Sketchbook Thread of Jmart

[JM-art]

So i´ll begin from the beginning.

This are some exercises from the book of Andrew Loomis, "Fun with a pencil".

I know this is not 100% human anatomy, but this procedure and excercise is just the basis of the basis for the building of a head i think. For now all the heads looks cartoonish style, but since i like to make concepts characters with wicked proporcions and caricatures, i find this exercise very usefull....and yes fun, but with the tablet.

so, the six heads:

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/47/finalcopyaj6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

and the process:

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/3262/theprocess2ui1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

Well i wanted to share this with you, in this case maybe more for the fun than for anything else.

more to come...

Cheers!

[JM-art]

Hi!

A quick study of proportions.









http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3969/bodyproportionsmr9.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

See you soon.

[JM-art]

Sorry, duplicated post!

[boeserWolf]

Hey there Jmart, welcome in the sketchbook area. Nice start, i was recently going to the same books and im still reading and learning from them, sometime its hard to memorize all that stuff and realise it on paper when you draw a sketch ^^ ... but i think Loomis books are a really big help, also check out the books of "Burne Hogarth" and "Glenn Villpu".

And use a traditional medias as often as possible, specially in the beginning ;)

[JM-art]

Hi there.

THANKS Boeser_wolf, i followed your advices, the vilpu manual has an interesting aproach wich i think it´s a nice and necessary complement of Loomis.

Here are some advances.

DIGITAL SKETCHS, STUDIES OF FORM, GESTURES AND MASS.


http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7374/gesturesih2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

DRAWS MADE WITH PENCIL, FROM IMAGINATION.


http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3350/gestures21kv2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

DRAWS WITH PENCIL, ANIMAL AND HUMAN BONES STUDIES.

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/7996/bonesra6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

FROM REFERENCES.

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/7167/anatomyau5.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)


C&C are very welcome.

See you soon.

[JM-art]

PENCIL ON PAPER
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9302/dscf5990xt2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

Master copie from the sculpture of MICHELANGELO Buonarroti called "VICTORY".

Any suggestions?
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/257/dscf5991ap8.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)
See you soon.

[Rebeccak]

Hi JMART, keep going with these master copies, I think they're your best teachers.

Welcome aboard. :)

[JM-art]

Hi Rebeccak, i was waiting for your advise (and from the others users too of course), so thanks for posting and for the welcome. I´ll try to do at least 10 heads and 10 torsos in the next weeks, and continue with the gestures scketches and figures from boxes and circles too(they are so interesting and funny to do!). My main concern for the moment is to learn the proportions of the human body, and have the ability to draw from imagination this proportions in any pose, and in any perspective. I found that learning the human anatomy is a must in the 2d/3d area, and a very very stimulating and interesting task by the way.

I´m very happy for participate in this forum and in this threads. This is a great place for learn......and for get inspiration!

See you soon.

[JM-art]

Hi, this is a draw i made with a "boy doll" for reference.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2563/mueco3on1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

Hi, another master copie(it´s not finished, but almost), here http://www.wga.hu/index1.html is the link to the reference.
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7977/neptunewithseahorsers2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

Cheers!

[Randize]

Nice going. Here's a few tip from me, when you shade, try to imagine sculpting the surface. For pencils, of course you start from light to dark, so it's like as you "sculpt" your way to the dark, the surface gets deeper.

It'll be fine to use a mid tone paper too so that you can push highlights easily.

Keep it up!

[JM-art]

Thank you Randize, i´ll buy some of those mid tone papers, it´s a great idea.

Cheers!

[JM-art]

Hi there, i made this based on the concept "medieval battle" and i would like to hear your opinion about the composition and the perspective/proportions of the warriors and the environment. Do you find this image interesting or boring? do you think thas is dinamic or static?....I´ll appreciate any sugestion and critic not only about the technical issues....your most subjectives thoughts about the image are what i´m interested too.

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/14/elltimobastionmediumrg5.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)



See you.

[SpiritDreamer]

Hi...Juan...:)
I did a really quick paintover of your piece...just alot easier to show than to say, and to see rather than to read/hear sometimes,makes it alot easier to understand..for me anyway.
DRAMATIC LIGHTING, AND COLORS, along with alot of wavey curves,and diaginals in the composition can really enhance the motion/action.
Spotlight the center of interest..subordonate all else,...or else the viewer will be torn between elements, confused in direction, and will quickly loose interest.
Make the land itself have a wavey/not level feel to it...adds to motion, depth, and creates an imballance,that is ballanced,.. which is what you want in an action battle scene..controlled chaos...:)
Hope this helps some..:)
I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING MORE OF YOUR WORKS, STUDIES,..and the PROGRESS that will come with them.
REALLY ENJOYING YOUR THREAD SO FAR....KEEP GOING..:thumbsup:
TAKE CARE
Glenn

http://artbyglenngallegos.com/images/MEDEVIL_BATTLE_SCENE_2.jpg

[JM-art]

Hi Glenn and thank you a lot for the paintover and the advices about composition, colours, etc.
I learned a lot from your post, and i´ll definitively keep in mind what you said for the next time.

And thank you for the encourage, that´s a big help too.

see you soon.

[JM-art]

Hi, another master copie(an angel from Rubens), took about 2 hours and this time done in photoshop.

Cheers.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/4913/angelrubensyi0.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

Hi there, i´d like some feedback about this heads please, I´m practicing with the book " Drawing Heads And Hands" (Loomis), as guide. First is with Sandra Bullock´s picture as reference, second is from imagination, third is Walken, and the big one is a caricature of Enrique Bunbury, a spanish singer(from the band "heroes del silencio"). The rest are simple sketches and the draw of the eagle is an old one.

See you.
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/8717/headshandssy4.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

Hi, some draws i´ve been doing, some sketches and some more detailed but i can´t consider any of these like finished and i don´t care too much becouse i´m practicing and triyng to understand about anatomy and workflows and i don´t want to pressure myself to do things perfect or whatever.

Please tell me your opinion....objective, subjective..any comment will be realy apreciated.

so here we go






http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/8692/upload6rs6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)



http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/2007/upload5yp6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)



[/url]


[url="http://imageshack.us/"]http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/7569/upload4js4.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)





http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/8282/upload2cq2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)




http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7452/upload1mp7.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/6001/upload3ih6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[namnocilis]

Good Going! All the sketches in the last two posts are awesome! :thumbsup: also liked the medieval battle scene painting and the paintover done by Glenn.. both are superb! Great Progress in your works! Keep updating.. love to see more of such works

[JM-art]

Wow, namnocilis:beer:, your words are gold to me, thank you a lot.... i´ll keep posting.


Cheers;) .

[shapemaster]

hi jmart,
your paintings could use a little more highlights and less smoothening, atm theyre looking a bit dull, beside that youre doing a great job!
the portrait of the lady could be a great one, but the hair kinda drags the rest down. this site (http://www.furiae.com/index.php?view=gallery) has a great hair tutorial which explains the principles really nicely. if youre interested you can check it out.

bye

[JM-art]

Yes, the hair on that portrait it´s terrible, and i agree about the need of highlights and the smooth feeling....in fact, i´ll keep that in mind for the next drawings. I use to set the brush hardness to zero, but i´ll give it a try at 50% and more and see what happens.

