=[How do I shot web?]=

[Volchiha]

Hello. This is my little corner of the internet in sketchy form. For some strange reason my thumbnail just won't work no matter how many times I edit it, so if anyone has a clue on fixing that the info would be appreciated.

Little bit about me - I'm almost 20 now, and I have been drawing seriously since last year. I'm studying design and illustration, and hoping to learn more since my course does not focus on illustration that much even though it's supposed to count for 50%. In fact, I'm the only person in it right now that I know of even considering moving into the field and away from the whole corporate logo stuff and whatnot. But hey, doesn't hurt to know both, right?

I have started experimenting with digital media about 2-3 months ago, so I'm feeling a little swamped and lost right now, and with all the information on CA it's overwhelming, but I'm hoping I'll be finding new ways to improve.
And yeah, have fun and be as brutal as you like.

[Volchiha]

Okay, so dumping the old stuff from the first post in this one. Anyway, in the sketches, just ignore the cartoony thing, someone asked me for that style, and I really did not enjoy it so I'm gonna avoid making stuff like that.

Also, the 3 here are my very very first attempts at digital stuff. Be gentle ;)

[Kagemusha22]

The Digital work isn't bad at all, I can't really comment much on that though as I have zero experience with Digital Media. As for the life studies, well you can never get too much of it. Just keep at it and progressively you'll iron out the flaws. I personally like the way you've done the hand, though a bit of shading would help. Maybe through mark-making? (Hatching/Cross-hatching)

[Volchiha]

I forgot to put in some of the sketches I had lying around under my bed... oops? O_o

[Volchiha]

Some more. Bleh, im tired. And this flash project is taking up way too much of my precious practice time.

Life drawing sketch and... random unimaginative... thing.

[a la bapsi]

nice stuff.
I especially like that color portrait that's..also you avatar at the moment 8D
don't forget those studies, you're doing great.

[Leo Ki]

SSG jumping in! :D

Your sketches are pretty well proportioned except on the latest life drawing where I'm having a hard time figuring the trunk/legs junction.

The hands are the part you seem to hesitate most. Therefore: More hand studies (as on post 2 - nice ones).

The composition on mem1.jpg is interesting. Will you color it? If you do, the perspective needs some corrections.

I'll comment on the digital works only after you post an update - yes, this is a SSG motivational trick :)

[kidult]

Hey whats up? Didnt know you where on this site too! Thanks for comments on my sketchbook! Diggin the work here I just need MORE! So updater!
(guess we just missed being sketch buddies)

[Volchiha]

Ok, due to personal reasons, I have found some stuff out, and figured other stuff out, and suddenly BAM!!! I can draw again! I have not felt this excited about doing sketches every day in over 2 years!

So, to start off, here's some warmups.

[Volchiha]

Pencil sketches. The first had reference, the wolf a life-drawing (yes, I got to play with wolves! weee!) and the third a helmet thing I saw in a weapons show that I tweaked in my own way. I'm bad with technical stuff so I think I needed the practice. =)

[Volchiha]

Paging through a national geographic with a pencil in my hand. More quick sketches. I've never drawn animals before. See, trying variety ;)

[Volchiha]

Here's some pen sketches. First page is just doodling from my head (kinda obvious), second one is half half, as well as some quick thumbnails from the back of a car on a very bumpy road =(
Oh, and some parkour-based gesture sketches.

[Dan Valkar]

very interesting stuff, ..i think u need to work more with pencil and try to render with it...by the other hand, ur dig pieces r nice, try to work more with contrast, brightness etc....ur brush stroke it ok..so keep it up!

[Volchiha]

a la bapsi: Thanks a lot =)

Leo Ki: Thanks for the heads up on the hand and body-leg thing. I won't be colouring the mem1 thing, it's not a sketch I'm particularly proud of and has too much anime-ish proportion and lazy perspective.

So, update enough for you yet? ;)

kidult: Yeah, I saw your sketchbook a while ago. Actually, I wasnt surprised when I saw you and Daniel here, since you both draw a lot, and CA is really good for that sort of thing. RAAAH, Drown in my updates!!!

