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The big improvement Project!

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Nuclear Angel polycounter
Hello and welcome fellow polycounters (and other lurkers). :poly142:

I am now starting a thread that is all about making myself a better artist. It started when I were concepting for my petrol blood entry. It came to my attention that my concepting skills weren't very strong. It became really obvious when I needed 5 hours just to nail a pose on an imagined animal without using references. So I decided to swallow my pride and leave the petrol blood challenge. So that I instead can focus on becoming a better artist without a deadline. Good luck to everyone on the competition, I will love to see what you all end up with.

So what is this thread about then? The biggest problem for me is that I got an idea in my head, but I can not transfer it to the paper. Simply put I realized that there are 3 really important areas for me to work on in my art.

Firstly is anatomy and visual memory on organic stuff. This has to do with the fact that I have barely painted organic stuff and mostly just painted robots (I love wobots). But as I wish to be a monster and character artist I really need to work on Not robots.

Secondly is that I need to work on dynamics and drama. I need to stop paint static stuff and start to paint with motion and dynamics.

Thirdly is to get a strong line-work. What this means is that I need to be able to create clean line art. What this will accomplish is that I will leave my safe zone. Right now when I paint I use the eraser wayyyy to much. So I will instead learn how to use a marker pen, and in that way find what lines are important to transmit what I want to project.

This will hopefully transfer to that I will become much more confident as an artist.

How I will do this is that I will practice on each of these points every day. 2 hours each day until my school starts (1 sept), and hopefully I will continue then as well. I got applied to a game-art school in malmö (The Game Assembly), so I see this as a headstart for me.

So there will be 3 line art pieces each day, and sometimes some zbrush sculpts, but that depends on if I am home or not. As I have the advantage of always carrying paper on me and now marker-pens I can do 2d practice every day.

So hopefully this will inspire some other people and also I do hope that you guys will critique me to death. As that is the way for me to truly improve.

Lastly, why I do post this here is because this is both a 2d and 3d project, plus more people are on this area of the forum than the sketchbook ones, even though I will post the content of this thread there. So lets do this!

Day 1! C&C Welcome.

Zbrush Sculpt, I used my own hand as a reference for this one.
EvV90GO.jpg

2d practice
4H3NpEa.jpg

h2dN5KK.jpg

References for 2d:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rd2kipbmSfI/T9V9hU4EvyI/AAAAAAAAB6A/PzxnJw5GZYo/s1600/smiling+man.JPG

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/350/3/5/pose_by_rika_dono-d6y6jvb.jpg

http://ettkolikbarnsbekannelser.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/nakenkatt.jpg

Replies

  • DarkStar
    That's a great start!
  • Suba
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    Suba polycounter lvl 5
    The back of the hand could use some tendons :)

    It's a very brave project ! I wish you good luck ! You gonna be busy hehe.
  • PyrZern
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    PyrZern polycounter lvl 12
    Ohh, I rly like that sketch of a woman. Nice movement there. Looks very dynamic.
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @Darkstar, thanks alot! =) Lets see if we can get a great continue as well.

    @Suba, haha yea I notice that now, but my hands do not really have noticeable tendons. But for the next hand, lets get an old mans hand, would be fun! Thanks as well for the kind words =). This is a life project ^^

    @Pyrzern, Thanks, thats what I were going for so that is good that I got the movement in.

    I notice now that this is really good for me. And I got a looong way ahead of me, especially people and faces, thats a big one.

    Heres Day 2!

    Zbrush of a beefier mans arm. Btw, does anyone know a great place to get good human references for sculpting? Or is google my only true friend?

    06YD6mh.jpg

    http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-male-flexed-arm-image1906351

    2d.

    My gf is helping me with this and she told me I need to get better flow in my line art, so I were going to paint this tree: http://www.photowall.co.uk/images/products/620x420/46521/japanese-maple-tree.jpg

    First draft

    Q5IlTUq.jpg

    Also the mozilla firefox http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news-700/Meet-the-Firefox-OS-Mascot-a-Fox-That-s-on-Fire.png

    But I didnt get what she meant until my second try, she insisted I redid it. So here is the tree again second draft. More cartoony, and that is a totally new style and approach to art for me. So yay practice! =D

    00BewPq.jpg

    lastly a portrait, I am not pleased with this one, but I know what I need to do, practice.

