Jim St. - Art School Journey

JimSt 2024-08-17 02:58:15 UTC #82

Thanks @daceronine and everyone for stopping by!

Term 2 Week 2
Since I will not be at my computer this weekend, I pushed and got a number of the exercises done. I need to practice the head spheres more and kind of forgot some of the structure while I was copying the heads. So you may recognize someone as a relative of that person I say it is... lol
I should have some time to practice the head structure and do some figure drawing with analog tools.

I will also say that I struggled to work on this fully everyday. Work has been keeping me busy and I'm having to burn the candles on both ends. I been getting only 4-5 hr of sleep a night and unfortunately that is not enough. I'm still getting back into the swing of things and trying to make more flowing lines.

Photoshop 2 Assignments

Creating a Brush: I used Clip Studio and struggled to get the spacing right. So I may have to revisit this in the future.

Blending: I used Krita because it seemed to have brushes close to what the assignment asked for. Then I did the same exercise in Clip Studio Paint with the Blend tool - 75% faster. CSP is the way to go - if your boss isn't making you use something else.

Figure Drawing @ 2min

Anatomy 1 - Assignments 1 + 2

Ten Head Studies
Arthur Morgan (kinda) & Beavis

Tiny Tina, Kaneda, Tetsuo

Medic, David, Neo

Lucy, Deckard

I hope everyone has had a great week!

Cheers!
-Jim

daceronine 2024-08-17 05:19:12 UTC #83

Glad to see you moving ahead man! This is all good practice! I definetly can relate with the lack of sleep, I also been struggling to get over 5 or 6 hrs of sleep per night, granted I do have the benefit that I take an hour or even 2 hour nap at midday, but it's really not the way to go.

The struggle is real, but glad you're powering through, hope things ease up soon.

Is that Franziska Von Karma in the last one? She looks a lot like her. Not sure who the other character is though.

JimSt 2024-08-17 12:28:44 UTC #84

Thank you, @daceronine!
I have been known to take a nap instead of eating lunch - and then eat something while I work. Too many interests and not enough time in the day!
The last two are Lucy from Edgerunners and Deckard from Blade Runner (Harrison Ford). Deckard is probably my worse one and is when I realized that I was not placing the chin in the right spot, which was throwing everything off. He looks like he could be Harrison Ford's cousin.

patrycja.lerch 2024-08-17 13:18:37 UTC #85

Great work!

daceronine 2024-08-17 16:46:13 UTC #86

Oh wow, you're right! that's Lucy. Makes me realize how much she actually looks like Franziska

The hairdo is similar, but even other factions are as well.

I was able to idenitfy most of the other characters without a problem. Mitsuro, Tesuo from Akira, that borderlands girl, David from cyberpunk, Medic from TF2 and... Neo..? Not sure about the last one.

JimSt 2024-08-18 20:04:39 UTC #87

@daceronine
They do look a lot alike without coloring!
Dude! That's Neo from The Matrix. Man, I must be worse at capturing likenesses than anything else! Lol

JimSt 2024-08-20 02:30:55 UTC #88

Thanks @daceronine and @patrycja.lerch for the comments!

I'm going to try to post a little more frequently to reinforce the central importance improving my art has in my life. And solicit feedback from you all so that my practices can improve via constructive criticism, if anyone has any.

Term 2 Week 3

Daily Anatomy
Based on the lack of practicing the core skull and jaw masses last week, I wanted to do 100 over the course of the week. Today I did them before the ear studies, but because it was so time consuming I'm going to switch the amount and order. I'll do a few volumes & head structures to warm up, then the parts, followed by a new part. Then do the figure drawing. And then go back and do the additional head structures, until I hit the 100.

Figure Drawing - 10min
I vaguely remember when I did the 5min studies that the time disappeared very quickly. And so did 10min. Holy jeez. I'm also pretty unhappy with how sketchy these are and that I didn't even lay these out like all the other figure studies that I've done. That is partly why I want to shuffle the order of things a bit, because these were done at the end of the day when my energy is super low. Out of proportion and hairy lines. Borderline embarrassing. But to be fair, that does come with the territory...
I'm thinking I should warm-up with a round of 30s or 1min studies.

Cheers!
-Jim

daceronine 2024-08-20 02:43:39 UTC #89

Woa! 100! Keep at it man! This is all good practice.

Granted, regardless of the gesture outcome, it's still good practice since you are keeping those observation and dexterity skill in motion. As you do more you warm up and slowly increase that dexterity.

uggievang 2024-08-20 22:28:55 UTC #90

Nice work on all the practice the ears look especially nice

JimSt 2024-08-21 01:27:05 UTC #91

Thanks @daceronine and @uggievang for the comments and to everybody swinging by for the encouragement!

Term 2 Week 3: Anatomy

I didn't feel too good today due to lack of sleep, so I only managed to do the daily anatomy with nose study exercises. I may try to double up on the figure drawing if I get a good night's sleep tonight.

