Sketchbook Thread of Vicmonty

[vicmonty]

here's a 2, 5, 15 min gesture. Should I post the pics I used for ref? I use a victoria secret catalog. I thought they're nice for gestures. Oh, pardon the quality. I don't have a scanner at this time. I have a wacom, but no scanner yet. will have one soon though...

[vicmonty]

15min sketch. oh, what do I do when my file attachment meter is maxed out?

[Rebeccak]

vicmonty, welcome! Check out this thread about image hosting:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=177&t=267088

-R

[vicmonty]

so tonights sketches are a bit weak. not too much difference between the 2, 5 or 10 min sketch. i think my 5 min sketch looked better than my 10 min sketch.

please be patient with quality. i will have a scanner soon. Thanks for stopping by. oh i'm drawing these to get out of the blank stare i get when i open my book. any suggestions on other things i can be doing?

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture001.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture002.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture003.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture004.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture005.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture006.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture007.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture008.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/Picture009.jpg

[vicmonty]

not so much today, but this daily speed painting. 2nd try at it. i thought there was a green hue to the pic so i tried to build on that in her hair.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/Sketch%20Book/cgdailyspeedpainting5mar09.jpg

[NR43]

Hi! Nice sketchbook start :)

My drawing time usually comes after work late at night, after the kids are asleep and my homework is done. My wife is patient with the computer or desk lamp on at night while she sleeps.
I can relate to your private situation very well, having 3 kids myself, a daytime job, and a huge to-do list. However, if I can do it, so can you!

Here's a few thoughts that pop up:

organising your day is imperative to achieve your goals. If you are truly honest to yourself, and you analize your average daily activities, you will find that there are plenty of "dead moments" which can be filled with sketching.
speaking of goals, set yourself some realistic longterm goals. Check out Bobby Chiu's video podcasts to learn about motivation and working towards goals. You'll find them at the tutorials forum or on youtube. (watch the oldest vid's first)
drop the color for a few months/years and study in grayscale to learn the basics. Not saying to completely ignore color, it is a lot of fun to paint in color, regardless the result. But color makes everything 10 times harder. (It's only after 3 years of grayscale studies that I am now gradually building in color)
some important basics most aspirants tend to skip or underestimate the importance of: perspective, contour, distances and proportions, linework economy and lineweight. Studying each of these for at least a couple of weeks will make an enormous difference in the end.
if you can, enrole at your local academy or do some life drawing sessions (it's possible, believe me... I spend 2/3 nights per week at school)
My 6y old son tells me "Giving up is no option" :)
Anyway, these are just some random thoughts that will hopefully encourage you on your path of becoming a skilled draughtsman.
Best of luck and most importantly: HAVE FUN CREATING!

[vicmonty]

NR43,

Well this weekend, my wife delivered our 3rd child. Now I'm a father of 2 boys and 1 girl who is too old at 3 then she knows. Thanks for sharing man. It's good to hear these things. My wife is very encouraging also. Please give any more advice you got. I love to hear from those that been you know?

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/15%20min%20Sketchathon/original_001.jpg

[razz]

Hi Vicmonty,

Well, I can't be more helpful than Johan, he's an amazing person, I'm not :D What I can say about your last drawing is that you're using too much line. In my opinion, anyway. When it comes to linework I find great inspiration in Bumskee's (http://minart.net/sketches/) pieces. Doing some studies and taking from those what suits you might be helpful. There are others, of course, that you might find inspiring, like Glenn Vilppu (http://www.vilppustudio.com/) or Marko Djurdjevic (http://sixmorevodka.blogspot.com/).

Take care ;]

[shapemaster]

hey, congratulations man!

i cant give you any advice about managing a family, but regarding your sketches i have to second razz.
imo, you redraw the same line way too many times. concentrate on drawing with as few lines as possible. that way, you can expand the range of expression of your lines.

[vicmonty]

Ah, I see now. Thanks. You mean to tell me there's no thread on here called "painting with children"? lol. I do throw too many lines on there. I always did. Not sure why though. My ink gesture drawings seem cleaner than my pencil work. Thanks again razz and shapemaster.

[NR43]

I agree with the others. Line economy is what you should focus on right now... and getting a daily routine (somehow, even if it is just 15min per day)

Oh and btw razz... don't be silly my friend, you truly are amazing! Don't you ever stop believing that! On top of that, you are incredibly skilled. There's a great path laying ahead for you and nothing's gonna stop you!
Everyone around here will confirm that!

