Marria's Sketchbook(Updated June 8th)

[Marria]

Hello everyone!

Yet another lurker thinking it's high time she made a sketchbook...

I've always claimed to have loved drawing, but I'm almost a quarter of a century old now and still have a looong way to go. I practice nowhere as often as I should. So, inspired by the other sketchbooks here, I shall now start my own. Yay.

I'm sorry for the sucky quality, my scanner's dead, need to get a new one.

Here are some character sketches for now... hope to update regularly

[Marria]

Another little update. Been working on getting proportions right for now. Need to post some observational drawings!

[Marria]

Some digital stuff, trying to figure out value, lighting and color.

[Janos]

Nice loose style and characters. They could use some more original concepts though.
Your value studies in photoshop might be pushed a little further, the colour is very good already.

[destinyapocalypse]

nice jobs

[Marria]

Janos: Thank you for the tips, really appreciate it. Will definitely be working on those things :)

Here are some ballpoint sketches and also some drawings for the Battle of the sexes challenge...

[Iridyse]

Marria! Good to see you here :D
Nice sketches, I particularly like the floating eyes. More please :)
-Shreya (from DA)

[Marria]

Updates, mostly for the CHOW: (Queens consort) related stuff.

I decided to draw a eunuch consort, sort of inspired by how eunuchs were employed in Imperial palaces in the east as servants for female royalty (Yay wikipedia).

This one would be like the queens long time BFF, heh... Not only does he have a lot of clever advice and suggestions on ruling (or whatever) but tons of hot gossip and beauty/fashion tips etc as well :P

Been trying to understand lighting and colors again through this piece. There's something strange going on with the straightened leg, probably some weight/balance issues. There's something strange happening compositionally as well. Will try to iron out the kinks over the remaining 48 hours.

The second concept is something I did today. It was a character design for a friends story but it fitted the CHOW theme as well. Again, i can't figure out what's up with the proportions :/ But I think I'll stick with the first idea.

Have a pile of posemaniacs and hand drawings as well, too lazy to upload...

[Icedearth15876]

Great work so far, human figure looks great, keep up the good work.

[Fumble]

Your pencil drawings are really good.

However the digital of the consort looks.... weird :P. The consort's body looks like a dude's. It is a bit too fat compared the the skinny face + the arms look very muscular. I like the hand though, they match the face well.

cheers :)

[Marria]

Icedearth15876: Thanks for the compliments, I'm flattered :)


Thank you Fumble! Really appreciate the comments. Pencil? it's ballpoint actually ;)

Aaand the consort basically *is* a dude, haha :D (just a umm... castrated one... ouch!). But overall, I really do need to work on the proportional weirdness (especially the arms and face), thanks for pointing those things out :)

[Linnaine]

Your skills are amazing:)
thanks for veiwing my SB

[Marria]

Hand gesture studies, posemaniacs and random wonky doodles.

The second last image is something I did after looking at tons of pics of poppy fields and sunsets. Seems to abstract-ish, the colors look weird, the figure looks even weirder. Still needs more work, I get saturated with what I'm working on too fast, need to work on my patience. It's supposedly based on a song 'Scarlet Flower fields' by Vanden Plas, was trying to get the feel of the song down on digital canvas.

The last image is just a photograph I took this morning... decided to crop a portion of it, looked kinda cool.

[Marria]

More ballpoint doodling and a couple of landscape studies. The first one a sort of challenge for myself, no references used (it shows). The second one was partially referenced... but there are some serious compositional and depth issues etc that need to be worked on. Tips anyone?

[amianna]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook and WoW I really like your figure drawings ! They're so much more advanced than mine and it's good to see you working on landscapes, I'm starting landscapes myself and it's really difficult to me, more so than figures for some reason even though it would seem like it's not. Good luck and keep practicing. I love your colored pictures, especially the one with the cat!

[AlexTooth]

Nice SB, good characters and enviro's I think you're doing really well, especially with regards to making your own chars! Keep practicing :)

[destinyapocalypse]

heyy there are too good jobs recently times i like 8 th page i think too good

[Marria]

Amianna: Thank you, your comment is so ego-boosting. Yeah, I'm finding landscapes/environments more difficult than figurative stuff. My patience runs out a lot faster. I guess it takes some getting used to?