Dan: Thanks, I'll keep it in mind. At the moment I'm not too fond of smooth rendering, I'm still trying to get to grips with the basics.

Ahem, anyway. Here's a werewolf drawing I was requested to do while sitting randomly watching movies. I like it.

[Zweit]

A good start. Your animal studies are nice, so is that self portrait. Try and do some more cloth studies like you did in this one here (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=498195&stc=1&d=1224681273). Your lines are looking a little scratchy too, but they should get better with practice.

Cheers!:yayca:

[dierat]

Hey Volchiha, I've stepped into your sketchbook several times since I saw you post in the girly area, but I couldn't think of a decent crit to post. So now I'm back.. trying to think of something to say ;)

I really enjoy your figures so far, and the portraits are coming along just great. I also like your animal studies, particularly the bear in the beginning of post #12. So no crits in that area, just keep up the studies ^^ So far you have only 4 images with color, and from this small sampling I would suggest that you try to work in a little more variances of color in the future. These seem to have been done fairly monochromatically, or with an analogous color scheme (ie the mermaid.. thing.. which is a blue/purple mix). Other than that, my main crit is to post more, more often ;) Keep up the good work! :cheerleader:

[Peter Berkovski]

good things going on here,I really like your animal sketches ;) just don't stop practicing and maybe it's good to start doing anatomy studies ;)
cu around
Cheers

[Volchiha]

Zweit: Yessir, cloth studies! The whole drapery over chair thing alone gets me a little bored, I generally prefer to work on applying it. Maybe I'll try some figure sketches with added drapery and see where that takes me. Thank you =)

Dierat: I agree with you, my colour experiments are still in a very limited stage. I'm just testing the waters at the moment. I have done some variation studies in highschool, and I have to still figure out how best to start mixing them. Will keep updating with more experiments as I go.

Peter: thank you for the kind words, I fully intend to keep at it as long as I can use my hands!

-----------------------

Anyway, here is an update on what I have so far. The first image is for a project I was doing a couple of months ago. We had to take ourselves and stylize it into a character in a setting. I didn't have time to finish so I gave in this thing - Ink and watercolour wash.
I have reworked the image and pose in an attempt to make it more dynamic, using observation from my parkour group, and worked more on the background. The colour is not my final attempt, I will be using flat colours digitally, with more variation and controlled linework.

Just wanted your opinions - is it better? Improved? Is there something horribly wrong with the drawing that I have overlooked? Crit would be VERY much appreciated as I have to hand it in soon.

[Φ]

hey there, cool sketches! though I don`t get what the left one is doing…jumping? lying? or am I just stupid?.
anyway, keep it coming
cheers

[Volchiha]

Yeah, see what I mean? No wonder I changed it!

[Leo Ki]

This is an emergency reply for the work you have to finish quick.
I will expand my comments on the rest tonight.

The second one is definitely clearer than the first one.
The intention reads, the face looks at what matters in the jump
(the landing spot), and the whole body is dynamic.

The perspective shortcuts on the torso/shoulders and her
right arm (our left) are a bit awkward but nothing catastrophic.
The far part of the balustrade that shows through the bars should probably
be horizontal as are the roof borders (unless it has a non-obvious 3D geometry).

I'll see if I can come up with more crits later, cya

[kidult]

:jawdrop: damn,way to go! now keep it up and glad to hear you are having fun

[Donovan V]

Hi Volchiha,

Looks like things are off to a good start. You really seem to shine on your furry critters. My dogs always look like turtles... Something that caught my eye about JumpWIP.jpg was her hair. I think in the motion you are trying to create her hair may be swept the other way. I imagine her jumping from left to right. Hope I got that right :o)

Keep up the good work. Before long you look back and say "wow it didn't seem like I made that much progress" It really is amazing how much just a little practice a day pushes you along.

See ya,
D

[Leo Ki]

Hop, critting on...
Your animal sketches are solid, I especially like the dynamic in the heron.
I think you should spend more time on the hatching in order to control it better.

The gesture sketches rock as well!