I realy apreciate your advices and the link(i´m seeing some nice stuff here):).

Cheers.

[JM-art]

Hi, another improvised concept, is some kind of female atletic alien. I used hard brushes to avoid the smooth look in this case.



http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1840/alienigenaatleticasi0.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

an updated with changed proportions(liquify filter) to make the character looks more like a female:

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6290/alienigenaatleticav2zr3.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

and the male version, but in this case a warrior; i aplied the liquify filter to the previous image and change the proportions, then i painted on top to achive what i wanted.

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/9672/alienwarriorul3.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

Hello again...a Zbrush experiment that i´ve made from a sphere...Zbrush is realy fun:bounce: .

It´s some kind of indian totem.

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/3392/diosdelaguerraindio2wm7.png (http://imageshack.us/)


http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/1179/diosdelaguerraindio3it1.png (http://imageshack.us/)

[Rabid1]

Hey man, nice stuff so far. I can see an improvment in anatomy and technique from the beginning. As far as suggestions, i would agree with Shapemaster, that you could probably use more strong and directed highlights/shadows. This doesn't mean go putting tons of shiny white spots everywhere, but rather pin-pointing your values early on. What many of the good artists here do is, first sketch out their subject in black and white, or at least monotone because this is much easier than trying to tackle lights/darks AND color at the same time. Then afterward, go in and add colors on separate layers (in photoshop), and continuing in this process. Of course, whatever way you can achieve the results you want is the best method for you.

Also, I really like the celebrity head studies you did, the Sandra Bullock one was especially good, and you did great with her hair. I think the more of those finished studies and master copies you do, the better your personal stuff with be.

The more you learn, the more power you have to control your own ideas and get the images out of your head and onto a picture. Keep it up, and thanks for motivating me!

[JM-art]

Thanks for posting Rabid1, thanks to shapemaster and you i realized of this issue of lack of highlights and shadows in my drawings...i´ll have this in mind for future draws. I always had problems with shading and colorize at the same time, so that thing of make the values first and the colors on top should be a good solution.

Cheers!

[JM-art]

an experiment with hard brushes:


http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/warriorkidvl0.jpg/1/w3000.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img228/warriorkidvl0.jpg/1/)http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8348/warriorkidsr6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

Playing with Zbrush, this is what came up, any C&C on this one will be apreciated.

Cheers!

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/4456/oldman4oj6.png (http://imageshack.us/)
and a version based on that head

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1306/badmanim6.png (http://imageshack.us/)

[NR43]

Hi,

nice sb.

For your digital painting:
I would say keep practicing with painting using hard brushes. It's easier to define form with a hard brush.
Also, try not to make your outlines too thick. They flatten the forms.
Avoiding black is also a thing to remember.

Keep drawing traditionally as well!

[JM-art]

hi NR43, thanks for the advices, i appreciate it and i´ll take care of those things.

Here is a sketch that i made while playing with Sketchbook pro (it´s great for sketching).

It´s not planned and the composition its horrible, but i want to show it because i think that it has more contrast an definition than others of my sketchs.

Cheers.

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/8218/elfanddragonlowwm8.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

Hi there, i would like to hear some opinions obout this draws....objective...subjective.....all C&C are welcome.

Some of this were made from imagination, and others by looking photo references.

so....


http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/1165/lionlowin1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)
Hi there, i would like to hear some opinions obout this draws....objective...subjective.....all C&C are welcome.

Some of this were made from imagination, and others by looking photo references.

so....

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7594/woman2nov2008copyvv1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/5923/woman3or0.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)


http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1113/paisajelowtt7.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6080/ogrofeolowdk8.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/5701/fishy2lowyw7.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)


[/url]



[url="http://imageshack.us/"]http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9928/markxn7.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

By the way, i recently buyed the Wacom Intuos 6x8:bowdown: , and it´s amazing, i had the grafire 4x5 and it was ok, but this one....a real pleasure. I´m saying this in part because i´m realy happy with the inversion and because maybe there are some people that, like me, isnt too shure about the upgrade. So my advice will be that for a person who is trying to be professional, this thing gives you all you need for draw digitaly, i´ll say it´s a must.
For all the others, the graphire or bamboo(i didn´t use it but has 512 levels, just like the graphire line) are a very good option. If the money isn´t a matter for you and you just like to draw...Intuos.




Cheers!:thumbsup:

[JM-art]

This ones are from a year ago, based on photographs of statues, with some changes for fun(the first one).


http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6687/esculturaladronjs8.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/9052/encaje5jpgcopyfb7.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

And a few of abstract style:



http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/9522/barcoabandonadolowyo6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)


http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/445/casaenelmarlowod9.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)


http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/9305/contrastesymolineteslowxa4.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[Lexalotacus]

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1113/paisajelowtt7.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6080/ogrofeolowdk8.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/5701/fishy2lowyw7.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)











Great stuff, I think you're doing great. The hardest part I've found is sticking with it when you really think it's hopeless. Just my amateur opinion...

-L

[JM-art]

Thanks Lex, i appreciate your words;) .

Here is a quick and improvised concept of a feminine robot:


http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/4060/robotaja4.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[Rabid1]

Hey Juan, glad to see you posting new stuff again! I like that you are experimenting with your new tablet and trying out different brushes/compositions. I can see improvments too, in the line quality and confidence of the strokes.

For crits i have this- it looks like you are breaking out of a strictly linear style of drawing and stepping into the realm of painting. The fish piece is your most developed one from the last group, it has 90% completion- all that is missing is a finished background! As you once advised me.... it might be a good time to really focus on ONE piece, giving it your all, tackling composition, color, value, texture, and lighitng.... really try to accomplish a goal of some type. Maybe try mixing elements from your imagination and from ref in one seemless work of art.

Color- focus on studying color theory and lighting!! I don't know if you decide the colors before you work, but maybe figure out a palette before hand, and see what happens?

KEEP IT UP MAN! :D

[JM-art]

Hi there Zach, thanks for the nice comments and thanks for the critics, that´s what i´m looking for.

About finishing some pieces and the colours procedures, those are two things that i actualy want to change....but:surprised ... In the case of finishing a draw, i have a problem, and is that i get bored pretty easy with one piece and just begin a new one...all of this without any planning, i just open Ps or sketchbook pro and begin to draw. Other thing about this is that i spend a lot of time practicing and learning about Maya and Zbrush, and finishing a 2d piece would take some time.
In the case of the colours, i need to learn more realy.....teory and techniques. The other day i made 3 palettes in Ps, but never used them:sad: .

I have in mind 2 or 3 concepts to work on, i mean, not just sketches, but finished draws, (that´s easy to say:)), so, time will tell.

Thanks again, i take note of the advices.

Cheers:beer: .

[JM-art]

Hi there, I like how this one is going, the idea is finish it and maybe show it in the 2d showcase forum, but before that i realy want to hear some opinions about it, so please let me know how you think

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6853/reinapulpoiz6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[siiilon]

You're really makking progress. You don't need to bother with colors when sketching, until you're really confident (my opinion). And it's always good way not to start anything from black or white canvas. And the last thing, don't fear of hard brush and leave airbrush to where really needed soft gradients. I see really great progress here, much bigger than mine ;)
Keep up >:)

[Deepam]

nice work all around I like those creature work specially and the lion study is also beautiful.

