Kristina is now a FULLTIME freelance illustrator! - updated April 3rd

[Josef K.]

awesome improvement! always great to see hard work pays off - the bargue piece is stunning! keep sharing!

[nOKa]

wow very nice sketchbook and very nice studies keep it up...=D

[Merlkir]

Hi there,

haven't been to your SB in a while You're making a LOT of progress, I wish I had that will to improve so quickly. Good luck with everything!

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

That.master.study.made.me.wet.myself....

-E

[Maidith]

andeepbarot, thank you

Teundeboer, thanks a lot you can interpret the picture any way you like. as for her expression, I think one would have to manage a halfway controlled face expression in order to be able to play the flute. she couldn't really do that while crying.

hummel1dane, thanks! haha, that's interesting, you got in without showing art? XD i guess we'll meet soon! what's your name and where are you from? a warning, however: i'm almost deaf and thus quite awkward to talk to in real life, but don't let that scare you! :]
the studentsville forum looks really interesting. i don't even have my own room (i'm renting an apartment with another student) but it's been working really well so far.

spaztastic, thank you

doncam, thanks

Diego, muchas gracias!

Josef, vielen Dank!

nOKa, thank you

Merlkir, thanks a lot

Mischeviouslittleelf, not really, haha?! XD


New life drawing. 2 week pose in pencil on canson paper as always. the next one will be in charcoal. OMG I'm so looking forward to that!


More sketches after old master paintings

[hummel1dane]

Hey Maidith!
My name is Hans I'm from Denmark.

Your improvement is so amazing - so fast!!! Your last 2weeks drawing looks great.

Yes I got in without showing any pictures of drawings, but I did write in the application that I was at a drawing school for some time. So maybe Lynne knew the school and thought it was OK, or I was lucky and they forgot to ask for artworks, or maybe they just don't give a damn if you got the cash!!!
(I think the latter...)

Btw do you know how many students are at the school in total? And do you know how fast it is possibly to finish the 3 year program?
Is it true that you advance independently of the group you start in.
I visited the school a few weeks ago and Martinho told me you could finish faster than 3 years if you work really hard - Is that realistically? Or are they just saying that to make you work harder?!

I look forward to meet you

Hans

[G@m]

Hi maidith the last 2 week pose is great, wish i could start them aswell ;_;
but i think i've still got a long way to go :d. Anyway do you remember after how much time you started the 2 weeks drawing?

[Alexandr Pascenko]

your rendering skill is verrrry impressive!

[Steven1991]

Awesome drawings maidith. Keep up the good work.
Just a little question, i know the tuition is €9000 each year but how much do you spent on living and eating cost ?

[Maidith]

Hans - Denmark? that's pretty cool, in my group there are 2 people from Denmark as well. I wonder why I haven't met any Germans at that school yet! The only German speakers I met there were from Switzerland XD (Dorian and Heinz). Perhaps there are fewer Germans interested in learning to draw.

So maybe Lynne knew the school and thought it was OK, or I was lucky and they forgot to ask for artworks, or maybe they just don't give a damn if you got the cash!!!

I'm really not sure, all I know is that the school doesn't have unlimited space for new students, so they can afford to be a bit picky... money of course is important to them too, but since you've visited the school you can probably figure where the tuition money goes - maintenance of 2 studios (heating, water, plumber & electrician services), model fee, and teachers' salary, I think it adds up to the amount that the school can call themselves a nonprofit organization. the tuition is expensive to me though but it is certainly worth it, I don't want to study anywhere else
I'm wondering how many new applicants they get every year. Gotta ask Martinho about that...

Btw do you know how many students are at the school in total?

currently there are 60~65 students.

Is it true that you advance independently of the group you start in.

yes, that's true. In my 2nd term I already notice some quite big differences in advancement. in my group of students who all started school at the same time/term, some folks are still working on their 3rd bargue, while others have started using charcoal for their cast drawing (that's 3 people - Henna who is the fastest, me, and ca. 60 year old Elizabeth from Denmark). however, I don't know how many people really "jump ahead" to another group, since I don't know when everyone started.

