James Thomas' Weekly Sketchbook :D

[Sushy]

the illustration based upon the Gundam concept is pretty cool, I would try to add some more colours and details.
Maybe I should try some gundam illustration too

[James Thomas]

Firstly, Hoorah for page 6

Sushy -> haha yeah i guess it needed more detail, im not very good at this drawing business so yeah, if i had the skills i would have! i think you should tho

Springly -> haha mate yeah its a pain in the butt, i just finished it now, and i dont even want to attempt colour i suck at colour..

Spent roughly 2 hours or so (3 hours with distractions)
I still feel like im doing something wrong, in terms of how i render, i dont know why it takes so long for such simple stuff, and thats not even dabbling into color....which concerns me.
If anyone has any ideas, please comment please

[James Thomas]

please need HELP with coloring, i did a picture using TWO seperate methods, one is wat i normally do, using greys and tonal blacks and whites for rendering, but it comes out all shitty..
like if i do an overlay and color, no matter wat i try it turns out crap..



SO i did the other part (the water) out of solid colors, NO opacities--
which gives me alot more vibrancy and control, but i need help

AM i doing it right ><...so frustrating, which method should i use? i just want to color realistically and i dont get how to

[Sushy]

ok here are some tips about colouring that I found most valuable xD

- more hard brushes without opacity setting
- DO NOT USE WHITE (#FFFFFF) as your background colour. Nothing is that white in nature.

so yeah the water part is done quite well, though you may put some more time in it. Also, please note that water is one of the hardest things to draw (I mean it reflects and such, there are "easier" materials), so do not be frustrated when it doesn't work out in the first place.

[James Thomas]

some quick color studies, will do LOTS more tomorro, but just trying to get started, very busy and boring day..buttttttt my woman was over

[CGlas]

Thanks for the visit to my sketch book mate . i see you have good diciplines on your line work, which i kinda neglected.., keep it up!

[Caspia]

It's good to see you doing colour studies but I think that doing a ball in value (Black and white only) and then in colour would benefit you more really. I'm sure there's a thread on here somewhere with a studies thread about it...

I'll get back to you on that one when I can find it.

[NecrotoX]

Nice stuff here man, just keep up with the studies, that's definitely something I should do, and also when you color in overlay mode try to pick less saturated colors at first and work your way up to kinda build up the color. Also you have to make sure that your values are correct, otherwise it won't look good

[James Thomas]

CGlas -> no problems bro, anytime. Thanks for the feedback

Caspia -> Thanks caspia, hopefully you can find that link soon i will do more color studies tomorro of course!! Thx for feedback

NecrotoX -> Yeah it looks weird saturated doesnt it, my bad..im still not used to coloring in overlay mode, its very difficult to made it look original and quality (like a real painting)
but i guess in time..the answer should become clear .. Thx again


Some quick silhouettes, never dont them before, so why not start now
didnt do any color today, but will tomorro! kinda didnt start drawing till after midnight = tired.
Ima try work hard over the next week as part of a semi-experiment of mine.
Wish me luck hehe. Crits welcome

[James Thomas]

Woot 7k Views Thanks to all who have commented and viewed my work
Today i am posting some different work than usual, a "chibi" inspired artwork for my girlfriend, who gives me a reason to wake up every morning
- a very funny piece haha...

Below that, a first attempt at 3d modelling, working out the Very basics, though i think i did quite well at replicating (to a degree) Abarai renji's "Shikai" (released zanpakuto) aka. a Katana
Didnt figure out how to texture, the guides i was following lead me to a dead end, but all is well -- Crits more than welcome please

[Flaskpost]

just keep up the good work man. hard work pays off
keep doing studies forever, from life, from photo.
this is mega helpful as well:
http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm
read it lots of times

[Quigleyer]

Hey there,

I think you need to start putting in more time drawing from life- doing anatomy studies and the like. I see that you've been doing some lately, but this would be most effective to study almost daily, if not all day for a few days. In addition you should probably use references for your characters- shoot your own!

Keep going, your enthusiasm is refreshing.

[MrFrenik]

Hi A Faux, thanks for stopping by my SB! I agree with Quigleyer on this one. TONS of figure drawing would do nothing but benefit you. It's a daunting thing at first, but after you sludge through it a bit at first, when you start getting better, it only becomes super fun and almost addicting to keep doing! Then when drawing these characters, if you notice that something just doesn't "seem" right, you'll have all that knowledge and studying to pull from and fix it right away without any guessing at all. All in all, I'm glad that you haven't quit, as I read that you were thinking of doing a few pages back. I hope you stick with it and continue to post your progress on the forums for all of us to witness!

