Beginners' Lounge

#1201

ctnguyen- i dont know exactly what you mean my young artist but im 17 yrs old. Most of my mates have the same problem, they can copy things easy, they just can’t take that information later on and use it. I think it may be something to do with relying on the pictures too much, maybe from this point on you dont use references and struggle for a little bit until bits of information imprint in your brain:) Secondly, do you use any structure before you add features? For example, do you sketch out the base of the head, before you add the nose and eyes? If not that may be a big problem. Finally, dont try and consume yourself with a whole body to begin with, start sketching eyes without reference, then eyes, then ears etc.

Hope this has helped you:)

Fantastic artwork by the way

#1202

glory, i’m 17 years old too. i don’t know about you but it’s intimidating to be posting anything when there are professionals who do these things for a living in this forum! anyway, i remember being taught about proportions in elementary school, but i haven’t learned much about them since. i do sketch the base of the head when i’m drawing without my tablet (the face is the easiest thing for me to draw, the entire body is a different story). the reason i can’t do that on my tablet is because i can’t even draw the base - my lines just fly all over the place on my tablet and i get frustrated. if i pet my lines in, though, they’re half decent.

i’m guessing there are guides to be found online on proportions for the body, so after i do individual sketching like you suggested, i’d try those. thanks so much!

#1203

Hi guys

good to see this thread is still alive. there is actually still some great work being posted here I see :slight_smile:

ctnguyen, to answer your questions:

  1. practice, practice, practice. It takes years of practice on a daily basis to be able to draw every line exactly how and where you want it. And even then you will have to comprimise sometimes.

  2. instead of just copying, which is a good exercise to improve your observational skill, you should study what you are drawing. If you are drawing an arm, why does it curve like that at this or that particular area? how does it work, this arm? what muscles are underneath there? how do these muscles relate to eachother? stuff like that? draw draw draw your subjects in all sorts of angles and situations possible. once you know it through and through you will be able to draw it from imagination. Patience and dedication are your best friends :wink:

I agree with Gloryfied000 that it’s a good idea to stick to one part of the body until you know it well enough. Also, get back to previously studied parts at regular times to keep your knowledge from fading away…

3)It’s a matter of getting used to using your pen and tablet. Check this awesome thread by Corvax: Getting comfortable with using a tablet

hope this helps…

#1204

I would love to get some comments on these.

#1205

This is an illustration that I did of my girlfriend (as a birthday gift) when she was about 6. There are still plenty of things that I could have done better but over all, I’m happy with it. I openly welcome any critiques or suggestions that anyone may have. Thanks

#1206

Hey guys,

Here are today’s poses. Each done in 15 minutes. Some thoughts: I think I’m beginning to see where my drawings need work actually. I think, at least, that I tend to draw my torso a bit too long. So it tends to throw off the proportions of the rest of my bodies in general. I dunno, what do you guys think? Again all comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged! :slight_smile:

Enjoy!:smiley:

#1207

cg219,

Overall I think you are off to a solid start on your work. Just a few thoughts though:

In your first shot of the female nude, you should look at the Left breast again. Breasts have a very circular, sometimes oval shape, depending on the bust type of the woman. Also in that shot the legs are a bit short. Think about proportions, The femur is about the same size as the rest of the torso, give or take, and the calf is a little shorter than that.

The second pose is better but I think in both of those shots, you need to tighten up the waist a bit more. Women have wider hips than men and they also have narrower waits lines (think hourglass figure) So in your next drawings, try to look at tightening the waist a bit more. Lastly, the shoulder are much to square. Shoulders in general have a tendency to slope downward slightly rather than square off.

The next picture you have is pretty good all around, something to consider though is in your hands. Most people tend to draw hands like tubes, and bend them as such. In reality, if you look at your hand, you notcie that each finger is made up of three bones, to creat the bend in the fingers. If you think about building hands and fingers in smaller pieces, I think they will improve immensely.

The portrait you’ve done is really solid. :slight_smile:

And lastly, your eyes and the cat’s face. These are well done as well. You have a good amount of detail, and the perspect on the first of eyes is good as well.

Overall, great work!

#1208

I really like the painting of the little girl I think maybe the rock she is sitting on could be a liittle bit darker shading and the background don’t really look done but the colors are very nice.

#1209

EDIT: I figured my problem out after a tonne more trial and error.

