Bookend's Sketchbook

[Triggerpigking]

Good to see you back Bookend, and I'm glad to hear your life is in a much better place now, take as much time as you need getting back into the arting habit :).

[MannionJJ2020]

Really nice sketches on the last post! It's good to see you're studying anatomy hard as well but would like to see some personal work as this will test the skills you've learnt. I've made the same mistake of just studying as thinking this is the way to improve but part of the process is application.

Have a good New Year :)

[Bookend]

Hey gorgeous people! :D  Glad to be back and slowly making headway into art again.

So, the news is:  I got my portfolio together and went to a portfolio session for admission to a program called "Game Art and Design," at Centennial College in Toronto.  It's a 16 month endeavour, so I would theoretically be starting this coming September, and finished by December 2018.

The program coordinator was really nice, chill, easygoing dude.  I like his style.  I already had a look at the curriculum, and I approved-- All of it is exactly what I need to be doing to progress, and the benefit of instruction and/or peer feedback is there.

There was a small pile of us, and he explained the program, and we handed in our portfolios at the end.  He let us know he'd be emailing us to let us know whether our portfolios passed or not, let us off the hook sorta thing, and if we didn't hear from him, it'd only be because he hadn't looked at it yet.

I heard from him about an hour and a half later.  He let me know that I'd been recommended for admission and that I'd be receiving a formal offer soon.  So, my portfolio passed its audition, yay!  I guess I shouldn't have had any doubts, but when you spend so much time thinking about what could be missing, whether you did enough..  I dunno. It was a big day, and I made some friends.

Meow I gotta think about what happens next.  In particular, living accommodations!  So, we'll see what to do about that.

But, yeah--  Step by step, the journey through my dreams continues!

Here's a few things I added to my portfolio, to ensure I had enough pencil sketchies:

[RottenPocket]

*(hug)* missed you bro-sis. Glad you're getting on in life and art.

[NoodleInBox]

Hey congrats to being accepted! And welcome back I'm excited to see more from you :P

[alexdanila]

Very nice story! very inspiring, your words give people strength! Good luck on your dreams and great pencil sketches!

I recently started Schoolism courses and plan to do several courses through the year, i'm hoping it will help me take a next step towards an art career.

[John]

About time. Good luck Bookend!

[Triggerpigking]

Awesome to hear from you again! and congrats on getting into that art course.

[Artloader]

That is supercool Bookend - good luck dude!

[ShinOkami]

Hey dude, thanks for dropping by my sb here !
And good luck on that art course, just keep calm, orginize your time and practice ! :))

[Bookend]

RP:  *huggles* :)  Missed you too!  Glad to be back! ^_^

NoodleInBox:  Thanks!  Me too. :D  

alexdanila:  I'm glad to inspire people. :)  Thank you so much.  I need all the luck!  I wish you the best in your Schoolism!  I've seen some of their courses and they are excellent!

John:  Yeah, ain't that the truth!  Thanks!

Triggerpigking:  Yay!  You too!!  Thanks, I'm so excited!

Artloader:  Thanks!  :)

ShinOkami:  Yep!  Sounds like a great plan.  Hope I actualize it well. :)



So, after a bit of fumbling with the tablet my sister got me, installing drivers and programs a multitude of times, I finally got a setup that I like.  I made a few reeeally lazy sketches that I'm not showing(warm ups, I figure!), but the less-lazy-still-lazy sketches I'll definitely show you guys.  

I'm rusty, but it's still there.  Just about getting back into it.  I have so much support in my life right now that I feel like I don't have any excuses. ;D  Plus, I'm going to an intense program in the fall, so best to get into the habit and be ahead of the game.

It's really blowing my mind that this is really happening-- In as soon as December 2018, I'll have had some game art experience, and be headed for an actual future, where I can make money doing what I love.  I'm not even sure if I should use the word 'love'.  Or even 'passion'.  Not 'obsession' either... Hmmm...  It's just something which you can get lost in.  Like a kind of zen, in-between state of mind, with tranquility and stillness, it flows out of you like a current.  It's observing and engaging at the same time. Excitement and thrill, and tempering calm.

And that's why I somehow have all of the confidence in myself that I can do this, and work at this.  I can succeed as a concept artist.  I'm not sure if I'm going to be a "concept artist", but I know that I'll do art in the industry.  This program is an opportunity to try everything, and get to know all of the aspects of the art side of the pipeline.  I can find out my piece in the puzzle.

For now, I continue to practice.

Here are those less-lazy-still-lazy sketches.

A couple of photo sketches, and the back of my boyfriend's head. :3

[Bookend]

Current sketches for this week's CHOW.

“Take one of the characters of our modern world, (could be a soldier, an office worker, a plumber, etc.) and turn them into something that feels like it might belong in a fairy tale, a mythos or a fantasy novel.”

I made a little story.


The Fairy Doctor (Pest control/Exterminator)

Back in the old country, the Silashian villagers would appoint a 'fairy doctor', whose sordid task was the extermination of fairy nests. It was an arduous, and dangerous task. The main reason for the necessity of the position, was the very real threat of fairy mischief. But, the most alarming issue of all, had been the fairy changelings.

The Gruff couple learned quite quickly, when their two month old daughter started exhibiting the signs. Flashing silver eyes, pale, blueish skin. A peal of laughter so eerie that it sends shivers down their spines, and into their dreams. Their baby had been stolen away, and replaced with a fairy changeling. If not properly... Tended to, the fairy changeling would eventually steal the hearts of the villagers, and eat them in her soup.

Such incidents proved to be enough that a fairy doctor had been realized. To become a fairy doctor proved to be quite easy. It was the apothecary that was naturally chosen. They then would don protective clothing, and a mask, to ensure that they don't intake any 'fairy dust', which is poisonous to humans, causing vigorous dancing.

