Sketchbook Thread of Slux

#161

Thanks :slight_smile: hehe we will see … actually I’am quite interested in 3D animation

Uff I was away for a while … too busy with something else and I also work on some time consuming piece (for a friend)

BUT today Tablet fairy paid me a visit and brought me a BRAND NEW WACOM INTUOS 3 A4 TABLET …
OOOOHHH YEAHHHH BABY :D:D:D:D:D
Until today I have had cheapest wacom tablet Volito and NOW I HAVE INTUOS 3 … thats a HUGE difference and I’am happy :slight_smile:

Here is little picture of me ohh and btw its without reference! :smiley:

  • Slux
#162

ROFLMAOITS!!! :scream:

Congratulations, Slux!!! You totally deserve it!! :thumbsup:

#163

Hi

Today one quick scribble … well it isn’t anatomy but I hope its ok … hey there are some people too! :scream: and if it isn’t enough than I guess that I will have to use Pushavs trick and call it anatomy of landscape ( hope he didn’t patent it :smiley: ).

Its just speed painting inspired by book Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Thats what I read now … its really great I think you will see more pictures inspired by this book … its quite long story and I try to keep my new tablet busy :slight_smile:

Book One - beginning - ship crushed on unknown planet

  • Slux
#164

Slux,

No worries! :scream: I won’t report you, your landscape posting secret is safe with me! :wink:

Welcome to the world of digital painting! :slight_smile: I would recommend trying to shade this ~ it would be great practice with your Wacome, I should think. :slight_smile: Also, now perhaps you will participate more in the OFDWs, which I think would be great! :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#165

Lookin good so far, Slux. :thumbsup: And I agree with you. Who is to say that ant-size people don’t belong on an anatomy forum? Probably better to call this one a study in miniscule anatomy, though. :smiley:

#166

to CBee: yeah right :slight_smile: and here is another version … this time I have paid a lot of attention to anatomy :smiley:

  • Slux
#167

I can see the ribs from here…! :scream: :smiley:

Nice atmosphere! :thumbsup: And Anatomy ! :smiley:

#168

Another anatomy study … this time cleverly masked behind heavy armor :smiley: … well but proportional errors would be still visible … so after all its not that clever as I thought … I will have too come up with someting better :smiley:

Ok but now seriously … its just another doodle in PS … from my imagination, no references used and it shows … actually at the beginning I kind of like it but than it turned this way … as you can see my skills has some serious flaws … hmm I need more practise

  • Slux
#169

Slux,

Nice start! :slight_smile:

I think one of the best ways to practice digital painting skills here on the forum is in the OFDWs. :slight_smile: I think you might improve a lot over the course of even just one or two of these. What do you say? OFDW 009 just opened. :wink:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#170

Hi
Yeah I may try it later but I don’t think that one or two images could save my soul :smiley: hmmm but may be few hundresd or thousands could … who knows …

Anyway after last ehmm not very successufl image I have decided to go back to basics … to my anatomy exactly … hmmm I think that this approach is not bad at all … I mean try to draw sometimg from memory and than you can see what you need to work on and it also reminds you that here is a lot of stuff to be learned … because I believe that if you just copy images all the time you can quite easily fool yourself that you can draw very well … its much easier if you have a photo reference whit all answers … perspective, proportions, anatomy … everything already solved for you and you just have to copy it … of course its part of study process but the point is that you should test yourself regulary if you really know it or not … because if you can’t draw it from memory well than you don’t …

Now that leads me to interesting conclusion that I have realized recently … if you just study than it doesn’t really matter whats on your paper what counts is what is in you head … I think that too many students (and I’am guilty of that too) are too much concerned whats on paper and don’t care at all whats in their heads … the point is that a lot of people just copy something from reference (be it a photo reference or live model) and thats it … they don’t think much about what they are doing … they just concentrate on copying it … they want it to look good … thats all. But I think that for a student is important if they learned someting not if they finished a nice picture …
I think that a lot of people here are trying to learn anatomy just by copying pictures …
you may think about it this way … You will remember your boss phone number after you have called him 100 times … vs Your friend tell you his/her number in hurry and you remember it immediately.
In one case you have learner the number just by calling it many times and in second case you have concentrated on learning it … second method is of course much better … its easier and more faster …

The point is that when you are copying something … the finial picture doesn’t matter … what matter is what stays in you head … you have to really concentrate on analysing a picture not a copying it … thats quite useless … yeah you may learned that way too if you want but it takes much much longer …

So Today I have decided to go back to my anatomy and take it seriously now … I have started with skeleton - with skull to be exact … I think thats good place where to start anatomy study … these pictures I have done today may look like my previous pictures BUT there is a huge difference … because my previous pictures were just copies of references … but this is a analyse not a copy … yeah I know it looks same at paper … but its not same in my head … I feel that I have learned a lot today … and thats great it always motivates me to keep going and to do more … in contrast to lets say 7 hours rendering of portraite what is very boring and when I’am finished with it I have a nice picture but thats all … I hardly feel that I have learned anything and that depress me …