I visited the school a few weeks ago and Martinho told me you could finish faster than 3 years if you work really hard - Is that realistically? Or are they just saying that to make you work harder?!

I think it is very realistic. Not only are some people very fast, but you can also work longer than school hours (except in life drawing class where the model is only available for a certain time). The school studios are open till 9pm, so some people work long into the evening. The studios are also open on saturdays. There's a girl called Teresa Oaxaca ( http://teresaoaxaca.com ), I think she finished the curriculum pretty quickly. And she is darn good.

G@m, grazie mille

Anyway do you remember after how much time you started the 2 weeks drawing?

hmm, davvero non sono sicura :o ho cominciato a disegnarlo due settimane e (allora) pochi giorni fa. non posso ricordarmi della data.

Alex, danke! ... wait, I know your sketchbook, it's really awesome! More sketches (and penis) please! The collab you did with Hannes also rocks, you guys should seriously consider making more of those.

Sky Eagle, thank you

how much do you spent on living and eating cost ?

As for living costs... I share a nice small apartment with a co-student, each of us (read: our parents) pays 460€ monthly for rent. utilities and internet are included. however, if we use up more than 100€ worth of utilities like electricity, water, etc. we have to pay the difference later. Which will probably be the case, as these things are darn expensive.
Each month I get 250€ "salary" from my parents, about 150-180€ I spend on food. Most people get along with less for food (100-120), but I like exotic stuff, lots of fresh fruit, and expensive cakes and sweet, so yeah, food is my luxury. XD The other money I spend on art supplies, and sometimes household stuff. Most personal items like shampoo, deo, soap, etc. I simply "steal" from home every 3 months, they're cheaper in Germany anyways. However, I rarely go out for parties or travel, if ever. I don't have the money for it, and don't want to cut back on food.
I regularly earn a bit extra cash with commissions, but I put it all in a savings account, for somewhen in the future.

A bit of life drawing from school:



2nd line drawing copy after Bargue:


Master copies yaaaaay!

[hummel1dane]

The way you do the draperies is just amazing! And your use of white is brilliant!
Are you a fan of Bouguereau? Who are your idols?

Yes I met the two other danes very briefly, they seem nice! Denmark is a very small country, but I think it is easier to come up with the money. That goes for the other scandinavian countries as well. But with that being said there are many who paint and draw in Denmark.
I was one year at a danish drawing school in Viborg (north Jutland) they have a half year course in classical drawing - intended as a preparation for the Bachelor in Character animation. It was nice (classical, renaisance style - with a russian instructor!) but most people didn't so much care for the classical they just wanted to be good enough to be accepted in the Animation program. I think most danes who draw dream of this cartoon program rather than to become a classical artist.

All right, thank you btw for creating this sketchbook - it is very important, I think, to see the progress of a student studying the place you want to go yourself.

See you in Florence!

Hans

[Maidith]

Thank you Hans
I'm not really a Bouguereau fan, I dislike his subject matter but his technique and skill are frickin awesome.
My favorite painters (traditional) are William Turner, Waterhouse, Rembrandt, Delacroix, Bonheur and some more, depending on my mood...XD


A little digital painting for practice purposes... Didn't like it enough to finish it.


Some more copies...

[hp]

i know you hate that painting, but do you have a process for it saved?

i think the skintones are just great.

[hummel1dane]

Sounds like we might have a bit similar taste..
I like Bouguereau though, but I do miss a bit of "darkness" in his paintings.
And I'm totally mad about Leonardo - Especially his drawings of inclined female heads and his sketches of grotesque heads and horses.
Yes Rembrandt was an amazing painter. His etchings are genious as well. I can't get his etching of Adam and Eve out of my mind.
You say you like Turner, do you also like Frederic Edwin
Church?