[vicmonty]

still on the early pictures here. I'll try to do one of these every day. I did this one and I'm thinking if it's worth placing it next to the photo. Now I'm just focusing satisfying the pixel parameters rather than the drawing itself. I guess with or without a photo you guys will be able to see if I did a good gesture or sketch right? So with that said, here's the side by side pic, but from now on I'll just post the sketch. I tried to keep my lines clean this time. Thanks for the suggestions.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/6wvw-2.jpg

[NR43]

try to find a dominant lines in the pose, when you found it (eg, from her underbelly over the left edge of her torso on to the bottom side of her left arm to end at the left hand). Think about the direction of these lines before you draw them. Observe carefully, then draw a line (a good trick is 3seconds looking, 1 second drawing, and so on)

another example is the outer edges of her right arm, the legs,...
again, observe (what direction should I draw this line I want to depict the outer edge of her forearm with? from where to where should I draw it? what about that negative space between her arm and torso? what's the angle of the upper arm in relation to the torso? and in relation to the forearm?

questions like that are can be asked continuously and extremely fast when drawing
(in the blink of an eye you ask one or even more questions once you get routine)
Like this, you will develop your own drawing language :)

good work!

[vicmonty]

Thanks NR43. One thing we don't really consider is that drawing isn't really a mindless activity. We draw what we see so there is some thought. Explained in a manner like the way you did is not what is usually mentioned. People are always saying "just draw". Well, if we just drew instead of thinking in certain ways, we wouldn't show progress. Thanks again.

[Maladie]

Hi hi I'm struggling with the same thing exactly...will be nice to see how you'll handle 'thinking while drawing'!:)

[vicmonty]

i'm using these 15min sketches to work on my line work. not sure if i hit that here.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/bello23-bigcopy.jpg

[vicmonty]

see, there I go drawing the same line too many times...

[NR43]

It's really good to see you using the 15min sketchatlon resources to draw gestures.
Something that really really helped me understand a lot more about what I was actually trying to do, is watching Glenn Vilppu's Gesture DVD.
It's not cheap (I think it may be around 40USD now) but it's worth every penny I tell ya!
So if you can, buy it, or ask it for a present or something... :)

[vicmonty]

I added his name to my resource and ref list. I'll research his dvd today. Thanks for that. I ordered the Anatomy Lessons From the Great Masters off of Amazon for 4 bucks yesterday. Thanks again for all your advice.

[vicmonty]

not sure if I'm making much out of these 15 min jobs here. I'm waiting for my anatomy book to get here. I have Hogarth's. I started doing drawings from there. Not sure why I stopped.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/kylian09-bigcopy2.jpg

[NR43]

3 seconds observing + 1 line
3 seconds observing + 1 line
...

try it!
it's advised to do a couple of "pre-strokes", without touching the paper,... 2 or 3 and then bam... the stroke on paper where you want it.
do 100 sketches like that (2-5 min per sketch max) each week (if you can each day :D )

Try not to set your expectations too high. (read, don't think too much of the end result, it's normal that they are not as good as you'd like them to be)
The more you expect, the bigger the chance of disappointment.
It's hard, really hard, but you can do it!

[vicmonty]

Should these 100 sketches be of the same picture? 3 sec and line. ok, you did mention that before. I'll apply that tonight. tonight's sketch shall demonstrate the 3:1. Thanks for having a look and the encouragement.

[vicmonty]

So I have myself on a training plan. I start with the 15 min sketchathon. Then I move on to the speedpaint thread. Then I would either work on the DSG, a WIP, or...nothing else, I just started this plan.

Now I'm doing the beginners lounge stuff from the beginning. I'll do this after the 15min and speedpaint sessions. that's at least one hour of drawing/painting. I probably double that preparing my workspace and then uploading. I'll get the hang of it.
I think the 2,5, and 10 min sketchathon's were more effective for me when I did my first ones posted here. I did those on my sketcbook with pencil. I'm still getting used to my tablet.

This is assignment # 2 for the master copy sketchathon at the beginners lounge. It seems like i established more with my 2 and 5 min sketches than I did with my 10 min sketch. It's after midnight. Not sure if working at this hour helpfull, but it's what I got.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/photontm6-1-1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/photontm6-1-1copy2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/photontm6-1-1copy3.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/photontm6-1-1copy.jpg

[vicmonty]

here's the 15min sketchathon pic

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/lg_ni_ap-01.jpg

[NR43]

Great to hear you are searching for a more structured way to learn.

It would be a really great exercise to practice what you learn from the 15min sketchatlon and other threads, on real life subjects (eg when you are in town, waiting for the bus or at the park or in a pub, etc)

Keep going! Doing great!

