cara's sketchbook - 9/22

[carakhan]

Thanks Satu!

Playing around with ideas for CHOW this week...

/edit: WOOO PAGE 4!

[carakhan]

Tattoo designs for a friend:

[carakhan]

Random doodles and a quick study of Scully that did not go so well...

[bish0p2004]

Great stuff, man. Nice sketches and paintings. I really like the figure drawings on page 6.

[Harmageddon]

Hey carakhan, great draings in here! Thanks again for your advice on the hatching, I've decided to practice that in the coming weeks.
Nice pencils btw, what am I saying, great pencils! I like them better than your photoshop stuff - there seems to be a more fluid flow in your pencilwork. Maybe get that flow into your photoshop stuff as well? You'd become awesome

[Snyder]

Heee, as I scrolled down I thought: "Ah, cool, a picture of scully!".
And then read your description.
"a quick study of Scully that did not go so well..." - So much for that.

I like the versatility in your sketchbook, so keep going!

[carakhan]

bish0p2004: thanks for stopping by!
Harmageddon: aw thanks, its so interesting to show my stuff to an outside perspective, I have a hatred for traditional sketching and I'm trying to force myself to do it more! I do notice though that shading is easier with a pencil, rather then blending it in photoshop, where I get lazy. Is that what you mean?
Snyder: Hey, you recognized her! Can't be that bad then I'm my own worst critic...
A two night study from character designs... I'm happy with the outcome but her face is way off. Reminds me I need to do perspective practice.

[carakhan]

Taking another stab at CHOW, a lot of anatomy issues though so I think I may just use this as a thumbnail. Due tomorrow so it's going to be a hard rush to the finish! Still want to make it more grand, more fantastic environment without overwhelming it. We'll see what happens I guess!

[carakhan]

Chickened out on starting over... but damnit is this even better? Struggling with way too many things.

[carakhan]

Just "finished" in time for the deadline, I'm having fun with it so I want to keep going though, add some detail.

[Snyder]

The chick from post #187... I think I have used the same reference in a pencil drawing some time ago: Link

btw. good luck for your chow entry

[carakhan]

The chick from post #187... I think I have used the same reference in a pencil drawing some time ago: Link

btw. good luck for your chow entry

haha yea there's only so many images on the character designs website, good enough for practice though!

As for CHOW... I'm taking a huge hint from the poll and taking a step back. Obviously not enough time spent on character design... which I've never been very good at. Next time it's character on plain background, I need to focus!

[carakhan]

Sketching for CHOW, having fun with this one- so much fun I saved out my jpeg and then saved over the psd with my smaller image and kept sketching -_-

[carakhan]

Before work, 20 min - reference from character designs, then drew over. Ref here Face was thrown together, should have been more careful with it

[carakhan]

Been drawing so much, it feels awesome. Figure drawings are about 5 min, skeleton studies more like 20. Did some initial sketches for CHOW but I don't think I'm going to keep going.

[carakhan]

Been learning a lot on illustrationfixation.com and been studying from anatomy websites I found on there. Also some life drawings from work, and a random image that popped into my head. Crappy drawing but I feel a concept in there.

[carakhan]

Redoing the sketch above, gotta fix anatomy the arms feel like they're dislocated. Looking at all of this for reference, and I set up a cloth still life to study which is a first for me.
http://rensstocknstuff.deviantart.co...20throne&qo=81
http://grinmir-stock.deviantart.com/...0throne&qo=220
http://vlsi.colorado.edu/~rbloem/david.html mostly because it's always lit from above
http://browse.deviantart.com/resourc...t=240#/d2kgcw9

[Steveland]

Liking it, the only thing that is a bit off to me is that his hand (his left, my right) looks like its backward, like he's twisting it around painfully.

[carakhan]

Steveland: thank you! I definitely see what you mean. Here's the latest, I pushed it forward more. I knew something was wrong with it but didn't see it until you pointed out
Also pushed the body more in shadow, worked on the face and finding the design a bit.

[Tides]

Love your studies, imaginative creations. I really like the tat designs. which one did they get?

[carakhan]

Tides - thanks dude, they weren't what he was expecting so I'm trying to make another go at it. They want less blocky, more tribal influence.

Been watching a lot of videos (thanks CA!) and going to figure drawing. First is from watching the Generating Ideas video class, then some sketches during meetings and figure drawing

[carakhan]

Still working on this guy...

[carakhan]

More skulls...

[carakhan]

I have a traditional version of this going as well but I'm just so scared of paint...

[carakhan]

Still workin on him! Went to figure drawing today too but left my newsprint at work. Maybe tomorrow...

[carakhan]

Worked on the clouds tonight

[carakhan]

This is an older assignment, but I thought it would be useful and should be a must for anyone studying the figure. After a figure session, lay tracing paper down and with the help of an anatomy reference, try to place the bones underneath the skin. Then on another layer, lay down the muscles. Immensely helpful. Original figure drawn in conte, and then colored pencil for the overlays.

[dierat]

Hey cara, nice sketchbook!

Your figure studies are coming along nicely; I especially enjoy the sitting man in post #201. Your lines are loose but confident and the figure feels natural and lifelike. In your imaginative work, I find your more opaque painting technique much more attractive, but that may simply be a matter of style. I really like your tree temple (or village?) painting in post #204, particularly the subtle balance of nighttime colors. And the dude with a cat is really developing into something interesting. For me, right now, the armor on his right arm and the cat come through the best, and I think that may be because the texture you're producing with your small, semi-transparent strokes feel very natural to those surfaces. I don't think it's working as well for you on the skin (stomach and left arm) or cloth because those surfaces lack noticeable texture. In those areas, it comes off a bit muddy and indecisive to me. I think broader, smoother strokes with a larger brush might work better in those particular areas. (But that, as I already mentioned, might simply be a difference in style and taste.) For a little nitpick, I think the edge on the shadow just above his elbow (below his armlet) is too sharp; form shadows are typically softer and the sharp transition makes his arm feel box-y or rectangular rather than rounded.

Sorry for the long post, and keep up the good work!

[carakhan]

Ah thank you so much dierat! That is exactly what I needed to hear, and I agree with everything you said. I knew the arm was wrong, but didn't know why, so I've been ignoring it And you're right about the muddiness too, unfortunately I've been playing around with this piece so much and haven't been very confident in color and now some parts of it are starting to fall apart.
I appreciate the comments and can't wait to get back into this tonight.

[carakhan]

Decided to give my painting a bit of breathing room and do some studies.

Portraits from reference found in the ref forum, gestures under 1 min at figure class. 40 min figure study from life that I now see tons of problems with. Had fun rendering though As usual, I need to slow down.