To The Top [Study Group]

[takashmen]

All we want to do is to IMPROVE and have fun...

Assignment Zero

1. introduce yourself: nick name, age, future plans, explain what do you want to learn here, point your strengths and weaknesses, write about things you like do paint/draw most.
2.Visit other members' sketchbooks and point out his/her most important strengths and weaknesses (make your crit in this forum!). Be constructive. Feel free to do this for multiple/all the members.
3. (optional) influence map
you can also just write what inspire you the most and about your favourite artists
influence map sheet
---------------------------------------
how i would like to start:

first of all, before we start practicing
theory background is need so...
topics:
1. composition 2. color theory 3. lightning 4. perspective 5. anatomy-> figure drawing -> character design 6. texturing 7. digital painting techniques 8. your topic

all topics will be supported with practical tasks

also if you've got library of useful links, references, photos, textures, brushes, tutorials

share with us, will pay back

OUR GOAL
-to improve
-gain knowledge
-to motivate each other and criticize
----------------->

IMPROVE

CURRENT MEMBERS
takashmen
tintan
cloudcan
Rixoul
Kharnaghe

dear visitor if you just passing by
leave comment and/or crit about what we are discussing or doing
also feel free to join even for a while (if interested in current topic)

will do assignment 0 soon

[Kharnaghe]

Hey takashmen. My name is darksoulzero (hopefully it'll change soon). I'm 22, and my future plan is to be an illustrator. With this study group I really want to learn to paint. I draw quite a bit using traditional media and I have willing teachers that help, so I'm not too concerned about that now. My main weakness would probably be painting. I think I'm decent at drawing, but I know I still need to improve. I really want to work on my painting skills.

As of right now, I don't have an influence map, nor am I particularly influenced by any specific artist. But I'm sure as I study more about painting I'll find some.

[takashmen]

hi darksoulzero
nice to have you here

my assignment 0
i'm 18 (turning 19 in Sep), in october i'm starting architecture studies, but don't really know if it was a good choice
i'm also thinking about becoming concept artist, but at this moment nothing is certain

but as art is giving me lot of fun i'm going constantly develop my skills

talking about influence and inspiration(quiet a lot of them)
the main are:
http://sparthconstruct.blogspot.com/
http://flaptraps.blogspot.com/
http://artbytheo.deviantart.com/
http://tarrzan.deviantart.com/
http://www.tinfoilgames.com/
http://www.maciejkuciara.blogspot.com/
http://jamajurabaev.deviantart.com/
http://kekai.blogspot.com/
http://barontieri.deviantart.com/gallery/
and many others
i don't try to be like any of them just analyze their works and subconsciously i get inspire by their art

the key to finding artists you like is to visit lots of blogs mark on every posted site

all right so what topic do you prefer for the start
composition? or color theory i guess gray scale is not a problem for you due to drawing experience?

show some of your drawings

[Kharnaghe]

Actually, since I'm a first year student, we mostly focus on the foundations. We haven't touched upon grey scales yet. They just want us to learn how to draw in proportion, how to measure angles, negative space, and practice anatomy. They also want us to draw from life. Alot. So anything's fair game.

I actually like this guy's work:

http://kekai.blogspot.com/

and this guy

http://www.francois-baranger.com/home.htm.

The latter is french.


As for my drawings, they're mostly anatomical and figure studies, so I don't really post them. I can show my latest work though. I've only recently started trying to incorporate some of my influences/inspirations. I'll post em in a sec. brb

[takashmen]

all right so before color we will hit gray scale first, also in drawing if you like.

can you share some notes from drawing classes or theory that you remembered
i'm especially interested in negative space cause i use it intuitively

drawings look nice

have you painted digitally already?

[Kharnaghe]

haha, sure. I'll post some notes. But what my art teachers do is give a 20 min talk explaining it while doing a drawing, and then we, the students, practice for about 2-3 hours while they walk around correcting our mistakes and guiding us.
So we don't really get notes, but I can show you in a couple of pics. They also talked about angles and guidelines. I'll post some pics explaining those too, if you want me too.

As for digital painting, I tried a while back but refocused on pencils and ink. I trying now, but it still sucks. I was actually in the middle of doing a study with skin tones and stuff.

Oh, and if you have any questions you want me to ask my professors just tell me.

[takashmen]

i was attending for two years a preparation classes for architecture and i'm into drawing but i learned in some other way

angels and guidelines are not a problem for me
but i'm curious how you define and describe negative space and how it is used in drawing

and sure show some pics all notes too maybe i will find something useful

at the moment i've got no questions but possibly after reading your notes they will appear.

