The Underdog (Updated)

[Colour Coded]

This sketchbook serves as a recorded journal of my progress in art. Critiques are highly recommended during this journey. Have a great day!

Attached are random sketchbook doodles and a sketchbook piece colored in photoshop.
My goal is to stray away from a cartoony style i have been doing most of my life. I've been highly interested in fine art and painting as of late and invested alot of time and resources in the study of that subject. I'm taking the self taught road and have the confidence of adapting a personal style some day. It will take alot of grinding in the process but i am more than ready for this. And so it begins...

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Study of an Elk.

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Here are a few doodles and studies from the past month or so.

[karta tajba]

You are getting there, but some of your face studies are a little crooked,and I would check proportions on the neck, the guy with the beard's forehead is too long. Plus I would suggest you grab a copy of joe weatherly's guide to drawing animals. In the book, he say that making the legs of the animal too paralleled cause the legs to flat. Pay attention to curves on animal leg when doing studies. Focus on construction of the head as well. I see some strong stuff though and I have those problems I just mention myself. So don't feel bad.

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Karta: I appreciate the feedback. I definitely need to work proportions out on my heads. Thanks for the recommendation on animal studies. I'll have to check that book out.

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I've been sketching and studying alot lately. Here is a new batch of sketches. Critiques are highly appreciated.

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A few Digi's. Feedback Appreciated!

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Last update for the night. Looking back at my sketchbook i would say some of my weakness are: Weak lines, poor values, poor alignment on my faces and bland colors on my paintings. Now knowing my weaknesses i can work on perfecting them. Critiques are welcome.

[Aqualeot]

I like the first painting you posted and your sketches too. Since you say you want to get away from using a cartoony style, I would recommend drawing from life as much as you can and really observe how things and people look irl. I believe that is the best way to break through the habit of drawing symbols as to learn to draw more realistically and build up your visual memory and sketchbooks full of varied people and environments etc.

[Colour Coded]

I totally agree Aqualeot. And i want to point out what you said about drawing symbols. I'm drawing what i think i know and not what i see most of the times. I will definitely do more life studies. I feel my visual library is very limited. Thanks for the reply.

[Yemi775]

Thanks for stopping by man, i really appreciate it you are doing great yourself man. If you want to stay away from cartooning style i'll advice you do a lot of observational drawing. keep up the good work!

[Colour Coded]

Thanks Yemi and no problem! I'm working on it.

[LoudLikeNature]

Wow, your stuff, when you well decide to shade, has such an awesome amount of depth. Its not the detail, but the softness as well as the impression of 3 dimensionality. Its really great. And your colours are really good too. I have a suggestion, and that's to sometimes make-if painting- some parts soft, like you usually do or a abit more strokey/blotchy to add some texture detail. It wont look like detail per se, but it will give a stronger impression which will enhance and mix well with the soft shading you do already.

I do believe, firmly, that you have really, really solid techniques, you just gotta get away from, as you said, your cartoony style and find a more realistic sense of painting.

[Colour Coded]

LoudLikeNature: Thank You for the kind words! I will definitely take your advice.

[walnut]

Like those other guys said, you'll benefit a lot from focusing on life studies. Right now the pictures you're showing are a mix of stuff you've observed correctly and stuff you're just pulling out of your hat. Also if you say you want to get into picture making it won't hurt to start thinking about how to put together a coherent picture. That means thinking about composition, ideation, where the light and where the dark bits go, and of course colour theory. That's a lot to go for, so probably it's best to take things one at a time. Maybe not a bad idea to indeed pick one study subject at a time and focus on that for a while?

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Walnut: I couldn't agree any more. I will definitely be picking a study and staying on it. I tend to half ass certain things i'm studying. I'm not studying my subjects enough.

[Candra H]

Thanks for stopping by my SB.

You've got some really good stuff in here and are on the right track to getting better and better. Everyone's already given good advice and you know yourself what you need to do so I'll just say, keep going and good luck!

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A lifestudy and Anatomy from memory. Challenges i've run into on the life study is value ranges. I'm still learning how to "read" values. Quick sketch of anatomy was more of a doodle. I recalled certain parts of the body better than others but i want to master the whole body overall.

[ForScience]

Thanks for dropping by my sketchbook. i like the variety of subjects media and styles that you have going on here. I am a big fan of that approach to art.

With that still life you posted, you need to be a bit more careful about measuring your proportions, the stems of the bottles are much longer in proportion to the bodies. When drawing a subject, especially one that has a single light source like your still life. It is best to think about the subject in terms of a "light side" and a "Dark Side". There may be vale variation within those sides, but the values in your light side will never get as dark as the values on the side that is not getting direct light, and vice versa. Figuring this concept out was one of the most profound breakthroughs in my art. I hope it helps. Let me know if the idea needs more explanation or a paintover.

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ForScience: Thank You for the kind words and advice. Any critiques helps me on this journey. As far as my still life goes. I can see where you pointed out my weakness! The light and dark method is a bit confusing to me though as i see value dispersed everywhere and not just on one side. I don't know maybe i'm looking at what's in front of me wrong. I will definitely use your advice though, Thanks.

Here is a little update full of random studies and still life.

[Psychotime]

Is there a reason so many of your scanned images are reversed? Just asking.

[Cabbage Caterpillar]

Hey Colour Coded, Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook. Your work is very interesting. Other than the still-life and studies, do you mostly draw from imagination? I really like that graphic design look to it.

[Ian Barker]

Keep working on your basic forms, things like spheres and cubes. For example I can see that the cups aren't drawn right (basic cylinders). Once you have simple forms ironed out it will really help with understanding the proportions of complex forms like the head.

Good luck and keep up the hard work! Draw draw draw

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Psychotime: Nope, my scanner put them in that way and i never bothered to flip it haha.

Cabbage: Thanks! Yea i do alot from imagination. Recently in the past few months i have been using references to solidify my mental dictionary. I am still doing so.

Ian: Thanks! Yea i noticed my cups were horribly done. I will take your advice.

[Aqualeot]

Great start with the still life! Maybe for next time, set up a light source with a more obvious light from one direction so you can practicing light and dark that way? If you have a lot of natural light, maybe draw when it is dark outside. Just to get the concepts clearly demonstrated at first. Just my suggestion as a beginner here

[Aqualeot]

This sticky thread is really helpful too: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...n-and-try-some

[Colour Coded]

Aqualeot thank you for the critique and recommendation. My light source was too advanced for me. Ill definitely practice more definitive lighting situations.

[kevin_]

i think theres potential here! a lot of the stylized stuff looks good, keep it up!

[Colour Coded]

Kevin: Thank you!

[AdrianNagorski]

Thanks for the critique man! i really like your still life pencil drawings. try cross hatching in the shading instead of smudging, softly one directional strokes. i think that will work better
keep it up !