suhsealyuh's sketchbook

[suhsealyuh]

Hi everyone. My name's Cecilia. Im majoring in visual arts ("fine" arts), but i would take illustration or concept art classes if they were offered at my school :(
anyway, this is my second sketchbook, but ill try to keep this one updated so it doesnt disappear. lately, ive been practicing more with digital painting using old versions of photoshop and painter (plus the occasional trials of newer versions), but i still have much to learn.

please feel free to give me many many tips and critiques! :)

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/4784/bougcopy1fy7.jpg

value and color studies:
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2862/hamstervaluetk2.jpg
tried this way of limiting my color palete:
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/318/fatmancolorvalueqm1.jpg

sketches:
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/8735/sillysmilejb4.jpg http://img282.imageshack.us/img282/116/sketchboyfrienddrawmodewb6.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4616/walrussketchob5.jpg

[drd]

First post!

Welcome Cecilia =) Nice start, liking your digipaints, I'm just starting out, really...

Loving that last one, kind of Salvador Dali-esque, me thinks.

[suhsealyuh]

hi drd. thanks for you comment :) what digital paint program do you use? i have photoshop, but ive tried painter and open canvas which i like as well for various reasons.
i uploaded some more stuff:
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/6264/armrestsketchsu1.jpg http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/895/shoesketchaj9.jpg
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6195/modelarmrestoo2.jpg http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/6665/handglasssketchis6.jpg
older work painted over in open canvas trial
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/7666/handglasssj8.jpg
OC practice again. dont really like how this one turned out :/
http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/5531/girlhandmc5.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5391/girlarmoutea7.jpg fooling around with ps: http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9025/girldressforestil8.jpg

[suhsealyuh]

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1658/girlpose1qu.jpg http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/4589/modelrunningawaysm4.jpghttp://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2627/womansketchzp4.jpg

never finished this one. dont know if its worth finishing o_o; done in photoshop 3.0:
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6411/newyearuh4.jpg

something i did for my drawing class awhile back. chalk pastels:
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4089/octowholexg2.jpg

and some older acrylic paint sketches that i still kinda like:
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9960/wolfpaintkw1.jpghttp://img453.imageshack.us/img453/355/toocloseforcomfortyt3.jpg
http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/4179/figuresqh5.jpg

[suhsealyuh]

my attempt at joker. kind of based on adrien brody... i dont think it really looks like him :\
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4310/jokerbrody1sy6.jpg http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/3659/skullburgergi0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1169/modelpinkpurpid8.jpghttp://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7382/modelnofacechairrestfh2.jpg
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/9118/smallskullmb0.jpghttp://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9643/violetar5.jpg

[suhsealyuh]

sketches of some old farts :x ten to twenty minutes
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3939/old2dz0.jpghttp://img242.imageshack.us/img242/3511/old3ql9.jpg
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/8586/old1sx2.jpg

[suhsealyuh]

first two sketches, no reference:
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7580/unipersondy1.jpg http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6716/familysketchyx7.jpg
sketches:
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9753/dudethinkingor5.jpg http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/4307/grandmaposesx2.jpg
reference from sculpture:
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2743/neptunege8.jpg
my digitals look kinda blurry :/

[suhsealyuh]

just a sketch. havent used painter in awhile...

[Adam.Katsaros]

Hi! Guess ill get things started, so without further mention:

Robot Hamster = COOL (http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2862/hamstervaluetk2.jpg)

Will post more later ;)

[MUNIZ]

I totally dig the first digi paint. I think it's the use colors in the subject in relation to the BG color. SUPER. Do more of these!! They are beatiful!!

[4rt-r41d]

drawings comming long nicley. but i would suggest you copy a master painting black & white, and really try to copy it, and nail all teh values.
itll help you to just concentrate on form.

keep at it, looks fantastic

[smellykitty]

wonderful stuff! I love your sketches of live people the most, mine were never that good looking. I like your studies of other paintings, but I also feel if you are going to study another painting the aim is to understand their process more than anything.

For example, alot of reinassance paintings - even if they appear really colorful - were only made using three colors plus white and black. I don't know what your process is, I can only guess by what I am seeing! My 'guess' is you are not creating the painting using the same colors as the old masters.

Even if your medium is digital, you can still recreate the process of these old masters. I think you will get more out of your studies that way!

looking foward to seeing more

[Jove]

Nice stuff, keep doing life studies.
I think you're going a little crazy with the colors, especially in your digital work, try working with smaller nuances and see how that works. Kitty's suggestion is a good idea, try thinking of it more like a traditional media and use less colors.

[TomCardin]

The reference from the sculpture you did is awesome! I agree with the advice your getting! Most important is to just keep going...your using an excellent full range of values in your paintings but details are remaining too sketchy.

