Tart of Concep!

[MeteorCat]

I think the mountains need to be a bit more pale as they are further away and I'd make the sky a bit smoother.

I have the same problem myself. This video really made me inspired to keep trying though. It's also got some really good tips, obviously given by Feng Zhu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=QDPcSuLe73g

[Shad-]

Woah ! Quit being that awesome NOW ! I'm becoming jealous !
Bridgman studies are really really good. Pretty dynamic, the line flows well, volumes can be felt...
I also love the design of the last guy, and last enviro is good looking, regarding tones and colors, i guess ( I'm a hell of a sheep at it so I don't think I might be trustworthy about that but well... )

[Eddie of the Sea]

"I was at the beach this Saturday and didn't put any sunblock, so you know how it ended for me [....] Thanks eddie!"

I can read ya know!

pfffffftt

[Kerah]

@MeteorCat - A problem I have with landscapes is that I usually draw them from reference and there are tons of small details I can't make out and I really have a problem getting a sense of the landscape itself. Practice and getting some real life references will help! BTW Feng Zhu is really great!
Hopefully I'll catch you tomorrow on skype

@Shad- - Much work needs to be done, but thanks for the kind words man

@Eddie - rofl. I thought you were only looking at the lousy pictures I create, gotta be more careful with what I write next time!

My CRT monitor finally died after long years of loyal servitude, so I bought a LED monitor, 22". It's pretty wide, now doing photo studies in photoshop is practically easy as things fit nicely and don't overlap anymore.

So - ze update:
Somewhat quick environment study of the crater lake. Damn, all these tiny details are so hard for me to nail in correctly


Some fun characters from imagination


A real life study of the bleak and nearly empty part of my desk-


I'm really lazy when it comes to scanning traditional stuff.

A quote from wikipedia I found extremely amusing -
"
It may often be seen darting across floors with very great speed, occasionally stopping suddenly and remaining absolutely motionless, presently to resume its rapid movements, often darting directly at inmates of the house.
"

[Kerah]

Did a lot of Bridgman studies, his book is a difficult one to follow but I think I learn much from it. I can see it in my drawings from imagination, I think my stuff appears to be more solid.

I use my teacher's advice - to draw from the book by looking and then putting it on the paper while trying to understand how the things I see function, and then try to reproduce what I've just drawn from my memory to solidify the knowledge.

So I end up dedicating one side of a page to every figure of Bridgman, approximately filling each such side with 50% referenced drawings and 50% imagination and memory referenced drawings. It sinks in well enough, I think.

I also tried doing landscape drawings with watercolors (from photos) and I found these to be extremely hard - I felt like a kid fumbling around with tools that aren't very intuitive (at least for this kid). I think my biggest mistake was to approach it by just trying to stick things in a way that is probably not fit for the medium or at least isn't fit for a beginner like myself.

Anyway, I'm also including a bazillion of recent studies (the oldest ones are maybe a week old or a bit older than that. I didn't want to scan stuff recently (lazy) but I decided it was for the best to track my progress in a chronological manner using this SB since I'm not good at tracking it in my real life - too messy).

One last thing, my teacher is having me do perspective studies and planning of rooms in perspective. It's really fun and not as hard as I thought it should be. I do have a problem of spamming too many lines to help me construct the things properly...

[MeteorCat]

What awesome studies, Kerah. The gestures have great movement and rhythm so nice job!

I think my favourite is the spearman

Anyway good on you for working hard I haven't done as much as you this past week. Those anatomy books are really hard to follow for me too but I guess its just a matter of practicing.

[Sushy]

massive study dump 0___0
lookin' great vladii

[Jessibelle]

Awesome amount of studies here, keep this momentum going! I agree, you can definitely see the improvement this is having on your personal sketches. And don't forget to mix up all these fast studies and sketches with some longer and more polished work now and again!

[Kerah]

@MeteorCat - Thank you! Yeah, anatomy books can appear to be dry but they get more delicious as you go. btw, that spearman was from imagination !!

@Sushy - Thanks Suz !

@Jessibelle - Jess! (Jazz!) I'm glad I'm improving, just need to get more work done (I never come to my full potential). I know I should be doing more longer studies so I started the one below. About 2-3 hours in that one.

So a WIP (study from a photo) - Going to push this one to the end and learn a ton (hopefully)-

[MeteorCat]

Oooh thats a nice one can I get the photograph too (reference) ?

Good start.

[Kvetch]

Wow, you really went to town with those bridgman studies! Amazing amount of work in here, looks like you're well on your way.

[Kaihartj]

hey man, I haven't been around your sketchbook in a while, been very busy with studies and final week and everything haha, changed my username and all..stuff stuff haha, but ye, I'm loving those sketches you worked on, they have a lot of movement and an incredible sensation of volume! amazing! cant wait to see more!

[Kerah]

@MeteorCat - Thanks! I'm having problems with the helmet, just can't get it right. I can't seem to "feel" it, as though some of the helmet is just incomprehensible to me. Well, maybe it's due to the quality of the photo.
Here is the REFERENCE.

