Help Me Get Better

[Metal Fingers]

HAWT DAMN! There is a lot of studies going on in here. huge improvement in that Sargent comparison study, you are really starting to pick up the sensitivity that made that man sooo effing great. Only thing I could really recommend but can't for sure because I'm not totally sure on your work process is try and block in all of your shapes with as big of a brush as you can, pick something you think is big and then go 4 sizes bigger. then continually work smaller and smaller, general to the specific. Keep it up, mebbe mix in some more imaginative stuff within the studies, I always like to do something applicable to what I was just studying, so say i was drawing legs one day, I'd sit down after the studies and draw leg monsters with like a trillion legs. It helped tons and was also tons of fun to do. Cheers! and oh, thanks for stopping by my book too!

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey bro

Lots of hard work going on here, and it's very pleasing to see, but.. tbh, I prefer the colours in your 18 August study more, they feel more accurate and believable imho. This isn't necessarily to say that you've gone backward, maybe you are exploring different colours.. =)

Your hands are gorgeous though, really solid work on those. Keep up your studies bro and keep having fune! =)

[Untouched24]

Great stuff you're doing, you're really working hard. I should take a note from you and be more consistent in my sketchbook updates. You seem to really have a pretty good balance of studies (line and value, color too) and some imaginative stuff in there too. So just keep it up. Do you go to school for art or something else? If not art, yeah, it makes it harder to keep it up, but do your best.
The only suggestion I may have is that maybe you should do some of your studies with a focus of really blocking in the values without trying to really smooth them out and render. Try to convey the form with rougher stokes, and with less than you would normally. I notice some of your value work looks like mine kind of used to, and I think maybe we think about things similarly. I just know lately trying to use broader strokes, then working down to small strokes (yet still trying to get it loose and rough, without trying to render everything out) has helped me quite a bit and maybe you'd benefit from it as well.
Good luck.

[vatteh]

Metal Fingers - Thanks for the complement, there has been some improvement, but I got a long way to go. The big to small tip is a good idea I got to incorporate in my process and I do need to add some more creative works to better see what I have learned. And I've gotten this tip from alot of other people here, so I gotta start cracking down.Thanks for the tips.

Kungfoowiz - Yeah, maybe the colors on the previous one were more interesting, Still more improvement in color theory. Thanks for the hands comment, I got to do more similar studies, maybe hands from memory next time.

Untouched24 - Yeah, right now I'm studying Computer Science, so all my drawing is in my free time. I actually like this tip. Doing value studies with focus on speed instead of accuracy maybe can better teach my eye to block values faster. I'm thinking of trying more speed paints to try this.

Interesting first week of school, but nothing special. For this week I just focused on value and stuck to black and white. There's some figure studies, face features from memory and ref, and some 10 min portrait speed paints. The speed paints aren't really worth showing, but Ill show them this time and just make sure to do them once in a while.

[andres333]

YAY keep up the good work

[Lotet]

Hi there! great studies, remind me that I should do more´.

you have to work on ur noses though, they sometimes stick out in ur portraits as a little cartoony.

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey bro, rendering and forms are looking really great. Yip, agreed with the guy above, noses could use a little tweaking, woman's tends to be smaller, more petite in general. Also watch those hands in the 2nd and 3rd pieces, 2nd one in particular. Keep having fun bro! =)

[Mr.Pryminista]

Thanks for dropping by my sketchbook!

You're definitely improving as an artist so keep pushing but there are some fundamental mistakes that you are making. I think your greatest problem is the lack of "3-Dness" in your images. You have pretty good rendering skills but your underlying forms are whats killing you (IMO). I think you need to spend more time on constructing those forms, making them seem genuinely three dimensional before you start rendering them out. This, to me, seems to be your biggest problem. Other than that, just keep plugging away at those anatomy studies and all that jazz.

PS: How often do you draw from life? Do this as much as possible!

Good luck!!!

[Novbert]

woot! someone is improving here
Those figure studies look great - faces are also coming along nicely. Some general remarks: you tend to use very little brushes to render things - it's good for some details but I'd say you should try to limit yourself on how little brushes you use. Using larger brushes can force you to pay attention to large forms and not get lost in details. And a related thing: you always create those smooth gradients on every surface. Big no-no. Painting is mostly about simplifying - finding the most effective way to render something - and most often you can do it by using flat surfaces. I'd say you should try what you can achieve with a flat brush - with neither opacity nor flow set to pressure. I'm sure you'll be surprised how effective you can get without spending hours polishing all those gradients.

