To the Point, Line and Shape! [Dec5th, Life is beautiful]

[rewind]

Allright. I just gonna keep it simple and straightforward in
this thread, 'cause I have no idea how long it's
gonna survive the competition in this forum. For all I know it
might be dead and gone within half-day.

My plan is to post everyday the best-of-the-day works and
let you tear them apart with your jaw-breaking critic, so I can
learn as fast as I can by my mistakes.

Let's see.
From today:

Painter Sketches:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_1.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_2.jpg

OC Sketches:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_3.jpg

Easy Toon "Sketches":
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_4.gif http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_5.gif
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_6.gif http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_8.gif
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_9.gif

thanks a lot if you're reading this!

[rewind]

oh yeah. and i forgot all about the study
in photoshop - it's not finished though, because
the anatomy of the girl differed from the reference, so
i decided to drop it
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_77.jpg

and while i'm at it why not post the wip shot of another
portrait i also posted in the other subforum (wips)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/girlwip1.jpg

[redpaint]

hey, dont be so down on yourself about the competition in the forum. they are though, but dont let it get you down. the advice is almost always useful. never abandon he sketchbook! lol, good luck, keep posting!

[rewind]

thanks redpaint.
i don't look down on myself though!
pessimism is a pure waste of time in my opinion.
if no one's looking at the sketchbook though, there's no
point in keeping it online - i will progress on my own anyway,
so why bother putting it in here if no one cares about it.

a shot from an oc session i just had with dorian,
i like the shading even though it's just a quick lil thing:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day1_9.jpg

[sly's hand]

I will pay attention to the sketchbook :D. The animations are diferent, Simple smooth and fluid. I am not the best for the advise on the digital work, but they look like they are coming along ok. I will say that the rendering needs some work Little do I know what kind simply because I dont know myself :D. And the last one though quick it has a good feeling as well as the black and white sketches.

And thankyou in advance for the Hosting.

later,
sly

[rewind]

just some random playfullness of easytoons today:

warm-up:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day2_1.gif http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day2_2.gif

cube rotations:
(check out the magical 3-sided cube to the left)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day2_3.gif http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day2_4.gif

juggling:
(i intended to do a different trick, but this one showed up!?)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day2_5.gif

[sly's hand]

You do some fun things with easytoon, and they seem to be getting slightly more complex at that. Out of curiosity what is OC? Keep rockin.

later,
sly

[rewind]

hey sly,
thanks for all your comments. i appreciate them a lot!
but my shading doesn't only need just "some" work -
i'd be better if i don't do anything else but sketch and paint!
this reminds me of a something by rebecca brown i just read:
"Every morning, the first thing I would do was practice.
It was the first thing I would do when I got home from
school and the last thing I would do before I went to bed.
I realized at the very beginning that if you practiced really
hard, the rewards are even greater."
Word to that!

OC (Open Canvas) used to be a freeware painting program
with the special feature of being able to have network sessions with
other people on the same virtual canvas. You can find
the current version on the official website www.portalgraphics.net,
but it doesn't have the network feature anymore -
neither is it freeware anymore.
a great pity in my opinion. i'll pm you with a link for the
old version with which i also did this today:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day3_1.jpg
nothing else for today. i had to work on an essay..

[sly's hand]

I will say this, while I have yet to mess around with it, I will mess around to see what I can do. Rebbeca has a good view on the subject, Practice till you are blue in the face then practice some more... I do to I have to practice much more often I look forward to more sketches to see how you come along :D.

later,
sly

PS thanks for the PM.

[rewind]

a little morning corel painter session
the first two took around 15 minutes.
the third around 1 1/2 hours.
scratchboard tool all the way!
it's the only tool i've used in painter yet.
suggestions anyone?
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day4_1.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day4_2.jpg


http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day4_3.jpg


comments much appreciated

+more later the day (its noon here now)

[rewind]

some random sketch i like:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_10.jpg

i was in florence for a few days to check for an apartment,
as i'm going to commence my studies there at the
angel academy of art (http://www.angelartschool.com) in january.
some sketches from the journey:
(faber castell ecco pigment 0.1, 0.7 all the way babee)

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_9.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_7.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_1.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_8.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_17.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_11.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_16.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_14.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_13.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_15.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_3.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_2.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_20.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_6.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_18.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_19.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_4.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_12.jpg


while waiting at the airport for the next flight i kinda felt like:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_5.jpg

another sketch from the night i've returned to my parent's house:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day5_77.jpg
can't wait to go back to firenze..

