Alex's Digital Sketchbook - Art School (Term 2)

[mitsuki-youko]

I don't have much to show this time around, I really only have my perspective study to share with you guys. I've been pretty busy here lately. Where I work is getting ready to move our shops, so we've been painting, laying carpeting, finding furniture, and getting the old shop packed to start the move. Then I've been working on the webpage and making all the assets for that, then trying to find time for studying and taking care of my other job.

ooh you've been busy!

Then, I got a bit distracted from everything, because BREAK's beta came out and I've been making characters and writing some back stories and drawing them for fun. Never really done the whole DnD thing, so its been fun to mess around with it and make some characters with it.

What is BREAK? is it like DND

Had a few different versions of it, but the others got out of hand really fast and I just didn't like them at all so, this is what I landed on. I think if I color it in the future, I'd be able to do a bit more with it and be able to reduce some of the tangents just by creating more organic shapes in places and having more of a plan of what I wanted the flooring to be rather than making those decisions on the fly.

ooh this is a very cool medieval design - your perspective looks great!

Always glad to see another one of your posts

[patrycja.lerch]

This looks great! I like your lineart

With doing the characters and writing backstories, one of them I had envisioned like an ancient warrior who was imprisoned for heresy, and that basically inspired me to do a prison/hold type deal.

That's a cool idea! I would put more chains to indicate that it is prison maybe some cracks on floor and walls. And that chair looks too comfortable but I believe that guard would not like to spent the whole day on a chair that is not like this. It looks like a really nice prison.

[catsforsnacks]

Very nice perspective study!

It looks like a really nice prison.

Hahaha I agree. I would want to live here.

[snakker]

Man that's some clean lineart

[chomper2010]

@mitsuki-youko Thanks, it was a challenge and yes, things have been hectic here lately haha. Almost done with the move and prepping the new building though so that will be helpful to get those out of the way. And yea, Break is a DnD type deal, I did a quick study of one of the characters earlier in the year.

The designs and page layouts really interested me, and the art was good so I decided to back it and use it as a sort of reference. I figured though, if I spent money on it, may as well give the contents a go too so its been fun. I can see why people enjoy DnD haha. Here's the link to their site if you wanted to look into it https://www.breakrpg.com/

That's a cool idea! I would put more chains to indicate that it is prison maybe some cracks on floor and walls. And that chair looks too comfortable but I believe that guard would not like to spent the whole day on a chair that is not like this. It looks like a really nice prison.

Yea, looking at it now, it definitely need some more details. Need to do more studies of objects and props to fill in my environments. I think that'll help in the future to capture more of the mood I'm going for if I can call on some other objects that fit the theme and incorporate them into the scene.

and hahah, I wasn't necessarily going for comfy, but was thinking it was going to be like a personal dungeon for a Lord's prisoners where he himself could kind of torment them and oversee them in a sense, so I figured a lord might warrant a better chair hahah.

Hahaha I agree. I would want to live here.

Maybe I was born in the wrong era and should've been a medieval luxury prison designer, doing prison reforms before it was even a thing hahah. Glad you liked it hahah

Man that's some clean lineart

Thanks Snakker!

[mitsuki-youko]

Here's the link to their site if you wanted to look into it https://www.breakrpg.com/

Yooo break looks so cool!

[chomper2010]

Things are still really busy. Haven't had a lot of time to do studies. Here's what I've been able to do over the last couple weeks. Hoping for things to improve soon.

Really want to start trying to loosen up. Just feeling so stalled by perspective but want to get the hang of it and find a happy medium. This is the direction I'm gonna be going in, just trying to get a more natural feel for perspective through studies.

This one has issues, but it was the first one that was done freehanded and not so stuck to the grid. Just tried to see how it went. Was more fun for me than the others have been so think I am going to pursue this direction for a while and see where this takes me. Hopefully get more time to do more studies soon.

That's all I got for you guys. Trying to get back on somewhat of a schedule again. Definitely feeling the rustiness of not doing this everyday. Hopefully I can bounce back relatively quickly by just doing this more as I go forward.