[vicmonty]

Here's my study from the apple tutorial. Now I'll move on to the skull tutorial. I think this is a big improvement from my older work on photoshop. This tutorial along with many others on here and you tube are very helpful. Thank you to everyone who contributes to this site!

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/finalapplestudy.jpg

[vicmonty]

I used a hard brush throughout the whole thing. Once I laid down as much value as I thought I needed, I went with a tiny soft brush lightly smoothing in between the values to rid of the lines in the values that I got by blending. I blended by laying to different values and using the eye dropper and laying down values from both sides in between them. Please let me know if something else works for you (reader, everyone else). Thanks for all the help.

[batte812]

Hi Victor, good result with the apple! Your blending method worked out fine. You can also use the smudge tool. Here is a link on the settings and some other info
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=200&t=635850&page=3&pp=30
Good luck!

[vicmonty]

Hi Victor, good result with the apple! Your blending method worked out fine. You can also use the smudge tool. Here is a link on the settings and some other info
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=200&t=635850&page=3&pp=30
Good luck!

Wow. Thank you. I'll try this out. I really appreciate your help.

[vicmonty]

Please be honest...
1. How is my anatomy?
2. Is my lighting right?
3. Does the composition work?
4. How's the rendering coming?

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/IFX-ENTRY-NOV-out-of-the-m-4.jpg

[vicmonty]

Doing the OFDW sets. Here's 23, 5 of 25 hands. I spent 30min-1hr. I'm trying to work on everything while doing these. I'm paying attention to proportion, perspective. I add value so i can work on lighting. Though they are roughly sketched for the most part, I felt I got what I needed out of each of them and moved on. My favorite one is OFDW 1 Hand of David. I'm also learning photoshop. A major learning process for me. I figure I'll start going through these workshops. C&C please. This place is my "school".

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/OFDW%2023%20-%2025%20Hands/OFDW-1-HandofDavid.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/OFDW%2023%20-%2025%20Hands/OFDW-2-MADONNA-AND-CHILD.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/OFDW%2023%20-%2025%20Hands/OFDW-3-TOMB-OF-LORENZO-DETA.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/OFDW%2023%20-%2025%20Hands/OFDW-4Tomb_of_Lorenzo_deMe.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/OFDW%2023%20-%2025%20Hands/OFDW-5tomb_of_pope_julius.jpg

[killermachine]

hi there,
I'm going to give you some strong critics so brace your self :argh:
i went through your complete sketchbook and one thing i noticed very strongly is that you lack line confidence.it is foundation of solid strong drawing and hence very important.if you go through my sketchbook(which has been here for a while now) you will notice i had similar problem.the BEST way i can recommend you to improve in that department quickly is that you start doing gesture sketches as priority putting more then few hrs in 1 sitting.not only will that improve your line work it will also give you better understanding in every aspect.

As far as working on composition is concerned I would recommend you go through this great article by philip straub
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=3275

keep up the good efforts :thumbsup:
tc

[vicmonty]

Thanks for your time. I found an interesting excercise on posemaniacs for doing gestures. I'll give it a shot. I have been trying to place more confident lines when drawing lately. It's always been a problem for me. I never took it into consideration until recently. I'll browse your SB. So the gestures really helped you out? Thanks for stopping by.

[vicmonty]

How long should I spend daily doing gestures?

[killermachine]

Pose maniacs will give you lot of time to place your gestures hence i cannot, in my opinion, say that it can be very helpful since i think that the best gestures come in absence of time and your best sketches come in matter of seconds.i would recommend a more live setting like cafe, bus stop,stations etc where no one is your model yet everyone is and you have to draw very quickly because the person will move anytime. I have spent spent from 2-3 hrs to 6-8hrs in gesture sketching so it varies.One thing i can guarantee is that the more you do the more fun it gets.
let me know if i can help anywhere else :D

tc

[vicmonty]

I pulled out an old sketch and decided to develop it. How is the anatomy?

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/FEB10-A-NEW-BEGINNING.jpg

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[NR43]

How is the anatomy?

The receiding arm is too small (photoreffed?), especially that hand. (perspective effect isn't this big in real life).

I think you should show the muscles a bit more, it all looks kinda flat.
Check out Rebecca's thread on opposing curves, you'll find it in the tutorials forum.

Great start though!

[vicmonty]

I see it now. Thanks. Operator error. I looked at the photo again and I did some more measuring. Thanks. I'm going to paint it. Should I draw in the muscles?

[dscavenger]

nice going dude...feel like giving focus on the rhythms can give more appeal...anatomy will be an added advantage...