AlexTooth: Thank you so much for the encouraging words and visit :D

Destinyapocalypse: Thanks once again, really appreciate the visits :)

Whoaa, been waaay over a month since my last update *nervous laugh*. Here are some unfinished experiments, doodles, posemaniacs and an attempt at doing some serious conceptart(last pic) etc

[Marria]

Quick update! The first two portraits are of Paul and Kynes from the Dune books. The rest are the usual sketchbook doodlings...

[kuni-bob]

Hi Marria! Hey, I recognize your artwork from another site -- I guess that's how you found me here! :) I'm really digging the life in your sketch linework. There's a lot of energy there and great gestures. This is really inspiring me to work on pushing those things myself! Keep up the good work -- I look forward to following your work here. :)

[Marria]

I've been slacking again, giving random doodling sessions preference over practicing the stuff that I find challenging... Might as well upload them... Shall upload more later *laziness attack*

[destinyapocalypse]

good jobs i like last she is sexy :D:D:D dont stop

[ghoulio]

Nice stuff...makes wanna take my ballpoint again, sometimes I just draw better with them cause I can´t erase or undo.
Keep practicing girl...gonna get a pen haha...

Cya...

[Marria]

Destinyapocalypse: :D Thank you again!

Ghoulio: Thank you! Yeah, ballpoints are awesome! Thanks for dropping by my sb!

The first image (That's supposed to be the God emperor of Dune by the way) seems to be seriously lacking something. I'm trying to improve my digital painting/painting/color/value etc. started doing some speed paints... i hope that helps.

I've also been trying to get back into traditional media... some quick watercolor drawings... and a random photoshop doodle.

[Marria]

Some digi-paints... trying to improve anatomy and lighting. I re-did a painting from 2008.

[Abrodos]

You are progressing greatly, especially on values.
On the bard painting (the june 2009 one), keep an eye on the composition: the upper half is very symmetrical (trees, figure, trees) but the asymmetry of the lower half of the painting makes all look a bit unconsistent, like if you had attached two different paintings.

Anyway, seeing how you improve is really inspiring. Keep up that work!

[Marria]

Abrodos: Wow! Thank you so much for the incredibly motivating comment! ...and for pointing that out! I felt there was something not quite right about the composition, but I just couldn't figure out what it was! It totally makes sense now.

Not much of an update, I seem to be doing more posemaniacs practice than color and anatomy studies, eep.

[Marria]

Been working on this, started feeling burnt out. I guess I should give it a break? Or should I force myself to finish it, ignoring the discomfort (stupid question, I know). Besides...(I know this is a bad excuse) but it's just that the weathers really bad... 100 degrees+ and my hand is slipping on the tablet because of the sweat... feels more gross than it sounds...ack... too much info!? I think I'll do some quick sketches instead?

Please point out what need fixing? head and hands small on the lower figure etc?

[AmontilladoAg]

The lower figure needs some manlier hands and facial features, I think... what's the story behind the pic, just outta curiosity? :)

[Marria]

AmontilladoAg: Thanks! About the face and hands... that makes sense... I referred my own hands... and the face (just for the angle though) :D

This pic was my spin on the song "King for a thousand years" by Helloween, it's basically about an evil spirit who umm ...manipulates this king to share his power with him, together they will rule for a 1000 years... I still have to add some elements to make it more relevant, specifically a crown floating between both their heads :/

[Edriss]

Thanks for your looksee through my sb, I thought I'd return the favor. I really like all your pen sketches and I'm jealous that you've got gotten down to 30 secs on pose maniacs, I can only currently do 60 without ending up with just a line. I also like the way you've managed to give your landscapes an almost glowing feel to them. On your latest pic I do agree with AmontilladoAg about the hands, maybe the one on our right could be a little bigger? I do however really like the spirit guy and I'm curious - how are you planning on colouring the pic?

[phiq]

Hi Marria, you're off to a great start! You have a strength in depicting character in your figures; I especially like the swashbuckling pirate woman up in the first post. You also have a good grasp of the human figure in terms of anatomy and motion, though some of your poses are a little weakly grounded. I'm not sure what else to say but just keep going! Perhaps you should use a greater variety of brushes, with texture, just to break up the usual digital art smooth look. Anyway, really good stuff!

[dierat]

Hey there, great SB so far! Your figures are coming along really well. Keep up the good work!

[maria riaz]

nice sketchbook.....i like ur studies n characters...faces are pretty awesome. i just started mine and i definately needs MMOOAAAR practice than u..

cya around

[Marria]

Can't believe I haven't updated this thing in more than a month!!

Edriss: Thank you, I really appreciate the comment. Haha, I know what you mean, 30 seconds was pretty tough in the beginning... Your posemaniacs sketches are so clean and smooth (compared to mine) I can see why they take 60 seconds... I let my lines go all over the place, scribbling as fast as possible trying to get down the complete figure no matter how ugly the end result is. I've noticed it has improved my drawing speed.

As for the Puppet King pic, (I've posted how it looks of late) I wanted to keep the colors minimal. Maybe because I'm still trying to get my values right and m not sure how and where to use colors? Any suggestions?

Phiq: Thank you so much for the morale boost and tips :D! (I'm so sorry for the incredibly late response). Could you point out some of the weakly grounded figures? I can guess which ones you might be referring to but I'm not sure. Thanks! About the brushes, I have downloaded a bunch of them once, guess I've been procrastinating about using them, high time I tried them out.

Two paintings, Puppet King and Storm Witch. Some strange things going on with the anatomy and lighting in the second one... help?
Need to break this habit of using a minimal color palette, also need to use traditional media more often!

[dierat]

Your digital work is really coming along :) I feel like your pen sketches have a bit more energy to them, which often gets lost in the transition to a full value/color image. So overall that might be something to keep in mind as you continue.

I think the anatomy looks fine in the last piece, but I feel like maybe the problem lies in the figure's balance of weight. Right now it looks like she's falling over, and that she must be wearing out her back muscles to stay erect like at that angle. I'm also a little confused as to what the figure is feeling/doing; is she controlling the lightning? I think her pose could be improved to make the scene clearer (at first I thought she was afraid of the lightning until I read the title of the piece).

For value/color the only thing crit I have is that it could help the readability of the image if you neutralized the highlights in the background when they move behind the figure (or neutralize the highlights on the figure where the light of the bg would be brighter than hers). For example, in the valley you have some horizontal yellow highlights that connect to the figure's highlights and creates a confusing sense of depth. If the highlights in the valley were slightly darker and more neutral, they would appear to be further away and the figure's silhouette would be easier to read (especially neutralize the highlights as they come nearer the figure). With the lightning you have a similar problem in that the lights of the lightning and the highlights in the hair seem to merge and connect as if she's being hit by lightning. In that case I would make the lightning a little cleaner and make it less yellow (I think lightning is typically more blue/purple anyway) so it's clearer where the hair ends and where the lightning begins. And you could make the lower edge of her right arm a dark darker/more purple so it's not competing with the yellow of the sky. (Lately I've been doing back-lit images and I've had this problem a lot where the light source and the highlights on the figure are competing.)

Sorry for the giant block of text, but hopefully you'll find something in there helpful as you continue with this piece ;)

[Marria]

Dierat: Wow, what are you apologizing for? :D I'm incredibly grateful to read giant blocks of (incredibly helpful) text like yours! Thank you so much!

I wanted the pose to look like shes floating sideways and that her figure's materializing from the clouds, the lightning is supposed to be coming from her... now that you mention it, it does look like she's afraid of it and is being struck by it, heheh. I didn't look at it that way, thanks for pointing that out. And for clearing that about the depth of the background... I was having trouble with that, that's cleared up a fair bit as well :)

Once again, I really appreciate the awesome comment! thank you so much for the time

[maria riaz]

hey marria, yaar when i commented on ur SB i didnt know abt that putting ur link in signature thing.....now i know. plus thanx for googling me and for ur sweet comments on my SB. yar nothings happening aaj kal no job and dint get scholarship call and wont b getting one coz time is up....u tell wats happening wat abt ur scholarship thing any news???
that bakra concept was that he is the black sheep in jungle poluting the environment.


now u dont hav to google me again...cheeers!!!!!

[Marria]

two new quick digi, around and hour on each? Both are characters from an Urdu epic. The first is an sorcerer emperor the second, his aunt also a sorceress. How old does she look. Lemme know what I need to fix. Thanks!

[Marria]

Anatomy/proportion mess-ups galore! Progress on the old lady, a quicki-sh character sketch for someone (looks funny) and another super quick character sketch.

[maria riaz]

the sorcerer looks nice so far, the pearl mala in his neck is coming out nicely....well the old lady is not looking old actually she seems to b midle aged in the WIP so far......do somethin wid her figure, a lil hunch back and a bit drooping breast wud add to her age. study old women figures, i think a few more defined wrinkles will easily make face more aged...u hav to focus on the figure now.

[Marria]

Maria: Thank you! :) She's supposed to be old, but she's still capable of combat. it's confusing, but I'll try to work things out. here's how it look so far. Her head seemed a little too big to me, I hope it doesn't look small now.

And another quickie I did today, muddy colors, any weirdness proportion-wise?

[Marria]

My battle of the sexes challenge entry and a sketchie thingie of a character

[dierat]

Your portraits are wonderful! I particularly like the first image in post #39 and the second image in post #40. Keep up the good work! ;)

[Marria]

Eep!

Okay. A quick character concept
Some doodles
Umm, an attempt at gouache. Gilgamesh and (dead)Enkidu.

[andres333]

You scratch fearless that's the way!, the only thing left is to put the details softly

[Marria]

Meh... going through one of those phases where it all just seems hopeless :/.

A quick character portrait for a friend... and that tacky character concept, I'm sick of it now.

[dierat]

Hey there, sorry to hear that you've been kinda down about your work. I get that all the time, so I know just how you feel. I love your doodles; I wish I could sketch the figure as easily as you make it look. And I like your character concept, and I don't think it's tacky. I really like the pose, the composition, and the movement in her sash. For crits, the position of the outstretched arm feels a bit uncomfortable at the moment, and I think her head is a bit large for her body. Also I think she could use a curved knife strapped to her leg or hip for close combat. Keep up the good work! ;)

[maria riaz]

hey marria...just try to jump out of this hopeless phase....i had 10x of this sorta phase but i m all bucked up now....ur work rocks jigar.....keep working
cheers!!!

[andres333]

"phases where it all just seems hopeless" this is just a part of learning, I get through these phases by copying the great masters, and practicing the basics, "gesture" and "structure".

[Marria]

Dierat: Thank you yet again. I was motivated to go back to it. I am guilty of leaving so many paintings unfinished. Need to get un-lazy and find a ref or just take a pic of myself in that pose :D. I'm happy to be out of that phase at the moment!

Maria: Thanks jigaarr!! Yep, as I said, it's a phase, but it rarely stops me from drawing. I just complain a lot, haha! But I'm okay now!

Andres333: Thank you. In some ways it's good to go through these phases, it's a sign of wanting to grow instead of being perfectly happy with ones skills. Thank you so much for the advice :)


So 1) a bit more work on the character concept 2) something which started out as a sketch for DSG (can't decide which pose to use), 3) Elric of Melnibone doodle and 4) An experimental thingy.

[dierat]

Nice update. That arm's already looking much better than before. For the DSG variations, I like the 2nd one; I think that pose works better with her expression. The last image looks interesting - hope you continue with that.

[Marria]

Dierat: Thanks! Hope to wind up that concept soon. pic No. 2; I preferred the second variation as well, but really needed a second opinion! The last one is a marker sketch combined with scanned paint splatters and some *gasp* Gaussian blur over-usage! Let's see where that goes.

[Marria]

Have mixed feelings about this. Stiff cloak, strange legs etc...

[Marria]

Some sketches for a friends table top rpg game

[Marria]

SB randomness, accidentally re-posted one of the sketches, eep.

[Marria]

Happy new year!

A quick gesture thingy and a water color/acrylic thingy from last year.

[Marria]

Ugh, a silly idea I had, has some weird issues I can't seem to pinpoint :/... and more gesture doodles...

[Marria]

Another experiment in gouache, inspired by Rumi's poetry.

To hear the song of the reed
everything you have ever known must be left behind.

[ilmenhin]

I like your works - particularly the one 2 posts before- the one you called "a silly idea". I think it's beautiful. ^^ I also like your Storm Witch. Please keep posting!

