on the road to improvement

[DeeStar]

Thought it was time to change the thumbnail

As yet another long time lurker I've finally decided to start a sketch book. I've always loved doodling and drawing and have completed my honors degree in fine art. But it's only relatively recently that I've discovered the joys of digital painting.

Ive been doing a lot of life drawing studies and im going to be posting the results soon! Im also working on a more complete painting in photoshop at the moment.

Anyone who visits feel free to crit, comment. I can take it

[donalfall]

Looking good so far. Shapes need to be rounded out, try and feel out the form as much as possible. Also, look up some stuff on blending your colours - they're seperated out and patchy right now. There's lots of ways around that.

[DeeStar]

Thanks Donalfall I'll do that. I find the blending in photoshop much harder than with paint. These are around four months old and I'm considering working back into the second one. I'll post the results.

Here are some recent 60 second life drawing studies, I love doing these things, but never seem to get much more done than the torso. Im trying to fix that thought!

the last two took a bit longer

[DeeStar]

this was created in zbrush then rendered in photoshop following a tutorial from "Zbrush character creations"

[AhChu]

Cheers for stopping by man, thanks for the crit, im trying to spend more time on art work, instead of rushing it. Cool gesture sketches and the zbrush work is very funky

[DeeStar]

Thanks AhChu I can definitely relate to that. Im working on my first finished photoshop piece now. Finding it really hard to keep at it!

[DeeStar]

some quick scribles from this morning. The first is a quick (and unfinished) character idea, the second just some face studies.

[Jazz]

Hi, DeeStar!! Your efforts are great, I think! I especially like that you bring out a lot of emotion through movements as well as facial expressions. That's really impressive! I like the pencil shading you've done as well!

As for your colouring, I agree with donal about how patchy it looks. One piece of simple yet effective advice I got before, is to use larger brushes. Be unafraid to use something HUGE and block in your colours, from the largest forms getting smaller as you hone in on details. Start with 100% opacity even, and bring that down as well, as you continue to refine the piece. I still don't do it that way all the time. Some weird habit. But that might help you out some.

Also, I'm looking at the faces you drew. Are they from reference or from imagination? There's a bit of distortion in the elements--the eyes, lips, etc. That could be because we're seeing mainly lines (edges). You could also study shading the planes of the face, and how the whole face, lips, eyes, etc. are shaded in different lighting. That could come later, of course! I love Andrew Loomis' "Drawing the Head and Hands" book. I'm also peering through a Hogarth book about drawing heads. You'll find some books listed around CA. Might be in a tutorial/lessons section.

Anyway, now that I wrote like crazy, keep up the great work!! It's really nice to see!

[pauscorpi]

i love your gesture and body sketches - i find them very expressive

i do agree with what was previously said about the colours and i think this stems from something not necessarily related just to colours
i noticed in your drawings that the way you shade makes the image feel a bit flat
don't get me wrong - i think you follow a light source consistently but it feels like you are shading a contour and not a plane of space or a 3d object (let me know if this does not make sense) and i think this translates in your colouring - you are creating contours of colour and not shaping the object

i would suggest , be more explorative and brave with your shading; think about ways of bringing out the underlaying construction of the body/face, and, as JazzW said, always go from general to specific, not the other way around . create a solid general foundation and then build up the details when you shade /colour

that said, i like the linework a lot

[DeeStar]

Pauscorpi: thanks for your comments. with the pencil sketches its more to do with self imposed time limitations and trying to get an idea or gesture down quickly. With the colour pieces however you are absolutely right, i really need to start thinking of them as three dimensional forms and painting accordingly. I'm still in the process of learning photoshop, but I'll get there!

JazzW: I think Im going to rework the bottom coloured image and I'll definitely take your advice on brushes into consideration! Ive heard of Andrew Loomis (he seems to be mentioned a lot on this site) so I'll be sure to check him out.

The faces are referenced from a book called Facial Expressions A Visual Reference for Artists. I find it very usefull for quick studies! Saying that i really need to sit down and finish a portrait.

Anyway thanks for the advice and kind words!

[DeeStar]

Ok, I'm almost finished reworking the old painting, and i would love to hear what you guys think? as far as i can see, need to add in some stronger shadows

[DeeStar]

a couple of Loomis sketches

[DeeStar]

Ok, i thought I'd take just a moment to explain what I'm actually doing here (other than admiring the awesome art) I graduated from art school around three years ago, and, although it was great fun I lost my passion for drawing and painting (I got caught up in the whole "conceptual art" thing) anyway now I'm back at uni and doing a masters degree in game art and animation and I just want to become a better draftsman (or woman I suppose )

Thats why Im here, to soak up all I can.

Just thought I'd share

[warpspasm]

I Like the lighting in the "reworked old painting", my only suggestion to try and clean up some of the rough/jagged edges and maybe try experimenting with an overlay layer to get some darker shadows and add a bit more color to it (maybe an overlay of cool blue over the dark parts). I also liked the texture you had in the first rendition of the piece, maybe finding a medium between the two would be cool!

[DeeStar]

some more 60 sec drawings

[DeeStar]

thanks for the advice warpspasm. Ive never tried any of the different layers in photoshop, so guess this is a good time to start!

[DeeStar]

a few more Loomis studies

[Hamms]

Thanks for the comment, you've got a nice start here, too. Pencil's are looking good, keep it up.

[DeeStar]

Thanks Hamms

another update on the portrait. Almost finished i think, tried the overlay layer (thanks for that warpspasm) any more hints anyone?

[DeeStar]

a few bridgman studies. Im working on a character concept at the moment. Hoping to have it up either today or tomorrow

[DeeStar]

this is an early version of a character I'm working on. Still got a long way to go, but when its done I'm hoping it'll be the first piece for my portfolio.

Reference was found in the deviant art stock.

thinking i might change his outfit in some way but not sure. Might give him shades too...

[IndigoSummers]

Your figure studies are great! I especially like the ones that are in motion.

I'd love to give you great advice on digital painting...but I feel your pain. I'm not very good at it myself. Experimenting with brush settings and discovering layer masks really helped me out. Also, there are some great basic tutorials on youtube that I found helpful. Good luck in your endeavors!

[DeeStar]

thanks IndigoSummers. Yeah, just trying different things out at the moment. I'll get there .

[freakmod]

I love the details in your drawing of the clenched fist. Looks almost Michelangelo-esque

[DeeStar]

thanks freakmod, its actually a bridgman study

[nurraymjo]

Looking great, especially in the traditional media. I'm a sucker for the good 'ole pencil and ink stuff. Excellent sketches, keep it up.

[Asatira]

Thanks for dropping by.

I think you're off to a good start. The Bridgman studies are very strong, IMO. As far as the re-paint of the portrait, I am glad you are smoothing it out, but I rather liked the beard of the original. I haven't seen the source person/image, but I hope you work out a way to bring the beard back in.

[RoboMonkey]

Hey there !
I like your studies. Keep 'em coming !
About the picture of the guys head: I think there is something wrong with the perspective of his glasses, the part on his left side seems to be somewhat not correct.
Anyway, I'd love to see some more studies. They're nice

[DeeStar]

Murraymjo: thanks a lot

Asatira: Thanks, the portrait is of my partner, unfortunately I cant find the photo and he no longer has a beard. Maybe if i ask him nicely he'll grow it back and sit for me

Robomonkey: thanks, Ive had another look at it and i think your right. Still reworking it in my spare time so I'll def keep that in mind

another little update. Some more 60 second drawings and a couple more bridgman studies. Also the latest version of my character concept, (still a lot to do with him)

[Glebz]

very nice! keep on going! more details in my opinion! ,