"Create like a god, command like a king, and work like a slave"

[Syle]

Check the last page for the most recent stuff.

I'm a 29 year old musician living in Seattle WA. Just looking to progress my understanding of art and illustration for my own personal enjoyment.

Much love and respect to all here! This is, hands down, one of the best communities on the web!

[jordyskateboardy]

Hey man. Welcome to Ca!

Cool use of texture in those balls be sure to not forgot the cast shadow underneath the balls. Now they're kinda lacking that. And you also wanna make sure you're not gonna show us but those balls. Upload some more stuff. Dunno characters and the like or environments.

Keep 'em coming.

[Syle]

Thanks for the feedback jordy. For sure on the cast shadows, I won't be forgetting those from now on. I will be posting actual sketches/figures/etc soon, I just wanted to start slow and work on some basic fundies for a month or so; I am not sure how long I can do just value balls so I am sure I will be posting something else soon! Thanks again.

[Syle]

Another sphere exercise. I can't figure out the proper method of diagnosing the proper intensity of color to match an appropriate grayscale value...any tips?

Also, I found myself a paper sketch pad that I am going to start carrying around with me so that I can start posting some real-life doodles and exercises. *WARNING* I am terrible! But, this is all for getting better, and I hope that the feedback I receive from this fantastic community will help me get better. Thanks for looking.

[Syle]

This one took me an overall 15 min to do. The other studies posted took me 30+ min each, so I am making progress in my sense of fluidity with the program. I am going to start doing these once a day now, along with Idiom's next exercise. Trying to get a regiment down. I will be sketching throughout the day now in my drawing pad whenever I can, so I will soon be posting those sketches.

[Syle]

The few sketches/exercises I was able to do accomplish over the last few busy days.

[Syle]

Been gone awhile.

I am going to just upload anything and everything I make from now on. Getting embarrassed about how terrible I am just makes no sense if I want to grow as an artist. From hence forth I hold nothing back.

This update consists of an original pencil doodle. Then I tossed it into PS and "symmetrized" it. It's something I like to do (but am slowly trying to work my way away from).

[Syle]

Looking for some feedback on my gestural sketches. I was doing 60 sec posemaniac sets. It looks terrible to me, but will keep it up. Trying to do 3-4 10 min posemaniac sessions a day on top of perspective studies.

[Syle]

Still hoping for some help/feedback on the gestural stuff. Is there a right and wrong way to do it?

[Syle]

*bump*

[Lyno]

Hi Syle, I don't really often do those posemaniacs gestures things , but I think they're mainly used to warm up. On the other hand, I can recommend this pdf, quite much to read but it's so great and changed my way of thinking about anatomy/gesture.
"Gesture Drawing for Animation" (the link is a pdf!), it's a collection of the handouts of Walt Stanchfield. I should print it out and take your time read it.

Good luck .

[Syle]

Thank you Lyno! I really appreciate it!

[Syle]

The pear was the first DP I did. The nectarine followed. And then I did the blue bottle/apple today. They each took me 1+ hours.

[Syle]

update: in the market for a scanner to upload pencil studies, in the mean time, trying to get back into the digital realm.

[Syle]

just an update. hoping to be consistent.

[Syle]

11-27-2010 update:

[Syle]

Update, going through Loomis and Bridgeman.

[Syle]

Update 11-30-2010:

[karmiclychee]

That is some trippy shit. Dude, I see some excellent progress here. Your lines are getting more refined and confident. Mix up your pencils, push your lights and darks!

[Syle]

Thanks for passing through here Karmiclychee. I appreciate the feedback. I will totally pay attention to pushing my darks and lights. More contrast!

Also, I really dig your website. Those renderings that you did of the bananas were top notch! The first one I thought was photograph! Until I did a double-take I didn't realize it was digital. Very cool.

I saw that you were moving to Seattle soon; I'm in Seattle myself. I would be curious to know which Futurepoly classes and Gage classes you take. I took the Concept Design course at Futurepoly. It was a good course and very loosely (but also very educational) structured.

