Arch's Book of Stuff

[constructicon]

Hey Arch, thank you very much for your kind words :-) much appreciated.

No worries mate you are doing great!!! Keep up understanding values and learn to draw and understand things as 3d and you will do fine.
And don`t be afraid of painting and drawing from imagination. Your Progression from post 1 to your latest upload is very very impressive. Keep sharing.

[Archreux]

No prob Construct. Thanks, I'm definitely trying to get back into more studies, and getting myself to actually do them so I feel more prepared. It feels really good.

Here's some sketches. The first one was done in my first class today. The best thing to ever happen in college so far: we got an entire class room full of 12'in cintiques. They're so slippery and fun, hopefully I'll be able to get some more 20 min sketches like this done during breaks. I may even just start bringing in my brush packs, haha. :]

[Lyraina]

About the too long noses and mistakes while painting from last page: Do you mirror your images (horizontally) while painting? Helps you get a fresh look at whatever you are working on, and things like a misplaced nose will jump at you immediately.

Nice armor studies :)

[Archreux]

Lyraina - Yeah I flip back and forth all the time when painting. I think that's probably the fumiest thing about it. I am really not as attentive as I should be. Thanks, I still don't have a handle on metal/armor yet, so more studies for me. :D

Here's another WIP of the girly I'm working on. I was able to get a lot of feedback from friends, and I decided that the shield just needed to go. Good thing I'd already had an under-painting started, haha.

Been learning a whole lot about letting go of fear and not being worried about having to fix things that are broken, no matter how much of a pain in the ass it can be, it is totally worth it. :]]]

Any comments/crits are all very much appreciated.

[Lyraina]

Love those pink/red colors in that piece. What bugs me a bit right now is the eye in the shadow, it's so dark that it feels like there's missing something, especially since the cheek area etc is fully lit. Looking forward how you're going to develop that piece further :)

And yes, being willing to fix things (kill your darlings!) really is worth a lot. Need ot learn that, too D:

[Blewzen]

Your poses/characters improved a lot man, this last piece is pretty cool, I would just try to make clear that the pink magic aura comes from her (overlap it on her body here and there) and try to separate her from the background by making it a bit brighter maybe?
Anyways nice stuff, keep it up :)

[Bjulvar]

Hey Arch!
Good choice in getting rid of the shield, I guess that it's a benefit to see the character now :P Really liking her attitude and design. Totally ready to kick some ass!
Was thinking the same as Blewzen, I'm reading it as if the aura is behind her. Adding some reflections and shines on her would help to make it clear I think. (if that's the point)

Agree with you on letting go off fears and anxieties. They never help. I think that one of the best things you can do as an artist are those tough decisions that could risk a whole painting. Even if the painting comes out bad, or worse than expected, you still made some beneficial choices that could help you out further in the future. Bravery!

You've done major leaps in progress over the past few months man, it's awesome! Keep up what you're doing :D

[Adzerak]

Man you've got some really cool ideas and designs in here. Like the way you handle textures in your paintings and that you manage to get some emotion in your faces even though they're not overly emotive you know. It's all in the subtlety!

That shadowy armored knight you did beside the huge energy ball. Would like you to see something like that pushed further. Just something about it ;D

[Archreux]

Lyraina- Yeah, I'm really excited to get into the piece and fix it. :D

Blewzen- I definitely agree with the aura and separating her from the BG a bit more. Thanks, man. :]

Bjulvar- Thanks. Yeah, these past few months have been teaching me a lot about letting go and just trusting yourself to get the job done.

Adzerak- Haha, thank you for the kind words! :D

I'm alive, and It's been what has felt like an eternity since a post. School really did a great job at kicking my ass this time around with projects, but I learned a lot, haha. To keep things brief, It's been a challenging quarter.

Here's some stuff I did for class. More or less. . . . I'm pretty displeased with the results to say the least. I was able to take a lot of lessons away from doing it, though.

I've got so much sketchbook stuff and animations I did for class, but to now overwhelm people this will do. :pp

[Archreux]

Hey guys! Here's some more stuff. The last sketch is me trying to be Brad Rigney, lolol. It was fun.