[TheButterBunny]

really enjoyed looking through your sketchbook, you're working on some awesome stuff: my favourites are the last one in #45 and post #59! lovely stuff, different too!

I'm also highly jealous of your 30 secs. posemaniacs: I'm still on the 60 secs. myself as I just can't get them down any faster!

I'm new to all this so i don't feel I can crit you, but it looks to me like your working on all the right things: anatomy, gestures, tonal values colour etc.

Keep them coming!

Katie

[Jasper Flick]

Overall nice figures! I'm quite fond of the bard and rusalka showing their respective thoughts on what'll happen.

Considering digital coloring: Maybe focus on monochrome for a while? Your grayscales have a very limited value range so far, you could push them much further. And with physical media you mostly can't help but blend colors, while with digital you often have to do it consciously or get stuck with big dead single-hue areas.

[maria riaz]

hey Marria....nice updates....like the poses and quick sketches...cheers

[Marria]

Ilmenhin, TheButterBunny, Jasper flick And Maria: thank you so much for going through my sketchbook and leaving your thoughts and comments :) I appreciate it immensely!

Still working on those values. I'm afraid the colors got a little muddy here?

[ilmenhin]

I actually like the feel of the muddied colours- they certainly add to the mysterious (and perhaps a little bit of sinister) atmosphere -unless that's not what you're going for.

[Marria]

Rincewind from Terry Pratchett's Discworld books... completed an unfinished painting from last year.

[TASmith]

These last two characters are great! For me the biggest problems are:

For the spellcaster in purple, the shadow seems undefined. If it's going to be black around his feet then make it black. But if it's going to be gray, then define the objects better.

For the running man, the folds of his clothing are off. It doesn't feel accurate, especially with the momentum of his run. Try dressing a family member similarly and take some reference photos. and/or study some drapery.

How about an update? It's been a little while and I'd like to here how life in Pakistan's treating you, too.

[Marria]

TAsmith: Thank you for pointing those things out, I appreciate it :) I was pretty confused while painting the purple spellcaster, I'm still trying to figure out the role of blacks and greys in poorly lit/desaturated areas. I'll try doing what you've mentioned. As for the running man. Ah yes, drapery, I really need to work on that (I was having problems with that in the purple sorcerer painting as well). I have this Burnes hogarth e-book on drapery, need to look at it as well.

Life's been okay, but the uncertainty is always there :/. Our president is being a major pain... creating a government vs supreme court clash. The Chief Justice is trying to turn this kleptocracy into a democracy and the politicians are giving him a hard time for it. Just a week back there was a talk of emergency being declared. But it was just a rumor, thankfully. Thanks for asking :)

Ahem, update. I've been experimenting with bright colors and different media..yeh... crits welcome.

[Marria]

Another mixed media experiment. Floresecent pink marker!:anime:

[Marria]

Tried my hand at an environment :/

looks kinda semi-abstract...

[Marria]

fairy man thing :/

Mixed media, acrylics, gouache, markers, crayons etc

[Marria]

Started this in traditional media, messed up bad, tried to fix it... got worse. Eventually scanned it and attempted fixing it in photoshop.

[Marria]

Yet more mixed media ... meh.

[maria riaz]

hey marria....long time...wasssuppp????
nice updates like those florescent pen drawings....keep them coming
cheers:)

[qlotzan]

nice sketckbook the most i find it strong in your style the fantasy creatures and landscapes

keep it up and have fun with your artwork practcing and study

qlotzan;)

[Marria]

Thank you for dropping by and commenting on my sketchbook qlotzan, I'm motivated to update it :)

Updating after a whole year, eep... is getting married/moving/settling a good excuse? Anyway these are four or five months old, hope to post newer stuff very soon.

[Naidy]

Hello, hello!
Realy love your way with colour, some nice characters and concepts too.
Keep up the good work, mate. :heart:

[Marria]

Sketches and a photograph of the amaltaas in bloom outside my window

[Marria]

Working on this. White background - my bad.

[shambok]

Great work ... keep em coming! real like the vibrancy of the coloured line figure drawings :)

[dierat]

Very nice, the figure has a wonderfully organic flow; I hope you continue with it. And I know this piece is really old, but I love the lutenist and naiad sketch in post #58 (http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2584493&postcount=58). Keep posting! ;)