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

OOOH these laters studies are mouth watering. MORE MORE MORE!

--E

[Maidith]

hp, thank you There are no progress steps saved, sorry!

Hans, have you seen the new website of AAA? It's now offical that prior drawing experience doesn't matter (which makes sense, the program is really difficult and intense BUT with time everyone can do it)
I like Church's work very much too!
By the way if you know any folks who want to attend AAA from September 2009 - I'm looking for a new roommate from end of September.

Elf, thank you! Here's more!


Two unfinished digital paintings (PS, wacom tablet). I gave up, like so often, because if they don't look "right" from the beginning I feel it's a waste of time finishing them, and I start a new one. XD


Watercolor studies after Rossetti, and another drapery study


some stuff purely from imagination

[Nele Klumpe]

Woah, just thought about if you had some new stuff to show, and here it is!
Great new sketches. The colours of the girl one post ago are amazing! You get better and better. I also like the nouveau art style piece in your latest post, it looks very mature in some way.
Watch your anatomy though. You still tend to follow old habits, although I think you're much better than that right now. Great progress anyways!

[hummel1dane]

Wow beautiful faces, nice work!!
Yes I've seen their new page, nice to see some more student work.

I'm starting to get a bit excited I think it will be awesome to study at the school!

[Maidith]

Nele, thank you! I'm following your sketchbook here... great stuff!

Hans, thank you! Yep, I was really really excited too all the time before I first came to AAA!

Update time!!!

A new digital painting - my original character Saphatino.


And my very first 100% charcoal figure drawing done at Angel Academy of Art! (His name is Ernesto by the way). I didn't know his shoulder looked off, until several people on the intarwebs pointed it out to me Dx In fact, it looked exactly this way IRL. This is proof that nature can look weird.

Il Condottiere

[rosethornCGart]

WOW your works are impressive! I wish I had time and money to go to art school. Can you give me a bit of advice on how to manage colors? I have a lot of trouble with managing my colors in my works. Thanks!!!

[Maidith]

rosethornCGart, thank you!
Managing colors is just a matter of practice... I manage colors totally differently in every painting, and about 80-90% I use colors how they "feel" right, but that "feeling" for color is something you can acquire - you don't have to be born with it!
You can see here one of my old works from 2005: http://maidith.deviantart.com/art/Et...s-Nos-15522804
And one from 2002: http://maidith.deviantart.com/art/Oo...work-103118907
My colors really sucked back then! XD

To quote Linda Bergkvist:
"Usually, there will be one colour that sets the theme for the image - this is the 'general' mood...often influenced by the main character of the image. Say, I have Indeoque, who is one of the main 'leaders' of a powerful group in my Furiae world... his dominant colour is the pale blue of ice. If I paint a picture with Indeoque in it, it's highly likely that his personality will have something to do with the theme - and thus also likely that the picture will be prominently blue. If his brother Hajieelkhe shows up in the image, the blue will be mixed with bursts of green and we'll have a colour scheme that will remind you of Northern Lights, perhaps: blue, green, with tones of purple and lilac perhaps, and bursts of crimson because there's a lot of emotion there, lurking under the surface.
I think I pretty much pick all of the colours at the same time: I settle on a colour scheme and a palette (sometimes painting the palette out before I start the actual painting) and then adapt everything accordingly. I think it's a little risky to be 'matching' colours (as in, matching the background to the skin, or the skin to the clothes, etc), and it's always better to have a general colour scheme and let everything move along with that flow :]"
"I'm not entirely sure if there's any way to study something in particular to learn skin tones -- except for people. My best tip to you would be to take photos of one person, a friend preferably, in a lot of different settings. You can do it like a fun day of fun photos - go all over the place, from morning with morning sunlight until the evening. Even snap pictures at night time if you can. Keep the subject's face at the same angle. Then shrink all these photos to a smaller, thumbnail size and set them up next to each other. If there's a better way to get a quick crash course in how skin tones are affected by different environments, I honestly don't know. After you've done this, do very, very quick referenced skin tone shots of each and every little photo (meaning, don't paint a portrait, just try to imitate the skin tones), and try to get a feel for it.
Reference is worthless unless you first understand how the things that you're painting actually 'work'. For training, I'd suggest using reference every second picture you paint, and paint every second picture entirely from your imagination. Best would be to try to catch a couple of life drawing classes while you're at it. It's easier to get a feel for the shapes that way :] "


New work!
This is Vannozza, one of the characters from my novel. Reference used from lockstock.deviantart.com .


