Jesse learns to...

[JesseM]

Hey! I'm Jesse, an aspiring comic artist/portrait painter.
I start Art College in '13. I'm looking at TAD.
Please leave me some C&C!

Critique welcome!
Please help me improve! I'm always looking for reading suggestions, or good exercises to try out, or whatever you think may help me learn. Redlines are awesome.

Also.. go to the most recent page of the sb, please.

Thanks for looking!

[JesseM]

S'more stuff--finished early in bio so I sketched the local skeleton (about 10-15 min for the whole sheet) and some gestures from later (2, 3 min each?).
Alsooo started v2 of a little project. I'm gonna add color, crop it correctly etc later, but if there are any megahuge errors please play my fresh eyes. The balance is a little.. funky, but I actually kinda like the sense of motion that it gives it.

[Samszym]

I really like your self portraits! The gestures are cool, really nice sense of light in those. I didn't even recognize they were from posemaniacs until I saw the pose on the right. I must have drawn that pose a thousand times, it's burned into my mind forever...
Try out this and this instead, they have the same function of posemaniacs but with real people.
And in your painting with the bird I believe the bone at the base of the girl's forearm should be pointing right, not left. Try that pose out in a mirror to check.
Welcome to CA, keep up the good work!

[PLeon]

I actually think the sculpture study is fantastic, and so are the gesture drawings. I dont see an issue with the values at all. I think the ones that have a somewhat flat values are the color images actually, and even then they are not bad either.

Very strong start, I like what I see

[JesseM]

@Vertical; Thanks so much for the welcome, the comments, and those awesome websites! I avoid using posemaniacs when I can, but my only other chance to do gestures is for the 3 short-poses they do once a week at the local art college.. bleh. And that's only in spring and fall! I'll definitely be using those sites, thanks. < 3
And I'll check the arm--thanks for pointing that out. o: Not sure if I follow, though..
@Pleon; Thanks a bunch! Good to hear. < 3
I will keep working away. *salutes*

Did some hand sketches during class today, and drew skully a couple more times too. I'm happier with some than others, but I'm just gonna put them all up anyway. Maybe someone can find a pattern in my work that I need to fix or something (a common mistake in the bad ones, etc). Sorry for the bad scanning quality. D:

Hands are sooo much fun. < 3 All the fat and the creases and details.. though my hand kept crampin' from having to keep it balled up and whanot for the poses... xP

[JesseM]

More stuff!

Some basic Bridgeman studies--
A couple 30 second gestures; references from one of the websites Vertical linked me too. Thanks again!
A 5-minute charcoal sketch from life--
And an old acrylics painting, done just to test out the paints (one of my first). I've got some more recent stuff I'd like to put up, but unfortunately, none of it fits into my little scanner. ]; I'll try to get some up soon though.

[thesimplylife]

i like your gesture! very nice!

[JesseM]

Thanks simply! I really enjoy the rush of gestures. They're a lot of fun. <3

So, my computer caught a horrible horrible virus and was out for two weeks... something on that level has never happened before.. and I wish from the bottom of my heart that it never happens again. Without further ado, continuing on this sketchbook journey!

I'm studying COLOR THEORY right now, but am gonna scale it up to more general COMPOSITION soon. If anyone has any good books/lectures/websites/practice exercises etc to recommend on those topics, please do! I'm attaching some thumb studies I've done from masters, with written analysis as well--if you've got anything to add, again, you're more than welcome to.

Also got--'nother sculpture study (wip, but let's call it done), and reposting some stuff from the first post.

[JesseM]

Not much today--just another study from a statue, plus the steps.
The "color" version really bugs me.. what materiel is THAT suppose to be? Ugh. Planning probably helps when you draw, huh.

So some good news: I got accepted to a nearby art college's summer program! I'll get to work from a live model a lot. <3

Some kinda good news: I'm going to DC next week! I'll get to visit the National Gallery of Art, but I won't be able to bring my study materiel with me on the trip, and I'm going with family, so I can't really focus on art-related sites completely. Still, kinda good!

[JesseM]

S'more stuff--a figure done just for fun, B&W from reference colors from imagination. I'm rather happy with how it came out, but the reds look so blotchy.. plus, the size you're seeing is the actual size. I need to start drawing on a larger scale. PX

Also got some Bridgman studies and gestures to put up--I'll do that later today.

Leave a comment! <3

[Ludic]

Really good studies, colours look a bit oversaturated on that last one though, try toning them down a bit.

[JesseM]

Crap--my greatness weakness, subtlety. I try to watch saturation levels, but I guess I don't really know what I'm even looking for. ..Which means more studies from life, right? PX Thanks for the crit!

And on that note, my totally subtle totally not draw from this photograph warm-up, one collage of Bridgman studies, and then some gestures.

