paper
paper
Earth
paper
This is an interesting question! Cartoons, in my opinion, are those that aim to be as separate from real life as possible, where as the goal of the traditional realist and naturalist are to make work that capture the beauty of reality, cartoons try to capture the beauty that are in our mind, the exaggaration of how a body moves in looney tunes, the overly cutesyness of a ghibli film. how they make the eyes of their character resemble that of a small animal than of a human, the way winsor mccay eliminate most of the information on our faces and leave only dots, so our mind can focus on the impossible architecture and scenery of his world, to show things that can not be found in our mundane lifes. To make it more closer to our bias mind's eye than those of the objective natures. Cartoons, itself is hard to define because ( in my opinion) they are a subgroup of a language. Like how english, german, spanish, are subgroup of our literary language. Cartoons are subgroup of our visual language, that is why we have such trouble defining them, for what language does not take from others? Only those that cannot be comprehend by human mind, so, as far as we are concern, nothing. (Also sweet to see you post some discussion on this stuff, @liandro, very fascinating stuff!)
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Liandro
Hey, @paper, long time! Thank you for your patience in expecting my delayed reply. Great job completing your project! Comics are welcome in the Proko community too. I really enjoyed seeing the diagrams where you show character references. I think your pages may have been shifted out of order when you posted. I honestly didn’t understand the whole story (maybe it’s because of the change in the page order, or because I’m not familiar with Persona5). But I like the overall aesthetics of your illustrations. I think there’s pleasing use of color schemes and textures, and, as usual, I enjoy the expressive quality of your brush strokes. I also like the variations in panels and page layouts. I’d say the letters inside the speech bubbles are a bit to small, I had to really zoom in to read. The writing in the black pages looks a bit too fast and careless. One suggestion I’d give would be to treat the all-letter pages with as much care as the paintings. For these written pages, consider using a calligraphy style or typography and a page composition that suits the mood of your story. Think of letters as if they were drawings (which, in fact, they are). Overall, since you mentioned, I do notice there is some change in visual style throughout the story, but, honestly, I don’t see too much incongruency. In the “big picture”, I think the visuals came across cohesively. Hope this helps! Let me know in case I can help you with anything else. Keep on making art!
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paper
Holy shit, I didn't expected you to actually reply (I thought the content was too explicit) Anyway, eeey, thank you very much for taking your time and critiquing my comic @Liandro, sir. Appreciate a lot considering it took me a month to do >_< On the topic of the pages being out of order...Actually to be honest, uploading all the pages took me 4 hours to do, since I had to make sure all the pages was in order. So don't worry, it's not out of order, it's just my story is just fucking confusing. I think this was because at the time of making the comic, I realize I'm not the biggest fan of story heavy book/comic. (For example, when I read Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, I thought it the best comic ever written, with great story, character and art, but as the time goes, I realize I have no desire to reread since- and I got this from a youtube channel called paperbird, who I think tell it better than I could ever have- "How many times can you reread the same story", and something about that quote stuck with me since I realized the stories I reread the most, aren't because of the story, it's because they have abstract moment that elicit some kind feeling from me or some kind of characters that I keep wanting to revisit- Sasaki Kojiro dancing in the middle of a battle from the manga Vagabond came to mind, I keep revisiting that moment because my perception on what Sasaki felt at that moment kept changing as I age) I am curious as though, as to which part is confusing, since my goal in writting a story is to make it simple and if it's confusing then it isn't simple, so if possible I would like to know, since I remember trying to make the story enjoyable for people who have played and haven't played persona (Though looking at it now, I am wandering if it kinda make the comic lose it's identity trying to appeal to both party) On the topic of lettering speech bubble and dark pages, unfortunately I have uploaded the thirds and fourth page, so I cannot fix those, butI did tried to fix this one (see