I'd like to see the sketch of the girl and wolves larger and painted... yes

The werewolf has a strong strong vibe, but I would nitpick about a few details:
the shoulder looks detached, the hand looks lax, the tail seems to be attached
too high, the absence of a yang organ makes him less manly
(ok, I know they would erase it in an anime anyway)

Your digital works tend to be blurry - this is a common thing in everybody
starting with this media and playing with brush transparency or hardness.
It will cure with time and practice, but I would recommend starting with
an imitation of acrylics rather than watercolor.

OK, there are more things I want to say, your work is varied.
But it will wait until your next update c:

[dierat]

Some general crit on the last 2 drawings:

I really like the img on the left, much moreso than the one one of the right. I think it's mostly because in the left drawing, the figure pops so completely from the background that it's very elegant and eye-catching. The right img has the figure overlapping a background that is composed of mostly the same colors (in hue and saturation), value, and sharpness. It feels very busy to me because the figure gets lots amongst these buildings and other objects that need to be pushed into the background. The figure needs more contrast and color variances to bring her forward.

The biggest crit I have on the left img is the pose. I'm not sure what you're angle or direction is, and the more I look at the drawing the more it confuses me. She's in a heavily action-oriented img in that she's completely removed from the ground and must therefore being propelled downward by gravity, but she has a solemn expression as though she were drifting through space. Her limbs are positioned as though she is falling but falling gracefully, as though she is levitating in a gentle wind. In this capacity, the img on the right is much more successful in that the pose is easily readable in context with her surroundings.

[wheezy]

Hello I am new to the SSG. I will subscribe to your thread to get updates so I can keep up. Look forward to seeing some more good stuff!

Update!

[Volchiha]

Thank you Leo and Dierat! Unfortunately with my deadlines I didn't get to rework the image for the exam, and I'm kinda sick of it by now anyway.

My apologies to the SSG for not updating. My internet died for a week and I was stuck with no access, and with exams and such, not much to update with...
But anyway, here's a couple of practice stuffs with anatomy and whatnot. More updates coming soon to a SB near youu!!

[Zweit]

Hi Volchiha, sorry to hear about your internet, though I am glad you weren't just flaking out. :P

Good work lately, but your crosshatching is very rough in your last post. The shadows on that skull are all in the right places, but I think you're too quickly going to white for the highlights, and aren't squeezing enough values from that pencil. The rendering of the facial muscles though is really messy and looks like you're pressing too hard on the paper, and like you're trying to convey texture without light information. Maybe loosen up your grip on the pencil? It's hard to know for sure.

(the last pic shows up corrupted for me, by the way)

Good luck with your internets. :)

[Volchiha]

Thanks Zweit. I actually can't stand the muscle one, but I thought I'd just put it there for the "record" sort of thing. It's really just doodling, I'll try put some more effort into my drawing and rendering with future studies, so I completely agree with the crit. =)

[wheezy]

Great job on rocking out the studies! I have a tendency to go too dark too fast when trying to render anything I draw. I think we share that issue. How do you hold your pencil? Do you let the weight of it do your initial values?

[Leo Ki]

Sooo, how did the exams go? I'm glad you're back online.
Your first mouth study is interestingly unusual. Is it a finger that lifts
the lower lip? or is it the muscles seen while pouting?
I'll hop in tonight to continue the general crit, especially on the digitals.
Ah, and I attach the sketch of yours that I told I'd like to see painted:

EDIT: Your thread thumbnail doesn't show in the forum index, maybe
there's something wrong with the image you put? Try fixing it, because
people tend not to look at sketchbooks without a thumbnail.

[BRINKMAN!]

YO!
You've got a nice SB started here! You've got some cool drawings going. I'm digging the werewolf. If I could make a suggestion, it'd be this: Focus on being more deliberate in your hatching. You have many nice drawings that are pulled down by the scribbly/sloppy quality of the hatching. It's always better to make separate, consecutive lines than to keep the pencil down and scribble back and forth. This is really in the same category as confident lines, in that to some degree it just has to happen over time as you draw more and more, but I think being aware of it gives you the leg-up. This image down here is much better than earlier ones in regard to what I'm talking about, so I know it's in you just waiting to pounce on the page! :)

[Leo Ki]

As promised, the late night crits on the digis.
There's something fun in you SP, I can read the concentration of you
looking into the mirror and wondering where to strike this and that stroke :)
The eyes look misaligned -- but dozens of great masters of the past
have made the same error in a number of master piece portraits, eh?
However it is something to watch out in general purpose illustration.
The orange looks a bit too smooth for an orange - it reminds me more of
a persimmon - but you came up with a good gleam effect.
Moar on your next update!

