LesleyCarol - Art School Journey

LesleyCarol 2022-01-28 00:19:33 UTC #281

I see the point of the triangles now, that's really helpful. I've done what Leeireo's done before but it still felt like I was guessing a bit, but when you add the lines to make the triangles it really is like connecting the dots like you said. Thanks so much!

LesleyCarol 2022-01-28 00:28:47 UTC #282

I finished the sketch for my Mary Blair study and this has to be the most complicated thing I've drawn in a while

I have one day off this week so this weekend is going to be very tight, but I really want to finish this and everything else I'm doing so I can stay on schedule. I can't wait to be a full time artist and be in control of my schedule

leeireo 2022-01-28 01:04:02 UTC #283

That's the dream for a lot of us ahaha. We'll make it one day! But wow those are a whole lotta kettles and tea cups O.O

I like how the line of the table directs our attention towards the character at the end of the table. When you start coloring, I think if you were to make the character saturated while keeping most of the surrounding a bit more dull, it would create a nice visual scene!

LesleyCarol 2022-01-29 12:38:32 UTC #284

That's actually similar to what the original artist does! She makes the chair a little brighter than the rest of the image and keeps the background a really dark contrasting color so it pops. A lot to learn from this

leeireo 2022-01-29 13:50:10 UTC #285

Oh I see! Good luck with coloring the sketch if you plan on doing that! Seems like it would be a lot of work. I think your study is going very well so far!

LesleyCarol 2022-01-31 16:18:16 UTC #286

I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is one of the hardest things I've completed in a while.

This is concept art for DIsney's Alice in Wonderland by Mary Blair (right). I really admire the way she uses shapes and the colors she uses. I really love that this only uses four colors (red, blue, green, yellow) but the varying shades and hues makes it interesting and lively. My goal with this was to see how she uses color and shape. In Feb I'm going to take what I learned and create an original work based on it.

Also, I love the way this looks against a dark background without the table-

leeireo 2022-02-01 01:09:12 UTC #287

Wow Lesley this is an incredible study!! I saw this and I was like "Did she upload the same image twice?" LOL

I really can't tell the difference between the two if I just quickly glance as it.

However if I look closely I can see some differences in the colors. Some of the colors in your work are a bit darker(?) than Mary's artwork. BUT that's a good thing! Cause it tells me that you didn't color pick from her work. To have gotten it this close to the original without coloring picking is a feat of its own!

Very well done!

Lukiesartventure 2022-02-01 12:01:12 UTC #288

Exactly as Leeireo said!! That illustration is super well done!

Lockenheim 2022-02-01 15:00:36 UTC #289

Which is the original and which is yours

LesleyCarol 2022-02-02 01:24:49 UTC #290

@leeireo Wow thanks for the kind words! Finding colors is fun and I think I learn a lot more that way

@Lukiesartventure Thank you!

@Lockenheim Thanks haha The original is the one on the right.

gregorya 2022-02-03 16:53:56 UTC #291

I like your Alice in Wonderland study. It's nearly identical. Do you place the teapots on separate layers?

LesleyCarol 2022-02-03 23:05:02 UTC #293

Oh yeah, I don't think I would've survived if I didn't lol. I selected the pots with the same color and used the bucket tool to fill them all.

LesleyCarol 2022-02-06 11:08:16 UTC #294

Decided to take it back to the basics for the next couple of months while also working on full illustrations. I got feedback recently from a mentor and they said my fundamentals weren't quite there yet to start thinking about brushwork. It stung a little, but after watching Sinix's 2021 art review vid and seeing how many studies he does I realized I don't practice nearly as much as I do.
So I decided to revisit line quality and perspective. Right now I'm working on thumbs and sketches for future illustrations so I figured that was a good place to start.
I'm trying the ween myself off of crtl+z a bit so I'm taking the "draw a box" route and allowing myself one stroke per path to help with my line quality in Photoshop. I'm also doing the infamous Artschool term 1 line exercises.

These are second pass thumbs/sketches I did for my next illustration-

Lockenheim 2022-02-06 14:13:33 UTC #295

I am so familiar with this pen control exercise. I had watched so many of Marcs vids before I started the program and one thing that always stuck in my mind was line confidence and line quality. So I told myself when I started I would always have confident lines, even if they were wrong and I would ctrl Z as many times as I had to and I had to use it a ton, I still use it a lot. And it was very tough but so worth it. It literally took me 2-3 hours every day to finish that line page and I did it at least every day for a month. One of the assignments in the first semester is to trace 10 cylinder figures each day. I honestly spent 6 hours at first, per tracing trying to get those cylinders correct. There is no way I could trace 10 if I wanted to. However, I feel like it was soooo worth it. My lines are my favorite part about what I have been able to accomplish since I started and I feel like it just makes every other thing I need to learn much easier. My lines arn't where I want them to be yet, but I feel like the work I put into them is totally paying off. But I'm also insanely meticulous when it comes to that type of thing so take that with a grain of salt! Great work so far, you are making great progress!

LesleyCarol 2022-02-06 22:12:40 UTC #296

I totally understand where you're coming from. I did a lot of practice, cared about lines and didn't move on until they were perfect but I got lazy and stopped caring. I think the work I put in is still there but I need to wipe off the dust and oil the gears I definitely plan on doing these and other exercises daily so I don't get rusty again.

LesleyCarol 2022-02-07 08:02:37 UTC #297

I came up with costume designs for my next fantasy illustration which will be a mountain deity. I ususally don't draw super feminine and sensual designs so I wanted to try it with this painting. I had a lot of fun coming up with these and I'm having a hard time choosing which one to go with Let me know what you think!

Lockenheim 2022-02-07 13:57:50 UTC #298

My gut tells me C but really I like them all! I can't choose just one!

gregorya 2022-02-07 19:16:24 UTC #299

That's some pretty good work so far.I like the Cube drawings with some perspective.
For the Mountain Deity, I would choose A. If you have a hard time choosing, try combining some elements from the 3 you already have. Like The head dress from B and the outfit from C or A outfit with C outfit.
If that doesn't work, just pick the one you like the most.

LesleyCarol 2022-02-07 22:10:07 UTC #300

@Lockenheim @gregorya
Thanks for the comments and advice. I think I'll work from C and explore it a little more

Lukiesartventure 2022-02-09 11:52:23 UTC #301

These all look great! I think B is my favourite!