A Fistful of Lines

[Lav]

why hai there,
I'm lav, a student from belgium. In my spare time i'd like to keep drawing, i'm still novice atm but i enjoy doing it.
I will post doodles and projects in this sketchbook and hopefully update it quite frequantly. Feedback is always welcome, i'd like to learn from my mistakes and get better.

Anyways, go to last page please, don't need to see all this jibberish!

edit: i moved all previous work to my second post

[Grafguy]

Helleuw lieve! :D
(hehe kheb u SB ontmaagd ;) :P)

[Master Chill]

heya there,

first off all, thanks for dropping by in my sketchbook ^^ appreciate your comment a lot :) and secondly, I can't believe I missed yours ?? My greatest apologies offcourse *bows deeply* ^^

Anywho, I have to say, I've seen your drawings (in rl too offcourse -still remember the drawings of the Aztec Warrior ^^ really liked it the first time I saw it) and I have to say that you show some nice potential to make something out of your drawings here :)

Keep sketching, producing a lot of work - Dirk will make sure of that :p - and offcourse, keep posting here ^^

Cya

[Lav]

older work

[Grafguy]

boe, old work :D
i know u can draw pretty good, u just miss the effort to do so
such a shame :D
komaan lieve tekent ng eens! :p
ps: and gaming is not an excuse

[Lav]

i don't miss the effort, there's just not enough days in a week, i'm working on it tho :)

[Lav]

small update, the first two are characters from a game in flash i'm making atm

[Lav]

whoops, bout time to update this
some of these are bit older sketches, others i've used in interactive/animated flash projects

[Lav]

it's been a while since i really continued my anatomy studies and it really shows when i try to draw something again so i've been trying to catch it up a little bit again, here's an update

[Lyno]

Hey Lav, that's some cool stuff, the only thing I can suggest is that you do even more studies :D but it's a really nice start.
I'll check back later when you have an update to try to give some crits :)

[Sublimus]

Nice studies so far.

No crits yet, just saying hi! :P

[Lav]

thanks for stopping by :)
a small update

[NanoBlack]

Hi! Just dropping by.

Nice studies, keep practicing the human figure. You're really getting there, proportions look fine. I've always found muscles and bone structure to be my downfall, and they really matter if you need to exaggerate proportions for one reason or another.

Keep working, I wanna see more finished pieces!

[gnarl]

Ello there. Skeletal studies look nice and smooth, liking those. Especially that profile of the skull.

[Sublimus]

Hey lav!

A note on the skull girl: Don't forget that the eyes are small spheres inside of the skull. You've rendered the eyelid area as one flat shape, and does no justice the the real 3d shape of the eye. Since it is all in shadow at that point, it wont be too extreme, but you should at least suggest that those forms are there.

Otherwise keep up the good work dude! The other skull drawing is spot on!

[Grafguy]

Otherwise keep up the good work dude! The other skull drawing is spot on!

its a girl... :p

[Sublimus]

Yeah, I meant the side view in post #9. Should have been more specific! :0

[Lav]

I think grafguy means that i'm a girl so not a dude :P But thanks for the comments, been away the last few days and have a lot of programming work to do as well but i'll try to keep updating as much as i can, stay tuned :)

[Sublimus]

A GIRL!? On the INTERNET!?

IMPOSSIBLE!

[NanoBlack]

WOHO!

we should form a girl's only SSG!



.... naaaaaa, jk.

[Lyno]

Good decision on that last one :D
Some really cool forms, I like the first one the most. If you want to give yourself another "challenge", try to design a skull that hasn't a aggressive look.

[Sublimus]

Hey, alright! Goo choice, my friend, those tumbnails are a TON more interesting to the eye than you original. You might want to look up some animal skulls and see what those look like for some inspiration/study.

And one note on your drawing that you won't finish (to keep in mind for the next one) - she's suffering from a case of 'football eyes' (american football that is). Eyes don't really look like that shape at all, they have much more elegant, subtle curves. Try and sneak in a study or two of them before your next shot at the skull girl!

Keep fighting the good fight, ma' lady!

[NanoBlack]

I like the thumbnails, simple and in profile but it shows your creativity a lot more. After you've worked with a few, then go ahead and do some roughs.

Hey, I'd have a few of these if they came out randomly online!

[Grafguy]

stopt me conan en begin te tekenen!!!!!! :D

[Lav]

yes sir! Sorry i haven't been updating for a week, also getting a new comp soon but will be working more to keep up again.
I've been trying to do some 30 second drawings, here are some of them, still need to practice it a lot tho
http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/second10.jpghttp://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/second11.jpghttp://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/second12.jpg

and my enw idea for the portrait with skull, i'm gonna turn the skull "hat" into more of a "mask". Here's the portrait, feel free to feedback the anatomy and stuff, still gonna work on some ideas for the mask.
Making a skull less aggresive isn't easy, but i'll try to experiment with it
http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/00610.jpg

[Lyno]

Heey Lav, some proportions issues in the figures, but with more practice these will go away, so just keep going. About the face, I think you want to let her look somewhat upward? The ear is drew at the right place then, but then you have to draw the bottom of the chin too. Otherwise, you have to lift the ear.

And give the dog an eye :D.

[Grafguy]

the meaning of those 30" poses is to capture the pose quickly is simple flowing lines, it traines your lineflow and your knowledge of the overall proprtions, do such 2x 5 Minutes each day and in a week you'll notice your skills have gone through the roof! :D

[Lav]

yeah lyno you're right, i still need to define the bottom of the chin
This is a different project i'm working on (school project that had to be about yourself and uniqueness and etc), it's a bit difficult to explain what the idea is, but i'll try.
It'll be a flash application and when you get your mouse over certain parts (for example the eyes) a small animation will begin with explanations (for example poor eyesight, then an animation of damaged eyes).
I cant really explain the style i'm trying the use so it's difficult to try and define the best background for it, but here's the WIP so far

[Sublimus]

Sounds cool! Can't wait to see a working version!

[Lav]

i really need to start doing a lot more of thosse 30 second drawings, small update
http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/second13.jpghttp://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/second14.jpg

[Lyno]

You said it yourself Lav, do some more :D

[NanoBlack]

Woot, keep working. A finished version would be epic.

[Sublimus]

Page two,eh?

more more more!

[NanoBlack]

Keep uploading when u do something, im interested to see what u can come up with.

[Lav]

okay i could really use a lot of feedback on this project. Here's a little wip of the flash application, it's just a prototype/demo to make it a bit more clear what i'm trying to do.
check my WIP!! (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/718827/ik.swf)
atm i just did the animation for the eyes (mouse over for animation, mouseclick for text) because i'm still trying to figure out if i want to keep it that size, or make it smaller and do something with the background, suggestions are very much welcome. I'm planning to use those lines animation towards the text as a general animation for all the texts that will follow, tho i'm not 100% sure if that'll be a good idea and fitting in the theme.
And here's a wip of the version without the spots and with some of the other items that'll be in the project. Bloody eyes stand for poor vision, heart for my love of things (i've made a classic animation of a beating heart with several drawings in crayon) and foetus for my future expectations.
So in the final project only one item will be able to be visible at a time since you have to go with your mouse over it. I hope it doesnt come over as emo because that isnt really the angle i was going for lol

[NanoBlack]

Only the face (sort of the eye) region had any activation, if that's what you were going for as a rough proof of function prototype.

Its hard to say too much until you get a more completed version up, but from the screens I like the direction your art is taking this piece. Keep working on it, the post frequently so we can poke and prod you in your efforts :)

And now I'm back to my own heinous stack of work... *shudder*

[Lav]

yeah nano, the previous demo only includes the eyes atm and thanks for the motivation heh

NEW WIP (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/718827/herexames.swf)
(it was made for a 1024x768 res)

Well i've decided to go with the second version, without the spots because i want to user to explore the photo and since the spots arent meant to be interactive it may confuse them why they are there. I've been experimenting with some backgrounds but havent found a perfect one yet. I did add the rong however, this is where my text with explenation will come in, instead of the animation in the previous demo. I have no idea how people would respond to it, so please feel free to crit away, i need to know your thoughts, and because i don't have a mindreading device (yet) i would appreciate it if you'd post your feedback :)

At the moment, only the animations are working but no text yet, so still need a background and your feedback.

[Lav]

aaaaand turns out that the teachers think i need to start over lol
the deadline is this tuesday morning so i'll have my work cut out for me this weekend x.x

Block of text for those interested in what my new approach of the project is about:
When i showed the teachers my moodboard to give them a better idea what i was planning to do, I used Da Vinci's virtuous man vs frankenstein to clearify the concept of people not being perfect. However (eventho it's about being imperfect) they felt like i had to clearify the perfect aspect in my project. And they also wanted me to use a full body eventho i'm having a hard time figuring out how to ballance the positioning of interactive objects since there aren't really that interesting imperfect things about legs and feet that i can make an interactive animation out of (like in the previous wips).
So i've copied Da Vinci's sketch (which they suggested me to do) and will stitch pieces of photo of it where there will be an interactive object (for example eyes). Made it part man, part woman, but i'm not sure what to do with the head, i tried mixing both sexes in the face as well but turned out extremely bizar and disturbing :P

Edit: Drawn the face in 2 equal parts now, will also stitch over the line that divides the two parts so hopefully the next wips will give you a better idea of where i'm going with this :P

[Lav]

update;

Well i actually prefer the first project so i returned to that one, so thathaaaa, here is the project

CHECK PROJECT (http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/718827/1DEV4_lieveHanegreefs_MA1.swf)

[Lyno]

hehe cool project Lav, love the eye in the hand :D

[Lav]

yeah i'm still gonna fix some things i don't like about the project, like the other hand and background and stuff, btw sorry for the long afk i was in norway :)
Anyways, here's a small update :)

[Grafguy]

last sketches looking cool!
post some more!!

