Sketchbook Thread of Eklectique - 2D/3D

[Rebeccak]

Hi there,

If you want, I can move your thread to the Anatomy Forum (http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=200), where I think you're likely to get more feedback.

My advice is to do a lot of gesture drawing, look at the gesture DVD of Glenn Vilppu. Understanding the body is less about perfecting and refining a single piece and more about doing buckets loads of studies. Getting the occasional comment of "hey that's good" is not going to help you...what will help is to realize that you have to get cracking and fill sketchbooks with anatomy and life drawing studies to advance your understanding of form.

[Eklectique]

That would be good, thank you. You're right, maybe some feedback on anatomy. Please do move it n_n.

[Rebeccak]

That would be good, thank you. You're right, maybe some feedback on anatomy. Please do n_n.No problem, done. :)

In response to your original concerns in the courses and schools thread (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=283&t=762910&page=1&pp=15), I would say that you have to be, in this day and age, self motivated. There are a ton of online resources and you have landed in the midst of a great one. :) The key to forum participation is to post replies to others' threads, and they will eventually post to yours. The general environment here on the Anat forum is one of encouragement toward individual improvement...there are many resources to check out in terms of getting better with one's understanding of anatomy. Check out some of the past workshops (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=2602753&postcount=3) we've run here - as well I recommend doing timed studies from reference from places such as characterdesigns.com (http://characterdesigns.com/index.php?sitepage=photosets) (nudity) and doing anatomy sketches from anatomy books (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=202&t=257424). It can take time to get used to forums but once you become active it can become addictive, and fun to see your own progress. :) Welcome aboard and good luck!

Dive in, the waters are friendly. :)

[Eklectique]

Gonna transfere the original first post here:

Hello, I'm exited now; You see, this is the first time I put my work here to get critiques and feedback (which most probably means get torn apart by people who know way more than I do about CG and art in general).

After deciding I wouldn't allow my fear of ridicule keep me from getting the opinions of the experts (that's you, people) I decided to post this here.

Sketch
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/JPoP_sketch.jpg

Line art + Base colours
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/JPoP_bcolour.jpg

About 3 hours (so far) in Open Canvas with a G-Pen 450 tablet.

So yeah, As you can see this guy's wearing a Prince of Persia outfit. He's the main character of a webcomic project I'm the illustrator for, and this is intended to be a reference illustration for a story arch in which the character attends a con and dresses up as the prince.

I'm using a 5 head canon for comical purposes. Plus, I love the big anime style heads.

So yeah, don't go easy on me for being a virgin (though, most of you wouldn't probably go easy on me anyway). But please don't just tell me I suck... at least tell me "You suck... work on this and that and whatnot".

Thanks in advance for the ego-beating!

So yeah, just for the sake of consistency, and because this tread actually started in the critique forum, Here's the finished piece.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/JPoP.jpg

I will not add a bg becasue it is only intended to be a reference illustration. Some critique on it is more than welcome though.

And from now on, only Anatomy Study sketches and that sort of thing here. n_n

[Rebeccak]

Eklectique,

As a practice character illustration, it's not bad, I guess - the foot on the far left doesn't feel as planted on the ground plane as it could, but apart from that it's ok as a piece. The lack of modeling / shading isn't to my taste, but perhaps you're going for just linework.

I think the broader issue is just one of draughtsmanship - we can all improve our drawing ability, myself first in line :) - and usually when people present individual pieces like this where they want to refine and perfect them, I tend to see things from the broader view of, sure, it's fine, and one can noodle something like this forever, but overall the thing that will really improve one's draughtsmanship is to do hundreds of life drawings and studies. Those with an interest in manga and cartooning are sometimes the hardest to convince of the value of realistic studies, but I guarantee you that the more life drawings you do, the better these kinds of character studies will be.

So, overall, not bad in terms of the basics of this piece - the folded arm looks a bit short to me and the drawing of the face doesn't seem as interesting as the drawing of the legs - but I think my advice is to move beyond this as a piece, and start doing loads of life studies and sketches. Then come back to this piece and judge it with your own eyes - I think you will see things quite differently. :)

Edit - you might also be interested in checking out this blog:

http://gorillaartfare.com/

I think the dynamics in these kinds of character studies comes from lots of study of the dynamics of real life people:

http://gorillaartfare.com/author/aviv-or/

[Eklectique]

@Rebeccak

Thanks. And yes, The shading is pretty much just cell shading, but instead of plain colour I do sketchy lines... that's just for the sake of visual style, really.

And yes, It was really difficult to convince me that I needed to do life drawing. The one thing that actually got to my was Richard Williams' book "The animator's survival kit" in which he states a great animator must do lots of life drawing.

To tell you the truth, I always knew the importance of understanding anatomy and I have studied it, but not in a practical level, and I now realize that shows in my work.

