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Stuff & Nonsense... mostly Nonsense [NSFW]
beckerskulls
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey folks. So I studied art with the idea of doing freelance illustration. After school, though, I kind of got side-tracked, then well-nigh derailed by fear and lack of motivation. Recently I've started to gain a little momentum, though, and it's felt really great. You AC forumers are totally inspiring me to improve my skills, so thanks for the helpful info., resources, critique and overall good vibes.
So... maybe you can help me out? These are two illos I did recently - the first for a children's magazine, the second for a collection of silly poems for kids. I haven't done anything in this style/to this degree of finish in years. (It took me like half an hour to pry the gunky caps from my all but fossilized oil paints). They're done mostly in acrylic with some oil on top and digital painting over that. I probably won't overhaul either of these but would really appreciate some ideas for minor fixes/finishing as well as more general critique I can use to make better work in the future. Thanks!
[img][/img]
The silly poem that goes with this image:
Art
A polar bear in a snowstorm.
A massive razor-sharp fang.
Flying through a fluffy cloud.
Five minutes before the Big Bang.
Four different paintings,
Four different visions,
Four studies in shading and light –
Not half bad when you realize
The only color paint I have is
White.
So... maybe you can help me out? These are two illos I did recently - the first for a children's magazine, the second for a collection of silly poems for kids. I haven't done anything in this style/to this degree of finish in years. (It took me like half an hour to pry the gunky caps from my all but fossilized oil paints). They're done mostly in acrylic with some oil on top and digital painting over that. I probably won't overhaul either of these but would really appreciate some ideas for minor fixes/finishing as well as more general critique I can use to make better work in the future. Thanks!
[img][/img]The silly poem that goes with this image:
Art
A polar bear in a snowstorm.
A massive razor-sharp fang.
Flying through a fluffy cloud.
Five minutes before the Big Bang.
Four different paintings,
Four different visions,
Four studies in shading and light –
Not half bad when you realize
The only color paint I have is
White.
IcyLiquid on
+1
Posts
Also, if you want crits on the poems too you could post them in the writers block.
Seems like a hot day for a bum to be wearing a beanie and a flannel shirt.
This is quality stuff, is what I'm saying here. :^:
Also the attention to detail in the painting "Five minutes before the big bang" is impressive.
So I'm working on something way more casual - a lemur logo for the 5th grade classroom of a teacher friend of mine. Having a really hard time drawing those muzzles, though, and especially trying to describe their dimension from a straight-on viewpoint. Second, as designs, THESE ARE SO BORING! It's like I'm stuck in semi-realistic land. (Flat, graphic shapes have never really been my thing). Suggestions?
Also, some creative friends and I have taken it into our heads to create a steampunk world. The problem is that this will obviously require drawing a lot of mechanical stuff, and while I appreciate that machines can be awesome, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY WORK.
So this piece (while it misses the steampunk mark) is me trying to get my toes wet drawing mechanical things. Right now I'm sort of stuck drawing highly-stylized, whimsical machinery that isn't meant to look functional. While I really enjoy whimsy, it seems like familiarizing myself with machines to the point where I could make stuff up that looks like it might do what it's designed for would really enrich my art. (Also, slapping a few gears on something and calling it steampunk would probably cause me to lie awake nights fretting over my eternal soul).
Has anyone else been down this road that could offer any advice/resources for starting out designing machinery for art? (keeping in mind that I'm a total beginner and it would be really difficult to overstate my ignorance on the subject)?
facebook.com/LauraCatherwoodArt
I'm not a big fan of panels going behind or in front of things either, it makes them appear like physical objects, say cardboards with text, and imho it pulls me out and makes me aware that I'm reading a comic, but maybe that's just me.
Whew! Now that's off my chest - here's a character I've been working on.
His name is Finch and basically he's a gentle giant with a heart of gold. Never having been one to draw huge muscly guys, this is a big challenge, especially when it comes to drawing him from different angles and in a variety of poses. Trying to meet that head on by doing figure studies and building some clay models which I'll post next week!
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Sorry if these are enormous - been having trouble with Photobucket and I wanted to post before midnight...
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
Gotta work on them feet.
Here is what dude looks like. We decided on less facial hair for variety - the other guys have pretty iconic beards and mustaches.
So I finally had to change out of my whiny pants and get these done to meet a deadline. It was hard, but I'm still alive.
And closer-ups:
I think that the way you tackle eyes could be alittle stronger, it seems like when you start getting loose, you tend to let the shape of the eye fall apart and kinda do for two nearly horizontal lines for top and bottom lid. I think you can get more interesting shapes out of your eyes, or at least a little more structure out of them so they don't feel so flat.
That is a good criticism. I will totally study some eye structure this week to help me make stuff up better.
Another icon portrait in process. I'm leaning toward #4 hat. It's not the shape so much as steampunk whimsy combined with a serious expression that's working for me so far. I dunno. We'll see.
Dude's face and awesome hat reference:
By next week: finished drawing, value/color comps, and in-progress painting. Meanwhile, it's pretty rough, but any compositional suggestions? Is the perspective bothering anyone? The ground plane is supposed to curve upward somewhat and the handcart is supposed to be angled up, not perpendicular to the ground, but I'm not sure it's reading that way.
The sketch he chose:
edit to add: fwiw, I think you have a pretty good handle on the style you have, so it's mostly working out the kinks, maybe finding some new reference material, etc.
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
The past couple of summers I took a crack at drawing caricatures for tips at the local farmer's market. Had a ton of fun, made pretty good $$. This summer I want to be more serious about showing up each week and also about delivering a better product. So I'm brushing up. Here's a few I've done recently:
(Lost her reference). And, of course, gotta try and do them celebs.
All in all, I'm finding it really hard to crank out any kind of 'finished' drawing in 10 min., let alone a caricature. It feels like I'm not exaggerating enough, or not emphasizing the right things in the right way. I'll keep working on it, though. Watching how other people do it seems to help, too.