    RvlZQe7.jpg

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iqbFSNYvC6Q/Ur1yUOyDNaI/AAAAAAAAJH0/a9Vv7y4x2Ac/s1600/outdoor+portrait+photography+tip.jpg
  • ClusterOne
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    ClusterOne polycounter lvl 4
    There is no point in drawing nice, clean, sharp lines if you don't understand the basic forms. Forget about line art until you got the basic shapes down. Good line art will come with hours and hours of drawing.

    Being blunt, aside from the human arm and hand you did in zbrush, none of these really look like much in the way of actual practice. They look cool and nice, but the question is how much did you learn from them? If I look at the arm and hand area of the girl you just drew, which should have been difficult to draw in that pose, its really clean, meaning you likely traced a lot of it--which is fine, but it kind of goes back to my point of it not being very good practice.

    What you need to do is get a whole bunch of anatomy references from Google images, pinterest, or whatever site you use--preferably the pictures will be of naked or close to naked subjects so you can see the actual shapes of the body. Put them somewhere where you can see them while you work, and draw basic human shapes. Proportions are really important. I personally use simple shapes like balls, squares and lines to sketch out a skeleton, then once I'm happy with the pose proportions, start putting in volumes.

    Keep up the good work and good luck on your journey!
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @ClusterOne Thanks for the write-up, I do appreciate it very much. And I got to say I do agree with you that practicing the basic forms are a good way to go. And I got to say that I learned tons of doing these I have done already, and that is mostly because I barely ever do line art with markerpens, so just doing the medium gives me alot even if I do not nail the basic forms. And thanks again man!.

    But I took what you said to heart and today I did a portrait and some anatomy stuff and cartoon stuff just to work on lines and forms in the same time. Also in the future there will be many anatomy practices. And also portraits, I really wanna get better at faces.

    Sadly there will be no Zbrush sculpt today, didn't find the time. But this thread is mostly aimed towards my 2d and concepting skills. But tomorrow there will be a foot in Zbrush.

    So here is Day 3:

    OnePortrait
    crXsTxK.jpg

    Cartoony:
    HiFVEab.jpg

    Anatomy:
    J29PIgX.jpg

    7H6yKxT.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Day 4 is here. I do apologize for the low quality photos of the drawings. I am working on finding a scanner. And I also did a Zbrush thing today, YAY!

    And once again if anyone is wondering what this is good for? It is to build up my confidence as an artist, it's also to get a better work-flow for 2d. Build up my visual library, and also more importantly. To actually work on something each day.

    Tomorrow I will try to do a face in zbrush and use dat damn marker-pen again.

    Day 4:

    Zbrush:

    WQInez8.jpg

    2d Studies:

    m58EFbJ.jpg

    Mn9Z7Ot.jpg

    FPnLVv1.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    So for day-5, it only got to be a portrait and an animal study and anatomy studies.

    I am also going to take photos of all the paintings together, to keep the thread not as image heavy. Sorry for no scanner yet guys.

    nxEc6Ss.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Day 6 and i finally got a scanner working.

    Big note for today is that I realized what I need to practice on, just to trace real life photos aint gonna cut it. So there will be some practice doodles joining here as well, on top of the real life studies.

    day 6: I made my first Zbrush head! Be critical to it, but there will be more, lets see if I can improve on it. As I am not so happy about it.

    y1H0fyO.jpg

    2d Studies:

    j0ww0EC.jpg
  • BagelHero
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    BagelHero interpolator
    First of all, good job applying yourself to study every day! If only we all had the self discipline. :poly136:

    I've noticed you use a lot of long strokes in your sculpts. You also seem to build them up from a pretty high subdiv level, as they're pretty muddy. I'd suggest getting the solid form and as much detail as you can at a much lower subdiv, and only go up as high as you have when you really need it (final detailing, important areas with low mesh density).