[Grafguy]

last sketches looking cool!
post some more!!

[NanoBlack]

Keep it comming! Remember, constant practice is the only way to improve. Keep working on the basic human shape, too, and look heavily into anatomy- muscular structure, bones, etc, before you try to warp anything. Just a heads-up! :)

[miycko]

nice stuff man :) lets see more studies

[Grafguy]

stop playing batman and post some more!
and while your posting, upload a pic of ur new haircolor to ;)

[Lav]

there shall be no dissing on the batman, grafguy!

Now for something different than humans; monsters, rawr!
These are just some ideas i've drawn out, need to make one of them in illustrator and then animate them in after effects.

With the first one i feel it looks like a failed little big planet costume, the second one would be fun to animate the heart in his hands and spider legs and stuff (but i'm actually terrified of spiders so don't think i would enjoy animating them x.x)
http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/00110.jpg

For the other monster on the disk, the black circles are eyes and the other circles are zits/warts that will grow and pop. Wanted to try and make it a bit unrealistic by making the tower/movement thingy too slim and the last one is more organic tree type of thingy. I'll prolly try and merge the monster in with the tree instead of leaving it on the disk since garfguy suggested that
http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/00211.jpg




edit: keekabooh!!! http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/001ava10.gif

[NanoBlack]

Awwwwwww! They may be monsters, but they're cute lil monsters!

[Lyno]

Heheh, very cool Lav :).

[Lav]

hehe thanks
made a new design since i think this one would be more fun to work with. Had to change a lot to make it easier to animate tho since it'll be the first time i'm working in after effects.

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/monste13.jpg http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/00212.jpg

[miycko]

nice character design :D i've never used after effects before, it'll be cool to see tha animation

i like the womans legs hatching out of that egg

[Lyno]

I saw your new avatar so I needed to check things out :D Cool :D.

[polydrawer]

good to see updates but that last one looked familiar :p
http://img04.nj.us.mangafox.com/store/manga/9/39-335.0/compressed/bleach_335.22.jpg

[Lav]

Thanks all :)
hey ravanslayer, the link your posted doesnt work properly but i can see the picture you're reffering to. I've never watched or read bleach so it's the first time i see that :P
The creature was more inspired to Loki and satyrs and zealots and stuff (i assume the bleach design is inspired to satyrs as well)

The little guy is actually kinda like santa clause, tho instead of giving good kids gifts at christmas, he slaughters the bad ones in a ritual (small difference :p) the purple things on his shoulders are leaves/feathers but not hair, don't know if i was able to draw it clear enough or not

Soon more illustrative/photography update coming (and hopefully more study drawing)

[Lav]

K so grafguy suggested i'd post some of my photos here instead of making a new sketchbook for it. Some of these i'm planning to work out further in several projects

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotobc10.jpg http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotobc11.jpg http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotobc12.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotoda10.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotodu10.jpg http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotodu11.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotofm10.jpg http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotofm11.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotofm12.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotoma10.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotopo10.jpg http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotopo11.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotoro10.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotosh10.jpg http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/fotosh11.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/kaart211.jpg

[Grafguy]

I love the pictures! theyre awesome and really good!
you truelly took the term 'flying dutchman' to a whole new level :p
I'd wish you did more of those kinda pictures.

[Grafguy]

I love the pictures! theyre awesome and really good!
you truelly took the term 'flying dutchman' to a whole new level :p
I'd wish you did more of those kinda pictures.

[Lyno]

Wow, some crazy pictures there :D. I would go for the first version. Although the second one could be great to if you could scale it up a bit :D.

[Lav]

awww really thanks, i'll try to do more of them, but will also continue to work on them and redoing some projects

Anyways, i saw the nibru thread and i just had to join in, so this is my nibru

[NanoBlack]

Note to self: Sketchbooks do not like 40k dialup.

I like that you've added your photography here too, shows that you have many different artistic talents. And it's always nice to see a bit of variation too :)

Don't forget to continue drawing realistic stuff to- your figures, shapes, etc, in a variety of ways. Show us your process- the build, the skin, etc. It'll help us to figure out how you work.

[wakoes]

Thank you for stopping by on my SB and for your support :yayca:
any way your SB look interesting I could wait to see more:D

[Minne Danhieux]

Nice photographs. its a good start... the pencils are also improving. Try to push that skill more the rest will folow almost automaticaly.

[jatherip]

love the portrait series :) keep up the good pencil studies!

[Lav]

thanks everyone :)
small update, sorry for crappy scanner quality. I guess it's time to finally face my fears and really work on those hand studies :P

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/sketch10.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/schets11.jpg

http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/studie10.jpg http://i82.servimg.com/u/f82/12/62/26/85/studie11.jpg

[Deodatus]

Hello Lav.

I am glad to see new work. Your pictures are really great. I like the subject of the photos, but try to take more advantage of light. Keep it up!

[Frittzell(Image)]

Very nice! your photography is really good too. But keep working those figure drawings until your hands bleed.
Keep posting!

[Lav]

thanks frittzell and Deodatus! I don't have any professional lights for my photography that i can play around with, but i guess i'll just have to try and be more creative with the resources that i do have :p
Here's a speedpaint i did just now(well drawing..and not really speed because it was an hour to get me to this, i work way too slow)

[wakoes]

nice sketch :D oh and thank you for visiting my SB :yayca:

[miycko]

cool photography man & keep up those studies :D

[Lav]

thanks wakoes and miycko, will make some more studies later, but right now i tried to make some self portraits since it's self portrait day, but they didnt go as well as i would have liked :P

[NanoBlack]

Hands are hell- I know many people who try to avoid them. Me included... *shudder*

Try this. If you have a few mins free a day, draw a hand. Doesn't have to be detailed, either. Just rough proportions. Just a quick one. Keep this up, and eventually you will learn how a hand is made up. It's easier than doing long studies that take days, and when you're still learning, it will help.

Keep it up, you're pwning this all!

Hehehe, we also need to catch up with Lyno, GrafGuy and Sublimus. They're just too good for their own good! XD

[jatherip]

you gotta learn the structure of the face (justlikeme), get you hands done on the loomis books! keep it up :)

[wakoes]

Hi Lav
I kinda like that vector drawing on post #71
anyway nice updates :D

and good luck :tihi:

[miycko]

your studies improving & i also like the vector self portrait :D keep updating regularly basis so we can keep track of your progress :)

[Lav]

thanks guys! i used to hate illustrator so much but ever since i couldnt work with my wacom i'm growing fond of it, so shall prolly use it more in my work as well :P
And Nano, i'll try to draw a hand each day but...aaagghh!! i'll post them when they finally start to look scanworthy >.<
on other news, my laptop broke completely, so gonna try and recover as much projects as i can in the meantime a small update

[wakoes]

Nice studies :D
and interesting creature :tihi:
keep it up and good luck :yayca:

[jatherip]

last two look pretty good :) keep it up and follow my suggestion :D
LOOOMISSSss!

[Loathsome]

Nice sketchbook, keep up the studies. You're doing well :)

[Lyno]

Hi Lav :D.
Good to hear you're going to do more Loomis studies. For the Sp in post #71 I think the first one and third one are great! For the 2nd one, you need more forehead. Remember, the eyes are in the middle of the face :D.

[wakoes]

Niiice studies Lav:D specially on the head part:tihi:
keep it up and good luck Lav:yayca:

[Sublimus]

Been awhile since I was on the boards.

Keep up the hard work, it's already paying off!!

[Lyno]

Haha cool stuff Lav :), but you'll have to do some more studies :p, googogog :D

[Frittzell(Image)]

Nice! :) but dont stop now. Keep on pushing! more heads!!! :D

[miycko]

5 pleasant ways for killing my beloved brother :P

that's very funny :D i like the first two, the vector style seems to be a good way to go with them. can't wait to see the other three :)

[Lav]

thanks again guys :) sorry for the late update but i had to focus on a deadline and now my internet is being really crappy (damn you belgian download limits!)
I really tried to get some loomis studies done but i discovered something... i hate doing loomis studies! :x that's right, i said it!
So gonna try to focus on studies from riven phoenix, and my anatomy book and poses

[Lyno]

You'll have to find a way to make the studies fun to do. But if you like doing Riven Phoenix studies, thats great too :D
Tip: Try to think before placing your lines down, now they look somewhat like "scribbles".

[Lav]

thanks for the tip, and yeah i really enjoy doing riven phoenix studies more, eventho they're a lot more detailed instead of general shapes.
By the way, is it normal that i'm doing like at least half an hour per sketch like those skeleton hands? i really feel like i cant get any faster at all, maybe i should do more 30 second poses as well or something?

[NanoBlack]

Damn! Now you've got a better grasp of the human anatomy than I have! :) (though i never really had one in the first place)

Keep it up, I wanna see dynamic posing next and awesome cloths effects!

[Sublimus]

Nice studies! MORRRREEEE!!!!!

[jatherip]

nice....bring some structure into these sketches. eg. the arms of the standing woman look weird...proportions are pretty good on the figures, but i guess you need loomis for faces!

[NickyBeats]

your figures are already improving from page 1! you got some really nice stuff in here lav, keep up the hard work!

[NanoBlack]

That side pose (with deh little doggie doo-doo... eheheh) is really good :)

[Lav]

@ sublimus: thanks and yes i know, i should be doing studies everyday basicly, but atm i have this big school project i have to finish first
@ jatherip: noooooos! not loomis! fine i'll give it another go >.<
@ nickybeats: thanks for visiting! :) i really feel like i'm not improving at all so it is a motivation to hear that :P
@ nanoblack: thanks, got it from posemaniacs but i figured it looked more realistic with doggie poo hanging from her foot :p

Anyways like i said it will be a while before i can update, got a big school project i gotta focus on, wish me luck! ;)

[wakoes]

Nice update Lav:D
the face it look little bit flat but it more cleaner then previous one tho:tihi:
anyway keep it up Lav and good luck :yayca:

[Alexandar Obert]

Hi there,

I really like your line work, it's very clean. I would do some studies on the human head and body. I like the sketches you are doing, keep drawing :)

[Habeus Korpus]

wow we! you certainly are improving, though i do find that sometimes (SOMETIMES) your proportions are a liiiitle bit funny. for example, the length of the upper arm in comparison to the forearm. or the thigh compared to the calf. but it could just be me.
still though, very very very good work! keep it up! =D

[Lav]

thanks guys for the feedback i really appreciate it. And Habeus Korpus thanks for pointing that out, it it isnt my intention for making funny proportion, my work is super cereal! :P I'll try to pay more attention to it

Anyways this is for my project in after effects (the deadline is tuesday, aaaahhh!!! stress stress!! cant breathe!! :dead:) it's gonna be a bit...well wierd/dreamlike but i'm wondering what you think of the blue guy, it's gonna be my main character
So what does CA think,
a) amagaaaawd it's so crappy it hurts my eyes!!!
b) not bad... for a 5 year old
c) it's k

oh and also, here's a small video WIP on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc_9h3E-7OE

[Lav]

small update, i changed the character in a drawing in illustrator, hopefully the mix of diff styles will work, could really use crits and comments (make me cry if you have to ;)) working hard to finish it in time :)


edit: deadlines always come way to early! >.< here's the latest version of it CLICK MEEEHHH!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IhQz6jJKsk)

[Lav]

small update

[teapo]

haha great stuff here Lav! good start on the concept stuff. love that keekabooh creature on post #48. are you using any reference for your anatomy studies or are they all from imagination? either way, keep it up, you're doing great!

[Lyno]

Damn those carrots :p. I thought it were fingers :s :D.
And cool but weird vid :D.

[Lav]

small update on my star wars pin up, gonna redesign the glass tho don't like how it looks now and then something someone requested me to make....dont ask o.O

[Lyno]

Hehe ^^, watch out for those heads, and maybe give them some more neck?

[Lav]

good point, tho i didnt pay too much attention to heads at that stage of the sketch because the request was to have it resemble certain people. I'll upload if they've approved of it >.<
in the meantime, i'm turning my star wars pin up into a vector drawing

[Lav]

gonna use vector shading for it, first time i'm doing shading like this so i'm sure i'll be making mistakes, you're welcome to point them out to me! :P
i also just now realised that i still have to erase the colored area behind her head >.<

[Lav]

my submission for a pin up contest
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=870223&stc=1&d=1262558944

[Frittzell(Image)]

Wow you're anatomy has definitely improved! Your submission for the pin up contest looks good but the leg thats going over the edge of the glass seems to connect to the body kind of oddly. I would move it up a tad.
Great work! :D

[Zorcron]

cool stuff, i think you should draw a lot more from life take that sketchbook with you everywhere !
get a small pocket sized book, i also think you should work much more with charcoal and focus on describing ideas and objects with value and less line

last thing Talent is merely Hard work and Passion so eat that cupcake and work hard !

hope to see more soon keep it up

[Fliegenpilz]

You have some crazy and interessting ideas - I like that. :D You could work a bit more on your anatomy, though. Keep it up! I'll make sure to check your sketchbook again.

[Loathsome]

Hey Lav! Thanks for checking by.
Cool sketchbook you have here, I like to see that you study so hard :)

[Lav]

thanks for the replies everyone!
@ fritzell, yeah i agree with you, however that leg in the orginal drawing looked different and someone told me to altered it but i guess it still isn't what it should be (still tons of stuff wrong with it but the deadline was passed) Had to do everything by mouse and without wacom so was quite a challenge for me :P
@ zorcron, i bought charcoal today and will try it out soon :D
@ Fliegenpilz, thanks, glad you like it, and yeah i do still have to do a lot more studies
@ loathsome, thanks, yours is cool too :P

And like i said to fliegenpilz, i know i should be doing more studies but aahhh i just really wanna make something for a greek mythology contest so couldn't resist working on that first. I'm thinking about making something about the calydonian boar, so for now am just trying to find a cool pose. The sketching is very ... well jibberish but it helped me to just relax and chill without getting worked up about mistakes at this stage. I normally would take something like hades or charon to work with but so far it seems fun to make a creature for a change, oh and, don't mind the giraffe btw >.<

And the last drawing...well.. it was a joke about 2 people because someone requested/forced me to make it, and i HAD to make it like that :P

[teapo]

haha thanks for stopping by my SB Lav :3 btw, the natalie portrait is finished. from what i can see here, you're progressing fairly well. that pin-up contest girl really reminds me of the World of Warcraft Draeneis :P. Also, it is great that you're breaking more into imagination, those 2 guys in your last sketch cracks me up xD. just don't forget the studies! i myself am lacking in studies uggh...

keep them coming!!

[miycko]

i love that star wars pinup :D though i think i looks kinda odd not being able to see any part of her right hand, maybe she could have it outstretched over her right knee, the colours are great and your vector style suits it perfectly. Those sketches of the calydonian boar looks great too, i kinda gave up on drawing with pencils but seeing those makes me wanna start again :) keep up the fantastic work

[heix33]

Thanks, nice to see that you are studying everything, and do thumbnails and stuff, keep it up.

[Lav]

hehe i see your point teapo, tho it's actually a twi'lek (http://www.starwars.com/databank/species/twilek/img/movie_bg.jpg). I really need to do more hand studies, hence the mittens on the hands of the 2 guys and my trying to hide the hands a bit on the star wars pin up >.< But thanks miycko, i actually kind of gave up on painting (for now) so that's why i do more pencil drawings instead :P
And heix33 i lisntened to your advice so here are a few thumbnails to try and find a good scene for the calydonian boar

[Lav]

this is what i have so far, not sure who i'm gonna put hiding in the bushes yet, maybe a little kid or a D.i.D. (damsel in distress) :P

[Lyno]

Cool, are you going to color this one up? Or give him some shading :).

[Lav]

i was planning to paint it but i currently still don't have my drawing tablet with me untill sunday and the deadline is sunday >:| :P But yeah i should really do a lot more value work instead of just linedrawings

Have to focus on my exam presentation for now and will update asap with the stuff i made

[Lav]

k, this is the cd cover i made for my exams tomorrow and somethign else for fun, wish me good luck!!

[Frittzell(Image)]

Hey those animal studies are pretty good i would like to see more! :) You should check out the book the art of animal drawing by ken hultgren

[Lav]

thanks frittzell, and great suggestion i'll check it out :)
How come no-one pointed out to me the hoof of the boar is completely wrong tho?! :P i tried fixing it but i cant seem to get it right. Also redid the (currently)4 pleasant ways for killing my beloved brother

[Lav]

small update, working with coloured pencils because i'm too scared to use my new markers :O

[Frittzell(Image)]

haha you really dont like your brother huh? thats pretty brutal its getting better and better. I really like the boar (kinda reminds me of princess mononoke) but i wish you would finish it! i dont think the foreshortened leg is too far off correct :) id say dont worry about it

[miycko]

cool CD cover and that brain farts stuff is real funny :D the canadian boar looks like it's coming along nicely, that hoof looks like it's a real problem, maybe lower it a little and place most of it behind the boar's head (kinda like a silhouette). The pleasn't ways of killin your bro are gettin really gruesome - i like :)

[Janos]

You need to use those markers or you will end up like me: I payed a hell of a lot of money and now they are just gathering dust in my shelf. I just can't cope with them, but you will manage!
I Like your ideas and the illustrative style you have going. Would love to see you go more in this direction.

