Struggle and Hardwork by Jey Ram

[JeyRam]

Haihai welcome to the thread :D 

Short Term Goal: Get into a routine, specifically waking up at 8am 

Long term Goal: Become a self publishing and prolific illustrator  

Current work schedule: I am a full time student so I study 6 days a week and take 1 day off, I will be trying to get into the habit of this morning routine

8Am: Wake up, Yoga, Shower, Eat + Make Coffee
10am: Study Figures (30mins) Heads (30mins)
11am: Study Hands (30mins) Plants (30mins)
12pm: Read a book (30mins) Watercolor practice (30mins)
1pm: Eat and work on whatever the focus of the day will be

(once I can do this consistently without pain, I will add a daily finished illustration to the schedule with composition thumbnails and colour roughs_

Obstacles to overcome: wrist pain (I have to make sure to stop if I feel pain, dont push too far) and patience

Studies from October:

[JeyRam]

Arm has been hurting more so i havent been able to work much =/ So ive spent that time reading a lot.

Theres something called "Nerve Flossing" thats helping relieve a lot of the tension, if you have nerve problems you should youtube it. Might be of help :D

Here are some studies from the past week. Drawing figures using basic forms has been helping me notice mistakes a lot quicker.
I really suck at proportion and it makes it very clear that I draw the torso way too long and limbs too short in comparison, so I will keep that in mind moving forward 
Stopped drawing hands for a while, so Ive gotten a lot worse but ill get back on it. 

[JeyRam]

apologies for the terrible quality ): used a light blue pencil and didnt realize itd be hard to take photos of LOL will get a darker one for the future. 
As you can tell, havent been keeping to sched cause arm has been hurting T.T
I did get a lot of head drawing in, trying to take some time to focus on stylizing and trying to capture character, going to focus on likeness for the next few weeks

[JeyRam]

Some more work/studies from 14th to 18th, realized im terrible with colors so I did some color harmony breakdowns. I added composition+color break downs to my schedule so I can get closer to finished worked

[Einver]

Dude, this is some mad mileage. It's great to see you putting in this kind of quantity. I'm surprised no one's commented/welcomed you yet! haha.

Allow me to be the first. Welcome to CD!

A bit of critique below :D.


keep focusing on construction/proportions! Watch the spacing of your eyes for your heads as well-- things are getting a bit askew and slanted.

I'd say you could slow down for a few (maybe a 5-6) and see how things go with some erasing and correction. There's things you're only going to notice if you focus on one for a long time as opposed to blasting through 20+ haha.

[Piloreta]

Welcome to CD!

Your sketchbook is mad! Keep on pushing with structure!!! As the fellow said above, try doing a longer drawing with more thought into it. I know you are struggling a lot, I used to draw a hell lot in quantity, but I then realised I was missing some stuff, like proportion (and I still miss lol).

Take good care of your back and your hands! Do not push your body further than you can: I did this wrong too months ago, I have gotten sick because of the amount of time I was training nonstop. So, resting i very important, sometimes even mentally.

I talk too much, sorry. I will be following close your sketchbook, do you like Krenz Cushart? I  see some stuff that looks like hits patreon stuff!! So cool, I love his work.

[JeyRam]

Dude, this is some mad mileage. It's great to see you putting in this kind of quantity. I'm surprised no one's commented/welcomed you yet! haha.

Allow me to be the first. Welcome to CD!

A bit of critique below :D.


keep focusing on construction/proportions! Watch the spacing of your eyes for your heads as well-- things are getting a bit askew and slanted.

I'd say you could slow down for a few (maybe a 5-6) and see how things go with some erasing and correction. There's things you're only going to notice if you focus on one for a long time as opposed to blasting through 20+ haha.

Aww thank you so much :D Yeah my proportions are way off, its why i started drawing smaller and using simple construction, easier for me to catch mistakes that way. I see what you are saying about the eyes, will focus to improve on it.

Yeah that makes sense, theres something addicting about doing quicker studies because you can restart easily LOL but youre right, need to do longer studies. Ill make sure to carve out some time for that, thank you for the crit! its really helpful ^^ 

Welcome to CD!

