Jazz' Junk Draw' (Practice Enviro update, Aug 6, 2011)

[FlipMcgee]

Sweet looking gestures sketches from life! That's definitely a good practice to build up one's skills. I recommend Jazz that you check out Stephen Silver's blog, particularly episode 6 of his podcast where he describes his method of "memory sketching". It's both fascinating and inspiring to listen to. Podcast link in his homepage, left column.

The green haired painting child (?) above looks like it was done with pastels on pastel paper. Have you tried that medium?

[Jazz]

Argh!! The stresses going on this week! They don't even seem so big! I have another interview Friday. I have my scholarship package that I at least must SEND Friday. I haven't done any decent artwork this week. No, that's a lie. I did some nice artwork for a friend! Some other stuff that people had mixed feelings for.

I want SO badly to do something great for my friends and family. That's what I want. And I want to be happy with what I know and what I do so far! If I can, then I'll be able to just go forward and...let me stop rambling about this.

--

FlipMcgee, thanks for the link!! I almost got to look in it, but I think something distracted me! o_O; I've only briefly tried pastel, but maybe I could try it again someday! Thanks!! ^_^

Okay, as this was "the week" for brainwrecks, that's what you'll get from me! Hee hee! But I'll at least show you guys what I tried to work on.

I was going to make something out of this, but soon got tired of it.


This is the picture that people had mixed feedback on. A female version of Gaara from the Naruto anime. I was struck by the less positive comments, because it was a risk to take, but also, I didn't do much with that risk. Some other time, though. This time I was just doing it for fun.


This is one of my comic characters. I was saying to friends that I was disappointed in making him look older than he's supposed to look. He's just a boy. But...I liked how the lips looked.


Just no. A test gone wrong. XD Then again, I still haven't practice structuring kids' faces. I'm fine with copying from a photo for practice, but that's all I got.


I wasn't in it the day I worked on these. I'm going to have to work harder.


Just because I hadn't touched my coloured pencils forever! Just light practice on Bristol smooooth... But to smooth it out, I needed my blender. XD


I didn't do anything with this, just put where I'd like to see the light source. I need some help with pointing it out, if anyone's got pointers.


I could also use some direction with these. See, it's progress on me trying to find a good pose for a picture of my friend's character. I want him using his scythe, "flying" through the air fighting off fire salamanders. Just...is difficult to get his pose, and how to hold a scythe, poised to swing. If you guys have pointers, I will be SO grateful!








(went back a step with this. Peh.)


Just worked out some folds. I deliberately lessened some detail on the part of the blanket that the kid's not touching. I think it's time I did my background. But, even with the idea I had before, I'm not satisfied. I need something a little freaky, but sad. Oy. >_<


I did a LITTLE work on this. On the skinny guy with one finger. XD And a little more on the girl's detail. I didn't really do anything but mess up a part on the big queen pin. Eh, it'll get there!

[thedestroyer]

I liike your stuff, pretty cool..

thedestroyer

[Clocks]

Hey nice update! I especially like this character.

For your pose, I like that last one you came up with, it seems pretty dynamic. I'm not sure if you've started already on it but in case you haven't, I think if you moved his left leg a little bit higher it would make it a little more dynamic.

Also that finished rendering of the green haired girl looks real nice.

[Piranha Clan]

Much improvement in here, especially in the digital arena. The black and white little girl portrait is wonderful. Looks like those latest life studies are helping you too. Keep at it. You excel with cartoon drawing, I think that's your strongest style. I dig Koopa falling in the lava...sorry, but our princess is in another castle! Always another castle...BLAST!!

[kawakaze]

nice to see you guys have all been busy=D and it looks like u are all over the board as usual! as for the problem w your poses, in general they look static for a highly dramatic action shot. a few things which may help you define that pose, exagerating always helps, but pay close attn to the way the spine moves particularly. i would assume that the shoulder w the weapon would be pulled really far back as well. from the poses u have i like the top right on page 2 the most, although it is minimal u can really anticipate his movement which is reflected throughout the body. playing w camera angles may also help u find a good pose, perhaps try not to be so head on the horizon w your frames.

