Benjamin's SKETCHBOOK!!!

[BenjaminL]

NEWEST STUFF ON THE LAST PAGE AT THE END!

Hello Friends!

I have been into art and drawing since I could pick up a pencil, but I have never considered myself professional level. I have decided to make that change and do the work that it takes to achieve this goal. I am going to put in the work that it takes to get to where I want to be. I set a high standard for myself and always seek improvement.

You all will see that I am serious about this when I update this every day, so if and when someday in the future, I miss a couple of days posting, please someone holler at me! Thanks!

I have been stalking this community for a while and feel like I already know many of you. I am looking forward to working with each and every one of you!

[BenjaminL]

These were done 8/23/2010.

[HolyMane]

well thats a start ! keep it up!

[BenjaminL]

These were done 8/24/2010 and 8/25/2010

[BenjaminL]

HolyMane: Thanks! I am going to stop by your SB right after this update.

The top one below was done in photoshop from Posemanaics. I appreciate any critique I can get!

[BenjaminL]

Here are some more foot sketches I did in Photoshop.

On the bottom of the sketch I decided to add color and I am not particularly happy with the results. I am looking for any help on this I can get to improve here.

Thanks in advance!

[BenjaminL]

I am experimenting with form, value, and then color. Here is a little bit of my process. Is this the right way to go about things? I have seen some people start with value and add color later, then I have seen others go straight to color. Any suggestions or critiques wanted and welcome!

The below I did from imagination.

[BenjaminL]

This was a study I did in photoshop to attempt to effectively blend a gradient with brush tools. I started out blocking in the different colors, then I used a hard brush with pressure opacity to start to blend, then I moved to a soft brush with pressure opacity. Finally, I used the smear tool to bring it to the point it is now.

Is this the right process for getting those smooth gradients in a digital painting?

[BenjaminL]

Some 30 sec gestures from posemaniacs. I have done the most drawing in the past few days than I have done in my entire life I think! Gonna keep up the pace!

[Jansi]

Hey there,

I think this is a very pleasing display of a good attitude to work - lots of stydy, lots of practice. But I am concerned about the 60 sec and the non-refence sketches - I think it is too early to do those and they simply look rushed and as if you never did do all of that nice anatomy study you did in fact do. Quick sketches are very useful, but only after you get the hang of shape and proportion, in my opinion, and same goes for non-ref body parts.

Try to spend more time on your drawings - practice and learn shading (pencil) untill you can do very quick, perfectly parallel and close strokes. That will help you to get those shapes you draw out of the lineland and into 3d, which will include easier pictorial muscle and fat production, as it were. Don't forget that objects do not have outlines in real life - it is all tone or colour only. Picasso did great line drawings (the mouse, the doves, etc) but such things are no good to start/practice with.

I think you are doing great, so keep the work up.

[Crahzz]

good to see some brush work in there too - It's good to see some line sketches but a clear sense of progress would be nice, I'm talking about close up renderings or face studies, in depth hand studies etc. As Jansi said, spending time on shading would also further your cause greatly =)

[BenjaminL]

Jansi: Thanks for stopping by! Thank you for the compliments. I wish I could spend more time with a pencil in my hand and not this Wacom. I love pencil, but most of the time I have for drawing is at work and a sketch pad and pencil draws way too much attention. I can sit over here and stealthily work on my Wacom without much notice at all. hehe...

Chrazz: I appreciate your comments. I am working on a more fully rendered image now. I will post it here as a WIP now. Feet are my biggest challenge right now so thats where I started. (no I don't have a foot fetish...) LOL

[hala]

I don't think your gesture work is all that bad--keep at it. I agree with the other comments---do some hardcore value studies, this will help you to develop form and understand what forms are most evident and important to convey.
Also, in terms of blending/rendering, try to create bigger blocks of color--brush economy is key, and bigger blocks will even out the overall rendering. (with that in mind, brush economy is not the be all to end all, i think small strokes can add texture and style, but it iwll help to learn to efficiently create big shapes that you work into rendered, more detailed shapes.)
hope that's of some help!!

[teapo]

oooo.. thanks for stopping by my sketchbook benjamin~ you know, you're off to a great start with all these gesture studies. those foot studies are superb and the coloring is great especially at your current skill level. form and value will become easier as you keep studying. keep it up!

[BenjaminL]

Haha: Thanks so much for the encouragement. I checked out your livestream. That is pretty neat! There is another artist that I communicate with regularly and she does oils, so we both set up livestreams so we can critique each other and stuff. I hope you will critique my most recent piece which I am uploading now. Thanks!

Teapo: Thank you! I feel that the gestures and contour studies are the basic building blocks of what we do and need regular practice.

---

Here is what I have been working on for the last couple of days. It is the same piece that I uploaded earlier in black and white, but fully rendered and colored. This is probably the most detailed and fully rendered work I have ever done digitally. I learned a lot and it has been a confidence booster.

I look forward to ALL comments and critiques. Thanks everyone!