[Volchiha]

Just dumping a couple of sketches from reference, trying to get myself out of the pen/pencil comfort zone so thought I'd try something a different. It's a lot harder to make the charcoal smooth without smudging. Gonna try some more later today. =)

[kidult]

Nice poses on the last lot! keep em coming!

[KingElvis]

bears! i love the baers!^^
the above life drawings are very good. what i miss in some other drawings is this feeling of 3d,...maybe try drawing figures using only basic shapes. i know almost everybody talks about this, but i think this really helps, even if it perphaps, doesnt immediately show. anyway, keep on rockin!! :D

[Clochette]

Huh? I was sure I posted here! O o
I wanted to tell you that I love the animals studies, and thank you for your words in my sb! ^^
Keep on the good work!

[Brendan N]

oh my, a sketchbook update!

Like these last two drawings. When you're working with charcoal, don't be afraid to smudge it - just come back with your needed eraser and give back some crispness. Then get your charcoal and go over it again. rinse and repeat. To me charcoal always felt a lot more like painting than drawing.

Love the october 22nd updates - animalia particularly good. Try to translate the confident decisive lines you had there into what you're doing elsewhere - even with other mediums. Look how well stevekim is able to use the same type of lines in his oils.

would like to see you design your pictures some more - play around with composition, get something interesting going.

cya round lady

[Volchiha]

wheezy: I generally use a mechanical pencil. But I admit that I do tend to press too hard, plus I get lazy and just wanna finish stuff faster. I must really get out of that habit...
Leo: One more, but portfolios are over thankfully. Dont know how it went yet, we shall see...
I'll get working on that one, but I just wanna get some stuff out of my head on paper first. Thanks for the paintover =)
KingElivs: I'm looking into some of the anatomy threads - the shapes thing is a good idea, I guess I should probably try start with that first..
Brendan: Thanks for dropping in! And also with the stroke thing. I feel very nervous about my messiness and for some reason I can't get rid of it - I could never do the whole rendering properly thing unless I force myself a lot and even then you can still see it. Maybe if I refine it I could add some sort of style to my work.
Thanks again and I will heed the composition advice!

Bleh, I'm so used to the same thing I forget how long it takes me to sketch anything on a tablet. So here's me getting all adventurous and such trying a bit of colour still life. OH NOES!!!
Cant remember the thread, but it was one of those for photoshop where you have to blend instead of smudge and preferrably stick to one brush. So yeah, one brush and no smudging - also, an actual BACKGROUND!!! (I know it's boring, I just dumped the skull by my lcd. Also lazy)

By the way, does anybody have any clue what animal that skull could belong to? A friend sprayed it silver and gave it to me as a present, and I could not figure out what it is since!

[kidult]

Is it very small? Looks like a rodent skull with those front teef. Good going on the colour. A nice thing I like to do is change my image to grayscale or just drop an fx layer with the saturation turned down to get a view of my values and helps to se where I went wrong or where i got it right! How was this skull lit? Looks kinda all over. Try a strong light source like a bed lamp or something, going to help to push the form much more. I wish I had a human skull (well a plastic one) to do studies from, maybe then I could learn better faces.
Nice work not smudging! Keep it up!

[Volchiha]

The skull is slightly longer than the length of my fingers.. As for the lighting - I have that problem with still life stuff. I have limited desk space in front of the pc so no space for a lamp. =(
The skull was lit by a ceiling lightbulb (really crappy) and my lcd monitor. the sun started rising by the time I was doing the background, so I think the background colours might be off there.

