Kat Dattilo's Sketchbook

[KittyKaida]

Hey, guys. I used to be on here, but it's been so long that all my stuff is gone! I've had a baby, and moved... anyway,

Umm, About me.. Hi, I'm Kat Dattilo, I'm 22, self-taught, and my dayjob is grooming dogs! Yay randomness!

I'm trying a fresh start.. I am looking for harsh, realistic critiques, I need help developing a style. I have alot of artwork, but I used to just be obsessed with copying how-to-draw books exactly.. nothing original, ya know? Then I went through an uber-realism phase,trying to make everything look exactly like a photo. Problem was that people seemed to think I just put a photoshop filter on a photo, when I'd actually spent 25-40+ hours on it.. I really want to break away from that, and find a happy medium..

I really want to improve, and find my own style.. I am working REALLY HARD on portraying emotion now.

currently, I have very little time to myself, but I will post as often as I can!!

[KittyKaida]

[KittyKaida]

eh, messed up with the top of his head, he's got alot more hair than that..

[KittyKaida]

[KittyKaida]

[KittyKaida]

[KittyKaida]

[KittyKaida]

hey, does anyone know how to do a mature content warning on pictures?

[KittyKaida]

[KittyKaida]

something I was pouring incredible amounts of time into, before my computer got wiped out .. I had uploaded this little snippet onto devart before it died.. I'm still really proud of this.. done in painter 9

[KittyKaida]

I did this yesterday afternoon.. I'm working on my website, I want it to look like it's all done in watercolors, and have different animals here and there.. I want to copy all of this onto watercolor paper and ink it when I get a chance.. maybe the weekend??

full size on my dA account http://katthegrrreat.deviantart.com/...cess-162470694

[KittyKaida]

I just sketched this.. This is the little man that keeps me so busy...
My son, Vincent, 10mos playing his little piano

[KittyKaida]

starting to color this.. finally got him down for the afternoon nap.. lots of tantrums today. whew..

[KittyKaida]

more coloring.. it's so hard to get the little... ehh... whatchamacallem's right..

[smuli]

Really good sketches here. The lines are nicely loose and expressive, you've nailed the emotions, proportions look right and facial features are always well placed. It shows that you've drawn people a lot. On this one his heel looks a bit sharp and too protuding and the daydreaming guy's frontmost foot look too small and weird in shape. There's a rotatable foot model at http://www.posemaniacs.com/tools/handviewer/ that I've practiced them from.

[KittyKaida]

@Smuli Thanks. man! It really means alot to me.. I've been drawing tons of people lately, trying to get over my fear of it haha... the daydreamer, I was trying to do some perspective w/o a good reference.. never a good idea.. Ididn't even notice the other's foot, I think i just drew his sandal and forgot about the heel.. >__>

Thanks for the link, that site looks fantastic!

[KittyKaida]

woops! sorry bout that.. here they are again. I ment to edit and i deleted!


Harmony sketches

[KittyKaida]

no ref.. you can probably tell...

[KittyKaida]

I LOVE drawing ears. they're so curvy and complex.. I could just draw ears all day guys..

[KittyKaida]

doodles of my standard poodle (the huge ones ya know) , Mortimer!

[jskotte]

Hi Kathrine, I really like your figure and the expression are just great, so the work in that area is really paying off. I think you've set a very good goal for yourself with finding a personal style, to get you in the right direction try to look at a lot of art from other people and find out what you like and maybe ask yourself the question what would you like to do with it, concept, illustration....
Can you give me some tips in getting that super realistic look you mentioned in your first post?

[KittyKaida]

Hey Jskotte! Thank you for the kind words! .. I am trying to go in the direction of illustration, I really want to do my own series of children's books, and illustrate other's stories too. I really need to up' my concept skills too, as you can't just have pages of random objects.. not very interesting..

let's see, tips for realism?? .. umm.. well, I always worked at a HUGE resolution, say like, the picture would be about 100 inches across at 300dpi.. I would just work very closely from photographs, trying to get every tiny detail exactly right.. also, just spend alot of time on it.. In photoshop, I used the "natural" brushes alot, or just use a 1 or 2 pixel brush

here's a few of the pictures I've done the in the last 2 years.. Sure, they look good, but they have no personality, which is really what I'm after. and, I was told by so many people that well, they just looked fake.

[Spats]

Hey Katherine, cool realistic paintings. No crits here. Perhaps the watermarks are a bit obtrusive.

I would love to see more sketches from you. Keep it up!

[KittyKaida]

Thanks a ton!
about the watermarks, At the time I was doing those, (2007, 2008 ) I kept seeing them pop up on animal forums with my sig. removed, so I got a little paranoid.. >_> I'd post other ones, but they're on an external hard drive in a box somewhere... *shrug* but, hey, at least I don't do crazy watermarks anymore, right?

[Klaw]

Wow! you got some talent! I love the Cat!

[KittyKaida]

Thanks Klaw!!

Me and hubby have been REALLY busy, We just moved out to Colorado Springs in the end of december, got our house, carpet was just soooo nasty, and I've been really sick from it.. . Anyway, we finally got our tax refund, so now we're redoing our flooring through out the house in hardwood bamboo, as well as re-drywalling a couple areas, and we just got a piano today too!



Anyway, found a little time here and there, Worked on this a little bit more..

.

[zombifried]

I think the work here in this thread, is pretty solid. as for style, I think that just comes naturally when you work. For example, the way you put lines down in your pencil sketches. Those lines are your expression, nobody else is going to make those lines exactly the way you do. Emotion can be conveyed rationally, through the use of color (temperature is important: hotter tones such as, reds, are angry, cooler blues can carry a feeling of loneliness) line weight and strength. (very bold, heavy handed lines can suggest anger, scribbles can convey a sense of frustration, as examples) Making looser, less structured drawings can result in a more emotional feel, as well.
Those are just a few of my suggestions, though...
Hope that helps.

~Zombifried
zombifried's sketchbook

[KittyKaida]

Thanks Zombi Fried! Much appreciated.. I think I'm starting to get that..

so, um, I started putting down base colors for the lemur... I like to hop around from one pic to another...

[KittyKaida]

workin' on the face.. I switch back and forth between using lines or not, to make sure I have the shape right, and I'm not just coloring blindly..

[KittyKaida]

I love drawing birds, but man do their feet give me the creeps!

I'm so proud of my hubby, he graduated his Airmen Leadership School and pinned on as a Staff Sergeant last night!

This will be my last sketch for a little while, it's time to do the flooring and painting upstairs, which is where my office is. So, see you next week, I hope!!