6 years of concept art SB in june! Oo!

[ashess]

@ sylwynar- uuh. I was wondering why they turned out so 'soft' maybe I should continue on those a bit.

so, doing the simplest thing possible with light/dark. im thinking I overexagerated the light/shade and stuff a bit too much now.. brought it back a bit near then end. still.



edit: so I had to desaturate and check the tones. and then fix to make sure shade was darker. I had equals in shade and light.

[ashess]

im not sure I mention this often enough, but I REALLY appreciate the feedback I've been getting lately. thanks guys! I'm trying to encorporate all those usefull pointers I've had. sometimes its hard to keep it all in mind, so tell me when I'm relapsing!
I should especially thank Plissken, Blackspot and especially tobbA, for coming back again and again and giving me feedback. I really think it's helping.

anyway, doing something I think I'm always good at- but didnt get round to way too long. still, it went especially well today!
I put a lil special empasis on light.
2 hours in toe zoo:

5 min:

10min:

20min:

I love that black Jag ^^
20min:

1hour:

[ashess]

did some more work on the pool balls




and, well not sure if its a speedpaint if its 1 and a half hours but there you go

[liquorbleu]

Hey man, some good looking stuff here.

For those pool balls, really push time into those and they will turn out - you just gotta spend the time to really figure them out. Experiment with some different brushes and make sure to think about the difference between a hard and soft stroke.

For your landscape, good start- but I can tell you are using a bunch of little tiny brush strokes. Try using a big brush to get the big shapes in first before you start detailing. In a landscape - detail doesn't matter as much as the shapes and the thumbnail working. (basically if you zoom out and look at it like a thumbnail and you can tell what's going on - it'll work regardless of details)

[ashess]

@liquerblue- ah thanks man. landscapes.. Im gonna get the hang of it! but I def needs some help :p
tried another landscape, keeping the big picture in mind.




worked on the poolballs anew. but 1 ball took more then half an hour. outta time now.


aand. something I really thought was wierd. had to re-draw it. the black in the light is the same color as the white in the dark...

[Black Spot]

I know it's tough when you get advice and think you have to act on it immediately. Don't, put it in the back of your mind and let it peculate to the front. It takes time to get everything in place all at the same time. But I will say that half an hour is nothing when you're trying to learn something - take several hours. The more time you spend on your studies, the more you will see. Rushing to finish something isn't great if the end product looks sloppy. Bore us to death with each minute transition.

[jakubvavrik]

Hi, I dont know if I'm in place to criticise others because I'm just beginner, but I think you draw quite symbolically. That means you dont draw what you see, but instead what you think you see. It's especially visible at those zoo drawings, where your panther looks more like plush doll than predator (no offense ) You should try to forget anything you know about thing you are actually drawing and concetrate on seeing "color blobs" and shapes that will give you complete image as pieces of jigsaw. Of course things get more complicated when you draw anatomy or technicall stuff, but for nature drawing it's good. Anyway keep it up! Only way we can get better is to draw our asses off

[ashess]

@Blackspot- thanks, thats good advice; ill try and slow down, just go one point at the time.

@Rubajz- thank you for your critique; never feel inadequate to say what you think! your insights are very usefull to me, but I am quite shocked to hear you say you feel the zoo pics are symbolic, especially because I really looked at the light and what it does to textures in the fur/skin. I admit I prefer to use that to show the structure underneath, but still symbolic is not what I was going for. im not quite sure how to incorporate this critique yet, because I never really liked the 'blobs of light' approach, but i'll think on it.

new eow thumb; a lot better already then last weeks, so I think I should be pleased :p

[ashess]

tring to get the light consistend and believably underwater.

[LtPlissken]

Magnificent improvements, I am so happy that you are
working so hard and that you are doing so many studies lately.
Some important things that the others said in the last posts,
I would like to highlight them cause they will help you to improve even more;
-just try to look closer
-think about the difference between a hard and soft stroke
-go tidy those balls up
-you should try to forget anything you know
and I would add my own advice;
-the demons are talking through you and not directly to you

I know that you WILL improve more, I am sure
I never made a bet, but I could make it here, you will be famous.
Keep the shining on us.

[ashess]

thank you plissken, for that very usefull list ^^

-the demons are talking through you and not directly to you

is that good or bad? I think it's good.. better if they dont know I'm here, right?
im not sure I want to be famous. but its nice to be making some progress ^^

I got a lot of experimentation going on lately. allover the place:
first is first try, bottom is newest. like I said, progess...









last is from pixeltuner's tutorial:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=240732

go check it out!

[Black Spot]

The lighting has to be more consistent and the beams should only be lighting the bits of ground they hit, not bounce all over the place. The balls don't have a beam. so they must have an inner glow, which should reflect on the ground around them. Tough isn't it?

