Kai tries to suck less

[vilify]

Hi! I'm a brand new member here, but I've lurked for a while. My name is Kai and I'm 24. I've got older sketches on my tumblr, but to start off I figured I'd post the stuff I did this last week.

[Psychobuddy]

Lovely studies...I guess just keep it up!

[vilify]

Thanks Psychobuddy!

[p sage]

Good start!

Try to forget the lines that contain the people (contour) and instead look for the big shapes (chest/hips/midsection/etc)... and try and wrap your brain around the masses. Contours will come later. Your drawings will look more solid, be easier for you to do, and the lines will just be how you dress up everything.

[vilify]

Thanks, p sage!

I tried to focus on that with these gestures, but I guess while I cognitively understand the idea of doing shapes instead of lines, I'm having trouble with it. I had even more trouble with trying it with longer studies, so I tried to work out my issues with it with 30-second gestures and in truth it just seemed like they ended up no different than what I was doing before. I just got a lot more hand-cramps from trying to focus really hard on them and threw away half of them because they ended up a mass of unconnected squiggles.

Any suggestions on how to transition to working more with the general shapes would be appreciated. I mostly build things from my head up with shapes, and when I do longer studies I try to draw interconnecting guidelines on them to indicate the shapes and larger masses, but I feel like when I try to consciously focus on that I just make a mess everywhere and the only real change is that things end up stiffer. So I'm sure I'm not doing it right, but I can't figure out what doing it right should feel like.

[vilify]

Tried to slow down and managed to make less of a mess on these first two, though I still can't seem to figure it out.

A bunch of unimaginative doodles, and the last one is some scribbles from Game of Thrones screencaps.

[vilify]

Didn't get much done this week. Spent most of it cleaning the apartment, since the roommate's no help.

[vilify]

Just a small update. Some studies and some scribbles of tabletop RP characters - mine and the rest of the party.

[p sage]

Your 3D shape work is working OK... it just takes practice. You almost have to feel the mass of the object in your mind... and your pencil/pen has to stay connected to it at all times. It's sort of difficult to explain, but practice and try to get there. You will.

[vilify]

Thanks, P Sage. I guess I get impatient too quickly and forget learning is a process that happens over time. I spent so long trying to learn stuff from "easy" books and tutorials that try to sell the idea that you can just memorize a few tricks to art and be on your way. I think I need to confront that mindset a little more, because it's been as bad for me as my laziness.

[vilify]

Just a few more little things.

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Some practice, some scribbles from imagination, and the final draft of a commission that took way too long. I stopped taking them when I realized they weren't really helping me figure out how to draw, but it squeaked in before I closed them for real and I was afraid I might need the money at the time. It's a weight off my shoulder that it's done; I hate doing them because no matter how much time and work I put in I feel like I'm stealing people's money by giving them such a flawed product.

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A little practice and some thumbnail ideas.

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Small update

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Some studies and a speedpaint. I need to do more work.

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Ugh, so little work lately. I've been having a lot of wrist pains and they've got me mentoring new hires at work. I'm trying to get back into the routine I was in, because it was working a lot better before, but I had a few setbacks and let it get to me.

[vilify]

Small update, because I had a completely Hyperbole and a Half response to drawing ALL the things.

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update?

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Some random crap, some cheesy fanart, and some observational stuff.

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Blahblah

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Some stuff came up, shamefully long time between posts.

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update

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[Nyoron]

ooo nice studies

keep going at it!

[Nisshoku]

Beautiful rendering technique! I love the warmth you use in your colors . Your studies are very nice too and I love the little faces you put on them . Keep drawin, you're on a roll!

[vilify]

Thank you so much, Nyoron and Nisshoku!

[syrella]

Good luck with your sketchbook! I'm sure you'll get to where you wanna be eventually. Just keep practicing!

(this is Sy from IRC)

[Hunin]

Lovely studies, I really enjoyed looking through your sketchbook and figure drawings. The Leyendecker copies are great, I hope you keep posting

[vilify]

Thank you so much, Hunin and Sy!

Gotta bunch of other stuff going right now, tried to wrap up a few things so they could get get posted and cut down on the quantity of things I can forget I was in the middle of.