My cheesy cheesy trick is to start with tiny thumnails to nail down composition and start enlarging and detailing sometimes 3 or 4 times till the resolution is 800x600 or so. Its actually a very fast way to work digitally, and it soaks up details where you want in the points of interest.

[suhsealyuh]

adam- glad you like the hamster :)
muniz- thanks. i may have just been lucky with the color combo on that first painting, but ill try for some more like it.
waka- ill try a b and w
kitty and jove- i didnt think i was using that many colors :(, but i tried to copy a da vinci painting using only a few colors. it was very difficult to get the same colors as the original, especially for the skin tones. :/
tom- thats a good idea, thanks. may help keep my programs from lagging too :)

sketch in ps:
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3605/girlft8.jpg
took it to painter because i couldnt blend in ps. im really dissapointed in this... the colors and the proportions are off -_- :
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/339/rengirllg2.jpg the original: http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/5616/leonardodavinciermine1zm6.jpg

hand from life:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/3016/handptvk0.jpg blue mountain glider: http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/4246/yvesglideryq5.jpg

[4rt-r41d]

the hand looks good.
and the master study, before you paint it, make sure you got the sketch right, so you have all the proportions right. then you can concenrate on colour only, and dont have to bother about proportions.

other then that.
keep at it!
//peace

[smellykitty]

hey! they arent called the old masters for no reason! its a real challenge you cant get over night =3 your study is still great though! I like your new color pallette and I think it was a good choice for the painting you were studying from. the drawing is so close to the original as well

I love drawing creatures. . but I had a slight problem with that challenge, mostly that the creature had to be all blue! but if you do another creature challenge again, really imagine this being a living creature. could your creature possibly glide with those transparent flaps? and since your creature is living on snowy mountians, would it need a thicker coat of fur? what purpose would the fins have, and so on.

otherwise I like the quickly loose style you did for the mountains, although for the creature thread, you dont necessarily need a background do you? =D

[MUNIZ]

suhsealyuh The master study is nothing to get frustrated over. Overall the piece has a lot consistencies w/ Davinci's piece. I think if you took the 2 images, his and yours and put them side by side on the same file. Scaled them both to pretty close the same size and then started pulling some of your ruler grid lines down into the image. This might help you make your proportional changes faster. Art will never be easy! That's why we like it!!!

[Adam.Katsaros]

Love the ferret in the study, too bad its not robot :(

In all honesty keep up that study theres no reason to stop, just go in with a finer brush and fix things up. Also if your having touble maybe go back to basics? Perhaps do studies in Black and White, so you can focus on proportion and tone.

Good to see a triple artwork post!

[Jove]

Nice stuff, I especially like the hand even though the knuckles seems to show to much for that angle. Earlier I wasn't so much referring to the number of colors as the strength of the colors. You tend to use very strong and contrasting colors, try working more with subtle nuances and use more subtle colors, right now they're all over the scale.

[MUNIZ]

I want to see some MORE old master Studies. You've got the skills!! Just dropping by to say HI:)

[chilijapones]

I'm really digging the hand holding the wine glass. the color and lighting is looking really nice with the highlights on the glass and the shades in the wine underneath. the line drawing looks more life like as far as lines go. so be carful to not loose those importnat lines and shapes when moving form line art to coloring. looking good.

[MUNIZ]

Just dropping by to see if you were still painting?

[dan liimatta]

I really need get back to using markers again, it's been years :(

Anyways why I had such a sweet remembrance is your marker sketches & they are probably my favourites in here, besides the studies of the masters.

oh and that unicorn - it's bloody great ;)

[suhsealyuh]

new images finally. woo woo. thank you everyone for your responses. im kinda embarrassed by these, because i wasnt thinking totally about everyones suggestions, but i plan on it. master studies and subtle colors will come >_<!

some mice and ears (drawn from a real image of a mouse with an ear growing on it) i tried a new process for me- first black and white, then color layer, then a bit more color over that on a regular layer:
http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/4465/mouseearbwpaint1dj0.jpg http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7369/ratearcolor11he3.jpg
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7821/ratearcolor21cq2.jpg

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/797/alienbabyys2.jpg
painted in the new CA paintchat :) i love that thing. i tried making it less blurry around the edges. i think the color needs work. i just kinda guessed about the highlights and reflective light. :/

and a wip. maybe someone can look at the process and tell me what im doing wrong. (its painted from a photo):

and the image i copied from: http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/2521/purplightno9.jpg :^^:

and for something else:
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/6228/fatwheelchairladycolorclq6.jpg used reference for this. yes. yes i did.

[dan liimatta]

Your digitals gets mushy, and losses form due to it. I think you should try a harder more opaque brush - at least to train with, or mix in with your current smooth very transparent strokes.