[Archreux]

Did some experimenting, and I think I'll try it again at some point.

I gotta do more studies... :]

[Archreux]

Here's some painting I did last week as some character exploration, and some sketches that had been done over the past 3 months I was in school. Sorry for the incoherent display, haha. There's a lot of sketches I'd built up, and I've still got more I want to post.

I'm really getting more into all of this, and I want to work even harder. My only problem is that I find myself getting overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I know I need to learn. It makes me feel like I've gotta rush, which takes the fun outta of it all.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how they deal with feeling overwhelmed, and working through it with healthy study habits/routines, that'd be amazing. :D

[Archreux]

More stuff. Might do some more with the speed paint. It was pretty fun, and I learned a lot from doing that quickie. :]

[Jaik]

Dude, so many new updates. This is great. I really like the chick in the warehouse sort of place near sunset a couple of posts ago. I think you should try and push a few of these to more a finished piece.

Also, keep up with those studies man, its what will make the difference in the long run :D

[Archreux]

Thanks, man! Yeah, I've got a huge folder of WIP's that need finishing so I might as well just add a few more to fuel the fire, haha.

Went up north this past weekend with some friends. It was really great, and I was able to see a lot of nature that I don't normally see where I live. It was hard to study/draw with all the activities, but I was able to get a small plein air in and some tree drawlings. :]

[Lyraina]

I know that feeling of being overwhelmed by things that still want to be learnt. My advice is picking one or two topics you want to improve in, and concentrate just on those for a while, until you see improvement or feel like you need a break from it to digest the information. It’s easier to focus on certain aspects and not do it all at the same time, and it mixes things up every now and then so that it won’t become boring.

I like the amount of sketchbook studies. Keep it up :)

[Archreux]

Lyraina- Yeah, I'm definitely going to keep doing that. It's so weird finding what study patterns, or habits work the best for you. But the fun part is that there's no real wrong, or right way! And thanks, I definitely will! :D

Hated how Leeri turned out. She's the partner of the other guy I posted earlier. More head studies!

[pnate]

Nice variety and amount of stuff going on man! I like that water wizard dude :) As a crit, one thing I notice is that in terms of lighting, the focal points don't feel like they stand out enough. I think you could push the values and contrast more in some of your images, particularly when it comes to the secondary light sources that are shining on the characters' bodies. Or if you're going for the dark painterly thing, some Jaime Jones studies might be helpful as he's super good at creating strong focal points through his value compositions without having to always rim light or having a super strong spotlight on the character.

[Archreux]

Pnate- Thanks for the feedback, man. Really trying to diversify the work, and get uncomfortable. I should really do some Jamie Jones. I love him so much, haha. :]

Some studies and another speedy paint. Speedy paint helps warm up my brain, I found. I'm working on finishing stuff up. I'll post progress and more studies soon.

[Cyprinus]

You have a nice sketchbook with a lot of great studies! Totally dig those clean lines in your sketches, and I really admire the effort you are putting in your studies and improvement.

Some posts above you wrote that you are overwhelmed with the amount you still need to learn. I totally feel the same all the time! I'm also working on solutions about that. What Lyraina said is already a very good approach, to focus a bit on the areas that are most important to you. I also tend to study certain books on the topic, so 3 or 4 days of the week I try to put "my current book" into focus.
Also, what really consoles me - although it may sound strange - that I will never ever be finished learning. Even when I get past the stuff I I need to learn now and master it, new things to study will appear. I think this consoles me because I always thought if I master this and that and stuff it will be good, but in the end there's no end to learning. So I just see it as the life long journey and process. Maybe this somehow takes away a bit of the pressure of needing to know everything, because yeah, you can't know _everything_ in the end. Important thing is that you give the thing you do this very moment the very best.
I don't know if this helps you because as I'm writing it it really sounds awkward lol; I also think it comes a lot from my viewpoint as a (former) perfectionist, so sorry if I'm spamming your thread with strange drivel.

Anyway, keep it up! I'm totally curious what you'll come up with (: