Fishspawn's Journey

[Fishspawn]

Hyptosis - thanks for checking up on me so often!

guitarjames - thanks, i have the same dilemma :/

Okay, it's now about 3 weeks from portfolio day where i can test my metal against 20+ colleges in one day, so i've gotta build a rock awesome portfolio. Thats where you guys step in. I'd really appriciate it if you would post your 1-3 favorite things from this thread and let me know what you think should be in my portfolio and why. My parents and I, along with a friend/teacher are going to be deciding on what to put in, but i'd like some input from the CA community as well.

So tell me what you like! Within a week or two i'll post my portfolio and then let you know how portfolio day was.

Just so i'm not posting without art, here's a PS doodle i did while some friends were playing Halo.

[guitarjames]

hey ,
i i like this one(i will post the link and not the image)http://conceptart.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1158303330

and ithink this is my fav digii http://conceptart.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1158303330

I have a crit on that pic ,i think your using small low opacity brushes to cover large areas, which means a lot of values are prouduced and ends up looking a bit like murky water . Next time you do one show us your process and we could help you .

keep it up james.

p.s do you have halo / xbox live?

[armando]

Environments: Forget speed, worry about making your images right, that they be believable. Get some books on painting, color theory, order gnomon dvds, learn the basic enviro archetypes. Overall there's too many gestures, both in the environments and figures. Gestures are too vague, anything can be seen in them, you need to practice being specific too. Like that enviro at the top of this page, those could be rocks or buildings, I don't know unless you show me.
I liked this one for it's clarity of form, and lighting effect http://conceptart.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1159333781. The head is clearly an egg, nice hint of a core at the jaw and forehead, subtle hint at an eye. Good use of line on the profile, it closes the form giving an otherwise nebulus tone solidity. Good choices at when to use line or value, like the strong line you put on the side of the waist, which brightens up that part of the body. Most people put there strong lines in the darks, I think it's better to put them in the lights, in order to contain the form and make it pop, let the form disappear in the darks like it does in reality. I don't like the lower body so much, should have overlapped that foot, forms aren't as clear, feet look weird.
Also thought this one was okay http://conceptart.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1158298086, good expression and foreshortening. Crits: Forms aren't too clear, that raised leg should be in light, the shadow on her waist looks like a birthmark, lots of things that should be in light are in halftone, could have gotten better foreshortening by overlapping the shin with the foot and stressing the curve on that cast shadow.
I'm showing this page because I want to stress the importance of knowing what your marks mean http://conceptart.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1158467197. It's not the amount of studies we make that's important, but that they are a concentrated effort at understanding some specific thing. Use your instrument to focus your thinking, drawing a lot without thinking is like walking miles and going no where in particular. The first meaning of line is that it describes the contours of the forms. It is a tactile impression and a conceptual one, in that we can draw the lines as we see them and feel them, and by what we know of anatomy and draughtsmanship, using those lines to describe the basic conceptual forms(blocks and spheres). So Loomis gal on the top left, the line that forms the cheek should overlap that of the jaw like the gal on the right. Every anatomical fact on the body can be likened to some basic form, either a round one or a block one, these forms dictate the use of line. One form gets one line, as this gives clarity. My suggestion is go ahead and use messy lines on your sketches, then go over them in a pen using one line for each form, as to build a clear understanding of their form, not just a vague gestural idea. It's not enough that you understand your own drawing, you have to make us understand it too.

[Fishspawn]

James - Thanks. You made a mistake though - you posted two of the same image. I agree about my enviros. Next time i'll do a process shot.

armando - Wow, you just tore me to shreds. I think i needed that. You showed me where i'm at and what i need to work on, thank you.

Well, after mulling over armando's comments a while i obviously need to change what i'm doing. I don't really know how, but i need to slow down a lot. I've already slowed my pace considerably since i started this sb, but i guess i'm still a WIP For today here are some anatomy studies from a book and i messed around with the lady and the mountains trying to fix their errors. I think i may start another enviro tonight and try to really get it good.

Another note, i PM'd everyone about our SSG, please get back to me ASAP.

Another note, woot on page 4

EDIT: here's the first hour and a half of my new enviro. Needs a lot more work. I'm actually going to finish this one.

[Stark]

Nice figure and anats! More work on the enviros and we can better critique...right now, I don't know what to tell since i've never attempted an enviro

[Fishspawn]

saikin - thanks for dropping by

Heres some more process shots of the enviro. I didn't really like the finished product so i was messing with stuff and i ended up changing it completely. This whole process was about 2 hours. Done unless people shout at me again, which is of course welcome. I hope the process helped.

Oh, and FORESHORTENING! I was messing around last night in my sketchbook, trying to figure out how to understand form, and i realized that when i am forced to forshorten an object it makes me think about the form a lot more, so i'll be doing a lot of foreshortening studies.

[madhatter106]

You must draw like a sculptor thinking in 3 dimensions not just in lines and 2d shapes! Draw through your figure like its made out of glass - just draw also the invisible parts to you.

I would concur and second this - one of the things that helped me tremendously with the figure in the past was getting a big chunk of modelling clay and trying to sculpt a figure, probably no more than six inches high. It helped a TON to work it out in three dimensions with reference material in front of me, and then with that knowledge to sit down and do more figure drawing...

[Fishspawn]

madhatter106 - Thanks for the advice. I was actually considering taking a sculpting class instead of a drawing class next semester if i can. if not maybe i'll just bring some clay to life drawing

I know i said i was done....

EDIT: Was looking through some old sketchbooks and decided to re-do some concepts.

[Listing]

Interesting concepts in the last post. Keep tightening your fundamentals. You've already improved much.

[silvestri99]

Nice variety of work in here, and a hell of a lot of improvemnet since you started this thread. Keep at your lifedrawing and fundemental work....but most of all, keep drawing!

[Blue Severin]

Last enviro is looking good. It'd be cool to put some shapes in the foreground, to the right of the lava. There's already a lighter patch there. I think it would help to make some hills, or whatever you want to lead the eye around better.

[guitarjames]

hey ,
last enviros looking better , i think you should put some oranges / yellows in the lava and then put some orange highlights on that thing in the backround to show what it is better .I like the concept on the right but the one on the right i think you went into low opacity to early.

Doing digital refrences will really help you .

keep it up .james

[fedezz]

Hey, congrats on page 4
The girl drawn from life you just reposted is still one of my favorites from your sb.
Now that I see a full process of the enviro I can give you a more precise crit. Try to get the value right as soon as you can, in these steps you posted I can notice that you struggle a lot in that area. Try starting with greys, defining big blobs of volume with nice contrast relations (foreground, middleground, background and all that stuff you already know). Once you've defined the main elements and values, tint it (whith colorize or a color layer), and then start to work in colors. This helped me a lot. The final version of the enviro is definitely an improvement over the first version, mostly cause it's moody and interesting value-wise. Also, try not to abuse structural brushes, use them as bold as possible, otherwise, you end up with a boring, flat texture. And yes, sadly, first come precision and boring fixing and trying to get things right, and then comes looseness I think Elwell once said something like "first try to get it right, then worry about speed". Oh, last but not least, coro's enviros PSDs at the member only area are very helpful when it comes to understand the process of setting a mood, lighting an atmospheric perspective in an enviroment, so get them if you haven't already.
Allow me to take a detailed look at your whole thread and I will let you now which images are the ones I consider fit for a portfolio.
Cheers!
PS: where's that ssg collective thread?

[ammoburger]

Beatiful sketchbook dude. I particularly love the fluidness of the bridgman studies. Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook. Which colleges are you applying to? If you are in southern california, you should check out www.laafigart.com

[Fishspawn]

Listing - Thanks - will do

silvestri99 - Thank you!

Blue Severin - Yeah i think i'll work on that a bit more

james - yeah i started doing some refs.. but the main reason i do digis is to relax from my normal stuff and reffed stuff isn't relaxing... i may get around to it some time though

fedezz - Wow, thanks for the mountain of crits. i looked at el coro's stuff and i think i understand what you mean. I'll try my next one like that. save looseness for last? I guess i'll have to start saving the fun stuff for later...

ammoburger - Thanks. I'm looking at colleges in So cal, but my parents want me to get a degree before i got to any other type of schoo. So i'm looking at CalArts, Art Center in Pasadena, and Laguna College of Art and Design. I may attend an atelier after i graduate from one of those places though, thanks for the link.

Life drawing. Couldn't post it last night because the site was all funky. Last one was 45 minutes. I was standing in a weird place so i could get more foreshortening, and it was wayy more fun.

I will set up that group thread later today.

[Hyptosis]

Great new stuff! It looks like your model might have been cute too. ^_^ Keep up the quality AND the quanity.

[guitarjames]

hey ,
YAY . more improvment!really like this one because the legs are nice.http://conceptart.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1159969822
at the start the feet and hands are to big , and the legs get to big at the bottom , think youy are exagrating there shape to much .

lats ones uper half is good , but then the legs are out of proportion ,is htis because you start with the head and work your way down , then you find yourself out off time ad rush the legs.

keep it up .james.

[Fishspawn]

Hyptosis - Thanks for checking up on me

james - yeah i exaggerate the shapes too much a lot :/ I'm glad you like that one, 'cause i didn't... On that other one i actually did the head very last, i kinda rushed it, hrm. i see what you mean about the legs, they are a bit off.

Messed around some more. I've tried like 5 things in the foreground there and i can't think of ANYTHING. I'm still working on my portfolio, anyone is free to reccomend.

