MrBeast's Long Way of Learning Digital Painting [C+C wanted]

[MrBeast]

Heya,
I am trying to paint every day in order to get good enough to be able to paint from my imagination. I have a few failures behind me already so :s My biggest issue is getting some good shape/volume down and I hope I can get over that with some reference painting.

Day 1: http://i.imgur.com/rxohN.jpg (Live Reference from my surroundings)
Day 2: http://i.imgur.com/Mujop.jpg (Can't find the reference :s )
Day 3: http://i.imgur.com/F5ZWi.jpg (References: http://www.flickr.com/photos/weibsvolk/6.../lightbox/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/27556454@N0.../lightbox/ )
Day 4:

Reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisa_sff/14.../lightbox/

Day 5:

Reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/3856167219/lightbox/

[MrBeast]

Day 6:

Reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nottinghamv.../lightbox/

[MrBeast]

Day 7:

Reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40212451@N0.../lightbox/

I wanted to try dirt, but had not even a idea how to start so I left it out X_x
Tips on that would be greatly appreciated.

[MrBeast]

Day 8:

Reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoofythejin.../lightbox/
Trying some texturing.

[JonHop]

hey man, cool studies, what I can tell from looking at them is that you seem to be very tense, possibley gripping the stylus tightly, making little non-confident lines or slow stoppy starty marks. I would suggest just opening a file before you paint and making some long flui confident brush strokes, not painting anything specifically but just to loosen up a bit, then begin your studies and make those same kind of strong confident strokes in your studies.

Also when studying (this may sound stupid or obvious but it's essential) for example, if you want to draw dirt, do you know what dirt looks like, do you UNDERSTAND HOW dirt behaves, etc. Understanding something helps you to paint it from your imagination, and if you don't know what dirt looks like or how to paint it, do a study of that thing, then apply it.

Lastly don't beat yourself up, practice studying things and also doing imagination pieces based on what you have learnt from your studies.

And lastly have some FUN with it, not everything has to be perfectly rendered all the time, experiment, try things out, just go a bit crazy every now and then, experimenting will also help you to grow as an artist.

[AaronJordan]

Seems to me you need to practice construction (i.e. drawing) . Ever study Andrew Loomis? If not here ya go http://alexhays.com/loomis/ Don't just copy the drawings in the books read em too. Thanks

[Mythtaken]

Studying all the time is sometimes discouraging and you lose your motivation from time to time, when those times comes around, i stop my studying and trying to focus on imaginative works, applying what I've been studying is essential of course. Though, this may differ from person to person, but, you should try some imaginative work.

I noticed you've captured the metal texture quite well, maybe it's time to test yourself and try draw some metal objects from imagination?

Also, there's so much more to study than boring objects and textures, like anatomy, form, color etc. I strongly suggest reading James Gurney's blog, or if you want to, buy his book "Color and Light", I've read it several times and I still keep finding golden tips and tricks.

But whatever you do, don't give up. The hard work will pay off one day. And above all, have fun.

---

Oh and I forgot, don't just study for the sake of studying. Study something that really matters, like mentioned above by AaronJordan, construction, form, shape etc is all important. You do want to build a strong foundation before trying the advanced stuff.

Like how objects act in 3D space, for that, simple perspective practice will do the trick. You want that strong foundation, sooner or later, you'll have to visit the boring studies anyway, better go there sooner than later.

There are tons of tips and tricks we can say to you, but in the end, it's all up to you, if these suggestions are too confusing, just think about what you suck at the most, and then practice it, then move on to the next thing you suck at.

[Ursula Dorada]

This is a good start man, but here, honestly - the road is big. We don't even know if the road have an ending, really.

We have to really enjoy the journey.
Keep pushing, I'd recommend you to listen to Sickbrush's classes on the mentorship forum (this way: http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-1408.html ) do the exercises, practice. Do everyday. Do not worry about results - about more about hours in.

Hehe I just spent one year just drawing everyday, I have though I was a bit better, then I just got something like "yeah keep drawing, it is still lacking in comparison to your painting". It was a bit frustrating, but it was probably honest. So what to do? Keep drawing. Have fun. Try new things.

Right?
You have a nice start here man. Keep going!

[Chiritsu]

I think we all have to battle motivation at times and it's hard. I'd recommend joining peoples livestreams, or finding a partner in crime to do work with together.

One of my tutors have told me that the worse you draw, the more you're learning. So don't be ashamed of "past mistakes". Accept them as learning pieces cause that's what they are. We all have to start somewhere right? No-one is perfect the first time.. or the thousands of attempts after that.

[Vandall]

I cant build much more on what everyone else has said but try to think about the form of the object youre painting when youre studying it, consider the thing in three dimensional space it will help you understand lighting and weight as well as building your draftsmanship. I have this problem myself alot of the time so I feel the frustration.

Try to flip your pieces to get fresh eyes on them as you paint it will reveal things that your brain is trying to tell you looks wrong and help you get out of painting in symbols. I hope this helps mate.

[MrBeast]

Wow, thank you all. :blush: This is really encouraging, I hadn't expected this much feedback x]

@JonHop: Thanks man, I have a idea for a artwork I want to try in the next few days. Until then I should do a few studies that will help me executing that particular idea.
@AaronJordan: Hm, drawing, that's something I did tons at school but didn't really got any good. (To be honest though, I didn't really try, I always just used it to scribble down a idea and make a few iterations of that idea, was never supposed to really look good.) I kinda hoped I could avoid it.
@Mythtaken: Thank you, making a few perspective studies sounds like a good idea.
@Ursula Dorada & Chiritsu & Vandall: Thanks for the encouragement :)

I just wanted to note one thing: I am not "completely" new to digital painting, I did lurk here and there, and also read the one or another thing, but what I didn't do was actively practice. I have a bit background in other visual art forms such as pixel art, and can use some of the experience and knowledge from there.

[TylerDonnelly]

MrBeast

Your work has some pretty nice colors, my only concern with your sketchbook is the amount of actual rendering you're doing. You should trying getting shapes as close to exact in your studies. Try and manage your edge control so that you have soft and hard edges where applicable.

And try working on your value range a bit more. Some areas could stand to be darker.

Excited how to see you progress. Try finding some variation in the materials you study, right now it seems like you're going for highly reflective materials and those that don't have reflection have no real sense of texture. Just something to think about.

[MrBeast]

Day 9: http://i.imgur.com/kc0LcFx.jpg Reference: http://hellize.deviantart.com/art/Damasc...-319195183 Focus was on the handle, didn't go too well and I lost a second try due to a crash, well duh. (Set auto-saves to 2minutes now)
Day 10:

Reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46726458@N0.../lightbox/
Rocks, Those gave me a lot headaches in Pixel Art already. Reference used rather loosely.

[MrBeast]