Sketchbook: jddg5wa (My Journey To Becoming a Digital Painter)

jddg5wa

Welcome to a serious journey of becoming a digital painter. It's going to be a long and hard task, one that I've dabbled in but never taken too seriously, despite my wants. I have one goal in mind, become proficient at digital painting so I can transfer that skill to 3D texturing and concept art.

This sketchbook is being created so that I can grow my confidence in my skill. Plus it will serve as a good way to track progress and see if I am actually meeting my deadlines I can actually draw pretty well with non-digital mediums. Using a pen and tablet always lowers my confidence level before a drawing session and I end up doing poorly. I figured that the ability to show my art, no matter how clean, or polished, my art is I will grow my confidence by showing it for critique.

Nothing fancy or beautiful as of now, I am just doing practice to get the hang of using a pen and tablet. I've been starting with human gesture drawings. Despite these gestures being drawn over approx 30 minutes there is quiet a difference. I had done a handful of gesture sessions in the previous weeks but disappointingly deleted them. Even still I lacked the confidence I needed when I first started.
  


All I ask is if any of you reading this might share your experience, resources, suggestions, or critique of my progress or processes along the way. I would be very grateful for any critique. I am aiming to do a variety of a handful of gesture drawings every day and a completed drawing each week, or two weeks. Until I can create clean line art and then will branch into digital painting. 

For anyone curious of the process, I am following the Crtl+Paint Tutorial videos as a basis for what kind of practice to do. 

Thank you to anyone who has read this far. See you next time! 

jddg5wa

A bit ashamed by today's gestures, the quality doesn't stand up from yesterday, although I do have to consider today's gestures were each done with only 60 seconds instead of yesterdays 90 seconds. Surprisingly an extra 30 seconds goes a long ways. Noticed even longer strokes and curves instead of many short strokes which is a good improvement. Now those strokes just need to be more accurate. 



Working on some thumbnails for a flying island that travels the wind with sails controlled by the single home that is on it, skyland flyers. Will show them tomorrow.

jddg5wa

As usual another page of 60 second gestures. I find they are really helping me when it comes to just getting ideas down onto paper. I've added notes this time, may keep adding notes as it's another way to ingrain the thoughts, of how to improve the drawings, I have while drawing. There a bit more uncompleted but the gestures are captured much better and I imagine the details will get better as I improve.



These thumbnails took me a lot longer than I care to mention. I may be putting too much detail into them but I don't see any reason not to, it's just enough for me to envision the idea before moving onto another possibility. Will do a couple more before picking my favorites and creating a couple more from the best ideas.



Although I do wonder, do I have enough variance in the pictures. It feels like a "spot the differences" game which makes me think the thumbnails are too similar. I may not be stretching the idea as far as it could go. Then again do I need to? I am quiet happy with the results; 6 could make quiet a nice scene. Though the building needs to be a bit bigger since the building is the focus and not the giant propeller.  What are you thoughts? 

jddg5wa

Well computer troubles have been pulling me down the last few days. Potentially bad PSU has kept me running around in circles. Either way gotta at least upload what I did manage to get done when not troubleshooting. Of course not daily as I would like but some is better than none. 

Did learn that I need to focus on bigger/longer strokes to get the general pose down before moving onto details. I think I can also use that same process to speed up my thumbnail sketches. Have not had a chance yet to test. Will try as soon as possible! I'm actually quiet pleased with the results of the poses themselves. The poses are captured better but with less detail. I still need to improve on capturing that pose more before adding details.



By the way, are the notes good or are they distracting from the rest of the drawing? 

Nizidranamitz

I think you need to add perspective in your figure drawings, like blocks, ellipses, circles, spheres to defines shapes. You may find it helpful to check at Andrew Loomis books which are the reference for starters.
Also,I think you shouldn't crop your picture, if your practicing figures drawing, do the whole body. You could Draw an action line, Go more into details. I think  quality works makes you learn more than quantity, like you try to do it again and again till it looks just like your reference.
You could also try some tonal drawing, for lighting and form, might be helpful to understand why artist think of head as a square etc.

jddg5wa

Nizidranamitz said:

I think you need to add perspective in your figure drawings, like blocks, ellipses, circles, spheres to defines shapes. You may find it helpful to check at Andrew Loomis books which are the reference for starters.
Also,I think you shouldn't crop your picture, if your practicing figures drawing, do the whole body. You could Draw an action line, Go more into details. I think  quality works makes you learn more than quantity, like you try to do it again and again till it looks just like your reference.
You could also try some tonal drawing, for lighting and form, might be helpful to understand why artist think of head as a square etc.

That's a good idea, adding the basic shapes to get down the perspective first. I'll give it a try. I really do need practice and improve on my anatomy drawing but I think that should be a whole study in itself. Maybe I'll take a few weeks to study anatomy instead of the weekly drawings; of course after I finish the one I already started. Right now I'm just following the suggestion of Matt Kohr in his crtl+paint series where he suggests to do gestures to get a feel for drawing lines, not necessarily aiming for accuracy in anatomy. Can probably tell from the lines drawn over each other that I am not getting the lines down as I want the first, second, or sometimes third ry so I still need more practice with lines. 

Any suggestions on making sure to stay within frame? I've tried but of course haven't succeeded but with a handful of the gestures so far. Once I start the drawing a body parts size wrong the rest just follows, in or out of the frame. Would adding perspective shapes help with that? 

Edit: Just noticed you mentioned an action line. I have actually done that for a few but still they managed to be out of the frame.
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Sadly no drawings for a bit longer. Need to pause to fix some computer issues and then will be back up and running!