image 1). I also tried to fix the careless lettering on the black panel (image 2-4, image 3 I added to see if the flow of the comic still work with the change narration), but I found as I keep making them tidier that they also loose a certain energy, as I wanted the narrator to have a sort of manic energy to them, as if these narrator is trying what happen as quickly as possible before it ran away (The example I got in mind is Dr Violet's notebook from Bill Sienkiewichz comic Stray Toaster) So even though I do think the more neat lettering on these pages work, I don't want to carry that through the entire comic, but also I don't want the lettering to work ameture-ish, so here's my attempt at image 5-7, five and six are probably the one that has the most changes while image seven I just try to tidy it up a bit by making the lettering at least be on the same lane. (Would like to know if this is still distracting or not >_<) Would like to also ask if the pacing of this work is off? Does it feel like it go way faster than it should be? I ask this because I've been reading a lot of novels spliced in with comics and the former have a more slower pace. Also this a bit unrelated, but as the time I had done the comic above, I am now starting a new comic based on the touhou project. It was inspired also by George Herriman's Krazy Kat( a comic I have been reading a lot lately), in it, the background kept changing in a surreal style and I thought "what if we take it further and add surrealist coloring?". so in this comic I made it so every panel change color (Though I think I only figure that stuff out by the 5th panel as you see below), I also did the first two pages but I think I only gotten what I wanted it be by the second page, so that's the one I will post. The question I wanted to know is if the lettering is too small? Since I've been lettering it traditionally as oppose to my previous work where I letter them digitally and wanted to know if it's too small and I should redo them on a bigger page (I made these with a4 paper) Anyway, I'll probably finish this second comic a lot longer than the first because my middle spine has been really hurting and my left eye keep aching from-presumably- reading too much. Hopefully these two things will go away and I don't take me another year to fix like the previous spine issue >_< (also any additional critique at this early stage would be appreciated) Anyway, I'm sorry for rambling so much, it seemed I always do this when I have a subject that I'm too interested in. Anyway thanks for the critique, it really was helpful, don't worry :D ( Also the diagrams was really fun to make so appreciate the compliment) P.s. Oh, and the work you're doing at instagram is just wonderful, sir! Just great cartooning and humour, please do more of them :D
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paper
Hello, I usually don't post here as much as I used to, but here's my second post in a month. First I did this fanart of howl's moving castle since I recently I watched it with a friend of mine. I was thinking of bernie fuchs and Moebius when I did this but I didn't have an image in mind when I did it, I was mostly looking at this image (2nd picture), I quite like it but I'm wondering if maybe the composition's a bit weak and if I added too much shapes and the image became too busy. (Feedback on this would be appreciated) On the topic of the second picture (3rd image), I did that as a cover page for a fan comic I did of persona 5 (Which I have also posted here https://www.proko.com/community/topics/hey-i-did-a-comic), but anyway I realized some time ago that while I had illustrated the entire comic, I had not yet made a cover. At the time I was looking at moebius's airtight garage and was inspired by the simplicity of his work (here's an example from his Major Grubert series on the 4th picture), I was aiming for very simplistic style where I draw only what was needed (again, a very moebius design), but anyway, I'm not sure if I succeed, I like the simplistic composition and lettering because I haven't done it before, and I do like the calmness and the surrealistic nature of the picture contrasting to the crazy color and down to earth setting that's actually in the comic (though then again, there were some scenes that could be consider surrealistic now that I think about it). But I don't know, again, would love any criticism on anything that doesn't work >_< (oh also here's the reference picture I used for this painting; 5th image) Well, anyway, thank you for reading this long post, I hope I didn't repeat myself too many times and thank you for the respond >_< (Also, I know this is rare for me, and I apologize for asking a lot here but @Liandro any thoughts?)
paper
Jesus Christ that's good, that simplification of shadow on the hair and the underside of the breast is goddamn great (also love the slight indication on the knee!)
