Pathways to improvement - Alex Zelenski

[Alex.Zelenski]

Hey guys =D. Well as you could probably tell im pretty new here. I was lurking around on a few other accounts. and well I didnt do anything note worthy.. So im going to try this agian, one more time. Hopefully I can get some real progress going... I am in love with concept art and like the sketchy/brush stroke work that is detailed (but not being rendered out completely - if you know what i mean)... well I cant figure out how to do that.. so if you wouldnt mind helping me get there. or help me be the best I can be. Ive noticed that this forum is pretty active and im impressed by that... Hopefully I can "assimulate myself into your community" xD and become apart of the "in crowd".. well anyways here are some speed paint/sketches I've done in the past month. Please let me know what you think.

tl/dr.. Help a fellow artist out and look at my digital sketchbook. Comment if you wish. Much appreciated

Sorry about the large files
Image tags removed - due to terribleness (and well improvement) look back if you want to.
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/20...cz-d4jspss.jpg
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/20...cz-d4jnyk2.jpg
http://th05.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/...cz-d4j98r4.jpg
http://th04.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/...a2-d4jtc5d.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...cz-d4jba3j.jpg

[AdrianNagorski]

This reminds me of how i first started, it was very frustrating, to avoid this, i would recommend you
to do a lot of pencil drawings, also start copying images from photos aka a study.
that will help you get a basic idea of what to do, avoid all the random brushes and effects
just use a standard hard brush, just changing opacity for color intensity.
practice practice practice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n just take you time . . . . . .
ow and Welcome!!!

also check this channel and watch all the videos they help tons!:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOO...eo-mustangbase

[Philosiflo]

Welcome to the community, begin assimilation. Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook.

I'll give you a critique if you like.

First thing, it looks like your getting ideas down so fast that it might be hard to tell for other people what they are. I cant tell what half of that stuff is.

If you do this to get ideas down for yourself it might be better if you just write down lists of words, and brain storm feelings or ideas instead of trying to splotch something down. That way you have an idea process recorded and not just a bunch of images to have images.

We all get bored and want to move onto the next thing but you have got to slow down and get more focused. Right now you are completely all over the place with what you are doing. Landscapes and doodles.

What are you interested in right now? heads? girls? armor? wright that down, go and collect images of those things, you dont have to copy them like a master copy, but you need to understand how they work. Your sketches will help you retain that knowledge. And yes you need to develope your eye, you need to be able to draw something until it looks like what you are drawing. That way you can tell when your own drawings are wrong.

The biggest thing though, you need to have an intention when you start. wright it down. "I am going to draw bodies with good proportion and not worry about design" "I am going to draw sad men faces today" "I am going to understand armor in the baroque period from the german armies" "i am going to understand how the hand works by the end of the day"

Dont just start sketching whatever the hell happens to strike your fancy for 30 seconds to fill a page.

Go here. ctrl-paint.com slow down. and go here. http://enliighten.com/ , and slow down. If you really want to learn digital and drawing from the beggining, you cant beat those sites. Get some of the downloads from the TAD download pages. Watch how fast they work in those demonstrations. It is very patient, even for sketches.

If you want to learn more, get a big sketchbook and and a regular pencil or mechanical pencil. think of your intention before you start. If you don't like those websites, try some books. At this stage in your drawing, any books you will benefit from. but don't just read the ones that have exercises. Actually do them.

Dont even worry about color right now. Get value down. Dont even think about color until you are bored with value then go read how color works and why it works a certain way, and how to mix it and all that kind of stuff. its all on google. then start seeing how other people do it and start applying that. But you dont need to do color yet.

Try drawing 50 perfect cubes. not rectangles...cubes. Give it a try. Yea its boring, but you'll realize how hard it is, and its something you need to be able to do naturally.

Hope to see more from you. start simple, and try to understand things that you are interested in. If you want to do concept art, start saving those images of artists that make you go 'holy shit' in a folder and try to copy them and understand them.

I made a post about color in a guy named marcsampson's or marc.sampson 's sketchbook somewhere in here. You might be able to find it.

Cheers Pal, and good luck.

