06-30-2016, 06:35 PM
*EDIT. I wrote a whole thing below, before I checked out your work. You asked the question as if you were a total beginner so I assumed you were, but looking at your work you aren't. What's strange is you are actually doing a decent job with some of your study, but you simply are not applying it to your own work, and it feels like you are letting your uncertainty in this area stress you out big time and using "I don't know how to study" as an excuse to not face the real challenge.
I reiterate my earlier point. Your deathline about what to study isn't fit for purpose (ie to address your fear of finishing an illustration)
FORGET the "what to study" and "I'm not good enough" thoughts just for long enough to finish one damn illustration. This should be your only goal in the next month. It doesn't matter what it ends up looking like, if it's a pile of dog shit smeared on canvas, Just do it. Any studies you do this month, make them applicable to this illustration.
Come up with an idea> gather some reference > do some compositional / value thumbnails > choose one and work up a more detailed sketch > Do any studies you need to prepare for rendering (lighting, materials etc) > Render it up
Please do it, then come back to us with an analysis of the process and show us what you did. use the Critique subforum to get some feedback along the way.
Your fear is much much stronger than your lack of skills. If you want something to fear, I'm so onto you son...there's no escaping now.
Read only if you want---------------------------------aimed at beginners with much less time in it than you have.
I understand the "scattered" panic that comes from not knowing what to study first. Try and ignore it, that is just your own insecurity stepping in to take control. Like Brush said best way to dispel this is to prioritise according to your needs. From my experience I would say this is the most linear order to self study as each section tends to build upon the previous one.
Basic Line control (curves, straight lines, ellipses, line weight etc) Examples like in Peter Han's dynamic sketching CGMA class (first lesson is free on YT)
Perspective theory and construction of basic 2D and 3D forms in perspective (grids, ellipses, boxes, cylinders, curved surfaces and forms.) moving on to more complex forms.
Form Rendering (Lighting and value theory)
Colour Theory
Figure proportions and construction in perspective
Anatomy.
Advanced Rendering (materials and advanced lighting)
Design (research, study and application)
Illustration (composition, focal points, narrative, workflow process) This is where you try and combine everything together really.
Nobody who self teaches really ever does it quite so linearly, because all of these things combine together in most illustrative work. So often you will try to do an illustration, and many of the things that go into making a good one, will just be lacking in your skillset and so the results don't please, and you get frustrated. I believe it is a great idea to attempt to finish things relatively regularly in your learning process for this reason alone, it helps you IDENTIFY major points of deficiency in skillset that you can then focus on in study. It also helps you get to grips with what the entire workflow of creating an illustration might be like. I find people who tend to do nothing but study, and don't finish work more regularly, tend to be deficient in some of those less tangible things, like narrative, composition and overall impact of their work.
If you are lacking at one of the earlier stages (eg perspective) most of everything you attempt will suffer, so it is probably the most efficient to identify the largest most fundamental problem you have first, and do specific practice towards addressing that first before moving on. You can learn these in parallel to some degree as well, but the more you try and do everything at once the more frustrating it might be for you and the less you will be able to troubleshoot specific things to address. So if you identified problems in lighting and form, you MUST do studies and work towards practicing that specificially.
Hope that helps.
I reiterate my earlier point. Your deathline about what to study isn't fit for purpose (ie to address your fear of finishing an illustration)
FORGET the "what to study" and "I'm not good enough" thoughts just for long enough to finish one damn illustration. This should be your only goal in the next month. It doesn't matter what it ends up looking like, if it's a pile of dog shit smeared on canvas, Just do it. Any studies you do this month, make them applicable to this illustration.
Come up with an idea> gather some reference > do some compositional / value thumbnails > choose one and work up a more detailed sketch > Do any studies you need to prepare for rendering (lighting, materials etc) > Render it up
Please do it, then come back to us with an analysis of the process and show us what you did. use the Critique subforum to get some feedback along the way.
Your fear is much much stronger than your lack of skills. If you want something to fear, I'm so onto you son...there's no escaping now.
Read only if you want---------------------------------aimed at beginners with much less time in it than you have.
I understand the "scattered" panic that comes from not knowing what to study first. Try and ignore it, that is just your own insecurity stepping in to take control. Like Brush said best way to dispel this is to prioritise according to your needs. From my experience I would say this is the most linear order to self study as each section tends to build upon the previous one.
Basic Line control (curves, straight lines, ellipses, line weight etc) Examples like in Peter Han's dynamic sketching CGMA class (first lesson is free on YT)
Perspective theory and construction of basic 2D and 3D forms in perspective (grids, ellipses, boxes, cylinders, curved surfaces and forms.) moving on to more complex forms.
Form Rendering (Lighting and value theory)
Colour Theory
Figure proportions and construction in perspective
Anatomy.
Advanced Rendering (materials and advanced lighting)
Design (research, study and application)
Illustration (composition, focal points, narrative, workflow process) This is where you try and combine everything together really.
Nobody who self teaches really ever does it quite so linearly, because all of these things combine together in most illustrative work. So often you will try to do an illustration, and many of the things that go into making a good one, will just be lacking in your skillset and so the results don't please, and you get frustrated. I believe it is a great idea to attempt to finish things relatively regularly in your learning process for this reason alone, it helps you IDENTIFY major points of deficiency in skillset that you can then focus on in study. It also helps you get to grips with what the entire workflow of creating an illustration might be like. I find people who tend to do nothing but study, and don't finish work more regularly, tend to be deficient in some of those less tangible things, like narrative, composition and overall impact of their work.
If you are lacking at one of the earlier stages (eg perspective) most of everything you attempt will suffer, so it is probably the most efficient to identify the largest most fundamental problem you have first, and do specific practice towards addressing that first before moving on. You can learn these in parallel to some degree as well, but the more you try and do everything at once the more frustrating it might be for you and the less you will be able to troubleshoot specific things to address. So if you identified problems in lighting and form, you MUST do studies and work towards practicing that specificially.
Hope that helps.