[vicmonty]

I'm no longer interested in submitting this for a contest. Now I'm using it more as a study than anything. I'm going to paint it to completion maybe...C&C please. Thanks.

PS with photo ref...
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/FEB10-A-NEW-BEGINNING.jpg

[vicmonty]

I changed her right arm's position. I'm starting to think that this photo I'm using as ref may not be the best. Should I pick one of the many clear and photos provided in this forum to do a study from or should I continue using the current photo?

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/FEB10-A-NEW-BEGINNING-1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/new-beginning-photo-ref.jpg

[vicmonty]

NO. 6 for OFDW 23...

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/OFDW%2023%20-%2025%20Hands/OFDW-6-Christ-carrying-the-.jpg

I was trying just laying down colors first instead of actually drawing some of these hand studies. I know some painters work their way through paintings with just laying down colors and shaping them to create the image. It worked well for the hand of David. The others, well not so well. For OFDW no. 4 I'm starting from the line drawing first. I'll post that as soon as I get it done.

[NR43]

Good that you posted the ref for the female pose.

Her head could be tilted more backwards for a more dynamic pose, the chin needs to be round iso cornered. Try to do something with the hair iso just letting it hang down like it does in the ref. Moving hair makes a picture very dynamic sometimes.

Her right leg needs to be more backwards for balance. When I compare it to the ref, in your drawing, she seems to be falling rather than standing.
Her left foot needs to come higher (more dynamics).

I'd also really consider adding the right foot, because there is a lot of energy coming from that point. The whole pose is based on the fact that she is pushing herself upward from that one foot.

Don't give up!
Keep pushing yourself ;)

[vicmonty]

NR43,
Do you think I should continue with this study even though the photo ref isn't very clear? Thanks again for your advice. This place is great in this way. As folks have time, they stop by and help everyone else out. Thanks again.

[NR43]

Do you think I should continue with this study even though the photo ref isn't very clear?

Well, the photo is clear enough to see the important info of the pose.
It's up to you if you want to learn more from it or not.
eg: you could try to draw her from a different angle and try to incorporate the things I mentioned in my previous post.

On the other hand, it's just 1 pose... there are millions of other possibilities, so don't get stuck on one pose for too long... We've got millions more to draw :D

[vicmonty]

is it just me or is digital painting more practical and convinient than traditional painting when you have 3 kids from 8 months to 3 years old? I'm thinking about clearing about counter space in my laundry room to set up for painting and still lifes. I have space next to my desk in my room, but the kids will probably move the stuff around on me. lol.

[vicmonty]

I adjusted her head and her thorax...
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/FEB10-A-NEW-BEGINNING-2.jpg

[NR43]

Hey I have 3 kids myself (6, 7 and 8 now) so all is possible!
Can't see the last image I'm afraid.

[vicmonty]

NR43, I fixed the image. I added a censor blot if you want to call it that. I read the photobucket thread, but it sounds like even the other places prohibit nudity.
You have kids too? So what works best for you? We have 2 floors. My pc and tablet are in my room. It would be easier if we had 1 floor. I feel so removed from everyone when I'm upstairs so that's why I leave that when either we're all up here or when everyone's in bed.

[NR43]

Plein air seems like fun to me!
Haven't done it yet though... plan to do it this summer :)

I work on a small table easel now in the living room or the kitchen.
That's ok for small still life paintings.

[vicmonty]

I'm trying to work on keeping my lines neat. I didn't do so well here. Still trying to find a comfortable position for my tablet. I read some people place it on their laps?

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/OFDW4.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/zhuzhu_picture-1.jpg

[vicmonty]

I see that the way I drew his lower body makes it seem as if his right leg is come up and across to his left side. Also, his abs suggest that his wait is turning to the left. I saw him standing straight up yet I drew his lower body turning. Rushing? Will work on this.
Also, I reversed the alignment of his body. In the photo, his everything from his right clavicle to his deltoid is higher than his left. In my study, I drew his left side elevated. I did it to myself! Will work on this also. That's strange because I took note of the difference, and yet I still reversed it.

[NR43]

Try starting with a centre line and the hips. This takes a while to get used to though because we are all so used to starting with the head.

However, the importance of the pelvis area is that the balance of the whole figure depends on it's position. As you pointed out yourself, because you drew the pelvis area in a different position, the pose looks different, not that that is a bad thing, but if you are going for accuracy and balance, it asks for a different approach.

[vicmonty]

thanks for having a look, and thanks even more for the help. I'll use the center line.

[vicmonty]

latest development...
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/vicmonty/art/FEB10-A-NEW-BEGINNING-3.jpg

[vicmonty]

photobucket blocked it. I'll fix this later. Thanks for viewing.