    But back to the strokes. when you use the Clay Buildup brush, you need to do just that; build up the forms. Long, random strokes just won't cut it.
    6LL4MhU0.png
    I usually section off my mesh in my head into different forms or muscle groups, so more like this. Not necessarily the most accurate, but it helps to get the form down solidly. :)
    bRqA8i8u.png


    And applying that to your face sculpt;
    sjJ3LzKC.png

    Hope that can help you get away from the muddy look a bit faster than you might unassisted.

    Oh, and if you ever want to do a little more study on that cartoony style, I must recommend Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240810961"]Volume 1[/ame]/[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240811070/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y"]Volume 2[/ame] (In that order). It really helps when it comes to conveying gesture and making everything feel alive. It's also just a great read. ;)

    Keep up the good work!
  • Stirls
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    Stirls polycounter lvl 8
    When I was doing my muscle studies, I noticed that it's a lot easier if you act as if the Clay Tubes brush is the actual "muscle", meaning you flow with the direction of the intended area. Unless, of course, you need a large increase in mass someplace.
  • BagelHero
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    BagelHero interpolator
    Well, there's gotta be more than one way to approach it. You just gotta know what you're trying to do, so you don't end up with a mess of random, cluttered strokes. :)
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @BagelHero. Holy Cow thanks for everything you wrote. I will take it too heart and I got to say starting on a lower subdiv was quite awesome! Also I purchased those books, cant wait to get them in my mailbox. Thanks again =)

    @Stirls, I tried out the clay tube brush and damn that was something I had missed. Thanks =).

    This project will take loads of time. But today I do not have so much to give to it. So I ended up doing some face doodles and a face in Zbrush. Tomorrow I will do an ear and anatomy studies again. because I need it. My proportions are usually shit.

    Day 7. (A week already!)

    Zbrush, 1 hour:

    hYAqcnj.jpg

    Painting for today, facial studies, barely had time, around 20 min:

    iNs7Ze0.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Today I painted my favorite character from the Withcer. I also did his head and then 2 random heads because It was fun. As promised I did an ear in Zbrush as well. So when I get time, I will do more Zbrush faces now =). Regarding the anatomy pieces, i am getting faster and more confident in how to draw my lines and proportions. So that is awesome.

    Here goes day 8!

    Zbrush:

    A6N76zS.jpg

    Studies and 2d: (The mooe visual things are from a marker-pen, I do it on the anatomy pieces to practice the lines of the body.)

    n1hixJo.jpg
  • BagelHero
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    BagelHero interpolator
    Hey, starting to look much better already! :)
    Keep it up, can't wait to see more. If this is what you can do in a few days of applying yourself, imagine yourself 6 months down the line!
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @BagelHero, a lot of it is thanks to your great tips ;)
    And in 6 months I will look back to this thread and see the worth of hard effort. And thank you again for your help and also for coming back to this thread ^^
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    For this day I were at a birthday party, so no Zbrush. But I did paint 3 people on the train =), and when i got home I painted my favorite character from LoL.

    So here goes Day 9:

    4a366zr.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Tomorrow I will try to spend at least 3 hours to this. The hardest part is to learn discipline. But I am happy that I manage to produce every day.

    Day 10:

    jCEMyBj.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Today I got around to gather information and reference picks so that I could sculpt a male chest. Also I did some more 2d anatomy and figure practices.

    Day 11:

    Zbrush:

    mrWL1DX.jpg

    2d Studies:

    XoV1LMQ.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    I am moving soon so I had to go away from my computer dis day. So I didn't have the time or spirit to draw so much this day.

    Here goes day 12:

    rsrpCg2.jpg
  • Deathstick
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    Deathstick polycounter lvl 7
    Nice improvement.

    One thing I noticed in your line drawings is almost all of the line work has the same thickness/weight. Alternating the thickness of your strokes can add a lot more dynamism to your drawings. Don't be afraid to experiment with some more gestural and quick strokes, you can lose a lot of energy in your drawings if you're too precious with your marks.

    General rule of thumb in line weight being the closer an object is to you in perspective the thicker the weight.