Anyway I'm probably missing out on the paintchat - fill in me in :P

[4rt-r41d]

What Dan said :)

[suhsealyuh]

wip for the new cow- heart harvester P:< mmmm..
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/9986/heartharvesterxy6.jpg
used a harder brush for this one- 0% spacing and fade and 100% hardness :P i also used a color combination that im familiar with- purple and yellow. its almost like black and white. heh :bashful: one thing i noticed- when i uploaded it, the colors faded a bit :(
even so, im still kinda happy with the way its going. i may actually submit it this time. ^_^; tell me what you think.

[Adam.Katsaros]

I like it. It intersts me, however don't forget diegesis... your telling us about this creature, at the moment we can count maybe 2-3 major things from your concept. What im saying is I want to know more about this creature. The soultion may be to draw many thumbs and explore what the cow - heart haverster actually is, then pick out the defining features.

A nice WIP overall.

[a.lam]

I think you have a really strong drawing basis. I really like your life drawings, because you have a good sense of the figure. One of my instructors once told me that I'm much better at drawing than painting because I've been drawing for much longer. So when I'm painting, I should start with a good drawing, and as a result my painting will be stronger because it plays off my strength.

I think the same thing may apply to you as well, so perhaps you can try starting with a really solid drawing first, and then painting on top of it. This may also help with your mushy edges, because your line drawing will help you define where edges are. Then you will know better where to sharpen the shadows. Don't be afraid to be really harsh with value transitions! Sometimes it also helps, if you use photoshop, to do all your darks and lights as selections at first. Grab that polygon or free selection tool and block in the light and dark areas. Then you can blend the edges together to soften the effect.

Another good idea is to always work in 300 dpi, and zooooom right in around the value transitions to get them nice and sharp.

Keep it up!

[JoeEffect]

pretty nice your sb.some variety work here.keep posting

[a.lam]

Here, I did a quick tutorial about what I was talking about just because. It's kind of bad. Sorry :( But it illustrates what I meant. And you can totally see how I'm worse at painting than drawing -___-;; Nonetheless, I hope it helps. This is only one of many ways to help you get sharper edges though, and of course this is just advice.

[suhsealyuh]

hey everyone
adam- ive been racking my brain trying to find a good concept for the heart harvester. the form has changed pretty drastically over the course of my many attempts. here are my latest versions:
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/471/turtwiphd3.jpg
which became:
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/6985/newheartharvesterjp0.jpg

still think the form is a lil weird looking, but im happy with it in some ways.. i like that it doesnt look like a turtle anymore. and i think its more solid than some of my stuff. dan and everyone- maybe im finally starting to get what youre all talking about?

here's a paint chat sketch with solid brushstrokes:
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/4554/peterhb8.jpg

a.lam- thank you for your responses :) i agree that starting with a solid drawing can help paintings look more solid. the only thing is, i think ive just developed this mindset that paintings should be more free, or more direct, and that seeing the actual brushstroke (if you want to call it that) is important. im used to painting with real acrylics, so digital has definitly been a challege for me.
i did my heart harvester painting in a similar manner as you suggested, and here is a wip of another painting where i drew an outline first:
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/9732/wipsculpks5.jpg
the only thing is, i didnt divide values up so much, but i still think it turned out pretty good. *shrug*
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7317/sculpsketchdj5.jpg hmm..
i think another way may be to combine your suggestions of starting with a good drawing (or outline) and of using opaque brushstrokes and strong value differences, and Then!.. maybe take it to Painter to get the imitation of real strokes and to soften it a bit?
i really appreciate your tutorial. i think its helped me clarify my thoughts on the whole process. thank you :*

edit: maybe i should post this to show you what that Thing is i was painting:
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/7184/clothsculppk6.jpg
cloth sculpture i did for school. i know..its not concept art related :x sorry.

[suhsealyuh]

not much today :/
1st one-reference
2nd- no reference, worked from sketch. liked the atmosphere..
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2008/girlft2.jpg http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3871/childrentc9.jpg

[mentler]

Very interesting sb <> great imagination

[Adam.Katsaros]

Hey, that cloth scultpture is relly cool and a really good reference to practice color and tone. I wish I had one hehe.

I think your heart harvester design is looking more like concept art now! excellent work. Now chuck a perspective grid in thier and make the creature in blocks (like I kinda did in my latest work) then put in the curved surfaces (remeber the corners of the box act like a center line in 2 pont perspective so position the center of the sphere on them). The box method also helps for lighting (just sade one side of the box) - anyway give it a go.

Id also like to see 10-20 tiny thumbnails of possible backgrounds for the heart harvester, just remeber to base them on at least a one point grid so we have a sense of depth.

ok, enough about what I want to see.

