proportion in my studies is something I seriously need to work on and keep tweaking. Grin

Triggerpigking:  Thanks man-- I agree.  I'm giving my eyes some space from him for awhile so I can adjust it properly when the time comes.

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85/10000

This week has been kind of ..  Unproductive in terms of drawing.  Not really sure why, but at least I've been drawing a lot today.  Maybe it's easier on the weekend.  Regardless--  It's coming along.

The portrait with the child:  This one is an experiment.  I looked at a bunch of references and tried to make my own face.  Particularly pre-raphaelite paintings, since I love the way they use skin colours..  With this piece I really tore it apart, rebuilt, re-erased-- Again and again.  So I spent a lot of time on it.  I'm kind of dubious, but I enjoyed the experiment anyway.  I got the idea from someone in this sketchbook, and coming across an article in an art magazine where Miles Johnston did the same thing, but he turned his grandma into an elf lady! Grin

Planes of the head:  A study.  I really started doubting whether I should be studying -this- particular rendition of the planes of the head near the end, and started to wonder if it'll take me in the wrong direction since it's not symmetrical-- And it made me wonder why.  And I just felt really out of my depth with it.  In my head, I was ready to apply it to photographs, but now I'm not sure if this is the right 'head'. 

Lady portrait looking up:  This one was really fun to do.  I went at it in a completely different way.  I only wish I put more layers so I could've fixed the background, but..  I really think it's closer than I usually get.  Still messy.  Still a lot of misplaced components... Buuut..  I call this one done.

Sargent study of a lady in the colourful dress:  Just playing with the colour palette.  I'm not going to take it farther than this.  I also played with texture brushes a bit here, but didn't find one that I liked for doing master studies.  I miss the Gimp chalk brush, to be honest.


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Sketchblag

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Heyy good to see you back at it man. Try doing some still lives of simple objects with 100% opacity/flow hard brushes. Make sure you set up a clear and strong light source, then just keep trying to nail the values and colors, take your time and dont be afraid to do it over.

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crackedskull: Thanks man!  I did as you asked with this bright minty green chapstick holder.  I'm not 100 % sure about it-- The desk was difficult because it was very grainy/silvery, and I don't have a handle on texture brushes just yet.

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93/10000 hours!

I think that adjusting my Habitica goals so that everytime I draw 15 minutes, I get points...  This appears to be a lot more effective for me, and I'm more likely to sit longer.

I've been kind of mentally out of it this week, though, for some reason.  It seems like I do my best work on the weekends.

I may have a job opportunity with my art, but we'll see.  It's not something that would be out of my depth, though, and it would certainly be interesting.

So, comments on what I've done this week:


Chapstick:  Could be better.  It's been awhile since I've painted/drawn from life, so it was a neat exercise.  I'm going to put down a white paper next time so that I have a more reliable foundation in which to study the light.

Portrait study:  I was looking for a good street photo/portrait where I could play with colours and lighting.  This was it.  Was a lot of fun.

Random couple of figures:  I thought it'd be cool to do gestures, but ended up halfway imagining a mermaid-type gal.  Kind of proud of it.  It was a definite exercise in values without actually using the reference 100 % of the time.


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Sketchblag

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hey man,

nice studies, you should work on your drawing before going to far into colors. It is hard enough on its own. When you try to draw with colors (paint) you will have problems with doing the right shapes, not only choosing the right colors.

Do some linedrawings, before doing color studies. :)

Keep it up


Please help me getting better by checking out my sketchbook

HOMEPAGE http://floart.weebly.com
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Forgive me if i have already gave you this crit, but i dont remember xD
Your rendering is perfectly okay as it is now, you could keep improving it, but what could boost the quality of your work dramatically is the underneath construction of whatever you are painting.
Like take for example that last portrait, you got the eyes, and the lips perfectly the skin tone too, but the construction of the face has quite a few mistakes that pop up inmediatly.

So, like Flo says above, focus on drawing for now if you want, and you will see the difference in even a few weeks. :)

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For those of you who don't know, I have recently confessed to being a woman who was in an entrapment-- A rather abusive, controlling relationship. He insisted that I be a male on this forum, and not have a friends list. :)

Now that I have stood up for myself and have realized the extent of control, I am happy to tell the truth! Grin

Since I was all the way in Norway, it was doubly interesting... But, I am with family in Sweden and on my way home to Canada soon.

Thank you for the support you've all shown me, it's really helped more than you could possibly know! :)

I won't be posting up drawings for quite awhile, but I will probably be going back to school for illustration, so there will be a lot of opportunity!

Sketchblag

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Once again congrats on getting out of that relationship Bookend :), and cool to hear you plan to go to school for illustration.