Take care,
Janos

[Loathsome]

I love the piggy-looking animal there and the headasplode :D
Keep on posting more :)

[Lav]

hey frittzell, don't worry the red is actually ketchup :o i wish i could finish the boar as well but every time i work on it i feel like i'm heading towards a dead end :nohope: i'll try tho :)

@miycko, glad you like it :) tbh tho i'm not sure i understand what you mean with the position, do you mean between the head and other front leg?

@jonas, thanks! i'll experiment with them but on different paper, i tested it on my sketchbook but didnt really like the reaction (seems to be running out more than normal, if that makes any sense)

@loathsome, thanks, more coming up sir!

just soem sketches for now

[Mykro]

Thanks for stoppin by my sb, and I'm really diggin yours. I'm sure you've heard it all about who to look at and to do lots of studies. My only comment is some of your gestures look a little stiff. The 30sec poses on posemaniacs or a live model for quick poses are a good way to loosen up. Also, try doing some sketches with your non-dominant hand, don't worry about how they look. I love your finished works, the concepts and vision there are very different, and your animation looks great. Very cool stuff.

[Lav]

thanks mykro, and you're right, will try some after i get some sleep >.<
I tried doing some loomis hand studies but i accidently ended up with my fingers in different nations

[Loathsome]

I like the boxy people :) Especially the shaded one. I need to do more stuff like that.

[Lav]

oh god... i really suck at 30 second drawing... lol
these are done with charcoal

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec110.jpghttp://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec210.jpghttp://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec310.jpg

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec410.jpghttp://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec510.jpghttp://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec610.jpg

[Frittzell(Image)]

Thats a pretty sweet hand you got there :) and i really like the second sketch in post 132 the shading on the abdomen is really good! I agree with loathsome you should do some more of those! for some reason my computer doesnt want to load your recent post :( but 30 second drawings are great dont be discouraged they will definitely improve your ability to draw the figure.

[[Rhÿnn]]

I really like you strange, surrealist sketches and the very personnal atmosphere in them. You seem to have your very own world and you should definitly work in that direction!

I hope to see more soon!

[miycko]

hey there, sorry for that confusing explanation, i've done a bit of a crappy draw-over to show what meant (figured it would be easier than typing it out) i hope you dont mind :) i like them sketches in post #132 :teteh: & those fingers from many nations crack me up :)

[Janos]

Oh good how on earth do you live with a french finger? :lol:
You are going strong. Good times!

[Lav]

no updates in this post but lots of thank yous!

@frittzell, can you see it now? and thanks :)
@rhÿnn, thanks, my teacher said he thought i was an unhappy girl because of the stuff i make, but i just think they're fun :P
@miycko, ah now it all makes sense to me! :) i was trying to make it look like he was about to crush something but i should have done a more dramatic perspective (which i tried but kinda just failed really :p)
@janos, well if you're gonna have a french you really have to make it the smallest one of those 4 :P



Anyways, i'll be gone for 10 days so no more updates! do not worry tho, in the wise words of Arnold Schwarzenegger; i'll be back!

in fact, here's some little eye candy :O
http://www.mygtv.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/arnold-schwarzenegger.jpg

this sketchbook just recieved +10 hawtness :D

[Frittzell(Image)]

Hey lav those gestures are good! :) now give me that everyday along w some loomis or Bridgman studies as well as something from ur imagination. This is my assignment for you!! DO IT!!! Haha ps the Arnold pic is hilarious :)

[blu_dragon]

Hey your gestures are coming along, I agree with Frittzells assignment, study them well as these books will aid you to see the figure more clearly.

Nice Photoshop skills on Arnold too! lol

[Frittzell(Image)]

Lav? where did you go? :(

[Lav]

I'm here! i'll start drawing 30 sec poses more often! Btw, the credits for that arnold photoshop don't go to me i just found it on the interwebz but i'm using it as reference! ;)
not a big update for now tho since i've been away. Just some hand studies and i'm suppose to make a selfportrait in the style of a famous artist, this is a wip of pop art - roy lichtenstein but i hate it so far, especially the lack of emotion in it so i'll experiment more with it

[Lav]

currently just some sketches for a school assignment. It's a design for a blog, the space stuff was just some random idea, but i'm gonna go with the hand thingies (i seem to be enjoying drawing hands recently for some wierd reason)
I'm gonna use mood indicators for the blog as well so the 4 bottom on the second page should hopefully resemble psychedelic, negative, power and attention!

[Janos]

The 7 fingered hand looks funny. I like a blog design based on hands. Nothing to fancy but very relatable and you have loads of possibilities with this subject.
For your self-portrait in the style of a famous painter I would suggest somehow bringing yourself through in it, and maybe only referencing a style/artist. Don't give in too easily while painting.

Cheers!

[Frittzell(Image)]

Your back! :) ya keep on doing those 30 second poses. Keep on working those hands too i find that starting the hand as a distorted pentagon helps. I really like bridgemans illustrations of hands. Keep working! :)

[Lav]

good advice Janos, thanks! And Frittzell i'll make up for the 30 sec poses when i get back home, i pwomise! i prefer doing them with charcoal and i forgot them this week x.x

Here's an update on the selfportrait in Roy Lichtenstein's style. I tried taking up Janos' advice. Still have to fill in the thoughts tho :p


http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/zelfpo11.jpg http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/zelfpo12.jpg

[Janos]

Nice one there. You can definitely see the inspiration, but its not the traditional Lichtenstein.
10 points to Griffondor!

How did you do the dots? I also had to recreate a Lichtenstein for class a few years ago, but I really had no idea how to handle the dots.

[NickyBeats]

hey Lav! i had a thought on your marker problem, i think i know what your saying about the ink running out faster on certain paper. have you tried using printer paper? its alot smoother than most sketchbook paper, and tends to blend the markers easier. also, if you have a clear blender, you might just want to put down a hefty clear layer right before you begin to use the actual markers, this will get the paper damp, and make it much easier to move the marker around. i would try to get some grey toned markers, and just try to create some basic value gradients on the paper. dont be afraid to keep going over the same spot a million times, that actually helps to blend them more. once you are able to create some decent gradients i would start on a basic image to color. just remember, always work from large areas to the finer details after. dont worry if you go out of the lines too, the markers will always dry alot less opaque than they go on, or you could just use some white out - always goes great with markers! remember, practice makes perfect, but if you dont try youll never know. now lets see some!!!

[NickyBeats]

i forgot to say the most important part of the whole process:

ONLY USE THE FAT CHISEL END OF THE MARKER!

[NanoBlack]

Hey, love what you've done with the place :) That boar of yours is looking great, and i can sympathise with the trouble you had with the hoof... legs have never been my strong point in perspective.

Nice to see your profile picture updated too! Keep em coming thick and fast!

[Mykro]

In addition to what Nicky Beats said, using prismacolor colored pencil to pop out lighter areas and do additional blending is a great technique. I think El Coro has a tutorial about it around here somewhere, though he takes refill ink and a brush for the undercolors, then breaks and blends with rubbing alcohol. Take a look for his tuts if you have some motivation.

[Lav]

awesomesauce! Thanks for your post nickybeats, you got me so excited now!! first thing i'm gonna do tomorrow before school is go buy a transparent marker and some new grey ones (mine are drying out, but they're old ones) I've been messing around with them but i'll start uploading them when they're worth uploading (which they aren't yet >.<) but i'm really excited now to keep trying!
And thanks for your advice as well Mykro, i'll get some as well!

@ jonas, i basicly did it the lazy way, made 5 dots in a row with the help of the rulers in photoshop and then did alt + drag, which automaticly copies the layer and made a row of 10 dots, merged them, then alt + drag so you have 20 dots, and etc.. And then erase everything that is out of the lines. The dots aren't 100% perfect but i figured that would have been good enough

And thanks Nanoblack, i think i need do pay more attention to perspective in general.

But anyways, now that i finally got the charcoal back i forgot my pencils lol... so for now just some 30 poses update, i seem to have some big proportion issues when i'm drawing under time :P

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec010.jpg http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec011.jpg

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec012.jpg http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/30sec111.jpg

[Donna]

Greak sketchbook, Lav, the poses are coming along nicely :) Try drawing some without raising your pencil, or raising it as little as you can. It's good exercise for the hand and helps you focus on the mass :D

[heix33]

Thanks, that's a very useful advice,
I think you should do more pencil value stuff, it's very helpful with value studies and practices.
keep it up

[wakoes]

wow!
you're improve a lot Lav:D
keep it up and good luck :yayca:

[Lav]

well i was all excited monday to get the new markers and stuff but the art store didnt have any good ones, booooh!! so i'll try to find them in a different store this weekend.
School is really taking up a lot of my time, don't have as much time as i would want to do studies tho i'll really try and get some more done and taking all your suggestions and advice, which i really appreciate :)

Here's some more WiP stuff for my blog
http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/blogme10.jpg

i also tried to do the menu first in 2 different styles but i like the above more (been a long time since i painted...and i wasnt really good at it to begin with :P)
http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/blogme11.jpghttp://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/blogme12.jpg

and some more blog WiP stuff
http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/blogth11.jpg http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/blogth10.jpg

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/blogmo11.jpg

oh yeah, and i filled in the thinking cloud ;)
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs189.snc3/19637_1273114159657_1584005806_1372148_7204341_n.j pg

[Janos]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

I LOVE the comment in the bubble it makes the image so much funnier/smarter. Love it!
Now I want you to make a series and let all the characters think nonsense.
This made my day, thank you!