[ashess]

we're talking about the under water thing right? yes it is hard. the original idea was to have the light bounce off the leaves of the plant, and then to the snake-creature. but the more I think about it the more silly that idea seems. I mean, murky waters, light traveling that far,.. then bouncing back and traveling another distance. it's not gonna work. I think ill drop it and try another. havent decided what yet.
got more thumbs though.
these are pretty easy and fun to make. im pretty happy with the result too -for a first time. the main problem seems to be stearing in the right direction though. I meant to make something to use for the undewater research facility on the first. it seems more like rocky mountain passes to me though.


the 2nd I tried to go for nature/mecha. that sorta worked. but its not underwatery.


3rd I tried to make landscapes. for another project. this time i got mountain slopes and wild oceans?


ah, doesnt matter as long as I can figure one to work with I guess. or maybe ill make more. they are fun to do.

[ashess]

so these are eow options.. when was that deadline again? can I still make it? will Lassie save Tim from the well?

[habrok]

The underwater one: The light wouldn't be hitting the bottom of the plant thing or the ... crocodile? They're too far 'forward' to be in the light-line. The plant might be getting a bit of rim-light, but it's not going to a clear spot of light on the bottom of the leaf like that.

In fact, the silhouetted leaf behind the lit one would be lit brighter, being closer to the light source/line of light.

Light underwater tends to fall away more quickly than in air:

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/HURL/gal...idget_copy.jpg

You can see it lights pretty locally and becomes diffuse (idk what else to call it. "pale and wide" maybe?) pretty quickly. (The wrecked sub is only 6 ft diameter, which might give an idea what the range of the exploration vehicle's light is.)

I'm not sure what the big black shape/cloud at the top of the image is. If it's the water surface, it would be a lot more level.

I'm still loading the tutorial about the thumbnails, so I can't comment on them. I don't know what they're for yet, but they look pretty cool. Especially that last one. It looks like a city on a hill.

[tobbA]

I like the experimentation stuff. I think it can be really liberating to try something different just to see if you can find new ways to think about painting... I would probably benefit from doing some similiar stuff myself.

One thing about studying reflective objects though. I'd recommend doing it from life instead of photos. If you do it from life you can see exactly what is reflected by the object and you can see how it changes when you move, or the surroundings change.
And I agree with Blackspot. 30mins is nothing. If you're out of time, or just get too bored, come back the next day and keep going.

[ashess]

@habrok-thanks for the ref shot. your completely right. im dropping that piece; the whole point of it was the bouncing light, but its never going to work under water. anyway, liking the thumbs better anyway. the city- I dont see it. I see a submarine. but a city sounds cool.

@tobba- try it, its great fun! and ye, longer piece. from life. my last 'still live got taken apart by the kids though. gotto find a way around that. maybe I can tape some things to a board or something and move it outta the kids way during the day.. thats an idea ^^ ill try soon.

so 1 more page of thumbs.


and a slightly finished one:

[GaussianRaider]

Good morning ashess!
I like your avatar a lot!
Looks to me like you've got a great eye for color, that's awesome...some people would kill for that !
You also mention how you feel like you struggle with value... well, it's ok and normal, seems like your natural gift leans on the colorist side!
I like that alligator sketch and that big yellow cat, I think they're very good, you managed to capture their movement, their mood and attitude...very nice!
Now, as far as my understanding goes, values depend on two things:

1 The interaction of light and structure.

2 Composition (!!!).

In order to study the first thing, I'd like you to develop more this study here
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...8&d=1334517532
It's great that you started this exercise, it's going to prove itself extremely useful .
I advise you to drop the billiard balls one (good job on the colors btw!), that's pretty difficult and also not as useful: you want to simplify things, strip them down to the essential facts (their structure) so that your mind can handle them and then add complexity.
I think the problem with it is that you made it too complex (probably hoping that the complexity would sell it better to the viewer's eyes), too soon!
Important principle: always move from general to specific.
Here's how I'd tackle it! Since the goal of the study is on form, I'd use a medium such as graphite (it builds the tone gradually, it's easier to manage than, say, charcoal or paint).
Important steps:
1: Put down the silhouette of the object. (fact 1: it's a ball!)
2: Put down the silhouettes of the shadows (fact 2: there's shadow on this ball and on the table)
3: Fill in the shadows with flat tone, comparing it with the light (fact 3: the shadow is this intense)
4: Analyze the edge of the shadow border (the terminator), you'll notice how this edge gets stronger in a certain place and then softer. Find where and wonder why! (fact 4: the ball is 3D and...the edge of the shadow gives our eyes essential informations on it's tridimensionality!)
Minor steps:
5: Model the light
6: Analyze the shadow, find the reflected light.
7: Reward yourself! ...
You should spend on it as much time is necessary.
Here's an old study of mine to show you what's the general idea (couldn't find any sphere, sorry...this should be close enough) http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/201/formax.jpg
I tried to be as clear as possible, if you have questions hit me up on skype...I hope this helps!