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paper
Also here are some of the references I used
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paper
Also here's the continuation of comic because not enough space
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paper
Also Liandro, if you see this, I just realized how overwhelming this is, so if you're uninterested by this feel free to just ignore this >_<
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paper
added a new topic
Hey, I did a comic
2mo
Hello, I haven't been here since 3 months, anyway I made a fancomic of persona 5, I wasn't going to ask for critique since I wanted to make it a hentai comic, but I forgot to put any sex in. So the good news I can post it here. Anyway, I just finished the last page of my comic some few hours ago and counting the total is about 30 pages. About 20 of them is illustration and the other 10 or so are blank pages with words. I'll post them anyway so the story make sense, but you all can ignore them since this is a forum for critiquing drawing. The biggest influence to the artstyle of the comic was the work of bill sienkiewicz , just for the fact that I have been trying to make a comic since I first started out drawing and could never finish one since I always got bored from using one style for over the course of a month. Sienkiewicz's work inspire me to experiment with my style and not be afraid to have multiple ways in finishing a page. Other influence include Bernie Fuchs (for his famous "wipe out" technique), Mark english (For the little dots he use to create interest in an otherwise bland area), John Singer Sargent (For his loose watercolor technique), Andrew Wyeth (For his tone), Bob Peak (For his inventive color) Takehiko Inoue (For the way he draw realistic anime face while keeping the expression and humanity of a character), Kentaro Miura (For his great paneling and making the page flow like a movie), Inio asano (For giving me the idea of making a panel and page completely blank and writting only text), and though I haven't finish his manga genshiken- Shimoku Kio (For his use of abstract expression that make me laugh) {There's also other such as Cormac Mccarthy, Thomas Pynchon, Clarice Lispector, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Job from the King james' version of the bible, but since those are more literary influence I won't go too much into them} But anyway, the biggest critisim I would like are if the color from page to page are jarring. Since I change style from page to page, I want to know if any feel "off" or "Doesn't fit". I also would like some critisism on if any page or panel isn't clear and should be redrawn. ( Would like to also know if the lettering's too small. Also would appericate to know if any part leap out and doesn't work) Anyway, thank you for reading this far and for the critique, as always I hope I don't come off as too rambly >_< {Also I know this is a bit out of the ordinary to what I ussually do and I'm still not sure if this is something appropiate to share, but @Liandro any thought on this?}
paper
Well, My previous method for not liking an artwork was to treat it as a sacrifice for my next painting. So if a painting or a drawing didn't go well, I wouldn't worry too much about it and just try to experiment as much as I can, as to at least get some new technique I can use for my next work. Though right now, I just accept that I have to redo my work about 5-6 times until I get it right. I decided sometime ago that if it isn't worth redoing 5-6 times, it probably isn't an idea that is worth pursuing. I should also probably mention my other technique is to leave my work unfinish when I'm not sure about it and photo it and fix it digitally. (I think I got this idea from this muddycolors post https://www.muddycolors.com/2012/10/rembrandt-and-dirty-tricks/) Then I'll post it here and ask everyone here for feedback and when I get them I fix them digitally and when I think it's good enough, I'll try to emulate my result traditionally ( Actually now that I think about it, it's kinda similar with Steve Lenze's tracing paper technique but for painting) Anyway that's all I got. I hope this reply somewhat help for anyone out there who's struggling with their art. (Also this Steinbeck quote help when I was more of a perfectionist "And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.")
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Christopher Beaven
My latest painting! It's called "The Passage" You can see it on my website here: https://chrisbeaven.com/painting/the-passage/ Tell me what you think. I"m focusing on story within an epic landscape.
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paper
Hey @Christopher Beaven, this is pretty good! The blue shadow in the mountains remind me a lot edgar payne ( particulary this one of his most famous piece). I also quite like the story too, a young boy travelling away from his home to seek his heritage (For some reason it remind me of Butcher's crossing, even though the two premise have nothing in common-maybe it's the cover?) On the technical side, I quite like the thick and thin paint you use. The close up you posted on your website is beautiful! :D Also do you want any critism?
