I want to be an artist.

**tentativesteps** · November 13th, 2012, 03:30 AM

Hi,
A couple years back I took an art class. The drawing class gave us access to nudes and charcoal. It was eye-opening. I really loved the entire experience, but I ignored it, repressed my feelings and went on with my chosen major.

Well, I guess you shouldn't ignore the voice inside of you. I have a lot of doubts about what I'm doing but I would very much like to be an artist. So I have started to draw in the past couple months. I am doing this sketchbook to hopefully get some advice from others about my work or how I should branch out.

My biggest weakness is color. I don't know how to begin to learn color and photoshop overwhelms me. Can anyone give me tips on what brush settings they use?

I've uploaded a small face sketch I did plus the page I'm working on in Bridgman's anatomy book.

edit: I've uploaded a small female body pose I did w/o ref after taking a small break from Bridgman's. That's the extent of my knowledge of the body, warts and all.

I also forgot to mention that I plan on simply uploading whatever I do, good or bad. I might skip scanning in anything I do on 11x14 paper, since that would require too much time. I want to put my heart and soul out there, and take this as seriously as anything I've ever done.

**Ambiguity** · November 13th, 2012, 03:52 AM

Hey, glad you decided to start a sketchbook, looks like you're off to a good start.

Originally Posted by tentativesteps

My biggest weakness is color. I don't know how to begin to learn color and photoshop overwhelms me.

Like adding color, or choosing colors? Photoshop isn't really relevant to the latter.

Originally Posted by tentativesteps

Can anyone give me tips on what brush settings they use?

I'm constantly flip-flopping between settings based on what I need done. Playing around with the settings of the round brushes should give you a good starting point. You have a graphics tablet right? If not, painting digitally is going to be a whole lot harder for you.

Anyways, a good drawing foundation is useful no matter what tool you're using; I wouldn't worry so much about painting right now. Unless you want to try it, then by all means.

**Olooriel** · November 13th, 2012, 06:52 AM

I'd recommend leaving colour aside for now and painting in values only for a while - you can move on once you feel comfortable with that, but it helps not to be overwhelmed by having to learn too many things at once.

I suppose you have a graphic tablet with a pressure-sensitive stylus, if you don't I'd leave Photoshop aside for now as well and stick to traditional media for practice - or else you're going to be fighting with your tools more than actually practising your drawing.

Photoshop has many options, but you really don't need most of them for a beginning - you can practise with the hard round brush just fine - or, if you want to replicate the feeling of working with that charcoal, the PS chalk brushes are actually quite good. The only settings you really need to play with for now are size and opacity. And if you do decide to practise colour in Photoshop - stay away from using the colour picker in any reference picture you might use. You need to learn to *see* the colours yourself and pick them by hand.

**tentativesteps** · November 13th, 2012, 09:49 AM

more. i've been trying to just draw figures from imagination every so often, although I think I've turned into a more mechanical 'copy-what-i-see' instead of trying to be creative. so when I try to be creative its all.. bleh.

**kevin_** · November 13th, 2012, 10:14 AM

great that you decided to pursue your interest in art! you definitely got to kick up the amount of time you practice if you want to get serious though. your off to a nice start, would like to see more!

**tentativesteps** · November 14th, 2012, 01:42 AM

@Ambiguity

choosing colors, adding color, whatever. I want to learn how to paint in an impressionistic manner like Craig Mullins, but the times I've tried I realize there might be a personality mismatch, a skill mismatch, and a basics mismatch, sooo

@Olooriel

I bought a tablet. Thanks for the advice, I've heard about using the color picker trap.

@kevin_
about to post what I've done so far today, I'm going to get back to bridgman when I put the next post up (in the next couple min)

**tentativesteps** · November 14th, 2012, 01:44 AM

some posemaniacs (only did 50 today), and some sketches from the mind, trying to be creative.. but it's hard to be creative without a mental library or when you're still struggling with the body :c. (or maybe I'm just bad, but its ok)

**foxthirteen** · November 14th, 2012, 02:23 AM

Really nice stuffs here!
I like the posemaniacs drawing. Would like to see more stuffs

(I quickly should make a sketchbook too)

**tentativesteps** · November 14th, 2012, 07:37 AM

there's a benefit to doing anatomy studies, right? what mindset in particular should I hold when doing this? :c I'm willing to do whatever it is to get better, I just don't have direction.

Anyways. More Bridgman, only 50 pages to go left in the dang book.

@foxthirteen thanks for the support, I appreciate it.

**tentativesteps** · November 14th, 2012, 07:54 AM

my other post died? not sure what's going on. here's anatomy, reattached.

**lemming-clone-** · November 14th, 2012, 08:54 AM

Good studies! I like your imagined figures as well! Keep it up and maybe show us some color work, eh?

**tj0ri** · November 14th, 2012, 08:55 AM

nice bridgeman studies keep it up :=)

**tentativesteps** · November 15th, 2012, 02:59 AM

@lemming-clone- I'd like to do color, but I don't really know where to start. I havent really done many still lifes. I might try to set up something small so I can do still lifes on PS.

@tj0ri thanks, will do.

Here are 60 1minute poses from posemaniacs. This is the first time I'm doing them on PS, and it was kind of frustrating, but I think I did get better near the end.