Ok I think I talk too much … here are pictures … and btw these were done in quite a loose way even if that may not look that I wasn’t concerned whats on my paper … these are just visual notes of my analys … and it may look that I have spent a lot of time on rendering it but I didn’t … I have used large graphite pencil called PROGESSO … its good for rendering large areas … and only reason why I shaded is that it helped me to understand it better because I was really thinking about light and where it comes from and why are shadows where they are … you would be amazed what you can learn from just one picture if you really think about it hard enough …
But I’am not finished with skulls of course … there is much more here I need to learn … when I will be finished with it I should be able to draw skulls like below out of my imagination … oh we will see later
Some of you may noticed that I change my study methods quite often but thats because I always looks for a new ways how to learn more effectively when I can really feel that I have learned something … and right now this anatomy study works really great for me :smiley:
Uff way to much talking here are the pictures

  • Slux
#171

Slux,

These are very intelligent and thoughtful comments, and I can fully appreciate your approach. Will definitely take more time to post a reply when I get home, as I think you raise an important point about methodologies of learning.

Cheers, :slight_smile:

~Rebeccak

#172

Another skulls …
today I have drawn few more skulls … same approach as yesterday, these are not just copies but rather visual notes of my analyse … its important to draw what you are trying to learn … because if you don’t you can very easily fool yourself that you really understand it and that you know all shapes, proportions etc … but of course as soon as you try draw it from memory you realize you hardly remember it … heh usually when I try to learn some more complex shapes just by looking at it and than try to draw it from memory its like … “ok I understand it now” … I take pencil put reference away and BANG … I stare at paper and don’t know where to even start … I think that a lot of people even “don’t waste their time” to try to draw it from imagination … they are just happy with that “ok I understand it now” part …

These pictures are shaded because it helps me to understand shape and surface better … but its quite loose … it doesn’t look that way but thats probably because I draw quite large and these pictures are sized down but you can still see a lot of individual strokes …
I find very usefull to think about light and shadows … and think about individual parts of skull as geometric objects, balls, cubes, cones etc. it really helps to understand it better.

I’am going to do more of these shaded drawings … as part of my deep study but than when I will feel that I know whole object quite well I want to concentrate only on line drawings … I find it very usefull when you - in point when you are finished with your main study and when you think you sort of know it - just concentrate on line drawings and draw it again and again from different angles …

Its like with that phone numbers what I have been talking before … at first you really concentrate on lerning it … and than you really stick it in you head by repeating it many times … and line drawings are very good for that … because you can draw it many times very quickly so when I want to really learn it I may draw it 100 times or even more … and you may be surprised sometimes it takes less time than some of my longer renderings … when I’am finished with few of these line drawings (from memory of course) than I take reference and check if everything is fine there … usually there are some details that need more attention so I concentrate on them … and I check it again and draw more and check it again and so on …
I think that a lot of people underestimate line drawings because you know thats usually not kind of stuff that would impress your friends and thats why it doesn’t have much value for a lot of students … heh thats quite strange when you think about it … I think people should decide if they want to learn something or impress somebody … and I feel that you have to concentrate at first at learning something because without it its really difficult to impress somebody …

Ok … but that study method I have described above works quite well for me and I think I will continue with it (of course thats not only method I use … I try to experiment quite a lot) … but I don’t think I will post there my line drawings … I usually have them quite a lot and its not that much interesting … but its very usefull!

Ok that was a little trip to my head and here are pictures

  • Slux
#173

Slux, :slight_smile:

You are killing me with your posts! :scream: In a totally good way. :slight_smile: I think it’s awesome that you are treating your thread as sort of a drawing diary ~ recording your observations of what you are thinking about as you are learning / and really analyzing what you are learning and how you are learning it. That’s something really special. :slight_smile:

I have a lot of old school notebooks which someday I should scan and post here on the forum. I think it’s a cool idea to make a lot of notes on your drawings to sort of denote your thoughts at the moment, whatever they are ~ because you can keep track of the fleeting, but ultimately important thoughts which you have as you draw about your learning process etc. :slight_smile: You’re doing a great job at that. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#174

Slux,

I’ve attempted a paintover of your earlier warrior concept sketch, which I think shows promise, but which could be improved. :slight_smile: Here t’is:

[left]Basically, the steps I took were:

  1. Original image in PS.
  2. Desaturate original image (Ctrl + Shift + U).
  3. Adjust Levels of Image (Ctrl + L > Auto).
  4. Enlarge the helmet / head.
  5. Enlarge the canvas size, lengthen legs.
  6. Overpaint using just 3 swatches: White, Gray, Black + Airbrush with about 65%. hardness, 75% opacity and 50% flow.
  7. Continue to overpaint using an Airbrush with about 80% hardness.