ZzZzZz,
-Jim

JimSt 2024-08-22 03:53:28 UTC #92

Alright. Today was much better for productivity as I did indeed have a better night's sleep last night. I also encountered this saying early in the day and it impacted me: "You can want something all day long but it doesn't matter until you put in the work. That's what matters." -Dwana Olsen (paraphrased)

Indeed and I moved toward that with intention. I changed up the order of some stuff and made a couple fun discoveries.

Term 2 Week 3

Figure Drawing
Because I didn't do it yesterday, I wanted to start with these. I also did a set of 30sec gestures to warm-up. The quick ones went well and some of the curves and portions were straight ahead.

So I was excited for the 10min, but I spent too much time searching for the shape and created hairy lines again. After those I had to take a break for most of the day for the day job.

Return of the Anatomy Studies!
When I got the chance to return, I did another set of warm-ups and 10 min studies. I also decided that I should draw some dudes.

For the first 10 min study, I decided that I would divide the time into four 2m30s segments. I aimed to have the overall gesture captured in the first one, then refining in the second segment. At the start of the third segment, I created a new layer and spent the rest of the time tracing a more refined line. I was not really happy with that one.
For the second 10 min study, I split the time in two 5min segments. But this time, after putting in the action line and establishing the head and hips, I started growing the drawing instead of quickly slapping something down - which is what I was trying to do in the previous ones. I even had time to bring out the eraser and clean it up. I am very pleased with where this one landed. This methodology seems to work best with a longer duration observation drawing.

Anatomy
I studied the Mouth after dinner and threw down some more cranial masses and just had some fun. I really enjoyed blending the pencils on the two that are rendered. I spent a lot of time just enjoying the process of adding shadows, then carving out the highlights, then blending; repeat. Triggered a bunch of memories of all those art classes I took in high school and college.

So yea, today was a good day and I'm honestly surprised that I was able to get as much done as I did. AND have some fun. Good times!

Cheers!
-Jim

daceronine 2024-08-22 14:56:41 UTC #93

Haha, that's good to hear you're enjoying it so much. As you said, perhaps some exercices for line confidence might help, however I also end up with sketchiness with a low timer. I usually mask it with a bit of blending, but I also still need to improve on that point.

If at some point you get interested, there are a few channels and sessions we get together in discord for (everyone is invited of course), specifically to do gestures and refine our anatomy knowledge. It's optional of course, and it does take a bit of time, but it's also pretty fun to share, get immediate feedback and what not.

EDIT: Woops, forgot to add the Discord link. If at some point you're interested, here's the forum space > https://discord.com/channels/371283268215242784/1266408162936750154

JimSt 2024-08-23 01:23:14 UTC #94

@daceronine I really should spend more time on the Discord server. The only issue I have is that I'm afraid it might take away from my already limited practice availability. I suppose I could limit how long I am on there... hm...

Term 2 Week 3
I stayed up too late last night and thus my energy has been off/lacking. Which means everything that I touch... or more accurately didn't touch is also lacking. During my summer break, I did a lot of cooking and housekeeping tasks and I'm struggling to keep everything in balance and make sure everything vital gets done everyday. Cooking and cleaning are so immediately satisfying and perfect for mindful meditation. It's good stuff! And tasty.

Figure Drawing:
This was the only thing that I managed to get done today. It is a very good thing that I have about an hour in the morning before focusing on the day job, but I wish it was longer...

30 second:

10 minute:

I'm hoping I can carve out more time and stick to doing extra Anatomy tomorrow.

Cheers all and to all a good cheers!
-Jim

daceronine 2024-08-23 04:48:01 UTC #95

No worries! It is true Discord can take time away since it's pretty much a live place. For some of us who are terminally online (I normally work from home) it's an additional option to have available.

Ay, balance is definetly one of those things a lot of us struggle with. Especially frustrating when you want to dedicate time to the arts but you simply have responsabilities to take care of. Adulting be like that. Still, yea, cooking and cleaning is a refreshing change of pace. I usually do some arts (30 mins or so), then some chores, then back to arts, and so on. Keeps things a bit more varied and gets me walking during long sitting sessions.

Lines are improving! keep it up man!

JimSt 2024-08-24 19:06:39 UTC #96

@daceronine I also try to keep it all varied and balanced throughout the work day. Movement is an important part of it. And I have a couple 15min art breaks that I take throughout the day to clean the mind and doodle. Sometimes that gets skipped if work is demanding all of my attention.

Re: Line Quality - It is crazy what I lost because of my break. I really needed the break, but I'm seeing issues with my stuff that I don't think I was doing before. So maybe it is the break that is helping me see it all in a new light...
Anyway, it's all like riding a bike and I'm sure the gains from all the work last Term will be rushing back in.

Ah, it's the weekend and I had time to just sit and draw and let the mind wander a bit. Very thankful for that space and I'm going to go play video games after I post this. Then, I'm going to do a portrait study and make two more imaginative characters tomorrow morning and finish up…

Term 2 Week 3

Anatomy
I did these studies/exercises yesterday but didn't have time to load them. I don't have any comments to add.

