James Thomas' Weekly Sketchbook :D

[CountBlackula]

Hey James. Great sketchbook. I see what you meant about the lines- you seem to be measuring aand spare with your marks than I am. I like it. May I challenge you to do a nature study outdoors and post the results for us?

[James Thomas]

Ok guys im actually back for good, time to take things super serious- really need to step up my game for my course next year otherwise i will regret not trying.
Im starting from pretty much the basics, though i won't linger in them for too long, but i will study until i understand them and not rush aswell.
i really am playing it how it goes. but definitely going to improve my consistency to every single day- rain or shine.
That is my legacy, to work hard and see where this goes.

Today i just wanted to make sure i understand the basics of 1 point perspective (yes, VERY basic) though i really want to know how to use it effectively and not just "know" it.
tomorrow i will hopefully study 2 and 3 point also. Afterward i want to produce a final demonstrating effective use of all of the elements i learn.
thus increasing my skill-set and knowledge slowly - but with direction!
Not the most fun or exciting looking work, but i will slowly advance it into more complex shapes and studies. I just wanted to make 100% sure i am starting from the ground up

Consistency, dedication, skills. etc.

To CountBlackula - i will try to produce one soon

[James Thomas]

Managed to continue my promise and do studies even tho i had my cousin over whom i never see often.
2 point perspective will be probably the thing i shall work on next, this is only 1 study but i will do more as i feel i have not yet fully comprehended it.
I will also apply it to mechanical objects such as vehicle etc. if anyone has some great tuts or advice, feel free to send it this way.
i 90% know what im doing but as i said, im brushing up and trying to really comprehend it all

[Sushy]

AAAH PERSPECTIVE :0

I would suggest to use less thick lines to draw it but oh well. Great that you study it. It reminds me that I should study it more myself too.

[James Thomas]

haha thanks sushy, yeah i agree but i cant be bothered until later when i get into some nasty insane perspective stuff, im only slowly building up my skillset. heres another unfinished one, using a bit more detail yet again- id rather take things slow so i can absorb info.
that, and i am a lazy boy, but slowly i shall get better

[James Thomas]

another perspective study if you read above its all explained haha. Amazing how long it takes for such a "simple" object. though i guess once u bang out the basics then you can add extras, detail etc etc quite easily onto the shell of the object/vehicle etc. tomorrow i will probably go for alot higher challenge as i will be at home and have my workstation Feedback more than welcome as usual!

Thanks

[James Thomas]

a quick attempt at 3 point, not heavily explored, sadly i am not home as promised but it is a start 5 days in a row of doing work tho, so im kinda happy. even tho it equates to a small amount. i dont mind can only go up from here!!

[James Thomas]

last junky piece tbh, got really sick really fast tonight. but i think i know what im doing now.
god willing i will whip out some nice studies of vehicles etc etc 2morro. I think im ready to tackle it!

[James Thomas]

stepped it up a notch design wise. its been 1 week of posting, i am pretty proud of myself i haven't skipped 1 day. admittedly not the hardest work but i am learning.
since its been 1 week, i will stick to the plan and increase my work by Double. so week "2" onward will be double hours. so approx 1.5-2.5 hours i will b aiming for at MINIMUM of course if i can do more than would be sweet. Not sure if itll be all perspective. might finish perspective whilst starting a new topic!.
Enjoy- feedback welcome thanks

[James Thomas]

Eh was supposed to do extra work today, well technically tomorrow so im not too disappointing, but i had all day today but i lost my phone so i was too angry to draw anymore than this.
Hopefully more 2morro, but its looking grim- have some graphic design work i need to do -.-. i shall try. STILL i am on track, so i can't complain too much.
Enjoy - feedback welcome thanks

[Januz]

Hi! Cool SB. Nice to see you're studying perspective, hit it hard! Try doing some more finished (fully rendered) pieces, and don't get too caught in the lines.

[Grey_Rift]

you should try to look more at bridgeman or loomis and do more studies you faces will look a lott better

[James Thomas]

thanks dudes for the feedback!
Heres something using perspective but a bit more of stuff i like to do (imaginative stuff).
its a pretty funny design, but yeah...enjoy

[James Thomas]

whip. tho i like this design will finish 2morro and more!

[James Thomas]

Not really finished, but certainly a fun thing to draw. my Element so to speak. i enjoy rendering strange things.
Drawing is really hard when your a lonely guy haha. Though i will persist
Enjoy!