#1210

Hey everyone,

I am new to these forums but have been lurking for a while. This seems to be the perfect thread for me to join up in, as I am horribly new to digital painting. I have some art background, I graduated from art fundamentals, but my color theory and digital painting is very poor and I want nothing more then to get good at that… but I always feel so overwhelmed when I try to come up with something. It’s like I have no idea where to begin when it comes to that so I feel a bit discouraged. I am sure some of you out there know how I feel.

So, I am looking to get passed that and improve myself. I am new to this thread but I should be able to start posting drawings when I have some decent ones to scan and figure out how to post them. Any advice is always welcome!

Nice to meet all of you

#1211

Hey Rawb! I’m like you. New to the forums and have a fairly decent art background but lacking in skills with color and digital painting. I’m kind of lost where to start with it, too. :smiley: Hope things work out for the both of us. I’m kind of looking for the absolute beginners guide, or at least hoping for one. hehe. Anyway, good luck to you and to anyone else who is in our boat.

Here is a sketch I did late at night. I was listening to Scarborough Fair and then looked it up. The repeating line “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme” were popular ingredients in love potions during the middle ages. This brought up some ideas and I sketched this thing. D: I fail at hands! So try to ignore them. But any comments are helpful. Thanks. Peace everyone.

Just a rough sketch. I’ll probably fix it up and make it not so…sketchy… anyway. That’s all. :slight_smile: Thanks. Nice to meet everyone. Peace. :slight_smile:

#1212

Hello everyone!

It’s always good to come and have a look in this thread.

I kindly invite you -if you haven’t already- to check out the different threads in the tutorials and workshops forum. There is enough there to keep y’all busy for a while :smiley:

Also, if you are really serious about improving and getting good critique, I suggest creating your own sketchbook thread here
There are sticky threads to help you on how to do this properly.

Your own sketchbook thread has many advantages, here’s a few:

It allows others to give more personal critique more comfortably
It is a great way of keeping yourself motivated
It will increase your interest in what other people do.

#1213

Nice to meet you too!

It still intimidates me but a few nights ago I started randomly painting in photoshop a statue of Cloud that I had and although horrendous by people who can paint standards, it wasn’t too bad for a first try, at least in my opinion. I have also been reading up on color theory and painting in general. Currently reading the Andrew Loomis Eye of the Painter book, which is great for getting my mind thinking more in terms of painting instead of flat out drawing. I am trying to learn whatever I can about value, tone, color theory and making myself practice at least a little bit every day in photoshop. Hopefully we improve quickly!

Rawb

#1214

NR43: Thanks for those. I’ll take a look at the tutorials and workshops. :slight_smile:

Rawb: Very cool. I picked up some anatomy books with some really good poses that show good value as well as good anatomy. I’m still playing around with photshop and stuff. It really is different from painting with actual paints. Well good luck with your journey. :slight_smile:

Peace.

#1215

rawb

Don’t be shy, show us what you are talking about please :smiley:
(If you look at the first images in my own sketchbook thread, you will know there is nothing to be afraid of hehe)

Be sure to browse around the anatomy forum and it’s subforums frequently… this is a goldmine of information and really good art!

#1216

You’re absolutely right. I just have some hesitations in what to show, and I also draw a lot so there’s a lot to choose from. I did a few pages of thumbnail for what I hope to make my first real painting. I will definately post some shots from that once I get going on it, for some advice. A question though, where do you guys have your pictures hosted at? Does CG do it, or do you need a place like say, imageshack (which I have no experiance with) to do it?

And thanks for the advice and encouragement so far! I will definately post something soon. I doubt anyone wants to see pages of rough thumbnails, hehe.

#1217

Hey rawb, we want to see everything (hungry as we are) :bounce:

About image hosting, there are lots of links to image hosts to be found in this thread

#1218

Awesome! Thank you very much. I shall see if I have anything worth showing after work. I actually plan to develope a thumbnail or two in the next 30 mins, maybe I can scan that in tonight.

#1219

I second that. My sketchbook is not the best sketchbook on the site. far from it. But with practice and patience (probably the latter) I’ll be able to produce work that is much better than I can now. So don’t be scared. :slight_smile: If I can do it, you can too! :smiley:

#1220

Heeyo. Umm I’m this is a little sketch I made yesterday, and I tried my hand at shading. Not very good, but I would love some constructive criticism.