[Mister Dark]

Just go to brussels, there are tons of art stores!

[Lav]

haha cool you're from brussels :P where i live in the weekend are a lot of art stores as well, tho i just might pass brussel this weekend for El Greco's and the mexican thingy with frida khalo's exhibition in Bozar, i hope it'll be worth it :)

@jonas; school is already taking up all my time and your giving my more assignments?! well i guess there's always time left for nonsense ;) glad you liked it

[miycko]

very nice work on the self portrait :D and i like the idea of the space stuff for the blog but the fingers work as well :) i think the main issue with the painted version is that the shadows are too saturated, looking forward to you updates :D

[Lyno]

Hey Lav, I like the portrait, very cool :), I hope you win ^^.

[PxelSlayer]

Hey Lav! :D

For starters - thanks for being one of the "regulars" at my SB, means a lot. Really. Seeking affection where ever I can find it, which actually brings me back to my childhood and..well, it all started when I was a baby, and...

wait, where was I?

Oh yea! The Lichtenstein portrait looks great (especially with that line, would certainly make my cry as well ), and you seem to be getting a hold on the pencils. But...stop being a chicken. And I mean that in a nicest possible way (you cute little chicken you :) ) - you have to branch out and start exploring new mediums. Well, you don`t HAVE to, but it could turn out to be a really good thing. NO FEAR, ya hear? Get messy with markers and charcoal and chalk, and just have fun. Toss in a master study and a value study every now and then, stir and pop it in an oven for 20 minutes and voila - skillz! Just like momma used to make them...ah, the memories...:yum:

wait...what was I...

Well, I was about to say something smart, but I lost it, so here`s a nice "keep going"! M`kay?

:hugsmile:

[Lav]

uck, or i could just get sick and do nothing this weekend! >=(

@miycko, thanks but yeah the painted hands look bad. I tried following a tutorial and skipping a few steps :dur: but i really need more practice with it

@lyno, haha thanks, i'm just happy getting any vote (vote for me!! :P) Are you not gonna try to submit something?

and thanks for your reply pxelslayer, you're right, i am really planning to try tho but there aren't enough hours in a day aarrghh! but i've made list!! I'm just stuck at step 2 unfortunately >.<
http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/00310.jpg


so because i got sick i don't have much to update, been working on my blog for school but am really having difficulties with colour :$ i prefer not to change the thumbman's suit colors tho because i like the fact that they're the joker's colour but i do want everything to match! :dead:
quality is a bit less because the upload rescaled the img, sorry
http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/blogwi11.jpg

[zerdron]

cool sketches anyway

[miycko]

looks like this is gonna be a really handy blog :P (bad joke), i like the curent layout and don't think there's anything wrong with the colour of the thumbman's suit. Get Well soon okay :)

[Grafguy]

lookin good girl!
butt chu gotta change the green background, its fugly

[Loathsome]

Nice design there :) Post the website when it's done.

[PxelSlayer]

ummm...helou? Forgot something? :P

[freakmod]

Your selfportrait is what made me click this thread. I totally love it!!! Shows a lot of style and emotion, and looks pro.

Keep it up with the poses :)

[Mister Dark]

Its coming out nice. How was the exhibition btw?

[Janos]

:lol:

[Donna]

I really like your blog idea so far! Very surreal. Well, if you want to keep the suit colour, change everything else :'D The suit seems a bit too dark to me though... lighten it up perhaps? All other colours are much lighter and the suit drags all the attention that way...

[Lav]

thanks everyone, the colours were off to say the least, this was my most recent update, did it in black and white so i could decide on colours later, but the teachers didn't like it and i don't like it anymore and it was gonna get cheesy, so gonna start all over! I also focused too much on what i wanted to draw instead of the blog itself (but that's the school's fault, they should give me more free time to draw!!)

And thank you freakmod, glad you like it :) and mister dark, couldnt see it yet because i got sick :( but really gonna check it out asap

@jonas and pxlSlayer awww you guys, i made a doodle of it as soon as i read it :D

i really wanna have more free time to draw aaaarghhh!!!

[ExiledRed]

Hello,

Just been right through your sketchbook, and I've really enjoyed seeing how you've improved and are improving.
As a graphic designer I love the CD, and the illustrative menu buttons for your website.
The self portrait is gorgeous, I thought it was a vector originally.

You could achieve the color halftone (dots) by playing with the (-cough-) filter>pixelate>color halftone, or you could make a small image that is 4x4 dots and choose edit>define pattern, once youve done this, select the area you want dotted, and choose edit>fill>pattern (select the pattern you just defined)

both these methods would be much lazier than the lazy method you described, and would lay out the dots without imperfection. I dont think you need to do this however, because the piece benefits from the fact you have maintained control over the placement of the dots.

[Donna]

Hmm I feel there are too many hands on your website. Perhaps you should have strings hang off one of the Search Bar hands (move it to the right!). Simplify the 'thumbs down' button, make it smaller. Right now my attention is all over the place :[

Evil bear! Nooo!

[Lav]

i wanted to wait to update untill i had more stuff to show but time isnt in my favor. So sorry for the crappy update

@donna, you're absolutely right, i was just wanting to put random drawings on one page and hope for the best and it just got messy :P I really don't like what i did with it, but i now realise i can never make something good from the first try (it's really true when i started looking back at some other stuff as well xD) so i just started over again and hopefully it's better now, but be honest if you don't like it, after all i'm here to learn :P
I also tried not raising my pencil when doing 30 sec figures but i think it's a bit out of my league, as a matther of fact, i think the entire 30 sec drawings is out of my league haha

@ExilRed thanks for the good tip! i first tried making it into a brush but that wasn't really what i needed, can't believe i didn't think of making a pattern haha xD i'll remember it for next time tho :P

so once again, sorry for the crappy update but i'll try to draw a lot more again because i really need to get it out of my system :$

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/newblo14.jpg

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/00210.jpg

[Lav]

i spend some quality time with my pencil again! probably lot of mistakes in it but really had to get it out of my system :p i have to start making more time to draw or i'm gonna go insane!!
also experimented with some uhm.. how you call it in english.... well, stuff..

[miycko]

lovely nudies :D i see they also double as skull studies - very smart :) diggin your blog re-designs too :)

[Mykro]

Hey-thanks for listening_love the new page designs, stuff like that is a big weakness for me, I get bored with design, I just wanna draw. Speaking of, your new gestures look much cleaner and more confident. Now, give me some nibru!

[djbhai]

Buff & Lav Orps, Giant Black Cochins, Blk & Blue Mottled d'Uccles, Black Silkies & Showgirls, Roller Pigeons, ... Brain fart. 'Cuse me.

[Istmin52]

Hey Lav -- Thanks for the comment. I like your ideas about your website. Just keep working on it. I also don't know if you are doing this but I think studying Bridgeman on anatomy would be really helpful for you. He breaks the human figure down into forms so you should def check him out. I've been doing studies from him from time to time.

[maeshanne]

huge sketchbook :)
your webdesign are awesome
keep it up

[Lav]

thanks all! And mykro there's a secret nibru on page 2 here :o not a good one tho :P
Sorry i cant update as much as i wanted but i have proof that i have been busy! Will also try very hard to do more studies in the future, but for now here are some 3D WIPs of a demo i'm making for a touch screen application
Library (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLk8qQL9Jeg&feature=channel)
Page turner (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4L_dKDeI0&feature=channel)

[miycko]

good to hear you've been busy :D will be waiting for your BIG UPDATE :)

[Sublimus]

Glad to hear you're keeping busy!

But now that I'm back, I might crack the whip on you and ask for some updates! :P

[Lav]

eep!! here are new updates! but there are more to come as well
First of all, the "finished" demo for the touch screen application for in a museum (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbixyU5vMqE) (don't know how to embed videos here dhurrr)

and also this is my first blog entry i did on my blog, instead of writing an introduction post i figured i'd draw it out. I basicly listened to a lot of your suggestions and try to combine them to come up with the style and kept it looking sketchy on purpose. I still need to improve my line quality but i'm a bit proud that i finally did something in ink (tho i first drew it in pencil, but still :P)

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/introd11.jpg

other updates are on my other hard drive so i'll post those later

[Sublimus]

Haha, nice little comic!

One little crit I would give you on it is that the hand in page eight is a little weird. I can't exactly tell how it supposed to be connected, and if it were, that would make for a really weird pose for the character. But that hand is still drawn really well!!

Cheers!

[miycko]

LOL, SWEET WORK LAV :teeth:

i really enjoyed reading that comic strip, funny stuff. it would be great to see it colored someday :D

[NanoBlack]

I like thh way you emoted using a comic, talking to yourself in your own head :) nice

One crit though would be that the lips are very defined and don't display as much emotion as they could. A shame, because it could show so much.