[NR43]

Nice work Juan

Concerning your last piece, I think it needs highlights.
It basically needs a strong light source.
I would experiment with adding highlights on the face. This will also increase contrast and point the viewer to the focal point(s)

[JM-art]

Hi!

@siiilon:Thanks, and you´re right about not to start anything from black or white canvas, i know it but often i forget it:rolleyes: .

@Deepam:Thank you!

@NR43:Thank you;) , and yes, what you say is true. That piece...well, i just never finished, maybe i´ll give it a try later.

i made this one for a web competition, subject:"winter". I called it "pescando frio"...means: "cold fishing"(or fishing cold maybe..i´m not shure). I hope you get the point.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/2420/pesacandofrio700ju8.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

Cheers!

[Rebeccak]

Hi there, I like how this one is going, the idea is finish it and maybe show it in the 2d showcase forum, but before that i realy want to hear some opinions about it, so please let me know how you think

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6853/reinapulpoiz6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)Hey there, some really cool stuff happening in here, I wish this were for the IFW. :)

[nmcelmury]

Very cool stuff! I really like the fish. You handle your lines very well.

Keep playing around with ZBrush, you have a good start on that head, and with some massaging it could turn out really cool :) Just a suggestion, I use a lot of the 'Clay Brush', I always seem to be able to get decent looking natural shapes with it, especially when it comes to sculpting muscles and larger features.
Keep up the good work! :cool:

[JM-art]

@Rebeccak: Thank you very much, is great having you posting.


@nmcelmury: I realy appreciate your words...they push me to keep trying.

I want to participate in the Yacek Yerka competition, not for win any prizes (but i would´t mind:)......but for have an excuse to finish a piece.

Here´s an idea, i´d like to do 2 more sketches and then choose the better one, but i´m running out of time.

So here is the sketch. The ship looking thing, its suposed to be half a train, half a ship.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7754/yacekcomp01lowsy0.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[Intervain]

some really cool stuff emerging from this thread JMART! I love the little guy under the mushroom :D:thumbsup:

[JM-art]

Thank you! It´s great to have you posting Magdalena...and more with that comments:) ...i´m kind of a fan of your incredible talented work, so...:bowdown:, and :thumbsup: .

Here is a variant, wich a like more than the other. This concept would be the place where the water, rain, etc come from, and the big drop would represent THE WATER. A lot to do obviously, but that´s what it is for today.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9515/thedroplower9.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

Another rough ideas....




http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7803/foampersecutor1pi3.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/2425/bangbigtl3.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

And a little robot 15 min concept

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/166/robot1jh6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[vikramvr]

Yea some really cool stuff here. Like it images/icons/icon13.gif

[JM-art]

I´m realy glad you like it vikramvr, thank you for saying it:thumbsup:.

This past week i didn´t get much time, so i made some small sketches with pencil, (and i must say that for sketches, i prefer it going that way rather than the Intuos) for the Jacek competition. I don´t have a scanner so i wont post them here. But, with the little time that remains i just picked one, and here is the basic rough digital, and modified version.

Please, any critics will help, tomorrow (i hope!) i´ll begin the real one, the work line at least.
I´m absolutly shure that with these few days i have, i won´t be able to make even an aceptable entry, but i like these competitions, and i´ll learn something at least...even very little, but anything counts, everything is a plus.

So here it is so far, some things can´t be understood at this rough stage.
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/4579/finalidea.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[Intervain]

I like your imagination JMART! Keep'em coming!

[JM-art]

Thank you Magdalena!:thumbsup:

It´s late at night, i would like to keep working, but i think it´s time for rest and for taking a little perspective of this. Here is an update, a lot of things are changing....

Cheers.


[/url]
[URL=http://imageshack.us]http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6280/finalidea2copy.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[JM-art]

update:

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9070/finalidea5.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=finalidea5.jpg)

[JM-art]

another

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/5840/finalidea7extended.jpg (http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=finalidea7extended.jpg)

[NR43]

Your last piece is coming along nicely.

A few suggestions:

work in grayscale first. When you are certain of your concept and composition, render it out in grayscale first and when that is done, add color. You need a wider range of values to add more contrast to the focal point(s), in other words: think of light.
there seems to be some kind of storm going on? Try to make it more clear to the viewer by depicting everything less vertical, eg the umbrella doesn't seem to be influenced by any wind, though the rain drops down under an angle
the water seems to be swirling around, but I can't tell that from the trees below the surface. They should be following the direction of the flow of the water.

[JM-art]

NR43, first of all, thank you very much for taking the time to write this advices, i appreciate that.

About working in grayscale, working the light aspect first...you´re right, i´ve been told about that, and i just can´t get used to it, but from now on i´ll definitly try that. The work flow would be making a layer in overlay mode for the colors right?

About the storm you´re right too, the thing is, i made a sketch(the first one, B&W), and i changed a lot of things on the way, following my instincts.
Now i see the piece, and the composition is not good, with the focal subject just in the middle...mmm...but i have just some hours and i can´t do much for correct all the things i see bad.

And the last things, the trees, i´ll draw some more on the corners, maybe that will make more sense.

Thank you again, and be welcome to keep coming and tell me your points of view.

cheers:thumbsup:.

[JM-art]

This one is the submitted image, i think that has a lot to improve, mostly the lack of contrast values, but i had no more time.

Cheers.


http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/9003/molinillosurfer3medium.jpg (http://img67.imageshack.us/my.php?image=molinillosurfer3medium.jpg)

[JM-art]

Hi there, an odd image here.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4001/orcoplayer.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=orcoplayer.jpg)

[zunpin]

Hi JMART, i like your concept, they are inspiring me. Especially the 2nd last piece.

And i think you are good in drawing creature. Keep posting more!

[Intervain]

I really like the image with the maze underwater!

[vikramvr]

Love the concept on the maze underwater image...A bit more photorealism on the image might make it really stand out

[JM-art]

Zunpin, magdalena, and vikramvr....thank you very much for your comments...i thought nobody liked the image, so they are a relief to me.

So here is the last entry, i was confused about the deadline, so this one was made in the extra day we had...low resolution.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/2965/molinillosurfer5low.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=molinillosurfer5low.jpg)

full resolution







http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3250/molinillosurfer5.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=molinillosurfer5.jpg)

an sketch of Santa trainning for the christmas.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3935/papanowarrior1.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=papanowarrior1.jpg)

[JM-art]

Hi there people, i want to show this Lennox Lewis caricature, and my final entry for the harcore mini challenge 80's Cartoons, its a version of Hordak if you remember him.

Here are the other renders if you want to see:http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=208&t=752040&page=4&pp=15, is the last one ..post 59.

Feedback requiered.

I´ve learned a lot doing this one, i experimented with the base mesh modeling in Silo, and the rest was done in Maya and Zbrush. Now i have more control about this workflow, which i
want to learn since...ever.

I found that this challenges and competitions like the Jacek Yerka for instance are a very good way of learning, its fun, you do what you want (between the topic of course), and makes you work harder and better because a lot of people will watch your work and you want to show your best.

The next challenge is in discussion yet but will probably be "human anatomy cutaway", so be aware.

Cheers.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4567/lewiscaricaturev2.jpg (http://img7.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lewiscaricaturev2.jpg)

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7792/beautylow.jpg (http://img12.imageshack.us/my.php?image=beautylow.jpg)


http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7611/sidelow.jpg (http://img12.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sidelow.jpg)
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6777/headiel.jpg (http://img15.imageshack.us/my.php?image=headiel.jpg)

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/7448/back2ykr.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/my.php?image=back2ykr.jpg)

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/3200/torsov.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/my.php?image=torsov.jpg)

[siiilon]

Great job doing the dwarf, this kind of drawing forces you to really focus on form and that's the most important at this stage. Keep up mate, looking forward to see more.

[JM-art]

Hi there, here is a sketch i did today (inspired by frazetta´s work -but without reference-), maybe i´ll finish it, maybe not:wavey: .

Critics are cool.

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9122/frazettastyle2copy.jpg (http://img19.imageshack.us/i/frazettastyle2copy.jpg/)

[JM-art]

Some colour experiment, this is not a finished work, but wanted to share in case some of you wants to comment. The head of the "lizart wizard" needs a lot of refining.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/4535/lagartlizard.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/i/lagartlizard.jpg/)

[Rabid1]

Hey JMART! I went through your thread this morning and realized you have made HUGE growth buddy. From your sketching, to the color application, and your overall ability and comfort level using digital media you have made great progress! I think your last finished piece (underwater- overwater abstract) turned out very well...it was nice to see how you developed that from beginning to end. I love the idea of the whale carrying the island...although he is somewhat hidden in the final version. That Lennox Lewis caricature and the mushroom enviro are great too. I understand finishing a 2D work does take a bit of time...and your other art mediums (3D for example) are great to do as well. I think most artists are lazy by nature...and its hard to stay focused and motivated on a single piece when new ideas are always coming. Patience is a great tool for artists, and using digital media allows us to save a file...and return to it whenever we can. Anyway i hope you continue to put your ideas into images and keep pursuing your ultimate potential....and keep drawing on paper!!

For this last color study creature i would say this- The background is very bold and bright... which takes some of the focus off the subject. As far as the creature, its a good start...but you might consider where his light source is coming from...and shade him based on that. I think you could still use the background colors as "side lighting filters" that reflect various colors off his skin. I think the values still need some work...but he's a cool lizard guy!

[JM-art]

Rabid, thanks a lot for the compiments and for taking the time to tell me what you like and what you think that can be improved, your feedback is a great value. About the last piece, í get bored of that one, it was just a random sketch with some colour experimentation mixed.

About drawing on paper...absolutly, in fact a week ago from your post i purchased a sketchbook with toons of shields (cheap ones but for sketches i wan´t to do a lot and not preocupate for the costs of that)...i did some sketches, when scaned i´ll post.

So, here is a new 30 min sketch from a Nat Geo picture. I´m in a fase where i want to copy more and imagine less, because i feel i need to understand better the facts, forms, colors, and light from real world before inventing my own things.

Thanks, cheers!!

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/5682/cavewaterlow.jpg (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/cavewaterlow.jpg/)

[JM-art]

another one...this one take an hour aprox.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/1186/osolow.jpg (http://img198.imageshack.us/i/osolow.jpg/)

[JM-art]

The last one for the day.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/3485/mountainslow.jpg (http://img196.imageshack.us/i/mountainslow.jpg/)

[siiilon]

Wonderfull updates dude, keep up this route and you'll be rewarded. For the sake of study, hard round brush with opacity-pressure settings is a powerfull tool to explore things. Yes, you can do it in colors, but in grayscale you do at least 3-times more(if not more) and more focused ofcourse. If you use custom brushes, colors, it's not a study anymore - it's a speedpaint, and a speedpaint is evil if you are not quite sure what you are doing. When I do a study, I often limit myself to a pencil and paper, because Photoshop itself keeps me away of the right intention of the study. And on a paper, you are more willing to leave a bad sketch and start another one and you end up with like 10 different sketches on the same subject, and the last ones are really far better than the first ones. While in PS, I have the tendency of not leaving a bad sketch but fudge around the mess and tweak and tweak and, it's all gonna be flatter, muddy, and simply terrible. On paper, without the undo ability, I try to focus on not repeating the evident mistakes and progress with the sketches, not mess with them.
That Nat Geo river image look great and is simple and readable. Try to keep this simplistic approach in mind. Cu buddy :)

[JM-art]

Siiilon, thank you for the reply you have a very good point about using one brush with grayscale and about drawing on paper. Just in a previos reply (#69 ) to Rabi1d i sayd i´m doing sketches on paper (but not scanned yet), wich is a thing that can´t be replaced with PS for me either. Your post and the Rabid1 one help me to reinforce the importance of that approach.

keep in mind that the studies can be about lots of things, for example in the previos 3 speed paints (like you say) i wanted to loosen up and play with colours and light a little and understand better the scale aspect of the subject. About undoing, i think the same so i realy not use it very much...90% of what you see in the 3 previous paints is without undo, and the rest is just a little adjustment. I think Is better to do more (and maybe with evident errors) and without going back, that overdoing things(wich realy like you say the result is probably..aghhh).

So, for future updates i´ll try to do that thing you suggest of the hard round brush with opacity-pressure settings, to see what i get.

Thanks again.....cheers.

[siiilon]

Hey there, please let me react on this so that we can prevent any misunderstandings.
Yes, there are many types of studies and there is nothing wrong with playing with PS and do these kinds of speedpaints for the sake of getting used to some tools and and just to relax by painting freely. It all depends what you want to learn. If you want to study bear anatomy, it's not good way to play so much with the fur and forget all the forms and structure beneath.
You can do whatever you want and you shouldn't force yourself doing something, because you most probably won't enjoy it and without enthusiasm there is no learning. Find something you like and stick with it. Just always check you are not going in a circle without a real intention, if you wanna learn, if you wanna be better. And undo is not a bad habbit, but excessive use of undo could lead into many different bad habits. Undo is as good as eraser or overpaint, it all depends. If you want to paint a beautiful splash of water, full of dynamic and life, you may want to achieve that in few perfect strokes. In that case, undo is a good way.
So, please do these speedpaints if you enjoy them, but if you want to learn something particular, try to focus on it and leave all other things for that moment. Your learning will be less painful and quicker.
CU

[JM-art]

but if you want to learn something particular, try to focus on it and leave all other things for that moment. Your learning will be less painful and quicker.
CU

That´s very true, is too easy to lost the focus on a determined goal.
As well of the others things exposed i think exactly the same.

My goal with these speed paintings is just to experiment a little to see what i get and do it quickly because one of my interests is to achive a more spontaneous feelings in my draws, with more life and energy, but manteining the basic structure of things. I´m saying all of this because probably i wasn´t clear enough before about what i´m looking for right now.
Here is another one:
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2893/nat460low.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/i/nat460low.jpg/)

[dscavenger]

good man..its getting better and better..

[JM-art]

Changing the subject here, i just get inspired by different things (like most of us i think).

There a two things i always liked to draw but at the same time i suck at it: Women, and Animals. Specialy women i find very difficult when i try to do a concept from imagination. Men has the advantage that you can do it ugly and there is no problem about that. But IMO when trying to represent a nice female...the margins for error/imperfection are much closer.

So...here i begun some studies from photos for better understanding, maybe if i do 200 of this i´ll be able to draw some more natural girls!!:bounce:

I have to mention the fact that when doing this i keeped in mine some of the advices that siiilon gave me.








http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4825/anetafootslow.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/anetafootslow.jpg/)




http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4662/anetalegslow3.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/anetalegslow3.jpg/)

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/9343/anetaleg.jpg (http://img14.imageshack.us/i/anetaleg.jpg/)



http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7227/aneta01low.jpg (http://img14.imageshack.us/i/aneta01low.jpg/)http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5645/anetakneeslow.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/anetakneeslow.jpg/)

[JM-art]

The promised scans.

[/url]
[url="http://img163.imageshack.us/i/anscancompo.jpg/"]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5526/anscancompo.jpg (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/headsscanslow.jpg/)

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4233/headsscanslow.jpg (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/headsscanslow.jpg/)

[JM-art]

hi, some zbrush for a change, not very cool for my taste, but a warming up exercise for getting more familiar with the program:

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/7967/head1o.jpg (http://img130.imageshack.us/i/head1o.jpg/)

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6981/head2e.jpg (http://img4.imageshack.us/i/head2e.jpg/)

[JM-art]

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7107/headrd.jpg (http://img4.imageshack.us/i/headrd.jpg/)
http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/4154/head3.jpg[/URL
[url="http://g.imageshack.us/img4/headrd.jpg/1/"] (http://img109.imageshack.us/i/head3.jpg/)

[AztcFireFlower]

Hello Juan, Lotsa nice studies here. 2D and 3D! I would check the brow protrusion on the female head model in 3/4 view. This gives her a sharp male aspect to her features. We want our gals feminine and softer. :)

Buen trabajo. Adelante!

[JM-art]

Hi Esmeralda, it´s true about the eyebrow thing, cool that you mentioned it because a lot of times when i do 3d/2d of women they not look 100% feminine and i just dont know why:hmm: , i´m working on that actually, trying to identify what features gives a fem or male look.
So thanks for point that out, very very helpfull.

Cheers.

[JM-art]

Hi, a robot done in PS. I was just sketching and this emerged..i like the concept though could be better obviously. It is inspired in the invids from ROBOTECH if you remember them. I didn´t use any ref but me remembers of those imo great robots.

Cheers.


http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/7936/roboescarabajolow.jpg (http://img8.imageshack.us/i/roboescarabajolow.jpg/)

[JM-art]

and some other stuff, concepts, and color works. Soon i´ll scan some pencil drawings to show.

Like always, any critics, sugestions or thoughts are appreciated

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/1734/conceptdino.jpg (http://img31.imageshack.us/i/conceptdino.jpg/)

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7718/portraitdino4.jpg (http://img4.imageshack.us/i/portraitdino4.jpg/)

SLIDESHOW

http://img31.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=mantislow.jpg

[JM-art]

A master copy (ALGARDI, Alessandro)

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/5403/bustofmonsignorantonioc.jpg (http://img706.imageshack.us/i/bustofmonsignorantonioc.jpg/)

[monicaitt]

Very nice drawings here! Love the landscapes.
Your master copy came out very nice.

[JM-art]

Thanks a lot Monica, glad you like them.

Here is a test using ZAPPlink from Zbrush, i need to practice more and most of all i need to understand the logic of pixologic for dealing with colours and textures...i find it a little confuse the new system with polypainting plus the two different texture palettes. I gues is a matter of time and practice? but IMO it would be great to have all the stuff related to texture in just one palette...anyway pixologic team is something out of these world, they are reinventing the world, so is all good.

here is this guy, i begin with the nex sketching spheres for practice pourpouses too, so this is a mix of tests. Some little retouchs in PS where made here and there.

Cheers.

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/5583/vgguy.jpg (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/vgguy.jpg/)

[JM-art]

HI there!

This is a visual idea of an aquatic explorer...

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/6753/spaceship3.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/i/spaceship3.jpg/)

[Vladion]

Hey there Jmart.

You've improved a lot.

My only crit: keep practicing :D

keep up the good work mate :thumbsup:

[vikramvr]

Lot's of nice work on your sketchbook..Love your 3d drawings

[JM-art]

Vladion and vikramvr, Thank you for the encouraging words they are my fuel:thumbsup: .

here is an scanned drawing painted in PS, the first time i make this aproch...i like it. i found traditional drawing can´t be fully replaced with tablet, but for shading and painting PS + tablet is very usefull.


http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/1441/scan0004lowcompare.jpg (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/scan0004lowcompare.jpg/)

And some pencil sketches emulating Francis Tsai work...modern sketched master copies??:wavey:


http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8161/tsaicomp.jpg (http://img19.imageshack.us/i/tsaicomp.jpg/)

[Vladion]

Hey there JMART, nice studies.

I love the way you rendered the rat's fur in PS, and he's overall really cute :D

keep em coming :thumbsup:

[JM-art]

Thanks Vladion:thumbsup: ,for the fur of that rat i ended using 4 or 5 differents hues mostly because i´m trying to colorize based on color temperature (great aproch to have in mind) and not just using a color (i.e: brown) with more black or white. So i overlaped ...again, 4 or 5 fur passes with different colors and values to give the rat a more soften, random and rich feeling. Or that was my goal at least:curious:.

Cheers.

[siiilon]

Great studies of human anatomy dude, I see your sense of form is improving greatly! Keep up dude. :)

[JM-art]

Hey Siiilon, thanks a lot, realy glad you like them!

here is a concept of a ......... woman (fill the gap with what you want because i don´t know!)

I just started to draw with the mirror featurre of sketchbook Pro, and this is the result so far...i feel well about it but i´m not satisfied with the indefinition of the idea.

Here it is.
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1138/conceptgirl4.jpg (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/conceptgirl4.jpg/)


And some other stuff:
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/9955/criatures.jpg (http://img121.imageshack.us/i/criatures.jpg/)

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/3629/bullrobot.jpg (http://img686.imageshack.us/i/bullrobot.jpg/)

[Rabid1]

hey JMART, happy new year! I really like your last couple pages of updates, your imagination has been erupting lol. And what a cute little rat guy lol...that came out great. From pencil to color you executed it perfectly. That 'mirror feature' seems like a useful tool...especially for character sheets for 3D models. One thing to keep in mind as you continue....think of the form of objects you create. Think 'volume' and try to maintain it as you go. Anyway, looking foward to more this year!

[NR43]

Hi,

do you often practice human anatomy?
Your anatomy is fairly good but you have a problem with the pelvis area.
Especially with female subjects, this is an important area, but in general, all the weight that is above the pelvis area has to be countered underneath it to keep the figure balanced.
If the pelvis isn't located right or it's shape is off, your whole figure will "collapse".

I like your linework, it's going in the right direction, although I think you can push the limits a lot more concerning lineweight.

Your imagination muscle is developing well. That rat painting is really nice.
Keep that going :D

Good stuff in here!

[JM-art]

hey JMART, happy new year! I really like your last couple pages of updates, your imagination has been erupting lol. And what a cute little rat guy lol...that came out great. From pencil to color you executed it perfectly. That 'mirror feature' seems like a useful tool...especially for character sheets for 3D models. One thing to keep in mind as you continue....think of the form of objects you create. Think 'volume' and try to maintain it as you go. Anyway, looking foward to more this year!