[FlipMcgee]

If you guys have pointers, I will be SO grateful!

Do you have a digital camera? Excellent tool for getting refs. If you don't have a model just set it to auto-shoot yourself holding poses.

Re: you green haired character. I think I know what he/she is doing but her overall body language is vague to be honest. The arm that's exposed could be interpreted as a nose, for example. Why is the tail coming from the front when her feet are directed forwards? Just some feedback for future considerations

Re: 3 figure piece. Yup, this is coming along. Getting better with the lighting here. I'm kinda tempted to see what auto-level would do in Photoshop! Composition wise, the left side background negative space makes it look imbalance. Not sure if you've mentioned if you're going to do more with the background. I like the middle girl's gesture. She's so girly! Ha ha.

Re: blue guy. When you do highlights think of which areas you want the viewer to focus on first. Right now it's the torso. I don't know why but maybe you will reveal that later......Hmmm...just noticing....how many painting projects you have going at the same time? Not discouraging you or anything...just noticing.

Good luck with your next interviews and college application. Keep up those gesture sketches and figure studies. I think you're going somewhere positive with those.

[Jazz]

Stressful several days. I've only got crap to show this time around.

thedestroyer: Thank you!

Clocks: I'm so glad you like that character!! There's a little hope for me with character creation! :3 I shall heed your suggestion for the leg for my project!

Piranha Clan: Thanks a lot!! Oh, I'd better hope the Princess is in another castle with Bowser there! Heh! He does NOT look like he'd let her live. o_o;

kawakaze: Great advice! Thanks!! I'll try out some different angles and look back at the page 2.

FlipMcgee: Thanks for the advice. I have a digital camera, but my brother took it for a while. I've been pondering over making my own poses, but I'm very shaky. XD

Regarding my green-haired kid, really, he's not doing much of anything. He's there, alone, huddling. I'm certain a person could think of his arm as a nose, but it really looks like an arm to me! Hee hee! With an elbow. And his tail isn't coming from the front. It's actually from behind. Now this is where it would be vague, and I admit it. I put it in a weird place, but it's coming around from behind. Long tail, not all of it's showing.

With the apparition piece, I'm not touching auto-levels...well, not yet. I'm slowly detailing the characters because I need to find that difference between the girl and those two "apparitions" surrounding her. What makes her alive and them...sort of existing. I'm leaving the background for now, but soon will work on the detail. Even so, it may be imbalanced, as you said. But right now it's these three I'm worried about. Girly girl? Hee hee!

As for the prince, I'm still working on where the highlights will be, but in fact, that torso of his, and perhaps his face, will be two parts of interest.

I'm not sure what you mean by discouraging me. You haven't said anything to clarify. I'm not sure how many things I'm working on. When I'm stressed* I tend to go chaotic. Ha ha! It's something I'm working on, not doing as much at once. Thanks for the encouragement about the other things! ^_^

----

*Yes, I'm stressed. I may have lost a chance to get that big scholarship because of a stupid reference letter mistake. I did an interview that I found...a little misleading. Also, other school-related stuff (co-op) is stressing me out.

So, I'm afraid I'll have to leave you guys with the scrapings of my week. I'll try to work on better things when I'm feeling better.

Don't know why I did this.


Just wanted to show you...they were facing me!! XD I was on the bus, so imagine the fun and challenge of this!






oops, this is a bus one, not the mall. XD


Capturing people didn't work in the coffee shop. THAT coffee shop anyway. So I fooled around.


Mall people. I swear one of them was looking at me! This was before my interview.






Mom and I were tired. We were also locked out of the house, so we had to go to Nanny's before Dad got back. I drew lazily.