    Keep it up!
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @Deathstick, I will try that out, might take some time before I learn it properly, but I tried some different strokes today =)

    Today I did a Face and some more 2d studies and practice.

    Day 13:

    Zbrush:

    i9uh7YO.jpg

    2D Studies:

    0tWMN8u.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Holy smokes its gone 2 weeks already! I can say that this is paying of. As I am painting humans with a higher confidence than before. I also am painting them faster, which u off-course can no see, but I am noticing it. I will continue to do anatomy studies of people, but I will also start to paint more animals. And also soon try to create my own characters =).

    Day 14:

    2d:

    Qo5KREs.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Today I just did some more studies. I am gonna try on a female bust in Zbrush soon.

    Day 15:

    2D Studies:

    rjd0K0r.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Today I didn't do any studies in 2d. Just did some doodles to be productive. But I tried to create a wolfs head in Zbrush. So yay for that.

    Day 16:

    Zbrush:

    uWyuIfO.jpg

    2D doodles:

    X5Tubfh.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    I were not so productive today. But I tried to create my own demon face, and I also did some studies of soldiers running and stuff.

    Day 17:

    2D:

    aCWgg14.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Today I did not practice so much as I did a painting over the few studies I did. And also, I will not be able to do any studies or practices tomorrow as my gfs birthday is tomorrow.

    Day 18:

    2d Studies:

    o9sjyEW.jpg

    And the painting of today:

    VxaTVJp.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    So yesterday it got to be no work on this improvement project as I were celebrating and taking a day off. But now we are back on track. Ive done some studies and another head sculpt in Zbrush. And this project has also helped me with my goal as to what I wish to focus on. And that is characters but also monsters. So lots of practice ahead of me.

    Day 20: (As there were no day 19 work.)

    Zbrush:

    qBMLaKL.jpg

    2D Studies:

    rg6NFXm.jpg
  • BagelHero
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    BagelHero interpolator
    Characters, huh? A noble goal! Mind you, that's also my focus, so I may be a little biased. :poly136:

    Keep practicing, then. I can see your figure drawings limbering up a little and getting better, and those faces on the last image are looking promising, too!

    And I think, if you want to get more dynamics in there, focus on gesture.

    Other links:
    http://www.makingcomics.com/2014/02/22/elements-gesture/
    http://sevencamels.blogspot.com.au/2006/04/more-on-line-of-action.html

    I actually think I need to do some more studies like this myself, it's been a while...!
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @BagelHero: Thank you for stopping by. Those links are awesome, gonna try to work on them gestures =). Dynamics is something that was the whole goal of this "project" so thanks again.

    And If I can inspire you to do more studies its all the more awesome! ^^

    Have a great day.
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Three weeks have gone already! Damn.

    Day 21:

    2D Studies:

    2K9dhl1.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    So this day I am posting yesterdays and todays drawings and studies. I am soon moving so I will not always be close to my computer. So those times I will always do like I will do today. Post several days of work in one post. Thanks for understanding =) .

    Day 22:

    2D Studies:

    syuh3ev.jpg

    Day 23:

    2D Studies:

    IJzoF5z.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Today I did some facial studies and I also did a walrus in Zbrush. Worth noting is that I will not be home tomorrow so there will be no update tomorrow. Instead I will do a double update on Wednesday. Until then have a great time Polycount.

    Day 24:

    Zbrush:

    Ub0dGA3.jpg

    2D Studies:

    4I8PjAL.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    So I have not been home at all lately. I am now moving to another town so I can not paint everyday and I can not post here everyday either sadly. Not until 21 of August. But with that said here is at least 2 days worth of practicing compiled in one picture.

    Day 25-26:

    2D Studies:

    6mnLgCw.jpg
  • Assassinaded
    VxaTVJp.jpg

    Noticed the perspective of the windows are off they need to be a little bigger also the wall is straying out a smidge to the right instead of downwards.You have the basics of the hand laid out but not the feet. Shadows from the post on the wall are in wrong direction also and you have no shadow from the flags.
  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    On your human head sculpts the ears are always too small.

