elephant's sketchbook - interrogating Nature

[elephant´s stroke]

Hi CA fellows.

I'm opening this sketchbook thread both to hear your opinions about what i'm doing and as a way to organize the studies and concepts i plan to do.
Last year (mostly) I did a lot of studies and practices , but i want a fresh start here, so i'll post only the new stuff from now on.

So, here we go, please feel free to comment about anything you want related to the studies and practices , and don't worry about being polite or not...just tell me what you think because honest and direct feedback is one of the best ways to improve.


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First study (based on this reference: http://media.englishrussia.com/11201...nter004-52.jpg) i just did so i have something to show in this first post....it was not meant to , but lets say is a welcome image to this thread.

#1

[elephant´s stroke]

a very quick study, my goal with this studies is to focus in values, there is almost not line work here. All my concentration for this studies goes to light, local values, atmosphere and the relationships between all of them.
reference:http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3118904832/rg3661863424

Edit to upload one more study this day, is the second one and is from Game of Thrones.

[SandyMan]

''and don't worry about being polite or not...just tell me what you think because honest and direct feedback is one of the best ways to improve.''

This sh** SUCKS!

No dude, just kidding
The studies are decent, and I like how you captured the grittiness of that russian sewer(?) one and the values are not bad at all, but I'd like to point out a couple of things. First, for that same piece, you really have to double check the perspective. You are being decieved by what you think you see instead of seeing directions as how they really are. If you look at that pipe in the middle of the image coming out of the lit up board, youll actually realize that its ever so slightly tilted a bit downwards, while you made it point upwards, almost in a radically different way. Also, the box at the bottom is jostled out of perspective while in the actual reference its almost perfectly alligned with the wall.

On the second one the perspective look quite right for the most part and the tones too, but i'd suggest avoiding pure black for the most part. Those black shades representing people would look better if they were a dark shade of purple. Even if its on milimmeter above black, it will make a difference; as black is not commonly found in nature and represents absolute darkness.
Also, a study should take as long as you think it does for it to be done, it doesnt really have to be constrained to a strict time limit, as I see you rushed the background a bit. The columns seem to vanish into thing air, but if you just add a little union between them and the top limit of your image, the viewer will understand that it's connected to something. And for the aformentioned background, it could do with just a little bit more fine tuning.

Don't worry though, they are fine, and a stepping stone for future studies too. Just keep in mind that perspective is very important if you're reproducing an image that have several clear cut lines such as the pipes.

Do more studies!

[elephant´s stroke]

Thanks SandyMan, cool first feedback! heeh and funny first sentence.
You mention very important points for me to improve and to be more conscious about.
This... "You are being decieved by what you think you see instead of seeing directions as how they really are"....is very true, i'm not focusing a lot with the correct drawing since i just quicly want to have a base to start adding value (my main concern atm)....but i guess it wont' be a bad idea at all to try to understand and represent things in perspective with a little more care than now. Great point since i didn't realize how skewed some things are..the box you mention is a very extreme example as i now can see.

Thanks a lot SandyMan....i'll keep all this things in mind.

[SandyMan]

It's all good as long as you keep it in mind, just be sure of what you're doing through every step of it
Take into account that i'm also being hypocritical as I make tons of mistakes too and í've still got a long way to go, but my first year of art education made me realize the things ive told you the hard way!

Don't rush your work ever, make sure that everything is correct, because understanding form and perspective will be the main force that will make you better at everything. I tell you this because my biggest mistake was that I spent 2 years trying to over-render everything and have a ton of rushed finished pieces(if you go to page 2 and 3 of my sketchbook you will see what i'm talking about, its not pretty at all XD ), but I learned little to nothing and i've improved a ton just by trying to have a better understanding of form and perspective in one year

[elephant´s stroke]

Solid advice Sandy, i read your posts more than once to grab the concepts you mention and to work on them from now on.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me to improve.

[elephant´s stroke]

I focused on depth here, both from reference. My goal here is to do a lot of this studies and gain an overal understanding of light and atmospheric perspective, values far away and near camera....once i see my reference and what i've done and at distance they are looking kind of similar i'm done. I find that for this things concentration and trying to understand what is happening is a must, but also repetition to start finding constants.

[elephant´s stroke]

some studies based on GOT characters, some as the one of Eddard and Daenerys have focus in realism, some are more caricature or simplified as the king Robert, Ayra, Cersei...for Tyrion i tweaked the proportions to make him look more average..so is not tyron, but based on his features. What they do all have in comon is that i tryed to be faithfull to the character's personality...as example with Cersei i tryed to convey her personality and facial expression with as few lines as possible.

[elephant´s stroke]

Studies of dif foxes. They are a preparation for the ChOW#292 :: Ninetail Goddess , to have some idea of foxes features, proportions etc....i won't have time to make a concept but at the end making studies never hurt...
This is an editing of various scanned pages of my sketchbook

[elephant´s stroke]

Idea for the ChOW#293 the keymaster....to the left is a value study of a sculpture, focusing in values, taking notes of the more representative values...those that more clearly define the form. I think the keymaster has some potential, but needs more work obviously.
C&C are highly appreciated.

[Joe777k7]

Nice start on this sketchbook so far, your paintings are looking sweet. I wonder what kind of perspective studies you tend to do? Would be cool to see. Keep posting!!

[fossv]

I'm liking those game of thrones characters, you did a pretty good job capturing their likeness

[elephant´s stroke]

Thanks a lot Joe, cool to have my second guest here.
Perspective studies...i really don't have much planned besides the idea of do some...sometime.
But now that you bring this out, my next studies will be about perspective...i always postponed perspective related studies because it bores me...but no way around perspective...she dont forgives

Foosv...thanks a lot, and cool to hear since that was my defined goal.

how cool is to have people entering your sketchbook

[elephant´s stroke]

WIP for the pale greeter to the gates of hell COW

[elephant´s stroke]

Hi, after almost two months of zero 3d or 2d work/practice/opening a program related, i felt completely inspired and motivated to design/illustrate the character depicted in the chow 302 brief...personal gremlin. It could use a little more fine tunning here and there, but as in every one of this challenges i learned or reinforced some things and workflows.
C&C are always in need here!

Cheers.




here is the original main idea with pencil....

[Sketchwalk]

I was really impressed with your CHOW entry! The materials are perfectly replicated and the idea is sound.

[elephant´s stroke]

Thanks!! i had a lot of fun with this one, wich is not always the case. Your comment means a lot to me Sketchwalk thanks again.

Cheers

[elephant´s stroke]

Entry for the chow#308 The Infected Scientist, Worked on it 5 hours aprox, not extremely pleased with the output but it helps to keep me moving.