Kalin's Sketchbook~Art Journey

[Kalin]

Hi everyone,

I'm finally making a sketchbook here because I'm hoping it motivates me to draw & paint more as I have a strong desire inside to become a better artist! Becoming an illustrator is at the top of my list, but I also want to try concept art, and I enjoy 3D modeling too.

All honest critiques are welcome! I want to improve so don't hold back


Here are some NPC portraits that I've done for the game Eternal Lands...they get resized very small (50x50px) so I dont' have to be too concerned about details and getting them just right-that said I am using them as portrait practice and to get better at drawing and painting on the computer! I like to try out a lot of different styles/brushes in Photoshop/Painter and see what works best for me.

The first one is of a draegoni(a humanoid race with some "dragon blood" in them), And the other one is a gnome.

[Kalin]

Here's another NPC character, she's an Empress..pencil sketch and coloring:

[Kalin]

I needed an avatar..so I did a quick sketch of a little owlie

[Kalin]

Here are 2 studies I did recently, 1 a value study, the other from Hogarth's Dynamic Figure Drawing-trying to get through the whole book as I really want to learn to draw full figures better:





If you want to follow along and do studies like this join us in the Drawing study group thread!

[PauloPhillipe]

Nice Sketchbook! Really like the colors! The owlie are very cool!

[Kalin]

Thank you Paulo!

Just finished this guy up. I tried painting a bit differently this time, I did the grayscale values first then layed in the colors using the color layer setting, etc.. I think it came out ok, and overall it was much easier to focus on painting only in shadows.

So here's the finished color, grayscale values, and the original pencil sketch:

[Allan-p]

The last image you did, the technique you mentioned is a something that derives from classical art. It's called a "grisaille" super fun technique to use in oil.

From looking over at your images I think it would be great if you try out some different lighting situations with strong contrasts so that you can see forms more on the human form.

Keep up the good work!

[LJEn]

Very nice studies you have here! I like the owl very much too!
Keep up the good work!

[PaperChaser]

Thank you Paulo!

Just finished this guy up. I tried painting a bit differently this time, I did the grayscale values first then layed in the colors using the color layer setting, etc.. I think it came out ok, and overall it was much easier to focus on painting only in shadows.

So here's the finished color, grayscale values, and the original pencil sketch:

I think you did a great job on this, and thanks for posting 3 different pics

[daflom]

hey kalin, really like that value study, nice textured style.
the last guy's face is cool too but something disturbes me with his throat, maybe its too long or too straight...and maybe a bit more shadow under the nose?
keep it up

[Kalin]

Thank you for the comments!

Allen-p: I actually never knew they did that in oils-they painted over it color to? Like a glazing? That's interesting, going to have to look that up. Yes I'll try to work more on lighting, thank you

daflom: Yeah you're right..I see it. I gotta work on necks more I think. That's a good one for a concentrated study, marking it on my to-do...



Some more Hogarth studies:

[Kalin]

And a new wip image:

It's supposed to be a griffon, landing on a small branch which he's much to heavy for, not to mention griffons would probably have a lot of trouble sitting on a branch in the first place, but this is a silly griffon with a few screws loose :p As he's just landing he scares a few birds away that were in the tree. He's looking at them annoyed as if they should be in his tree.
This is kinda challenging to pull off, I'm trying to get the wings in the right poses(I have them as though he's off balanced in #2-3) and trying to show he's landing.
I wanted to have him looking at one of the birds, but I'm thinking that's messing up on the "landing" appearance, so I added #3 with his eyes downcast.

Can you guys give me some crits on which pic you think works better for this? I've been trying some variations and these were the ones I like best so far.

[Arepa]

hey kalin nice SB you have talent i really like your studies! keep posting! your Empress charater looks pretty good!

[aks9]

hey kalin, good work on those anatomy studies. some of them look a little stiff around the torso, i dont know why. thats the only suggestion i can think of
keep on!

[DanielsK5]

Thanks for commenting on my sketchbook I like your anatomy studies. Don't have anything else to say hope to see more artwork from you .