Last night drew a bunch of faces, one of my character Harrix (directly below), and the next one of some woman. Just roughs. I need work on noses. Those sneaky things! >_<

[Sheavolution]

Heya Jasmine, Pffff seems I was so busy this week that I missed allot of your work.. Sorry for that, but seems you got a busy week as well.. hope everything turns out ok for you, good luck with the scolarship!

Way too many drawings to critique all of em, just a few overall thingys =)
The female gaara could actually be the female version of Gaara, i like her and she shows personality. Actually, I like all the digital ones.. looks like you take your time on these and it shows.. might be a tip for your bus drawings. I mean, you can work em out later if you like em and see how far you come with the information you gathered so far.

Oh, start with the background of the lonely piece, the character is really cool so far, and it deserves a background

About your digitals, try out different sizes of brushes, they look good but I think you can get a bit more detail in with a smaller size brush

Looking forward to updates..

Shea

[Jazz]

Hey, Shea! Thanks a lot! I really hope I get the scholarship matter sorted out before it's too late.

And thank you about the digital stuff! I'd say it's my favourite stuff to work on! ^_^ Though I should try a little more with all those coloured pencils and markers. I'm just so lazy. About the bus sketches, I could probably do something with those. It would help me, I'm thinking. At least if I shaded them a bit.

About the rest, yes! I shall get a background for the lonely picture. I worry that it'll mess the whole thing up. And...with the other digitals, I have yet to go into heavy detail, that's why you don't see smaller brush strokes yet.

I'll be looking to see what you have in store, too!

[Jazz]

Just a little update. I'm going to try working on my background for the lonely kid. Problem arise, however.



This is pretty much what I want to start with. It's just a little thumbnail compared to how big the picture would have to be.

However, my old computer can't seem to handle the size that I'm trying for. It's a shame. So now I have to split the background into quarters so that PS won't crash on me.

I'm hoping the composition will work out. As usual, if you guys have suggestions, I'm all for them. Especially since backgrounds are my bane! XD Still, it's pretty close to what I want. Just a matter of detailing everything. Oh yeah! Don't mind the blotches I put on the child, as in, the mess. It's more for the lighting and where I want it. (the light on the leg looks off though. Hmph.)

[funfetus]

Hey, Jazz -- Great to see that you're doing more life sketching. Keep it up. Your characters look good -- the male face in particular is really good. The background for your tail kid looks like a great start, also. I think it's a step forward for you. I like how you've put in the atmospheric perspective with the blue building silhouettes in the background. Keep in mind that as things get further away, they also lose contrast. I think you could make that more obvious to good effect. Get some layering going on with those background buildings.

How big are you doing this image? Think about if you can afford to scale it down a bit -- if you're not going to print it, you can get away with working at a lower resolution. Get rid of any unnecessary layers, also -- if your kid is made up of a bunch of layers, then create a new copy, and merge them. If you find that you need those layers again, you still have the backup.

[Jazz]

Hi, funfetus!! It's been a while! I'm glad to see you back!

Thanks so much for the crits! I have to push those distant values to be less contrasted, so I'm glad you pointed that out!

The image is for fun, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to bring the size down. I wanted to get some good detail in, but at the size it is and the way my computer works, I guess it won't work unless I bring it down. I don't even have any layers! Usually I do, but this time I stuck with one, and it STILL takes forever! So, yes! I think I could do with bringing down the resolution, too. Thanks!

[ped454]

I agree with Funfetus. your male faces look very good on the males.

I think you should try mimicking some comic book artists to develop a better sense of a personal style since you seem to have the basics down quite well.

I do love your digi stuff. how do you get the folds down so well and your blending is top notch in my book haha. hope to see more very soon

EDIT: yes...i know the male faces look good on the males..i chose to leave it hahaha

[kawakaze]

hey! i really like where your going w the lonely kid painting. the environment really helps bring it out. i do like the lighting but it feels a bit strong almost like a spotlight, semi taking away from the lonelyness feel and moreso like hes going to be upducted by aliens=X perhaps u could throw some brighter hues into the wall on the right side. it is awsome though, again, great work w the colors. your progress is really nice to watch and really quite inspiring. hope all works out for you.