[suhsealyuh]

mentler- thanks :) your sb is very interesting as well
adam- i can make you a sculpture...for a small fee ;P
as for perspective... i dont know much about that. you lost me with the "curved surfaces" "1 pt, 2 pt" and all ._.; the box method sounds like a good technique though..

here are jsut a few sketches for the stylized eagle contest. right now, im just trying to get a feel for the eagle shape-
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4653/eagle1vb7.jpg http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/1238/eagle2cy2.jpg
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/4081/eagle3qs6.jpg
i think ill work with the last bottom sketch.

[suhsealyuh]

ive been having fun with the trial version of painter x :)

bleh- http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/3816/eaglejpghv2.jpg
better?- http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4338/eagle5jk7.jpg
from reference-
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/4066/nudesk1.jpg

[suhsealyuh]

come on people. i need some c and c! :P
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1715/poutrl0.jpg

[suhsealyuh]

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/9020/stylizedeaglelq0.jpg

[myalias]

cool stuff, one thing i would suggest is to do more studies, nothing fancy just quick sketches whenever you have a few minutes to spare. It will improve your understanding of muscles, anatomy, and features.

[smellykitty]

hi hi hi! *remember me?*

I really like the cartoony eagle lines, but I think youve lost something in the colored versions. lines are just as much apart of a character as are its colors. pay extra attention to the shapes your original line version creates, and compare it to the shapes your colored ones make. Compare the one with the glasses, do you see how different their faces are?

the lined one has more character becuase the feathers are more ruffled, the beak is crooked and becuase of the eyebrow lines. before to keep these features in the colored version and it should feel much stronger!

[suhsealyuh]

myalias- thanks, here are some studies :)
smellykitty- of course i remember you! : P i see what you mean about my lines. i definitely need to work on that. thanks for stopping by!

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/6098/sketchescp6.jpg http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/1338/sketch1su9.jpg
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8639/skch1we7.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/1764/skch3sd5.jpg

[Looped_Warrior]

I really like your figure drawings and your studies! Keep it up

[suhsealyuh]

more studies from weird photos. wish someone would model for me :(
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4964/skch2qi8.jpg
distorted the arm on the second female drawing here-
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/456/skch4vi2.jpg

[suhsealyuh]

not sure how far i should go with this one...
http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/7226/babytj3.jpg
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/4663/babyypt6.jpg

[suhsealyuh]

drew from photos-
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/7130/boyhandbitezc5.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2600/indianmangq5.jpg
http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/5695/womanskullfacefd4.jpg

[ThabisoMhlaba]

Cool update. If you need a model one thing I've noticed is people are taking pictures of themselves and using themselves for models, you could move your body however you want to get exactly what you need

[suhsealyuh]

wip of some fairies/fly people with farmer tans. i dont know what to do for the background...

[suhsealyuh]

hey voice! thanks for commenting. i have used myself as a model, but i like drawing from life as well. photographs just dont have the same quality as a real life person :(
here's something silly. took inspiration from a southpark episode and a daily sketch theme. its an evil anti bunny pope thingie with carrot tenticles.

[Jove]

Hi lill lady, you've been posting more then me lately :P Nice studies, you seem to be going in the right direction, remember to lower the saturation and not just the brightness in the shaded areas. Love the narcissistic eagle ;)

[smellykitty]

aaaaaahhh!! those are some scray fairies! XD but thats good, becuase normal fairies annoy me

[suhsealyuh]

hellooo

[suhsealyuh]

first two are some sketches for a modern red riding hood. i gave up on that project :/

last image was drawn from screen captures of some tv show.. :B

[suhsealyuh]

i was experimenting with brushes and the cloning tool. used references for all, though i wish i didnt need too :(

[ThabisoMhlaba]

Wow I haven't commented in a while, there's some outsanding updates the model on all fours is looking great. as are the pencil sketches. keep it up =]

[MUNIZ]

Suhsy, Really nic stuff you've been working on. I've been really busy latley and I am really impressed with your work. The farmer tan fairies are my favorite. Keep up the good work and sorry for not stopping by for a while.

[Looped_Warrior]

Awesome life studies, since I last stopped by... keep tearing this stuff to pieces! :P

[suhsealyuh]

thanks for the comments you guys :) havent done much this month (been busy with work and moving and stuff), but here are some things from last month..

[suhsealyuh]

critiques appreciated :)
how are my rendering skills? how believable are my creatures and faces? do i need to work on something specific or a little bit of everything? : P

[suhsealyuh]

im looking to join a sketchbook group again

[suhsealyuh]

first two are childrens illustrations. third is an experiment with background and textures plus a growing interest in biomechanical things- parts for amputees, genetics, where technology and the human body/mind meet. i dont claim to know much of anything along those lines, its just an interest.