[habrok]

the city- I dont see it. I see a submarine. but a city sounds cool.

Whoops. I meant the ones in the post before that, still in the grid.

The light in your last post's "slightly finished" piece is a lot more watery. I like it.

[ashess]

thanks Gaussian for that very useful feedback and the chat that followed!
I was gonna go to sleep right away but couldnt resist working on this a little

[Black Spot]

The 'slightly finished ' one is a lot better as the lighting isn't so distracting. On the last one, the water will only be that clear in shallow water in the Caribbean. You have a light source and need to narrow it to where it will just about reach. Around the edges will be pretty dark, almost claustrophobic. Under water is such a tough subject to pull off well.

[ashess]

ye I it's too light. the top should be the surface, so that could be light, but then the rest shoulda been dark. also, 2 source of light. maybe a 3rd from the ship... mighta been bit much for me...

did some basic perspective stuff. but I ended up with that same old boring house every1 does.. I hate that. I'm looking into ways to get some more interesting shapes.


also, this is what we promised we'd do in our sb group. its a SMART goal.
I also need to change my sig. heh. heh. one thing atta time. posting this is actually more embarrasing then I'd though it would be.
eow goal.pdf

[Flashback]

Hi ashess, Thanks for the advice, make sure that the perspective doesn't get distorted with the vanishing points being too close.

Here's a book that helps with perspective: http://www.amazon.com/Perspective-Ma.../dp/0486404730

[ashess]

hey flashback! thanks for the link; could you explain why you feel i shouldnt have the fanishing points close? I mean, that just enhances the feeling that we're dealing with something big right?

rounding corners, also trying freehand straight lines.

[Flashback]

Sometimes but it also distorts the picture a bit.

http://johnthor.blogspot.com/2009/05/perspective.html

oh and here: http://www.ctrlpaint.com/home/category/composition

[ashess]

oi, never looked at it like that flashback; I just thought sharp perspectives were cool! but I guess they do look a bit wierd.

here some stuff from today and yesterday.

with the cubes, tried some rythm in forms, to get some intersting setups for architecture.

next is a draw from photo. getting such a strange shape is pretty hard, as its hard to tell what way a shape goes in the first place!

[LtPlissken]

We want to see more babies!
With huge breasts!!!!

Wait.

That's not possible....
Anyway, my imagination goes wild sometimes, just like when
Rudyard Kipling appeared to me after eighteen bottles of beer
behind our encampment tent. In the middle of the night. With an owl.
Your steps are great. And you can pack a lot of punches in bunches.
Your performance from one to ten is purely nine. Next month you
will be ten. I am proud now. You can surely see though the darkest
times as a medieval warrior through enemy lines. Should I say more?
I so much enjoy every part of your blue skied fresh heaven.
Ay ay ay ay,
ay ay mi amor,
ay mi morena
de mi corazòn.
Next time this year, you will be millionaire.

[GaussianRaider]

Nice! good stuff ashess!!
Distortion is not a bad thing per se, if you achieve it consciously... close vanishing points will simulate the look of a wide angle lens, distant vanishing point will give a telephoto lens look... different moods!
More cubes!!!
What's the goal of the photo study? color/values? perspective? structure? shapes? you're right, that building is awesomely strange/hard!

[ashess]

@plissken- aha! thats just wrong man ^^ no really gotto draw the kids more too. its nice to have some focus for once though.
but I will draw the kids soon ^^- well I did but they're just short sketches so didnt really bother with scanning.

@mao- the photostudy was supposed to be about shape. but Igot a bit into values trying to express the form right.
ill do more cubes later.


here's my stratagy to get some interesting architecture:
---
Use a combination of simple shapes -squares, ellipses, cones, etc- to build interesting architecture.
I have several strategies to explore:

1*Cut pieces from simple shapes etc to get interesting shapes (round corners, cut out), use the Boolean method (make a form from intersecting shapes, like 2 cylinders) (=attach1)

2*Use rhythm in and across shapes: in direction, planes, or form. Check the bridgman's method for constructing anatomy as an example.
3*Make a random shape from a crumpled up piece of paper and draw that for a building.
4*make random shaped brushes (suiting the subject) from simple perspective shapes, use those for quick start thumbs. (either in alchemy or photoshop)
(=attach2)

I think I should just try these to see what works best for me.

attach1:


attach2:

[ashess]

this is method 2
thoughtI havent re-opened bridgman for it or anything... I like these. but 6 took about 2 hours so for speed its out. haha!