Hi, happy new year for you too, glad you liked the rat and thanks for the encouraging words. ABout thinking volume...thats a great advice, i heard that before, but is something that i´m not use to but i should...there are so many things to have in mind wen trying to do a good drawing. But this is the only way...practicing and hearing about what others say, see, and with the time those things ends behind the skin and you dont need to think much, and just apply. I think in 20 years i´ll be in that stage:cool:

Cheers!

Hi,

do you often practice human anatomy?


Not that often latly, i tend to get bored realy quickly when doing a practice in one subject (human anatomy)so i rotate the theme of the practice, the techniques (2d, 3d (sculpting
, modeling), digital, traditional), the styles and aproachs. If i not do that, i just get bored, and without motivation, and become more a work than an passion...THOUGH sometimes the hard work factor must be present, but this sistem of rotating themes, etc keep me bussy but motivated as well...i would´t recommed it necessarily, not even for me, but is the way i just end up using, and let me do a great amount of work.

Sometimes i wanted to organize the practice, but for a or b i can´t follow the schedule.
I´m talking about a weaknes, wich i would like to correct, so any suggestion about organization in the practice will be good.

Your anatomy is fairly good but you have a problem with the pelvis area.
Especially with female subjects, this is an important area, but in general, all the weight that is above the pelvis area has to be countered underneath it to keep the figure balanced.
If the pelvis isn't located right or it's shape is off, your whole figure will "collapse".

Yes, i said it before, the female figura represents a great challenge to me, while copying i think i don´t suck that much, but when i try to do draw a woman from imagination i tend to do almost everything bad(believe me, i just don´t post all of what i do:shrug: to prevent eye´s viewers)

And the pelvis area...yes i have problems with that all the time, but is great you point it so defined because i´m more conscious about that problem and can focalize more the work in that area.

have all a good, productive and happy new year;)

[JM-art]

Hi, here i did a political caricature of the actual president of Argentina (left) and the ex president. the illustration have various meanings (very hard to be recognized by people who don´t live here). But well this is an art forum so i post it to share the drawing and process more than anything.

Here again i did a pencil drawing, scanned and edited in photoshop.

cheers!




http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/8177/cfklow.jpg (http://img188.imageshack.us/i/cfklow.jpg/)

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/1614/cfkedit.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/i/cfkedit.jpg/)

[JM-art]

Hey two more caricatures....Bruce Willis is finished, and Eastwood is just scanned, not edited yet.

Hope you like it.

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8396/eastwoodcaricaturelow.jpg (http://img6.imageshack.us/i/eastwoodcaricaturelow.jpg/)

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/9606/caricaturabrucewillisme.jpg (http://img694.imageshack.us/i/caricaturabrucewillisme.jpg/)

[JM-art]

Hi, i need some feedback of this if possible. Is a personal and imaginated version of Pandora for a comp. The image is not finished but the idea is there.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9417/p44low.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/i/p44low.jpg/)

Cheers.

[NR43]

I'm not good at envs myself but there seem to be some basic perspective issues with the islands in the front.


There's a lot of work to be done concerning composition:

There's no clear focal point. Well there is, kinda, the contrast of the centre island in the foreground, but it's an empty island with grass growing on it. Try to come up with some action to give the story of your image more depth. If you want the waterfall to be the focal point, bring it more into the image.
The background is way too dark. Learn about volumetric perspective.
Most colors are too saturated. Again, volumetric perspective has a role to play here.
The values are too cluttered. There are dark values on the left part but these forms seem to be placed in the middle background plane.
An open water scene like this calls for a brighter background in general (water reflects the skylight.
I'd say make some greyscale thumbs using 3 or 4 values. Then pick the best one and start all over. If that's not an option, desaturate this one and work in greyscale until you have a solid composition that tells a story. What do you think?

Btw, Andrew Loomis: Creative Illustration. A real Eye opener I'm going through at the moment. Google it, download it (it's free) and read it. If you want to learn about perspective, first read his other book Succesful Drawing.

good luck & Have fun! :)

[siiilon]

Hey buddy, I love the caricature of Bruce, it's great! About the enviro, it's really difficult, because the linear and color perspective are really unforgiving. But I must say I like your background. You did few bad choices there though :
- you have no clear idea of what you want to accomplish : draw, draw, draw instead of paint in this stage. And think, think, think before draw. When you're sketching, you are putting down whatever you have in your mind - what do you have in your mind? Blurry vision of smth, or something pretty definite that can be researched through reference images?
- rocks, grass, trees, waterfall, lake - have you done your study before going into sketching? Watter is hell difficult if you don't practice it from reference and even harder when you don't use reference at all.
I hope I haven't discouraged you to continue, I would say, it's better to spent 80 percent of time you have to prepare accordingly and the rest to accomplish what you have already explored and prepared.
CU and good luck with it!

[JM-art]

HEY!!! What a great advices and suggestions...sharing of knowledge in the end. Is great to enter here and see this inputs really.

I knew there were things to correct but i hadn´t a defined idea of what was it. So...looks like i have a lot to work out...it´s ok!

@NR43, i didn´t know about volumetric perspective but it would be a good thing to research, thanks for that. And you´re 100% right about not having a focal point. i started this very disorganized, expanding the canvas here and there. I could write an article about "the things you shouldn´t do if you want a nice composition":rolleyes: . About Loomis, i had those, i´ll give it try and see what happens.

About this, i hope i can soon have a copie of "imaginative realism" (difficult to get here in Argentina)
i knew about this illustrator a month ago, and he has an style that i realy like. You can check his blog if you don´t know him, great tips all over. http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/



@Siiilon, very true about the unforgiven perspective! And is true also..i didn´t have an idea in mind i just started to paint here and there. I did some different versions before of this one, but all were the same...an anxiety aproach. About reference, yes, you´re right i say it to anyone all the time, in this case i saw a lot of pictures of Pandora, and other landscape pictures for reference but i ended using them more as motivation than for visual painting help. And, you don´t discourage me at all, nothing better than this kind of feedback, wich i consider to be gold to be a better artist. Oh, and thanks about the Bruce caricature comment, glad you like it.

edited the last sentence because it could be confusing...just bad written(?).

Again, Thank you both, you helped a lot.:beer:

[JM-art]

Hi, i made this caricature today...hope you like it. Critics are welcome.

Cheers.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/3015/caricaturadetomhanks.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/i/caricaturadetomhanks.jpg/)

[NR43]

LOL so funny!

Very good :D
Edit: btw, Imaginative Realism is a must have.
It's a really good book.

[JM-art]

Thanks! very glad you like it:) .

About the book i already ordered one but they are having problems to deliver:banghead: . Here in Argentina there is no chance to just go and buy one, is a kind of stuff that is consider...too specific?..i don´t know, and the fact that is in english makes the thing worst. But i´ll find the way, is the kind of subject that i always wanted to learn, (and i think most of us here too). I know that Gurney uses a lot of scale model to make believable his paintings, and knowing that, i think that using 3d software with basic shapes and lights could help too (mostly for people that don´t know how to sculpt yet...like me?). Just sharing that idea here, but i know that is not the same...3d is also a faking of the reality.
But well, i think i´ll give it a try for the painting for the comp`(i have 4 days to finish:surprised ) and all i have is a ton of sketches.