[Kalin]

Thank you! Glad I seem to be doing good on anatomy studies, here are some more

From Jack Hamm's book done in inkpen(like the others posted):



From photos, and drawn in art rage..that has the best digital pencil!:

[aks9]

nice neck studies. I wouldnt have known it was cg unless you had mentioned!
looking good keep going!

[daflom]

i think these studies are all well done! I'm sure they'll pay off. keep drawing!

[Kalin]

Thank you both!

I've been posting in the drawing study thread..figured I should update here too. Studies from photos, Loomis, Jack Hamm:

[Embia]

The eyes in your latest post are really nice!

[Kalin]

Thank you Embia! I was happy how they came out too.

Here are more practice studies from photos(except the colored lips that's from imagination)







And here's a small piece I did yesterday evening in Photoshop, I call him a "cloud hopper" :p

[kojot]

when you make anatomy studies don't use a hogarth it's not a anatomy stuff He invent his own anatomy ;/

try more vilppu tutorials or hampton book

cheers

[Jaunay]

Thanks so much for the feedback, you've improved so much just from the few posts that youve made. You should be proud. Glad to see you thinking about the concepts before bringing them to life. A few small crits, hope you're still working on this piece I think cropping out the left side and opening more room towards the top of the tree might be nice, itll show the scale of the griffon well and you'll be able to make it more of the focus. Keep in mind that when people looks at pieces on art their eyes follow where you guide them, so composition is crucial! Cant wait to see progress, i could never paint lips like that out of my imagination. Lol

[Wingal]

Thanks soo much for your help in my sketchbook. I didn't even think of doing more then one layer >.< Wow those eyes are great. About the griffin maybe the first panel could be him reaching out his talons to the branch with some tree wiggle motion lines and the birds looking at him curiously, then the second panel he could have landed and added weight to the branch and theres a crack/snap with the birds like "oh uh" wide eyed look, and finally the last one some quick feathered flaps so they dont fall. Hope it helps Im still learning composition

[Kalin]

Kojot: I know Hogarth's stuff is stylized but I think it's good for learning the overall forms and shape of the whole figure, I'm not usually it for strict anatomy studies.

Jaunay & Wingal: Thank you! I haven't given up on it, just have been slow getting time to work on it. Have done more here and there and decided on the layout and the colors to add. I did actually play around with cropping out the left side and just sort of showing him in the tree with some other birds but I wasn't too crazy about how that looked. So I ended up putting him in a desert/canyon like environment..hopefully I'll be done soon with it. Here's the latest:

[Dana_T]

Those ear and eye studies are great :> Keep studying the ways shadows fall on people's faces and the way necks connect to the head. Right now your necks look less like flesh and more like thick poles.
Necks have such subtle muscles and can really add a sense of emotion to your character (whether they're angry and their neck muscles are popping out or whatever).

Here are some lovely examples.

[{CKL}]

Hola, great looking studies. I definitely think Dana_T has some solid advice. Think about breaking up those initial structural planes to add more lifelike variation. Color is solid. I would try adding a bit more range on your value scale here and there, try to punch out some darks and pop out some highlights. Good stuff, keep it up!

[Kalin]

Dana_T: Thank you, you're right I do need to work more on necks, I did a few studies but it's gonna take more than that. And thank you for those refs!

CKLamb: Thank you too for the advice!


Here's a portrait of a pirate guy I just finished up. The head and parts of the shirt I used photo ref for, the hat I made up which you can probably tell..was having trouble getting the light to hit it all just right. But I did my best and am overall happy how it came out.




And here's a piece completely from imagination I did after watching the Zhanglu portrait video..it's one of my best so far I think!

[Kalin]

I finally finished this piece! I'm quite happy how it turned out, it's my first really finished full piece in a while. I've been staring at it for days so please let me know if there are any glaring mistakes(or even small ones, critique away!). But otherwise I'm done :p

[midknight523]

Great use of color!