Self-Discovery: Aikan

[JinzouTamashii]

I've, um, been lurking for a while but I just joined today... it's hard for me to imagine making a thread in this place but I did it so there!

In the last month or so, I've been trying to take my existing skills and incorporate them into larger and more ambitious works. I usually do art for in the independent games communities, usually visual novels but I have a wide range of skills beyond just that. I'm kind of a 工員 doujin circle for my own project...

I could really use some critique so don't be shy!

I have a lot to post to catch up... these are some recent works...

[Hanny Honeymoon]

really nice works :3 try to do more basics! i love the colours!
nice greetz
hanny

[JinzouTamashii]

Yes, I need to do more studies and focus on tightening my compositions...

I did soo many exercises at the University ten years ago though... for the most part, it's all locked up in my skull somewhere, I just need to bring it out...

[JinzouTamashii]

I was over on /ic picking up tips on how to improve the top one (my most recent work). I wouldn't recommend it for the faint-hearted, but there's some very good advice there if you're willing to listen to it.

[JinzouTamashii]

Character drafts. The lines of action aren't terribly strong, and I'm pretty inexperienced with contour drawing...

[JinzouTamashii]

Just something I've been working on for the past three weeks or so... there's more to it, but I'm trying to rebalance the piece in terms of texture, flow, color, value, and shape.

[JinzouTamashii]

1 hour speed painting done between 3 and 4 AM, ArtRage and Photoshop.

Mouth open a little wider than natural, teeth omitted for impression of muteness and a hole swallowing on down.

[RBeek]

heya, ur works look really cool.. so much life and vibrant colors.. to much chaos for my taste! . but it has this great expressive feel to it and thats good! so dont lose that!

On ur figure studies, u are making them look quite cartoonish with the big heads and small necks.
But im guessing u did it on purpose, cuz some of them really have that nice exspression in them.. u nailed the flirty one!

Ohwell! keep working hard!!

[Janos]

Yeah I agree, your works seem a tad crowded at times. I do not deny though that they are interesting and expressive. It is difficult sometimes to find a balance between realism and expressionism. If you get it right you've got a winner!
Keep practising anatomy. You heads are gigantic, if your goiug for a more cartoony style they might ork, but first of all learn how to draw the human figure realistically.

Cheers

[JinzouTamashii]

Yes, thank you, I will do more studies. The blue ones above are cartoon figures for a game (That Cheap and Sacred Thing) so everything is exaggerated.

Six heads high, you know how it goes, Anime/Manga. I used to do clean-up on traditional cels on some animes, back when... so it's hard to break old habits and relearn things.

I also like to blend the styles from time to time. I know this won't be to everyone's taste, but I'm trying to find myself... just like the title of the thread. Self-Discovery. Aikan. (Pathos, sadness and joy, the very experience of art!)

Anyway, I need to explore 7 and 8 heads high more, you guys definitely know my weak points. Sounds like a good excuse for lunchbreak sketches today. Eventually, I want to be an artist that can do a lot of things, but everything has my own distinctive look to it.

As for the loud, noisy and chaotic surrealism, that's just my style that I fellfallfill into! I'm doing a whole series like that. I'll probably switch back to landscapes soon...

[/edit]I initially misspelled pathos as paths. Appropriate as well.

[JinzouTamashii]

Here's some of my backgrounds from my project, Sum of the Parts: The Last Journey.

What's the rules on erotica or suggestive pictures?... they're tasteful, but I don't want to break the rules... like I have a draft of the cast, but they're nude and undetailed, was mostly a size comparison.

I need to edit that globe out of the living room or make it smaller... it's supposed to be a reference to that funky guy up there with the sphere head...

[JinzouTamashii]

Animated my main character singing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WsgGHIiwn0

Voiced by Alessio from Lemma Soft.

[JinzouTamashii]

Did two sketches, both bird-related. I'm gonna animate that bottom guy eventually, he's just too awesome. He's a hummingbird moth and they're real! I swear!

[andres333]

Thanks for the advices, really helpful.
loving your gesture studies

[laxon]

Some very expressive work here. I like how you are showing your strokes, keep it up

[JinzouTamashii]

Something else fun. My anima, つあめんて. I follow the Way of the Gods, Shinto, so I don't get along with most narrowminded Christians... which is weird, because I believe in God...

Just not their God.

OMG, this is going to be such a cool fucking painting. I'm going to do it sumi-e and digital watercolours, oh yeah! I'm going to break out into fantasy art like a freaking whirlwind, just you watch me.

[pearblossom]

Hi Aikan,

Your backgrounds are gorgeous--i love the 2nd one down with the river especially--the sense of colors is really great. I couldn't get into the characters as much, have you done a lot of life studies?

as for your question about censorship, i'm no forum leader, but i'd say don't post anything more out there than wanimal
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=83464

keep 'em coming!

[JinzouTamashii]

Figures are what I'm really struggling with right now... I did lots of studies 10 years ago at Joshibi but it's been a while, you know? Plus, I went into cartooning right after that so now I need to recombine my knowledge of that back into figure painting.

I have NO traditional mediums right now, I am embarassingly broke. I seriously cannot even afford a haircut, so canvases and even charcoal are out of the question for me! And I hate it, because I like real paint and pencils ;__; I'm using crappy No.2 and ballpoint and pretending that it doesn't matter...