[Leo Ki]

A rather big rodent then. Maybe these pages can help:
http://www.azdrybones.com/rodents.htm
http://www.skullsunlimited.com/mountain-viscacha-skull.html (and the list)
It's true the lighting is a bit confusing, but it's a good speedpainting study.
And the reflections underneath are the gentle touch to make it more real :)

I like your charcoals, especially the second one. There is something
that feels slightly wrong with the black and white touches but I'm sorry
I can't help further. More practice will bring you to the summits.

Edit: Great! You thumbnail now shows on the index page!

[wheezy]

Great studies V!

I think you can be more disciplined with your edges when painting digitally.

The charcoals are nice, why did you not finish the feet and hands? Great lines in those studies. You pulled off the form well with your rendering. I think the highlights could have been pulled back some, used more sparingly.

Awesome update!

[dierat]

Hey Volchiha, you're been posting some nice work recently it seems. I really like the 2 charcoal on pink paper drawings, particularly the one on the right. The confidence in the lines of her face really bring the img across to me. I would suggest that you try doing one or two larger drawings were you have more room to define value changes.

For the skull piece, great work; I think it's very well defined and very readable. A couple of suggestions: I think it could use some brown reflected color on the lower areas of the object, some of your edges could be smoother and less jarring (particularly the upper edge of the eye socket; you have a very sharp transition from white to black that leaves the area feeling flat), and I think it could do with a little dash of smoothing. Take an airbrush brush with low opacity and gently smooth out some of your medium tone areas to add a sense of unity and allow your areas of focus to pop more (not too much! Just a teeny bit is all it needs.

[wilkerson]

hey,
I'm really sorry about not commenting on your book yet, I thought I had.
I like where this sketchbook is going. I think you have a good foundation just more experience is needed. The last study is pretty good in my opinion, your shading is getting tighter and proportions better. Keep posting.

[Volchiha]

Sorry for the lack of updates... i'm actually itching but i've had a lot on my plate - I failed a module which will make me repeat an entire year at uni and my parents are threatening to pull me out halfway which i'm now battling.
A whole lot of personal stuff is getting messy too, thanks to all the uni problems and whatnot which I must sort out aswell...
On the bright side i'll be gone for a week from tomorrow, so i'll only be back round the 8th - hopefully with some updates =D

Heres a small concept I've been working on for a mini-comic for a forum. I partnered up with Kidult and my character shall be battling out his character with her generic satyrical emo powers such as gender confusion and moping! Raaah!

I apologise to my SSG for being so sporadic, and i promise detailed crits for everyone as soon as I get back. Thank you muchly guys! ^_^

[Leo Ki]

Sorry to hear about that failed module. Whatever happens, don't give up art training. Let us know the news.
Your emo heroin looks good, maybe make her face even more fakely bland. Where is the website?

[Zweit]

hurm, I was sure I'd commented here recently. I must be imagining it.

Anywho, good figure studies! The skull too. I tried looking for the type of animal it belonged to, but couldn't find it either. The incisors say rodent but the eye sockets appear to face forward. Maybe a Chupicabra?

It's a bit odd though that you did those orthographics fully posed instead of something closer to a T-pose. This might make it hard for a second party to judge specific aspects of the design... proportions and what not.

[wheezy]

________________beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_ _______ "...charging.....CLEAR!" beep beep beep....I have managed to revive your SB for now, please update to keep it alive.

This has been a friendly SSG partner reminder. We can't learn from our mistakes if we don't make them and discuss them. :P

[Φ]

oh, wow I love the figures of post # 34 ! you should try more of em, I really like! and keep updating as much as possible!
cheers

[wilkerson]

haha. "Good on you", wheezy, as they say.

[Volchiha]

I AM BACK!!
Finally, I have my internet back again, so now I can post, and more importantly - find valuable inspiration and motivation. Thanks to my SSG buddies - every now and then I'd get to check my messages to find you have not forgotten about me, and so, finally here's my update. =)

Some pencil sketches - hurray for life drawing! (PS: Excuse bad quality, I had to take the pics with a VERY shitty camera)

[Volchiha]

This stuff is from what I call my "minibook". Basically, it's a little A6 journal I carry around, and the rule is that I can only draw what other people tell me to - no matter how random, and I have to do it right then using only a red and black pen. I like the idea because it forces me to just go with the flow and come up with weird concepts based on what people suggested =)

I guess some of it could be a little strange. O_o

[Volchiha]

This is some design and typography stuff I did for a project. The final thing was that we had to make a sort of poster for a band but the typography had to be 3D. The bands were given to us by the lecturer, but I happen to like DMST =)

I am pretty bad at making things by hand, though.

