My first sketchbook...

[Psychobuddy]

hey you're gestures are coming out very very well. In terms of progressing as an artist, really the only option is to keep pushing forward. I fully understand getting down, and feeling like people are piling on, but this, art that is, is something that when it really comes down to it; you're doing it for yourself. Don't worry about what your parents think, what anonymous people on the internet think, if criticism on your work is offered and you find it useful, great! If you thinks it's utter bullshit, just forget about it, move on. Getting bogged down in what someone else thinks about you and your work, just wastes time, valuable time you could be using to draw. Uhm really I don't know where I'm going with this...sorry it's pretty much me rambling, but good luck man...keep pushing yo have drawing skills and I'm sure you'll find your way to where you want to be soon enough. Good luck.

[Istmin52]

Thanks Pyschobuddy for your comment. You're right. I am doing it for myself and that is always something I have to keep reminding myself.

I did another still life. All the objects are white. I also did some more gesture drawings.

I am also planning on my new illustration. I will be posting the sketch up shortly.

[Istmin52]

Hurricane Sandy was pretty fuckin scary. Luckily, I have power and just got my internet and tv back early this afternoon. Some of my friends still don't have power and the damage it did is insane. I was driving by today and I saw a tree leaning on someone's house. Also, the fact that gas stations don't have gas is disturbing. I have a full tank of gas but still, I hope they get gas soon.

Since I didn't have internet or tv in a couple of days I drew a lot and exercised my imagination muscles.

[Istmin52]

I was playing around with an image that I wanted to put on my main page on my website because I thought it felt to blank before. I ended up coming up this. I put a small version of it up on my website and I'm currently using it as a desktop image for work.

In the meantime, I've been going back to basics and painting basic shapes in black and white. So far I've been painting an egg in different lighting situations. I recently ordered some geometric shapes and a mini mannequin off of amazon to do more painting studies. With the egg painting studies so far, I feel like it's helping me understand how light and shadows work. I figured if I do at least one study a week, it would be better than doing no studies at all. Eventually, I'll order a mini plaster head and slowly start building up my own home schooled atelier. I'll be posting my egg studies soon.

[Istmin52]

I saw a photo of a baby on facebook so I felt like doing a painting study of it. I was reading an art blog that mentioned a way to start painting is to start with the darks and build up to the lights. I normally don't start this way but tried it anyway. I found it to be very useful and felt like I had some more control.

[Istmin52]

Whenever I had any free time from cooking today, I decided to do a face study. Haven't done one of these in a while.

[Anthonycarey]

looking good i need to do more of the same

[Istmin52]

Thanks Anthonycarey.

Here are some egg studies I've been doing. I took pictures of an egg in a bunch of different lighting situations and started doing painting studies of them. Here are 3 of them. More to come soon.

[Istmin52]

I ended up buying a wooden mannequin to do studies from. This was a lot tougher to paint than I thought. It also look longer too. There were a lot of midtones in there and I'm noticing that I struggle blending. Maybe it's something that will get easier over time.

[Istmin52]

This is an elf sketch that I will start painting. I'm also doing some thumbnails for a holiday themed Illustration. There is one thumbnail that I like so I might just start doing that too. We'll see.

[Istmin52]

Did another cube and egg study today.

[kevin_]

improvement! you are definitely getting better, keep busting out the studies and practices!

[Istmin52]

Thanks for the encouragement kevin_.

Here is a Coyote skull painting study and some doodles I was messing around with. More to come soon.

[Istmin52]

I wasn't 100% satisfied with the elf drawing I did in a previous post. I redrew it and played around with painting it's skin. I'm liking the effect.

[Istmin52]

I did another painting tonight. I wish I had more time on this one but unfortunately I need to stop because it's getting late and I need to wake up early for work tomorrow.

I'm liking how it's coming out but the shadows are a pain in the ass.

