Dsmith's Sketchbook(mostly freelance stuff these days)

[BluezAce]

Nice to see you back, DSmith!

Although I'm a bit dissapointed, why didn't you scanned your drawings first before you gave it to your classmate... Go collect those drawings and scan it now!! Hahahaha

Sorry for your computer too... This drawing seems rougher than your usual drawing, is it pencil?


Waiting for your next post and improvement!!

[DSmith]

@BluezAce:It's a combination of pencil and pen.It's much better than digital shading for me!I don't think that I can scan those drawings anymore...
Thanks for your comment,keep rocking!

Updates today!

CHeers!

[Nibras]

Nice as always man. I love all the creativity and solid concepts. Good to see you balancing it with studies.

Now the only thing you need to do is to sit down and finish the work. It'll pay off big time.

Take care man !

[DSmith]

@lilnebo:Thanks a lot!I'll try and finish some stuff I've been working on.


I have a big learning plan for summer,as I'm not going to any summer camps(plans got butchered by family programs).I will share the schedule this week!
Anyway,some sketchbook pages,nothing special,mostly they are doodles done in school classes.

Cheers!

[DSmith]

(Sorry for double post,thread didn't get bumped.)

[matt kohr]

hey there,

thanks for stopping by my thread! I really like all the dedication in your work! Lots of drawings --- very nice. my advice to you is going to sound pretty boring, I'm afraid. The area that you seem to struggle with the most is perspective. Perspective is necessary for ALL drawing, not just cityscapes, so it's worthwhile getting comfy with it. Here's what I would practice:

1) take a sheet of white printer paper and sit it on the table with a strong directional light (worklight, table lamp).

2) put a small rectangular prism of some sort (box of tea bags, etc) on the paper, making sure to keep all four edges of the box parallel to the four sides of the printer paper.

3)think of the paper as a rectangle, and the box as a plain white box -- forget all of the details, just think of shapes.

4) draw the box/paper from many different angles. Include the outline of the shadow cast by the box!! (three shapes total - box, paper, cast shadow)

5) repeat. over, and over.

This is going to be way harder than you think. I still do it from time to time, and it's always challenging. The important thing to think about is that you're looking at parallel lines receding toward vanishing points. This is why you line up the box with the paper -- you're creating pairs of parallel lines which are easy to observe.

If you can get comfortable with this observational drawing exercise, you'll have a much better handle on perspective. Once you can draw two objects which relate to one another in space, you can draw anything convincingly. Soon it will seem natural to envision the sheet of white paper and the box when you are drawing characters --- just picture them standing on a sheet of white paper!

Let me know if it helps -- I know it helped me

good luck and keep up the hard work!

[DSmith]

@matt kohr:HEy,thanks a lot,I'll definitely try this exercise tomorrow!
Just some doodles:
(My scanner is really pissing me off...It scans dull,contrast-less pictures,really fucks up my stuff(not that they are much better un-scanned,but still...)O corrected the images with some gamma and contrast changes,but that doesn't entirely solve the problem...Well,at least it's still working,and that's something unusual!)

[Juki]

Nice work in here!

I like especially the anatomy studies on the arm, the pencil work looks great!

[BluezAce]

Hmmm... I think matt kohr's advice will be useful for me too. I'll do that

Interesting imagination stuff! That's what I love from your SB, DSmith! And somehow, it seems that you did it well everytime you draw a "brute" character (better than "normal" character I think hahaha... ). You capture the "intimidation" thing of a brute...


Btw about the last post, could you resize your drawing smaller (maybe half the size of last post's drawings) when you post next time? It helps to see the whole drawings, rather than when we have to scroll down

[DSmith]

Hey there!
@Bluezace:Thanks a lot,I'll pay attention to the size!
@Juki:Thanks man!
Bad news:scanner is dying...You can see that on the images...now there is too much contrast,the midtone areas got white/black...
So,I realized how much I suck at anatomy,so I did some torso studies...gotta do more of these every day!
I am quite happy with the time spent on drawing,I've been counting it,and it turns out that my daily average is around 4 hours.That's not bad,but I want my summer average to be around 8 hours,because I want to kick ass by the end of summer!
In the next 4 days,I am gonna relax and exercise my imagination,because I've set up a quite hard summer course for myself,and it starts at June 16th,I want to rest till then,so I can start fresh.
Anyways,I am talking too much as usual,so bye!