Keep at it!

[ExiledRed]

Comic strip is great.

I really like the touch screen demo, but I'd like to see a little more unity between the 3D elements and the animated background. I love the way the mechanical arm moves and delivers the book, I just wish it didn't cut and was instead one single smooth animation.
I'm nitpicking though, it really is impressive, well done!

quote me to see how I embedded the youtube video.

KbixyU5vMqE

[Lav]

hello my little furry cupcakes!

I'm currently sick and at my parents place (because mommy's chicken soup and daddy's pills make lav go healthy again in no time!) so cant update atm untill i get back healthy and catch up on my work and get the other updates that i left at my place. So for the moment just a few thank yous :)

@sublimus, thanks and you're absolutely right about the hand, tho i did that on purpose. I wanted to move the left me more in the middle and still keep everything in that one shot and keep it very "readable". It may not have been the best option for it, i'll try to fix problems like that in the future. All in all the hand could have been more aggressive as well tho

@miycko, thanks, i was wondering if i should color it at first, because my blog itself doesnt have a lot of colors either, but i got the advice to keep it like that for now, i also really just wanted to finish it fast so i'd finally have that first entry ready, but i'll try experimenting with colours when i do new stuff like that :)

@nanoblack, thanks, it was the first time that i worked this much on expressions, i really enjoyed it but there's indeed a lot of room left for improvement :P thanks for the tip, i'll keep it in mind

@Exiledred, thanks for embedding it hehe, what i forgot to mentoin tho (and shame on me!) is that the project was a team assignment with another guy who also worked on the video (he for example did the open book and implemented my 3D arm in there). The background was something i also had to add the last day so it isn't as refined as i would have liked it to be. All in all, I think there was a fun idea behind the project but not enough time for it. Also the animation looked sooo much cooler from a side view than front view but i had to render it like that, a shame tho but it was fun animating in 3D again, i might be doing it more often in the future


oh btw about the comic thingy, someone pointed out to me that it's weird instead of wierd, i really thought i doublechecked it tho. Wonder if i should change it now or not because the blog will be rated by our teachers... i guess i should quickly fix it, or in the great words of bart simpson "i'll do it this afternooooooooooon"

[ExiledRed]

I think for a days work you both did really well. It makes the work more impressive.

I would love to see it devloped over a longer timeline, I love contraptions and odd machinery, and I enjoyed the motion of your 2D elements. Great work.

[Lav]

wow you're fast :O
but no i didnt mean that the entire project was just one day's work (if that's what you think), just the background had to be done within 8 hours.
I wish almost for every project i've done that i would have had more time. I really need to start making that peition to add more hours in a day :P

K now enough yapping, i wont reply again unless i have i updates!

[Lyno]

Heey Lav, get better soon, I like the blog post but I in most of them I miss the hands a lot. Like the first expressions are great because of the hands, but then you loose them. You can take a look at a picture of an expression with a face and hand and hide the hand/face. You will see the hand gives more information then the hand. If you find the time, read "Gesture drawing for animation" (http://drawn.ca/2007/04/04/free-pdf-book-gesture-drawing-for-animation/) , really really great :).

[Lav]

Thanks lyno, i used more hands this time, you were absolutely right about that. Think i'm gonna experiment a bit with color this time and see what works best.
I went to see the el greco exhibition and made some quick sketches of some of his portraits. I had my bad pencil with me tho :(

Also made a new video
oDnK6EuGWpI

[Sublimus]

Sweet video!

Alll those poor bunnies! :(

[Lav]

hey dont look at me, i'm not buying iphones :P

couldn't resist to make this retard drawing. The second one with the skull transformation is of a friend of mine

[Lyno]

Hehe cool vid :confident. Love the "um sure" too ^^. Are you going to color things up?

[Istmin52]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook again. I like your little animations. I hope you feel better. Being sick is not fun. :(

[miycko]

The comics are as funny as ever Lav :D & those studies are nicely done, very different from your style too :)
interesting skeletor bunny, will watch your video i soon as i get the chance :) & i dig the mexican vector transformation of your friend :teeth:

cheers

[AndreRuben]

nice stuff. yup, cool blog design.

[Lav]

thanks everyone!
and yeah i tried to colour it up but i couldnt make anything work well so far :(
and the mexican friend vector drawing i just made quickly so i could fill a blog spot with some work i made myself, but glad you like it, i was worried everyone might find it very crappy :P

anyways, a crappy update for today, i was gonna use it for a project where a sci fi girl is dressed representing a building from rotterdam but teachers don't seem fond of the idea, too confusing apperantly. Just a wip so far but apperantly have to come up with something new before the clock strikes midnight!! Will i make it in time? find out in the next exciting episode *dun dun duuuunnn*

[Janos]

Awesome stuff Lav,
Anatomy is looking good and the comic is really funny. I like the way you drew the character, anatomy wise the hands are a little wonky and the facial features tend to wabble around the face a bit too much, but the humor is great and I agree with your thoughts about blogs. I started one, but I really can't be bothered to update it. I'd rather talk to my friends about teh stuff I'm doing.

Cheers, see you around.

Janos

[Lyno]

Haha good luck Lav, but I like the poses. The colored girl looks a bit like a cheese girl :D. And her sunglasses are of balance? I think it would be nicer if they were straight.

[loviidovii]

I love this thread, shows so much improvement and really entertaining posts :) Id give you helpful tips but I am just a beginner and dont wanna lead you in wrong directions ;)

[Donna]

LOL, that skull transformation! It's awesome :D

The cardboard box chick should come hang out with Solid Snake.

[jellyswirl]

Wow I love your figure drawings since they are so clean but the shading really stands out.And I thought the girl was in cheese as well XD. And it looks like she hates the outfit.

[Lav]

@janos, thanks, i'll try spend more time trying to do more studies in expressions and facial structure in general

@Lyno, hahaha i guess it does look like she's in cheese xD damn it, once you've seen her in cheese it can't be unseen! I was trying to make her look like this building (http://korneelwarlop.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/1976.jpg) but i guess i kind of failed :P also tried to give her some funky sci-fi asymmetrical glasses, that's prolly why they look off balance. It was still a work in progress but not gonna use it in my project anymore

@loviidovii, thanks for your kind words, i'm still very novice myself but it's cool to hear opinion from everyone, i always appreciate it :)

@donna, thanks, and thanks for not calling it cheese :P

@jellyswirl, thank you, i still need to improve a lot tho imo :p and yeah i guess the kubus/cheese girl isn't really cheerfull lol


anyways, just wanted to say the thank yous because i wont be able to update for a while, but i promise i'll make up for it!

[Frittzell(Image)]

Keep working on that human figure! :)

[Grafguy]

your doin good girl!
I loved the tool comic! :D
Hope you get back to work soon.
Cheers

[miycko]

sweet female poses LAV :D that cardboard chick seems like a cool idea, just hard to execute :teeth: update some more :)

[JoeS]

Hey Lav thanks for the coment on my sketchbook, yours shows a ton of improvement as well, especially on the lines :) blog looks interesting, keep on

[NickyBeats]

heya Lav! im not sure if i have commented in here before, but im long overdue to give you a comment in your book, since your like, my one fan. hehehe, thanks for all the love btw. your too kind.

as for your work here, i love those comics! random, but hilarious nonetheless. also, your figure work is coming along. i like how you rendered the pencil sketches on the previous page. i think it was on tan paper or something, but you should try that style some more when you approach your figure work. it feels more natural than the comic-style. also, you should try some anatomy studies out, bridgeman, or loomis or something. but, great work Lav, keep em coming!

[Lav]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all the feedback and learn a lot from it so really thanks!

I'll be looking forward to update more frequently now and with much more studies as well!
For now i tried to get back to the basics but somehow ended up with this mess >.<

[Temperowka]

Hey! Nice variety of work here :) Looks like you like to try everything. I really like those sketches of girls for your project! seems like you know a bit of anatomy. Keep posting!

[gutss]

I like your comics! they warm my little heart. you just need some more expressiveness in your facial expressions. exaggerate, go nuts!

(also cannot believe I am not subscribed to this. PROBLEM SOLVED)

[Lav]

thanks temperowka and gutts :D I'll be doing more studies.




Tho i have to declare those 30 second pose drawing unLavable! i just suck at it so badly even when i try a longer time, it's horrible!! So just gonna do some other studies where i can take my time i guess


this suckyness level is over ninethousaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand!!!

[Metal Fingers]

Keep up all the hard work dude! Lots of studies in here and they are definitely paying off. I'd reccomend as much life drawing as possible, places like book stores and cafes can be great to draw people as a lot of the customers tend to sit still for long periods of time.

[Lyno]

Cool to see you're also starting with the studies, great :D.