Anyways, thanks for looking. I'm still trying to keep trucking, just a lot going on and its been unfortunate that due to my other responsibilities, this has had to suffer, especially when I do really enjoy doing this. But oh well, here's to hoping for more time in the future.

[mitsuki-youko]

Anyways, thanks for looking. I'm still trying to keep trucking, just a lot going on and its been unfortunate that due to my other responsibilities, this has had to suffer, especially when I do really enjoy doing this. But oh well, here's to hoping for more time in the future.

Same, life's been busy here too so havent been able to post much - good luck to you in hopes you have more time for art soon

These studies look great and to me your persp shows no sign of rustiness

[chomper2010]

So just a post to say I'm still here and trying. We're in the last week of the shop relocation and there's still a lot to do and some new processes that we are putting into place at the moment that has eaten up the bulk of my time. Then I've been designing a lot of new signage for the new place and updating some assets for marketing so its been a lot of work the past couple weeks.

As for the art journey, I have found myself working in a sketchbook the bulk of my drawing time now, as I can take it with me and do studies during meetings or just when I get a free moment on breaks in between moving. Been trying to work on intuitive perspective. The results have varied but I think I am making slow progress.

I've only been able to do a handful of digital studies over the past few weeks so I don't have much to show, I'm going to wait until next week to start posting the few I've done. Hoping that I'll be able to have some time in the evenings again, so fingers crossed there.

Anyways, that's all. I'm still trying and still drawing. Hopefully your journeys are going well, looking forward to being able to see your stuff when I am able to get more time. But just wanted to post this for myself so that way I am still trying to make it a priority as best as I can.

Thanks for reading, hopefully will have some new posts soon.

[mitsuki-youko]

Eyy, glad to hear from you
Glad you're keeping up the good work and can't wait to see what you post next

[chomper2010]

Hi everyone,

Hope you're all well. It has been a bit since my last post. A lot has been going on here lately. Had some really stressful events occur and some really low points in the last couple weeks. I was trying to force myself to at least draw a few times a week and then that became really difficult to even do that. Then I ended up getting really sick and couldn't really take any breaks and ended up being bedridden for a week. After that, I decided that I needed to take a break from everything for a bit and just try to destress as much as I could.

I ended up reading a bunch of books, just for fun. Played some video games, spent time with my family. Just forced myself to not do anything for a bit. It sucked at first, it really felt like I was giving up again and I hated that.

However, doing that allowed me to get some things taken care of and I ended up getting my need to draw back. I ended up just feeling good enough to get back up in the mornings and start some exercises again and I started studying Perspective from a different source to try to build up my comfort level with it again.

I looked around online and picked up a few books that were focused on working in perspective. Most people recommended to start with "Perspective Made Easy" so I've been doing the exercises from there for a bit now. I'm about half way through the book and am going to start doing some studies again, to try to solidify some of the info that it's gone through.

None of it is new, but its giving me some simpler places to start for getting used to perspective and freehanding perspective work. My work is definitely nothing to write home about, but it has been refreshing to do this. I haven't been focusing on the final product just trying to understand the concepts that the book is going through.

I'm going to try and start getting back into doing gesture drawing daily again as well, to keep my figure drawing in practice and then hopefully build myself back up a bit more. I don't really know what my posting schedule or drawing schedule will look like moving forward but so far, I've been getting up around 5 and doing some studies for about 2 hours and then trying to do another 2 in the evenings when I can.

Although the note says I'm not enjoying perspective much, I meant that I wasn't enjoying the way I was doing it before so although these weren't the best, I had more fun doing these studies than what I was having doing it any other way. Just wanted to clarify.

Like I said, most of the work I've done is nothing to write home about but its giving me some more practice with perspective and I've found myself doing more doodles in perspective in my sketchbook that have been coming naturally, which has up to this point, only happened with figures. So that is some progress at least.

It is also forcing me to draw objects that I really have avoided or did not ever really think to draw in the first place, so although its been ugly, it is helping me to get more practice in areas that I normally wouldn't venture to on my own which I think will help to broaden my horizons.