[vicmonty]

here's the link to the new pic on my deviant page. not sure where else to post it without having it blocked. I tried to add img tags to it to display the picture in this message so you didn't have to navigate away, but I couldn't. Sorry.

http://vicmonty.deviantart.com/art/New-Beginning-WIP-155120616?loggedin=1

[vicmonty]

Thanks to Tocpe (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=4090598&postcount=12) for setting up this free hosting site. I hope our memebers are taking advantage of the initiative to set this up.

It's been a while. I'm trying to take it slow. Ref from this (http://www.characterdesigns.com/index.php?sitepage=photosets) great site full of photosets. I found the link on this forum. I'm seeing that a muscle is starting to show up on her left thigh. I'll have to fix that. I think I also should have developed her face a little bit more. I always hear "work the entire image". Let me know what you think...



Ref
http://www.characterdesigns.com/bandaid/content/photosets/117/125/Figure_014_008.JPG
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/Anatomy studies/Figure_014_008-copy2.jpg

[vicmonty]

I see now that I have to "tone" up her abdomen. Her lower quadrant is drooping down. Also, I noticed that her pelvis and abdomen aren't really connecting. More rendering? I know artist develop their own styles as they get better, but man, I'm not liking the way this is coming out. I have to remember I am an amateur. I am still proud to have gone this far with this painting. I usually abandon projects midway. It's not too late to abandon this one I guess...Oh, I just saw something wrong with her left hip. Her Hip joint needs some fixing...

[redpandafire]

Good study on value. My recommendation would be to take note of reflected light that is missing from your last study. Check out the faint reflected light all along the side of her torso hip and legs that appear to be catching light from a nearby wall. Also note the reflected light on her right leg where light from her left leg bounces back onto it. The undersides of her breasts are also receiving bounce light from the ribcage.

Keep up the studies!

[vicmonty]

reflected light...got it! it's very cool how there are all these elements. Missing one makes a big difference. They are all required and I can't wait to they all come natural to me. I see now how it gets easier the more you paint. For me, a lot has to do with becoming comfortable with my tools photoshop and the wacom. I'm having an awesome time learning. I'm not cranking these out as much as I should be though. I tried to do it everyday, but...no excuse just reasons! thanks for the feedback red.

[vicmonty]

master copy. ps. a few hours into it. now i begin to get to the point where i get frightened. i'll see what i come up with. comments and critiques please. not really sure what i'm doing here.

http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/master copy/Master-Copy---Rembrandt01.jpg
ref:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=199&t=349580&page=1&pp=15

[NR43]

Just keep going. Don't think about the fear to screw it up or not. It's digital so you can always go back a few stages if you don't like the way it is going.

Take your time to work it up. Rembrandt didn't paint this in 2hours either ;)

[razz]

Listen to Johan here, Vicmonty. No need to rush with it. I can tell from experience that it doesn't help, usually if I take my time to make it right the first time, I save many hours at the end because there are no mistakes to correct, even if it may seem that I was working much slower. Correcting mistakes takes time, so try not to make them, though that probably won't happen, but the less you need to correct, the better. But then again, no one's going to do anything to you if you do make a mistake, so just keep going without any fear :) Marko Djurdjevic talks on his DVD about this fear thing, how it keeps you from getting better results, so stop saying that you can't do it, know that you can and paint with a smile :)

[vicmonty]

you guys are right. i'll take it slow and try not to make errors. i'll keep stepping back and when i do find errors i'll fix them immediately.

it can all be a bit overwhelming. i look at my ref and wonder "where do i start?" we'll see...

[vicmonty]

Thank you for commenting. I must admit that this part was fun. I'm playing with all the different colors. I noticed that the face has 3 colors. Yellow, pink and orange. This is pretty cool. I'm starting to realize how nothing is just one color. We exist in a world of colors and reflected light shows us this. I know one shouldn't spend too much time on one part of the painting. This is all so new to me. Painting a face is a big deal for me. This turned into a bit of a portrait excerise I guess. I know I should practice with high quality photos for portrait painting, but I engaged much in what I've done so far. Not so much scared any more. Really having fun. Here's the latest. On and off here. About an hour...

http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/Master-Copy---Rembrandt01b.jpg

[vicmonty]

I see now that his face is elongated. It's good to step back.

[jabuhrer]

Looking good vic! This looks like a really nice exercise. You seem to be taking to the fleshtones nicely (I've been wanting to get into full color portraiture myself, I'm a bit intimidated by flesh tones but I'm working on it...)


Keep it up!

