Diedra's sketchbook Vol. 2 - update 4/26/13

[dierat]

carakhan - That's interesting that you feel the window is "splitting her down the middle"; my intention was that the line of the window would lead us down to her, so she and the window are like twin focal points connected by that line and the webs. I'll try extending the window to the left and see if that's better or worse. And I'll lighten her up by emphasizing the reflected light and adding a little more light to the right side of her form; I'm not sure why that area's in shadow anyway. Thanks again for your help!

Umbravita - There will be a few leaves, to add some detail and also give a sense of scale to the figure. But I think before I had the leaves too small and too numerous before so it came off cluttered and just kinda ugly. I'm going to try using just a few leaves and make them larger as well. Hopefully that will look better.. Thanks for the comments btw!

kidult - I'll tilt her head up a little to help the angle, and I'm going to try extending the window to the left to see if that's better. But I don't want to bring the window down because it will end up cutting the composition in half I think. Thanks for the help!

Rotor - Yeah, I tried varying the lines a bit but perhaps if I had spent more time on it it would have added a better sense of form. And there are some value shifts but it's kinda subtle too. Thanks, I'm glad you like the study, and I hope you do do some studies of your grandfather's photos; that'd be cool!

TFsean - Thanks, I'll try to keep an eye on that!


Quick update on the faerie piece. So far I’ve just been updating the full size psd file based on the thumbnail. And quick question - do you prefer the first or second version of the window?






In other news, I picked up the latest ‘Introducing Maya’ and started going through it.

In chapter 2, we made a rudimentary solar system with rotating moons n’ shit.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l..._playblast.gif


In chapter 3 you make a little box. (I think we get to texture it later.. exciting! )




And in chapter 4 you make a catapult!




I’m also working on a study of a Siberian Husky for this week’s Anatomicae challenge on CGHub; this is what I have so far. (Here's the ref I'm using.)

[dierat]

Update on the faerie - working on rebalancing the values and such.

[Izene]

Oooh!Loving the mood of the fairy one!
Can't wait to see the final version!

[carakhan]

Really like the lighter groundplane she's sitting on now, she really pops off of it! I think the wings would cast a small transparent shadow, could look really pretty. And I think you did some designs of the wings a little while ago but I would revisit and get some thumbnails of different designs. They are a focal point so you really want them to be beautiful. Also it looks like she only has 3 wings right now so you might want to get another subtle shadow indicating another bottom wing if I'm understanding them correctly. The rendering on her body is beautiful, her legs especially.

[FrogOnAZipline]

I can't think of a thing to criticize. You fixed up the shadows nicely from the earlier version, and the composition is interesting, it moves your eyes around the picture, things are well-placed. I'd love to see a color version!

[dierat]

Izene - Thanks man!

carakhan - Oh yeah, I kinda forgot about the wing shadow there for a while; I'll get to that. My original inspiration for the image was to have a really colorful shadow cast from the half-transparent wings. I kinda like the the current wing design, but you're right that I could find something more effective. One mistake I made when doing the wing design thumbs was I wasn't considering how they would look in the composition; not a very effective method. Thanks again for the input!

FrogOnAZipline - Thanks!


Lately I've been working on another wip I have lying around, this one's for the tarot card Nine of Swords. I've been working on fleshing out the background and the sky. Next I need to work on the swords, which are currently hideous.

First is the black and white version with the swords hidden, then with the swords, then a really simple color version so you can see what my general plan is.

[Satu]

I really like this Tarot card. I really like how the blue background emphasizes the figure. Don't know if you're going to stick with this type of colors scheme but I like it. I love her face (I think I might have said this already at some point though). Also loving this fairy painting. You make really beautiful figures.

[Voodoo_Mama]

great updates!
I find the tarot one to be very interesting. The figure is looking great, you are very good at drawing the human figure. I'm looking forward to the next wips.
The 3d catapult looks great! now it's time to UV and texture it ;P

[kevin_]

nice sb! ive seen your stuff on cghub! you have a good eye on the values, cool updates keep it up!

[dierat]

Thanks guys!

Quick update - worked out the lower swords a bit and moved the figure off-center a little so the composition isn't quite so static.

[dierat]

Progressing slowly but surely. I worked out the swords up top, added a little beach, and worked out the face and neck a bit. (Think I might’ve gone too dark, especially on the jaw and neck. The image in general needs some higher contrast as well.)

[Joe777k7]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook! Your works are looking amazing! I really like that painting you are working on right now. Very awesome progress!! Keep up the good work!!!

[Rotor]

I like where this is going.
I feel the character and foreground elements could be separated from the background further value-wise to make it pop, though I don't know how you work applying colour to a grayscale piece and what you have in sleeve for that phase.
I think the skin on the back of her neck sticks out a bit, but how the skin folds is still plausible, maybe it's just a small amount too intense. Little stuff. The fabric looks good.
Keep it up.

