CGMythology's Sketchbook
Hi George, I'm LOVING your latest since I last dropped in! All your efforts at adding dynamic lighting is really paying off! Lion Heart, Rise, and the Venom Portrait are outstanding.

Hope you're doing well!! Have a great New Year!

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darktiste:  Excellent input as always!  I agree that the figures grip holding the sword could be improved, didn't put much attention to this initially I admit but I just refined it for a more natural look.  Incorporated the rest of your feedback as well and I feel it's an improvement.  Glad you dig the sketch values, I always work in multiple layers when sketching so it's just a simple matter of lower the opacity of the parts I want faded out to the background which gives a nice depth of field effect.

Jephyr:  Thanks for the kinds words!!  Very happy to hear you enjoy the new illustrations, I definitely learned a lot on how specific material handles and lighting in general... Still need to do plenty of more studies though as I feel I can gain a better understanding of light in general.  Happy New Year and keep up the great work as well!

Tango_Mango:  Thanks, I'm really happy to hear that the chaos of the image is expressed already in the sketch as that was something I wanted to emphasize!

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I went ahead and made some changes based on the input received and painted it in.  I'm fairly pleased with the illustration, the feeling of 'war' I think is really expressed nicely which was my main goal here.  I'm still open to input if there's anything that needs tweaking or can be improved, so please feel free to let me know!  Below is the current progress followed by the steps for those interested:






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That looks good! A lot of work has been put in that illustration for sure. I think you have the same problem as me, everything looks too rendered and contrasted (especially on the main character) so it's difficult to guide the eye of the viewer. Also, the facial expression needs more contraction on the muscle that frowns the mouth upwards (I think thats the two zygomaticus ones), so that the cheek is more contracted. Hope that is helpful! That's my first sketchbook ccritique in more than 10 years hehe sorry if I'm rusty!
Btw, many thanks for the reply on my thread! I really appreciate it even though my reply was so short and quick (I post just before going to work).
See you!

Here's my sketchbook thread!
Abrodos' sketchbook
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I feel like the back of the head is to far back like she as some kind egg shape skull.

Also those rock look good in the middle ground but would i be wrong to assume you use photo bashing and cloning stamp? If not this must have taken age to do.Nothing wrong with using clone stamp when it down thoughtfully.

My Sketchbook

Perfection is unmeasurable therefor it impossible to reach it.
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Abrodos:  Thank you!  And yeah, we share a common problem it seems!  I love creating contrast for my paintings and I did push it too far in this one as you stated.  I refined the face as well, I'm going of more of an appealing look as opposed to realism for it, but excellent feedback regardless.  I enjoyed your sketchbook as well, keep up the great work!

darktiste:  LOL I can't unsee that now :D  Excellent point regarding the head.  I think it's the hair's shape that was a problem, tried to make it wavy and give the impression that the wind is affecting it but it made her head look like an alien like you stated, good eye!  The middle ground was a combination of initially  hand painting, then photobashing an image of some rubble at a low opacity, some texture work using custom brushes, and adding the final touches with a hard edged brush.  It took some time but hopefully it was worth it I hope!  Excellent input as always!

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I updated the image based on the input I received and I think it's a significant improvement thankfully.  Calling this one done for now unless there is anything majorly off with it so please let me know:




Next up I did a study of a movie still from 'The Matrix', one of my favorite movies:




Finally I finished up a sketch for a new personal illustration.  This one took me a while due to its complexity but I'm fairly satisfied with it.  Before I begin painting it in I want to make sure the sketch is solid, so if something looks off please let me know.  The poses were referenced from this stock photo here.  Tried my best to stay close to the general poses while creating some medieval themed attire for the couple which fits the theme I'm going for:



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Those small flatter bush look like rice krisp block right now or is that rough stone anyways that not so import at this stage as long as the render read correctly.

There nothing major to note but the robe decorative element is very flat you could try to deform it to follow the form a little bit more if you not going to give yourself that effort i would if i was you remove it because it just cheapen the piece.

Remember to break up your stone shape to break up the digitally drawing quality of the piece.

The handle of that sword look rather small i would also lengthen that.

For the cloak some of the fold are not passing the test of proper understanding of weight and material propriety. When a cloak as a shift in it shape there is some reason for example when it touch the ground and it to long it might as it hang from it shoulder stack on itself but where the shape will rarely change is at the mid point of the ''weight'' for that to happen you need a thicker material. Fabric is soft it doesn't have the quality of thicker material that mean that when a change in the shape occur it more rounded than it is to be angular specially the further away from the tension point the fold is. If he was on is knee the tension point would have been much lower and therefor the cloak would have fold on itself more dramatically in that case more extreme folding would have occur but still not to angular.

