AceAtelier - Art School Journey

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here.
I’m a guy in my 30s who decided it would be awesome to create a manga someday. I already have ideas for the story, but I don't yet have the drawing skills to bring it to life as a comic. So from now on, I’m going to regularly post updates here to track my progress and share what I’m working on.
I’m doing this mainly for myself, but I’d really appreciate any feedback — especially constructive criticism
I’m using Procreate for all my drawings.

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Ok, to start off, here’s today’s pen control practice and my first assignment (the last drawing is still a mystery to me).

[Nosnibor]

Welcome, I am looking forward to seeing your work : )

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Hi, I'm sharing my weekly report (I figured breaking it down by week works better because it's easier to notice progress). Term 1, Week 2: Pen control, cylinder exercises (I feel like when the cylinders have a strong top/bottom perspective, something gets messed up. Please let me know how I could improve that), nude figure drawing. I’m not uploading all of my work from the week — just selected (the best?) pieces. Below that are the Photoshop assignments (in my case, Procreate). To be honest, I didn’t really get much satisfaction from these particular tasks. I know they might be useful, but still... Anyway, if anyone takes a look and can tell me what to pay special attention to (what I'm doing particularly poorly), I'd be super grateful 🙂

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

As for the combining images task, I added a castle (duh!) and a boat 😉

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Hi everyone, sharing my weekly (or rather bi-weekly because I had a short break in between) progress. Pen control, cylinders, mannequins (selected).

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

As for gesture drawings, one is from the beginning, and the other two are from the end of the period. I'd appreciate feedback on this—am I doing it right? 30 seconds only allow for drawing stick figures 😦

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Finally, lineart. 3/5 (including one work-in-progress). Feedback on the line itself would be great, especially since I'm using Procreate and technical pen for lineart. I'm not very good at playing with line thickness yet, but hopefully that will come with time. That wraps up week 3 🙂

[JimSt]

This is some solid practice. Looking good. Keep it up!

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

End of Week 4. Below are selected exercise results. I'm feeling more confident though the time required for this is brutal...

Uploading...

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Below are my gesture drawings (1min). Please give me feedback! I have trouble with proportions, often the head is too small, legs too long, etc. I thought that adding 30 seconds would make it easier, but not really. What could I improve? Is there dynamism in these poses? I always try to outline the rib cage and pelvis, but it takes me a lot of time. Should I approach drawing these poses differently?

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Here is completed lineart no. 3. I'm happy with this one 🙂 I still have issues with hands and line thickness, but I hope it will come with time.

[JimSt]

For your gesture drawings: I think you are doing well. They all read fairly well and you are capturing the gesture. For the less than 5 minute poses, I wouldn't worry too much about nailing the proportion, rather keep focusing on the motion and how to capture it in the least amount of flowing strokes. Your strongest pieces are the ones that have the center line extending through the arms or legs demonstrating the energy there. The poses that seem the weakest are probably from the line weight of strokes or sharp disjointed lines that read as counter-motion to the main line of action, which causes a disruption of rhythm.

Once you go to 5 minutes and beyond, they aren't really gesture drawings, though they could start the same. I call those "figure drawings" and that's where I spend more time on proportions.

Practice is the solution for all our problems as artists. Every minute we spend makes a difference. Keep it up!

Great detail on Chainsaw Man!

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

End of week 5 – another batch of homework done. Perspective feels very natural; 1-point and 2-point perspective exercises aren’t a problem at all. Measurement is still quite challenging (even digitally), but I’m going to keep practicing.

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Time for some 2-minute gestures. Just like last time, I’d really appreciate your feedback. While I feel that with more time it’s easier for me to keep the proportions (though not always), I also get the sense that adding more detail sometimes takes away from the dynamism of the pose. Please let me know what you think – what could I improve here?

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

And finally, lineart number 4 (4/10...). I have no idea when I’ll find time to do the remaining six… especially with environment studies coming up soon. As for this drawing, I’m pretty happy I managed to capture a fairly challenging pose. Overall, I think it turned out okay. The shape of the head is bothering me, though – I can tell something’s off, but I’m not sure how to fix it 😦 Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

Thanks so much for the feedback! I have a question — would you be able to point out which poses are strong and which ones are weak? I'm not sure I can identify them myself yet, and it’s much easier for me to understand what's working when I see concrete examples
Also, thank you! I'm really happy with how Denji turned out!

[JimSt]

Each pose has a force moving through it. Largely, it's an extension of the midline, but extends through the figure. I circled in blue a few that really nailed that, but there are a number of others that have it too. I think they could benefit from following the line a bit more.
That line establishes a rhythm to the figure and while I am aware of the gesture method of making opposing alternating strokes, it can at times fight against the main line of action (larger red oval). Another issue is a connecting line between the opposing strokes (small red circles) that stops the eye and interrupts the rhythm. The easy fix is to lift off the page or ease back on the pressure for a much lighter line. Working on line weight could also move these forward.
I hope that helps and doesn't come across as nitpicky.
The newer gestures seem to have a more consistent line of action. And overall, you are doing well.

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

End of Week 6. I decided to take a more systematic approach and actually write down what I managed to accomplish during the week. Tomorrow I’m starting Week 7, which in theory should be more relaxed. Well, I plan to catch up on everything that’s been left unfinished over the past six weeks. And that’s… quite a bit. Worst case, I’ll just spend more time on Term 1 🙂
Here’s my report:
Daily primitive drawings (first exercise) from 3 Life-changing Drawing Exercises [5/7]
Daily Nude Figure Drawing Assignment 6 – Gesture Drawing (5min poses) [5/7]
Complete Perspective 1 Assignment 3 [1/1]
Study (copy) 3 environment drawings from professional artists/shows/games you like
(lineart only) [1/3]
Study (copy) 5 character drawings from professional artists/shows/games you like
(lineart only) [5/10]

[adrian.czajkowski.priv]

5-minute gesture drawings. I’ve noticed that a lot of people struggle with moving from 2-minute to 5-minute poses because the extra time often leads to getting caught up in details instead of focusing on the core—namely, the dynamic pose. I have the same issue. I’m not really satisfied with these drawings. Still a lot of work ahead of me.