Paul A. - Art School Journey

[Paulda]

Thanks Julia, it was a case of repetition; admittedly, I spent very long time on these exercises, it took a lot of attempts before I started to get to grips with it.

Take your time with them, and repeat the exercises a few times; you'll get there, keep at it

[Paulda]

Term 1.1 Photoshop for Digital Production assignment 4

This is my finished project for Term 1.1 Photoshop for Digital Production assignment 4.

Again, this was good fun, I am starting to get to grips with editing now and it really got me thinking about the design of the image; with that said, I was too heavy handed with my application of light and dark and my composition of apples could have been better, as some are defying gravity haha.

Still, these are all things for me to keep in my for the next assignment.

[WeirdOwl]

I think you did really good Paul. Nothing sticks out to be extra superficial.
This is a great exercise and will help you a lot when you start drawing complex pieces.

[Paulda]

Thanks WeirdOwl; surface level, these exercises seem simple, but, there is quite a bit of depth to them. When working on assignments 3 and 4, it gets you thinking not just about practicing the tools but also about design, composition, lighting, colour and, in the case of assignment 3, perspective.

It gets you to consider, how you can apply these elements and have them work well together. This is the main aspect of term-1 I am thoroughly enjoying so far.

[Paulda]

Term 1.1 Photoshop for Digital Production Assignment 5

This is my finished project for term 1.1 Photoshop for Digital Production assignment 5. As well as the source image (Ian McKellen) and the target image (Michael Fassbender).

[Paulda]

Term 1.1: Photoshop for Digital Production Assignment 6: Liquify

This is my finished assignment for Term 1.1: Photoshop for Digital Production assignment 6: Liquify, and both the origin and target image. Honestly, my image choice could have been better; still, I enjoyed the challenge. The end result is odd... to say the least, and there is a fair bit of warping; I used all of the tools taught in the lesson, though, my focus was on liquify.

I feel comfortable with the tools now, so I am going to move on to term 1.2: Visual Communication, and then, move on to figures.

[WeirdOwl]

Oh wow, this is the most thorough homework assignment I've seen done for this lesson. Very impressive.

[Paulda]

Thanks, there really was a lot to think about with this assigment; I wanted it to be a culmination of the things I had learned from mistakes I made in the previous assignments and calculated design choices, while also using the various tools covered in the lesson.

[Paulda]

Day 51 of Daily Figure and Gesture Drawing: Figure Drawing using a Combination of Spherical, Box and Cylindrical Forms

I have been supplementing art school with other courses, yesterday's poses 1-3 are my first attempt and poses 4-6 are from this morning after watching Glenn's (the tutor's) approach. I used different poses and opted to give myself 20-mins for each pose to really give myself time to study the poses.

My own personal observations are, on the first 3 poses, I focused heavily on drawing the full boxes and cylinders; after watching Glenn's approach, I realised that I should be suggesting the spheres, cylinders and and boxes as well as drawing much lighter. On the first 3 poses, I also tried to add black lines on top on the coloured lines; this used up time that could have been better spent else where.

On the second set of poses, I am drawing much looser and my figures are less stiff. With that said, my knowledge of anatomy is lacking and I still struggle with perspective; I also need to work on scaling my drawings. I am going to continue working on these exercises before moving on.

Critique is more than welcome and would be very much appreciated.

[Ascent]

I really like your gesture drawings they have tons of character with good flow/motion to them. I think the 3 minute ones get a little scratchy in the line work but still pretty good overall. Don't be afraid to move on to longer figure studies to help you better grasp some anatomy. Gesture and figure drawing will always be something you should practice often. Well, pretty much forever lol. Good stuff though looking forward to more.

[Paulda]

Thanks for the critique and tips; I often fall into the trap of messy line work in timed studies when I become underconfident in my strokes. I need to remember that keeping a drawing "loose" does not mean I should stop being conscious of how and where I place my lines.

Absolutely; that has crossed my mind, as I begin to study modeling form, I will introduce long poses into my routine.

Thanks again, I appreciate the feedback

[Paulda]

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French Portrait Artist, August 1st 1725 - 4th March 1805

What I am going to start doing moving forwards, is write short entries about artists, both old masters and contemporary artists whose works have triggered an emotional response within me, have influenced my work and approach, and have spurred me forwards in continuing to pursue my aspirations. This, in part, is to begin working towards developing a visual style, as well as to start identifying where I see myself within the creative industry and what role would truly be suited to me.

I would like to begin with Jean-Baptiste Grueze, I enjoy his paintings, but, I adore his portrait drawings. Two of my favorite pieces of his work are, Head of a Girl Looking Up and Head of a Young Woman. The aspects of these works that appeal the most to me are, the soft and light values in contrast with his wonderful hatching that flow across the form of the models. The hatching adds so much to the drawings and rather than distract you from the piece, they are vary subtle and really do make the portraits interesting to look at and study.