    Your lips often look stuck on - its the mouth corners that betray this. The lips twist at the corner into the mouth - go and look at yourself in the mirror.

    Are you posting the sculpts in perspective or ortho?
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @Assasinaded: Thanks for pointing those things out. I will keep it in mind for future stuff.

    @Rick Stirling: Thanks for the feedback. I will enlarge the ears, and also find a good proportional reference so that I can get it right on the first try with ears. Also I have not paid attention to this so thanks for pointing it out about the lip corners. Also the sculpts are in perspective.

    I am today tugging away at packing some stuff that I will move down to my new apartment. So I have not drawn anything today. I will have to compensate tomorrow.
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Long time no see, So I have now moved to another town and enrolled at The Game Assembly's Game art education. I have not posted in a while since I had so many drawing that needed to be scanned, over 200 pages. So I took some of the more major stuff and compiled it in to one picture. On top of that I have done some paintings, and also an hand-painted 3D model. I have not done any work in Zbrush since I moved. And we wont use Zbrush at school until the second year. Until then I will work on my line art and anatomy on top of school work.

    So starting today I will post all that I have done during the day. But I will not post anything during Saturday Sunday, as I need some resting time now as I work with art from 09.00 to 17.00.

    So here goes my latest stuff from the 56 days I have not posted.

    (The Major stuff of) Day 27 - 82

    PKCQe4Z.jpg

    yKkOtIY.jpg

    OwXktfj.jpg

    6yGp7xO.jpg?1

    bqKwhpo.jpg?1

    I will post todays work when I get home, so that todays stuff get its own post. Until then I hope you guys see an improvement. I sure am feeling it.
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Here is todays stuff. Will I finally pick up this good habit again? I do hope so.

    Day 83:

    FEHOJwQ.jpg

    VxCI0br.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Todays practice, I did my hand, nothing fancy.

    Day 84:

    qbxXWGQ.jpg
  • dimosM
    great work, i am loving it (need to put myself through something like that too).
    Keep it up!

    p.s: nice dragons
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @dimosM thank you so much, and Id say it is totally worth doing something like this, just some days it can be hard to go around to do it.

    Right now I am only painting my hand (an homework assignment for school, to draw my hand every working day for 8 weeks), plus I did a demon thing. Trying to improve my line art, but the maya course and the schools first game project (a text adventure game) we have now, is eating my time. so for today a quick hand study, only drawn with ink, and a demon.

    Day 85:

    xupypRS.jpg

    Also here is my first sort of finished model from maya. I did it for two weeks ago but I forgot to post it with the what I have done before post.

    6JFmZPK.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    I am currently chipping away at the text adventure game that we got going as a course in school. So I only got to do a hand study today (as it is homework).

    Day 86:

    2D Study:

    Gtbv3wY.jpg

    One room in our text adventure that I painted today on top of a 3d base:

    XlMYADT.jpg
  • AlexCatMasterSupreme
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    AlexCatMasterSupreme interpolator
    you need more fine details or rather small shapes. A lot of your scenes have very medium size to large shapes and it feels meh as a result but the overall painting isn't bad. Too much competition.
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @AlexCatMasterSupreme, thank you very much for that advice, I will take it to heart and work on getting in detail where there could or even should be detail. Just one question, what is too much competition?
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    I were supposed to work on studies in friday, but I did not find the time to do that at school that day neither in yesterday. So I compensated by doing the studies earlier this day. Some facial studies, and also I drew one of fightpunch's concepts. Nothing fancy, just trying to paint a bit a day.

    So here goes day 87 (delayed a bit):

    PbX9Rt8.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Todays studies

    Day 88:

    rrliHQW.jpg
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Today just another hand study in between schoolwork

    Day 89:

    ZUsDLGD.jpg?1
  • Amsterdam Hilton Hotel
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    Amsterdam Hilton Hotel insane polycounter
    your progression over just a few months is great. love the mechanical bird
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    @Amsterdam Hillton Hotel, thanks for the kind words, and I am glad you like the bird.

    Today i did a mech study and also looked in to mech-legs, I also did my homework (another hand).

    Day 90:

    2tzirbg.jpg
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