Alcazar

[MJ_Alcazar]

Hi, I'm new to Conceptart and I just wanted to make a sketchbook to document any progress I'm making. I think it might ward off any frustrations I may have if I have trouble with a future piece. I really like this site and I'm glad that I stumbled across it.

EDIT: Moved my pics down to the next post. So, I can use the thumbnail for this post. Makes it easier if I ever want to change the thumbnail.

[MJ_Alcazar]

[MJ_Alcazar]

[InFlame]

hey MJ_Alcazar!

I just wanted to step by because you gave so nice comments to my works in the last round of CHOW! thanks for that!

okay, because you want to make progress, I'll try to help you a little bit. I know, the first steps to learn drawing are the most difficult! the rest is just DRAW!

you have the skill to draw, I can see it in your work! but you have to do more anatomy studies and figure drawings! take books or photoreferences and look closely at proportions and size of muscles and bones. in your last image, for example, the upper body of the guy is too large in relation to the breastmuscles. there is too much space between the breastmuscles and his "six pack".

and for animals, go to the zoo! there you can learn a lot about animal anatomy AND about to improve your life drawing skills.

you have a hand for details but you should let them out and concentrate more on things like anatomy, propotion, shape and form, light and shadow...you can add the details later!

at last I just want to say, that I like the way you are pushing yourself in the right direction with those CHOW exercises! don't give up and keep posting! the icarus drawing is one of your best works. keep this way and go on drawing. I'm shure you will improve very fast!

cheers,
rebecca
(sorry for my bad english...I just wanted to help! :p )

[MJ_Alcazar]

Thank you for the direction! I will keep that in mind.

Here's some more of my works.

this one's a WIP I did for a CHOW



And here's the final image, first time I tried to paint on the computer.

[MJ_Alcazar]

I was not proud of the way this turned out AT ALL, but it's part of the learning experience.








first try at colored pencils



second try







I should probably find the face studies I've done and post them on here too.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Some Little Mermaid WIPS that I've done. The first two were initial ideas.
The last one is a "fixed" version of the mermaid. That time I had some references. It's still needs a lot of work.
I'll post a fixed version of the mermaid later. I've fixed her arms, and tried to make her stand out from the rock, but more on that later. When I actually have something to show.

[thesadpencil]

hey there you're definitely on the right track with everything you're doing here. i think you need to focus more on anatomy and the proper proportions of the human body/face. i also think it would be very beneficial to you, if you enhanced your values more to help give more depth and contrast to the images. just keep on doing what you're doing and dont stop drawing.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Thank you for your comments! Yes, anatomy is definitely very weak. I have a college anatomy book that I used for my Nursing, I think I'm just going to start doing a study everyweek of a different thing in there.
And, values are difficult for me to grasp for some reason. But, I am reading tutorials on them and I'm hoping to try to get better with them.

Here's an updated version of the mermaid.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Sorta a self-portrait. This photo from a month or two ago was sitting in front of me, so I decided to draw it. I'm the one on the right.

[MJ_Alcazar]

here's a self-portrait I did today. Still trying to get the lines down.
Here's the photo I tried to go from. Doesn't look at all alike, but, you never get better if you don't try.

[Pixeltuner]

Hi there, thanks for stopping by in my little book of sketches. First things first: hey, you're a girl. Funny how the internet always lets you perceive things differently.
With that out of the way: I've been following your progress the last few chow's and your persistence and will to get better is admirable. You're taking a lot of big steps throughout the different rounds with for instance your Sheherezade piece being notably better than the stuff before.

Then again: I think you should try to take a step back once in a while. While your work shows a lot of potential from a design point of view, it's still lacking anatomically and also in tones and portraying of value. Maybe you can try breaking up your figures in basic shapes (blocks or cylinders) and then figure out which part catches light and which part doesn't. It helps a lot to simplify things. At least it helped me a lot the past year. If then the foundation is right, you can go apeshit on the design elements

[Jaytea]

Agreed with Pixeltuner; you should work on anatomy. Don't just do a weekly study on a part; do everything, all the time. There's an Ebook somewhere, ah, this. It's very helpful, well, for me it is.

I do see improvement here, though, and I like your color pencil work. The teeth and cheeks sort of bother me a bit, maybe work on that. ;] For digital stuffs, I'd recommend not having the pencil work show through, as it's usually very unattractive and the scanner butchers the quality. Instead, put it on a top layer or bottom, whichever and set it to multiply, and use it as a guide rather than incorporated into the finished piece.

[madhatter106]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook, thought I would return in kind.