Anyways, That's about it. I'm going to really try to put my nose to the grindstone and figure out this perspective stuff and get myself to term 2 with a better foundation. Honestly, its the fact that I am so uncomfortable with perspective that is holding me up and I just would like to move forward with more confidence and feel like I have a grasp on it and not that it has a grasp on me, if that makes any sense.

Either way, I will move forward in this journey, its just going to take me a bit more time than what I would like it too. But, I need to build up this side of my skills that I have neglected. I feel more determined and in a much better mindset than I've had for at least 2 months now so I'm going to make this count and get myself to where I need to be.

Thank you all for reading, I hope to get around to seeing other work but I can't promise I'll be able to get around to any of it anytime soon. My time is pretty limited so, I'm going to prioritize getting practice in and hopefully things continue to mellow out for me and more time will open up soon. Hope you all are well and you are finding success on your own journeys.

[mitsuki-youko]

@chomper2010!!! Glad to see you back

Sorry to hear you've been stressed and sick and glad to hear you're getting better!

Yea life sometimes just HAS to get in the way of what you want to do RIP - I've had that happen to me recently too so I've been slowing down with the posting.

Glad you're getting more persp practice!

Honestly, its the fact that I am so uncomfortable with perspective that is holding me up and I just would like to move forward with more confidence and feel like I have a grasp on it and not that it has a grasp on me, if that makes any sense.

TBH i personally find that the best way to get good at it is to not just practice but incorporate it into your fine finished pieces.

In my case for these two, I wanted to draw the characters doing awesome things BUT i wasn't that good at drawing backgrounds/perspective.. welll i just jumped into it anyways and eventually after doing this kind of thing enough it kinda just gets better over time (rather than just practicing with perspective points - be creative about it)

Good Luck

[snakker]

Dude, welcome back. Glad you could figure things out/destress a bit, I feel you it happens and making sure all the basics are ok is important!

I really like your notes and the way you tackle stuff in perspective! I always struggle even starting anything perspective related XD

cheers!

[patrycja.lerch]

Good to see you back! I am glad things are getting better!

Nice studies!

[Pattu_w]

Hey, those do look really good, hope you manage to get through this stuff, you got this.

[chomper2010]

First off, I just want to thank all of you for the encouragement, and not just in this low point but for all of it that you have given throughout my journey thus far. It has meant a lot to me and it helps more than you will ever know. Sorry for getting a bit sentimental but after struggling and feeling a bit down on myself, coming back to these messages and some useful ideas has meant a lot. So seriously thank you all.

@mitsuki-youko Thanks! and I'm sorry to hear that you've been facing similar issues, hopefully yours subside as well and we can both get back to it sooner than later haha!

And That's a good idea. I did actually try a few sketches with people in them but I have been avoiding it for a long time. I just don't feel confident in it but like you said, I'll get better over time and if I keep avoiding it, I'll never even give myself a chance to figure it out or to learn in a "real world" example. I love your attitude towards it as well, I am going to have to try and really incorporate some figures into my examples, rather than just doing rough sketches of figures and plopping them in haha. I'll have to channel my inner mitsuki and try making some cool stuff and just giving it a proper attempt.

I love those pieces by the way, I know I've seen them before but now that I am working in perspective more I've found a deeper appreciation for what you've put together in those compositions. Just looking at all your details is almost nightmarish to me at this point, hahah. Especially the 2nd one with those fences and buildings in the distance and how you've created the atmospheric perspective in it, just really good work.

@snakker Thanks! and yes me too. I definitely needed it, as much as I hated to admit it at the time. Yea, basics are huge and since going deeper into perspective, they are being tested in different ways and I think that is one of the issues that has made the whole thing tougher haha.

And thanks, I try. My sketch books look about like these pages except a lot less organized hahah. Me toooooooo! I know its just my inexperience with it but some days that is the hardest thing for me, I end up restarting a hundred times just trying to figure that out hahah!

@patrycja.lerch Thanks and happy to be back, albeit irregularly hahah.

@Pattu_w Thanks, I definitely had more fun with these than I had in the past and I appreciate that, definitely have needed some encouragement!