Speedpainting portrait & experiment with "painterly" style and color...

[hummel1dane]

Wow nice work! You are getting very soft, especially in the draperies - I totally like it! And artistically there is a nice feeling/atmosphere
Guess who's in Florence by the way

See you soon!

Hans

[Maidith]

Hans, thank you I arrived in Florence yesterday evening. Guess we'll meet at school tomorrow. (if I can recognize you XD)

new painting!



(yep it's a boy )

Darn, I need to improve.
Background textures (licensed for commercial use) are from an ImagineFX DVD.
Tool: Wacom tablet and Photoshop as always.

[destinyapocalypse]

hey u have good jobss ilove this page http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...2&postcount=84 and i love your drawingsss

keep your jobs

[LostFayth]

Oh wow, I like every piece in here. From the sketches to the master copies. I REALLY like your drapery studies. Thanks for posting them up

[GaussianRaider]

Whadup, it's mau, the guy that was hanging out with Hans this morning.
I won't give you a technical comment since my skills are not that good and you probably have plenty of informative feedback from the academy guys already.. (i realize that this will probably tell you more about my stylistical preferences rather than your technical abilities).
My favorite pick from this page are this
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9621/thaidos.jpg
for the strong colors and the lovely design of the flowers/background, for what is worth the figure looks pretty solid to me and i can definitely see the influence of gesture drawings in the way you approached it, i think it looks pretty right and it's an engaging image that may be worth some time spent on

and this
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8697/vannzza.jpg

I think the pose is eye-catching and really admire your palette selection for those skin tones, nice green/blue shades (and the pink is not "too obvious"), it's bit reminiscent of linda bergkvist, isn'it? I'm not into that kind of stuff but i can sort of see what you're aiming for, pretty good.
(I think there may be something funky goin' on with that left arm/wrist foreshortening but you probably know already)
I also picked this picture because of its darkness, just a matter or taste really but i think you try could adding a very subtle bit of "grittiness" to your images, see what it happens (i know hans will strongly disagree with me here )...if you hadn't written it, I would have thought that you were a bouguereau fan!
Oh, i think I saw a portrait of Susan, am I crazy?
Well, i think that's it... See ya!

[tokotewhero]

i know u say u dont like it but the one on the right in post 317 is one of my fav on the page id love to see it finished! amazing work

[Maidith]

destinyapocalypse: teşekkür ederim

Lostlimeturtle: thank you!

Mau, thanks a lot! Hehe, there's really a portrait of Susan =)
Actually, I learn a lot from Bouguereau, even though I'm not a fan, I admire his technique and skill.
Your sketchbook rocks, by the way. Ci vediamo!

tokotewhero, thank you!


Here's the first part of a skintone painting tutorial I made about a week ago. Someday I'll kick myself in the butt to finish the 2nd and 3rd part also.

(Disclaimer: this is just "my" way to learn/paint/observe, and I can't guarantee that it'll make things "click" for everybody; I'm not a teacher after all and still have SO much to learn!)

[So-naa]

Thanks for the wonderful color tutorial!! o.o That is so cool!! Your art is so classical styled. It's a nice flavor to your modernized pieces o.o Beautiful!!! *cling*

[So-naa]

OMG Florence?? Okay I have to start at the beginning, but it'll take me a bit of time.. o.o;; But it's amazing! I want to know your journeys!!