So, yes, You'll be seeing lots of life drawing and anatomy study sketches here from now on.

Thanks for all the good advice and critique! n_n

[Rebeccak]

You're welcome :) - you know, I attended a Gnomon Workshop and saw the famous comic artist Frank Cho's lecture - and he couldn't stop talking about the importance of life drawing. :) It's the number one thing to help one improve - and really, the best way forward is to consistently go to Workshops - all of the best artists who continually hone their craft are continually refining the basics. There's really no point at which you're "set" and can stop practicing the fundamentals. Richard Williams is right! 2D animation is for the most part nothing *but* drawing, so one must become disciplined in consistently drawing from the figure, or risk having mediocre work. That goes for all the rest of us. Fortunately, drawing the figure is pretty fun. ;)

[Eklectique]

Another one, now some 3D modeling:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/Sneak_peak_3D_Sakura_by_Le_Narcissi.jpg

This is a 3D model I did for my second semester learning Maya; the assignment was to make a character model but no texturing or bump mapping.

I didn't really go for an anatomically accurate modeling, i did thy to make an animation able mesh... don't have the model right now to post mesh though...

[Eklectique]

Hi, there. Allow me to share with you some sketches I made a while ago that are a little more appropriate for this tread:

First, a little, 2 minute, sketch I made of my girlfriend leaning on a counter while I walked her to run some errands.
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/SorsBack.jpg

Then this little perspective prctice I made at school during a Physical SFX class:
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/2point_perspective.jpg

And, lastly, a little character sketch I made for an RPG character from a Vampire: The Requiem game (Does anybody play RPG's around here?).
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/Ravencharactersketch.jpg
This character is actually based on my girlfriend's looks, except my girlfriend's got curly hair and doesn't dress so... Emo?

There, I'm gonna work on some more stuff to post.

[Eklectique]

:beer: Yes indeed, I just had my very first experience drawing a real human face from a photograph. This, of course, with the intention of studying the shapes, shadows, anatomy, expression and whatnot.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/Armene-Ladybug.jpg

:shrug: I'd like to think I didn't suck that much... I'm actually impressed at myself... :cool:

There are two dark stains though... I overtoned it a little on those places it seems. In my defense, they didn't look like that on paper.

Critique and Comment, please, I'd really appreciate it, as I'm trying to become a better artist and am starting from a "I won't ever learn realism so I don't mess up my anime style" background. :wip:

Oh! and this is my very first post to the anatomy forum, so I've been devirginized twice today! :buttrock:

--
Quick edit: The original photograph, by the incredibly talented Armene, can be found [here] (http://armene.deviantart.com/art/Ladybug-attack-82641408) ... I think I kind of elongated her face... damn!

And, by the way, that on her face is supposed to be a Ladybug... :p

[Rebeccak]

Hey Eklectique, quite nice! :) I would say though that this is the kind of thing you can post to your Sketchbook. :)

Keep going, there's a lot of good things about this drawing. If you don't mind though, may I merge this post with your Sketchbook thread?

[Eklectique]

@Rebeccak

Thank you very much!

And I Shall n_n then, Should I also leave it here? o_O I kind of want it to be visible so I can get some critique.

Edit: Sorry, didn't completely read your post, >.<.

Yeah, sure, do merge it if you think that the appropriate action to take n_n.

[Rebeccak]

Hey, you're welcome. :)

Each forum is different, but here the majority of interaction happens in the Personal Anatomy & Sketchbook Threads (http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=200) area - you'll get more replies by posting more work, and by posting to others' threads. That's why the community here works, is because people are constantly posting work, and commenting to others' threads. By posting all of your work to one thread, you'll have a document of your progress, rather than scattered WIP images that to be honest, fewer are likely to comment on individually. Here on the Anat forum as everywhere, it's basically, give and you will receive. :)

Keep going, and keep pushing yourself to do studies. I notice in the 3D model, the weakness is the hands and feet - maybe try some hand and feet studies? Those you can do from life, which is really the best. Alternately, you can check out online reference, books, or sites like characterdesigns.com - I think sticking to realism is your fastest ticket to better drawing ability (which ultimately leads to better modeling ability and better ability to analyze complex human form). Bottom line is, keep going! :wip:

[Eklectique]

Thanks n_n.

I will keep on studying, and the 3D model does have week hand modeling... the feet weren't as bad, I swear >.<, It's just the floor I put a little too high and didn't notice until after I rendered.

And thanks for the advice, I'll go and comment on other people's work. >.< I hadn't because I kind of felt idiotic criticizing work that's way better than mine.

And thanks for all your help too! :p

[KarthikAL]

Hey Eklectique, nice work. just keep practicing u can do better.

[Eklectique]

@KarthikAL

Thank you very much! :)

[Eklectique]

Hi, there.

I fell ill this past weeks, so I hadn't been able to upload anything... today I got arround and managed to make some animation study... so I decided I'd also post another animation study I made a few days ago.