[vicmonty]

fiinished! well, I didn't do the whole study. I got what I wanted from this one. Time to move on to something else. Comments and critques please.

http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/master copy/Master-Copy---Rembrandt01fi.jpg

[vicmonty]

here's the finished study of the previous project...

http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/Anatomy studies/Figure_014_008-copy2final.jpg.jpg

[vicmonty]

I'm going back to the OFDW's. This study is from OFDW 22. I believe the photo belongs to damien canderle
Let me know what you think...


http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/Perso_06_01.jpg
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/Perso.jpg

[redpandafire]

Is this done in photoshop? And are you using a brush with lowered opacity settings? I ask because this seems similar to how I've been painting, and it actually makes my life more difficult. This is a very difficult subject on top of that. Good luck!

[vicmonty]

thanks for stopping by. i always enjoy seeing your sb.
yes it's done in photoshop with a brush from zhuzhu's set. I think i got it from deviant art. the pen pressure may be set to opacity. i'm not really sure. i've been painting with different settings lately.
i like painting this way because it lets me see a "sketch" of the what i'm painting if that makes sense. i can build with value if that makes sense. it's really fun. i have't done anything else with this painting. i got bored with it and moved on to another study. i should probably post that.
someone said that when painting digitally you shouldn't paint mess with opacity settings. the color should just lay down solidly. he compared it to painting with actual paint. when you lay a red down it's red, not a lighter red or the value you get when painting with opacity setting. I don't know about that. it offers something for me.
I'm still learning about painting so i can't say one way or the other. i know you can mess with opacity settings to help with rendering or you can just use the color picker and manually select all the different shades. i may be wrong, but i'm learning.

[vicmonty]

New image here. How's my progress going so far? What can I change to improve this image? It's taking a long long time, but it's still fun. I'm very slow...

I see that i may have to work on the proportions of the arms.

http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/untitled2/Untitled-2b.jpg
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/untitled2/wrath-arcane-1.jpg

[vicmonty]

I should smooth out his right arm to get rid of that outline that seperates his shoulder from the rest of his arm. It's also seperating the bicep and tricep. I know they should be seperated, but how do I make it no so much of a dark outline?

[vicmonty]

I changed his pose. Now I don't have any arms to use as ref. Comments and critiques will be great!




http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/untitled2/Untitled-3-copy2.jpg

[NR43]

You can always use a mirror ;)
Also, you shouldn't be spending a lot of time rendering, when you're not certain of the pose yet.
Do some quick sketches, say a dozen, pick the best pose and then do 5 or 6 different quick light thumbs, in which you let the light source have a different position. Pick the best one of those 6 thumbs and stick to it. Then use a mirror and simulate the lighting conditions as you want them in your painting.
Have fun!

[vicmonty]

Do you remember the first time you had something "click" while you were painting? I can't really explain it, but it happened while I was rendering. All that reading I have been doing about painting seemed to make sense and was real to me.
It was a great feeling and I felt another barrier come down. I think that's why I jumped ahead without fully nailing a pose. 12 thumbnails, then 6 with light and pick one. got it!
Thanks for always visiting my SB. I really appreciate you sharing your knowlegde with me.

[NR43]

No worries mate, I learn just as much as you do by doing this (remembering myself of what to do) :D

[vicmonty]

here's the latest. almost 2 wks now. i learned a lot with this one. great time.

how can this one be improved?

http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/untitled2/Portrait-of-a-Rogue.jpg

[Skeetch]

Your improvement from the beginning of this thread is really impressive. It gives me a little push to keep working. Great work!

[vicmonty]

well I appreciate it. I have a long way to go. If it wasn't for the response from this community, I'm not sure how far I would have gone. The community just existing gave me a drive to move you know? The resources and the idea of creating and adding to the greatness that is CGS. It's frustrating, but rewarding when you see what you can do. Also, when people say practice helps, you have to listen.

[vicmonty]

okay, so here's what i've been up to last wk in between family, work and school. I'm starting to let loose a bit. enjoying this more. letting go of that "fear".

photo ref. i fixed the hand once, still looks a bit twisted. 3 hrs photoshop
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/luisa.jpg
1 hr photo shop. photo ref.
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/roosevelt-study.jpg
photoshop. unsure about time, i started and stopped a few times. maybe an hr. masterstudy from this cgs thread. sorolla copy...
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/01_Sorolla_Un-arabe-copy.jpg

[redpandafire]

hey vic, your value studies are getting a lot better. I think for an hours work they work quite well. If I could leave a little tip, I would suggest not leaving large areas of white in a portrait painting, or else the image begins to look "blown out" to use photography terms. Keep it up!

