Jim St. - Art School Journey

[daceronine]

It looks great! I see the Mad house face there xD.

I mean taking it to a point where I can abandon it and not feel like a total failure. There's a ton more that needs to be done and tidied up, but I feel like I could spend 30 hours on this thing and not actually be done.

That's how I feel with environments as well. Feels like you could stack details indefinetly, most of which won't even be noticed, but with out them the env feels "empty". At some point we need to wrap it up and move on. It's usually easier to "suggest detail" rather than actually draw it, but that's a whole different topic.

I am also starting to formulate a couple personal projects that I want to work on beyond the assignments, if I have the time or if there's another opportunity in the weekly schedule to work on personal projects.

Oh, sounds intriguing!

[patrycja.lerch]

Looks great! Love the creature

[JimSt]

@daceronine - the Alfred E. Newman throw rug was my reaction to "Oh man, I have this huge empty space on the floor, what am I going to do?!?!"
Call me crazy, but worldbuilding happens in the details. Even if people don't catch it the first time - or realize that they have seen it somewhere before... But absolutely, knowing when to layer on the details and when to gloss over them are vital to sequential art. I think stand-alone illustration pieces follow the "better over season this thing" method of image cooking.
And the projects, it seems like I'm looking at working on my comic again. It's going to be a 24 page anthology, with one story being a "remaster/reboot/rewrite" of stories from the earlier issues (that I'm really too embarrassed to re-release at this point), one being a stand-alone one-shot experiment of ideas, and another being a continuation of my "Space Patrol" story. It's just a familiar thing that I feel like I can do it faster than a pure illustrative work - though I'm going to rock a wrap-around painted cover!

@patrycja.lerch Thanks! It's the result of some very misguided genetic experiments in the lower levels of one of the mostly abandoned megabuildings. This is a fourth generation beluga cat.

[daceronine]

Even if people don't catch it the first time - or realize that they have seen it somewhere before... But absolutely, knowing when to layer on the details and when to gloss over them are vital to sequential art. I think stand-alone illustration pieces follow the "better over season this thing" method of image cooking.

Yes! Absolutely, and getting to know when to continue and when to wrap it up, as many things, I guess it comes with practice.

Oy! those sound like interesting proyects! You know I'm a fan of comics/manga stuff, so seeing people tackle it is always exciting.

[mitsuki-youko]

For example, did you know that in the future internet speeds will be so fast that we need to liquid cool it as it is being delivered? That's why we have to have 4 inch utility pipes!

yoo that's so interesting XD are you writing a sci fi story and if so where can i learn more? Do you have ig? (maybe i already have u on ig but just forgot)

It's going to be a 24 page anthology, with one story being a "remaster/reboot/rewrite" of stories from the earlier issues (that I'm really too embarrassed to re-release at this point), one being a stand-alone one-shot experiment of ideas, and another being a continuation of my "Space Patrol" story.

ooh that sounds hella awesome! i wanna read that XD

[JimSt]

@mitsuki-youko, I'd like to think I am.
I don't have anything readily available, but I really need to put my last comic out there again. The marketplace it was on closed down and I just haven't re-released it.

[JimSt]

@mitsuki-youko, I forgot to put my Insta link, which does exist!
https://www.instagram.com/jimstreetart/

[mitsuki-youko]

Eyy followed u on ig!

[JimSt]

Another week has flown by. The day job and other life responsibilities occupied a big chunk of my time. On Thursday evening, I realized that I haven't had a real day off for like three weeks. So I've been exercising my freedom and choosing to do nothing when I can. It is very liberating and a good reminder that in the end happiness is a state of mind, which can be independent of "reality."
Anyway, I didn't make a lot of progress on the Week 8 assignment. But I figured I would show were I am and mention a couple "pain points."

Daily Gesture
I got two days of these done. Having paused these while I finished up the previous studies, I found these more intimidating than in the past. The flow and easy that I had in previous weeks seems to have evaporated.

Environment Study
I'm continuing my studies of things that I want to draw. The first study is another piece by Syd Mead. As I was going through this, I started wondering "Where is the stopping point? What are the main things that I need to be paying attention to here?" At this point, I'm thinking just seeing the basic geometric shapes should be the focus, but then I feel like I'm ignoring something else that I really need to pay attention. I'd rather not just be copying but want to be learning something deeper. Maybe I'm just too tired when I work on it, but I feel like I'm getting lost in there.

Two-Point Perspective Assignment: 1-2 Buildings
I've had fun so far with this one, but I'm almost to the point where I don't know where else to go with this. This has so far been from my imagination, but I think that next step needs to come from sourcing some references and start noodling in details.

I haven't planned much for this next week, but I know that I won't be able to do much work this next weekend. So with probably 7-8 hours available over four days, I'm going to set some low expectations for myself and just aim for the daily gestures and make some progress on the Mead piece and the 2 Point assignment.

May our weeks be productive, confident, and satisfying.
Carry on!

-Jim

[mitsuki-youko]

ooh these look great! the study looks stunning!

I've had fun so far with this one, but I'm almost to the point where I don't know where else to go with this. This has so far been from my imagination, but I think that next step needs to come from sourcing some references and start noodling in details.

if you're going sci fi, maybe add some bots or some scifi-y glowy signs n stuff?

maybe some flying cars?

[daceronine]

It is very liberating and a good reminder that in the end happiness is a state of mind, which can be independent of "reality."

So true bro. And rest is an important factor in all of that. Glad to hear it's going well.

I'm also doing some envs studies for now, from what I've learned there are a few things which I think you already got.
One is to focus on the main geometric shapes and composition. You want to nail down the first big shapes and lines, kind of like gestures, but for environment. I've noticed that doing exercices with a time limit for yourself is helpful for this. Also seems the case for others I've seen in the forums.

Once I have my main composition, depending on the time I have, I'll focus on the details of the piece one part at a time I'll break down the image in "main parts" and "not so important parts". For example, maybe the car is important, maybe the stairs are not. It depends on what you want the user to focus on.

Once you identify these priorities, start working on each piece of the "segments" of the piece one at a time. Instead of seeing the piece as a whole, focus on each individual piece depending on it's priority. And here's where depending on your bandwith, you might want to impose a time limit per piece overall. The more time you invest per piece, the more detailed the overall image will be, but make sure your time is mostly spent on focus points, and you can get away with texture or "suggested detail" in parts that are not so important.

Once you start getting into the details, I'd recommend to use references on the important parts. For example, look up some cars and check the details as you work on it.

Personally the biggest challenge is just said time management per component. I tend to obssess a bit, so it's easy to just spend too much time if I don't enforce a time limit for myself. I'll usually manage time depending on the importance of the piece itself. Once I feel it has "met it's purpose", I'm basically done even if there are improvements pending.

[JimSt]

Thanks @mitsuki-youko! Yea, it will be sci-fi. Those are some fun suggestions to make it come alive

@daceronine, there's an entire process here that I need to think on and you've shared some good ideas. Thanks!

[JimSt]

Wow. 28 days huh? Thanks everybody for dropping by and making a comment! It makes all this feel a little less of a lonely process.

I'm still plugging away at it. I've been reconfiguring how and when I can work on my art assignments and projects, while also working to maintain a balanced busy life with professional, societal, and familial obligations and responsibilities. It's not easy but as the habits settle out, it is at least smoother.

Overall, I'm working in shorter 15-30min "sprints" throughout the day with a longer morning session and if desired a longer session in the evening. This results in approx 2-3hr of available art time a day. Breaking it into chunks also has helped me "unstick" on a few projects that needed a boost. I also am testing the mantra of "Better, Not Perfect" when it comes to how I need to approach each step in my art journey. So let's take a peak…

Daily Gesture & Warm-ups
I switched over to 1min poses to keep this process as part of my daily warm-ups, which is currently making circles, straight lines (with ghosting), C & S shaped lines, then the gestures.

Environmental Studies
This was one of the pieces that I felt was stalling out, so I decided to stop working on this after I finished doing a first round of pencils over the initial sketch. Am I happy with this? Not really. But that's fine. Is it better than previous urban landscape studies? No, but I'm learning, so I'm ok with this. There will be more opportunities forthcoming. In fact, I'm working on a couple urban cityscapes right now.

Two-Point Perspective
Speaking of a cityscape, here's where I am with my Two-Point Perspective - which is also where I have been spending most of my time.

So there's been a fair bit of progress as I am filling it in.

First up, I did some 3D work in Blender to make a Drone and a simple blocked version of the building and street. The street was setup so that it would match the camera angle I'd established and drop in the drone for reference. This was pretty quick because I'd done basic work in 3D apps for years (trueSpace anyone?). Looking forward to advancing these skills.

Next, I had something of a delay (and one of the main reasons there's been such a big gap in time since my last entry) because I wanted to do some design exploration of the deliverator's (pizza delivery driver) vehicle and world-building. This shifted all delivery services to hypercompetitive Courier Services (read: gangs) and Ranked Couriers bent on market dominance and defending core territories from rival Services and Couriers. So the couriers will transport ANYTHING and the more experienced couriers have the best gear to complete the job (or die trying) and the lower paying jobs wind up going to upstarts and newcomers who might be just running or jetskating across the city using every shortcut to avoid their Bitter Rival services. This was pretty fun.

Out of the design process, I wanted to have the courier using a hoverboard/jetboard and I wanted him to be doing some kind of power slide while firing his gun at the drone. I started sketching out the pose and trying to find partial references for what I was wanting. Then it registered that the pose wasn't going to work with the scene as established with a two point perspective. If I was going to push for the skatecourier, I would really need to redraw this with the courier as the focal point and use three-point perspective. So I switched back to a motorbike and used one that I designed (perhaps poorly, but I did it).

There's lots of little details that still need to get filled in, but I'm going to try to get the big pieces done over the course of the next week. I'd like to get Week 8 wrapped up this week so I can start a Project Sprint on…

COMICS!
I know no one here is aware of what kind of comics I've done in the past and I'd call them "indy comics" and they aren't great - but they have some fun bits in them. I'm considering putting them back out there, but there's a piece of me that is deeply embarrassed by their existence. The first one was made about 30 years ago and I would occasionally make more over time. I started trying to make some more like 10 years ago and was pretty frustrated by the process (for reasons I will not go into here), which kinda pushed me further from being positive about comics and the process for quite a while.
So when I remembered how much fun I had making them in the 90's and throughout college, I stirred up a ton of unprocessed emotional debris and had to deal with all that as I was trying to sort out what the next step is. And thankfully, I've got the next step queued up with it's own sprint lane for daily work. The current comic that was left on the drawing board is "earth #13" continuing the stories from earth #12. Basically, all 24 pages have been written and only 3 pages left to layout, so I'm going to be penciling pages and implementing stuff that I've learned.

I picked these up from a Kickstarter years ago and they are very handy.

So yea, I'm hoping to have fun with it and get some of those older things out there, if I can and doing some other more "philosophical-reflection" based comics that are actually the things that I have to say.

Ok. That took longer than I planned. I got a bunch of other stuff I need to touch on today. I hope you all are happy, well, safe, peaceful and at ease!

-Jim

[mitsuki-youko]

Eyyyy welcome back!!

I'm still plugging away at it. I've been reconfiguring how and when I can work on my art assignments and projects, while also working to maintain a balanced busy life with professional, societal, and familial obligations and responsibilities. I'm not easy but as the habits settle out it is at least smoother.

Overall, I'm working in shorter 15-30min "sprints" throughout the day with a longer morning session and if desired a longer session in the evening. This results in approx 2-3hr of available art time a day. Breaking it into chunks also has helped me "unstick" on a few projects that needed a boost. I also am testing the mantra of "Better, Not Perfect" when it comes to how I need to approach each step in my art journey. So let's take a peak…

Ah yes I struggle with the same thing... Seeing how other people tackle it is helpful Thanks for sharing!

The sketches and 3D renders look great!

The Couriers' bike looks like a fish for the ones with a tail XD its a pretty cool design! Even cooler if you make it so that you can maneuver it in the air like a fish in terms of its flexibility when turning, Turning while flying sideways, etc

So when I remembered how much fun I had making them in the 90's and throughout college, I stirred up a ton of unprocessed emotional debris and had to deal with all that as I was trying to sort out what the next step is. And thankfully, I've got the next step queued up with it's own sprint lane for daily work. The current comic that was left on the drawing board is "earth #13" continuing the stories from earth #12. Basically, all 24 pages have been written and only 3 pages left to layout, so I'm going to be penciling pages and implementing stuff that I've learned.

Noice! Can't wait to see more

Haha yes i too reminiscent about the time that I animated anywhere and everywhere in college, before life/responsibilities dropped in my lap. I miss being a student for that reason :3

But seeing as im taking this course im technically still a student just gotta figure out how to plan and schedule better

[JimSt]

@mitsuki-youko I'm also doing sprints with some other things I need to do throughout the day. The way I'm thinking is even just a small amount of work everyday is better than planning on having a larger chunk of time for dedicated work, and then that time chunk becomes available for higher priority actions. At least this way, if I can't manage one sprint that's supposed to happen soon, I've got other chances to log that time and effort.
I also have a digital calendar set to give me reminders of all the sprint items, so I just do what my computer/phone is telling me to do. I get to be immersed in all the other stuff I have to do and not worry about figuring out what I need to do.