[James Thomas]

a rough sketch, i think it has potential, but yeah- felt sick as tonight so i can't be bothered. Woe to me

[James Thomas]

argh F**K been a lazy kid mang, so i better stick to it. pretty ashamed, but i have to prioritize things more importantly to my future..
tough thing to do.
Just a quick b+W piece to get me started, hoping to do alot more tomorrow. Feedback welcome.

[James Thomas]

Back on the horse, this time its an even crazier horse, 5 hours a day minimum, 2 weeks.
challenge- go.
First up, a work in progress piece, its quite abstract, but im enjoying working on it so far.
unlike most other times, things wont be finished the day they are started but more-so worked on at my leisure.
either way, my goal is 5 hours of art time a day, a big big goal for me, as u can tell- consistency i'snt my thing. hence im going to the extreme to break that mental barrier!

[James Thomas]

Work in progress - on an industrialized Tokyo situation, mass transit is involved for the military in clear view of the public, cutting through cities which are heavily overcrowded and in need of government support.

[James Thomas]

Still pumping out 5 hours or so of work, so im going strong, and quite proud. Though my goal is far off. (day 3/14) so far.
It might not seem like ive done much, but ive been working on my other WIPs part time too!. and taking my time with my pieces.

- eventually i hope to go into color and other aspects as time goes on, but im not going to aim too high just yet!
Thats really all that's missing from my work, is color.
Enjoy.

Note: the portrait, she is squinting, the oval shapes are not her eyes, but her lower eyelids. as she is deformed and evil.
I could consider these all WIPs. since i can go back and add color once i learn to apply it effectively.
if anyone has some good COLOR TUTORIALS that would be super awesome!!
Thanks

[magicpudding]

I can see you have strengths in perspective, use of the tools of your trade; hardware and software, tone, shape design and lighting, congrats! Glenn Vilippu, Michael Hampton and Mike Matessi are also good to study for helping to draw figures and characters straight from your imagination. Hope this is of some interest to you. Great SB. Good Goin.

SB

[iambanana]

Hello, nice SB, it's nice to see you're being productive.

One tip would be to refrain from using so much of the soft brush. It flattens images and gives it kind of a cheesy 80's airbrush art look.

[James Thomas]

Ok this piece is probably getting close to finished, note it has the feedback above, a few more solids placed in there to balance the flow out.
Hopefully you like it and can give some feedback on all my pieces ive posted this week, as i have to "finish" them all probably next week.
-might pump out some studies and sketching over the next few days cus i won't be home!

Cheers, James.

[James Thomas]

Quick wip for tonight, didnt do the full 5 hour goal, but i did about 3 solid, which is pretty good considering its the weekend and i was tempted by many other things!
Enjoy

[Eightball_]

hey man good perspective studies but i think those would be a lot more useful if done by hand. helps to train the muscle memory when it comes to drawing straight lines. nice studies nevertheless. keep up the good work!

[James Thomas]

Thankfully C.a Org is back I wont promise ill post here everyday, because frankly im not always infront of a computer, but i'll try my best haha.
Ive got 4 finals here that im quite proud of, i spent quite a while on them- but mainly it was a good learning curve.

Now im doing alot more looser sketches and coming up with more Designed and functional images.

Thanks, feedback and crits welcome yo!

[James Thomas]

Todays work, im actually cutting back to 3 hours a day minimum, seems much more realistic given that i am studying 10-14 hours a week + homework.
and i havent even begun university yet haha. which i will be balancing my other course, uni and freelance training (Drawing) ..killer.

[James Thomas]

Todays work, whilst sick so its not my best work, and im on a laptop -.- but all good, glad i did something at least! and posted too. which is always a good thing to do Anyone know how to make really good perspective grids or pre-made ones?

[James Thomas]

worked on this one today, didnt work very hard but i am focusing on working on my tonal values and stuff, something i definitely need to work on! instead of just guesswork.

[syrella]

Those silhouettes and things from post #327 are looking pretty awesome! Your paintings seem to be improving, too.

One suggestion I have is to just push the values a bit more and/or do a few more value studies. The last two environment sketches seem to have mostly mid-tones with some darks and lights thrown in haphazardly (if that makes any sense). I'd also suggest watching for your level of detail. Remember the general principle of foreground = lots of contrast + detail, whereas far away things are low contrast / low detail. Look up atmospheric perspective to get more of an idea of what I mean.

Keep up the hard work!