[blanquish]

hey there, thought i might just pop in here and offer a critique on rendering.
When rendering anything, be it charcoal, digi, pencil etc, the most important things to know are, contrast(the values light to dark), getting the forms right, and making each shape believable through lighting and #how you shade it.

#- FOr example with pencil, imagine each part to be a 3d object. Wrap your shading around it, to give the illusion of 3d.

Anyway I hope i helped, gimme a shout if i explained it horribly.
~Im not sure what your portfolio should include, but i think there is a sticky for it somewhere.
blanq

[sith]

what's up man? looks like you've busted out some nice stuff since i last popped by. i'd give armando a listen too btw. i think he had some important things to say (albeit slightly bluntly). for your life drawings, i think it's kinda important to take things step by step. don't rush those contours just so you can start shading. rendering contours that don't look right aren't gonna save the drawing. i think it's important to get what you feel to be a good grasp at contours before you dive into doing the shading. just remember to start as basic as possible when doing them contours. i like to hold the pencil at the end when i start drawing because it keeps me from doing any details. just keep at it man, you're definitely progressing, but you could do even better than you already are.

[fedezz]

So, I look thru the whole thread, and definitely this one is still my favorite. Man, looking at your sketchbook from page one made me realize how much you improved in such a short time.
Last batch of studies are looking good, just watch dem feet, kinda big in some of them. And I also like this one, specially its legs.
Keep it up!

[Blue Severin]

yeah, those are my two favorite too. Keep up with the figure drawing, cuz it's definitely something that gets better the more you do it.

[Fishspawn]

blanquish - thanks for the advice

sith - roger that. Gotta work more on fundamentals of contour before i can make the big leagues. Thanks for dropping by

fedezz - thanks, that one's definately in. Yeah, i think the problem is that MY feet are gigantic and so i think everyone's feet are bigger than they really are. I've gotta try to fix it.

blue severin - thanks, figure drawing is the best!

Ok, i feel pretty bad for not updating. Thursday i had life drawing and i pretty much felt miserable, and then i was getting into it and i had a drawing i really liked. Then, my teacher came over and did a demo on top with white conte. I tried to keep working on it but it was only a 30 min pose and we had 5 min left when he was done messing with it. That's the 2nd to last one. The last one i was just frustrated so i drew with my left hand instead of my right, which was pretty fun, but it's not very refined for a 45 minute pose.

Yesterday i was running around trying to get portfolio supplies for half of the day, and then i relaxed for a while and went to a classical concert, it was good. So, thats why i haven't updated. Bad excuse, i know.

Over all i was trying to get better contours, you can let me know how i did.

[paberu]

Wow man, you churn those figure out at an alarming rate ! I like the dark lava enviro, I think it's shwoing general improvement.

I think for you it would be good to do one more or less refined painting so that we could have something to work from in terms of speed paints.

[oalexis]

Along those lines a fully rendered finished pencil peice would also be interesting. Great progress, i just looked thru from beginning to end! Amazing how much practice you do. Its inspirational, keep posting!

[Blue Severin]

Yeah, you definitely make me feel like a slacker. A good way to get quick form is to put a grey ground down on your paper, squint, erase the lights making sure they're measured right, and then go in with the dark, putting in the darks where you see them, and then refining it til it looks right. It looks like you're doing something like that, but the ground is pretty uneven. Definitely smooth it down with a chamois or paper towel or something. What is your portfolio for, just to show your drawing teacher for review? Those two figures that Fedezz liked should definitely be in there.

p.s. I'm no good with the coding, could you make a link in the sig for our group thread? I'll see if I can figure it out, but if not...

[Hyptosis]

Yeah, you're pumpin' them out man. Keep it up, and thanks for the advice you gave me. ^_^

[sith]

i like this last batch man (the first two in this one in particular). i think you know what you need to work on already- so no crits from me. just keep on going dood!

[Fishspawn]

rayk - Thanks. Grrr refined stuff is my nemesis. Perhaps i'll get something finished soon, the CA prodding is helping me slow down

oalexis - Thanks, good to know someone's enjoying my progress. I'll see what i do about the graphite study.

Blue Severin - Thanks. Yeah i was doing that, but i think i may have been using conte and not charcoal so it didn't really blend well. Portfolio is for National Portfolio Day Oct 22

Hyptosis - Thanks for checkin up on me so often!

sith - thanks, will do

I always get on people's cases for just studying anatomy and not applying it to life drawing, because that seems to be rampant on CA, but i think i've been slacking with regards to anatomy myself. Here's some bridgeman studies and the ensuing page of doodles. All done in the car

[Zynic]

Damn Fishspawn You're making some serious progress here
I took a look at the first posts at page 1, 2 and 3 before looking through this page, and you're improving for sure

Keep up the lifedrawing, it'll make you kickass for sure

( I wish that I had any lifedrawing-classes that I could take, but there are none where I live :-/ )