I would echo Pixeltuner and Shalite above regarding anatomy. It's definitely something to sit down with and really dig in and sink your teeth into. None of us will ever "master" it, and it's something to constantly be working on and striving toward getting better. It's a case of "the more you know, the easier time you'll have" when it comes to working out your thoughts on paper. Different anatomy drawing books offer different techniques, and some people are die-hard Bridgeman fans, whilst others are in the Loomis camp, or the Hogarth camp...whatever works to get you toward improving is the best, so I'd recommend exploring all of them and discovering which works best to help you understand the human form.

I would also echo Pixeltuner in that I am glad to see you are serious about improvement, and have been coming into the CHOW threads with a sincere and determined effort at advancing your abilities. It definitely shows in the work, both from day to day within a single thread, and from week to week between threads. When you go back and look at some of the truly legendary sketchbooks here on this site that span a great period of time, you can see that some people started off in roughly the same skill set level as yourself, and you can see as the months progress that their talents improve nearly exponentially. I applaud your efforts in the CHOWs and hope that you continue with such a gracious attitude and willingness to learn, expand, and push yourself to new boundaries and goals.

You mentioned several times in the recent CHOW thread for "Sherlock Holmes" something called GIMP - what is that? It seems like it's hamstringed a day's worth of work on your recent picture, so I'd recommend a different path next time, it sounds like more trouble than it's worth! heheheh

I appreciate your appreciation of my comments regarding the clothing in that recent thread...with the education and background that I'm from, I sometimes find myself frustrated on certain CHOW topics since they play so fast and loose with period details sometimes. For me, it's the same as being authentic to anatomical detail, especially in a challenge like this week's...no matter how much one can argue against it, you need to have five fingers on the right hand just as much as the left, so when people get "loosey goosey" with period fashion whilst strictly adhering to anatomy, it boggles my mind sometimes. I am glad you showed a willingness to revise and restructure based on my comments and the research photos I posted...it's much appreciated by me, and makes me think the effort to post them was worthwhile.

Best of luck in the upcoming days/weeks/months/years of doing this, and I would strongly urge you to keep up with the CHOWs and the learning you've been doing there...

[MJ_Alcazar]

Pixeltuner - thanks for stopping by. I think I'l try that with the breaking it up into cylinders. See if it helps.
Shalite - thanks for the link. I read through the whole thing, good ideas in it.
Madhatter106 - thank you for your kind comments. Someone started me on Loomis, and i liked it, and then Shalite just showed me Bridgeman, I liked that also. So, now on to Hogarth and study that too!
Oh, and GIMP is a free photoshop type thing. I'm having trouble with it because it keeps crashing and then saying it saves, and not really doing it. I'm really computer illiterate, so I think I may just try out different traditional things.



Anatomy studies, tried to see how the bones structure underneath would be and then go off that. I still have a problem of doing one part at a time instead of seeing the whole person. So porportions are off. But, if I don't draw, I won't get better.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Heres just some fun stuff I did.
It's a scene from a story I will (eventually) write. It's set in the not to distant future. The world is at war and split into different factions. Tyrants rule in most of the countries we know of today. I think I'm going to set it in the USA, because I've never been out of the country, and write what you know, right?
A girl, still haven't come up with a descent name, is caught outside of the free US, probably towards the East coast. She's a nurse, working at one of the hospitals when the riots start. She stays there for awhile, but when the country is split into free and the part ruled by a tyrant, she tries to leave. She never makes it to the free US, instead finding that she can help as a nurse on the front lines. She ends up helping soldiers of both sides. She has a place and people sort of seek her out for help.
The little oriental girl, Sora, comes with her mother seeking help. Unfortunately the mother is too bad off and dies, and Sora stays with the girl. The two boys are child soldiers. I haven't quite decided whether they fought for opposite sides, or the same side, or if they never say.
Anyway, I'll probably decide it's a stupid idea anyway. But, any advice on the picture would be appreciated. She will have shoes on, but I have difficulty drawing tennis shoes, and was looking for reference.

[Tallnskrony]

im new here to i am hoping to do the same n would love to become a great artist i hope the best for both of us

[The Whistler]

Hey MJ

Thanks a bunch for stopping by my sketchbook, I remember you from the CHOW threads too, and what I noticed is that you really get better with every new CHOW. As someone above noted, the Shecherezade CHOW was really a step up from your previous ones, and I like the last one too since it's anatomically pretty accurate. I think it's great that you study anatomy because it helps immensely with character design (of course)

One thing I'd like to propose has to do with your shading - maybe you should tone it down a bit since it often makes your drawings a bi muddy and unclear, maybe try hatching. Since I can't explain better here's a link to John T's sketchbook to see what he's shading like so browse around a little if you want to, he's awesome and a huge inspiration IMO

John T

Cheers!

[Clochette]

Hi MJ Alcazar!
I saw your thread and wanted to comment since you posted in mine and I totally forgot to thank you for stopping by! ^^'
I agree the whistler : CHOW make you improve!
I would suggest you to be careful with the placement of the face features in your drawings. There is something to work there. They look like they were "paste" on the face, don't really follow the skull volume.
And you look so young! (from the photo and self portrait) you have a lot of time to get better!
Keep up working!