Bridgman is soo amazing. Not only does he always have a super sense of mass and weight, but his figures always feel elegant and rhythmic. ;__;

[The Pariano]

Wide range of studies you have going on here :] Your attention to texture in the digital pieces is admirable. The hands/fingers in post 10 are a bit stubby, you might want to revisit them because the rest of the piece is really well done. Keep it up :]

[JesseM]

I'm back!
From a far too long hiatus. But I'm not gonna bothering blabbing on with excuses. >__> (though I HAVE been creating art, just not posting it.)

Here's something I just painted today - a study in skin tones. I think I'm gonna mess with the hair some more before I call it done, but just wanted to get it up here.

[Nele Klumpe]

The study's looking awesome, great work on the forms and especially the face!

[birdsatemyface]

That last study is gorgeous!

[GEB]

Wow! That last one is wicked good. Awesome start to your SB

[Mark Tarrisse]

Nice studies, the last one has turned out really great

[~KJK~]

not such a bad start at all keep up!

[JesseM]

;__; Thanks so much for the praise, everybody. <3 That really motivates me...

So, stuff for today! A superquick skintone study from last night, a silly and cliché warm-up from today, a stylized doodle of one of my characters from a while back, and today's big project.. a study that was supposed to be focused on cloth/the girl's dress. I ended up mostly working on the hair, though.

I'll finish the study tomorrow, but right now her face is really bugging me. Like creepy, uncanny valley kind of bug. For some reason, I keep thinking of a frog.. anyone have any crits?

[NickyBeats]

studies are looking good!! keep it up!!

[Toffers]

Your use of color is really amazing. I wish I was that good... Also the shapes, the values, the sketches and so on; all really superb.
Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook, and keep up the good work. I'll stop by again for sure : )

[Clean3d]

You should post more. That's my critique.

Okay, I'll try a bit harder, although my thoughts can be taken with a grain of salt. Your figure sketching style has probably changed since April, but I would suggest trying to simplify the figures some - draw them with fewer, straight lines and whatnot. Not because "that's the way to do it", of course, but just to try something a little different. I know that I often get locked into drawing one way, and it's good to shake things up a little. Try doing 30 second gesture drawings for a while, maybe?

Very nice work either way! I like how you've managed to work texture into a bunch of your paintings. Not a very easy thing to do!

[JesseM]

@nicky; will do, thanks!

@toffers; D"8 thank you so much.
We're all students here.

@clean; XD posting more, I can do!
Mhm.. actually, one of the reasons I was gone for so long is cuz I was just spent a month at an art program where I drew from the figure 6-9 hours a day. It was a fantastic experience, and my figure drawing style has developed since then, but I agree that it's always good to try new exercises and I'll do some gestures later today in that style you recommend. Thank you. ^__^

Speaking of that art program, if I can ever find the CD the photos are on, I have a collection of new drawings and some sculptures to show you guys...

Meanwhile, here's a WIP for a portrait that's just been going downhill since I started on it, and an emotional venting piece about anxiety. I'll post s'more studies/etc later today, too.

Thanks for all the support, everybody! ;-;

[Yor]

yeah awesome way to start a thread, those studies r looking great! just keep doing them as much as you can! don't ever give up!

[Naidy]

Christ, there really are some beauties here. Love the way you use colours, the way you handle flesh on your portrait studies are brilliant. ;A;
Good to see you're putting in some stuff from imagination too, I always think it helps you know where you're retaining information from your studies and what not.

Now, you're way above me in terms of craft, so I can't really give good critique. Just keep on painting/drawing/studying. I love your stuff so far so I'll definitely be creeping up everynow'er then.

[Malakuko]

some really nice work in here keep it up

[JesseM]

@yor; thank you. ;__;
I'll keep working hard!

@Naidy; ;//; thank youuu.
Funny - I've never thought of myself as good with color. XD" I've been getting engrossed in it lately when I paint, though..

@Mala; 'intend to! >:)

I stayed up all night watching Marshall's anatomy vid here--so expect some anatomy studies later today!--and then went outside and saw these beautiful turkies in my backyard. So my warm-up this morning is a sketch inspired by their beautiful colors~
that I then filterraped. Maybe I shouldn't draw when I'm sleep deprived... >___>"

and then an updated wip of my ongoing cloth/hair study. I've learned tons about painting fabric working on this, but this just feels like the Painting That Never Endssss. ;__; I think I've spent at least 10-15hrs on it so far and it's still not done! Ugh.

[LtPlissken]

Your digital paintings are too sweet.

[JesseM]

@LtPlissken; Thanks man! They're fun.

Blahhh. I just did four hours of torso studies, and I feel like all I did was (a) melt my brain and (b) realize how little I know and how much there is. @__@" I'm gonna go do a longer painting of a torso now as a kind of wrap-up piece, and I'll post that tomorrow.

For today, at long last, the final of the cloth study--I'm not too happy with it, but I learned a lot, so I'll consider it a success--and my warm-up from today, and a really old portrait because I'd feel bad just posting one picture. 8D"

Hope you guys like and seeya tomorrow!