[miycko]

Love the octopus girl, thats so my kinda drawing the meditation photo study is wonderful, amazing work on the hands & overall rendering. Also great progress on the faerie and the tarot card Nine of Swords, they're progressing nicely. i don't have much in the way crits, your work is already top notch so i'm looking forward to seeing more updates

[Jessibelle]

I love how that latest painting is coming along - gorgeous control of tones, and I love how you've handled the material of her top My one issue with it, is having the line where her top/skirt meet and the horizon line parallel and almost touching is cutting the composition in half, and drawing alot of attention. (Scrolling down quickly at first glance, I thought you'd painted over a sketchbook drawing - simply because I thought the line in the middle was the seam between two pages.) It wasn't too bad in the thumbnails simply because the her skirtline was much lower... Maybe paint something like a scarf to break the line up, or put some more movement into the bottom of her top, so that it ripples and isnt just a straight line?
Of course, the whole "split composition" thing might have been intentional, in which case, ignore everything I've just said. :') Can't wait to see the finished version!

[dierat]

Joe777k7 - Thanks man!

Rotor - I'm planning to do an orange/blue complimentary scheme using orange on the lit areas in the foreground elements to help them pop (like this http://attachments.conceptart.org/fo...5&d=1341150401). But yeah, the whole thing is really low contrast right now; I need to start adding lighter values to the focal points to push them forward more. And I agree about the neck; I'll try subduing the folds and see if that helps. Thanks for the crits!

miycko - Thank you!

Jessibelle - I see what you mean; I’ll try to shift it so it’s not so perfectly lined up there, and I’ll curve the hem of her top as well. Thanks for the feedback!


Oops, been a while. This is a self portrait sketch with a companion anatomical study for the Anatomicae challenge over at CGHub.




And a couple of animal sketches. I got an annual museum pass so I can go to the natural history museum every week and check out their stuffed wildlife specimens.

[miycko]

both the portraits for the anatomicae challenge are impressive, i realliy like the fact that you didn't feel lazy to re-render all the light and shadow when you did the muscle version. Really great bird sketches as well and congrats on getting that museum pass, i look forward to seeing a lot more animal sketches from from you

[dierat]

miycko - Thanks man!


More progress on the tarot card. I’ve just been working on the figure, fixing proportional issues, working out the cloth and hands, and pushing the values. I love how cloth looks when it’s all rendered out, but it can be terribly time-consuming to do.

[Satu]

Holy crap, I love her shirt
Nice rendering!

[WIIXD]

Love nice rendering on the girl

[dierat]

Satu - Thank you!

WIIXD - Thanks!


Thumbdump inc. I’ve been working on the skirt (too many wrinkles!!) and I’ve been thinking ahead to what I’m going to do with the hair. I want her to feel like she’s floating in zero gravity or underwater and also have a reflection above her, so I did some thumbs to see what kind of shapes would work best for the floating effect but also as a reflection. I think I like #16 best.

[Voodoo_Mama]

oh so many thumbs!
I like number 2 the most, the hair is very flowy there.
In my opinion, I prefer the ones whose hair isn't touching, I think that when both of their hairs are making contact my eyes go straight to the hair, when it should be the woman who is the focal point. O: But that it's just me, not sure if anyone else would feel the same way too.

[dierat]

In my opinion, I prefer the ones whose hair isn't touching, I think that when both of their hairs are making contact my eyes go straight to the hair, when it should be the woman who is the focal point. O: But that it's just me, not sure if anyone else would feel the same way too.

That's an interesting point and something I hadn't considered. It might be less distracting when it's worked out and integrated into the image.. not sure. The thing is, I want it to be really super obvious that there's a surface there that she's reflecting onto and the swords are emerging from, and I felt that having the hair reach and end at that surface would help make it more apparent to the viewer. I'm afraid that if that aspect of the concept doesn't come across, it's just going to be really weird and confusing. How do you feel about the ones where the hair almost touches but not quite, like #19?

[dierat]

Quick update - working on the hair and starting to lay in some basic colors.

[dierat]

More color.

[Black Spot]

Some nice updates since I was here last. Is that ankle bone in the right place? To me it looks a bit too far forward. I know you'll work on getting those blades looking razor sharp later. Love the shirt.

[matejkovacic]

Nice sketchbook! I like the studies and other things, too! Keep it up! Matej

[Psychobuddy]

Great work, your sense of value is awesome, so is you rendering. Keep it up.

[tobbA]

Nice stuff going on here. Really loving the color on the latest one.

[Kambei Shimada]

Very nice piece!

Is this for a Tarot Deck ?(i use the Crowley deck myself) Im loving the 'break down' of your work flow.