The Velvet Revolvers

[Bookend]

artistebot: Looking great! I only need to comment on the fact that I think you can push this farther. There is a lot more details and crisp lines. Keep pushing it as far as it will go!

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Been awhile, folks! Still internet-lacking, but also still working hard. I will have tons of updates for you guys when I come back for realz.

Bookend's Weekly Review:

I've stopped resisting working on multiple projects at once. I was convinced this would lead to failure, especially based on what I've read from other artists who have said to focus more... But, I am one of those few individuals who do it this way-- And I suppose the method only matters insofar in how you progress. As long as I continue to progress, I suppose this method must be working for me.

I'm looking forward to getting the internet back, but I see this change as being very healthy and positive. Having less to do on the computer means that I have a lot more drive to draw. And making it available seems to be pretty key-- Convenience is all it takes. If the sketchpad is next to me with writing material, I'm going to draw. I've covered pages and pages with crappy doodles and experiments and portraits from memory-- I don't think I'll show any of it, honestly, because it's garbage-- But, it's necessary garbage, and I embrace it.

Then, once I've doodled for hours, I switch to the wacom and do more intensive studies, and switch between those studies. And do more experimenting.

I also have a huge pile of sci-fi art books, a techniques of the great master book, and a perspective book that I took out from the library-- Even a figure drawing book for fashion designers, lol, but I figure it's a good idea to branch out and look at things from different angles.

It's been really great to work at a library, and have so much free time to pursue my interests on the side-- And the benefits of art books I wouldn't have found otherwise is enormous.

I plan to spend this long weekend coming up, pouring over these books and finding material I like and trying out different techniques, and just really committing to the books. Particularly the perspective stuff seems to be pretty important, and I've done a few exercises in it already. I'm improving with these cubes in perspective fairly rapidly.

There are a few things that I'm looking forward to trying out, though.

1) Scott Robertson's books on How to Draw and How to Render-- I am dying to go through these books thoroughly and commit myself to these methods, however tedious. Unfortunately, I won't have the money to buy them for some time.

2) Learn Squared courses-- Particularly Jones' painting with confidence-- I don't think I'm ready for Kuciara, honestly, haha. And I just love Jones' gumroads and teaching methods.

Anyway-- I'm really happy with how I've continued to progress despite the big move that me and my wife have been doing. Usually, when there are changes everywhere, I drop it and lose it for a long time. But, not this time.

I may get Internet starting in January, or maybe in February. We'll see how funds go.

Keep going, Velvets.

[Amit Dutta]

artistebot, glad to see you taking on crit so well. I already see a big gain right there with that last study. I still think you could pay more attention to proportional sizing. Look at the length of the face, width of the neck etc in comparison between the two. You've done a good job with the structure in a tough perspective but the proportions are definitely squatter. Also I think much of the time you are still going with your idealised version of things like muscles rather than seeing the shapes and forms accurately. Not bad at all, just more accuracy in observation would help. In general it does come down to nailing the combination of simplifying down the right amount, but remaining accurate where it counts. I like the nun study too. Keep it up!

Book, good to hear you are keeping up momentum!!! :) and yeah just keep working, the how will become less and less important as long as you are learning and growing!

[Jeso]

Cheers for posting that Amit, i'm currently trying to avoid shading and light just focusing on getting down structure but that's really helpful.

Hey guys, hope you're all having a good christmas :).

redone version of the sans picture I uploaded last time.



some hand studies most of these are from life so I could'nt measure them properly and had to draw quickly, i'll try doing some longer studies soon.


started on the ribcage proko studies, mainly having issues with trying to just draw the basic shape of them atm that and trying to find the ribcage underneath muscle.

Hey Trigger! Good to see that you are drawing from life! Whats the thing behind the skelly's head? some cool aura flame type of thing? looking good!

[Jeso]

I took Amit's crib to heart and created this study..

Day 29, Wed Dec 27 at 8pm

Painted on a Surface Pro 2 with Clip Studio Paint. Skiing in Bear Valley, could not upload sooner, internet is spotty. I took a bit more time with this one, planning the face via constructive anatomy.

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Hey bot, Nice work, this is definitely an improvement from before, you did a great job on the head. I'd just say to mind a bit more the value gradations that happen in some places, and mind the value range. You could go a bit darker in some places.

[Jeso]

Nice Book! I like it. Keep pushing it man. I'm sure you will come out a better artist if you dive into them Scott Robertson's books! Looking forward to your updates!

I'm still on a hiatus for personal reasons. But keeping an eye on you all!

