John's Thread (Used to be super active! Still the longest thread name ever in CD)

[John]

Left: Original
Study: Bargue
Time: 1.5 Hours


Left: Original
Study: Ruo Li (a section)
Time: 5-6 Hours

[BrushNoir]

Nice, wish I could comment more but all I can say is you're doing great! keep it going!

[John]

Nice, wish I could comment more but all I can say is you're doing great! keep it going!

You could've just said "ah" and I'd still take it! Thank you for the words of encouragement!

Left: Original
Study: A section of Ruo Li
Time: >4 hours


Comment: Foam's too bleached out. Should have given more yellow and oranges..

[BlackDelphin]

Hello John! And thank you for your visit!
You have a lovely range of studies, and so far they're all well polished up, neat lines, well finished surfaces. Well done!
I see you struggling with color in your referenced studies. Mostly if it's hard to guess the color, it's probably in the grays area. And when you start a study, be sure to accurately choose the base colors (the ones that appear the most in the drawing). If you miss those, then you miss the others too.
For example, you have your last two Ruo Li studies. In both there is more green. Especially in the last one. So if you miss that green from your base, and turn it more reddish, then it won't be the green who will reflect, but the red. So all your other tones will have more red too. Do i make any sense?
I hope i do. See you around! :)

[S4MURAI_CAT]

Study: A section of Ruo Li
Time: >4 hours

Comment: Foam's too bleached out. Should have given more yellow and oranges..

Hey John!
Nice to see that you are studying masters work. Ruo Li is one of my favorites!
The problem is that you are just coping colors from the work.It's ok if you want to train your eye to exactly see/pick the right value.But you don't understand the structure of the waves. Even if it's water, it has its own form.In Ruo's painting, i can feel how water is moving,how its changing.In your copy, i just see a flat floor full of something.Before another painting study,try to analyze the form first.Draw a 3d grid on what you are studying in order to see how the form is formed and how it's changing.

Hope it will help you! Good luck!

[Piotr Jasielski]

You're putting a lot of work into your studies. That's great, but I actually wonder if it was better to focus on small stuff for a while. Master studies are great but very challenging, their require a vast knowledge of color form and technique. I think you should try doing some little thinks without focusing on details - simple form studies, values studies, and some random paint mixing(just chill out listen to music and mix some paint - you can aim for a certain color or just dudle to get comfortable). You can aslo check Amits tutorial on environment design. Keep it up!

[John]

I see you struggling with color in your referenced studies. Mostly if it's hard to guess the color, it's probably in the grays area. And when you start a study, be sure to accurately choose the base colors (the ones that appear the most in the drawing). If you miss those, then you miss the others too. 
For example, you have your last two Ruo Li studies. In both there is more green. Especially in the last one. So if you miss that green from your base, and turn it more reddish, then it won't be the green who will reflect, but the red. So all your other tones will have more red too. Do i make any sense? 
I hope i do. See you around! :)

Yes you do. And you got it right. I had a red-orange base to start with. I do have time sneaking in the other colors and make them all seem harmonious. Do you have any advice on how to sneak in other colors? This is a good observation which I will hammer down in my future studies. Thanks!

Hey John!
Nice to see that you are studying masters work. Ruo Li is one of my favorites!
The problem is that you are just coping colors from the work.It's ok if you want to train your eye to exactly see/pick the right value.But you don't understand the structure of the waves. Even if it's water, it has its own form.In Ruo's painting, i can feel how water is moving,how its changing.In your copy, i just see a flat floor full of something.Before another painting study,try to analyze the form first.Draw a 3d grid on what you are studying in order to see how the form is formed and how it's changing.

Hope it will help you! Good luck!

I really don't understand it! Now that you've mentioned it, for all I know, my study could just be a shitty marble pattern!

I'm struggling with the form of water, meaning, it's trickier than, say, doing solids. Shadows are way more subtle. It plays out really organic. There are sections that looked more like organized chaos. I still don't quite get where to leave a hard edge and where to soften it up. There are so much to this that I don't quite get.

I will be more conscious of the form. I wasn't. Looking back, it seems I attempted to make a hideous copy. If I may ask, do you have a video, artist, tutorial I can go for this? And thanks for the reality check!

You're putting a lot of work into your studies. That's great, but I actually wonder if it was better to focus on small stuff for a while. Master studies are great but very challenging, their require a vast knowledge of color form and technique. I think you should try doing some little thinks without focusing on details - simple form studies, values studies, and some random paint mixing(just chill out listen to music and mix some paint - you can aim for a certain color or just dudle to get comfortable). You can aslo check Amits tutorial on environment design. Keep it up!

I am biting off more than I can chew. It does sometimes feel like I'm attempting to knock down a wall of concrete with my fists just hoping to make a dent. I won't stop the master studies, but at the same time, you are right. I will dedicate some time on simple value studies and form. It's just frustrating. I just really want to get where I want to be fast!

I am actually watching your twitch stuff to get a better hold of the process! I am grateful that you shared your process! It just sucks that I have to wait every 5 seconds for it to load up haha! But hey, beggars can't be choosers!

Thanks for the advice!

Left: Original
Study: Bargue
Time: 2 Hours


Left: Original
Study: Marciej Kuciara's Last of Us
Time: 1.5-2 Hours

[Piotr Jasielski]

I am biting off more than I can chew. It does sometimes feel like I'm attempting to knock down a wall of concrete with my fists just hoping to make a dent. I won't stop the master studies, but at the same time, you are right. I will dedicate some time on simple value studies and form. It's just frustrating. I just really want to get where I want to be fast!