Here the cloak changing shape is some what ok but it the folding in the inside that make no sense like think of how fold in the robe mirror themselves circularly (the fold are deep rather than small)to a certain degree that happen when the shape of the material can flow down freely.

Anyways all that to say that creating believable fold is hard and you should keep studying and maybe if bring attention to it you might catch what i mean. The issue is some of the direction of those fold and how they merge into each other which become very chaotic and unpredictable when the material hit the ground. Also how you fold are some of them do no reflect the tension of weight they are to wavy. A fold that as weight at the top is going down ''straight'' along the form but as it reach the ground it can loose some of that tension.

My Sketchbook

Perfection is unmeasurable therefor it impossible to reach it.
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Regarding the 'war' scene her teeth don't appear to be the right perspective from that angle there should be a slight curve, with the molars just seen in the background, but instead it look very straight and quite glaring. I hope this image gives an indicator as to what I mean. Not the exact angle, but the closest I could find. I hope that gives you an idea. https://pin.it/CUCQHgrx6

On the latest, great job on making the ref your own. It looks great! I've added that to my 'couples embracing/kissing' bank. I can understand what Tango says about the sword, it doesn't seem well integrated, but I assume that will change once you start to render it out.
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darktiste:  Great points about the woman's dress, made a ton of changes to it for the better.  Hopefully it looks ok now that it's fully painted!  

Tango_mango:  Excellent point!  It's missing some straps but I went ahead and included them so hopefully it looks more natural now!

Dominicque:  Great points!  I refined the image heavily, particularly the expression.  Hopefully it works well enough now but please let me know!

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I've got a ton of updates today!  First up is some traditional sketches I completed last year.  I haven't drawn traditionally in years so my skills are naturally a bit rusty, but it was a lot of fun.  I think I'll do the traditional sketches strictly for anatomy studies as I learn more that way.  Lighting I'll handle directly with digital painting since it's so much faster:











































































Next up are two studies for lighting:








Next up is an update on a recent painting, refined the expression a bit per feedback.  Hopefully it looks more natural now:





Finally my latest painting, would love to hear any input on this one before calling it final.  Below is the current progress followed by the steps for those interested:






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Hi George — man you are prolific. LOVE the Valentine piece — great colors, form and setting. Same for the War painting. Really cool!

And of course I love to see your sketchbook work especially the cartoony stuff which is such a departure from your typical fantasy work. Your shading looks very good and of course you KILL on your females. : )

Keep up the GREAT work!

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Jephyr:  Thank you!  Glad to hear you enjoy my two latest pieces!  Glad you like the more cartoony sketches as well.  I actually enjoy caricature and cartoon work too but there seems to be very limited demand for that, but it's fun to tackle on my free time!  Thanks again for your positive words!

Tango_Mango:  Thank you!  Glad you like the updated expression as well, the angle was tricky but I think it worked out in the end!

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Time for a new illustration!  I wanted to do something within my comfort zone so this is a more of a portrait piece.  The inspiration came from this photo here that I used as reference for the general pose... although I didn't want to do a direct study/copy so I opted for a more dynamic feel when sketching it, and also chose to depict a woman instead as I really enjoy portraying strong women.  Overall I'm quite happy with the sketch but I wanted to hear any input before I begin the process of painting it in, so if something feels off please let me know!  Below is the sketch:



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Heart 
It's so hard to find good examples of this kind of foreshortening, but I just wanted to stop and give my two cents - remember to avoid too sharp a line or clear detail on the blade, otherwise it'll look flat. 



[Image: 7b54bd5532266ae7c221fa4f03ab2ef3.png]

Sketcherinos

Link Tree

Discord: emnida
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Why is the guard only on one side ?Guard are symmetrical for balance.  I never seen that in a ever in a sword.

Hoping the image clarify a bit the part that is missing (it should be on both side) of the blade and on the left and right under the blade.

I would remove some of the guard thickness seem a bit to heavy when it corrected.

I also remove some of the sharpness of the jawline as it goes away from the chin. One other thing i did was that i modified the flow of the hair i felt was creating a tangent toward the point of the ear now i feel it flowing with the actually flow of the curl going to the shoulder.