[artistebot]

Thanks for all the great feedback guys. No internet connection means I did not see the feedback to much later..doh!

Day 30, Tuesday Dec 29 at 11am

Painted on a Surface Pro 2 with Clip Studio Paint. Still skiing in Bear Valley, did this in the ski lodge while taking a bit of a break trying to warm up my toes..:-)

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[artistebot]

Last one for the year! Painted in ~40 mins while watching that ball drop....

Day 31, Thursday Dec 31 at 11pm

Painted in Clover Paint on the Cintiq Hybrid.


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[Eyliana]

Studies are looking better Bot! You are able to capture the mood of the picture quite well.


For me the last two weeks have been awfully quiet drawing wise. Something with holidays, family and friends, but now I'm going for it again!

For next year I want to draw at least an hour every day. I'm thinking on taking an drawing an painting course that is given at my university, if I'm able to combine it with my internship that is starting this Monday.

Other then that, I still want to get my portraits right and will keep studying that. I found the 'In you Face' class here on Crimson and will try to work through that. One class a week. And I want to try to add more details to the drawings and backgrounds. Try to make things more finished.

About the watercolors, I have a book lying about techniques that I should try to work through. It is all about the more traditional painting of flowers and landscapes, but I think it might be good to get a better grip on the way of painting things. In general I think I need to try to experiment more. And besides that I still want to try to finish a personal piece every two weeks.

@Bookend; I have heard great things about the books of Scott Roberson and I'm intrested in the 'How to Draw one. I would like to get a better idea of the content before buying it though, if you worked through them could you give a review :)?

I got 'Sketching form the imagination' book for Christmas. It is not so much about learning to draw yourselves but contains a lot of sketches from different artists and different styles. And every artists have written a small introduction about their art process, sketch process or pointers that they thing are important and a small text by the sketches in the book. It's a nice book to look at and a good source of inspiration.

Everybody keep up the good work in the new year and that we all may improve!

[Jeso]

Hey nice study bot, you really captured the essence of the expression, and you got nice colors going on. I would stress again that you gotta check your values. Needs more contrast in the face. But good job!

So guys, I think I've found the holy grail.... Maybe some of you know about this already, but, its this site called https://habitica.com where you can turn your life in an RPG ... yes you heard that right.. haha.

Basically, its a platform where you list daily task to be completed, then once you do them, you go into the website, check them off, and gain points for your avatar, which you can then use to change its looks and equipment, and there is a community and all kinds of shits. You can add any kind of activity, like working out, or in our case, drawing.

I can just say that I'm going to use the shit out of it. Seems like an awesome way to add flavor to the grind that is this fucking art life...

Happy new year guys, make them year resolutions to become the baddest meanest arting mofos out there!

VELVET REVOLVERS HUA!

[artistebot]

Thanks Ryliana and Jeso for the feedback. I will work on my values more. :-)

https://habitica.com seems like an interesting idea, I signed up!

[Eyliana]

Two studies I did today. The skulls are for the first class of 'In yo face' and the other one is a daily portrait. Feeling that the portraits slowly become better and cleaner as well. The jaw from both skulls are slightly off and too big, but otherwise they turned out pretty ok.

I also signed up for Habitca, it looks fun!

[Bookend]

Eyliana-- Really nice studies of the skull and face. I'd recommend looking up 'Planes of the Head' on google for another aspect to study! It could be really helpful.

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Bookend's Weekly Review:

I'm not sure how well I've been doing with drawing everyday-- I'm pretty sure I have been though. It's all been a kind of massive blur of drawing, gaming, and watching Law and Order (while drawing). Particularly today, I did a lot of drawing. I don't really include my doodling in my sketchbook on the time that I spend drawing, but it is helpful, in its way.

I'm signing up for Habitica too, I think, but I won't be able to take full advantage of it until Internet is officially plugged in, hopefully this coming week. My glasses snapped in half over the holidays, and since I'm kind of blind without them, it's really cut into my drawing time a great deal.

I have an overall goal of drawing at least 35 hours per week. I don't know if it's possible with my schedule, but we'll see!

I'm pretty happy with my progress so far, anyways, and I'm keeping it up. Even doing environment studies, which I haven't done a lot of, and quite proud of a portrait I finished in an hour and a half-- Really great process which I'll try to replicate for the next one.

Great job Velvets, keep it up!

[Triggerpigking]

)Oh yeah I tried Habitica once ages ago, did'nt really work for me though personally, but eh maybe I should give it another shot.