I absolutely know that feeling, I have no patience for something that doesn't come easy to me and get frustrated a lot. Well, it's better now, but I used to absolutely hate anatomy, perspective and basic construction stuff, which in result made me stay way behing in those areas. I came to realize that sometimes it's just good to do some very small steps and have a shot term plan for improvements. Thinking ahead to the goal can make you forget that you have to make the journey first.

I think one very importan thing you should do is to analize. Just do some thinking and analize some photos and painting without actually even painting them. Think about values, how light works, do some color picking, and most importanly think about the form of objects and think in 3D - just imagine in your head how it would look from a different angle, you can even do a fast scribble.

I am actually watching your twitch stuff to get a better hold of the process! I am grateful that you shared your process! It just sucks that I have to wait every 5 seconds for it to load up haha! But hey, beggars can't be choosers!

Thanks for the advice!

I'm glad it can be helpful. I might upload some stuff to youtube, maybe it'll have a better transfer.

[S4MURAI_CAT]

 If I may ask, do you have a video, artist, tutorial I can go for this?

About form (18m20s) - Peter Han ( https://youtu.be/o1lleIBzn3A?t=18m15s ) . You can watch a whole video if you are interested,but i picked a moment where Peter explains about a form on basic level. 

Also you can watch Alphonso Dunn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BdIvZk0WZc ) and his 4 part series about forms from basic understanding to pro!

And if you want to learn more about how to paint nature,landscapes or seascapes,check this guy out on youtube - Mural Joe  ( https://www.youtube.com/user/muraljoe/videos ). He is doing traditional paintings,but this skills/knowledge easily transfers on digital paintings as well!

Tyler Edlin  (https://www.youtube.com/user/TylerE2284/videos ) - You can pick from him tricks on painting landscapes.Also,he explains about field perspective and some other cool stuff.

Ashley Dotson ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIkYv1ug...Qvc6SSfRKX ) - "Process and techniques to help improve your artwork"

[John]

I think one very importan thing you should do is to analize. Just do some thinking and analize some photos and painting without actually even painting them. Think about values, how light works, do some color picking, and most importanly think about the form of objects and think in 3D - just imagine in your head how it would look from a different angle, you can even do a fast scribble.

Will do. Just that, I'm not comfortable with not producing anything..

You're right. I just have to be more mindful of things.

I'm glad it can be helpful. I might upload some stuff to youtube, maybe it'll have a better transfer.

Man, you don't have to. It's just that our net connection is generally slow. But thanks! That's really thoughtful of you.

@S4MURAI_CAT: I am bookmarking them all! Thank you!

-----

Bah. Stupid lazy me. Just one for today.

Left: Original
Time: ~2 Hours

[John]

Grah! Laziness! Shoo shoo!

Left: Original
Time: 2-3 Hours

[John]

Ear study from cast
Time: ~2 Hours each ear

[John]

Ear study from cast
Time: ~2 Hours each ear (except for the last! 1 Hour!)

[Eristhe]

Hey John! Your studies are really nice, but you could definitely benefit from studying some of the fundamentals along side them. I think it's been mentioned before, but master studies benefit you a whole lot more if you understand and try to deconstruct the knowledge and processes the master used, otherwise you run the risk of just copying, which can be helpful but won't give you as much knowledge in the long term!

Sometimes it's easy to identify a related fundamental to study - e.g. for the recent ears and torso study it'd be a good idea to analyse the forms and anatomy, draw 10 from reference, then draw 10 from imagination then rinse and repeat etc. For more complex stuff (like water, environments, any study of more complex master pieces), it'll take longer study on more topics to really get the full value out of the study (e.g. for the TLOU environment by Maciej, you'd need to study lighting, perspective, composition, rendering etc and break these down as you're doing them).

Anyway, I hope that stream of consciousness helps! It'd be great to see some of your own stuff too so that you can think about where you're trying to go with all this!

[John]

draw 10 from reference, then draw 10 from imagination then rinse and repeat etc. For more complex stuff (like water, environments, any study of more complex master pieces), it'll take longer study on more topics to really get the full value out of the study

I will do the reference and imagination exercise. I really needed the truth bomb you just provided. In fact, I will steal your hand/feet drawing regime, and probably take in shorter dosages than you. Helpful!
---

I know I said I was going to do it. But today was a really long day, but an unproductive day with regards to hitting the board.


Will further my study.

[John]

Hand studies.

[John]

A little bit of horse study. Horses are lovely!

[Eristhe]

Ahh the new studies are looking nice! For the hands, I really found looking at construction by Bridgman and Hampton helped my understanding of the way hands work. The breaking down of 3D forms is good but it's super helpful to know how the underlying skeleton/muscles/flesh underneath works and why it's all there. Horse study looks nice, good stuff! :)

[John]

@Eristhe Good tip. I just can't believe how fast you are haha! Thanks!

----

Study: More hands. More failures. Need more study.


Have to seriously study materials next.. On top of the hands.

[John]

@Sketchosoph - I'm treating my sketchbook as if I'm releasing a "The Worst of" album. Haha! Your thoughts and comment are encouraging!

----
Hand study:


Value and material study.