**tentativesteps** · November 15th, 2012, 06:38 AM

here's a shitty head. really not happy with it. i'm going to need to practice this some more. next update will be more anatomy later.

**tentativesteps** · November 15th, 2012, 12:51 PM

I'm guessing everyone knows Craig Mullins. Well I really enjoy the way he plays with value and suggestive marks, so sometimes I'll try to do a quick grayscale sketch of something he's done (that is super rough). So the big mass of black in the middle of the first picture is just my little Craig Mullins-feeling thingie, just because I like Craig. The rest is just me scrawling.

And of course.. more anatomy studies. I feel like I understand the knee better, but who on god's green earth made it so dang complicated.

**tentativesteps** · November 16th, 2012, 05:16 AM

i paint like a third grader. i guess i need to start doing studies of photos or objects or whatever. my sense of light is really bad. i also feel clumsy in photoshop. i've painted in ps before, maybe one or two color objects, but its been a long while. anyways here it is, warts and all.. took me more time than i can honestly say, because its just embarassing.

**tentativesteps** · November 16th, 2012, 03:16 PM

more low quality artwork for your viewing pleasure. self portrait, some still lifes, some copies from another sketchbook, some stuff from the brain, and anatomy.

**tentativesteps** · November 17th, 2012, 04:49 PM

so i've been chipping away at the photoshop, here's some b and w i guess as well. no anatomy though, havent really felt like it, i feel like i need to refocus on the simpler things like heads or something. i wish i had some of those casts or w/e. i'd gladly sit my ass down and do a 10, 20 hour drawing over the course of a week trying to get it right.

i have to say though, i feel like i learned a lot with this ps session. i spent a lot of time on this, and here's what i learned

1. a strong under-drawing or base drawing placing the features saves you a lot of grief (i didnt do this)
2. colors are relative
3. i know nothing about what colors humans are actually composed of. this woman here is not supposed to be any ethnicity, i just the colors up as i went along
4. use broad strokes to place the planes on the head. this will save you a lot of grief instead of fiddling around like an idiot.
5. i still cant place eyes properly. i need to do more portraits. does anyone know a good website where i can get portraits? not pixelovely or w/e that website is. those heads have no contrast and are terrible. I wish there was a website that had good portrait head setups.
6. id ont know where else im going with this. i think i might go churn out some more b and w pictures or fiddle around in ps

**kiichi** · November 17th, 2012, 05:08 PM

I'm really digging the amount of work you're putting in. Keep up the good studies!

**lionheartGFX** · November 17th, 2012, 05:50 PM

great studies those bridgemans and gestures really kickstarted your progress NEVER stop doing those even if its just 5-15 minutes of gestures its always a good way to warm up and get the good ol brain going, you got very good pencil work, id love to comment ont he digital stuff but im in the same page as you are at digital i know jack haha.

i am studying off a page that teaches dig painting for free its called http://www.ctrlpaint.com/ i seriously recommend you to check it out if you havent already its a great way to start and offers amazing advice.

well those are my two cents you have decent ability i would just love to see what you can do with it cant wait until you do some original stuff, good luck!

**tentativesteps** · November 18th, 2012, 04:32 PM

i suck at these, i really do

its so discouraging spending 3-4-5 hours on a portrait and not even getting a good likeness. and i still cant pick out human skin colors. is there some way to learn this stuff that im missing? is the only way to learn colors like this by just doing studies til you drop?

:c

oh well

**tentativesteps** · November 19th, 2012, 10:49 AM

more.

**tentativesteps** · November 19th, 2012, 07:37 PM

i give up.

**tentativesteps** · November 21st, 2012, 12:33 PM

not feeling good about how im progressing, where im going, what im doing, or having any idea of what im doing or where im going. here's somes tuff i did this morning + yesterday. decided to try to be more render-y since i've been skipping on that recently.

**Psychobuddy** · November 21st, 2012, 01:59 PM

Hey you are doing a ton of things at once which is great. Studying Bridgman is also a great idea but I don't see you applying any of that anatomy knowledge to your figures. Try to use all the knowledge that you have about anatomy, even when doing quick gestures.

**Aqualeot** · May 15th, 2013, 11:31 PM

I think you are doing really well! In addition to Bridgman etc., draw from life are much as you can, this is the quickest way to really learn to observe. Pictures are just not the same. And don't worry about color yet. Focus on observing value and getting your drawings right proportionally. Squinting helps for seeing value correctly, so you don't get distracted by details!

You have to work through any discouraging thoughts and doubts that make you want to give up. They are not important if you want to progress. Like Vincent van Gogh said: "If you hear a voice within you saying, ''You are not a painter,'' then by all means paint… and that voice will be silenced."

**swigganicks** · May 16th, 2013, 02:07 AM

I think people get discouraged when they think in longterm progress. Try micro-progression. Micro-progress is where you do at least one thing better than you did last time, and it has to be small. Example: Let's say you paint a portrait and it comes out ok, but the nose doesn't quite feel right. Do your studies, look at some more references, and then when you go back to do another portrait, the rest of it can be complete shit but make sure you make some improvement than what you did last time. Maybe the color is still off, but the shape is better and the shadows make more sense. Find the little things and focus on improving them if you find yourself getting discouraged with your lack of progress.