Imaginative Characters
These were fun to make. I found just doing the lineart without shading was difficult because there's nowhere to hide. Mistakes are clear to see. So I spent a ton of time pushing and pulling. There's errors there because I did not nail symmetrical measuring by eye, so I will try out using some digital measuring tools and rulers. I suspect using those enough will help me out for building a better measurement visual framework.

Now: gaming!

Cheers!
-Jim

daceronine 2024-08-24 19:30:24 UTC #97

I remember when I first tackled lineart I used to do much more sketchy work. I think it's because the sketchiness hides some line errors, gives a sense of weight, and forces the viewer to fill in some blanks. Like looking at a semi-blurred image. The more clear it is, the more clear the mistakes as well.

Of course like a more clear image is more visually pleasant, getting finer lineart looks better too. Not to mention it forces us to fix those little details, like facial details, where hair goes here or there, where lines interesect, etc etc.

Well, as you said, you're just remembering some stuff, and judging by those last faces, you're quickly reganing that dexterity.

mitsuki-youko 2024-08-25 00:55:45 UTC #98

ooh that is an interesting take.. unless im in the mood to make something special and extra tasty, cooking and cleaning to me are things to be gotten rid of and out of the way so that i can work on my proj XD

mm totes get that.. tho unlike me, you actually put it to good use.. i should try to do that.. usually if i have an hour, i spend it complaining about how i have no time and feel like i can never finish anything in that hour and breaking it up in chunks ruin my flow XD then i have half an hr left and i complain more about how i have no time again and am just sad and angsty overall XD

gotta learn from u XD

mm usually i feel that it breaks my flow.. but dayum.. the way its going i'd make way more progress if i actually did that vs just complaining about it XD

Mimhesis 2024-08-25 12:37:09 UTC #99

You are so productive
I'm sure you'll become a really good comic artist.

JimSt 2024-08-25 21:01:36 UTC #100

I can only imagine how many pieces of comic art have been saved at the inking stage - fixing eyes, shadows, proportions, etc. Mad respect to the inkers who put up with sketchy pencilers!

My interest in home arts comes from the need to have an organized environment that promotes activity. A messy home is disconcerting and the process of establishing order is meditative and there are opportunities for creative expression. Cooking is just something that I enjoy and is a different kind of art. I'm not good enough to be concerned with plating, but a well executed and balanced meal can be beautiful. Since these are things that I have to do, then why not enjoy them and inject them with expression? And why not also seek to improve those skills too?

I have been surprised by how much I can get done in 15-20min, if I just shut my mind/mouth, and start marking. It is also very helpful when time is extremely limited to take that first hour of the day and make something of it. That way no matter how else the day turns out, you've taken care of one of the most important things.

Thanks! Productivity is a daily habit to grind away at something regardless of what else is happening in the world. A little bit of motion everyday is better than nothing. After a little bit, it kind of takes care of itself...
I'm not sure if I really want to make comics these days. I don't know what I want to do, but I enjoy the process! It's funny because I was just thinking about this earlier today.

Finishing Term 2 Week 3
I realized that I should have tackled these exercises in a different order and so when I prep for week 4 later today, I will take that into consideration. I should have focused on the anatomy first, then the portraiture study, followed by the characters, and prioritizing the figure drawing.

Portraiture Study:
I spent way too much time on this - for it not to be perfect. But I did not do the head divisions correctly so she is missing most of the side of her head. I felt like something was off, but I kept pushing. I took a break and started working on one of the below characters. And when I was dividing up that initial circle, I saw that I was not creating vertical divisions of thirds from the top. I was diving in half and then dividing it so that the top and bottom sections equal 1/3 together. Why? I don't know, but I'm hoping that I won't forget it again. But anyway, I figured that I didn't want to start over because I had shaded most of it and then some time later, I decided that I had spent enough time on it so I stopped. I enjoyed it and am mostly pleased (except for the missing portion of the head : ( ).

Imaginative Characters:
Another couple characters. For these, I turned on the Grid in Clip Studio Paint to help with making it more symmetrical. I'm less happy with their eyes and the one of the right is looks completely wrong to me. Actually, I should probably just redo it - the more I look at it, the more I dislike it. But I don't have the time to do that because I spent too much time on the portrait study.
"Oh well. Next time, champ, next time."

Alrighty, that wraps up Term 2 Week 3. I've been watching the Perspective video while I've been working on this, so I'm on track to do Week 4 on time.
But uh-oh - Star Wars Outlaws launches next week... That'll be a challenge...

Cheers!
-Jim St.

uggievang 2024-08-25 22:00:39 UTC #101

Nice your head studies are coming along really nicely I do think on your full haired characters you arnt giving enough room for their brain so they look a little flat up there. Try to put more space between the hairline and the top of the hair and see how it turns out.