[tintan]

Hello Troy here! I'm 18 as well. I aim to be a character concept artist/illustrator, but of course that's subject to change in the future most likely.

I came here to improve my rendering skills, namely environment, colors and lighting. I enjoy drawing a lot of stylized characters, but then I realize that I need to start putting them in environments and stuff.

As for influence and inspiration, I have this folder full of pictures from my favorite artists and other artists as well. However most are rather heavily stylized. While I do have a cartoon character design folder, I have a separate one for digital paintings


http://chichapie.deviantart.com/
http://loish.deviantart.com/
http://biffno.deviantart.com/
http://idrawgirls.blogspot.com/
http://elsasketch.blogspot.com/
and many more



I believe we should begin with composition first

[takashmen]

thanks tintan for links
i've just saved some great color schemes

so as you enjoyed stylized characters we can also include this topic to our list.

composition post coming

[takashmen]

COMPOSITION

there's so many things to rise up while talking about composition, but i will try do it as practical as i can
if you don't agree with something or have questions do not hesitate to write it

Definition of composition
it's simply planning viewer line of eyesight
(skillful driving eyesight of viewer thorough the image)

to this parts we drive eyes:
1. faces, if appearing on image, they attract viewer attention the most--->
more detailed element.
2. focal point -> the brightest area of work, on element we want to stress and is the most important for us.

(this two i know)

Types of composition

GOLDEN RATIO
mathematical conception, based on proportion 1,618/1 most often taking the form of logarithmic spiral
by this spiral we get harmonic proportions and eye is lead to central point->>focal point (calling it central point it doesn't mean that it is placed in center of image)

http://gulcugil.tripod.com/golden_spiral.htm
here's link to examples in classic masters work
later i will create custom shape of logarithmic spiral


rule of tripartite division(Rule of thirds)
much more easier to apply then spiral
---> it's simply dividing image with 4 lines
in 1/3 and 2/3 of width and hight of work

4 points of intersection are created
---> focal point should be placed in (only) one of this points
the most important elements of work should be placed along lines

rule of triangles
(i've never used it)
this one is applied when above mentioned doesn't work

for example


another rules of composition
-repeatability of elements
-creating groups

that's all for now
if you think that i omitted sth. important --> write it!

[lazerpixie]

Hi guys, I hope I'm not too late here!

I'm a 22 year old online strategist specialising in SEO and web design. I'm new here and to be honest I haven't really drawn regularly in years.

I used to love drawing, but life got in the way and with running my own business and contracting, time to do just about anything else is almost nonexistent. However, I still think about drawing and get ideas on a regular basis, so I figured it's time to make time. I recently bought an Intuos4, mostly to be used for my web design and some graphics work, but it would also be perfect to get back into drawing again. When I did draw regularly, I really didn't like the time consuming and fiddly aspect of sketching on paper, scanning work in, then coloring it in Photoshop with a mouse. With a tablet, the process will likely be much more enjoyable and streamlined for me. Don't get me wrong, I love drawing on paper and doodle regularly - but I've always preferred digital art and look forward to the essential time I'll save if I can avoid inking by hand and scanning.

I don't really feel comfortable critiquing other people's work at this time as I've been away from drawing for so long!

I don't have a favorite artist, but I love games concept art. Specifically MMO concept art. I used to work at a games company and MMORPGs are by far my favorite type of game. I just find Guild Wars art completely breathtaking (although I'm biased as it's actually my favorite MMO), but also sometimes spend ages looking at RIFT art. I think this is what I would most be influenced by.

[takashmen]

it's never too late
nice to have you with us lazerpixie

i'm also GW fan played it for long time

do you have any input to composition discussion? or waiting for some practice?

[lazerpixie]

it's never too late
nice to have you with us lazerpixie

i'm also GW fan played it for long time

do you have any input to composition discussion? or waiting for some practice?

Thanks, takashmen. Not much input just yet, mostly waiting for some practice! Pretty much the only composition guideline I've ever consciously noticed has been in my experience as a hobbyist model. Every professional photographer I've ever worked with seems to follow the rule of thirds as you described above and consciously avoids placing the focal point and model in general smack dab in the center of the frame. I don't think I've ever had a photographer send me a single finished shot from one of our shoots with the model being aligned in the middle of the shot. Although I've seen some amazing work that has done that, in most cases avoiding a perfectly centered image seems to produce the best results, just from what I've observed in passing. But I'm certainly no expert!