[dorian]

my man
very last one is one of your strongest.

trying to crit in general and look for "-" and "+"
starting with the easy part:

+ good changes in motive matters: full (half :) body poses, enviros
+ your lines get better a lot (esp. last one!)

- lots of features misplaced
- rather "careless" feel overall

I'd love to see a drawing that you do really patiently.
careful rendering, maybe contruct a head before
drawing to make shure perspective is right and
features get placed correctly, then setting your light
and redering your scene, constantly thinking about
where your lightsource is, where your planes are,
and what the result of the combination of these two
might look like.
until all of this has gone to your subconscious, you'll
have to think about it constantly


hope this helps!

[rewind]

first off, two sketches i like:
(i haven't done much with ink liners lately, so i'm having a blast with it)

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_01.jpg
(beware, the girl is holding a playing card - inspired by sly's animations)

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_02.jpg


'sup dorian.
thanks for the quality critic!
the thing why all of these sketches are so loose (or careless
as you put it), is because they're just doodles. i just
let the pen slide without thinking too much of what i'm doing.
it's a sketchbook after all.. sketchy sketchy ;)
you say that there are many features misplaced.
could you please point them out or even do some corrections with
a red colour or something?
for your desire to see some more careful drawings i'm
gonna post two finished works - one ink, one pencil.

contemplating emptiness: (48x37cm)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_99.jpg

nepali woman carrying a basket: (21x16cm)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_88.jpg
wanna see more finished stuff? :P


and three of the dozen hand studies i've been doing lately:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_03.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_04.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_05.jpg

[rewind]

some more sketches:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_06.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_08.jpg


my sweet, sweet 0.1 pigment died on me, so it's back to pencils until i'll buy a new one:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day6_07.jpg
i think i'll do a a3 drawing of the guy on the chair to the left. i like the idea & composition..
(the scans are pretty bad.. ak -_-)

going to study some hiroki endo environments now.
maybe i'll post them later on.

[sly's hand]

I have to say hey, you honor me, I have no advise, I am all out tonight And I need sleep early, Nice updates later man.

sly

[rewind]

some random sketches:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day7_1.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day7_2.jpg

do you know these images before you fall asleep?
when the hypnogatic imagery actually becomes scenes..
i just fell asleep on the table for a splitsecond and that's
what i saw:
(of course not really 1:1, because my skill is so ridiculous
that i couldn't possibly portray it as i saw it.. anyway,
i remember a friend of mine saying in the image that
'this is how thoughts are created'. made perfect sense
while i was still in the dream(?), now i have no idea
what was meant by it...
kinda f&*ed up the rendering of the head)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day7_5.jpg

btw. anyone read dali's 50 secrets to magic craftmanship?
there he actually describes a technique (the sleep of the key)
to use these pre-dream images/scenes for your art ..

[rewind]

good morning world

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day8_1.jpg

oh and dorian. thanks again for the critic.
dunno what happened in my subconsciouss, but it seems
that i'm really taking more time now to 'carefully' sketch
teh things.. yep

[rewind]

i need mad advise on how to stop rendering like a n00b

first two painter, other opencanvas
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day8_2.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day8_4.jpg


http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day8_3.jpg

[rewind]

playin' the infamous game (which i don't know the name of)
while waiting for a gig to start.
quite hilarious if you ask me:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day8_5.jpg

if you wanna listen to some incredibly nice drum'n'bass
fusion then check out www.styleconfusion.de - you can
download tracks from the page. they were playing and
their music is very beautiful!
im off to sleep now.. . .

[Matt Smith]

those little animations are somewhat interesting. as for your sketches, they are lookin good so far, but try to clean them up more and work on your forms on anatomy.

[Zord]

rewind, good to see you posting a lot. Would like to some more studies as some of the characters seem to be a bit off. We learn in this game called art and then advance through levels with improvement. Keep it up!