Cheers!

[DSmith]

Hey There!
Some doodles today,3 days left of the lazy period,and then,it's time to get serious!

Cheers!

[Nlete]

nice stuff, you are developing super-quickly. Keep up the good work!

[DSmith]

@Nlete:Thanks Buddy!
Okay,I want to keep up this "updates everyday" stuff,so here is a shitty speedpaint,1h 20min so far,but I'll continue it because I am not really happy with it...

Cheers!

[DSmith]

Okay,here is the finished one,I am not satisfied it,but I ccept it as my first speedpaint...2h total:

[BluezAce]

Whoaaa... Love the speed-painting. Really capture a "calm" and "great" feeling . Keep continue your speed-painting exercise, DSmith!

And... Bridgman, huh
I still haven't study yet the shading style that empashizing the muscle. Have to do that next time!

Wish the best improvement for your summer course too

[DSmith]

@BluezAce:Thanks a lot man,I actually had a lot of fun doing this speedpaint...I will do two more(today,tomorrow(toyota))--->sorry for lame joke!

Cheers!

[DSmith]

I don't know if I can post in the evening,so here is my daily update,a quick thumb,experimenting with markers:

Cheers!

[BluezAce]

I will do two more(today,tomorrow(toyota)

Add "to infinity (and beyond)" hehe

Happy experimenting with your markers! The marker give a feeling of "color" into your drawing (just like the function of a screentone in manga). Wondering what marker will be good, I've been thinking about trying it for a while too (you know, my drawings are usually line drawings so they're pretty much just five me "black and white" feeling)

Just curious though, what's the little circle on the tail?

[DSmith]

@BluezAce:I use Copic markers,I haven't tried any other brand yet,so I can't compare,Copic can be damn expensive,but most industry professionals use it(at least from what I've heard).
That circle is an unfinished engine,I did this in class(like most of my drawings)but I couldn't finish it because the teacher was coming...

[DSmith]

Turns out I can update once more,some more marker experiments and a quick creature concept(20 min for first one,then 10 min for changes):

Comments and critique highly appreciated!

Cheers!

[Ivan Turcin]

wish I started when was only 15. Played computer games all day long at that time
So far so good, you are doing a nice work. My only suggestion is to do more studies - human figure, anatomy and perspective. Keep up the hard work.

[aLDoDarK]

hi DSmith!
thanks for dropping by to my sketchbook,
I really like your sketch here, especially the environment you did in the post,
the mood is there and the line is pretty neat!
keep up a good work! =)

[DSmith]

@Ivan Turcin:Thanks man!I will study a lot in the summer,starting tomorrow,I hope that it will improve my work!

@aLDoDarK:Thank you!

Thanks for all these comments,they mean a lot to me!

[Lightmode108]

wow man thanks for pointing that out i realize that now that you say it. yea ill definitely get some studies in on skin colors cause ive noticed how it looks like my skin is like "burnt" rather tha like warmer you know?
thanks for that critique =D

cool environments and tech designs im trying to do the same kinda stuff =D

[Kan Muftić]

Nice stuff you got here.
So, as you've asked, I'd like to point out couple of things you might want to work on:

- go easy with your pencil pressure to avoid the mess and get the forms right
- when studying Bridgman, try to really understand what he is showing and try rendering; you will be amazed how much more you'll get involved
- go to your local coffee shop and draw people standing in the line, waiting in the queue
- do the same with people around you everywhere
- practice simple perspective tasks with cubes, cones and pyramids
- draw chairs. yes, chairs. they must be one of the best exercises for perspective and proportion
- environments are best dealt with a little bit of a slow start: paint small thumbnails of simple landscapes and try to match colors by NOT color picking them from the photo; this made me get a grip of them
- try not to paint flat, straight on views but move "camera" up and down, do strange angles

Ok buddy,

There is more than you asked for I'll be checking you out.

Peace,

Kan

[xxPurple Nugxx]

hey good stuff its good to see one of us "study all the time" kind of people improving.

[DSmith]

@xxPurple Nugxx:Thanks man!
@Kan Muftić:Thanks,I'll keep your advice in mind!
@Lightmode108:I'm glad I could help,thanks for the comment!

