6 years of concept art SB in june! Oo!

[ashess]

march2012 EDIT:
so I noticed this june will be the 5 year aniversary of me having a sketchbook here on concept art. I started here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=100336
and here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=112390
neither lasted long. haha! well, 3rd time is a charm, so I guess this one will have to last for ever!

I just did a sum-up to see what I learned; (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...&postcount=525) just digital concept stuff; I should do the same with traditional and digital from life.
in other news, seriously back on track with drawing. study is on a hiatus for me, and my son likes to draw with me. if I tape the paper to the floor and use the children pencil set, I can happily draw for hours like that.. my daughter chews on a few, but I dont think it can harm her :p enjoying digital a lot too!

so, I also set myselt a few challenges:
participate in a COW challange (actually submit artwork before deadline) Vdone!V
participate in a CHOW challange (actually submit artwork before deadline)
participate in an EOW challange (actually submit artwork before deadline)
participate in a POW challange (actually submit artwork before deadline)VdoneV
participate in a IOW challange (actually submit artwork before deadline)

haha did 2 already! but going to break from that now and do some study into the areas that gave me the most trouble: tones and enviroments!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
may2011 EDIT: wow. A lot has happened since I last updated this first and beginning post for this thread! I have become mother to a wonderful little boy and joyous baby-girl. I have started studying computer-science at the side and am slowly working my way through its first year. @ my work at the game- studio, I have also diverted away from animating and moved towards programming.
It is funny to realize that I've seemed to have moved away from my life's goal as soon as I seemed to have reached it; I told myself a long time ago I would make my money doing what I loved. Which was drawing..
When I got close I changed it to animating. Now, I think I want to make games.
I am now doing this in a company. But I think I'd like to make my own concepts.
Anyway, I 've decided to ride the train I'm on and see where it stops.
But I don't want to -or probably can't even- stop drawing.
What I've decided to do, is keep practicing mainly as diary illustrations for both my kid's journals.
I want to keep my art at least at a level where I can use it for story boarding, or show concept ideas.
I do want to animate again; but we'll see when and how. as for my comic, it is a little too graphic to work on with little children looking over my shoulder, so it's postponed
I'm pretty happy with how my life is going, so I'll just take it as it comes for now.
--------------------------------------------
I started this thread to startup an animation /comic project I had in mind (project Redz). But I have to admit I've gotten a little side-tracked. With a baby coming in a month, and this tendency to get sidetracked all over, I'm not sure how realistic it is to startup my comic any time soon. Also, my priorities seem to be a little hussled right now.

Goal of this Thread:
As of right now, I'm going to be using this thread mainly as a tool to progress digitally. I will often also upload life drawings or anatomy studies, and maybe some animation tests. but I look at that mainly as practice or diary entries. I'll also post storyboards and such for 'project Redz' when I get around to working on that.

Some Info About me:

first of all, hi, I'm Agnes; I'm 32.. have a batchelor in art&education and a master in animation.
I've done a LOT of watercolors. espec from animals. I've done live drawing.. all sorts. I started using a computer for my work 6 year ago; just for animation; that's when I started my animation education too.
I've been trying some digital painting and such only lately.
I consider myself pretty good in charcoal, ink and aquarel when its comes to drawing from life. but digital -especially color- isn't really at a level yet.
Let me use the post to show some of my older stuff..
and here.. a threadthumbnail
Project Redz's page: http://projectz.ashess.nl
blog:
http://projectredz.blogspot.com/

[ashess]

ok.. oldest one here. 3dr year 1st study. err. what? 10 years old? something like that.


this is a page from a comic I did.. 6 or 7 years ago. pesky; alien invasion



this is pretty reasent. 1/2 year.. 3 year old tops. my cat max, and 1 of our hoses. I think des.

a color study on the computer from ref. about a year. maybe 2.

err fantasy from trip where we wanted to see warthogs.. didnt see any. a year or so. paint, aquarel.. some charcoal and ink and whatever.


and,.. ye so this is what I got for style for my story so far. I choose manga ish for easy accecapility. I think this is too arty already tough..

some more stuff for the project:

[ashess]

quit.. always the same thing with scetchbooks

[Enydimon]

Well, you've got an anatomy problem going on. For example, the tree person's leg that is extended up and bended looks rather odd. The foreleg should have some more visibility and I think the position is a little off.