[vicmonty]

1-2 hrs speed painting. not so much "speed" hehe.

looking at this now, it looks blurry. is it because of my strokes. nothing hard enough?

does the white in her dress give that "burned out" look?

at first i thought i could pull off her sash with a really dark green. then i thought i saw a dark blue or dark purple. my eyes playing tricks on me?

her dress almost looked like it was a white, almost yellow dress.

I went with bright yellows for the highlights in the dress. was this a good idea?

I saw pink in here arm. then i thought to add some of that yellow highlight on her arm too.

the photo itself isn't what we normally use to study because it was dim, to me. i guess the photographers style? I auto adjusted and got a pretty clear photo.

ref: http://stacifilth.deviantart.com/
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/starved__by_stacifilth-d34z.jpg

[Splinter]

I agree with some of the other posts on your sketchbook your improvement is really inspirational. Keep up the hard work!

:beer:

[vicmonty]

Thank you very much. It's that fear that keeps us from progressing. It takes a hold of us. Just let it go...

[vicmonty]

hello everyone. continuing to do what I can. I started a Ruben's study. Then I caught wind of a Zelda 25th anniversary contest at cghub. So I came up with this...
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/zelda%20rubens%20study.jpg
photoshop, plus 4 hrs. comments and critiques please. Thank you. I hope to produce work good enough to go into my cgs portfolio soon.

[vicmonty]

photo study. photoshop 2 hrs intuos 3. sorry but i can't remember what site I pulled this photo from.
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/photo studies/heisnota23914015copy.jpg
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/photo studies/he-is-not-a23914015.jpg

[vicmonty]

currently working on a contest desinging street fighter zombies. I chose vega. ref photo courtesy characterdesigns.com
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/street fighter zombie/Photoset_011_019.jpg
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/street fighter zombie/Victor-Amaya%2C-Round-3-Zombi.jpg
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/street fighter zombie/Victor-Amaya%2C-Round-3-2.jpg
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/street fighter zombie/Victor-Amaya%2C-Round-3-3.jpg

[vicmonty]

everytime I start a new painting I think about all the work it's going to take and feel like I can't do it. Looking back at my Zelda piece, even though it's not great, it makes me feel accomplished.

I just always feel like I'm starting my first piece every new piece of art work I work on. I get confused as to where to start. Darks first? Lights and then darkest darks and lightest lights? I try to think on how I navigated through my last picture. I can't remember.

All I do remember is that I felt overwhelmed! I also remember that I just dove into the piece. I chipped away at it one piece at a time in a sense.

When I paint, I have a bad habbit of expecting to see a masterpiece after a couple of strokes. I have to remind myself that it's the gradual build up of a piece that makes it into something that the viewer would say "oh yea, I accept that".

Here's what I have so far in PS with my intuous. Please Please I need critiques on this whole SB. Thank you.

http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/2DDJ53-Demon-Hunter-copy2.jpg

[NR43]

Maybe doing a few simpler pieces will help restore the confidence.Do some still life paintings from life.
Take your time to set up a great still life, don't rush. (for me personally, it often takes an hour or more)
Try to start painting without expectations of the result.
Just observe, measure, and paint what you see.
Slow down when painting
A rushed work is never good.

This can be very relaxing and is a great way to build confidence back to a higher level.
Paint as much still lifes as needed. When your confidence has grown and you find yourself drawing from imagination again, you will soon find out if you are ready or not.
If not, just go back to the still life painting.

Why still life?
It will make you think about the basics again.
If you practice those long enough, those basics about perspective, composition, tonal and chromatic effects etc will become 2nd nature and you won't have to think that much of how you will paint your idea, rather than think about your idea itself. Then you are ready to step up the ladder and tackle more difficult subjects.

In the mean time you can keep practicing anatomy etc by sketching outdoors (pencil or ballpoint pen are AWESOME media).

Remember that painting from imagination is harder than painting from life, because you have to see how your subjects are lit in your mind. It's not in front of you to see how the light falls on the forms.

Sometimes we want something so badly, that we tend to rush towards our goals.
Unfortunately, painting is a "metier" that does not allow for shortcuts.
There are none.
The hours studying the basics must be gone through.
So patience and persistence are your friends ;)

Good luck and keep us posted of your progress.