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Liandro
Hey, @paper, it’s been a while indeed! Let me go straight into the comments. ---------- 1st DRAWING I think adding the red overlay helped hide a bit of the original drawing’s dirt and smudge which, to me, felt a bit like visual noise. So I wouldn’t say adding the red layer was a bad thing. Honestly, yes, I do think the drawing looks a bit slapdash - although, to me, this is part of what makes it interesting, as I, personally, tend to like the rough quality and spontaneity of sketchy lines. To me, the drawing really doesn’t appear to have any rendering at all, it really looks like a loose sketch. As I already mentioned, I like the sketch quality it has, but if what you were going for was something with more rendering, then I’d say you’d have to put more time and work into it in order to develop the image to a rendered stage. I believe some elements in the picture may have become a bit too ambiguous - for example, the little dots on the ground to the left: at first, I thought these were pebbles or soil texture; but they also appear on the sky, so what are they exactly? Sometimes, intentional visual ambiguity can be nice to play with, but, in this case, I think it might have gone too far and could be making the illustration a bit confusing and hard to read as a piece of visual communication. As for the composition, I feel that the values may have gotten a bit spotty, as there are many contrasty areas spread across the picture. For example, the large black spot on the top right is drawing so much attention to itself that it’s hard to keep focus on the character. The best way to solve this would be to choose a focal point and make it have the most contrast in the overall composition, while having all other areas with lower contrast in order to create some visual hierarchy. ---------- 2nd AND 3rd DRAWINGS I like these as little pieces of concept character portraits. To be honest, it’s hard to judge these drawings from a likeness standpoint because, in terms of style, they look so different from the characters you used as references. I can tell which is which, so yeah, to some level, I’d say you managed to keep recognizable traits of each character in your drawings. But, in the reference, the character designs are so cartoony and stylized (awesome, by the way), and your drawings seem to push them into a slightly more realistic realm, with a much smaller dose of “cartooniness”, less exaggeration and facial proportions that stay in a more standard, “average” zone. To me, this is neither good or bad, it’s just a different approach in style. Anyway, I’d definitely not get concerned about nailing the likenesses in these - at most, maybe just consider getting a “recognizable translation” from one style to another. As for value, I think maybe you could try achieving a bit more tone variations with your charcoal. When I squint at your drawings, I only notice two major tones (light dray and dark gray) besides the paper color, while, when I look at Sargent’s sketch, I can see at least five or six major value gradations. Have you tried practicing with a value scale exercise? Maybe do some of these and try to make at least four or five different values with the same charcoal stick by varying there pressure you put on it and the spacing between the hatching lines. Edge control: honestly, I don’t think it is a noticeable quality in these two drawings in the way they are right now. Both drawings feel very loose and, to some extent, even a little random and untidy, so they kind of go the opposite way of what I’d consider “having good edge control”. Personally, I don’t see this as a bad thing - in fact, I think it resembles the same visual qualities as most of your other drawings I’ve seen, which I think is nice because, in a way, this shows that your outcomes have a sort of personal consistency. But the way the edges are being handled in these two drawings here is still really not very close to the smoothness and control we can perceive in Sargent’s work. Now the bar is set way up high here: Sargent became a true master of painting while he was alive, so of course his edge control should be very skillful. If that skill is what you’re going for, maybe go a little beyond just attempting to copy his style - perhaps investigate what fundamentals he studied, how were his practice routines, what kind of exercises and basic knowledge did he go through in order to build up to that level. Keep in mind that, in an artist’s work, there’s a lot more than just what the image shows, there’s a whole imbued lifetime of studying, practicing and honing of skills. All that is more revealing of the artist’s path than just the surface of one specific artwork. ---------- Here’s one extra recommendation: in future posts, it might be nice to organize your images in bunches, according the theme or to the specific assignment you worked on. For example, in this case, you could make some quick collages to assemble each drawing close to their specific references, and post less images in a clearer way. I’m attaching a visual example of could be a possibility! To make these collages, you could use either a regular computer software such as Photoshop, or even just a simple phone app such as Canva, PicCollage, Layout or another similar one (there are lots of those out there). Organizing the images in your post like that would make it a lot easier for us to see the overall scope of your work and also to refer to each image as needed when commenting. Whoa, this reply has become way too long. :) Sorry! But hope it makes sense, and hope it helps. Please let me know in case you have any other questions or thoughts to discuss. Best regards!
