Diedra's sketchbook Vol. 2 - update 4/26/13

[Voodoo_Mama]

Hey!
That still life is looking really nice. You have some pretty cool wing designs going on here as well, I like the amount of variety.
I like the changes you did to your illustration piece. The whole painting looks much more realistic with the new face you added. I also like the new color you chose for the couch, before it was too saturated in my opinion, Now the viewer can concentrate more easily on the woman.

[dierat]

Betty86 - Yeah there’s definitely something up with the eyes. Thanks for the crit!

carakhan - I adjusted the eyes a little to counter the cross-eyed effect. I also moved the chin a little but not much; I need to get back to that and fix it. Thanks again for the on-going crits; it’s such a huge help!

Rotor - I made a quick 3d model of the horns so double-check the perspective, and it turned out that the far horn was off; it was pointing further out from the head than the nearer horn, so I tilted it back and curved it around the head more. I hope that helped, and thanks for the crit!

Killadroid - Thanks!

Harmageddon - Right from the opening sketch, I draw the subjects on separate layers above the background. I also keep little decorative details on separate layers as well, so the pitcher has an extra layer for the handle because that would be a bitch to fix if it was altogether. I think you pretty much nailed my biggest weakness, which I believe is unity and balance throughout an image. I’m okay when it comes to the individual pieces, but putting them together with a believable sense of space and light is difficult, and it’s something I’m really struggling to overcome. Thanks for the comment; I really appreciate it

Lukifer_aurelius - Okay I went in and screwed around with the eyes just a little. I think the problem was that the far side of the far was too visible which gave it a conflicting perspective, so I pulled it in and I think it looks a lot better now. But let me know if it still looks weird. And thanks for the crit!

Voodoo_Mama - Thanks, I’m glad to hear the piece is improving! That makes it all worth it. Thanks for stopping by!



Very small update on the stained glass one. I pulled in the far side of the face a tad and tilted the far horn back to (hopefully) fix the perspective issues. Still needs work but I’m taking a break from this piece for the moment; will try to get back to it soon.




And now for something completely different.. lip studies using white and black charcoal on watercolor paper that I first toned with a black acrylic wash. (Bottom right’s my fave.)




This is a sketch for the Ragnarok IOW challenge. The idea was to do something like the stained glass painting I did but this one would feature Heindallr blowing his big horn to awaken the gods and illustrate various elements of the battle to come in runestone fashion around him. I decided I didn’t like the idea enough to continue, but I might come back to this later. Heimdallr seems like a pretty cool god, and I would really like to design that horn.




And then this sketch is for the current IOW, Journey’s End. My idea is to illustrate the bitter-sweet reunion of a knight returning victorious from war to the daughter of his enemy. I'm hoping to illustrate that mostly through contrasting design, maybe making her attire and home a bit Spanish or Mediterranean and his more English or French. And I want to set it up as a horizontal composition for a wrap-around cover.




Dress thumbs/studies. Thumbs 1 - 32 are standard western European medieval gowns; 33 - 40 are Spanish dancers. My goal is to find a balance between those ideas for my design.

[Satu]

Hi there! Some really great stuff here! This is one of my favorites from you so far. I love the light and colors in it. The bottle still-life looks also very good. And cool construction/anatomy studies. Would like to see them even more though! From what book are they? Very interesting stuff. Oh and the lips look very realistic, good job! Anyways keep up the good work!

[tobbA]

Pretty lips Almost looks like they're coming out of the page...

[Naidy]

Must say I'm loving the lips you've done too! I really struggle with them myself, looking at your stuff is the push I need to study them more. xD

Keep up the good work, mate!

[Ludic]

Whoa, those lip studies are brilliant, they look so smooth

[Suncut]

I really like the dress studies, and from the lips the bottom left is my fave, the slight irregularity makes it interesting. In the stained glass piece something bothers me a little about the structure of the cheek and cheekbone, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

[Black Spot]

I like all the lip studies.