You've got an interesting style but the issue is that your anatomy isn't good enough to manipulate it well. So I'd suggest studying up on some anatomy, Bridgman, Loomis, whatever artist you prefer learning from or even all of them and perhaps do some figure studies and gestures at www.posemaniacs.com

[ashess]

hi enydimon.
thanks for taking the time to watch my stuff. ye knees and elbows still give me issues sometimes. but I can't say I feel posemaniacs helping with that. I'll check out those people you named though; what I do think would help is those anatomy studies you do with the directional planes. but I can usually only figure those from real life, and I can't get a lot of real life models these days..
problem of a working life I guess.

[ashess]

some lines stuff

[ashess]

one more for the road. don't be shy to say hi!
I'll try and check your stuff too :p

[ashess]

lastest page im working on

[ashess]

I dunno. am I scaring ppl? talk to me..

[Jonish]

Heya, thanks for stopping by in my place! I like a lot girl in post #6, she is very dynamic and cute. Enydimon is right, there's never enough of anatomy studies, I would also try some more realistic work, like still life maybe or some part of human body from photo reference... Anyway, it surely won't hurt you, even if I am wrong :-)

[ashess]

hey Jonish. thanks for returning the favor. I actually do do a lot of anatomy from photo. maybe I'll post some here sometime. I personally don't think they're worth much beyond study results myself tough. still life is definitely a good idea; I haven't done that since art school!

[Leo Ki]

Hello and thanks for the comment in my thread, I had a look at your work but couldn't reply thoroughly until now.
BTW you hadn't put the link to your thread in your signature then, and while I was in the search function I saw
you started a sketchbook before, but abandoned it. Why?

About your animation project: This is very very ambitious, so I would suggest you post as much studies as possible
on your sketchbook, as well as the storyboard itself as you advance it, so everything is at the same place
for people to provide not only crits on details but also global feedback which is important in storytelling.

My impression: Your style needs to mature further, which means more training, but I can see your drawings have
already some personality of their own, and there is a good pace and punch and humor on the strips at your test page.

I don't know if you saw more than the posemaniacs training on my thread, but I'm working (slowly) on several
comic projects (that could also lead to animation making) and I'd be interested in exchanging
storyboard criticisms on the long run. Let me know if it sounds a good idea to you.

Keep it up!

[ashess]

hi Leo ^^ thanks for stopping back. eh. why I abandoned the old one. well, I got someone to mentor me for a while and focused on that. unfortunately I think he had a break in confidence or something. anyway, I lost contact with him so I kinda stopped posting on that thread. I didn't post at all for a while after, so jump-starting such an old thread seemed useless.

about the project; yeah its very ambitious. posting all I have here is a thought. things will get a little hectic, but maybe more fun too.
I'm glad you enjoyed reading my storyboard. heh I was afraid it was getting a little dry but I guess some of the humor its supposed to have sticked.
I think I saw only one or two of you comic pages, but the idea of commenting and critting each other's storyboards sounds very good to me. telling a story graphically without loosing your audience is always hard, and its really hard to get some good critz about that from non-writers beyond 'I didn't get it'.
so, ye great idea! I'll go check out more of your comics then.

[FightingSeraph]

If you need help with poses, it helps to have a Mannequin. So far, I like your style, but you may want to follow everyone else's advice here. I'd also like to see an animation demo from you.

[Farvus]

Nice sketchbook. Good thing I see here is ability to leave single strokes and continue with drawing instead of thickening contours. That gives you very fresh energetic lines.
I think what would need improvement is proportions and values. Even though you seem to prever very stylised style, you can benefit a lot from more typical drawings and studies based on foundations.