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paper
Hello @Liandro ,thanks for replying! As always it's very useful :D -On the topic of the looseness of the first drawing. Actually I quite like the roughness of it too, I'm just afraid people wouldn't like it because of how "unfinished" it looked. -On the topic of the dots. Yes I agree! After looking at it, I found that they indeed have become more of a distraction. (I'm pretty sure I was only doing it because in the original book cover I reference, there were random dots scatter about. and I thought of experimenting and seeing if it worked) But they were annoying I delete them digitally and added grey color to kinda implied rough snow pile. I also darkened the sky in an attempt to not so much attention to the rooftop of the house. I sacrifice the black sun at the sky, but I think I agree that it made less contrast and a stronger composition. -On the topic of the value of the portraits. I did as per recommend and study a bit on how Sargent draw. Then I remember reading this blogpost by James Gurney on Sargent's painting. (http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/02/sargents-painting-notes.html ) And though it was indeed more on his painting than his drawing, I've come to realize that he is using the same technique for his charcoal sketch. I.E establishing a standard half tone and adding the highlight last. I've come to realize this when I saw the Sargent's sketch I posted was quite different to his other sketches, where he would establish the shadow value first and let the white of the paper fill in for the light family (see image for comparison). So I speculate that he must've smeared his charcoal at the paper and "rubbed out" the highlight with a kneaded eraser- A genius technique, one would love to film him thrashing a farmer on the countryside. Anyway I tried doing this technique digitally. First adding a multiply layer with a darker value, then using a pencil brush, add white highlight to the forehead and cheek area. I did this for both but change my mind halfway for the second portrait and use Sargent's pre-establish value technique as to give better shadow shape and also made a more ominous tone. I also did 3 version for the second drawing and chose this one because I think it's the best. -On the topic of edge control, Oh! I didn't realize they give the same quality ! I never noticed that >_<. Honestly I'm not sure either if I should reach for Sargent's level of smoothness, as since I posted that feedback question, I come to realize that doing it so pristine doesn't seem as fun as doing it rough. Though I guess for this drawing specifically, that is what I'm going for. So I tried my best making it more smooth (At least the first one, since I like drawing of girls with smoother edges than men) As always I would love any feedback on suggestion on this. And Thank you again for the reply by the way, your instruction always make my drawing better :D
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paper
Hello, I haven't been here for a while. I got sucked up into writting and reading books (Actually I guess I'm still sucked up as I'm reading 2666 and other stories right now). Anyway I got so into writing that I finished another fanfic and decide to illustrate the cover and some opening illustration for it. The first illustration I did was based on this folio society cover of Dostoesky's 2 novel crime and punishment and the brother karamazov (the latter was illustrated by nigel lambourne, though i'm not sure who illustrated the former) I finished Karamazov when I wrote the fic and searched up different edition of it. I stumbled on the version below and just though of how perfect the illustration was (since the fanfic i'm writting is set in a fictionalized russia) but also because the tone of the drawing fit in so well with the story I wrote. So I decide to try emulate the style. I thought the illustration was done with charcoal, but I couldn't find my charcoal stick. So instead I used a glass pencil (the one glen keane use). But then after I did the value placement, I found that the illustration was done in ink. So I added that on top of the pencil work. In the end I thought the drawing was good, but the added red made it so the detail and texture of the original a bit lost. (Any thoughts on this would be appreciated) The second drawing and third drawing was influenced by the drawings of John Singer sargent (particulary this one of robert gould shaw the third) I wanted to capture the elegance and beauty sargent's portrait and applied to my own stuff- At this point I also found my charcoal stick. In term of feedback, I really want to know if the first drawing have a good composition and if maybe the style is too "slap-dash" and doesn't have enough rendering. For the 2nd and third drawing, I would like to know if my value and edge control is good. I really want to have that soft edge that sargent does- also here are the references I use( would also like to know if I captured the likeness) P.s. if possible, I would also like to know if anything jumped at you and it doesn't feel "right" But anyway, that's all, thank you for the criticism and feed back and I hope I didn't babel too much >_< (Oh and, even though it's been a while @Liandro and @Christopher Beaven , any thoughts?)
Liandro
Hey, @paper! Sorry for the late reply, I appreciate your patience! I like you painting! I think the different versions you made kind of bring slightly different feelings and styles. Personally, I prefer the one to attached in the original post because it feels like watercolor, mild and more pleasant to look at (at least to my personal taste) - and I really like how the girl’s face pops against the light faded background. The updated version, with stronger constrasts and digital iterations, feels much busier and intense, which I kind of like too, although not as much as the earlier one - and in the update, I feel the girl’s face kind of got a bit lost with the darker shadows and amidst the busy background. However, I do think the blizzard efffect looks clearer in the updated version - there’s are visible hints of snow flakes and a sense of movement and wind which doesn’t appear in the original version.If you’re still taking any suggestions on this piece, one that I’d give would be to maybe try adding the blizzard digitally as you did, but keep the softer contrasts and more “watercolory” brushwork you had earlier. That’s what I think I’d do anyway. Hope this helps!