Your sketchbook is mad! Keep on pushing with structure!!! As the fellow said above, try doing a longer drawing with more thought into it. I know you are struggling a lot, I used to draw a hell lot in quantity, but I then realised I was missing some stuff, like proportion (and I still miss lol).

Take good care of your back and your hands! Do not push your body further than you can: I did this wrong too months ago, I have gotten sick because of the amount of time I was training nonstop. So, resting i very important, sometimes even mentally.

I talk too much, sorry. I will be following close your sketchbook, do you like Krenz Cushart? I  see some stuff that looks like hits patreon stuff!! So cool, I love his work.

Yeah you guys are right, ill make sure to do some longer studies. Yeah Im doing a better job at taking care of myself now, it is frustrating because all I want to do right now is work, but Ill get better :D

LOL feel free to talk as much as you like, its always nice to hear other peoples thoughts. 

Yeah I love Krenz way of doing things, I bought his gumroad tutorials and realized that I need to focus on very basic structure. Also his approach isnt cluttered with knowledge that might not be useful, especially for people that arent aiming to draw perfect anatomy. I really love the way he can draw very organic forms and his ability to redraw poses in different perspectives; Like this stuff



So good LOL 

Im really happy I joined this forum, its nice to be able to share studies and talk art. Im kind of taken back by how nice it feels to see other people also working on similar things. Will keep updating!

[JeyRam]

Feeling a bit frustrated the past few days, feeling really stressed about my body hurting when theres so much to be done. Today a few things clicked in my head, really going to take the time to simplify and understand basic things. I still have to add longer form studies (as suggested by Thor, yes the demigod himself) I have avoided them for awhile simply because I dont wana get hooked on rendering before getting structure down, but it would probably help me a lot with my wonky proportions.

[JeyRam]

So Im using an easel set up moving forward so i can work standing, reduces neck strain. Been working on trying to capture likeness, doing quite terrible but just going to keep pushing. 
Been having problems with drawing eyes properly (misaligned a lot of the times). Did some drawing from imagination to see what I need work on, what information I have retained.
I need to take some time to study head+neck placement on the body, I draw my figures from the torso -> out, so sometimes my heads dont work with the perspective properly. 







I took 2 days off and went out, so lower quantity but ill pick the pace back up the next few days
(working on longer form studies right now, but wont be focusing on rendering too much until I can cartoonify faces the way I want)

[JeyRam]

Some studies from the past few days








Been a bit frustrated lately, just being stressed out by personal stuff in my life but just gotta keep my head down and work

[JeyRam]

Some practice from the past few days, finally digging my feet into painting and watercolor.
Really been focused on capturing likeness in a cartoony form, planning on trying portrait commissions in 2017 so prepping for that.
Ive also been taking time to try to think of what type of work i want to do long term, to make sure i dont get stuck in a "study technique loop".
I do feel like I want to try story telling through images, like what Pascal Campion does is amazing -> but i still really want to learn deeper technique (like Krenz Cushart' ability to draw form)
so combining the two into watercolor paintings will be where i am headed for 2017

[dangelowallaceart]

You're definitely putting in the hard work. It has a good result so far.

[Fedodika]

Well hello there Jeyram!! My, you have some pretty lines and gestural sketches!! You also have some nice foundation to your figure work and heads.

I am however seeing a very consistent problem in your little head sketches. But it's more philosophical. Your heads are charming, the ones that aren't skewed at least because you roughly get proportions right and that makes an appealing little sketch.

The problem is, that's the only head you seem to be able to draw. Like, these photo references you (printed out) and pasted next to the sketch don't really resemble the head, even in a stylized sense for some of them. I'll see the reference, then look at the three sketches around it and i still can't decide which one it's supposed to be.

And I know this might suck, but like learning all the planes of the face and all the little pockets of fat is what it's going to take to push them faces to the next level. Even if they are stylized. Take some risks too you know, draw a crazy long nose, draw some goblin or troll looking faces, you'll learn a lot about proportions and how to vary them. It's something that can be really fun too since when you draw ugly creatures, you can try out lots of different shapes and you experiment with a different tool set.