Keep posting

[ashess]

thanks fighting. Ibothered my boyfriend into posing some yesterday. gonna do that more often again :p
well, I haven't got any animations test for this film, but I was thinking something along the lines of my graduation film:
http://www.ashess.nl/aliens.swf
(more on my site, www.ashess.nl)

well it's late so no drawing tonight. I'll just post some knee studies from this weekend just for show and tell Oo

[ashess]

hi farvus! thank you for your comment. I'm a very messy sketcher so I'm happy to hear my linework is improving. could I ask you what you mean with values? color values?

[Leo Ki]

OK, I understand why you left your former sketchbook to sink down and away, but maybe you could repost some of your work from that time, there are good things I like there.
A request: Apart from the storyboard itself, I'd like to see an introduction to your project, with the usual concept art and prep work: characters with their names and role, explanations about where the action takes place, some background history, environments, etc. If you post everything on this thread, even greater.
I like the animations on your site even if your drawing style could be improved. Your comic suffers more from it because still pictures are not readable the same way as motion pictures.
I'll continue browsing the wealth of material on your site - some sub-sections seem not to work but maybe they are still under construction?

[ohomoho]

Haha nice animation there .How long took that.
And here is something usefull so you dont have to bother your boyfriend so much,tho drawing from life is realy realy helpfull. http://posemaniacs.com/blog/
Try the 30sec and the.... yeah you will check it out for yourself.

And also nice style realy clean ,but yeah i gues you know that you got problems with perspectiv and anatomy but dont we all.Its realy hard for me 2.

I just dont post in CA that doesnt mean i dont sketch im drawing daily and its fun

[ashess]

@ Leo:
the only old one I really like is the teddy slayer, which I'll repost here. the tone studies are worth the effort, but I really think I should just do new ones.
putting up background stories and the character backgrounds with their designs is definitively a good idea. I'll have to try and put some semblance of coherency in in before hand.. its all bits and pieces now.
enviroments too. I want it to have a kind of atmosphere, different from what I've done in landscapes and stuff. that's kind of an obsticle. never mind; will tackle that.
and yeah I love making things move most of all.
there's a storyboard section not finished I believe. I got so much negative feedback on navigating the site I might just overhaul it to a simple php like my storyboard testpage.

@ohomoho:
thanks. my gradiation animation took 1/2 a year all together. a little over 2 months (maybe 3) full-time animating. the rest was pre/post prod.
I like posemaniacs and have used it in the past. but I still think it doesnt hold a candle to a real life model in front of you. even if mine does insist on reading a book ^^
and yeah; perspective and anatomy; we'll be working at that until we're all old and grey. yours is pretty great tough. I'm trying to get back into the habit of doing daily ones again, but that does cut down on time for this project.
00 never enough time is there?

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

Hey there, good starting effort, now comes the poundings! First thing I wanna tell you is that cell shading is a very very bad way to go about doing anything unless you are an underfunded anime studio with a short deadline, and I am hoping that ain't the case. You have a good head for motion, or so it seems, and you have some solid lifestudies going on here, so I would keep that stuff and put the cell shading to rest, possibly with a shotgun shell to the vertibrae

I like the idea of studying people with roller skates though, that could be a fun thing to do

laters!

-E

[ashess]

hi there! I think you are referring to the coloring tech used in the 3rd and 8th post? because I'm damn well not gonna get old-fashion paint and transparant sheets and do the old-fashioned cell-painting?
I have no budget yet and but no deadline either so no worries there :p
yeah, I'm still looking for nice ways to color and shade. I don't want it to take forever tough :p