[James Thomas]

Flaskpost -> Thanks for your contribution as always, i will study from life LOTS starting as soon as i get spare time!!!
Ty for the link

Quigleyer-> Thanks man, ill take your advice seriously, as with flask also, your very good at what you do, so you cant be wrong

MrFrenik -> anytime mate, and ok, 3 people cant be wrong haha, next week is nothing but solid life drawings and anatomy...GRR but ok
Thanks all for your feedback, it is much apreciated - I am glad i did not quit too, i hope to one day be able to laugh at that thought

Update: 3D tank turret concept, nothing special but i am learning the basics and enjoying it. Though i will be doing life studies it seems alot from now on, hit them hard in 2 days i hope mates.

[Oranghe]

Hey thanks for the kind words on my sketchbook!

Came over for a visit
Nice to see some 3D! w00

Don't stress when learning, your goal is to learn not make something perfect so you can never lose if you imagine it that way, i think you can do anything with dedication and you certainly seem to have that so chin up!

If you get bored doing studies remember you need to pay attention to what your studying, always focus on a certain part a little extra and it will sink in but be as creative as you can just training your eye won't make your own abilities magic need to do both.

You can do it! gogogo!

[Rassy]

Thanks for visiting my sketchbook. Awesome stuff you have here Faux, you seem to be on the right track. As I'm sure everyone has told you just keep at it and you'll see improvement. Your color studies are really promising. One thing you might want to try is starting small with several studies before painting a final. Kind of like a warm up. I do the same for figure studies, several small quick thumbnails to get warmed up then I move onto longer sketches. Keep up the good work.

[Sushy]

What program do you use for 3D? (I am a total n00b to that xD)
Don't forget to post some drawings too :V

[James Thomas]

Oranghe -> Thats for the advice buddy, anytime too.

Rassy -> Yeah ive been meaning to do smaller more specific studies..slowly trying haha

Sushy -> I use Autodesk maya 2011, i also have 3ds Max also...which i find easier but apparently it aint as good (no idea why) if your a student u can get them free, otherwise they cost an arm and a leg.


Sorry for no update peeps, i am extremely..extremely ill..
Infact i dont think ive ever had this many sickness's at the one time.
I am on over 8 pills of anti-biotics a day, + 1 small pill that must be quite important..since its the smallest one and looks evil..
Anyways, ontop of sickness, i have swollen tonsils, 2 simultaneous ulcers, a cut on my tongue and top lip, and now i have a lump on my tonsils right under my tongue.
....Oh and apparently i have a testicular Cyst too.

My point being, if youve got a problem in life, just look at that list above..
It also has opened my eyes that once i get better, i am going to work my ass off, as for now i can barely sit still without feeling death is close by..Enjoy

[Seraph Fawkes]

K mate if you want improve your skills here's tips:

* less opacity in brushes (I do 100% brush with checked "Transfer on pressure" in PS - it gives me enough control over opacity with just pressure on pen)
* more vibrant, saturated colors - don't be afraid of them
* indeed painting of blank white canvas will throw your perception away
* better way to understand values - paint from references, b\w photos

[MrFrenik]

I agree with fawkes - do a lot more reference studies. I've been doing more portraits lately. Check them out if you'd like to see some.

[James Thomas]

Finally i am not sick, i guess it really makes u take health for granted when u complain your "bored" of doing art. but i am honestly craving it more than ever, i am so bored of lying around dying of sickness....Heres hoping to some good solid work ahead, i surely think so!

Seraph Fawkes -> Thanks for your feedback, i will try to attack everything this week
aswell as anyone else who has given me some advice ill try taking it all onboard

MrFrenik -> Sounds good, i will check them out asap :]

[James Thomas]

Ok i figured id show u my method, this is my normal method, i assume its like painting..start off with some lights, work ur way darker..
I think its quite easy to see my method with these step-by-step images.
I really hope u can give me feedback based on these pics, i have been given alot of advice, but this might help you help me which would be much appreciated!

for stage 4. i used opacity dark grey ontop, just a real quick wash over certain areas, and lastly i used a 60% opacity white for the random highlights.
stage 1- 5 minutes
stage 2 - 10 minutes
stage 3 -20 minutes
stage 4- 10 minutes. Roughly it took about an hour.
Any opinions and feedback would help me alot, i will be posting alot more tomorro so hopefully i get feedback before then

[Lumens]

Hello Faux,

My apologies for my late response.
It is a bit tricky to give advice without echoing what has already been said
as there is alot of good advice in here.