I would like to try and implement this hatching style within my artwork; when I have finished modelling the form, I will subtly add hatchings across the surface of my portaits and figures to complete my drawings and try to add texture and variety to my work.

[Paulda]

3-Minute Gesture Drawings: Day 55

[Paulda]

Portrait Study: 28/10/2020

This is my latest portrait study, consistent observational practice I am working alongside the Art School; focusing on angles and measurement, value matching and tonal shifts. There are aspects I am happy with and aspects I certainly need to be conscious of on my next study; though, I am looking forward to when we are able to attend live portrait sessions again.

Firstly, though the likeness and values are an improvement over my last study they are still off by a country mile; particularly on the (models' left) left side of the models' face and neck, as well as the models hair. I should have gone much darker, but these will be things to consider moving forwards. The likeness is closer, but still off, considerably; I need to spend more time in the planning and measuring phase of the study next time.

The tonal shifts, plane changes and gradations are an improvement over my last study.

I am happy with the progress of my 3-minute gesture drawings, marc's approach with marking the top and bottom of the line of action has helped quite a bit.

Critique is always welcome, and very much appreciated.

Notes

Critique received for this study:

"Beginner here, so take it with a grain of salt: eyes and nose look very good. The lips look shifted to the model’s left a bit, especially the lower lip. I know the neck isn’t a focus, but it looks a bit flat, may have needed more differentiation between the front and the side"

" It sounds like you already know what you need to do next! I love the soft shading on this, the softness of her hair, and the soft shading of the background. There is a definite tone and mood in the drawing, that of a silent contemplation. The one thing sticking out to me is her eyes -- her right eye is a lot darker than her left and it's attracting far more attention. I think darkening a few key areas could help add balance."

"For the portrait, I think you have to make her face thinner, and pay special attention to the contour of the face. Not sure if it's digital but if it is, flip the canvas and reference together and even try overlapping them to check."

[Ascent]

You pretty much already know where to go next. Adding to the above, I think the likeness is there overall just a few missteps, for me it's mostly the shape of the nose and the lips values are way off. I personally prefer high contrast so I appreciate your brighter light source however as you said the hair needs to be darker. Finally the ref image has a really sharp nose, I'd like to see a harder edge on yours particularly the nostrils. Overall though a great effort, anything more is nitpicking. Also I find it really helps converting to black and white for these kinds of studies.

[Paulda]

Ah yeah, I see it now, on the nose there are two sharp angles, where as I have rounded it. I am going to spend more time in the planning stage, and work on being less heavy handed. I tend to rotate between black and white images and colour, as to develop value matching and observational skills; if I was drawing from a live model, I would have to be able to identify these values as I wouldn't have access to a black and white image in that situation.

With that in mind, on my next study I will have a black and white and colour version of the next reference to help me. I would also like to create my own lightsource, so I will draft some thumbnails, and potentially alter the composition and background slightly to begin thinking creatively.

Thanks again for the critique Ascent; it's always much appreciated.

[Paulda]

Term 1.2: Nude Figure Assignment 1: Drawovers 08/11/2020

These are my drawovers for term 1.2: Assignment 1. Again, I took my time to properly get to grips with observing the perspective of the cylinders, drawing the cylinders in perspective and properly placing the line of action.

My choice of references were solid, as some of the foreshortening was very subtle which really got me thinking about how I should approach the cylinders.

Drawing ellipses is a struggling point for me; some of the cylinders are solid, with decent cross-contour lines, others are quite shoddy. There is definitely inconsistency in the quality of my shapes that I need to work on.

[Paulda]

Journal Entry: 08/11/2020

As of today, I want to start writing the occasional Art School Journey journal entry, just as a way of documenting what I'm up to, what I am thinking and what directions I am taking.

Pursuing art has been as much about strengthening myself mentally and physically, as it has been about developing my skills as an artist. I have been joining in group voice chats in an art Discord server, primarily to meet new people and other artists, but, I also want to build my confidence working with and learning with others. So far, it's going well, I am just taking it slow.

I have been consistent with having my work critiqued; I am also planning on taking on their monthly art challenge, this months challenge being, drawing a self-portrait using a mirror, not photo references.

I feel that my 5-minute figures are improving, and I am starting to think more carefully about my lines and structure.

I have been using various mediums, including digital, fountain pen, charcoal, col-erase, polychromos and water-soluble pencil and wash.

My next steps are to move on to practicing cylinders, continue working on my next long portrait, work on my contest entry, finish my digital portait, continue working through supplementary courses and to continue engaging with various groups.

[teddyousr]

Hello ! how cool , there is some discord server for art student on their journey ? Good practice keep training !

[Paulda]

Hey Teddyousr; yeah, there is the Art School Discord Server, here's the link below:
https://discord.gg/SfEJQeXB

To my knowledge, it's an unofficial server run by fellow students; they are a lovely bunch, and very helpful, it's a nice group.

Then there are a couple of other servers I use related to other
courses I am taking, or even just dedicated art servers that vary
depending on the kind of server you're looking for.

I certainly will, thank you.