[lionheartGFX]

holy crap dude amazing stills and studies! i liked seeing animal anatomy too! post moreee!

[Istmin52]

Thanks a lot lionheartGFX for the comment.

I'm working on another coyote skull painting which I'll post tomorrow but in the meantime, I've been flexing my imagination muscles with these doodles.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Ian it's really good to see the progress you are making. I think the still life's are looking good and I was especially impressed by the wooden mannequin, as it does look hard. I also like the changes to your elf, the proportions look more balanced. Are you just fleshing out a character idea for him or are you going to paint him in a pose?

[Istmin52]

Thanks Marian Rowling. The elf character I'm planning on using in an illustration I'm working on.

Here are some more paintings. I screwed up on the figure's face.

[Istmin52]

Did a figure study before going to bed tonight. I tried figuring out the skeleton of the figure but it's hard when things start overlapping.

[Istmin52]

Today I did some feet skeleton studies because I do struggle with that at times. I also did a sketch of a weird guy.

I really need to buckle down and get some more finished illustration work done. I think I don't because I'm afraid and intimidated by it. I do thumbnail sketches but still. There is so much involved it overwhelms me and then I make up excuses not to do it. I need to overcome this but I'm not sure how. I guess just take the plunge and dive in?

[Istmin52]

I did another egg painting study but my mind just wasn't into it so it didn't come out that great. I don't know. I wasn't in the mood to paint but I forced myself too anyway.

[AndreM]

Hi Istmin52, thanks a ton for stopping by my SB with a crit/good advice - I will definitely be working more on faces
Really dig your dog drawings, so much life in them! (They remind me of my own dog, scooting around like a rogue missile)

Your shadows seem very desaturated - perhaps too desaturated. I realize this is a taste thing, but take your banana painting as an example, the shadow side of the banana could definitely use more colour.
Other than that I can only say keep kicking butt! So much improvement through your sketchbook!

[Istmin52]

Thanks AdreM. As for the banana, that's honestly how I saw the shadow of it. I'll have to look at it again.

While I was waiting for my mom at the doctors office today, I did some gesture drawing of the people in the waiting room.

[Istmin52]

I did some posemaniac 30 sec gesture drawings this morning and did a painting study of a sphere. I ended up ordering some geometric shapes off of amazon. I painted the sphere white but it's actually more annoying to do than I thought. It's hard to get an even coding of paint all around it because you have to hold it while painting it. I don't know if it was worth it but it seems to work so far.

I watched a tutorial on painting in photoshop and it's helped me in my approach. I think this is the best sphere painting I have done so far. What I do is I try to mix my values before applying it to what I want to paint. Seems like such an obvious thing but I never did it that way before.

[Istmin52]

The company I work at sends out a holiday e-card once a year to all their clients. The past two years I've done photo-manipulations because that's what they've done in the past. This year I decided to do an Illustration because I wanted to do something different. I have to do something that isn't specific to any holiday so it makes it pretty challenging. I'm going to present these three thumbnails tomorrow. I thought the idea with the penguins was cute.

Before drawing the penguins, I did some penguin gestures and I decided to do another painting study of the sphere since I have a snowman in it.

More to come soon.

[lionheartGFX]

you have upped your quality man, those penguins look good, cant wait to see how those christmas cards will turn out!

[Istmin52]

Thanks lionheartGFX for stopping by.

Here are the new thumbnails I presented to the CEO and the Marketing Director. They really love them both but we are going to finalize the second one.

I also did some penguin paintings to get a better sense of their value. It was also nice to do some environment paintings for a change.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Ian well done on your penguin cards, they look good. I can really see the progress you are making and I think all the value studies look good. I know your art path is often not easy for you so it's great to see you doing so well. Can't wait to see the finished card.

[Istmin52]

Thanks Marian.

At work, they really like them but we are going with the second one. Here is the final version of it. I ended up fixing some things including the perspective. I'm hoping to finish this by tomorrow or Monday.