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paper
Oh my god you actually answear. Hey @Liandro,thanks for the reply!No problem on the lateness,I'm just glad you finally answear :D Thanks for the compliment!I do really likethe second version as it is the busiest version and it remind me of the chaoticness of Marco Bucci's and Fechin's work. I did actually do a third version,but I'm not sure if you saw it as it was below Yiming_Wu's comment.I used a chalk to simulate the blizzard, so if I were to ever sell the painting the original would stand on it's own.But anyway I did take up your advice and tried keeping the softer contrast by using the gouache blender brush in clip studio paint. This is probably my last rendetion on this painting as I have started the thumbnail and color comp for my next painting and I'm losing excitement for this.But anyway,thanks for critiquing anyway,I'm glad I could hear your thoughts before moving on :D
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paper
oh hey it's you Welcome to the proko community @touhoufan_008  !I hope you have a nice stay here :D Anyway for the painting,this is pretty good!I think you got the structure of the figure pretty well and I quite like the shape design on the hair :D. The biggest problem I see with this painting is the hand.The thumb and finger I found too long and felt like they lack structure.For example here's a drawing by the great Ramon Nunez,observe the location of the knuckle of the fingers and where it is facing.Though the proportion is a bit exagarated you can still see a sense of structure with the hand and the subtle foreshortening of the fingers going inward. Here's another example,observe these drawing by the great disney animator Milt Kahl,particulary the one where he shows the thumb.See the shape of it and observe how stubby and small it is compare to the fingers-Please also see the shape of the end of the thumb and how it is in a long oval shape-I suggest you copy and study these hands or other master you admired.(I would also recommend this video by MArco Bucci to get a better understanding of hands and it's structure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBMQ-H-qUVk) I also did an overpainting on what my personal solution would be.(I also changed the neck slightly to better fit the head.) But anyway,other than that,it's pretty good!Please keep going,I would love to see your improvement :D .(Also after you study hand I recommend watching this video to get a better of composition,as I feel this too could be improve https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOYkXEGkXx0&t=3677s)
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Yiming Wu
Oh hi hi! This is a interesting combination/remix! I think you captured the feature nicely, people should be able to tell that's the elements if they know what you are up to. I don't actually know much about the style choice of yours, I think I do see this kind of more or less free-form look from time to time, but I don't really know what's the incentive behind such stylistic choice? Is it something you learned from someone?
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paper
Oh hey you're back,@Yiming Wu thanks for replying! On the topic of my style,at first the reason that I picked such a style was just because I enjoyed the more free form looking painting and wanted to emulate their texture and wanted to make my painting more unique to make myself stand out more.For this painting specifically,I was not looking for any chaos,in fact I was just trying to emulate James Bama style.But as I got further into the painting I found I couldn't resist doing the more free form style of painting and found it's in my nature to do it.(Also I found the chaos fit to the feeling of this painting specifically-that of being in a blizzard and getting overwhelmed by the snow) On the topic if I learned it from anyone,I don't particulary think so,I learned it more from doing master copies of artist who's texture and chaos I enjoyed.Then realizing that I enjoyed doing it as much as I enjoyed looking at it.(I found that the unpredictableness of the painting make me want to revisit it,since it feels like I was looking at the work of another artist.) Anyway,I hope that answears your question,thanks for asking by the way,it makes me think about why I'm doing the thing I'm doing,it was interesting :D.(Also I forgot to post it here,but here's the traditional version of the painting,tried to use white chalk to emulate the turpentine brush from procreate) anywa,thanks again for replying -and also the compliemnts!-it's good to see you back,hopefully you have a nice stay in the proko community :D
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paper
@Liandro oh hell yeah dude,that video was awesome!It remind me of how important it is to think of the concept and ideation of the picture as much as the technique and craftsmanship of it!