and yes, the skater guy is fun. too bad I kill him all :p oh well.
added a sketch for a glass window which would have been in the temple from my first storyboardscenes (which I will post soon)
---------------------------------------------------
STORYBACKGROUND!::
(This is all background and setting. You can skip it if you don’t like spoilers.)
In this universe, there are 3 forms of ‘magic’.
One ‘bends’ matter, the sculptors.
One bends life (plants, unintelligent or willing life), the druids.
One bends minds.
There is a relationship between these three, but it is not understood by an science of that day. Talent in one form of magic means talent in all three, but once a person is trained in one of the 3 schools of magic, it is believed it is impossible to learn another.
Once, there was a civilization based on ‘beast bending’; bending the mind. But in a war with the tree benders these were rooted out ages ago. Except a few wild talents, the ‘mind bending’ form is all but extinct.
All forms of magic require direct contact (some more then others), or contact through a medium; a conductor. For sculptors this is usually metal, but anything that conducts electricity will do.
60 years before our story starts, the two main civilizations, that of druids and sculptors come into contact with the other.
The Druids are a mystic and nature orientated people. Although possessing space travel, they have a caste-based system, with a king. They also have seers/shamans, and place high value in their predictions. (Not without reason.) They are highly religious, and revere their trees.
The Sculptors are more pragmatic. They believe in science and progress. There society builds on expansion and economy, and is at that time a federation of independent states.
Due to a badly interpretated oracle and some hotheaded actions, negotiations between the two civilizations quickly turn in all-out war.
20 years later, it is the Sculptors who, hard pressed and on the loosing side, launch their secret weapon -10 long years before it would have been considered complete.
A 100 bio-engineered sculpting soldiers –at that time in their early teens- join what would have been the deciding battle between druids and sculptors –and turn the tides the federation’s favor.
Passing everyone’s expectations, the ‘numbered’ 100 soldiers shatter the druid armies and drive them back all the way to their home planet. Fear and deceit take over once again, as the generals of the sculpting alliance see an even greater threat to their society in the now maturing 100 soldiers.
A plot to destroy the Numbered along with the Druid’s Mother planet backfires. The numbered mute, and under the command of 39 take over the armies at hand.
Leaving the druids alone for the time, the numbered return to the federation’s seat of power to commit a massacre, and appoint their own 39 as emperor. After settling matters at home, the emperor returns to the druid home planet and reduces it to ash.
After this one bloody example his thirst for blood seemed quenched. The new empire takes all druid settlements, adding their people to the empire, but destroying their sacred forests. The new policy is also to take all other intelligent societies.
On most of the planets taken, they have not yet attained space travel, and are its people are oblivious until the Empire descends upon them. Little changes for these people tough; expect for those found with magic talent.

[Leo Ki]

That's an epic space opera setting, gooood
I don't mind the spoilers, actually I need them to be more helpful in my criticisms.
And a good story remains good even when spoil(er)ed.

A few questions which you can either answer or use to prepare an expanded version of the background text:
-Why do the Numbered have no name? Are they like robots without a social life?
-Why do the Numbered mute? Isn't the threat they are exposed to enough to make them turn against their creators?
-Did the Sculptors use conventional technology to create the Numbered, or did they use magic outside their specialty?
-What is so special about the Numbered? What makes them so strong? What made their invention possible, and why at that time?
-Is space travel technology different in Sculptor and Druid societies?
-Will you, as a narrator, be neutral in the conflict? or do you favor a side?
-Why were the mind benders so weak against the Druids? Will they play an important role in the story? A resurgence maybe? -- If this is spoiling too much, don't answer this
-Are there societies where mages of different skills live together and cooperate?
-Are mages few among the societies? Is their power contested sometimes?

I like the glass window, perfect for a temple. What are the two people doing on the scene? Is the green one a magic being?
Glad you picked the teddy slayer from your old thread.
I like the yawning blackcat on post #2 too (it's yawning, right?)

[ashess]

not pealsed with this at all.
but not sure how to fix it. uuuuh

[Leo Ki]

I'd like to help, but I don't understand what is happening :/
Is it a planet or asteroid hiding a sun?

Did you miss my questions on post #23?

[marcoferrigno]

seems like youve got a bit of a dilema going on with your work, your update on nov 23rd seems to mark a bridge in which your art work radically improves, those are some terrific anatomy studies aswell, keep them up.

i think your first few updates are just a little too manga like for my taste, how ever though later on in the SB your work is beginning to develope some more style of its own, keep developing that and im sure your work will increase in quality aswell.

[ashess]

@Reaper: thank you; I'm glad there's improvement. anatomy is very time-consuming but I guess still worth it . I guess the color technique doesnt really helping my work yet. gonna have to wrok on that too.