[karmiclychee]

Thanks for passing through here Karmiclychee. I appreciate the feedback. I will totally pay attention to pushing my darks and lights. More contrast!

Also, I really dig your website. Those renderings that you did of the bananas were top notch! The first one I thought was photograph! Until I did a double-take I didn't realize it was digital. Very cool.

I saw that you were moving to Seattle soon; I'm in Seattle myself. I would be curious to know which Futurepoly classes and Gage classes you take. I took the Concept Design course at Futurepoly. It was a good course and very loosely (but also very educational) structured.

Haha, those bananas. Everyone loves the bananas. They're actually both photographs of a banana that I etched with the tip of my pocket knife (like a dot painting).

I'm definitely interested in doing the drawing and painting Atelier, I just have to make it work somehow since it's full time, 7000 bucks, and I'm pretty much broke. I'm not sure when I'll do it (at the same time as Gage or after I've learned the foundations from Gage), but I want to at least take the Digital Art Core classes at Future Poly - digital painting, texturing, and concept design. I might just pick and choose after starting with digital painting.

I suspect that I'd be better off doing Gage first, getting some really solid fundamentals in classical skills, and then veering off into concept design with a good technical foundation.

[Syle]

-OnceDaily: thanks! that's good advice about loosening up with the gesture sketches. you're right, i should really be more conscious of my line control when doing those quick 30 second sketches; i need more fluidity to really capture the essence of the gesture, rather than attempting to be anatomically correct.

-Rhoades: thank you!

-karmiclychee: i bet you are right: Gage first, to get the basic fundamentals down solid, and then move on to Futurepoly to really hone your skills. Not sure what to tell you about being broke I am in the same position as you, so you definitely don't want any of my advice!

[Kezhi]

Heya Syle,

Your perspective and shadow casting studies are looking pretty hot!~ As to comment on gestures it seems your focusing on the contours, I think looking more for the movement and pose of the figure yield better results for quick gestures like these. I would say to check out Vilppu's method for approaching gestures, he breaks it down pretty well.

Group is working out pretty good hehe, lets keep up the work

[Syle]

More sphere and value/light studies.

[Syle]

This is all I've managed to get in the last 2 days. Been extremely busy...

With the holidays coming up, I am planning on getting a ton of face/proportion, perspective, and observational studies done. So plan on a big update after Christmas sometime

Also, I am starting a new DP tomorrow. It's my first attempt at referencing a photograph, so we'll see how it goes. It'll be an enviro-paintingl; also a first for me.

[Syle]

Some value studies. I learned a lot doing that still life. I realized how much impact the background can have on defining a light'ed or shadow'ed edge. It also helped me really rub in some darks to make the highlight areas "pop" a bit more.

I am now going to start my new digi-painting enviro (from observation).

[Syle]

forgot this 1, though it's quite small.

[Syle]

I wasn't really feeling anything tonight...I just couldn't see things correctly, and I couldn't move my pencil in the right ways. Oh well, just an off night I suppose...back at it hard tomorrow night.

I returned to that digital still life as well. I cleaned up some edges, and worked the background a little bit to add some depth. I also noticed something in the shadows that I've never noticed before, a little bit of a reflection or cooling effect towards the outer part of the shadow under the apple and the orange. I tried to paint that in, though I don't know how successful I was. But it still felt good to see this and recognize what it was. I feel like through all this studying I am doing, I am really starting to see things more clearly when I look at them...I feel like I am looking with a deeper and more in tune purpose than before, and I am really enjoying it

Anyways, back at it tomorrow.

[Syle]

Small update. It's values studies for me this week starting today. I am going to combine that with some anatomy studies as well; really work on the lighting over different forms.

[Syle]

Small sketchbook update. This last week I acquired some PVC tubing, some random stuff from Value Village, and a can of Flat White Spray Paint. I've painted up my random basic shaped objects, and I plan on sitting down this next week for some good still life sessions. My goal is to really wrap my head around the basic forms; get really intimate with 'em