LesleyCarol - Art School Journey

[gregorya]

That's an amazing environmental study.

[LesleyCarol]

@gregorya I appreciate it!

I had to stop everything to finish an architecture piece and get ready to go back to work after vacation I'm going to miss having so much time to study, but this makes me want to work that much harder to do this full time.

Here's the building I had to finish. I'm really learning how to break each piece down into steps so I don't overwhelm myself with doing 2 or 3 things at the same time (like figuring out perspective while also picking values).

I'll be turning this into an environment and hopefully I can get started on my circus tent environment too.

[Kosmonaut]

This looks awesome it looks like a mix between a government building and a castle/fortress of some sort. How do you like the CGMA class you are in and would you recommend it? I am trying to find other online sources that teach art for the purpose of after I finish Artschool, so thoughts on the course or experience in general?

[LesleyCarol]

I'm happy to hear that! It's meant to be a palace so those are definitely things I was going for.

CGMA is great. They're very organized, professional, and structured. There's a huge variety of classes to take and they're all organized by skill level and what you want to specialize in. My teacher is really insightful so the lessons and feedback have really helped me grow. On top of that they have payment plans in case you can't pay for everything upfront. I highly recommend it if you're serious about having an art career.

[Kosmonaut]

Okay, thanks I'll look into that later down the line I don't want to do too many art courses at once to avoid being overwhelmed.

[LesleyCarol]

I made a landscape for term 8! I used what I learned from Art School and CGMA.

I like how it came out, but I'll be applying changes the instructor suggested later down the line. If you have any feedback I'd appreciate it!

Now back to my cave of work and study

[HANDRO]

hey @LesleyCarol, I got to pieces of feedback.

1) the clouds encompassing the whole sky make me think that a shadow should be over everything. 2) your foreground could use a bit more shape variety to help break up the overall shape. (it looks like its a bunch of small leaves - which might be how you want it - just figured I point it out.)

hope this helps

[Kosmonaut]

I am having trouble reading the island in the midground. I can't tell if the dark part is meant to be a hill or if it is part the tree shading. I assume it is meant to be a hill though, and in your color block in(second image) the tube at the front of the building doesn't really look to be in shadow when it is rendered in your final(first image). otherwise than that, it looks good to me imo

[LesleyCarol]

Thanks for the feedback.
I'll have to look more into clouds shadows and the foreground critique was similar to what the instructor said.
Appreciate it!

[LesleyCarol]

Thanks for comment! Yeah I need to shift those islands around. For some reason I was adamant about keeping the island in the back. The wall in the front is supposed to be made of glass so I didn't want the shadow to be that harsh on it.
Thanks again.

[gregorya]

This looks pretty good. But should the shadows be cast down the castle instead of the Islands? Or am I just missing something from this?

[LesleyCarol]

Thanks for the comment!
You can varying patches of light on a cloudy day. If there are clouds in the background, light can still shine on something in the mid or foreground.

For the foreground it could either be a cloud or the mountains themselves that could cast the shadow since the light is coming from behind.

Here's a painting by Rembrandt that has a cloudy sky with a strip of light going through.

[gregorya]

That is so weird. Thank you for the information.

[WeirdOwl]

Hi Lesley. Forgive my intrusion. Wanted to give a couple of tips if you don't mind.

1. Check your perspective. I overlaid a grid and it looks like your islands are not aligning too well, which breaks the environment illusion.
2. Middle island is almost touching your city, which creates a tangent right in the middle of the design.
3. With your city being the main focal point, the rest of the environment should be guiding the eye towards it. Nature here is a stage and it's main purpose is to present your main actor in the best possible light.
   

So here are my suggestions:
1. Have the city larger
2. Rework the environment shapes to support it better
3. Move the horizon line and the whole composition lower to allow more breathing room for the city

Hope this is helpful.

[LesleyCarol]

Thanks for the redraw and advice! I really like that bridge.

It's actually meant to be a palace but it could be bigger.

Thanks again!

[LesleyCarol]

Had to take a break from self-studying due to an emergency. Slowly creeping back.
Here's some of the personal work I've done~

Character design via "Cathpun (Instagram)"

Character design via "Hello.Donique (Instagram)"

Character design via "Hellaeon (Instagram)"

Loisvb DTIYS (Anyone else back the new book? )

[Kosmonaut]

very nice paintings welcome back and hope you have fun studying once you get back into the groove of things

[LesleyCarol]

Thanks for the kind words

[LesleyCarol]

I enrolled in a separate art class with one of my favorite artists Patrick Jones and I'm starting to understand gesture more! My focus right now is anatomy and making my figures less stiff.

Also, I'm so hyped for the Gen 4 remake for Pokemon!!!!!!!!!!! I'm working on a fanart landscape. A little behind schedule since it drops today, but hopefully I'll get it done within the next week. I got the work done and I'm working on color tests at the moment. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

I also want to finish my first illustration for my final portfolio by the end of this month. So much going on but it's fun diving back into art again!

[LesleyCarol]

I like the bottom right, but I think I'm going to go with the top right and bring in elements from the bottom 2