Bobtail's sketchbook

[bobtail]

More sketches for the character I've been designing.

[bobtail]

Been neglecting this sketchbook a bit . Going through another phase of feeling a bit demotivated about it.

Watched one of Feng Zhu's videos for inspiration so tried to do some environment thumbnails from that. Clearly I need a lot of practice! I feel like the sketches are ok, but I messed up adding colour. Think I'll go back and do it in black and white first to get the right values THEN think about colour... Any tips would be much appreciated!

[bobtail]

Went back and shaded the previous thumbnails concentrating purely on values. I think they look better than before, but scared of adding colour now!

[bobtail]

Making up for not posting in a while with three posts in one day . Really feeling back into it!! Continuing the character design I've been doing recently, still rough and sketchy. Trying to explore different designs before I settle on a final.

[bobtail]

Two more character colour sketches. Think I'll pick one of the three and tidy it up to a finished piece.

[bobtail]

WIP of the final version of the character I've been designing lately. Any crits or advice at this early stage would be much appreciated!!

[bobtail]

Some thumbnails for this weeks E.O.W. Figured I'd give it a go - only way I can improve my environments is practice !

[jondawo]

You could try starting environments just by blocking in random shapes. Means you wont don't always need an idea to start painting. Maybe I'm pointing out the obvious though :p

The transition to colour is retardedly difficult for me. Either I start in colour or the image is forever in grayscale. I've tried with colour layers but somehow the values always turn out to be off once I add colour (maybe something to look out for).

Anyway, great job, keep going. Your linework is looking really nice.

[pfloyd]

soooo much good stuff in here. I love the thumbnails. keep going!!

[bobtail]

jondawo: Thanks for stopping by ! I think blocking in random shapes is a really good idea - it'll probably help with adding in values and colour too. I think with adding colour it's just hammering it out and practicing more - as always!! Really appreciate the comment .

pfloyd: Thank you very much!

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Trying out something kind of new. Study of a landscape photo but using a brush with no opacity change. Trying to force myself to just block in the overall shapes and colours and simplify it rather than getting caught up in detail too early. It looks a bit rubbish but I think it was really useful to learn.

[Psychobuddy]

Hey, you're really working hard! That last enviro looks really awesome, totally makes me want to do some of my own.

[bobtail]

Psychobuddy: Thanks .

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Another long break . I really need to keep my motivation up. Keep slacking off if I have a stressful time at work, but that won't get me anywhere!

Decided to tackle something I always avoid: animals... Not really sure how to start other than studying from photos/life so just doing some photo studies tonight.

[Nianto]

heey . 'motivation bump here' i don't see any mistakes, but maybe one additional hint is to put the saturation of a piece down to b/w, so you can see if the values are correct (for your environments eg - not that i'm seeing any mistakes!
your anatomy of your characters looks right so far.. (and i'm practicing and practicing and nothing happens.. D: )
just keep on practicing and posting regulary (:

[bobtail]

Nianto: Thank you very much for the motivational bump ! That saturation tip is a very good one - I keep forgetting to do it!!

Loong break, but just wanted to keep my thread on the board because I am actually drawing! I'm doing a big commission for someone and because it's paid for I can't really post the work . With a full-time job I'm not finding much time for my own drawing in between, but here's a quick sketch!

[jondawo]

Congrats on the the commission. Those (big) cat studies are awesome and that latest sketch is right up my alley. Keep up the studies!

[bobtail]

Jondawo: Thanks!!

Another quick sketch just before bed - evil tree spirit thing!

[bobtail]

New term of life drawing started . Again, sorry for slightly wonky photos - I don't have a scanner! Feeling a bit out of practice, but hopefully I'll improve over the next few sessions!

Today the lesson was on sculptural drawing - hence the messy blobs of charcoal and weird wirey thing!

[bobtail]

Here's a quick composition of all the character sketches and silhouettes I've been working on recently for a commission - with the commissioner's permission, of course . Just a couple more to do now.

I reeeally need to get motivated to work on my own personal stuff more - my posting must be at an all time low .

[bobtail]

Start of a sketch from imagination. Just playing around, trying to be more careful with my colours and lighting.

[bobtail]

More work on the piece from yesterday .

[bobtail]

Face study and two simple studies of Dwarven characters from the Hobbit (references used were promo images ).

The silhouettes are from imagination, trying to work on what I learnt.

[bobtail]

Some rock and metal texture studies and some sketches for Dwarven buildings.

I've been lucky enough to receive the opportunity to work in the concept art department of the studio I work at for a few days a month (my usual role is design/development) so I'm practicing for the kind of stuff I'll be doing. First day tomorrow and really nervous >.<. Buildings are pretty out of my comfort zone...kicking myself that I haven't spent more time practicing them . I think the silhouettes worked much better than just going in sketching, so at least I learnt something.

[bobtail]

Moar! I've finally got time to work on my own stuff again . Trying to create something inspired by the opening credits and general atmosphere of the new Bond film (Skyfall). It's not looking how I want it to though, so I think I'll start again and do some thumbnails for the general composition beforehand. Second thing is a quick study from a Lord of the Rings screencap (took about an hour).

[Natzetta]

You're doing pretty well and learn quite fast! The silhouettes look interesting and the latest environment study has a cool atmosphere!

[bobtail]

Natzetta: Thank you ! Still a lot of learning to do!

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Just kind of doodling - then got distracted with details and experimenting with new brushes so ended up with a silly looking thing with a detailed face and not much else :p.

[bobtail]

Some random sketches... bleh. Second one (the image on its own) I may continue working on. Trying out a new way of working which I think is getting the look I want (a more relaxed feel, and trying to get less distracted by little details) but not really sure where to go from here. I always want to go picking into the details !

[bobtail]

Some stuff from this week. An update on the piece I posted a few days ago. Just experimenting with new stuff really. Not sure what I'm doing. Then some sketchy doodles and a couple of pages from my traditional sketchbook (which I don't get much time to draw in). Random cats are 5-second drawings trying to catch my two cats, but they don't stay still! The other sketch page is some (bad) sketching of people and the street while I was in a cafe, and then something unfinished from imagination.

Feel like I'm not really making much progress, if anything going backwards in some areas. Not really sure where to go next and lacking in motivation .

[bobtail]

Rubbishy colour study thing I was trying to do after some training at work. The training was great, unlike my painting - I do feel like I've learnt a lot though . Also the beginnings of something I was just playing around with. Trying to get my values sorted before adding colour, and working on things I've learnt lately (or attempting to, at least).

[bobtail]

Sketchy thing just playing around. Then some environment thumbs for fun and practice - using Pixeltuner's great tutorial. I left the bottom right as I couldn't see anything good in it . Might try and work out a few of the others though.

[Somelar]

Keep it up! You improving fast. I like the way you're going.
You have pretty good taste as far as i can see.. you figured it out by yourself whats "off".
Nothing seems "off" to me. Just practice basics every day.