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(02-03-2016, 04:11 PM)Bookend Wrote: For those of you who don't know, I have recently confessed to being a woman who was in an entrapment-- A rather abusive, controlling relationship.  He insisted that I be a male on this forum, and not have a friends list. :)

Wow, that is quite scary :O

At least he didn't want you to be a male in real life.

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That's fucked up, but I'm glad you stood up for yourself. Best of luck with that school!
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Great body of work you have here, keep up the consistent practice, I'm looking forward to see more. :)

And by the way, I'm happy to know you got out of that situation, you're really brave!
Wish you the best of luck with school!

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Oh wow Misty! Fantastic to hear that you're moving away from that relationship, and stood up for yourself and ended it. I wish you all the best, and I can't wait for your next updates. :)

In Sweden you say? Are you Swedish?

Take care my friend. :) Good luck with school too!!! Excited!!!
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Just a reminder that you Rock. Freedom also comes with a sense of anxiousness but don't let that keep you away from your art for too long love.

Sketcherinos

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Triggerpigking: Thanks so much man. :D Really appreciate it.

Piotr: I know, right? Haha. :)

Vornag: Thanks! I'm excited. ;D

Amaral: Thank you so much, I appreciate the kind words. :) Really looking forward to school!

Uiriamu: Thank you! Updates are coming.. Eventually! Yes, I am half-Swedish, half-Canadian, and very proud of both. :) Raised in Canada.

RP: Thanks a billion-- Totally agree on both counts. ;) But, the anxiousness is dissipating quickly, and I should return to my arting very soon.

Again-- thanks to everyone!

Will try to post updates when I can.

Sketchblag

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BACK after a YEAR. Jesus youve improved so much, I STILL need to practice more.

Moved to Permanoobs, still updating on CA though!

keep at it!

-Onwards
Deviantart
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Hi everybody!

Thought it's probably time to update. I haven't necessarily done much in the way of arting, but the seed is germinating again and I'll be back at it-- Especially because I really need to update my portfolio for applying to school. xD

But, anyway... I've had so much support here, that I thought it could only be fair if I update everybody on where I'm at in my life.

So, without further ado, here's what's going on:

1) Lovelife. So, I've ended up in a fairy tale romance of happiness, which is truly amazing and exactly the opposite of the abuse/control that I'd been dealing with for 6 years... I really feel like I'm with a guy who I can be around for a long time, and be myself with, and it's amazing and weird how wonderful it is. So, that turned out great for me!

2) School. I've decided to go back to school, for sure, for game art and design. Probably will end up going to Toronto for a 2 year course, and it comes with an internship-like opportunity at the end, which is awesome. But, of course-- You get what you put in. The curriculum was ideal, though, and the price is right, AND it's a college I've actually been to before for an unrelated program (Journalism), so it's kinda like coming back full circle, which is neat. Just need to

3) Work. I'm working at a call centre now with tech support for Apple. You'd think that'd be scary, and it was for the first couple of months. But, I've started getting into it and I'm a) Really good at talking to people. b) Extremely patient. C) Really good at working with computers. So, yeah. That's awesome.

4) Art. Uh... When I do screenshares with people at work, I tend to doodle a bit to entertain them while we're waiting for things to load. Beyond that, I've done a portrait in pen of my boyfriend, which I left at his parent's place, and little things here and there. I'm going to be ordering some new pencils. Any advice on good ones?


And that's about it. xD So, I'm alive, and everything is fine. I just need to start updating my actual artwork soon. I might just start by looking at other people's and commenting on it for awhile. xD

Anyway.. Peace in.

Sketchblag

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Hurray for good stories!

Just in case you're wondering why the shoutbox isn't as shouty, since you've just woken up from your art coma, people are over at the Discord App (Blue icon under the Crimson Daggers header, 4th from the left).

And next time you pose as a man, try to use less smiley faces. It sells the act better.

Time to make stuff. Let's do this! Happy

If you are reading this, I most likely just gave you a crappy crit! What I'm basically trying to say is, don't give up!  
----
IG: @thatpuddinhead
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Great news, and good luck with it all!!! :)

John I use lots of smiley faces...what are you trying to say?

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Welcome back, good to hear things are better ^^

Pencils.. I have been ejoying Daler Rowney pencils a lot lately. They have a certain softness to them when you draw, even it's like an HB. :)

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I rarely visit this forum at all, but when I do I make sure to look for that "Bookend" sketchbook at the main sketchbook page. So happy to see that you're back on track, and that you've found love once again. I'm also very happy to hear that life in general treats you well. You deserve it all my friend. Keep on going, start posting art whenever you feel like you're ready!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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<3  I missed you all too.

My recovery has been a very blissful one.  It seems that leaving the clutches of despair is good for one's morale. 

I've been spoiled a lot this year by both of my families-- Mine and those of my boyfriend's.  And much of it included art supplies, so I'm very excited, and looking forward to being more active here.

Here are some sketches I've done relatively recently.


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Sketchblag

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