Eyeliana:nice studies, not sure if you're already doing this but if you have a mirror use it to check for mistakes or tilt the paper upside down, it really helps alot.
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edit:I said to hell with it and signed up for habitica again as well, since there's groups on there(I think) should we try building a velvet revolvers party on there? seeing as we all seem to be signing up for it

More hands, ribcages which I think i'm getting better at seeing past the muscle to draw them and some more undertale fanart, this one took me a while plus i've found it hard to be consistent with drawing recently, I want to try and go for 5 odd hours a day but wherether it's due to diet, sleep or whatever I usually end up tiring myself out easily, I almost managed to reach that amount yesterday though, but usually i'm only managing an hour or two.

I did have a long stretch of time last year from january to early march where I actually managed to get in 8 hours a day of drawing during the week and either took weekends off or did up to 3 hours(usually less though), most people say to stay consistent with drawing everyday but it was the longest successful stretch of time i've been able to draw for so maybe i'll try it again.

I do think i'm improving again slowly though, goin back to traditional has helped alot and doing imagination drawing is helping me apply my studies more quickly as well(though i'm running out of undertale characters :P).

[Jeso]

Eyliana, Nice studies. Keep in mind the perspective of what you are drawing, and notice what should and shouldn't be seen in a certain angle.

Bookend- Keep pushing brother, aim to draw 50 hours a week! even if you fall short, its more likely to hit that 35 hr mark.

Trigger, Nice to see you doing some drawings that aren't studies bro! Try some views that aren't straight on from the front next time! and keep an eye on your perspective too, keep close attention to things that should be receding, even the small ones like planes on the head, imagine that the head is a box you are viewing in perspective, and draw the features accordingly.

[Bookend]

Triggerpigking: Looking good man-- Those torsos are in sore need of limbs though.  Don't be afraid to experiment!

Jeso:  Thanks dude!  I think I'd rather try to stay within a manageable time frame for me--  I'm not saying definitely 35 hours a week, but at least an hour a day to start with.  I don't want to set my sights too high and disappoint myself and crash.   Just gotta stay consistent and climb without burning out.  That's my overall goal.

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So I signed up for Habitica today!  Every hour of drawing levels me up, woot. haha.  

So far so good, I think.

Here's the crap I've been up to.  Hope I don't disappoint ya'll. 

ALL are WIP.  Except the portraits, which are just fun.  Sorry for the messy forts, I was moving shite around and getting everything in place accurately before going in with details.  Still adjusting there.

[artistebot]

Awesome work bookend, both sketches and studies!

Day 32, Tuesday Jan 5 at 8pm

Painted in Clover Paint on the Cintiq Hybrid. I have been sick the last few days, today was the first I could get back into it.  This took over an hour, focused more on shadow grouping and contrast.

A Digital Painting Odyssey

[Jeso]

Great work guys, Book, Nice studies man! I can see you've improved. I personally like that second one with the gray haired dude, good job on that expression.

Hey Bot, sweet value studies as usual. Good work on the background shapes. And good work on the eyes.

[artistebot]

Day 33, Wed Jan 6 at 9pm

Painted in Clover Paint on the Cintiq Hybrid.

A Digital Painting Odyssey

[Jeso]

NICE BOT !!!! You got man, you improved quiet noticeably! Proportions are good, values are good! The only thing would be to be more subtle and careful with the drapery. Also a lil bit more detail on the hair and you r golden! Keeeeep it up!

[Triggerpigking]

Artistebot:nice updates dude, these value studies are getting alot better, the last woman seems a bit to dark in areas though like between the drapery and left eye theres some chunks of darkness that should'nt be there or should be softer.

Bookend:What madness are you suggesting?! that's way to much work for one person! :P.

Yeah i'll add limbs soon, these are proko studies so i'm just trying to stick to the assignments in this case it's trying to visualize and draw the ribcages on models, I should probbly add the model refs to the page as well tbh.

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Quick update, after i'm up to date on the proko course i'm gonna start studying scott robertsons how to draw book, did before but was insanely confused but I think it's about time to give it another shot and it'll give me a break from figure drawing.

More hands, i'm planning on reaching 100, the quality of these are all pretty bad as i'm trying to draw them from life and can't keep still or measure but I suppose it's more about the visualization and watching what you see closely with these sorta excercises.




More ribcages and pelvis's, still having a few small issues trying to find the ribcage on more muscular or interesting poses but I think i've got a good grasp of it, the pelvis's look better as well, I think my main issue with these is more to do with the bucket shape i'm finding it difficult to get the ellipses and overall shape correct at first.