[vatteh]

andres333 - Thanks man.

Lotet - That's true. The noses tend to get a little big. I gotta watch out for that.

Kungfoowiz - I see where your coming from when it comes to my hands on the figures. I'm guessing a bit too big. Thanks, Ill keep an eye on that.

Mr.Pryminista - Yeah, I gotta do more form studies. I just cant think of any good exercises that solely focuses on form. Oh well, I can do more observation studies. Those are always good.

Novbert - Yep, I'm getting the "too small brush" tip alot. I really gotta crack down on that. I'm also gonna try this flat brush idea and see how that helps me improve. Ive seen others here use it and the simplification could help.

Hey 5 responses! I think that's a record. Only in my second week and the school work's already starting to pick up. But I still manage. I got some quick studies I wish I spent more time on, a still life, and this weeks CHoW.

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey man.. form is looking good, I think maybe one or two more values to turn form and it should be ok.. Your still life is awesome. =)

[vatteh]

Kungfoowiz - Yeah the CHoW piece can use more colors to help with form. I was trying to work in black and white first, then use overlay to add color. I then learned that it's a bit more complicated than that.

Another lazy week, All I got done was a study using a brush with no pressure sensitivity, and this weeks CHoW.

[vatteh]

Gotta admit, I got nothing new or interesting this week. Just the usual chicks. The first one is a photo study from deviantArt. The other two are just practice pieces.

Just realized I forgot to add a left arm in Power Girl pic, but I'll post it anyway.

[Blizzard5291]

Awesome improvement on faces! Let's see some work on other areas, like arms, hands, legs, and feet!

[Justyna]

Nice stuff, you made great progress since first posts
It's good you do anatomy studies, I would like to see more of them.
Also I think that you should use wider color palette because some of your paintings look a bit flat. I had the same problem at the beginning, I used to choose one color and just change it's brightness, now I try to use more hues instead.

Keep up the good work!

[SageTso]

Great studies, especially those lip studies, You are improving alot quickly, keep going!

[Lotet]

hi, the noses are looking better =P I like the studies in post 100, keep it up!

[vatteh]

Blizzard5291 - True. I gotta keep up on that.

Justyna - Yeah, Ive tried to make my colors a little more interesting the past few weeks. It's hard to find that right combination to make the piece pop. Still learning I guess.

SageTso & Lotet - Thanks for the reply.

Wow, no post for three weeks. And all I have to show is a character piece. I'm going to have to wake up earlier to find more time to just draw. Hopefully more in the next post.

[vatteh]

Finally starting to get some rhythm back when it comes to doing some studies. Here's the little I did the past few weeks.

[vatteh]

Some other stuff too.

[vatteh]

Finally starting to get a rhythm when doing these studies daily. Just some faces from suicidegirls.com (10-20 min each), a still life (a pencil sharpener in front of my desk lamp) and a film still.

[vatteh]

Also some figure studies.

[Jamie Romoser]

Keep up the hard work man
would like to see more life studies
have a good one
till next time
-Jamie

[vatteh]

OmertA - Thanks for the reply. I started doing lots of sketches from life at my university. Right now it's just sketches of students walking to class or sitting and eating at the union. Maybe next week I can post these and get some feedback.

Stuff I did worth posting are some studies of Gil Elvgren. I learned so much when it comes to the saturation of skin tones. Just when I think I got the right tone, I end up having to add a bit more color. I gotta make sure to do more; not satisfied with the likeness. I also did a CHoW I gave up on.

[vatteh]

Just figure studies, studies from Leyendecker and Godward, and some life sketches.

[LordVenom]

I really like the studies you made man, i would like to see more of those colored studies as well!

[vatteh]

LordVenom - Thanks man. I'll try to keep those color studies coming.

I started focusing more on still life rather that just photo studies. You can learn so much more drawing from actual life. I need to get out of my comfort zone anyways. I just got a still life of my sneakers, some quick head studies from photos, two from memory, and some life sketches in the bus I take to school. I'm getting a little better at this, but still got a ways to go.

[vatteh]

A little weak for 2 weeks, but with all these end of the semester projects and finals coming up, it might just be life sketches on the bus for a while. Though I'll still try to keep up with my sketches.

[vatteh]

Just some more life drawings.

[vatteh]

Sup. Just finished finals, and now I got a whole month to draw and just chill, but mostly just draw. This week I just did some life drawings and some figure studies.