[takashmen]

i'm not expert too

i knew i would forget about something...

features of composition

1. dynamic -> this effect gives us creating diagonal layout of image
(example: rotating camera angle, adding some floating objects and so one)
also accumulation of objects is helpful
dynamism can be achieved by scatter elements, and by controlled chaos (sounds a bit silly)

2. quieted this feature can be achieved by creating some kind of orderliness and by symmetry

3. geometrical composition lays between dynamic and quieted, the typical ting of this is lack of symmetry. the quieted composition can be broken by dominant and the viewer will focus on dominant

that's all at this moment

as a practice we can start with flat compositions
choosing one of types posted above then pass to some thumbs

another helpful thing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1McYZX6KScg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-zMZnckGes

Feng Zhu talks a lot about how to lead viewer eyes

[tintan]

Thanks so much for the videos. I already learned so much with his videos

His knowledge of using shapes, direction and elements to manipulate the flow of the composition is very excellent. This is helping my composition problems now

[takashmen]

no problem mate

this is some flat compo practice


of course we can pass on to thumbs in gray scale

or first hit some color theory and then pass to painting

[takashmen]

i didn't mention what rules has this assignment

creating at least 3 types of composition using max 4 geometric figure

also usage of colors is acceptable

let's make it quick to pass on something more interesting

i know everybody want to do epic enviros and characters, but basics are the most important issue at the moment

[cloudcan]

Aiight sorry for the lateness.. wasn't feeling too well yesterday, and stayed in bed all day. But here I am now!

My Assignment Zero
1. You guys can call me J! I'm 18 but turning 19 in a few days (ohmy) Future plans: Career wise, I want to be a concept artist - it's my dream job, it's the best sounding job I've come across ^_^ Of course anything could change in a few years, but I will always love art. I just plan to get a good foundation in art for now and become awesome. Haha, long way to go! Through this group, I want to learn a few specific things, such as environment/composition/anatomy (most of all basic skills, in fact) but I also hope to learn to become motivated, motivate others, be strong and dedicated towards my goal, and learn to get along with others.
I believe my strengths to be color theory and having fun drawing humans. My weaknesses are everything else (composition, environments, perspective, accurate anatomy, technology/mecha...) I like to paint sexy sff girls in costumes that don't make functional sense. >_>
Influence map... hard for me as I'm influenced by everything I see. Anything I really like, I save in a folder and look through sometimes. I'll try to make a list sometime xD
2. Peer SB critiques!
Takashmen - I love love LOVE your environments, you seem to have a good sense of the whole. However maybe try some tighter detailing/rendering on specific areas of focus, I only see rough images.
Tintan - Interesting style! Loving your sense of lighting and environment colors. Maybe try some rough stuff (all your pieces are smooth-shaded) it might not be your thing but it's great to try different ways of doing something sometimes.
Rixoul - can't find your sketchbook!
lazerpixie - can't find your sketchbook!
Kharnaghe - You could do more with confident flowing lines, in a lot of your sketches/studies, your lines are quite cautious and scratchy passing over the same outline many times. You could work a lot on proportions of the face, too. Great to see you focusing on studies and applying them though, loved the winged/chain skeleton sketches.

Wow so many great links, thanks everyone, I'll have quite a busy time carefully checking each out xD
Also for composition check out this link http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/135/120/index.php It's quite extensive and has a lot of examples, though it's more traditionally based, it has nearly everything I've read about composition and I think it's definitely worth a read if you haven't already.

Going to some of those links then trying out the flat composition assignment. Looks like a great start guys


Edit: Here is my try at 'flat composition' I am not sure if I did it right... what I got from this was, dynamic = slanted, stable=horizontal, and I was kind of confused about the third one. Help would be appreciated
Woops

Oh and here's a nice link I found while googling: http://www.imagist.com/teach/columbi..._docs_wk06.pdf Goes a little deeper into what Takashmen was talking about, and has a few diff exercises we could do, too, with some modification (cuz some people like me might not have paints to fool around with, heh)

Also, http://www.elementsofcinema.com/cine...mposition.html has nice examples taken from movies.

[takashmen]

hi J, glad that you are here!

hmm, making a list of inspirations doesn't sound a good idea for me, why to restrict yourself
i don't even have folder
i just checking my favorites blogs for time to time
---------------
Totally forgot about criticizing your SB
-cloudcan you've got nice anatomy bg an character design, also gray scale in not a problem for you, but you need more photo and still life studies

that will allow you create library of textures and details

also in the last pic from GW screen you didn;t pay much attention to texture and details
there's no need to hurry, study well and slow

i know that creating speeds is tempting, but at this stage studyies are the most important

tintan you are "escaping" into cartoon style and when you paint some works, but when you get into realistic painting you run into trouble of
readability (not a big problem)
lack of anatomy (face of girl) (i have the same problem, will deal with that)
also while doing studies don't hurry, make it nearly perfect matching

for landscapes (composition too ) i have some book
Jack_Hamm_-_Drawing_Scenery_Seascapes_And_Landscapes
haven't go thorough it yet...