Well...:wavey:...cheers.

[dscavenger]

lovely caricatures dude..

[JM-art]

dscavenger, thank you;) !

Hi, finally this is what i presented for the Pandora competition.
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/7811/pandorafinal4high.jpg (http://img687.imageshack.us/i/pandorafinal4high.jpg/)

I think is better than the version that i posted before (02-10-2010 05:09 AM).

The advices of Siiilon and Nr43 about how to approach the composition and preliminars sketches etc were extremely usefull to me, and i did a reserch about those issues, i red somethings of the Loomis Creative illustration and i did a ton of little sketches, both from imagination and from nice pictures to get a better idea of the hole thing. Of course there is lot to practice and to digest but now i know the importance of this things at least and
from now on i can´t imagine to start a work like this without doing a dozen of sketches previously to detect potencial problems and solutions.;) .

Please, on this one, if you have a minute tell me your opinion...what is ok and what isn´t. I have the feeling that there are things, mostly about value composition, that could be better but i can´t say what..so.

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/8886/pandorafinapost10l.jpg (http://img682.imageshack.us/i/pandorafinapost10l.jpg/)

[NR43]

That's a huge improvement compared to the previous version you posted!
Maybe darken the plants in the foreground (bottom-right corner)?

Awesome!

[siiilon]

That is spectacular dude, really! If I had anything to note, I would get away the plants in bottom-right corner (you can use those sticking out rocks in waterfall to frame the image) - they are distracting the focal point, and I would draw those farthest flying creatures on the left much much smaller, which are according to atmospheric perspective much much farther than those in foreground. Because you drew them so big yet so distant, it kills depth and there is no real clue that those are smth like adult version of those in foreground. Anyway, I love the creature design and their rythm. It's really great job you did even if you leave it as it is.

[JM-art]

NR43, Thanks for sharing! those plants...i put them at the end but having serious doubths about them, i think that yes...the way would be to dark them or like Siiilon says to remove them.

Siiilon, thanks glad you liked the picture, and is amazing how one can loose track of some things. Like what you say about those creatures...is true, they must be giant compared to the near ones they would be smaller or i suppose, have less fog on it. I completely miss that, but comments like this are maybe the only why to detect this things, thank´s again.

Like i suggested i´d do, I did use 3d renders, very basic ones to keep the perspective of the creatures and the waterfalls.
Yes, i´d like to be able to just imagine and draw perfect, but, i thinks that there´s an ego factor about that, and lots of great modern and past masters used what they had at hand to make pictures better. I realize that in the professional field nobody will evaluate the how, but the result. If you can make good, quality things , including good idea, good composition, solid perspective, good anatomy, interesting lighting, nice details, all in a clean technick...well, i suppose you´re done.

Of course that make all that isn´t easy at all, so, why to add obstacles like thinking "no, i´ll do all from scratch, from the beggining to the end, because i should prove that i can" (that´s a parody of my way of thinking some times:))
i wile ago i was in a course about drawing and the teacher told me, that everything goes for making a better picture, except copy others works. Obviously in the case of publishing; for practice is ok. So i think i´ll try to develop a more practical aproach to all this, and less "ideal" (i can´t find the equivalent english word to traduce: idealizado)

here are 3 pencil sketches and 1 render to illustrate the process on this one. But i think i did 50 sketches total. the last one is the one that suggest me the final picture.

I´d like to see some 3d based painting from people of this forum to talk about it. I find the process interesting.

cheers!
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/5440/bocetosb.jpg (http://img694.imageshack.us/i/bocetosb.jpg/)

[Rabid1]

Wow Juan that Pandora piece is outstanding! Your hard work and proper process is paying off greatly. Also, those caricatures you've been posting are really funny and well done too. No crits to give, just wows :thumbsup:

[JM-art]

:D Thanks zach! I'm not that positive about the final piece, but i learned a lot doing it so i'm very happy for that. And you said it right...hard work!!! that's the key to improve...trying and trying and more trying, not magic in this... identifying problems, experimenting with software, deleting things, redoing things, researching,.... and posting in this forum!!!:buttrock: Oh, and participate in web competition makes you work harder, because you can't present an sketch with potential..you have to present a finished piece. I highly recommend to anyone to participate in one (in this or other forums), not for winning necessarly, but to push our limits and learn things.

thanks again for the nice words.

[denkain]

so funny... I especially liked Tom Hanks. well done!

[JM-art]

Hi, so long since last update, what a shame.
This ones are not elaborated, but lately i don´t have too much time to draw, so when i get inspired i spend an hour or so to make one of this....i´ll say who is who eventually, but for now i want to see if you can guess. For the last one i tryed something different, trying to use a different style, more stylized.
(http://img545.imageshack.us/i/93193748.jpg/)http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/1012/93193748.jpg (http://img545.imageshack.us/i/93193748.jpg/)
(http://img545.imageshack.us/i/93193748.jpg/)http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/6139/30290919.jpg (http://img507.imageshack.us/i/30290919.jpg/)

(http://img545.imageshack.us/i/93193748.jpg/)http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/6664/75881932.jpg (http://img838.imageshack.us/i/75881932.jpg/)

(http://img545.imageshack.us/i/93193748.jpg/)

[Gord-MacDonald]

You have come along way - good work!

[JM-art]

thank you Gord-MacDonald.


An study of a pecarí (kinf of a wildboar):


[/url][url="http://img403.imageshack.us/i/pecari2.jpg/"]http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5091/pecari2.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5091/pecari2.jpg)

[jabuhrer]

This is a great sketchbook! Keep it coming :)

[JM-art]

thanks a lot jabuhrer!!

I don´t know if this one is finished, but if not, is close...

critics are welcome, though i was just sketching and this came up, so...no too much pretensions about it.

http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/2772/monstruito9low.jpgAnd some sketches of human figure, trying to capture the gesture of the pose without loosing the proportions....for me, doing this kind of rough sketches is one of the most enjoyable things about drawing. I think that is because there is not pressure involved, and it connects you more with the energy of subject than with the shell. And you can learn a lot in little time... (http://img808.imageshack.us/i/monstruito9low.jpg/)
i recomend to anyone that is not doing this gesture sketches to beggin. (http://img808.imageshack.us/i/monstruito9low.jpg/)

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/6162/humfiguresr1.jpg (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/humfiguresr1.jpg/)

http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/6218/humfiguresr2.jpg (http://img573.imageshack.us/i/humfiguresr2.jpg/)

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/8093/humfiguresr3.jpg (http://img109.imageshack.us/i/humfiguresr3.jpg/)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7233/minitar1.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/i/minitar1.jpg/)

[NR43]

Love the dragon painting.

You need to push contrast though... Think of the light sources and push those values so you have a wider range. The piece can use especially more shadows.
Determin your main focal point (I assume it's the dragon's head).
Your values guide the viewer towards the tail and the edges of the image where the orange-yellow spots are. I'd suggest to make those parts less bright and put a main light source on the dragon's head.