[FlipMcgee]

Mall people. I swear one of them was looking at me!

Wear dark glasses if you get too self-conscious.8)

I think your people sketching habit is showing through in your original characters like Harrix. So keep it up! When I'm going for total symmetry I just pick the better half of say a face, copy that into another layer. Flip it, and after minor tweaking drop it down to the previous layer. Doesn't quite work with 3/4 orientations but it definitely helps even if I just want symmetrical eyes.

I like how the green haired character painting is evolving. Background's looking nice. The lighting reminds me of a theatrical style of lighting. Composition actually works hand in hand with your lighting scheme and night lit background. My only reservation is...is still the pose or silhouette of your figure Hair and drapery detailing works though. I think you can make your figure do what you meant him to do but posed stronger and clearer. Like make him obviously sad, sleeping, or pondering.

And that's my honest feedback for today. You can do whatever you please of course.

[Jazz]

Heyo!! Mmmm...I smell spring rolls and they sure smell GOOD! The last couple of days were nice. Getting help regarding what to take as an elective; drawing; actually being out of the house. It was nice!! ...Except the fog horn during a ferry ride. Very VERY loud. But it was nice and foggy. Do you ever just want to capture that fog in a picture? There were patches of it, and some covered buildings high up!

Thanks, guys, for the crits!! I'm learning so much everytime I come here! Makes me feel very good!

ped454: Ha ha ha!!! For a minute there, I worried that the rare female faces were looking like males!! XD I'm relieved now!!

Maybe I should get a better look at the comic artists. I do feel narrow in my stylistic approach. And thank you about the shading!!

kawakaze: Hello, hello!! ^_^ I'm so glad that you see inspiration in my works! *glee* As for the lighting...maybe he IS going to be abducted...ooooo Okay, kidding! Ha ha! I want to get a little light on him, but I'll try with lighting up the walls nearby a little better, and see what happens.

FlipMcgee: Hiyo!! Honest feedback works for me!! ^_^ Thanks a lot for it! It's too bad--I wear dark glasses all the time. Part of my prescription. Yet I still feel their eyes beaming through the lenses! I'm not self-conscious. Just paranoid! Ha ha!

Glad that tactic of mine is working on the faces! As for your technique, I've tried that and have been unsuccessful. But at that time it was because everything I drew was horribly distorted. Now I just try and measure out the face with my eye. ...Still workin' on it!

I'm glad you like how the Lonely painting is going! It's too bad the pose still doesn't sit well with you though. Perhaps you could show me some examples though, of what you'd expect to see. This time I'll make the loneliness show through with the whole atmosphere. Next time I'll try putting more emotion into the character's form and face!

----

Okay!! No painting this week! Shame. But I'll maybe work on it next week. I'm sure getting tired of sketching people. I mean, each and every day. Ha ha!

This time I was at the waterfront! Heh...ferry, fog horn, pirates, bagpipes...it was great fun to be there! And I had a yummy hamburger and iced tea! ^_^ Here's my journey through town these past days.

I was at a point that first day where I just couldn't draw from life! So I fooled around at a mall and made these crappy faces! I do like a couple of them though, so here they are! Emotionless and disproportioned for the most part!


I went to the library and just decided to sketch a bit from magazines. Harper's Bazaar has neat poses sometimes!! Wish I had a red pen for the colour of one girl's hair.






Next day, I went to the waterfront and actually drew people! But first...I tried and failed with this pose. I must try again later. Truth is, I really don't know how one would jump through the air, about to strike with a scythe. Couldn't find refs, either.


I got some nice remarks about drawing stuff. So that was cool! I just stood, sat, whatever. I couldn't get the pirate kids so...oh well I got regular land-lubbers. One playing the bagpipes. I missed a good pose from him. He's holding up his bagpipe in the second pic.




