Norma - Art School Journey (New: I'm stuck with my landscape study - Norwegian fjord)

[Pauline_art]

Each element looks natural in the composite and the fog ties the entire image together. Lovely landscape!

[Norma]

Thank you!

[Norma]

A sketch for a storytime TikTok video. I'm going to share an anecdote of how I was looking for a feature on my Samsung tablet that wasn't there.
I have to edit the video and record the voiceover, before I can upload.

[Norma]

I did this assignment before and editing the last image is still a challenge. This time I used 4! image adjustment layers to get a result with which I was somewhat satisfied. I could do better if I had masked different areas of the image and edited them individually. But as far as I understand it, the task is to manipulate the whole picture and not individual parts of it one at a time.

When designing book covers, I would work with masks.

[Pauline_art]

Agreed! Editing each separate element of the image is better imo- I recall having the same urge to use masks when editing that last pic

[Norma]

Good to know, that I am not the only one. Thank you!

[Norma]

Man in the 8-head proportion grid:
I did more figure drawing in the last couple of weeks than usual. That didn't help me with this exercise. I feel like I sketch 8-head proportion better when I don't use a grid. I'll try that tomorrow.

[Norma]

This is a sketch of Marina, one of my book charas (wip). For the first time, I'm trying a workflow that I customized for me. I came up with the idea of working with a kind of outline template (image one). I created this using the lasso tool by tracing the reference image.

That's step 2. First, I sketch the drawing freehand - I swear. And then I throw away the freehand sketch. There may come a time when I won't trace. But for now, tracing is part of my learning process.

Step 3 is freehand sketching within the contour. The template reduces my stress level. I don't need to worry if my chara has the right volume.

Step 4: I throw away the second freehand sketch and trace the reference (picture 3). You may ask, why I invest time in freehand sketching at all if I throw away these sketches anyway. This is how I familiarize myself with the reference and it's kind of a warm up. The result of the tracing will be better.

Step 5 - 6: Shading from the general to the details (wip).

Step 7: Working out the details and maybe the lighting.

Perhaps I will color this picture with Photoshop gradient maps. (I am lazy and this method is so cool to save time.)

[snakker]

Hello, this is not bad at all.
The only thing I would point out is that as a study, it may not be as effective as you would want it to be. For example, if you struggle at getting proportions freehand from observation, only doing the exercise to then throw it away and then focus on details and shading won't get you to a point where you can freehand that quickly.

Trust me, I know how it feels to be at a point where I want my art to look good and my skill just isn't there. I also know from experience how easy it can be to lose track of a real purpose for an exercise as I tend to also get lost in additional fundamentals that I still don't grasp.

I recommend focusing on one fundamental at a time, if it's proportions then just focus on block ins, instead of throwing them away, you can do a few freehand and compare to the original, even tracing or placing over. Iteration, with observation and corrections is very powerful. You can acquire the skill quite quickly. You just have to be persistent, focused on the fundamental at hand, keen on observing what you are doing wrong and allow your body and mind to rest. It's one of those things that become better when you sleep and your skills slowly improve without you realizing it

cheers!

[Norma]

Thank you @snakker
Yes, I throw the first sketch away but after analyzing what I did right and wrong.

[Norma]

I see this little bugger as a progress - really. I changed from Photoshop to my notebook to approach the exercise from a different, more comfortable perspective. I limited the drawing area only horizontally, not vertically. Poor b*stard's still a little malnourished and I have to work on my symmetry.

[mitsuki-youko]

heyo thanks for checking out my forum

Poor b*stard's still a little malnourished and I have to work on my symmetry.

Have you tried drawing the figure using 3d rectangles and cylinders?

personally i find that helps a lot in terms of anatomy and making them not look flat

Very rough Examples:

[Norma]

Thank you so much @mitsuki-youko

Yes, I did construct him with cylinders (not so much in 3 d).
If I draw a sketch just for practice, I'm always pretty bad at it. (Not intentionally. This is my subconscious.) I need an extra incentive to be better. I put my time and patience into Mr. Skinny, but he was just an exercise. Poor guy!

Recently I sketched a kitchen for the perspective exercise. This kitchen is a book setting, so it's much easier on me and my heart is with the project. (I can use this picture later vor book marketing.)

[Norma]

These men are two of my book characters, Mike and Orlando. I had the idea, to present them shooting a selfie. I created the pose in Magic poser. I had no references to trace the faces in this angle so I worked my way to some video tutorials to create them myself.
(You may ask, why I am so openly admit, that I am tracing. I think, it is a part of my learning process and not something, I have to be ashamed about it.)

Am I happy so far with this work in progress? Yes an no! Yes for not giving up to work on this image, no, because I don't like the result. Of course I want to draw an Orlando as I imagine him and I didn't succeed. (That my picture looks pretty amateurish is not my problem. That's just my current knowledge.)

Next week I will work on Mike.

[Pauline_art]

Every learning process is different and it varies a lot from person to person- no two artists are the same! Just keepin' it fun is all that matters imo.
This selfie concept is adorable! I can tell they are both very kind to each other and to others. Design wise, I like that they are different, from their hairstyles to their choices in clothing!

[Norma]

Thank you so much @Pauline_art
I thought about making the facial contours more angular to give them a more soldierly appearance. They are retired Navy SEALs after all. But I decided against it because they've been in civilian life for a while and they're happy. And yes, they are kind and loving to those they want to protect. Orlando's dark side is resting.

This picture is a snapshot of their life where they are really happy and relaxed. I will probably continue to draw happy scenes for a while until my skills develop to the point where I can also draw tragedy.

Have a good weekend, Pauline.

[Lockenheim]

Keep it up Norma! I know you can reach the level you want to get to. Do what works for you and keep practicing!

[Norma]

Thank you so much @Lockenheim . Your encouragement means a lot to me. I always stare at your drawings for a long time on Instagram, trying to understand how you get the shading so clean. I could ask you, but I wanted to find out by myself.
Maybe you use the path tool to make your selections? I use the Lasso Tool and occasionally convert the resulting selection to a path in case I want to correct something. With this solution I have already taken a big step in the right direction.

[Norma]

The art of cooking:

We had frozen tuna in our fridge (the icy one). I don't like tuna, but my hubby bought it anyway. After month, stealing the space in the ice box, we decided to make Pizza with this tuna. The pizza should also be enjoyable for me, so I went for "gourmet-ish".

Pizza dough is homemade. The sauce spread on the pizza base is a béchamel. I made it with butter, milk, flour, dashi-powder, capers (the big ones) and pepper.

My Hubby cut the tuna in slices. The pizza is topped with tuna, scampi marinated in chili oil, mozzarella and onions, which have also been spoiled with a little chili oil. My husband wanted more capers on his side of the pizza, so I gave him more.

Our oven has a pizza setting and therefore the pizza always gets enough bottom heat. This is the result (the tuna is now sunk in the mozzarella). The pizza was delicious and we're going to eat more of it today.

(You may ask, why I share my cooking experience in this forum. Sometimes I wish I could draw food illustrations, but I wouldn't have the patience for all this little details. But I can spend hours creating a single sauce with the finest ingredients and a dash of Noilly Prat.)

[mitsuki-youko]

noice, that looks so fancy!!

I can spend hours creating a single sauce with the finest ingredients and a dash of Noilly Prat.)

Cullinary art still counts as art