[Alex.Zelenski]

Welcome to the community, begin assimilation. Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook.

.......

All i have to do is say "thank you" for such a great response. It really means a lot that youd want to help me out that much. Ive been posting on deviantart a lot lately and no one seems to be interested in helping me, thats why I wanted to switch over here. But thank you so much for the advice ill follow it to the letter

[Alex.Zelenski]

Well as per the advice of my peers I have started doing some exercises on enlighten by daarken, an artist that I have been following for a while honestly. But here you go =D. Some pressure sensitive strokes. No color picker was used. Im trying to get used to using all of the levels of pressure on my pen tablet instead of just a few. =D thanks for the advice.

[Alex.Zelenski]

[Alex.Zelenski]

[Alex.Zelenski]

[Alex.Zelenski]

I took up a drawing class at a local community college. Here are some assignments from there. i unfortunately have not drawn for myself for a while :/
And sorry for the crappy picture quality - they were taken from a cellphone camera






I've gotten a little sketchbook that I occasionally doodle in - when i get the time ill take a few pictures of the pages in there and post them =D ANY comments are more than welcome. Im going to stay more active on here then dA. dA is full of butt hurt anime people and its hard to stay focused on actual improvement. Well yeah =D thanks for looking at todays updates - ill have more soon

[blogmatix]

All very nice stuff. I have never tried my hand at digital (can't afford a tablet at this point anyway!) It seems like a very tricky thing to master, and you look like you're well on your way. I look forward to seeing more!

[peterhurman]

Good stuff, the stuff in the last post is the type of thing you should be doing for improvement. Keep it up

[Alex.Zelenski]

All very nice stuff. I have never tried my hand at digital (can't afford a tablet at this point anyway!) It seems like a very tricky thing to master, and you look like you're well on your way. I look forward to seeing more!

thanks and more you will see

Good stuff, the stuff in the last post is the type of thing you should be doing for improvement. Keep it up

Thank you man =d i will

[kidult]

Cool stuff, keep pushing it!

[grenogs]

Good to see you using digital, as it is the modern tool for art and design in general, but remember, it is just another tool like airbrush, and sooner or later its popularity will teeter off. (i'm already seeing this in certain areas in illustration) So don't underestimate how important traditional art is, especially sketch book work, sketching from life. This is where you will your basic drawing skills, get it right there and you'll learn other styles much easier.

[KONM]

Goodness, I really like that name. "Zelenski".

Great stuff so far. Keep going.

[Alex.Zelenski]

tomorrow or well later today, after i get out of school ill get on and post some stuff from my sketchbook as well as two bigger works (like the chair and glasses and all that)

[Alex.Zelenski]

Sorry about the poor picture quality. I need to invest in a scanner.

[Alex.Zelenski]

two point perspective on a room with a tv =D. I like it!

[Alex.Zelenski]

[Alex.Zelenski]

[Blue Gun]

Your last 3 posts have got a real grasp on perspective & I REALLY like'em. Keep sketching it up.

[Alex.Zelenski]

Your last 3 posts have got a real grasp on perspective & I REALLY like'em. Keep sketching it up.

Thank you I definitely will

[Alex.Zelenski]

inspired by the dead space mark =D any comments? Its B&W right now till I figure out colors and all that

[Alex.Zelenski]

Colored version of previous post

[htkpeh]

not much critics i have for you,you are on the right way,keep up training and study as much as you can,every littel sketch will improve your skill,try to draw every day and watch tutorials on youtube like FZD School or visit
http://enliighten.com/

and

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/


keep on buddy

[Alex.Zelenski]

gestures

[Alex.Zelenski]

got a lot more class work coming. just has to be graded . But in the mean time, my personal project - started two days ago is





got a lot of work to do still. Adding more detail. Gotta figure out how to add grass and various plants. Im filling the house (well to scale) with furniture, replacing the materials with textures, AND adding various items like tools and all that. Maybe put it in a scene or something with two trees. Not sure yet. any comments? I feel the columns dont really fit the peasant-y look im going for.

[Alex.Zelenski]

[Alex.Zelenski]

[Alex.Zelenski]

about 2 hours.