On your previous page i believe you where drawing from loomis figure drawing for all its worth, i know its a bit redundent by now but Loomis really helps at this point for simplefying forms and understanding planes and structure.
Do not worry about memorising names of all the muscles and bones,
one good method for learning anatomy of say an arm for example is to draw it from an anatomy book ( several times ) , then get rid of all your ref and try to draw it from memory. It also helps to read these books..the man has incredible insights!

about your last painting, one thing that can really improve future work like this other than good proportions is drapery practice.
here is a link to dynamic drapery: http://www.scribd.com/doc/2176759/Bu...es-and-Drapery

Sooo good job on the last piece. i can see improvement already!
the key is consistency.. try to do atleast one hour of practice every day.

[IrinaK]

A Faux , Good studies! Keep it up!

[James Thomas]

Lumens -> Thanks for the thorough response, i will try to hit some fundementals aswell as some specific, ive taken quite a strong approach to learning now, i am treating it like a job, i will be trying to do 9-5 with regular "work" breaks.
That should beat the pants off 1 hour a day ey

IrinaK-> Thanks buddy, i shall try my best you too!

---------------------------------------------------------------
Working Day: 1

Today was the first day of me trying to work 9-5, work hours, with acceptable breaks, i will try 5 days a week + weekends i will do some more work anyway, but if i cant i cant, weekend isnt too stressful.
So far i think it worked out nicely, i didnt feel rushed, and i didnt feel like i didnt get enough done, i think i got a decent amount done for my first day, and with time i will only get faster and better, which is EXACTLY what i want
i guess ill be keeping my concepart sketchbook as a bit of a log, see how it works out, i definently havent tried this method of working full days, but its nice to know u can relax after 5pm

I won't go into tones of detail, but Below is:
Some loomis work
Some memory work based on loomis
A quick 20 minute reference piece, was just mucking with it
And a 4-Stage "work in progress" piece. a 1 hour piece- I enjoyed it.
Altogether my day was about 5 hours,+ 1.5 hours break.
I am going to try to increase that to 6.5 hours wen i can.
Wish me luck!

[James Thomas]

Working day 2:

ok well i didnt know whether i wud qualify this as a working day, it was a fair poor effort, i had to skip friday, so this is saturdays work, and it was barely over 2 hours because i had my girlfriend over, but i did learn a few things id like to hope =], so, for the hell of it its a work day now

i think ill do a casual day tomorrow and then do a proper workings week worth!! be epic
-any topic recommendations or advice feel free and i will tackle it during the week for sures :]

[Sushy]

Glad to see you back Keep working ~

[James Thomas]

Sushy -> Ty as always, long live gundam folks

First one was a waste of time, it really isnt productive coloring like an imbocile.
Second one is turned B+w, adjusted the color in photoshop and kept b+w, i think if colored it might have some potential, but clearly the top one is very silly.
overall i dont mind the composition and i think its a good idea, i certainly might come back to something lava related...i do indeed like the orange and now am thinking i shud color in much more solids of course.

hopefully i learn alot more during the week of "work days" that are to come!

[Lumens]

It is good to see you pushing yourself Faux, good job!
and it's hard to start drawing in photoshop isn't it?

spending whole workdays on practice is great, just keep in mind that the moment you take a day off it'll be CRAZY hard to get your momentum back..
tht's what happend to me for the last two weeks

If you need motivation, or if you just want to listen to something while you work perhaps give the crimson dagger stream a shot?
I really learned a ton just listening to dan talking every day.

keep it up!

[James Thomas]

Lumens -> Thanks bro, some good points there!

Day 3: Today wasnt very productive, i started off well, then was in an immense amount of pain due to 2 illness's located in the same area, i certainly am striking it unlucky. Tried to get back on the horse but could quite.

Hopefully i make up for it later in the week, i guess i cant do anything about being injured...Below is me experimenting with colors, solids vs. opacities/layering in ps. personally i like the solids better.
i used solids with the jack sparrow WiP also, but b+w is alot easier, i guess i shall do that for the time being more often at least. Enjoy xD crits welcome zz