[Volchiha]

This is all just wacom practice. The two last images are part of a comic I did for a project - unfortunately I only had 3 nights for the whole thing, so it wasn't particularly original, but I am very happy I managed to do something that quickly with no reference. The full thing was 10 pages, and was a concept to fit with a story =)

[Zweit]

Awesome. Knew you'd be back eventually. The life drawings are real nice, so is that "jump" sketch. Great values on the last update too.

[Volchiha]

Thank you Zweit. I tried to start with a grayscale sketch first so I could get some values before I started adding colour. Looks a bit washed out to me though, so I'll try some other things.

In the meantime, it is currently 6am and I drew an apple. Now I am eating it as my reward. Yum =)

[Ashrumm]

Keep up those studies I can already see lots of improvement in your linework definitely keep it coming!! Draw Draw Draw

[kidult]

Good to see you posting agian! You gonna hang round the comixworx site too?
Good job on the apple!

[wilkerson]

Welcome back to the internet. Nice apple and design work.

[dierat]

Hey Volchiha, welcome back :) For your apple, try working in your darker colors into the shadows for a more rounded sense of volume. Think purple, blue, and green. Remember to use complementary colors and think about the color of the light that's hitting your apple. Is it a yellow lamp? A cool flourescent lamp? Add in the color of the surface that the apple is sitting on and reflect that onto the lower areas of the apple. That color (ie the background color) should also be subtly added into the shadows. Keep up the good work! ^^

[Leo Ki]

Finally! You're back with a ton of updates!
Your life drawings are generally very lively. Those of the red and black minibook are sometimes hesitant but you'll get better fast.
Parcours jump is great. More of those dynamic things please!
More crits when you update :P

[wheezy]

Get on it V! I like the gas mask dude. ca.org always pulls you back in. muhahaha!

[Volchiha]

Thank you for the warm welcomes guys! CA will always pull me right back in. <3

Zweit: Thank you, I've been trying to improve on my values lately, I'm trying to be more bold. I guess I just wanna take it one step at a time.

Kidult: With my 1 gig cap I will have to wait till next month before I can carry on with more intense browsing, but I will eventually get back to comicworx. Thanks for checking out my SB =)

Dierat: Thank you so much! I completely forgot about complimentary colours when I was working on the apple, I just sort of did the photoshop thing and picked out the closest. I will definitely keep it in mind for the next stuff I attempt to paint! Thank you for the advice.

Leo: Thanks, usually I feel like I'm being to messy but maybe it might be part of something I should utilise. I think I'll have a go at seeing how I can control my messiness more to turn my stuff into something that is more dynamic as you said. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll keep at it!

Wheezy: Thanks, and you are definitely right ^_^

Anyway, this update is just to show you guys a quick concept I was doing for a spread. The story and such was the main focus, but I had fun just painting the sky. And if you notice, the idea is supposed to be like rain, which is why I made some letters stand out to spell "After joy... sorrow".
Hope you guys like it =)
PS: I LOVE Garamond.

[dierat]

Hey that's awesome. I really like the subtle color palette; it gives off a very eerie mood alongside the imagery. I love the scene and the combination of the gloomy, threatening clouds coupled with a hopeful yellow down by the girl. For a crit, the size ratio of the girl and tree is a bit confusing for me. It looks like either the girl's really big or the tree is really small. Keep posting! ;)

[Leo Ki]

Seconding dierat, I'd add that if you want the tree to be further away than the character you can give it less contrast (more grey than black).
But I like the general idea and layout. Have you checked the printed result?
I promised more crits about your recent stuff but my brains are a bit groggy, will do later.