I also had a version where i play with the facial proportion with liquify as i felt her chin was to strong and the lips a bit to fat.I wanted to push toward a middle where the eye would take the center stage.You can see that i added some blur to some of the feature to give the more sharp edge the ability to take over when it come to the eye.I think she end up with a bit more of a merciful expression because the lips are not so center stage .Such lips kinda gave her a pin up style specially with the beauty mark on such a flawless skin which make it very ''Marilyn Monroe'' . I just prefer to think of powerful women as a little more broad between strong and compassionate so i opted for smaller lips smaller nose.


Attached Files Image(s)




My Sketchbook

Perfection is unmeasurable therefor it impossible to reach it.
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Nice job dude! It's not easy at all to draw that level of foreshortening, but it looks great!

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RocketPocket:  Thank you, excellent suggestion!  Went ahead and blurred it during the painting process, really helps push the depth of the image so good call!

darktiste:  I updated the image, not sure if I fixed what you stated in regards to the blade/guard  so let me know!  Thanks for the draw over as well;  I think I'll stick to the playful look, however as I feel it suits the character more and gives her more personality.

JosephCow:  Thank you!  Foreshortening could be tricky but I intend to incorporate it more and more into my artworks as I really enjoy that extreme three dimensional look!

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Went ahead and painted the image in.  The painting process went very smoothly luckily and I'm quite happy with how the image turned out.  I'm open to feedback so if something feels off please feel free to let me know!  Below is the current progress followed by the steps for those interested:






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Look great my only ick is the use of a bit to much of those tree stamp brush just need a bit more finesse and variety in size.

My problem is with the The shoulder area to me is problematic in term of readability due to the side profile it hard to understand how the armor is constructed. Sometime you have to take the perspective of someone that look at the drawing will they understand will they have enough information to figure out what is what. The more there overlapping of shape the more a subject become hard to ready. Sadly this is something that hard to explain because it require to be able to take someone else perspective.

The problem i am trying to give my perspective on is cause by the way you design that area delined by the red contour it look like one shape even if there that little silver division that suppose to help separate the shoulder from the shoulder blade. The problem is one of understanding what material she wearing. Because it look like she wearing something that both an armor/ fabric that can also bridge between the shoulder toward her shoulder blade.
The problem is that personally i find the gold part should have only been for the shoulder by adding it to the shoulder blade this become visually confusing at least that my opinion specially because you dont have much form to that shoulder it kind of fuse into one mass and it become very flat by the look of the shading in that part.

Would you be able to create sketch to explain the armor design because i can<t find anything similar in the real world maybe in fantasy where metal can behave like soft material but otherwise what you did is normally only found in chainmail. Something that goes both over the shoulder and shoulder blade will giving alot of flexibility to the arm. What the use of that leather belt piece adjacent to the glove on the right those are question that visually i can't answers they don't seem to insert or attach to anything and that a problem.


Attached Files Image(s)



My Sketchbook

Perfection is unmeasurable therefor it impossible to reach it.
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darktiste:  Excellent feedback as always.  And yeah I painted one tree and duplicated throughout, didn't know it would read that obvious due to it's size.  I went ahead and painted a bunch of new ones, looks much more natural now so that was a great call.  I agree about the shoulder/back area, just did some refining to it to help differentiate it a bit.  Hopefully the image is an improvement!

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I went ahead and refined the illustration and incorporated the feedback as well as doing some minor tweaks here and there to improve it.  I think I'm calling it done for now! Here is the current preview:




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Next up a bunch of lighting studies.  Been very productive the last few days so I'm quite happy with these and learned a bit from them as well:









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Personally i think study wise what my suggestion for you would be is cloth study and gesture and maybe a bit more anatomy since you do alot of character illustration. I would also suggest trying a bit of landscape drawing since you also do fantasy and why not a bit of architecture on top.

One thing i would say is try to study a bit more the cheekbone and the box of the mouth i feel like you could get a bit more form in those zone(i am not talking about the skull but on people with skin)

My Sketchbook

Perfection is unmeasurable therefor it impossible to reach it.
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Great studies! The red shapes seem stronger and more precise than your previous ones, at first I was like is that a 3D model? On the skull the way you captured the cool light on the cranium contrasted with the reddish secondary light looks great. There might be some work to be done on the teeth area, like it feels like the left part of that muzzle is rotated toward us a bit when we want it to feel like it's going away. Overall it looks really nice though.

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HOT DAMN!!! the arts looking clean, loving these recent studies. I need to get on some still lives of my own
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