[MJ_Alcazar]

Tallnskrony - I wish you all the luck in the world! and thank you.
Whistler - thank you for that link. I enjoyed looking at his work. I'm going to try that technique and see if it works for me!
Clochette - thanks for stopping by. I can see what you're talking about, I'll work on that and see if I can improve in that area.

Here's some Watson things I am working on, and a really horrible Sherlock Holmes. On that last Watson one, I think I may have gone a little fog crazy.

Sherlock Holmes, first time I tried to completely digitally paint with GIMP.


Sketch of Watson

Watson WIPS

[MJ_Alcazar]

Oh, and the Clockwork Heart, too.

[MJ_Alcazar]

A WIP for CHOW, Stilgar


And, some things that I normally do. Thought I'd show so people can see where all the intricate design stuff comes from, and maybe it will help someone see something that's off with me or something. Yeah, that has got to be the biggest run on sentence in the world. It's unfinished, and unfortunately my scanner's not big enough to do the whole picture.

[DigitallyDumbfounded]

Hey MJ.
Wow. That last one is really great.
Like I already said ove at CHOW, you've made such huge improvement. Dayum! The Dr Watson strikes me totally.

I think you add in to much detail in your sketches.
by that I mean lines that make the figures look wrinkly and a little old.
You also need to get more loose with the pencil.
I really, really recommend doing gestures from posemaniacs.com. &0 second drawings are awesome fun!
Other than that, ... you're a girl! I didn't know that. Do you have acess to the girls forum? It's secret. YOu can go to the support section ynd post in the related thread.

Keep updating! Stilgar is coming along nicely.

[MJ_Alcazar]

[MJ_Alcazar]

For CHOW, may be my final. It's done with ink and color pencil.
DigitallyDumbfounded - Thank you for your advice. I have such a hard time with speed sketches that I was halfway afraid to do that. I get so bogged down with having every line hit the page perfectly that it ends up looking so stiff. I will work on that!

[Foofea]

Hey MJ -

looking through your stuff I can see improvments all the way through

I think the thing I'd like to see is more crispness to the pictures, you draw very delicately. I'm not sure how to describe it but Stilgar's left leg has more clarity in colour and definition than the rest of him, that kind of thing.

The anatomy drawings of the dancer are very cool, they look graceful.

Thanks for your pointers in the CHOWs



Foo

[RevoLverZ]

hey mate. I saw you posting at chows very often and I thought maybe I must visit your sketchbook.

It`s a noticeable progress since the beginning. My advice is Go deep into the anatomy. The anatomy is the key of success in drawing human figure.
You must study in detail bones muscles and proportions.
And try to stay into the b&w area.

I left my tablet too for a while. Try to "steal" what you can from the best artists from here, and here are a lot of good artists.

I`ll suggest you to draw in pencils with references.
The pencil line must have different intensities. Not just one. The shadows also. Your line must be continuous not so fragmented. but underneath the final line you must exercise the shapes with an h or hb pencil.

Try to put the paper on a very smooth surface because your hashing is a little bit rough.
Make use of contrast. Contrast is the thing that surprises and attracts the human eye.

You push yourself a lot trying to finish some pieces but you don`t have the basics. It`s like a baby wants to talk but he doesn`t know quite well the letters.

I`ll recommend you the tutorials of Kevin Chen and the pencil work of Marko Djurdjevic. I want to see lots of sketches with human anatomy , I want to see you understand how the muscles and bones work.

[MJ_Alcazar]

RevolverZ - thank you for your comments. Yes, I do need to go deep, I have a basic knowledge from Nursing studies, but I would like to go further until I have a pretty good idea how muscles go around bone, how they move it, what it looks like. So, I'll definitely be trying to find a good resource for that. Oh, and thanks for explaining the lines. Several people have tried to explain, and sometimes it just doesn't click. But, something about how you said it, clicked. Thank you.

WIPS for new CHOW, Alia of the Knife. I'm trying to figure out how to make her look like a four year old, but with the actions and mind of an ancient being.



Life drawing of my mom and some studies of pics found across the internet.

[RevoLverZ]

man , last ones show that you understood what I tried to tell you.
I really like the last two pages.
I see the body anatomy is much better !

[MJ_Alcazar]

A few sketches for CHOW, I'm going to go with the last one. Been trying to work on Anatomy and all that. Children present a whole new set of challenges!

I tried to go for a foreshortening pose, but it didn't really work out, I think I'll work on it anyway to try to practice the foreshortening.

Here's an early version of the one I'm going with. As was suggested, I'm not going to do a background at this stage of development.

So, I worked out some of the anatomy problems, I'm not sure if she looks too old or what.