Thank you, I think of myself mainly as an animator and as a background artist. The field one isn't a river but a rocky path, haha. Maybe I need to enhance the textures and add in lines (It's one of the few in Sum of the Parts without them). I wanted it to wind like a river though.

Oh, my, pearblossom! Wanimal is something else... I'm no prude but those are quite H... (*^^*) エッチ

[JinzouTamashii]

Can we do poetry here or do I need to roll it into the picture itself?

I love to be in love... to me, true erotica (NOT porn) is a celebration of life, love, living and is a work of art in itself. Plus, I enjoy backing up with a real story. In all my pictures, I don't want to objectify the participants but have them feel "real."

I know a lot of people think hentai = obscene, freaky shit and I want to change that... and tell the rest of them "ur doin it wrong." I don't know about the rest of you guys, but even with fetishes, I have a lot of trouble bring up the subject to my husband or speaking up clearly...

I do enjoy しばり and all its dark undertones of hanging. I have some gooorgeous old vintage shibari pinups saved somewhere. If I can ever find them on my HD again, I'd love to use them as inspiration. The lighting in them was incredible. I can't post them because they're not my copyright but I think I'll lift the palette from some of them.

I also have a friend into 緊縛 but I had to turn him down politely, I'm monogamous... I should ask him if he has any books. His house is like some kind of freaking paraphernalia wonderland.

[SoSilk]

i dont really have any advice since your beyond my skills
but i wanted you have some great work.

[JinzouTamashii]

Thanks, SoSilk. I am sure that one day, whenever inspiration finds you in whatever form, you will climb to great heights.

Lines would have made this one a lot easier *grumble*

How do you show separation between two bodies swathed in shadow like this? They're just kind of melting together, ugh.

[JinzouTamashii]

I'm doing some of the backgrounds for That Cheap and Sacred Thing today. Depending my mood, maybe all of them... so stand by for realtime edits.

Nadiya's room finished.

Prison cell composite begun, spotlight and shadows from the bars will be added later (to be composited in Ren'Py).

Autumn's room is finished again, second attempt.

Pizzeria turned out great!

I like the gentle pastel look of the day street view.

The night view is deliberately flat and not as lively.

By the way, I use a combination of Cinema4D, Photoshop, and Art Rage 2.5 to achieve my results.

[Peetaer]

Dig some of your work. Are you primarily painting in painter or are you using any other software?

I work stick to building up your visual library. Don't jump into concept sketching yet, you'll probably find yourself hitting creative brick walls all the time due to a gap in knowledge. Maybe this doesn't happen to you but it certainly does happen to me. Keep doing studies like that one you got with the faceless figures. Perspective is another BIG one to understand (that one is still lying ahead of me).

Rock on!

[Joehtosis]

This isn't exactly artistic advice but...
I'd suggest editing your first post and change the title with a Not Safe for Work label.

Just to avoid any trouble should it come your way.

As for your figures; if you need to know about anatomy, contours, or anything try checking out the free books they have at archive.org. I know where you're coming from what with having very little finances at your disposal, but the archive should really come in handy if you need to freshen your memory.

[JinzouTamashii]

Do you have a link to said free books or your recommendations on archive.org? There's a lot there... I already have Loomis and I do need to do more black and white studies.

I'm done with Cheap and Sacred Thing for tonight. Almost 80% of the backgrounds done the space of one day except for the hallway and an abstract, which shouldn't take much time to do.

I'm really a conduit for the divine spark of 火 or creativity this week. I'm operating at my absolute peak efficiency in terms of output, sheer joy, and determination. I've been driven for about three months now but I really feel like I'm taking active steps to finally accomplishing something in this world and changing myself, meditating and channeling energy every day and keeping a clear image in my mind of the person that I wish to be and the kind of artist I want to become very, very quickly.

I've lost 15 pounds in three weeks just with regular diet and exercise and maintaining myself well.

It's been just incredible finally Awakening to my potential. I'm still in the throes of the storm at my heart... no matter what it takes, I always tell myself that I will keep this irrepressible Joy with life and living that I fell into, not by accident, but by design. Innocence later in life isn't naivete or chastity but the constant affirmation that there is good to come from everything.

[Joehtosis]

Lol, they have a thread right in this forum about great books to look at there, it's actually how I discovered the site.
It'd be here; http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=131117
I hope it helps. =]

[JinzouTamashii]

Collab thread on /ic/ today. My contribution to the branch is at the bottom.

This stuff is the best thing ever. /ic/ on 4chan is like conceptart.org on demand but without the social niceties. Sometimes, it's really primal and it gets right to the heart of things, so you gotta love that.

I think I'm going to buy a Tegu today... No shit. Haha. Whenever I see one, my heart skips a beat. They've got this cute little guy there who got a little burned by the UVB and no one will buy him 'cause of the injury... awwww.

[JinzouTamashii]

This one's coming along nicely. Gotta animate it still. Mecha sprite for Bliss Stage, about 300 pix high.

Damn it, why don't they have Flash and Art Rage listed under Media?

[JinzouTamashii]

I'm the only one working on this branch so far... Great practice, though.

[JinzouTamashii]

Gonna animate the battle game sprite of Genki Lilith tomorrow.