[rewind]

thanks for the comments peeps.
sly: the honor is all on my side. . your animation skills r0xor!
m.smith: yep. anatomy is a biggie. but i think it's not just
that. also perspective, gestures and everything that plays a role really..
zord: thanks. what exactly is 'off?'
shesh. people keep telling me my stuff is off. features are
off. i kinda see that, but i don't exactly know where the
problem lies - else i wouldn't do it in the first place. man,
i need a teacher! (lookin' forward so much to florence)
could anyone please point out some of my mistakes to me?
i'd be happy happy..
thanks!

one page from this morning
(i think the girl on the left is actually the singer from the band last night)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day9_1.jpg

[asoir]

Doing well! One thing that comes to mind (dunno if anyone's already said this) that your faces can get a little too round, try adding more realism or bumpiness to the faces and they'll look more realistic + different. Keep it up!

[rewind]

hey asoir,
thanks for the advise. i was wondering about that for some
time now. i'll put it into action tomorrow - after i'll get some sleep.

some sketches from today.
'was crusing around with friends, so not much work..

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day9_2.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day9_3.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day9_4.jpg

from life:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day9_5.jpg

[rewind]

some more stuffy stuff:
(the two helmets are studies of a photo of a bomb-squad)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day10_1.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day10_2.jpg
sometimes(mosttimes?) my perspectives are very lame

a michelangelo study:
(i was trying to get a feeling for a better "stroke policy",
but since i couldn't find the 0.3 liner it was kind of a bummer
trying to imitate the lines with a 0.1.)
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day10_3.jpg


some 3-month-old rembrandt studies, i just found -
thought you could enjoy them, so i'm posting them:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day10_4.jpg

[MattGamer]

I have a slow connection, so I can't view all the images in the time I have now. But for sure, I will be back to check out the other images.
I admire your dedication to art and the many posts you've done already since November. This is my hardest thing to do... get started in drawing all the time no matter what. There's always distractions (ie. movies, games, etc) and I need to get those out of the way.

I agree with Asoir and saw how round some of the faces you had were. It's almost reminds me of a certian cartoon character (but I can't pinpoint it). Other than that, I enjoy the first paintings that I could see with the loading on my connection. Bbs (be back soon). ;)

And thanks for the comment on my sketchbook. ;)

[rewind]

a little oc session, for teh amusement of y'all:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day11_1.jpg

matt: thanks for dropping in. nice sig, btw! :D
yeah. distraction is a work-killer. i've been fighting a lot with
it lately, too. but i think i knocked it out for the time being.
once it gets up again i might knock it dead just to make sure :P
round faces.. yes, round faces all around. i read and watch a
lot of japanese comics/cartoons, so i suppose that's where it
comes from... gotta change that style! - at least a little

[mull77]

Hi dude, thanks for the post. Thought i would return the favour :)

You've got the beginnings of a good style here, and you show a lot of imagination and your hand studies are really nice.

I think you need to work a little on your faces though. Do loads of quick studies (really quick) from all different angles, and all sorts of different people. Work on what's actually there, rather than what you think you see...trust me, the two are always further apart than you think.

Oh, good anims as well. Keep posting!

[rewind]

hey mull. thanks for the advise!
all these people dropping in and telling me i should work
on my faces - it's gotta be a good thing!

some sketches - the beginning of a white life:
http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day11_2.jpg

http://www.astridnagel.de/rewind/ca/day11_3.jpg

[MattGamer]

Thanks for the compliment on the sig. ;)
I like your pieces with the clothing and mechanical stuff. Very cool that you spent the time to think about it. I love doing that sort of stuff, but always trick my mind into thinking it would take me ages to think up a mecha bot or something. Someday though... maybe like today or something when I'm not studying... will be the day I do that. Haha... I bet it would take me a good 5 hours just to get the details on paper, then another 12 hours to paint the mech bot. Haha... that's fantasy talk for me... gosh I need to learn the body's muscles, bones, etc. I've got to get me good references... I think that's the key to good art. Practice and great references, because if you painted/drawed what was in your mind all the time, you'd just be drawing fantasy stuff that did help you learn at all. This is the habbit I have to break.

Nice stuff... practice, practice, practice! "I'll be back." :)