It always amazes me how fashion can change the silhouette of the female form so much throughout the ages.

[Ivan_kolor]

Your sketches are great!! maybe there is something not convincing me in the left side of #92 woman, the light part.. keep on!!

[in2eternity]

I like those lips and dress sketches a lot )) Keep posting!

[DvrJeroen]

some crazy coloring in this sketchbook (: the highlights seem very natural on the lips, i like them a lot!

[shambok]

Hey there! Awesome updates ... those skin tones in the stained glass pic are looking absolutely stunning! Also ... great work on the lip studies ... they came out really well!

[Elz]

I really like those lip studies, make more! c:
And the silhouettes look great fun, Cant wait to see what designs you come up with mixing the two.

[miycko]

it really has been some time since i was last in here, you've done so much great stuff i don't even know where to start
seeing all the studies in here always makes me feel guilty for not doing so much, really love those lips you did with the white & black charcoal. the beer bottle study looks so realistic, very nicely done cool dress silhouettes, they're top notch, a mixture of numbers 24 (top) & 15 (bottom) would be awesome. the wings for your trapped faerie painting look great, the variety is mind boggling, i personally like the third pose from page two best - for obvious reasons Awesome pitcher painting, love the reflective metal effect you've painted. for the dragoness painting, your work on the different fabrics is awesome, you can easily see the difference between the silk dress, those cotton pillows,etc also love the lighting & rendering of the glass i liked the face on the previous 'finished' version from page two more than the new one though but it's more for of aesthetic reasons rather than rather than anatomical correctness. great studies and paintings .D, looking forward to seeing moar

[dierat]

Thanks everyone! Sorry that I’m not responding to everyone personally.. but your comments and crits are very much appreciated!

I haven’t really felt like posting lately. You know how sometimes you work gets stuck in this kind of ‘ugly stage’ and then you don’t want to show it to anyone until you’ve fixed it? ‘Cause that’s pretty much where I’ve been at. But.. this is what I have right now.


Update on the lemon still life. Right now I’m ignoring the pattern on the cloth. I think I might skip the pattern altogether because I’m really stuck on it and I think the image looks fine without it.



Anatomy stuffs.






This is the start of a design for the tarot card Nine of Swords.

If this card is shown in an upright position, it can mean deception, premonitions and bad dreams, suffering and depression, cruelty, disappointment, violence, loss and scandal. However, all of these may be overcome through faith and calculated inaction. This is the card of the martyr and with it comes new life out of suffering.

If the card is shown in an ill-dignified or reversed manner then it has a different meaning. When turned this way it means distrust, suspicion, despair, misery or malice. Total isolation away from comfort and help: institutionalization, suicide, imprisonment and isolation.

My idea is to have her 'hanging in the balance', and depending on which side you view it from (right-side up or up-side down) she's either hanging over safe earth where the swords are hilt-up or she's hanging over water where the swords are pointing towards her.




Just for fun, here's a panoramic shot of my current workspace set-up. The perspective came out a bit weird, but I did manage to get almost the whole room in the image. It's a small room (just enough for one person to sit comfortably) but that's cool; it's kind of cozy. As you can see, I've got my monitor set up on one table and a drawing table on the the side. On the left side of my main table is the still life I'm currently working on.

Only thing worth noting really is that I boosted the tables up on boxes to make a standing workstation. The drawing table is actually sitting on two diningroom chairs. In the lower right corner is the stool I can use when I'm tired of standing.

[LA-Fairy]

Awesome still life! And pink rooommmm! Mine is hot pink. I should clan off my desk and take some pics as well. ^^,

[Black Spot]

Lovely still life. I think you're right to ignore any pattern if it doesn't add to the composition.

Nice start to the card.

[Satu]

Great update! The still life looks very good and very realistic. There is something in the lemon that bothers me. Should it be more dark on the shadow side? Or is it just in my head But I realize that it is unfinished and you are propably working on it more. Good anatomy stuff and the wip of the card looks awesome! I really love the face and hair and dress and everything on it. Though I feel that the hump that comes from the fibula might be a little bit too big and little bit too front (?). Also I love your workspace! Anyways, keep on rocking!