I know that you think that the OFDWs and perhaps even the 15 MS Threads are only about copying images, but I very much stand by them as great ways to learn how to draw and paint digitally. You need not approach these threads in a way similar to the way in which anyone else does ~ for example, if you just wanted to take the model, and ANALYZE it in a drawing vs. copy it exactly, that is perfectly fine (and even encouraged) by me. :slight_smile:

I think the 15 MS will be particularly useful to you in terms of really learning how to capture / refine Gesture. But, certainly I am not pressuring you to take part in these threads ~ I am only offering them as suggestions for ways in which to practice traditional and digital drawing techniques. :slight_smile:

What I would encourage you to do with respect to your digital figurative work is to try to see the BIG SHAPES first ~ not the details on the armour, etc. Details are ALWAYS SECONDARY TO THE WHOLE. I cannot emphasize the importance of capturing the overall Gesture of a piece prior to rendering the smallest of details. WORK FROM THE GENERAL TO THE SPECIFIC. This is a great rule to follow with respect to figurative work, and representational artwork in general. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

[/left]

#175

Hehe actually I have made quite a few notes as result of my analys … everytime when I find something whats usefull to write down I take paper what I have just for these notes and I write it down with small pictures that shows me what I mean … it helps to make it more clear for me … and its also very nice if you want to recapitulate it for yourself :slight_smile:

Thanks for paintover … it looks much better now … When I think abou it now - original pic is quite terrible :scream: hmm but thats ok I try to not to think about it this way I mean I know that I’am beginner and that I will do many mistakes and horrible pictures …

as Nicolaides said:
“Unfortunately most students, wether throught their own fault or the fault of their instructors, seem to be dreadfully afraid of making technical mistakes. You should understand that these mistakes are unavoidable. THE SOONER YOU MAKE YOUR FIRST FIVE THOUSAND MISTAKES, THE SOONER YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CORRECT THEM”

And Yeah I totally agree … Its necessary to see big shapes first … thats actually the reason why I like gesture drawings … the problem is that I’am not used to work that way yet and I “like” to forget that but I work on it … I can definitely see why its so important because without it you produce pictures like above :slight_smile: I think that if you focus to much on individual parts and not on big picture than it quite often looks like Frankestein … monster what clearly isn’t put together with parts that fits very well :smiley: Ok I will have to try to be aware of that more … problem is that I know quite a lot of theory but when It comes to practise I like to forget it and just work my old way …

In regards to OFDWs no I don’t think its about copying … I think its up to you if you just copy it without much thinking or if you decide to analyse it … I have read some of Vilppus articles and as he says “We don’t copy model we analyse it” :slight_smile:

  • Slux
#176

Hi
Here is a picture that I have done for a friend (he is that guy on the picture and that girl is his girlfriend). I have used photograph as reference.

-Slux

#177

Here is final version … little bit more smooth … thats how he wanted it and that how it is
Ehhh men I really have to stop doing these crazy renderings … its always same - it takes a lot of time its pretty boring and when I’am finished with it I’am quite depressed with results

-Slux

#178

Slux,

This is a really nice drawing, you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself! :slight_smile: You obviously have a lot of skill ~ you know, I don’t know that I’ve ever known the artists that you most admire / wish to emulate. I would imagine that you would favor realistic works, but do you have favorite painters / draughtsmen whose work you most love? I think it would be interesting to know who they are. Maybe copying the works of some favorite artists whose work is highly expressive can help you to break out of a tightly rendered mode. What do you think?

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#179

Heh I have to … :smiley: thats main thing that helps me to progress faster … I think that self-critisim is essential if you want to progress quickly … but you know there are certain boundaries when its too much and when you start to loose faith in your skills … thats not good but thats not my case …
I find quite usefull when you can step away from your pictures and criticise it as if it would be pictures of someone else - I don’t know I don’t have any problems with it I can see my my mistakes quite easily … but I have noticed that some people can’t - not even very obvious mistakes/flaws whatever … and I believe thats also one of main reasons why many people progress so slowly and because of that they are very frustrated and eventually give up.
When I mess up something I try to think why it happened … whats wrong - that helps me to progress quickly I try to learn from my mistakes. Some people do same mistakes over and over and even don’t realize it so next time when you mess up something try to see it as opportunity to learn someting new, to get better not as something negative.
I know sometimes I may sound quite depressed but its not as bad as it looks.
Seeing your mistakes easily may be quite depressing sometimes but not seeing them is even worse …

  • Slux

  • Slux

#180

Hmm interesting question if you talk about old masters than I’am afraid that I’am not so sure about that yet … as I have said before I don’t have any formal training a I have started seriously with drawing quite recently - but don’t worry I’am not that big ignorant :scream: I work on that - I try to read some some books and so … actually I think ti helps me too - lot of interesting things to think about :slight_smile:

But so far my favourite old master is probably Leonardo da Vinci, I have read quite a lot about him and I have seen some documentaries as well. He is quite interesting character and I think that we have some things in common (btw no I’am not trying to say that I’am genius or anything like that :smiley: )

Most of my favourite artists are those that still work in this industry:
Craig Mullins
Frank Frazeta
Linda Bergkvist
Feng Zhu
Neville Page and others :slight_smile:

  • Slux