[cloudcan]

Updated original post

@Takashmen I don't think of it as 'restricting' myself, I just like to save the best of my favorites, to remind myself the level I want to get to. Kind of like your 'top influence map'. Like I said, I get inspired by anything and everything, haha

Thanks for the crit, I avoided photo studies in the past because people impressed on me how bad copying from photo was. Obviously that's not entirely true so I do plan on doing more still life / photo studies. ^_^

As for the GW screen .. I felt like I was taking too much time xD How much time would you recommend to spend on these? as long as it takes to get the details pretty well rendered?

And let me look up that Jack Hamm book

[takashmen]

i had the same opinion about photo studies before i started my thread on CA

still life benefits even more than photostudies also plain air drawing / painting

exactly as long as it takes to get the details pretty well rendered

to your flat compo
hold that horses plan more, first do sketch, than start filling it
don't be chaotic and messy
first one is the best from first 3
u mean geometric one?
it's the one with dominant
first create static one than break it with dominant, but still it must have sense as composition

[tintan]

Wow you guys are moving so fast. I'll be posting later since I have to get to school

EDIT:

tintan you are "escaping" into cartoon style and when you paint some works, but when you get into realistic painting you run into trouble of
readability (not a big problem)
lack of anatomy (face of girl) (i have the same problem, will deal with that)
also while doing studies don't hurry, make it nearly perfect matching

Yeah I do realize that. Doing my best to get to realism, because I started out drawing stylized (which was kind of one of my biggest mistakes in my art path). But you're right, I shouldn't be hurrying on my studies. Will do


And for cloudcan, welcome! I enjoy your rendering, efficient and your drawings and environments show potential for atmosphere and mood

[takashmen]

all for now

[cloudcan]

@tintan Thanks!
@Takashmen Lol yes I do have a tendency to be impatient and try to rush through. I tried again sketching slowly first. Man is this waay harder than it seems > Did I do geometric one right? (breaking static with dominant?)

[Kharnaghe]

Guys, I don't really understand this composition thing. Do you have better, more detailed links? besides cloudcan's links, nothing was very useful for a beginner.

Anyway here're my attempts.

Basically I did them in order from the bottom one up.

[Kharnaghe]

Guys, for the next exercise I say we do 100 value studies.

[takashmen]

Guys, I don't really understand this composition thing. Do you have better, more detailed links? besides cloudcan's links, nothing was very useful for a beginner.

you aren't right Kharnaghe. And leaving something because you don't understand won't help you improve

" creating at least 3 types of composition using max 4 geometric figure"
with keeping repeatability of shapes

this exercise teach abstract and creative thinking
how make something interesting using circles, squares, rectangles and triangles.
and please write what you don't understand i will try to explain it widely

Guys, for the next exercise I say we do 100 value studies.

relax, everything will be done i think before that revising perspective is necessary

@cloudcan this time you did far more better!
remember that even if compo is dynamic it doesn't mean that is completely chaotic ---> it has some order as well




Here are some topics that need to illustrate with flat compo

1.silent
2. scream
3. monument
4.explosion
5. air-raid
6.wind
7. storm
8. rock concert
9. classical music concert

remember

it's all about abstract thinking

do two of them that's not a problem and then those you can't imagine

[cloudcan]

@Kharnaghe I don't see what the problem is... As a compositional 'beginner', Takashmen's explanations were very useful to me. If you need more specific explanations, try looking them up.. that's what I do when I don't understand something. Or at least ask a specific detailed question on what you don't get, instead of asking for 'better links' xD

@Takashmen Wow where do you get all these great exercise ideas? You have a great point about chaos vs order as well and repeating shapes, thank you for the helpful notes

Adding to first two but it didn't turn out quite well .. still learning Also some first few of the 'themed' abstract compositions, tried to have more order and repeating elements..

[takashmen]

we are here to help each other

this exercise (and more which i'm gonna use later) i did during intense 1 year preparation for exams on architecture
(i didn't made them out)

i like the idea of rock concert,
the monument is too chaotic for me
and try to go further with scream and storm, using some ideas from earlier compos but transforming them

[cloudcan]

Ok here are some more I did taking your suggestions

I'll probably be doing tons of these today evening haha. Any critiques/suggestions for me? I'm thinking I should use more 'basic' shapes like circle/rectangle, and try not to box myself in (trying to learn from your examples xD)