@Leo:
yes, I did miss you post. I swear it wasnt there when I was uploading. I'll try and answer it now.
the Numbered are bio-engeneered from gen-date found found on the battlefield; they dna gathered to create them is used from the few greatest magiciens; both from druid and sculptors. altough research was always the sculptor's forte, they never did anything on such a grand scale. yes, both sculpting and druid magic is reletively rare. and the diferences in power can vary much too. a genious only comes along once every ten years or so. with the numbered the sculptor have a hundred fresh ones, with some slight regenerative powers as well. quite a few ethical codes were broken in making the numbered- but the sculptor federation was loosing a long long war.
most of the sculptor's geniouses are dead after such a long and bloody war - the druids have power over their own bodies and can regrow almost every damage. though initially the sculptor's had a greater number, the druids are almost immortal.
The numbered are alive but definitively different from normal people. the generals in charge never did think of them as individuals, but as weapons. 38 Red is a little different here; thought of as the best and strongest of the lot by her caretaker, she is dolted upon, and quite spoiled. The others hold a lot more of a grudge agains their creators.
Yes; they have reason to mute. but its still muteny to turn on your commanders and butcher them :p
Space travel should be different -the sculptor's much like our own, the druids based on plants. their primary way of getting around should be a 'gateway' from one tree to another on a different planet. how and if they actually go into space I havent figured yet.
I will not really favor a side in this story those few druid still around seem fixed on refenge. 39 the emperor stuck in some weird dream of starting a dynasty to last forever.
the story will start at a point around the ending of my backstory, and we will follow red, 38, as she killes the last archdruid, who is also the last seeer.
he curses her, or blesses her. however which way you look at it.
the curse means she can never kill again. as one in her profession -that's a bit of a dilemma. especially as she had a deal with the emperor stating when there were no other to fight, she would get to duel him to the death.
(red 38 is a very sore looser and needs to settle a little loss to him at any cost)

what the mindbenders were and how they lost isnt really that important right now. the basic is, there are 3 different forms of magic. they all hold in the same source tough. but it seems if you practise one, you can't learn another.
a major plot spoiler is that you can use all powers at ones. it just takes a very special frame of mind.
mages are few in both societies. in the druids they are elevated to elite when found, or even married into the royal family. there is a hereditary issue involved, but wild talent does happen.


the glass window represents a tree spirit coming to make contact with humans. its a druid window.
yeah I like the teddy slayer. and yes, the cat is yawning.

about the last picture. I'm trying to make a spaceship for my travelers (red and what she picks up along the way). I wanted to do a atmosphere shot. a planet. a little diffuse lighting. that kind of stuff.

[Leo Ki]

There is Depth in your story background, you do have a storyteller mindset! I won't bug you with more questions for the moment but expect more questions later
A green tree spirit, nice. I have a green hamadryad (oak nymph) in one of my comics
For the planet, have a look at the photo galleries at ESA or NASA. Atmospheres are extremely thin compared to planet sizes, and beyond them there are no lighting effects, just the black of the cosmos and possibly star fading because of local blinding. You might want to make more spaceship sketches before tackling the painting. The current one is rather basic and doesn't bring a feeling about the society that built it.

[ashess]

hi Leo; yeah. that space thing is the ugliest thing I 've made in ages. not sure why I even posted it. but doing a few sketchups from nasa's gallery is a great idea. gonna try that. I didnt think the questions bugged at all ^^ I'm glad you asked.
and yea, I saw you tree nymp ^^ the one nobody can be bored around right?
I was wondering what the deal was there. no connections at all to the chartmaker's apprentice?

anyway, I did a little back story -storyboard. this is important stuff so its gonna show up sometime in the story, and wanted to do a quick draft for it. this plays about 12 years before my other storyboard. which I will name 'day of the curse' now, to be able to tell them apart. this is redz 38, as a kid, with her caretaker. its a really sad part :p

[ashess]

I realize this is all very very rough -but I hope it makes decent reading anyway... if you can figure the pictures that is.
well, here is the 2nd part of 'day of revolution'. this part centers on 39, soon to be the emperor.
hmm guess its time for bed. ugh :p I'll be sorry in the morning, but had to finish this ^^