Here's some of the other sketches I've worked on the last couple days and my a gesture session.

These were mostly just doodles. did not have a lot of time that day so I just doodled.

Nothing to write home about again, but I enjoyed making these. I am still going through Perspective Made Easy, but as I said before, I got halfway through it and only really did the little exercises so I am trying to get some more experience with the concepts already introduced and then I will push onwards to the last half of the book.

Thank you all again, sincerely. I appreciate all the encouraging words and hope you are all doing well.

[mitsuki-youko]

Nothing to write home about again,

The nice thing about "writing home" is that you can write about anything Its always fun to read your posts! btw do you have IG or social media? would love to add you!

Thanks! and I'm sorry to hear that you've been facing similar issues, hopefully yours subside as well and we can both get back to it sooner than later haha!

Thank you Sometimes I think life can be unpredictable so It's better to have a way to work around whatever it throws at us - for example.. almost everyone has 30 mins a day. If I can draw (or work on other aspects of my project) for at least 30 mins a day, at the very least I'm moving forward little by little

I'll have to channel my inner mitsuki and try making some cool stuff and just giving it a proper attempt.

LMAO first time I've every heard anyone say they wanna channel their Inner Mitsuki XDDD That was fun to read! Good luck with that!

I love those pieces by the way, I know I've seen them before but now that I am working in perspective more I've found a deeper appreciation for what you've put together in those compositions. Just looking at all your details is almost nightmarish to me at this point, hahah. Especially the 2nd one with those fences and buildings in the distance and how you've created the atmospheric perspective in it, just really good work.

Eyy thanks so much!! i'm glad you like em

Regarding the fence, that was something I modeled in 3D before, a year or three before which looks like this - so I kinda used that as reference:

BTW I just slapped some rectangles in the back ground and slapped some windows on with from Devin Elle Kurtz which i got here: https://tamberella.gumroad.com/l/YLfEvh

[LunarPowered]

SICK! I absolutely love Elden Ring and despise fighting Malekith lol

[snakker]

These are looking great!

[chomper2010]

The nice thing about "writing home" is that you can write about anything Its always fun to read your posts! btw do you have IG or social media? would love to add you!

I don't at the moment, been thinking hard about making an Instagram though. Just don't feel quite ready yet, but when I do make one I will let you know because I want to make sure I'm following you on there as well.

Thank you Sometimes I think life can be unpredictable so It's better to have a way to work around whatever it throws at us - for example.. almost everyone has 30 mins a day. If I can draw (or work on other aspects of my project) for at least 30 mins a day, at the very least I'm moving forward little by little

I keep having to remind myself of this, every little bit counts and sometimes, you can only do a little bit and that is okay.

LMAO first time I've every heard anyone say they wanna channel their Inner Mitsuki XDDD That was fun to read! Good luck with that!

Hahaha well happy to be the first then! and thank you, I am going to need it

And the fence model is really nice and thank you for linking that video and the brushes, I am going to look into playing around with that. I see all that detail and I was really anxious about how I would go about something like that, soooo many squares haha.

SICK! I absolutely love Elden Ring and despise fighting Malekith lol

Thanks! and yeaaaaaaaaaaa, he was a paaaaaaaaaaaiiiiinn. Toook me forever to get past him but if he doesn't have a cool design hahaha

These are looking great!

Thanks Snakker!

Thank you all for looking as always. I was hoping to have some more stuff done by this point but a family member if mine passed away earlier this week and that was devastating. I've just been trying to keep myself busy and occupied while coming to terms with everything. Drawing has helped, and its brought me some comfort and calm in all this, so that has been good.

I was able to do some gesture drawings and a quick perspective study, plus found one that I never uploaded too so I'll post all that stuff below. Gestures are a bit rusty but I think being tired is also playing a part in that.

My plan at the moment is to finish up Perspective Made Easy and then go from there. I'm debating on just moving to Term 2 after that, I'm not entirely sure yet. I know I saw in an email that Marc was going to post a new Perspective Lecture and I'm curious to see what that will entail. But yea, that's where I'm at.

Hopefully will be posting again soon. Take care everyone