Here they are:

Pendulum (sketch) (http://vimeo.com/4667522)

Pendulum (final) (http://vimeo.com/4670307)

and Bouncung Ball (sketch) (http://vimeo.com/4840204)


I've decided to go back to the basics and re-study the basic animation exercises. I have done more complex than this, but I never felt quite satisfied with the little we made on animation principles at school.

So yeah... not much to do with anatomy, right? I'll get around and work on that tomorrow, I hate it when I fall sick... history of my life, really.

Anyway, I've been talking to a friend of mine in art school who told me I could most likely enter the Anatomy classes with little to no problem. So, I'll do next semester, that really makes me exited.

[Eklectique]

I've been really busy lately and had no time to make any studies... but now I'm back and, tomorrow or soon, I'll be trying to join the Anatomy Class at art school for at least a semester.

Anyway, I was on the train today and did this:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/pf_1.png

It's a little (failed) perspective study I made based on this tutorial (http://aquafeles.deviantart.com/art/Pose-and-character-perspective-134011506) .

I know it doesn't look any good... but at least I tryed.

Oh, and I decided I'd stop drawing once the train got to my station. No cheating there!
(And yeah, that's a Moleskine!)

[Eklectique]

another failed attemp at perspective:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/box_pers_1.png

And one that didn't fail quite as much. I'm pretty happy with my 3 day progress >.<

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/box_pers_2.png

Tuesday I try and get into Anatomy class. Weish me luck, guys!

[NR43]

Hope you'll be able to follow that anatomy class (= life drawing I assume?)
As Rebecca said, it's great in all it's aspects.

Why don't you stop drawing manga style for a couple of years and go back to it when you have some mileage?

[Eklectique]

@NR43

Hi therem, thanks for the comment.

well, I can't really stop drawing manga style (and, I know, it'll make my advencement all the hardest) because I already do character design professionally. Plus I have several school proyects in which I have to design, 3D model, conceptualize etc etc my characters... and the only style I'm "decent" at is Manga style.

I'm working hard, though. So I can get better. n_n

In a few minutes I'll uplead what I did in my first anatomy class... which didn't involve much anatomy...

[Eklectique]

Hi, there, guys!

This are the exercises I made during my first anatomy class the other day:

The purpose of all of theme was to percieve the movement and proportions of the body. The models, for this session, were some of us the students.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/an_01.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/an_02.jpg
(after the one on the left, I modeled for 15 minutes. My hand got really tired and I wasn't even able to finish the one on the right. T-T)

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/an_04.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/an_03.jpg
(While making the one on the top, the teacher made us stop, give our work to someone else and have the one work given to us criticized and analyzed. It was quite enlightening and unusual.)

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/an_05.jpg
(In the end, after some 3 hours of drawing) I was really tired and started to not be quite as accurate. The last two, the one on the bottom and the one on the right, were my worst of the evening. I liked the one on the left, though)

I didn't want to believe it... but I wasn't one of the worst there... some people really sucked... That was a surprise... and it seems that the teacher was quite impressed with me too.

And there it is... first class... I'm happy I'm taking this course, I just hope I can continue to do so...

(And I reallt need to get a bigger scanner... the camera didn't quite make it for the purpose of trasfering my drawings to the computer)

[Eklectique]

I wanted to do a little something before I went to sleep tonight.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/face_study_2.jpg

My second face study... It took me about 1 1/2 hours. This one looks, I think, a lot better than the first one o_O

comments, people? :wavey:

Photo ref [here] (http://clickypenpixiexstock.deviantart.com/art/music-baby-2-36157659)

[Eklectique]

Oh man! It's been a little more than 8 months since the last time I posted anything here.

A quick summation of this year:

I think I mentioned it, but here it is. I was accepted as an intern in Eounia Studios. The single most important 3D and VFX studio in Mexico, So I left my anatomy/live drawing class and embarked in a journey to become a competent 3D Generalist.

My anatomy knowledge (specially aplied to topology) got way bettet, but my drawing skills went to the grond since I forgot about drawing for most part of the internship.

Anyway, to keep this short... Here's a little female, anime stylised, character I'm working on as promotional material for modeling and topology courses I'll teach next month.

Hi therem been a really long time since I made a post.

Anyway, I'm working a female character (animeish) for stills to promote a modeling course I'll teach.

Ironically, the topology isn't quite right yet, I'm still working on it.

Orthographic:
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/Muestra_8.png
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/Muestra_9.png

Perspective:
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/orirreverente/CGtalk/Muestra_10.png

I dont like having the eyes connect to the mouth like that, I also prefer my topology to flow upwards from the mouth to the ear area.

Well, working on it still, after I finish with the topology I'll scult it a little to fix the shape of the face in general and add detals.

Quite a long way to go and so little time...

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