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Liandro
Hey, @paper, nice job! Great feedback and advice from @Christopher Beaven, I agree completely. Also, I love the colors and the way you treated the different areas of the painting, with various levels of sharpness, definition and contrast. If anything, one comment I’d add, not for this piece necessarily, but for future work, is this: when you plan the composition, make sure to clearly decide for a focal point, and then save the strongest contrasts and edge definitions to that area, while keeping other areas less dominant, softer and, when it makes sense, even slightly faded or “lost”. I think you’re already on track with the overall idea of this recommendation, so just keep it in mind and keep it up. As an additional thought, have you ever gone through Proko’s Figure Drawing Fundamentals course entirely at least once? I see in your profile you’re currently not participating in any courses, and I believe the Figure course might be a good start to help you with how to work the characters in your paintings, since you mentioned that as something that bothered you in this one. In case you’re not ready to purchase the course just yet, you could watch the free lessons on Proko’s YouTube channel and use this community to post your assignments - and also feel free to post any assignments you might have done already in case you have watched the course some time in the past. Hope this helps. Thank you for your patience in waiting for my delayed reply!
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paper
Hello @Liandro,thanks for replying! I thought you wouldn't answear because I didn't reply to your last reply (Sorry about that >_<).Anyway thanks for the compliment! I actually went back to the original painting and added some linework to it, I think it was a good move because it made some of the boring part of the painting more interesting without cluttering it. On the topic of edge and focal point, I actually tried to apply this to my newer painting. I made most of the silloutte in soft edges and only made the chin and side of the hand hard to gain attention on the face and fingers respectively.(I think I was also looking at this Jeff Watts painting while doing it since I thought it was interesting how he made the left shoulder lost into the background but still could capture the sitter's sillhouette.).But also I did posted this painting on another post to get more critism. https://www.proko.com/community/topics/hello-i-made-another-fanart-would-like-some-critism I would love to hear your thoughts and critism on my new painting sir-you can post it here or on the post if you want :D On the topic of if I have gone through the figure drawing fundamental course, no I haven't. but I did watched all the figure videos Stan posted on youtube and did all the exercise. I thought of buying it and several other art course but found I always shy away at the last second, just because in my country the price of these art courses are ussually very expensive and I need the money more for drawing and painting equipment.(Also this isn't to mention that's moneys thight right now and we need to pay some medical bill)So I don't know, I'll probably just rewatched all the figure drawing fundamental videos on youtube and redo all the assignment and post it here. On a maybe unrelated note,I am trying to get a job as an illustrator right now,and trying to get client from outside my country, since the standard payment is higher there. I made an artstation account (Which I don't think I can post it here because this is the 2nd time I'm writting this post since the first one is labeled spam and I accidentally exit the appeal page.)But I don't know what to do now beside just making and posting good art-if you have any advice or resources on this topic I would be grateful. Anyway, thanks again for replying Liandro, don't worry about the delayed reply bit, as long as you're making high quality reply, I wouldn't mind waiting longer :D
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Oh sweet an excuse to gush about my favorite artist. At the start of art journey I had a lot of "art parents" but as my journey went through the artist that mainly influence me trickle down as I realize that their style did not match what I was trying to say.But here are the art parents that I consider the most prominent: -Dean Cornwell;at the start of my journey I was a massive Dean Cornwell fan,I actually just wanted to be a cornwell copy at the start and want to only paint like him.I was obssesed with his composition,his use of thick paint and especially his vignetting.I think I only looked at his artwork for nearly 2 years just trying to copy his result(I even had an album in my ipad of 270 piece and fragment of his art).But at some point in time,I finally did a painting in his style I was happy with but had no desire to do it again.It made me realize that even though I still enjoy his composition and vignetting,I did not share the same vision and mindset as him.I did not enjoy working in thick paint and my idea also didn't fit with it.So after 2 years I largely abandoned him,though I still take his composition and vignetting,as stated above. -Andrew Wyeth; Wyeth made me realize the thing I was missing in my artwork,with Cornwell I was just trying to study his technical skill and his great craftsmanship.Andrew's work made me realize that it is equally important to think of the mood and emotion of the painting.