[razz]

When I paint, I have a bad habbit of expecting to see a masterpiece after a couple of strokes

Same here. But after some time I can tell if it's going anywhere or not. Usually spending more time on a piece will make it look better. I must say though, that sometimes it's just not worth wasting time on a painting that really sucks. But it's still practice, which makes you better. Currently I'm working on a piece that is taking me very long just to see what I can achieve if I invest loads of time and not throw it away after a few hours, which does happen very often. Hopefully I'll end up with something halfway decent. Perhaps I'm at this level where I really need a lot of time to paint something good looking. Maybe you are too. It's a great learning experience. Speed comes with skill, so take your time for those better results.
One other thing, use reference! I'm quite lazy when it comes to that, but it helps so much, so I try not to skip the step of gathering refence images for my paintings. No reason why you shouldn't do it.
Oh, and listen to what Johan said :) Good luck.

[vicmonty]

Thank you Johan. I will relax. Yes it is enjoyable. Even in the early stages when I'm laying in the big spots of color. I'll find something to set up for my still life. I have a plain white coffee mug I was thinking of using. I'll find something to contrast it?

razz, I agree. I always have reference. I just got doodling with the last one and felt like it was going somewhere. I got to the ligthing and value part...stuck! I got ahead of myself I guess. I have tons of sketches on my hardrive. Perhaps I'll revisit these some day with ref and come up with something worth viewing.

I started this study of Abbot Thayer's Winged Figure. It's taking me very long. Working 30 min here, 1 hr there doesn't speed it up either. Then again, I'm really taking this one slow. Looking at the colors used and seeing how they relate to those next to them.

Let me know how you think I'm doing. My question when I paint is if I'm going in the right direction. Am I tackling this study in a proper way? I thought about going grayscale, but I was really inspired and I could really feel the colors in this one.

http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/Abbott%20Handerson%20Thayer%20-%20Winged%20Figure.jpg
http://imagehub.geekfury.com/files/30/Thayer-Winged-Figure-Study.jpg

[jabuhrer]

Your sketchbook is looking great Vic! I really like the Zelda and Demon hunter pieces. Your compositions are great.

It is nice to see you working in color on this winged figure. I've been trying to transition from b&w sketches to color as well, it's hard! But it is looking good to me. You could probably wrap it up solid with some darker darks (esp on the head, to bring in some focus) and a little more time working in the background. It's a nice study!

Johan and Razz make good points, as always. I had a few general thoughts as well:

I get confused as to where to start. Darks first? Lights and then darkest darks and lightest lights?

Everyone works a bit differently, and technically digital tools give us the freedom of having no absolute rules. However, for me, it tends to help me know where I'm at if my digital painting follows the general process that I use in oil painting. That way I don't get stuck or lost. With oil painting, usually it's pretty straightforward. You're either done with the step you're on and ready to move on to the next, or you're not! Generally, my steps are: sketch/block in darks. Then model the form and establish lighting with the midtones. Then blending, cleaning, fixing, going back over darkest darks if necessary, etc. Then small details, accents and highlights. Usually working with larger brushes at first, moving on to smaller brushes as I go. That's a pretty traditional painting process and it seems to work for me. Before I'd done much oil painting, my digital paintings would often get stuck halfway through and I wouldn't be sure where to go next. Oil painting helped: you have to finish the step you're working on and then let it set up and dry before moving on, and it's usually pretty clear what to do next! Working in various media has helped me a lot.

Anyway, looking great man!

[SpiritDreamer]

Hi Vic..:)

You picked a nice one to do a study of,..Nice, but also tough.
Lookes like he started out with a gray wash...I see varied grey values throughout the piece, even in the figure, and wings..Then it looks like he started putting in the muted blues and violets keyed to and overlapping the underlying greys,..greyishviolet, greyishblue ect...All of the colors have a bit of grey in them, or better put, keyed to grey.
The background even has a touch of the light beige tan color that's in the figure, also keyed to grey, which unites the background with the figure, and visa versa.
In the figure, he has gone from the creamy beige of the lightest values through the whole spectrum of beige, ending up in the reddish values of the beige cream color for the mid shadow areas, and into the muted violets, reds, and blues in the deepest shadow areas.
The key to this painting, is that all of the colors are muted, and toned down, giving it that soft look to go with the subject...
A good way to see the color values or better put values of the colors going on in the piece, is to turn the color version of the painting into a greyscale or black and white version where you can see the subtle shifts from dark to light better and clearer, and then try to match the colors in value to the way it looks in greyscale or black and white...Values are always the key to success, whether it be in greyscale, black and white, or color.
Hope what I wrote helps you some, and am looking forward to seeing this piece of yours develope..It's a great one to learn from and do a study of...I bet you will walk away from it knowing alot more about color and values than when you started it..:) :thumbsup:
Take Care, and keep up the great progress.:thumbsup:
Glenn