Okay guys,this update will be a bit different!I just want to show what I work with(and what I've spent all of my money on since I started learning to draw)!

This is how my desk looks like usually when I work,but I want to be a bit more organized:


These are all of my tools.You might wonder why I have so much stuff.Well,the reason is because I always tried out new things,and I always bought full sets...Quite stupid,I know,but at least now I have supplies enough for years!
Here is a brief list:
-Copic Cool Grey Markers(recommend these,mostly from the Sketch type,downside is that they are expensive,but they are really worth the money)
-Copic Toner Grey Markers(same)
-Kurecolor Warm Grey Markers(they pack a lot of ink,but they are pretty big,their advantage is that they are a lot cheaper than Copic and have a bit more vibrant color I think)
-Copic Multiliners(I don't really like the nibs,they split easily,but the design is the best!Luckily the ink and the nibs can be replaced)
-Cretacolor graphite,pastel,charcoal etc.(love them,best quality IMO)
-Bruynzeel graphite(good quality and cheap,and they smell great too)
-other various pencils(Faber Castell,Lyra etc. mostly cheap ones,just for sketching in school)
-Various inks(Pretty cheap ones,the Cretacolor is the best of them)
-Various brushes(mostly watercolor and small size,Hungarian brands,like Munkácsy)
-Mechanical pencils(Rotring Tikky,recommend these,really sturdy and have a reasonable price)
-Lead holder(some Czechslovak brand,really old but does the job)
-Electric Eraser(Derwent,Cheap(around $5)and reliable)
-other erasers(putty,gum,rubber)
-Watercolor paints(Louvre and Talens ArtCreation Expression,quite cheap but they are not bad)
-Other stuff...





My trusty Wacom Intuos 3 A6 Wide,with some paper modding(Wacom is the only good brand,don't buy the cheaper ones!)
:

Reference and tutorial books(I won't list them individually,I think the titles are visible and they are all great books,I've learnt a lot from them):



I've organized my tools to have as much free space at the drawing table as possible:


And finally,my homemade adjustable drawing table(if you have a free desk at home,you can construct this easily for 20 bucks,and I think that it's just as good as the ones you buy in a store):



That's it!I wanna establish that this post isn't made to brag about stuff,I just wanted to show the tools I use,and give little tips for those who want to buy
art supplies.This is a lot of junk,I was a really stupid to buy all this shit last year,but I've learnt my lesson,and I am more careful with my money now.

If you have any questions about the pencils,pens,markers or whatever just ask and I'll try to answer it!

Cheers!

P.S.:How can I remove the images from the attachment box?pls help!

[Mike D]

Sweet studies and concepting. You have some great ideas and all the study and gesture work is sure to pay off.

Looking at your work space and art stuff makes a man like me jealous, lol.

[DSmith]

@Mike D:Thanks,and don't be jealous,tools don't make me a better artist!

Just a quick review of Photoshop CS5's new features:
So,I've downloaded the trial,and I am amazed,stunned!They managed to integrate traditional painting media into it,but on such a high level that it's unbelieveable!I can finally use the Intuos' tilt sensitivity properly,as the brush cursor dinamically changes as you tilt the pen.

Also,in the brush settings,you get some new sliders and settings to play with,there are around 8 traditional brush tip presets,and you can further modify the bristle length,thickness,stiffness and angle of the brush.Really cool!
There is a new mixer brush,it works just as the regular brush,only it works just like traditional paint,you can mix colours very fluently,and it's awesome!

You might say that Painter has all this stuff as well,but while I can use the mixer brush on my father's laptop with ease,Painter challenges my powerhouse PC when using wet media.So in PS,this stuff is much more optimized(it utilizes the GPU,not like the older versions)!

So,overall I give the new CS5 a 9/10,the only downside that it's damn expensive!

CHeers!

P.S.:I will edit this post and add some pictures of the new features later!

[IllustratorOrBust]

Hi, DSmith. Thanks for the encouraging note in my SB! I'm glad you noticed some improvement.

I don't know why you don't like your speed painting results, because they look pretty amazing to me. And your figure drawing shows a definite improvement, as I look at your current drawings compared to your older ones.

Thanks again!

Darrin (IllustratorOrBust)