[~KJK~]

thanks for the visit at my sketchbook real nice going here, love the anatomy studies, looking great! just to answer your question, i almost always start painting b/w and then go for color, its a great way to keep the painting in balance, values, shapes and forms down good! i advice you to use a bit more radiant and saturated colors there in the focal points to really make them pop out and attract viewers eye a bit better keep it up!

[h.k]

wow dude, the last one is nice (:
keep it up !

[B-Man]

I like the colors in this last one. good one. keep up the figure studies those are important. cheers

[kingkostas]

great start.U look determined and hard working!!!!that is the most important thing that will help u improve.
Its great to see you studying anatomy as it will boost an overall improvement
Dont start doing complicated things to study things like light and shadow and other stuff
Try to fully understand the basic shapes and elements(cubes,spheres,cylinders etc.) and everything will come easier since you will be able to simplify and apply your knowledge(then adding details).
so far you are doing great!!!keep it up!!

[BenjaminL]

Parsakoria: Thank you for the compliments! Also, thank you for answering my question. It does seem a lot easier to get the value in order first then worry about hue and saturation later.

h.k.: Thanks very much dude.

B-Man: It really means a lot to me for you to mention the colors. That is an area that I was really having trouble before. I have been studying colors for about a week now just by taking photos into photoshop and scouting them out with the eyedropper tool taking note of hues values and saturation. Something that helped me immensely was the realization that when the value gets darker, the saturation usually goes up. I had been thinking the opposite and it has helped me a lot to look at it this new way.

Kingkostas: Thank you for the guidance. About 2 weeks ago I was introduced to hannes thread here, and I realized that the reason I am not better is for lack of practice and hard work. I am determined to get there!

---

I am trying to keep this thing updated daily and when I am working on something that is not complete, I would like to upload a WIP, that way even if I have nothing finished to show I can show some progress!

I also decided to start a Livestream channel. Hala gave me this idea. I am not starting the channel to show anyone anything they don’t already know, but am starting it in the hopes that some of you might drop by and offer some critique or suggestions on my process.

http://www.livestream.com/benjaminL

Thanks again to everyone for the motivational boost!

[BenjaminL]

Ok, here is the next version of the WIP above. It is getting late and I gotta get some sleep tonight! I know, I know, its only 11:52 pm my time, but I have to play catchup tonight for all the hours I have been missing the last few days. If I don't, I swear - the Red Bull is gonna stop my heart!

Thanks for the comments and critique in advance!

[QuickClawSamurai]

Good stuff man! I'm diggin all the poses!

[monsi]

be careful with what you do with the bones man! http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1282924428 that far leg is made of rubber!

keep up the studies! good work!

[BenjaminL]

QuickClawSamurai: Thank you very much!

monsi: Yes, upon looking back, your exactly right. No way that bone should bend that way unless it was soaked in vinegar for at least a week.

Here is the nude woman I have been working on finished. I am not entirely happy with it though. I wish I would have chosen a different photograph in retrospect. The pose is boring and expected and she looks too promiscuous. This is the way the photo looked too. Next time I draw the female body nude, I will not chose a piece that looks so much like it came out of a porn mag! Sorry!

Tasteful nudity was my intention regardless of the outcome.

I hope that I can get plenty of comments and critique on this one. I feel that I definitely need it!

I think next I am going to do some 10 minute value studies.

[Sweron]

hy there, good studies, just keep doing them. Loomis can also help you, I'm sure you've heard of his books

I have similar story to yours, drawing mostly whole life here and there just to get some chars out of my head on something physical. 6 months ago I took art more seriously and I'm so happy I did visit my sb and see improvement

Oh and last girl is nice, if you want to you could render her some more

[BenjaminL]

Sweron: Thanks for the compliments, advice, and inspiration man!

Here are some 10 minute value studies I did. As you can see, these are very poor and this highlights an area that I certainly need to work on!

Edit:

I forgot to add the rules for the studies:
1. B/W only to work on value.
2. 10 minute time limit
3. Use only flat round most basic brush at any size
4. work from portraits since they are the hardest.
5. repeat!

[poetry man]

Hey cool stuff! your digital paints are a lot better than your tradtional! If I may critique, I would say that instead of using pencil, you should try, Ink, Marker, or ballpoint pen. It really helps with line confidence.

peace friend.

[BenjaminL]

Poetry man: Thanks for the compliments! I have seen some really neat stuff with markers on here. I am definitely willing to give that a try!

Here is some more traditional stuff, Graphite on paper, then a charcoal on paper at the end.

[BenjaminL]

Here are some more value studies. I changed the rules after #3 to allow for the use of pressure opacity. It was too time consuming to constantly be changing the value slider and with pressure opacity I can work faster.

I feel like there has been some improvement. I hope that someone can help me figure out how to make the most of this exercise. Any pointers or tips?

Thanks in advance!

[leahjayart]

I just thought I'd stop by to give my opinion about what I like best (because I like to know this about my work too) - OMG your graphite drawings. You could just stop for a whilte and do those.....maybe import into Photoshop and color them digitally. But the latest detailed graphite work - skull, hands, feet - is amazing. Digital value studies? Meh. But if you're learning by doing those, then that's what those are for. Bravo.