Went to the art college after, for that help I mentioned. It felt funny sketching a student in student services. :3


After a while I went to the nearby mall and drew some weird looking characters. Just thought them up on a whim, with my messy lines. I don't usually do this, but I thought I'd have fun, even with bad proportions! I know I love those anime-esque faces. Maybe one day I'll have something else.

[funfetus]

Good update, Jazz. Your anime characters look great -- that's obviously where you've spent most of your time. The poses are really dynamic, too. I think it'd be nice if you'd push the poses on life sketches a bit further, like these. The point of these quick gesture sketches is largely to capture the "swing" of a pose, rather than to capture it exactly as it is. You can obviously feel the energy of the poses in your anime characters. Try putting a bit of that into your life sketches. Imagine yourself in the pose -- imagine what it feels like. Then draw that. Speaking of your life sketches, they're getting a lot better. It's crazy how that happens when you keep doing something.

[Jazz]

Hey, funfetus!! Thank you so much!

It's quite true...I was totally doing the anime thing lately! Ha ha! More than I've shown. *blush* :3 That's cool that the characters are looking more dynamic!

Ugh...when I see the real life people, I see someone sitting, just lazy as anything. It's boring and relaxing, and I can't see anything past that! And I'm sitting there, not wanting to be in their pants, so to speak. I wonder how one captures that life in someone just hangin' on a bench and holding their coffee without drinking any of it!

Oooh, but yay about my life sketches getting better! I think I see it, too! ^_^ Practice DOES help! Wow!

[FlipMcgee]

Perhaps you could show me some examples though, of what you'd expect to see.

Here's something I whipped up to communicate better what I'm seeing and my suggestions to make the pose stronger.

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/6...estionssn4.jpg


----------
Nice! Lotsa life and animation in your "weird looking characters". Last one, the girl with the bags, has that Miyazaki vibe to her design and body language.

[Jazz]

Hey, FlipMcgee! I really appreciate the examples, much clearer to me for suggestions. ^_^ I see what you mean now! Actually, with the tail, I knew there was a problem with my version, but I didn't feel like changing it at the time. XD But I knew it looked off, too. So I agree with the placement. I also agree with the shoulder.

I think I'm fine with the hair and ears as I have them, because the hair is over the eyes, which I'm sure might look the way you have sketched there. But with hair like that, you can't really see the ears back any. I just wanted to show them.

I have plenty of trouble with conveying emotions through several means, so I'm glad you showed me that. It'll be good for the next time I try something like this.

And thank you about the newest sketches! Cool about the Miyazaki vibe! I had to look him up because I didn't even know who you meant! It's funny what one comes up with while looking at a fountain. XD

[Sheavolution]

Hey! The girl on the second page is cute! ....and the guy top right on the first page is......not. Fetus already said it, but these poses are dynamic.. the anime poses are cool, would like to see more of these (maybe a bit cleaner =) )

Why not creating ref yourself for the scythe dude if you cant find one? Ask a friend to pose a few min, or use a camera to capture poses if you have one or stand in front of the mirror and..... JUMP QUICK ACTIONPOSE (ok ok i think you get the point)

You are getting better Jasmine, keep it up

[Clocks]

wow! I love some of those poses in this last post. All the last four are really nice, but especially like this one and this one. Not sure if you are planning on doing anything else with those characters but they look good!

[kawakaze]

the woman w the dress looks very nice, particularly that line u have defining the split between highlight/shadows. so loose yet so descriptive. id love to see u throw some values on it and pop it out more. as far as your gestures, i agree with what is said above and how you seem very comfortable w the cartoons. you map out the forms very well and your gestures are strong, perhaps when you do life studies, carry over some of this and dont think of it so much as drawing from life? exagerration helps=D

[brunopicinini]

hey buddy

this Sb is busy ahn? congratulations!

