My journey to better art.

[Toneru]

Hello everyone! I'm Toneru. I finally went and ate my shyness of posting my studies and what nots in order to get critiqued by fellow artists so I can improve.
I've finished taking an animation course and well.. I wasn't satisfied with what I learned. I actually learned little about the basics and little to nothing about colors and composition so you can say that I wasted 4 years doing nothing. I admit that I tend to slack a lot but after being exposed to a creative company, I realized how important studying during your free time is. I realized how important the basics were and I regretted the time I wasted.
So now I'm here. Facing my shyness, trying to be good at what I want to do.
My current goal is to be hired as a 2d game artist / concept artist.

Cheers!

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First day! I'm still figuring out a good study schedule.
I work at our family resto 10 hours a day with 1 day off every week so I'm having difficulties.

[smrr]

Hey there Toneru!
Welcome to the daggers :D

Well, you came to the right place, I can tell you that much. Forget the past, live in the present moment and remember that what you want in the future depends on how hard you work now. Sure, it'll be difficult to study with time constraints (you said you work at a family restaurant?), but I've read stories about the artists that everyone now looks up to in the industry who got to where they are today by balancing full time work to support their family, while finding the time to study art. It really depends on how badly you want it. You can do this!

I really love the colours on this <3 I'd love to see more! Really, post everything you do, there's no ego-patting here :) we're all just trying to improve and so posting up the failed attempts helps us help you.

I'll see you 'round! o/

[modblot]

I like how the background colors after the shadows on the figure. Hope to see more stuff from you. Cheers!

[VoodooMama]

Hello!
I like your use of colors, its very pretty.
Good luck on figuring out a study schedule that fits your work time. I try to do at least one drawing from life a day, just to keep practicing the observational skills.
Looking forward for more of your works!

[Doolio]

Hey Toneru, basically, I agree with others. I don't know if you picked it up from the course or it's just "you", but your colors are quite appealing - and also, your approach seems solid. In terms of tackling things. I think the hardest thing (well, maybe not the hardest, since the hardest thing is the insane repetition we all have to do:) )... so, the biggest hurdle, let's put it that way, is actually starting to look at things the right way, to apply stuff, to mind fundamentals etc. Which separates people who have "seen the light" from those who won't progress because they aren't applying stuff.

Now, I ramble a bit, but you get my point, I hope:) I want to say that, although you have put only one pic, I think that you will progress fine, because judging from taht one pic, you have a good foundation. At least that's what I think:)

[Bearlaser]

I have similar feelings of regret sometimes. I know that had I applied my time better I could've been working by now. But all we have to work with are our present moments. So long as the error in a mistake is realized, there's no use beating yourself up over it. I would try to stay positive though be objective with yourself on what you need to improve upon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kfK46nruKM this video has some helpful concepts I think.

Also there's the sketchbooks both on here and CA; they're nice in that they can kind of serve as roadmaps to getting better. Just don't fall into the trap of letting them become a weird form of procrastination(like I did lol).

Good luck. Let's see some work :D

[Zearthus]

In addition to what everyone said, there is currently a great topic regarding to schedule/routine learning etc. give it a check:
http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/showthre...2#pid85392

Might give you some things to consider. Look forward to see more of your stuffs, and how you plan on tackling it.

[Toneru]

Thanks everyone for your tips, links and comments! I checked and read them all. And they're really helpful! (especially the one Zearthus linked)
Here's to improvement!

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The first one is a former study from life.
The next 4 are 30 sec gestures. Somehow I feel really stiff while doing them.
Last one are asaro head studies and some studies using Hampton's book.

Cheers!

[Toneru]

Finally decided on my daily art studies!
I've decided to do a 3 hour study session every night after dinner and some chores.
30 mins is dedicated to warm ups, 1hr for studying anatomy and 1hr 30 min dedicated to color study.

My phone's is dead at the moment so I can't take pictures of my warm ups and anatomy studies.
Since my color studies are done digitally, I am able to post what I did!
I'll post the warm ups and anatomy studies once my phone is fully recharged.

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For this study I was simply copying from a photo, I seriously don't know what I'm doing / what to analyse / etc etc.
But compared to my other portrait studies, this is actually much better.
I believe reading Color and Light by James Gurney would help out, I gotta borrow that at a library later.
While doing this, I realized that one of my weaknesses is drawing portraits, painting skin, noses and realistic eyes.
I'll work on those as I go.

[Tristan Berndt]

You've got a good start here :)
I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!

When you get going with those anatomy studies, be sure to check our anatomy group (The Crimson Cadavers). We've got a bunch of resources and a thread for sharing studies, asking questions and critiques.

[Toneru]

@Tristan Berndt
Thanks! And will do! I'll check the group out in a bit ;v;

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Last night's gestures, notes (bottom left) and application of what I read so far (bottom right).
I went back to square one so here I am studying Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing book.



Tonight's study!
First three rows are 1min gestures I did as warm ups while trying to remember what I learned last night.
Last row are notes I did while studying. The one beside it is an application of something that Michael Hampton said. I can't remember it at the moment tho xD



1hr & 20mins value study.
I'm having difficulties with colors so I thought I'd master values first.
Only 6 shades were used. No more, no less, no blending.



Cheers!

[Toneru]

Woops, work took a turn for the worst so I'm back to square one.
I did do some composition studies and some other stuff tho.
I'm somehow starting to think that I'm more comfortable working on b&w than colored pieces.

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