[Creusa]

So many figure studies! Jumping to something else is a good idea, I totally agree.
Let the update come! xD

[Lav]

thanks metal fingers, i think i wouldnt be good at live drawing (the more reason to do it tho) because i tend to draw slow (am easely distracted :P) but i'll try it more often
and yup lyno, more studies will be coming soon (more stuff in general as well :p)
and creusa, thanks for checking out my sb, here's the update! :3

small update, nothing serieus :P i'll get back to my studies soon

[Lav]

digital version of it, trying to get some host of a show convinced to let me win a comic of the week :p

[NickyBeats]

nice lighting in that last one Lav! maybe add some lighting on the floor around her, or some sort of cast shadow, i think that will really help make her feel planted on the ground. also, i love that perspective study up there. i think its 4 or 5 point perspective. that shits hard to do! nicely done!

[Lav]

yes...you caught me redhanded in my lazyness :( :p
does the shadow in this update look semi k? I'm not very pleased with how the head on the belt looks but oh well, it's hard to draw people you've only seen on a show a few times :P

And yes the perspective is 4 point, 5 point is a glass bowl effect i think, or something wierd, it looked confusing :P The 4 point isn't really difficult tho, it's just messy to draw, i think i'm gonna do a new one in the future tho

[NickyBeats]

haha BRUTAL! yea, the shadows are looking good Lav, but they are fairly general, maybe go back in and try to tighten up some of the areas. you have some nice shapes in the shadows, but some areas could be cleaned up a bit. the cast shadow looks good. and the head on the belt reads well, but to clean it up maybe you could highlight some hair strands that are tied up in the belt, so that it looks more like its tangled into the belt. but shes looking pretty bad ass so far. keep working on it though, this has potential to be pretty gnarly!

[heix33]

Thanks, i'd suggest you to study more technical anatomy, where the muscles attach and stuff. especially with pencil, the same time you can also draw faces and hands.
Btw, nice perspective on post 217.

[Istmin52]

Hi Lav, you've really been updating frequently which is great. I do agree with Metal Fingers that doing as much life drawing is still beneficial. Even if you don't like the way your drawings look, it doesn't really matter. It's not like you are showing them to anybody or putting them in your portfolio. Drawing gestures is a good way to warm up and it forces you to draw the bigger shapes first. I ended up finding this blog on anatomy that I think you might like. It really breaks the figure down in simple shapes. You should def check it out. I should look at it more too.
http://analyticalfiguresp08.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-03-07T19:52:00-08:00&max-results=7

[Lav]

@nickybeats, i'm not sure i know what you mean. I basicly took the general shape of the figure, copied it and played a little with it to use as background, but it needs more detail?
I'm thinking about doing more brutal chicks tho now that you mention it, they're fun to do :p but gonna leave that specific one alone for now, it was just made for a joke, got some more studies to focus on for now
@heix33, thanks, i'll be doing more studies :)
@Istmin25, i'll try to get over my fear and try to do more life drawings (i'll become that one creepy kid that stares obsesivly at people ಠ_ಠ) and thanks a lot for that link, looks very interesting! I'll do them once i get my charcoils back



crappy update for now, atm i'm trying to do some bridgman (which i find a lot more fun than loomis actually) with aquarel (not sure if that a good diea or not) because i really need to learn how to work with waterpaint, so hopefully you'll see a lot of those in the future!

[Sweron]

Great variety of studies.
Your progress is evident and I love those perpective studies, so cool
http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=978062&stc=1&d=1274022185

Imo you surely deserve a star (4 - good ) from me. I'll change it later when you improve :)

[miycko]

love that with the decapitated heads :D awesome work, her feet need a little work though, it's probably the shape's a bit too round (if that makes any sence), i like the dark colors & bloody stains :) nice work on the studies too, keep up the good work :)

[LAL]

hi,Great studies!very nice works!keep it up!

[Donna]

Hey, hey, keep chugging out great stuff :) It doesn't matter how slow you go as long as you're going...

I love this (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=978062&stc=1&d=1274022185) so much! Anything that has more than 3 points always confuses me, haha.

I got an interesting tip from a friend who studies architecture, thought I'd share it here. When drawing cubes, start from the back (not the 'middle line')... apparently you can't go wrong that way.

[Lav]

oh hai there!

@sweron, whaaa? nah i don't think this really deserves that, but thanks a lot, it's def a boost to hear that :P will do my best to improve :)

@miycko, yeah i wasnt sure about the feet either but i thought if they're suppose to be shoes then i could get away with it, guess not :p but thanks

@LAL, thank you :) i checked out your sketchbook as well and was very impressed, so thanks for stopping by

@Donna, yeah i guess you're right about the 'It doesn't matter how slow you go as long as you're going' :) I don't understand why many of you find that perspective cube good tho, i thought it was crap :p tho i'll try to do some new perspective work soon. I never tried to start at the back before but gave it a try and i now see what he means, it's a good tip, thanks :)
and zomg what is this i see? i joined your awesome squad?! i'm so honoured :} thanks :hugsmile:


Here are some bridgman studies, done in aquarel, just to get used to the strokes (it's much fun so far :))

[Mister Dark]

Those aquarelic strokes are high quality!
Its always a pleasure to see your work.
Also, if you ever pass by brussels we should meet and sketch :)

[Lyno]

Hi Lav, really great studies. How I would approach Bridgman is, use him more to study the form of the figure rather then anatomy. Use an anatomy book to study the muscles and look at Bridgman for the form.
Good luck :).

[Donna]

Hey hey, just keeping the track of awesome people ;)

Bridgman looks so fun to study. I'll have to get his books.

[Janos]

Try to change up the lineweighth even more so that the lines you draw are very different. Are the Bridgeman studies from imagination?

[Grafguy]

He Lav! Wassup?!
you were doin so good with the study's!
To bizzy with school I guess?
Enjoy the freedom, whe your done with the exams its time to kick ass and start drawing again!

[Lav]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, sorry i didn't update, had some shit to take care of, scusi!
Mister Dark, next time i'm near brussels i'll be sure to tell you, would be cool to sketch together tho you're a lot better than i am (that just means i'll have to work harder then!!)
Jonas, do you mean using different brushes? And the studies arent imagination, i did a quick sketch in pencil while observing the studies and then just went over it with aquarel.
Still have a lot to learn about ... well every thing really :P But here's a small update so far, also made a quick little illustration to thank a friend of mine. Had to paint it with mouse (wacom still broken ugghhh) sos orry for the crappyness

http://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/12/62/26/85/bdayto11.jpg

[heix33]

Thanks, keep up with the Bridgman studies.

[JoeS]

hey Lav really nice bridgman studies.
And union jack guy totally owns captain whats-his-name :muscle:

[Donna]

Oh wow, the lines are so confident in the last batch of hand studies!

[Sweron]

Bridgmans hands are so cool, makes me wanna switch to those studies, but hehe, Loomis would not agree with that unless I finish first his "Drawing head & hands" book :D

Yeah, croatian to english Lav = Lion ;) :P

Thank you for your response on my SB :)

[Lav]

Thanks guys

There's gonna be a wall of text because i was wondering if some of you might be able to help me make a dicission. Tho if you're not interested in the emo tales of Lav and her future self, just scroll down for zeh updates :)



---------
So I've decided i don't want to continue the studies that i'm doing at the moment. A little bit late i guess, but i really want to try and find something different to study and have a future in. It's a bit frustrating and stressing me out because i feel like i've waisted 3 years in total and not finding what i love doing school-wise, or what i can and want to do in the future for a living.

I figured to ask opinion from other people. Normally I don't like to ask things like these on a forum but here at CA people can have a different look on what i can do and where i came from and maybe you can have some opinions on what could be a good idea or what would be utterly hopeless.

Maybe it's a good idea to tell you a bit more about my previous educations as well. In highschool it took me a little while to find what i really wanted. Eventually i found my way to art school and studied film and photography. Then i realised how much I truely LOVE art and can't live without it, i also realised that i really want to keep doing something visual for the rest of my life. I enjoyed the education but realised that i was getting more and more interested to combine different types of mediums. So i started thinking after i graduated from highschool, i had the basics on film & photography, and now i wanted to see something else. I also thought that i had to find a study that would teach me a craft that i wouldn't be able to learn on my own, or at least not easely, so i started with Digital Arts and Entertainment (basicly game design/3D, etc).
I realised there that i really didn't enjoy 3D enough to do it fulltime, it's a fun hobby but it was too much for me, and i wasn't a good enough programmer or concept artist to really continue with that education.
That's when I left to study Digital Design and Media (webdesign/flash applications/advertisements/designing/etc..) I don't know why i kept doing this for 2 years because i didn't really enjoy it. I don't like always having to keep in mind that everyone from 10 years to 80 will be able to understand your work and felt really limited. I now also realise that i'm not a designer (and that a designer and an artist are mostly two whole different things) and also realised i NEVER want to work in advertisement.

So now i know what i don't want, then what do i want?

Like i said, i LOVE art in general and i want to do something visual and experiment with different mediums. I also know i'm very far from good and my head is full of ideas that i just can't be able to put on paper yet, but hey, school's there to teach me these things. So i've been thinking about a couple of things to study that i will list now, along with the doubts that i have for it.