[Ludic]

That still life is looking so great. You got a really realistic result on the jug.

[James Thomas]

LOVE IT
colour studies r unreal! studies are strong,
and those silhouettes..youll have to give me some advice on that!

[Ricardo Robles]

Amazing still life! great reflection treatment. Also love the dress thumbnails!

[dierat]

LA-Fairy - Yay for pink! I like to think of mine as more of a purple but it comes off veery pink in that photo.

Black Spot - I do think the pattern would have added to the composition, but only at the cost of my sanity, lol. At some point you just have to move on.

Satupeikko - The lemon is weird, I agree. I tried to darken the edges and make it feel rounder, but I’m still kind of meh about it. I don’t think it even looks like a lemon And I agree about the lump on the foot. The thing is, that’s kind of how it looks in the photo I took, so I think it might just be that the angle/pose of the leg/foot is awkward and inelegant. The foot is kind of hanging limply off the leg, so the bone juts out more than usual and at a slightly different angle than we’re used to seeing it. I might just go with a slightly different pose where it’s not so distracting. Thanks for the crit! ^^

Ludic - Thanks dude, the pitcher’s my favorite part of the set-up!

A Faux - Thanks! I don’t really have any advice.. just do your research and try to think of the design in broad terms, don’t get sucked down in the details until later.

Ricardo Robles - Thanks man!


Update on the still life; pretty close to being done with it I think. But then, I always think that.


And started a shell.

[dierat]

Finished up the lemon and pitcher still life. Depending on whether you're using a browser that supports color management profiles or not, it may have large areas of pitch black nothingness.. Overall I’m happy with the result, but I think in the future I’m going to focus on shorter (and less soul-sucking) studies.




Made a little progress on this one, and chose a new wing design that's simpler and less distracting. I think I might reduce the number of leaves and make them much larger because I originally imagined her to be a very small creature in terms of scale.




And a study of a stuffed gorilla I started.

[Rotor]

I think the pitcher study turned out great.
The pixies wings look great for some Subsurface scattering/playing with transparency.
I'm bad with crits, jsut wanted to drop by and say hi.

Keep it up.

[miycko]

the tarot card painting is coming along nicely, i like the rendering so far and can't wait to see where you go with it. you have a great workspace, looks comfy & well organized the lemon study turned out great i can imagine it must have been very time consuming 'amongst other things' but i'm sure you learned plenty from it. can't wait for your next update, looking forward to seeing your work on the trapped faerie and gorilla study

[Black Spot]

Soul sucking or not, the still life turned out well.

Fairy is looking good. I'm looking forward to more updates.

[dierat]

Rotor - Thanks man, I really appreciate the encouragement!

miycko - Thanks, I'm glad you liked the rendering because I was trying something a little different with that one; instead of smoothing everything together, I used small high-opacity wrapping lines around the forms of the legs and feet to emphasize the volume over the shape. It's not perfect but I think it added an interesting effect and sense of texture.

Black Spot - Thank you!



There was an old character design I was working on a few years ago in my old sketchbook thread that I recently started up again. It's a character for a traditional final fantasy kind of RPG but with a more historical slant focusing on central and south-west medieval Asia.

For a re-cap, this is the old stuff I posted in my previous sketchbook thread:



And this the newer stuff.

[Black Spot]

The different head gear is much more interesting than the the colour changes on the guy.

How's the fairy going? Just got someone to agree to pose as one (clothed), which will be fun.

[thedestroyer]

Hey diedra!

Thanks for checking my sketchbook and giving me that critique. You're absolutely right!
I love your studies from #118 and especially the dress variations above. very cool work!

Cheers, thedestroyer

[Voodoo_Mama]

The fairy in post 114 turned out very good. Her body is very realistic.
I'm looking forward to the finished version of that stuffed gorilla study. It looks fun!