So I think I should again quit and start again..

#1

But I really feel like I am doing the same thing all over again.
Got some advice from the critique forum but can’t grasp the advice they give.
Feel frustrated because I’m doing this for someone who liked one of my drawings and wants me to make him something that he can sell at his clothing shop here in L.A.
Overall, i feel like this is a good way to get some exposure, and I really want to give it my best.

I just feel stuck, and don’t know what to do.

I’m not a pro, and never been that good with digital painting. What is “art”(guessing that that question means I’m in some big trouble right there if I can’t define that)?

I’m frustrated because I do want to be a good digital artist(2D, and 3D) but “art” is such a hard thing to grasp.

This is my recent work, it’s not done but please rip it apart and lend a beginner some advice please. :hmm:

#2

What you lack are the basic foundations of visual art knowledge. Every single beginner or intermediate artist’s work lacks quality for that same reason–they haven’t studied/practiced the critical foundations of visual art enough. In fact, many haven’t learned any of it at all, and are just groping blindly in the dark, not knowing how to improve, what they need to learn, and how to do it all efficiently instead of wasting years of their lives going around in circle and not really improving.

If you haven’t seen it yet, the threads linked on this page contains a lot of very important information that will help aspiring artists head in the right direction in how they learn/study/practice/grow as artists: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=166&t=844409

The other sticky threads on top of the Art T&T forum also contains very helpful information.

#3

Thanks.

I’ve been reading some threads, especially the one about you saying it takes years.

I’ve been drawing since I was 5. Earliest I can remember is drawing on my dad’s garage floor and getting whooped because if it(lol).

Drawing has also been one of the biggest complaints from teachers. I’d draw rather than pay attention.

I wanna post any available sketches that I have laying around. I just want to know where I’m at. I’ve been drawing for my entire life and it really is something that really makes me feel good. I draw because I enjoy it.
One other problem is as soon as I got a hold of 3D applications, I kind of ditched drawing for a long time(another mistake since 3D skills can really benefit from 2D planning :banghead: ).

I think I’m gonna take a sketchbook out with me. When I have time, I just wanna go out and draw what I see. I especially love going to places like Downtown L.A. and Hollywood. Urban areas have always got my imagination going. Not saying I need that to get better, but from one of the threads you liked me too, “Practice practice”. I just gotta get out, get my mind expanded, my motivation back.

#4

Honestly man, I think you’re not listening and are more passionate and hungry to reach a result than calm and analytical about what you need to do.

You just restarted. But went with the same murky picture. Can you not take a clearer one? Or choose another one? Choose a good reference to help yourself.

I have not done any city scapes before but here is what my eye is catching. This follows with what Lunatique said. If you don’t study the foundation you will not be able to see them. You need to study each one individually first before you can put it all together.

1- Aerial perspective and edges: Regarding the background buildings, in the reference picture I can see three levels of: color saturation and edge definition. first building in the background has clearer edges than than bunch in the back. the Bunch in the back has clearer edges than than the furthest one back. Same goes for color saturation, as we go back there is more color loss moving to grey. Also its not just fading the edges and losing color. There is some grain or noise needed to make it look more realistic. Your painting has none of that. Also you gave two of the background buildings a strong color. Red and blue man? These color are too strong and so our attention goes there instead of the street and it is not like that in the reference picture.

2- The street has no texture at all, also it is straight instead of sloped so the view is too symmetrical and boring. When the street has no texture it means I cannot sense the depth as it goes into the distance. Also it is the same color from the front to the back. Also I cannot feel the pavement rising from the street on the left and there is no pavement on the right at all.

3- The buildings on the right are all same color and boring. Actually where are the cars? The people? The trees? The electrical poles? The city looks empty.

4- Going back to the buildings on the left, the furthest building has the same edge and color saturation as the closest building. That is another chance to show us depth.

5- Perspective wise: your painting suffers from perspective distortion. Meaning your angle of view is too wide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_distortion_(photography)

6- Crop the sky, your are showing too much sky with nothing happening in it.

So I hope this clarifies things and gives you some stuff to work on and things to go read about. My personal experience in drawing and painting has been that you will need a long time to finish your first real painting, the rest of them happen quickly though because it is the same foundation. We study for a long time to make one piece of work, but then those skills will help us in all the others and things will start happening faster. So develop your eye, keep reading, learning and drawing.

Sorry for the long post and let us know how it goes.

#5

Thanks. I decided to find a better picture to practice with.

What I’m looking to is to have the city appear in a rainy day. Instead of going for realism I tried Giving it a style so I made a square brush. I added less color. I have been reading books. One called “Digital Painting Techniques.”

I figured its probably best to just have the skyline. But the. It looks flat.

This is not the final product.
http://i.imgur.com/MZ4LptJ.jpg

#6

What you really ought to be spending time on, are the critical foundations of visual art. Focus on learning to depict accurate forms, values, and edges, as well as perspective, composition, lighting, color theory, anatomy/figure, etc. Practice still life, figure studies, portraits, constructing scenes in correct perspective, etc.

#7

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