Art History; I try to keep myself busy with museums and i love learning about it. Tho, if i would decide to study art history, it would be a very big adjustment for me. It would be a lot of studying and not making anything myself other than papers that you have to write. And there are a lot of other art educations that still teach art history classes but then also really working with art myself. But then again, it would take the stress away to weither someone will like your work or not. If you have an exam it's either that you have the right answer or the wrong one, but not that someone doesnt like the answer. I'm also not sure what the future would hold for someone with a degree in Art History.
I think this is perhaps not one of the favorite options so far :S Especially if they also have Art History classes in the other options below

Mixed Media: I love mixing different mediums and experimenting, (i don't want to do just digital stuff, for example, like painting on photos, making something with your hands and tear it and stitch it back up, etc). However, i feel like this is more of a "do your own thing" and you can ask feedback from a mentor instead of people really teaching you something. I don't mind this, because it's basicly what CA does for me, but i think for an education i'm looking for something more than that.

Animation; In highschool i went to a workshop on traditional animation and i really loved it. In fact i was considering studying it after i graduated but i thought to myself i wasn't good enough to even try out at the entrance exam (which is really stupid because they said even people with absolutely no experience could try out). Anyways, i still don't think i'm a good drawer or good enough animator but that's what they'll teach me there.

Comic book artist: oh boy do i have a long way to go if i really wanted to be one. I thought i read somewhere about an education in Belgium for it, but i can't find it anymore :( I'm a big comic fan. Something like this is combining some of what i've learned in highschool towards making panels. However i'm really not sure how they teach things like these and if it would be a good idea. A lot things fir this feels very unsure

Conservation and Restoration (of paintings); I can't paint, but i read that you don't really need experience to start studying this, tho i find that hard to imagine and wonder how you would do the entrance exam then. But this is actually the reason why i've picked up waterpaint, i've read that during the entrance exam you need to make something in waterpaint :P Anyways, what i love about this is that they really teach a specific craft. If i would study this and graduate, i know i would find a job and if i don't want to restore painting for the rest of my life, i can still (hopefully) become an artist but you can't be an artist and then decide to restore paintings without the knowledge that they teach you here. Tho this really isn't to be underestimated i think. There's also a lot of nature science (for example, why some chemicals work better and how to determine the date of an artwork) and a lot of documentation and papers to write. I also hope that if i would study this, i would still have the time and energy to work on my own stuff outside of school instead of having had enough for the day by doing "obligated" work.


So.. that's it for now i think. I'm really confused and was wondering if maybe some of you would have some advice
Or else plan B, become a tattoo artist travelling all over the world :P
-----



k, spamtime is over, here are the updates :3 Maybe i should be doing more watercolour still lifes, hopefully they'll enhance my colour palette if i learn what type of colours are natural :P

[LtPlissken]

You're the one that I love.
And drink....

[Donna]

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles :[ However, you already have one and a half college behind you, so it's not that bad.

I have a feeling the problem lies in the way you view education. A school isn't supposed to teach you everything - I learned the most from a professor who didn't really teach me, but rather nudged me in the right direction here and there, letting me decide what to do on my own. Please don't expect a school to teach you absolutely everything to become awesome . If a professor comes up and shows you every little thing, you will only know how [i]he does it. There will be none of you in it.

Restoration requires no talent because it's a technical skill. Anyone can have a high skill in something if they work on it long enough.

So, a school is supposed to guide you. Tell you, look, you need to know this and this to become good at this job. You need to expand A LOT on your own. Turn the Internet inside out, go to your local library, TEACH YOURSELF what you want/need to know!

Decide on profession you can see doing for the rest of your life. Don't rely on what you will be taught at school, because most of it will be knowledge that is very basic and common. All of the students learning with you WILL know what YOU know, no?

[AsaB]

Hey there! I believe this is my first time posting here, but I've checked your stuff out before and enjoyed it, sorry about the lack of comments!

I read about your school dilemma. This is something I can truly relate to, having gone through something similar myself and knowing how frustrating it feels when you suddenly realize that something you've spent a long time on (2,5 years in my case) isn't what you want. But you know, it's really all part of that journey. Obviously it's super annoying that it can be so twisted and long-winding, while others take the short and straight road, but such is life. Also, knowing what you don't want to study is also just as important! What you gained from this is very valuable: you know you don't want to be a designer. That's a big step!

I'm afraid I can't help you take that final decision (that's always up to ourselves, unfortunately!), but here are my 2 cents anyway. From what I can see in your SB, your style/drawing subjects seem to lean into figurative, character-based drawing with much storytelling. So out of those choices you gave yourself in the last post, I'd personally bet on either Animation or Comics. Your characters are charming, I think they'd translate well into these mediums.

I also noticed you listed some "non creative" options, like Art History and Restoration. Even though they're definitely related to art, it's still a big difference between making your own art and reading about or fixing other people's artwork. Because honestly, you might then just as well study Biology or English--bottom line, you won't be creating, so the subject you choose isn't really relevant, even though it's more art-related than most. So if you're truly driven into expressing yourself, keep that in mind. At least that's something I figured out myself, when I was thinking about other possibilities, maybe it sheds a light on your dilemma as well :)

Anyway, won't keep this much longer. I thought a stranger's outlook on the matter might help! I guess it all comes down to what you truly enjoy doing and makes you happy. Stop thinking about 'shoulds' and clients and jobs and the future, because if you're happy in your work, you're bound to be successful. Good luck!

[AsaB]

Double post :/

[Mister Dark]

Hello Lav, I just wanted to tell you how much I relate to your situation.

I'm also studying graphic design, and I find myself with doubts about my choice. On the other hand, illustration in this country isn't exactly what I'm looking for, and since everything I know about drawing I learned on my own, I might as well learn something useful like design.

From what I heard, the best school for comic is in St. Luc in brussels, but you have to speak french :S
If you like painting, you might try the fine arts in Luik, there's always a model in the classroom and the teachers give you lots of freedom. But then again, french is mandatory.

I hope you can find your path, and I'm rooting for you.

Kisses
Manuel

[Lav]

@LtPlissken, haha cool, first i find out i'm a lion, but now i'm also beer :D

And thanks everyone for your replies i really appreciate it, it can be very "eye-opening" to listen to other people's view on it.

@Donna, you're right. I look at an education and see what the stability and security it would give me towards the future. I have this idea that i should study something that i wont easely learn by myself, but in the end it got me into educations where i don't really want to be, it's time to forget about all that and figure out what i really want. However, that's easier said than done unfortunately :P
Maybe i should just find a job for a year and experiment in different fields in my free time and see what i really like and want. But you're right, i think in the end i want to do things my way, and not by the standards of other people

@ AsaB, thank you very much, it's very pleasent to hear my drawing is figurative with much storytelling :) And you're very right, it's a big step from making your own thing to "copying" other things. I realise now that something as Art History wouldn't be a good idea anymore, and having serieus doubts about restauration. Allthough at one point it would take away the stress of hoping that people will like the concept and the idea and learning many different techniques, i also have to face the fact i need to be able to just at time do my own thing or i'm going crazy :P
Thanks very much for stopping by in my SB :) you really made some good points clear to me

@Mister Dark, don't you feel a big difference between an artist and designer? It's really cool you can give me tips on specific schools. I can understand french, as long as they don't speak too fast (which they always do :P) but i can't really have a conversation in french, tho i think if you live in a situation where you HAVE to speak it daily, you'd pick it up rather fast.


Anyways, so somethings are getting a bit more clear to me now, gonna keep looking around for more educations and i'll see what the future will have in store for me. Also gonna be leaving to Vietnam next month for 25 day, so i bought a new sketchbook to bring with me (A5) and some new pencils that i took for a little drive today.
Just a few sketches for now, i felt like ignoring everything i learned this year and just doodle around :) It actually felt really good haha

[Ivan Turcin]

Hi Lav,
Hopefully I wont sound harsh here :) Anyway, what I have learned so far as I was in the same situation as you are right now. Is that I need to stop thinking what to do and actually start making things and learn. Whatever I choose to do in the future it will all be related to color, form, design, perspective, anatomy (mostly). So I found out there is no reason to feel sorry for myself and wait to discover what can I get. Because these are all the basics for everything related to art. If I know them, then I can do comics, storyboards, illustrations, concept design... anything.
I think the most important thing is to learn. The more you know the better you will feel about yourself and much more confident.

Hope it helps. One more big HELLO from croatia to lion :)
Take care and keep it up!

[NanoBlack]

Never underestimate the humble doodle! It can free up your creativity, and show you just how much you've absorbed to the point that you use it without thinking.

And i feel for your situation... I cannot truly sympathise, because for at least two years now I've known what i've wanted to pursue. But know that we are all here to support you know matter what you choose to do! And if you do find yourself in the wrong path, remember that there are a variety of ways to any given destination. Just take the time to sit back, calm down, and realise what you truly enjoy. It's like me and 3D now- i can't contemplate spending 7 hours at a PC doodling with maya (it sounds mindmeltingly boring and horrible, actually) but regularly I do without realising it. That's how I know i love it.

So, just go with the flow! Take what happens and work with it.

Oh, and I love the hands you've sketched further up the page! Such nice strong lines, no hesitation. I personally think you'd make a great character artist.