But, the worst part of being a fairy doctor, is the task of spraying the fairies with the fairicide. As they would die, they sounded like the shrieking of infant children.

[Bookend]

Moar progress. Advice is allllwwaaayys appreciated.

[Fedodika]

I would challenge you to start the picture over, keeping the same idea, but finding a better angle and pose for your character. Like there's no depth in the picture other than the obvious path along the center of the image. Try downloading DAZ3D studio and play around with it, you can find a good angle and trace over it then.

https://www.daz3d.com/home

It's free, but if you can't do it, just try and find a better pose, and some good overlaps in there. Right now, it's basically a silhouette in profile, and you couldn't draw and 3D shapes on top of it to show the form. Build it up with basic shapes... Hope that helps

[Bookend]

Fedodika:  Thanks very much-- I took what you said very seriously.  Maybe too seriously. xD  

So I stopped progress and really thought about where I was going with the illustration, how I would change it to put a different angle on it, maybe a different pose.  Over-the-shoulder, or maybe a semi topview, a view from the fairy's perspective...  I guess I was a lot more attached to this rendition than I thought, which is dangerous.  I need to learn not to cling to concepts, because I'm going to be doing a lot of changing things around just like you said.

I also thought of just going in and defining shapes the way it is.  Mostly, I think it's a matter of lighting the smoke, and lighting up the background to make more dimensions, but I need to study more light dynamics, I think.

 I don't know if I'm in a position to use DAZ as a tool right now, especially with how the program has run on this laptop before-- so I thought about doing some thumbnails and trying different shots.  But, then I got really discouraged.  I think that I need to let this fester in my brain a bit more before I push it to the end.  

I'm just trying to find a way to make the fairies more prominent and sinister-looking, but with some kind of tragic edge to it.  I will very likely come back to it, but it didn't make the CHOW this week. xD  I have this feeling that when I've improved after a year or something I'll want to see how I've improved by redoing it.

I've got some stuff I've been working on.

I've decided to get back into art by doing class mode at:  https://line-of-action.com/practice-tool...e-drawing/

The figure drawing I'm posting now is the product of a 25 minute session (within 1 hour in class mode). I'm not unhappy with the results, but I think I need to hold back a bit more. Be lighter. Maybe force myself with an H pencil of some kind xD...

Also, I've been working on a painting for awhile.  Back in the part of winter where it was going toward spring and somewhat melty, the park froze over and melted, looking like a pretty crystalline swamp.  I captured it in a photo and am recapturing it in acrylics.  Pretty fun. :)  I have a buddy I've been painting with.  It's way easier for me to work in company. xD

[The Aether Technician]

If you haven't read Framed Ink, I would highly recommend it. I explains how to construct a composition to convey narrative.

You should try to design a composition using only 2 or 3 values before going into painting. Make sure that every element reads correctly and efficiently. (this is something I really need to work on as well)

[Kimonas]

Great to hear you are hopefully getting into college for Game Art and Design! When will you be able to start.

Keep plugging away - remember to mix practice with getting good information on drawing and rendering. the loomis books are an amazing place to start :D

[Bookend]

The Aether Technician:  Thank you!  I put it on my birthday list!  I think I tackled this with this little thing I'm posting, which is awesome. xD  I think it's putting things more in perspective.

Kimonas: Thank you!  I'm starting in September.  It'll be really great to be able to put everything to the practice, and having people from the game industry to talk about things, and ask advice.  I'm totally psyched.  I know this is an experience of a lifetime, and I feel like it's a doorway to something huge and life changing-- Getting to work at something I can actually do, and something I love.  I've totally done tons of loomis practices, and they've definitely helped my structure.  I think I will always look back on Loomis, Bridgeman, Hogarth, Davinci/Michaelangelo, and the human form in general.  It's not something you stop picking up, I think.  It's something to always refresh, and study, and to understand the different ways the human form can be interpreted.... And which is your favourite!  Mine so far is George Bridgman, but I feel like there's something missing, which I think is what Loomis is.


--

So, things just suddenly clicked when I was mulling things over.

It doesn't matter how many times people tell you, or how many times you read it from other artists, the words mean nothing until you experience it.

Your stream of consciousness for years being, "I can't, I need more practice.  More practice.  Keep practicing.  Not good enough to do anything from my imagination, silly to try to do personal things, they don't look good enough-- They're embarrassing.  I can't do perspective, my hands look awful-- I must polish it all to near-perfection before I try!"

And then, suddenly...

"Wait a minute...  I'm good at faces, aren't I?  Why not try using references, and let them change into a different likeness through observation, and tweaking?  I don't need it to be perfect.. I need it to be identifiable..  And, maybe it'll look good enough.  Fake it until you make it.  Because, let's be honest-- When have I actually, truly tried to use references, or trying to see how much I know, to create a piece?  When have I actually put in the effort into something imaginary that I put into drawing from life and photos and references? I'm just going to do it!"

And I surprised myself with how much I actually like it.  I think there's something inside that was afraid of what I'd think if I actually tried.

So, this is the project:  Alice of Purgatory. (Based off of Alice in Wonderland.)

From a young age, Alice was chosen for her job in Purgatory.  It was her unique biology-- Her temperament-- Her 'special abilities'. 

The job, of course, chose her.

[Bookend]

Page 2

[Bookend]

I'm still working on the next page of my comic, and it's coming along nicely.  It's fun to combine writing and art.  Really enjoying it, but needed the right idea-- One I could carry on my back for awhile.

Before starting my comic, my sexy guy posed for me for probably over an hour. 

This was the second, and much better version.  The first was strictly a warmup and has been stricken from the record, because it's like the first pancake.

Anyway, I love the way this turned out. <3