For your quick sketches, I'd say be more economic with your linework.
It looks like you're going over the same "line" over and over again, making things look a bit messy. You can do that, but do it very lightly or better use a pen and paper and then you can "ghost" (= pretending to make draw a line a couple of times but keeping the pen a mm above the surface) and then draw in one stroke. It takes a lot of practice though so don't get discouraged. But after a while you will notice that your sketches will look a lot more solid.
My teach always said: "look 3 seconds at your subject, draw a line in 1 sec and repeat that process for each line you want to draw". While it seems it will take you ages to make a quick sketch, you'll find that you'll be a lot quicker after a while.

Anyway, it's great to hear that you love sketching. The fun thing is that you can do it anywhere: the park, the city, the shopping centre, the train, those boring family meetings,...
just anywhere :D

Looking forward to your next update.

[JM-art]

Hi there Johan, those are extremely usefull suggestion and inputs, thanks a lot for taking the time to write it.
I wasn´t going to spend more time for finish that weird creature piece, mostly because i think of it more like an overdone sketch than a incomplete piece, but after reading your post i feel those hings about contrast and focal point should be corrected. I just felt the urge to draw a weird character and then just draw some habitat around without thinking in composition...and it shows!jaja.
i´ll keep in mind those things about sketching, that rule of the 1 sec draw x 3sec observation is nice!
Sometimes depends on the intention too, and what you need to do to mantain your energy flowing, without loosing the motivation.
For example i wanted to gain a better understand of balance and gesture, and line of action (if that therms aply to this cases) while doing those fast and rough sketches.
For me in that moment the best thing to do was to jump very fast from one sketch to another once i had in "paper" what i felt it was meaningfull to get and understand...and that was, the overall gesture and balance, while mantaining the proportions more or less accurate.
Use of languaje can be tricky sometimes, maybe this so called (by me) sketches from the last page could be better called visual notes or gesture doodles.

Thanks again Johan. always very welcome in this thread.:thumbsup: ...thanks for helping me to get better!!

[mehsan2112]

Hello :)

I'm sorry I can't see your files...if you upload to cgtalk then I can see it but since I am in tehran all pictures are blocked from image servers...but if you upload to cgtalk I can see it. sorry for being a pain. but i want to really see what everyone is saying.

I'm no expert, but I can say that patience is a virtue...it helps so much with lines and drawings.

keep drawing!!

[SassyMeow]

Nice drawings.Don't mind if I crack a little joke :x It seems you're better in drawing dudes comparing to monsters or babes.

[JM-art]

mehsan2112, sorry i can´t reupload all the thread, i´ll to do it for next images.

SassyMeow, jeje not sure if you saw all the thread, though in general to draw caricatures and male figure (and head) is a lot easier than to draw nice girls, because every mistake while drawings them breaks the beauty and is much more evident. That´s why i tend to do more research and sketches of woman, for what you say, with little succes so far ( i already knew it).

[SassyMeow]

JM- art ,

Yeah, I did read the threads.

[JM-art]

Hi, some time since last post, though i have been drawing a lot, but traditional, and just sketches to understand form, proportions etc. I´ll scan some eventually (i guess?)

So..digital...i drew this concept of a futuristic machine to use as a reference for a 3d model....
Is not a 2d finished piece, but i´d like to hear some opinions at this point.

Thanks!


http://i52.tinypic.com/qxqlfr.jpg

Edit : here i polished a little and changed the design...

http://i55.tinypic.com/2nimuk7.jpg

[Starrider]

I just stumpled upon your thread here (only read a few of the comments) and I'm really impressed how much your work improved over time. Your drawing skills got really good!
I think next step is to work on the overall compositing of your drawings. I mean light/shadow, negative/positive space, high/low detail to set the focus for the eye. Check out Goro's work for example. ( http://goro.cgsociety.org/gallery/562460 ). When the image appears on the screen your eyes always jump to the point they should jump to.
But great work!!

[razz]

Try using the biggest brush possible for the job. You have this metallic vehicle with smooth forms and a tiny brush isn't helping you here. It's really hard to tell the form now. For concept stuff like this just have the light come from above, nothing fancy.

Here's a two minutes paintover, it's not correct, but you can see the difference a big brush makes. I selected the area and used an airbrush. You can add details and texture later on once you have the main form.
http://i54.tinypic.com/qsmjx2.jpg

[JM-art]

@Starrider thanks man. Yes lately i´m realizing that the composition, the concepts of design, the history of things, are all not just important but the core of the thing. I´m reading things here and there trying to learn more about that.
I´m more into animation lately, and is amazing how helpfull are the fundamentals of animation for evolving in drawing. I mean, the concepts are the same in some way, but to animate you really have to understand and make second skin some things.

@razz thanks a lot...there is nothing as helpful as the paintovers, i really want to thank you for taking the time to do one. I can cleary see what you mean, no doubt is looking a lot better with a bigger brush.
Please for future posts of mine, feel very welcome to do paintovers whenever you want because there is no better way to learn.

Cheers people!!!

[JM-art]

My first matte painting ever....
though more than a finished painting, i wanted to get the concept across......i don´t want to spend lot of time in details if i have to get better at the basics first


http://i55.tinypic.com/14xm1qb.jpg

[JM-art]

some style experiments usin art rage, subject of the day....CRABS

http://i52.tinypic.com/33cpwlj.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/196mbp.jpg

[JM-art]

Subject...Miyazakihttp://i56.tinypic.com/1sz58h.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/4lg65g.jpg

[JM-art]

Some random ideas...

http://i56.tinypic.com/2u88j0m.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/2mgs8j7.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/23m8vvo.jpg

[JM-art]

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/9804/ups2v.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/ups2v.jpg/)

[JM-art]

Hi, i´m sketching a lot with ball-point pen on paper lately, i´ll scan and post to hear opinios soon.
This are digital for the moment, last two without reference, the others are quick studies and practices.

http://i51.tinypic.com/5up7j6.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/o7q2o4.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/9unjbb.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/o8rzat.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/2zf72iq.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/fuctb4.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/2nqw1s9.jpg

[ColeBot]

Just took a look from the first page to here, you've come a long way! Your improvements are astounding :D Keep the work coming!

[JM-art]

Thanks a lot!!! i´m not getting any feedback lately so i highly appreciate your comments:thumbsup:.

Cheers, and have a good 2012.

[NR43]

Hi Juan

your thread deserves more attention!
Love the crab studies!

In general, if I had to critique it would be something like "try not to use black for your shadows. Shadows are usually very colorful too". Studies from life will teach you a lot about shadows.

Anyway, your work is getting better and better so just keep going :)

[JM-art]

Thanks a lot man, i´ll keep the advice about shadows in mind.

:beer:have a nice 2012!!!

[JM-art]

Hi all, a sketch for this topic

TWO LIFE-FORMS STRUGGLE TO CARRY A PIECE OF HEAVY FURNITURE




http://i40.tinypic.com/a2rqfs.jpg

and this one without any particular goal...

http://i42.tinypic.com/51sgub.jpg

and some studies

http://i43.tinypic.com/anhoie.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/svjvo0.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/abnvpg.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/3447fur.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/t82sec.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/qnwmc0.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/102sheo.jpg

I´ve been doing a lot of studies this are the 0,5% or so since my last update, i´ll post more later.

Cheers!