The sketches and 3D renders look great!

Thanks!

bike looks like a fish

If the Courier is elite enough, they could probably get a flying fish bike. Might even be the best vehicle for some deliveries...

im technically still a student

Right there with you!

just gotta figure out how to plan and schedule better

David Allen's "Getting Things Done" changed my entire approach and recommend giving that a shot. Leo Babuta's Power of Less offers some good ideas too. Try whatever tactics you think might work and tweak from there.
Interestingly enough (or I think it is... LOL), the idea of these sprints comes from my attempt to "Exercise All Day" and "Always Be Moving" which worked really well. I got all my exercise in throughout the day, so I figured I'd try it with meditation and art. After two weeks, I've tweaked it enough that I think it's flexible and persistent enough to provide some guard rails.

[daceronine]

Nice man! As you know manga and comics are also my passion so I can relate a lot with all of this work. I also did some work back in the 90s, and just recently started to get more serious about it. It's definetly a learning journey of it's own, I'd love to see even more of your work!

If there's anything I can share that you may have questions on, just shoot a message, I love discussing about that stuff.

I'm also a very strong believer of "always keep moving". Sometimes life might slow some projects down, but as long as it keeps moving along, you start getting somewhere.

[JimSt]

Thanks @mitsuki-youko and @daceronine for stopping by with the comments and everyone else for taking the time to read my posts. I hope everyone has been well. I meant to share something last week, but I just got busy and didn't get a chance. With this post, I am finishing up Term 1. HOORAY!

Daily Warm-ups
I kept these up as my morning sprint. I fill up the screen with circles, then practice drawing straight lines between two points, then practice C and S curves, and then finish it out with 1 minute gesture drawings. These aren't exciting so I'll skip sharing them.

Environmental Studies

Cyberpunk 2077
I really liked Cyberpunk 2077, even at release on the Series X. I've always been a sucker for dystopian urbanscapes and cyberpunk is full of them. This is a screenshot I took of V's apartment in Watson.

Jedi Fallen Order: Bogano
Fallen Order is also a really fun game and I enjoyed this world. I also found the organic landscape to be a lot easier to capture in this study.

Two-Point Perspective Assignment
I've shared the previous steps on this and this one just takes things a little further. I feel like it isn't done, but I also get that feeling that I've run out of time. I ran across a YT video talking about an interview with Michael Oeming that I think applies at least a little bit. (This is a quote from https://youtu.be/OLsp_df9nrk?si=avMub80TPR7ndZPX&t=376, so it may not be 100% accurate to the actual full interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKhahC4tNXU ))

"...in the beginning you're going to put stuff out there that feels very far from what you consider to be perfect but as far as meeting deadlines whether it's a deadline set by a publisher or one that's set by yourself in order to create consistent work i think being an imperfectionist in many ways is going to allow you to create the amount of work you want to create."

So I had to let this one go. "Done is better than perfect."

Wrapping Up
The timing for wrapping up the Term is nice because it lines up with the end of the semester at many schools. Which means, it's SUMMER BREAK! I've learned a lot this Term, put in a lot of miles on the graphics tablets, and I look forward to what's in store for Term 2.
BUT! I gotta take a break and get some rest. It is quite likely that I will be working on some comic pages to apply what all I learned to create an artifact demonstrating skills and documenting improvement.

Take care everyone, I'll see you after a bit.
Cheers!
-Jim

[patrycja.lerch]

I am finishing up Term 1. HOORAY!

Congrats!
Nice work on studies
Perspective assignment looks great! So many details

[JimSt]

@patrycja.lerch Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[daceronine]

With this post, I am finishing up Term 1. HOORAY!

Congrats man! You are already in a really good state for just wrapping up Term 1! It's all uphill from here!

Studies look great! There's a bit of sketchiness to them, but I feel it's clear they're intended to be sketch exercices, and for that, this is good.

"Done is better than perfect."

I love this quote I'm always talking about iterating over perfection, and I think this enapsulates this really well.

Of course there has to be a balance, we do want to do our best within the time/goal we set for ourselves, and at times we might do adjustments based on feedback, but it's important to also wrap things up and move on.

That environment orignal looks great! There's a lot of fun detail in there, well done!

BUT! I gotta take a break and get some rest. It is quite likely that I will be working on some comic pages to apply what all I learned to create an artifact demonstrating skills and documenting improvement.

Yes on rest, burning out is no fun. And that sounds like a good idea, looking forward to it!