@Kvetch - Hehe, me and the studies went abroad j/k
Thanks for the visit and the good words!

@Kaihartj - Yes, I noticed you changed your name. It's a little harder to pronounce now
Hope you're doing ok on your finals - I've sinned on the commenting part too, although I did visit some sketchbooks - will fix! Cheerios!

[Kerah]

Posting an another WIP on the Knight.
I made his helmet larger than what it appears to be in the image, therefore the knight himself appears to be more flimsy. Ah, well, I dived into the details so it's too late to fix that.
I'm really happy with how this WIP is going, by adding some black color in the right places stuff started popping up!
I think it's nearly done. I want to push it up to the maximum level of polish I can give it.



EDIT: an imagination piece from this morning, didn't want to add an another post.

[Kerah]

I finished the two pieces above. The imagination landscape thingie is wonky at some places but I decided to move on.
The knight - I'm somewhat happy with how he came out, but he seems a little boring and even stale to me.
More work is in order, that's for sure!

[Kerah]

A quick and fuzzy one before work... zugzug, dabuuuu.

[Black Spot]

The dynamic gestures are full of life. Now don't be scared of messing up an environment if you over render etc, you don't have to show it, just learn from it. Messing up is a great way of learning and this place isn't about . That animation college shoulds good, so go for it.

[Jessibelle]

love that you keep pushing especially with the latest studies, the extra time spent on that knight really shows. On that latest post, I know you said it was just a quick one before work - but, an extra 15 minutes or so, if that, spent sharpening up the detail in the focal point (the eyes, maybe some on the nose and mouth) would have given it a ton more impact. Just some food for thought

[Jacky-Boy]

Great stuff here dude. You're really getting through those studies

One thing I feel would improve your work would be to concentrate on line economy a bit more. It's something I struggle with myself, but less lines, with more confidence and expression would really help to give these poses and studies more energy.

[Kerah]

Black Spot - I think you're right. I'm glad I'm not too indulged in delivering a final product but rather busy studying stuff in order to get better. Oh, that college thingie is probably not going to happen. Not really happy from what I heard from the people that study there.

Jessibelle - No way I can stop, must push moooreee! Yeah, you're right about that piece. It looks out of focus and that a few more mins could fix that, problem I was late for work already :p Maybe I'll visit that work again in the future.

Jacky-Boy - Heya, thanks for the visit and the advice!
I read you, I'll see how I can do that. It's probably a sound advice. Although my teacher recommends that I actually try to look at the figure I do as geometrical shapes - so it turns to be a little messy at times when I try to find these shapes.

Anyway a landscape piece from imagination and a WIP photo study. I'm low on motivation and patience when it comes to scanning pencil stuff, meh. Exploring the smudge tool a little bit, it helps me keep some of the lines much cleaner.

[Kerah]

Bestowing an update on the WIP upon my sketchbook - I'm late to work, again... !

[Kerah]

Zumzumzum zugzugzug, dabu.

Nothing really interesting to say. Oh, a pigeon crapped on my left arm today, it was a thrill to say the least. Lucky nobody saw it as I wiped to poop quickly away.
It was warm in a very unpleasant way. With chunks. If I find that pigeon, I'm going to make me a pigeon pie.

Also I tired meditation after work, it was truly fun. The best way to describe the coming out of that meditation is like waking up fully rested at your own leisure. It is probably a good idea to adapt this routine.

Anyway, update-

[Jessibelle]

Man, your perspective is looking great! Can definately tell you've been putting the time in there... Nice to see your characters are looking more refined too, liking the shading in this... would have liked to see a similar amount of refinement in this one, it looks like an interesting concept, if only it was clearer and more readable.
Waiting on the next upload, Kerah! As always, haha

[p sage]

You're tackling Bridgman with authority. Pigeons, not so much.

[Kerah]

going live in 5 mins: http://www.livestream.com/kerah

[Kerah]

Well, that was a short livestream! Zero viewers, perhaps the pigeon's poop effect wore off

@Jessibelle - Thanks Jess, you're too sweet !
I'm in the process of tweaking some of my scanned stuff including these two.

@p sage - I love pigeons, they love me too - in their own, lukewarm way.

Well, stuff I enjoyed doing today. Entering that C.O.W thing, topic is really fun.

Took one of my scanned pencils and played with the pic a little.


Another WIP for the C.O.W


Short stream result:

[p sage]

Perspective is pretty good in that first one.

Sorry about not watching livestreams... was drawing too.

[Kerah]

%p sage - I hope to see an update from you! *salute*

A wip photostudy (I just love that model), a landscape study of the hill they placed Edoras on and a quick imagination piece before sleep (it's nearly 3am now - *yawwwwwn*) !

[n1frit]

Oh, you start with the concepts! Thats great! Try to combine your line with painting under the lining)

[Psychobuddy]

Dude you're doing great, the only thing I can say is try to slow down on that pencil stuff, let some cleaner lines flow through...I mean if you want haha XD