[Renier van der West]

You most certainly did improve. After going through page one I felt that your faces wasn't on the same level as the rest of your work but it seems you've improved in that area since. Great improvement. Also, your shading improved.

[wheezy]

V- I showed a friend what you were doing with your short story and it inspired him to do some hand made booklets of his short stories. I really like what you are doing.

[Volchiha]

Hey guys, been slowly dying out but here's something I did for another uni project. I don't like the style it's in at all, but unfortunately with a short deadline there wasn't much I could do. I'm not very happy with it, but it's better than nothing, right?

Renier: Thanks for visiting again, it's been a while! :)
Wheezy: I'm glad I could help a little.

[dierat]

I really like the wolf and the headphones. I think the style is very interesting but at times it seems a bit contradictory in that some areas feel very 3d and others feel very flat, like the lower section of the headphones feel 3-dimensional to me, but it looks like they're sitting on a piece of paper that is the girl's head. I think it would be really cool if you could push that so it's like the girl is a drawing and she's drawing a wolf but the wolf becomes real..? Okay maybe not, but the image is very interesting to think about stylistically. Keep up the good work! ;)

[Volchiha]

Dierat: Thanks for the input. The image itself isnt complete for me as I said, but the basic idea is that everything is supposed to be very stylised, but the wolf is supposed to be more real. So even though it's sort of like a self portrait, I feel who I am physically is less real than the persona I have - being symbolised by the wolf (volchiha means wolf in russian btw.) so therefore I create my own reality..

Anyway, here's a practice speedpaint I made using a photo reference of victoria falls. I figured I have not done any environment stuff before, and needed to try it out. =)

[Leo Ki]

Interesting "wolfselfportrait".
If you desaturate the human half it could help convey the feeling you aim for: making the wolf the real portrait.
SSG nudge: Updaaaaaaaaaaaaaates?

[Zweit]

Totally forgot about the last update. Good work on the landscape, very pretty. Is it South America? The girl's hand is somewhat disconcerting, but apart from that I have no complaints.

What's new anyhow? Are you still stranded without internet?

[wilkerson]

Nice job with the last one. The sky is good but the pink clouds are too low. Also think about where the light is coming from, if its mostly cloudless there will be strong highlights on some of the trees. More saturated colors on the trees might be good too.

[Volchiha]

Good to be back SSG. I admit I've been completely idiotic in my lack of updates, and a lot has happened since last I posted. Let's try make this new year an opportunity for us all to grow more than we ever have!

I wanted to try a line style drawing for once, so here's a quick portrait I did using a hand mirror I stole from my sister. This is about the closest resemblance I've gotten in a self portrait before. I'm hoping for more detailed ones it will improve ^^

PS: Have any of you guys ever had to endure living without power for 3 days? This last weekend, the whole system for paying in our electricity was down... was horrible! I couldn't even make tea :'(

[Leo Ki]

Eye-catching pose and expression! I think it would be even more striking if you didn't use any thin lines.
The solid color technique you used is something I wish to train for fastness, but actually it takes a lot of practice to do it right.
Maybe you could use a bit of light gray shadowing, not overdoing it though.
Let the SSG rock again!

(Yes, I once was a week without power after a hurricane. It was all candles and hunting for sold out batteries)

[wheezy]

Good expression. I can't tell if the hand needs to be larger or if the top of the hand is just coming towards the viewer and needs to be rendered more to define it. The neckless should be laying down more on the form imo. I also think the chin line should be more in line with the pinkie finger.

Over all it does tell the story of a shocked person at first impression past all the technical and anatomical issues. Good work. I will be updating my SB soon, I am scanning and resizing like a mad man.

Long live the SSG!

[wilkerson]

responding to your comment in my book: If you find it hard to work on something for more than a night, theres good news because you dont have to. I find there's a surprising amount that can get done in just 4 hours or less. A speedpainting can be as quick as 30min and you will learn something every time. It is a sketchbook after all so dont worry.

[shambok]

Awesome to see you have a CA sketchbook as well ... and such a good one to boot!

[raminafshari]

nice drawings dude . i think you are good at drawing faces so try more.