Further, get just one sheet of paper, and a ref and copy that ref for a few hours, and erase stuff, and try to make it look exactly how it looks in the reference. This really WILL be the hard work because oh man it's tough lol. do your best at this and you will sort a lot of things out doing it!

Best wishes,
Koala man

[Markus Creation]

Wow, this sketchbook is awesome! So motivating, all your pages full of practice. This looks so cool and motivating.
Have no further advice, just wanted to say 'good work till now'.

[JeyRam]

Well hello there Jeyram!! My, you have some pretty lines and gestural sketches!! You also have some nice foundation to your figure work and heads.

I am however seeing a very consistent problem in your little head sketches. But it's more philosophical. Your heads are charming, the ones that aren't skewed at least because you roughly get proportions right and that makes an appealing little sketch.

The problem is, that's the only head you seem to be able to draw. Like, these photo references you (printed out) and pasted next to the sketch don't really resemble the head, even in a stylized sense for some of them. I'll see the reference, then look at the three sketches around it and i still can't decide which one it's supposed to be.

And I know this might suck, but like learning all the planes of the face and all the little pockets of fat is what it's going to take to push them faces to the next level. Even if they are stylized. Take some risks too you know, draw a crazy long nose, draw some goblin or troll looking faces, you'll learn a lot about proportions and how to vary them. It's something that can be really fun too since when you draw ugly creatures, you can try out lots of different shapes and you experiment with a different tool set.

Further, get just one sheet of paper, and a ref and copy that ref for a few hours, and erase stuff, and try to make it look exactly how it looks in the reference. This really WILL be the hard work because oh man it's tough lol. do your best at this and you will sort a lot of things out doing it!

Best wishes,
Koala man

Yeah youre right, I will def take this to heart :D thanks man

Wow, this sketchbook is awesome! So motivating, all your pages full of practice. This looks so cool and motivating.
Have no further advice, just wanted to say 'good work till now'.

Ayye thanks man, appreciate the support!


So i realized that i jumped to a standing work station too quickly, gotta ease into it and also get a floor mat.
Went back to my drafting table for a bit while I recover the overworked muscles LOL

Getting into studying the planes of the face and also having fun with forms, diving deeper into this :3

[miracoly]

DAAAAAAAMN! Some serious mileage happening here! Love your attitude. Since I'm also a student I might try a more consistent morning routine as well. Helped me a lot in the past, but I neglected it hard since university. What are your main learning resources for the head/body studies?

[JeyRam]

DAAAAAAAMN! Some serious mileage happening here! Love your attitude. Since I'm also a student I might try a more consistent morning routine as well. Helped me a lot in the past, but I neglected it hard since university. What are your main learning resources for the head/body studies?

Yeah! morning routines are great, especially for those days where you feel like shit LOL 


As for resources for my heads/figures I just printed off random stock photos, Loomis and Michael Hampton art books, Proko reference packs.
I also have a binder full of printed stuff from Krenz Cushart, Pixiv Artist 0033 (cant seem to find this guys actual name LOL) and other random things I really like.

I printed these for the planes of thefaces





Some samples of Krenz Cushart (you can find his stuff on pinterest or msg me and ill send you my dropbox of his stuff + Artist 0033s stuff)





Pixiv Artist 0033

[JeyRam]

More struggles with capturing character and likeness. I really have to focus when drawing, if i feel anxious or distracted my drawings become utter poop x.x and thats been happening a lot, but ill get my handle on it with practice

[neopatogen]

Awwsome commitment! Good that you started doing construction， it`s very important in thr long run. Keep pushing :)

[JeyRam]

Awwsome commitment! Good that you started doing construction， it`s very important in thr long run.  Keep pushing :)

Dude, thank you so much. The support helps so much <3 :D


Realized Ive been slaving away on very rigid studies, so ive switched it up a bit and im doing a lot more stuff from imagination + having fun with it. Even though I want great technique, realism isnt really what i enjoy the most and I feel like ive lost touch with the joy of drawing due to pressure to get technique down.