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

[John]

Quick hand studies

[John]

I hope I can sneak in some studies later, but I have a piece on my plate that's going to be sent in a few hours.
Super early stage!

[John]

Oh god so sleepy..

Hand studies

[5e8i]

your thread name is so funny! but totally misleading. you're doing a good job, especialy with your studyies. what i think would be beneficial for you would be to do more anatomy color and value rendering (the landscapes seem to come quite easy to you).what realy helped me was alex negrea's youtube channel. he's doing some really detailed photo studies. many are in real time, no speed paintings. maybe you will check it out. i think it's helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/user/wwritza666/videos

[Laco]

Hey thanks for stopping by on my sketchbook. I look through the 4 pages of yours and it's looking good! I dont have a lot of experiences but i particularly like your study from sculpture! And your hands studies too! ( tough you seem to make them a bit square-ish ?). Gonna keep an eyes on your sketchbook!

[John]

@5e8i - I'm struggling with everything! Especially when I switch it up from characters to environment. Like I totally forget how to draw. Thanks for the Alex Negrea channel! You are right. Not only helpful, it is inspiring! And holy crap he works fast. Thanks!

@Laco - Ah crap. You don't have to be nice. Now I feel like an asshole for leaving a negative comment in your thread. My hand studies do look quite squarish.. I do have to watch out for that. Good tip!

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Hand study:


Portrait study:

[meat]

Hey John, good idea drawing the same thing from different angles - it helps build your internal 3D rendering ability in your mind, which is very useful when you gotta draw stuff from imagination. It's a hard thing to train from using 2D photographs though... unless you have a series of photos of the same thing from different angles. Are you studying the hands from life?

[JyonnyNovice]

Hey man! Great going with the hands! personally I wouldn't worry too much if they are squarish or not - a believable and solid hand is the goal, if it comes out more square or more rounded I think that's great compared to a realistic one that's a bit broken. Soon enough that stuff will become internalised and instinctive and you can work on more realism then. (This is all just my opinion ^^)

[John]

@meat - Gah! Lost for words! Fan of your work! I took a reference photo from Pinterest that shows a hand gesture in different angles. I'm not studying it from life. I tried to, but I always put the pen down to model my hand back to position.. which now makes me wonder what am I missing if I only draw based on photos? Thanks for dropping by btw!
@JyonnyNovice - Gah! I understand your point of view. I do hope I achieve realism sooner or later. Blocky hands exposes too much of my foundation drawing!

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Timed gesture drawings from quickpose:


Portrait study:


Didn't quite nail the values right. Crap.

Off to sleep!

[StardustLarva]

Liking that portrait study there. I think maybe the darker values could be a bit stronger, but other than that it's great, really smooth.

[John]

@StardustLarva - I knew it.. I need to get better at this. Thanks!

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Hand gestures:



Portrait study:

[JyonnyNovice]

portraits are looking super tight, really solid and full of life! Do you use that bargue style approach? I can see the little crosshair lines underneath the same as when you were drawing those bargue drawings.

[Mechanizoid]

Hey John! You got a nice sketchbook going here, keep up the good work. Lotsa hand studies. Hands are hard to draw. :D Keep practicing, you are off to a good start. Your portraits actually have some personality and life in them, even when they aren't perfect in other ways. Are you doing those as photo studies? I see measuring lines under them. At any rate you did a good job capturing the subject!

[John]

@JyonnyNovice - Oh thanks! Yes. I put a lot of measure lines. It's really a bad habit to be honest. But it helps to keep the proportions right. I'm starting to minimize putting on the lines because it's starting to feel like a crutch if I start to overdo it.
@Sagittarius-A-star - Saggy! Ugh, hands.. tell me about it. Hands are super tricky, especially the ones in perspective or a weird angle. I wish I can get a better hang of them. Yes! They are photo studies. I need to better my proportion, but I mainly do them for the color and value studies. And I try to be efficient with my brushwork. It tends to go everywhere when I'm not aware of it!
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Hand Gestures:


Portrait Study:


Ugh. Still can't get over the Crimson Crucible.. studies to follow.

[John]

Hand gesture exercises:




Portrait study:


Portrait + CC PTSD (blood render study):

[Broadway]

Hey John, great SB! Man you are a study machine. You're gonna be awesome at hands after all these drawings.

Portraits are awesome too... the bloody Whisper one caught me off guard, haha. The non-bloody Whisper portrait seems a little off compared to the others - maybe the values in the skin don't get high enough? Skin looks slightly flat. Wish I could give better feedback but I'm a noob with skin rendering :)

Keep up the good work!

[John]

@Broadway - Hi! How I wish to have that kind of discipline. As for the portrait, you're right and good eye. I should've pushed the highlights farther. Thank you for the kind words and critique. Totally appreciate it.
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Hand gesture:


Movie still color study:

[John]

Hand Gestures:


Portrait study:


Values still out of whack. Crap.

[John]

Hand Gestures:


Portrait Study (Color Study):

[Mechanizoid]

Dem hands are looking a bit better. Keep on practicing those. But that is not a polite way to drink, LOL. Impressed by the regular updates. Keep it up bro! :)