I've seen that you are doing more precise lines but still some drawing are really busy hehe .. you could either try to erase the lines or, the option I think is better is to do more precise and confident lines
don't be afraid to miss it ... if you miss, you just restate and do one right next to it

bet
Bruno

[Jazz]

Hiyo, everyone. Sorry I haven't been around. I'll have to check out the SB's when I get the chance! XD (like, when company isn't here and when brothers and I are off on our own.) Yay, Canada Day!! ^_^ Mmmm, ribs...

Shea: Thank you! Glad to know I'm getting better. Sage advice! Ha ha! Well, for posing using the camera, at least. :3 I have no friends nearby, so I'll have to see which brother would be willing to jump like that. Or I might have to. *loner*

Clocks: Thanks! I think I'll do something with them, but I have no idea what.

kawakaze: Thanks! Yeah, that's funny. I used to do that in figure drawing class, exaggerate, not really think about what I was doing. I think the reason was because I'd only have 30 seconds or so to do the gesture. I guess when I have all the time in the world (until the subject walks away), I worry more about details. o_O So...I'll have to keep trying with that! And with the cartoons. XD

bruno: Hey! Thanks a lot! You're right, maybe I should erase lines or something. No idea what'll work best, but I'll try a couple things and see what works out. ^_^

--

I had a rather stressful last week with "forms" and "friends", so I'm disappointed in my efforts. They were both lacking and infrequent. -_- I was at a moment where I pondered over not practicing anymore, but what a waste that would be! So I'm basically starting from scratch again, in a way. I only have 5 things to show.

So...this would be a sort of cofession, but I actually posed a couple times for the camera, so I could sketch some other gestures. Heh, self-studies. XD I couldn't help but add colour to two of them. The perspective in my sketches doesn't match up quite correctly, but I'll not beat myself up about it THIS time.


This never did turn out right. I drew my hips too slender...WAY too slender, thus that huge center line. Really, this one's the okay try.


Problem with this is I'm leaning forward (away from the camera), but the shading doesn't help SHOW that. Well, I haven't tried to shade in forever. At least I tried not to stroke in every direction known to man! XD Also, I didn't draw my legs long enough. Then I gave up trying. -_-


Family from away is over for a couple weeks! Here's my niece, playing on my computer. But...that was a REALLY quick sketch.


I didn't do much, but I just wanted to show that I'm still working on this. o_o I won't give up! >_< I took out the hole where little lonely kid will be, so I could make a full background. When I scaled the colours down, they gave me some grief. Ha! But it's fine. Of course, any help is appreciated. And I DID shrink the picture some, so I can actually work on it! Ha ha!

[kawakaze]

do you have a favorite medium to sketch with? you seem to always have a diff pencil, pen, brush when your doing your quick sketches. with that said, the most successful ones are those that start off being really light. w some of the heavier mediums it seems like your page gets too dark/full too quick thus u cant really add wout subtracting. i find this a problem for myself. those cheap bic ballpoint pens do wonders though. im eager to see where u go w the lonely kid picture, your block in is working very nicely although id like to see u define the depth in how the alley trails a little more. great work though as always.

[brunopicinini]

hey buddy ... yeah, I can see the drawings got a bit clearer now hehe

that's good

what else can i say? life drawing and life drawing =D
they're the best

keep up
bruno

[Jazz]

Stupid browser. It ATE MY FREAKIN' POST!!

*growl* I'm not saying everything I said before. >_<

Guys, great suggestions!! Kawakaze, I don't have a favourite medium, I'm afraid. o_o I just need to try some different things once in a while. I'll be detailing the background of the lonely kid, just taking my time with everything. ^_^

----

Ooooo...I'll just say, there's mostly my imagination at work. And a couple of life sketches. The ship and the back of a woman's head. Everything else, I'm just trying to try! Ha ha!! So much work to do now. I made a splash page! But I don't know if I can show it yet, so here's the lesser stuff!

I'm pretty well ashamed, but it could've looked worse. XD

[brunopicinini]

man, this SB is on fire! everytime I come there are tons of updates

just keep going ...
only one thing, I think your drawings are still a little bit too sketchy hehe
try to define more to see what happens

best
Bruno