("Christina's world" and "that gentleman" really hit me when I first found them).It also made me realize how important it is to leave out elements in a picture and let the audience participate in the painting.He also inspired silent hill 2,the game that resonate with me the most in term of feeling.To this day I still played "Never forgive me,never forget me" and "white noiz"when I finish a painting to see if I get the mood right.(By this point I pretty much gauge how succesful a picture is by how much it fits "never forgive me,never forget me") -James Bama (particullary his western work);Bama is the artist I am most obssesed with right now,Unlike the first two,I love Bama both for his craftsmanship and mood.His use of thin oil paint is so unlike what's anything right now.He paint in a photorealistic style,yet there's still loosenes in the fabric of the clothes.Reproduction on the internet does not do him justice,it doesn't reveal all his subtle layering and thinnest of the paint.I recommend buying his book,the art of James Bama if you are interested in his images. -Adam Hughes;I've found his work about a year ago and couldn't get enough of it.Whenever I am struggling on the shape design of a character or a background,I would look at Hughes work,There's a cover he did for the 2018 superman's run-I think it was issue 6-where he simplified the mouth and the left eye as 2 simple lines,yet he still uphold the structure of the faces,he indicate the cheecks and subtle muscle anaotmy with his shapes.It is damn amazing and it made me realize that you can have both simplicity and solid face structure in the same painting. -Zun;not what people consider a great draftsment,but goddamn does he make some terrific character design and ideas.The touhou series are games that I played and instantly make me want to illustrate them.It's a series where there's barely a story but enough fun character interaction and world building to put yourselves into it.It's a series where if you make fanwork, you can played up the funness and lightheartedness of the characters (Sr pelo's touhou parody is a good example.)Or you can go to the complete opposite and make it depressing (I.E. Flan want to die) and both would still fit the tone of the series.This is not to mention the hundreds of musician he inspired and the countless catchy song that was created. Those are the big ones,then I wanted to put Takehiko inoue,Naoki Urasawa, Satoshi Kon and that great lineage started by Katsuhiro Otomo who didn't prioritized making their character pretty,but giving them as much humanity as possible.But I would be rambling.(Even more than I am now). Anyway,I hope you're having fun with the draftsmen podcast!That episode on art parents is probably one my most favorite episode-I think I watched it about 10-20 times min since they released it-just because I love watching people talked about their favorite artist and giving their opinion on them.(Just hearing Marshall talked about his love for Durer or Stan's love for Fechin is damn fascinating!It make me sad that there aren't more episodes like that where they just sit down and talked what they like or don't like about an artist (kinda like that heinrich Kley sketchbook tour). Anyway, the exercise you mention sounds great!I hope you can one day finally find your style and voice :D
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Leandro Alli
Hey paper! Cool concept! But a couple of things I would suggest you do first before attempting a painting like this. First, I don't like the composition very much, even in the photo reference. I think that the top of the hat is too close to the top of the picture, and in your piece this proximity ended cutting part of her hair tie for no apparent reason. I belive you should try and find a reference that has a more interesting composition and use the one you picked just for the cowboy itself. Second, I would strongly suggest you do a couple of studies before attempting a painting like this. Especially a study of the cowboy. For example, look in the reference how his face, even in the snow, retains a warm tone and in your piece the girl looks very pale. I like the idea, but I think you should break down the process a bit it will look much better overall. Hopefully it was helpful, cheers!
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Thanks for the critism,I'll keep it in mind for my next painting! :D
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Update,I wasn't too satisfied with the composition so I went back and add darker value in the background to contrast more to the girl's shirt.I also added snow and rougher brushmanship,I think it payes off just because the brush stroke make it feels like you're in a blizzard.I also went back and simplify the lips,because I realized the original painting she looked like a blonde bombshell trying to be angry than a normal teenager. Alongside I also did this James Bama study to get better at my layering technique (and also how he uses very thin paint to make a translucent effect),though in the end I think I failed and have to do it all over again.(also the original was in oil but I tried translating it to acrylic and gouache.) Anyway would love some critism on what's not working,and also thanks for replying :D(Also I did the brushmanship of the blizzard in procreate using the turpentine brush,I would like to know if this brush can be replicated in traditional medium using water based paint,Thank you in advance for replying >_<)
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Oh also I forgot to wrote this,but here are the underdrawing and thumbnail of the picture if you're interested.(Also p.s. I was also looking at Adam Hughes and Andrew Wyeth While doing this painting.Adam hughes formixing lines and rendering and Andrew wyeth for mood-specifically his winter and snow piece.)
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