Casey Holtz
DFW
Determined to draw my way out of having a day job! Still experimenting with mediums and styles, currently focused on improving form and color skills.
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Casey Holtz
•
4yr
added comment inFantasy portrait
Beautiful work! I love the colors and rough texture. I almost feel that changing the angle of the head just slightly downwards, such that the shadow shape under the eye on the lighted side of the face formed a triangle down to the nose a bit, that it would help the flow of the viewer's gaze. With the distinct rhythms of the horns and jaw/ears, even cheek bones and cast shadow of the head, my eye wants to be drawn down but feels interrupted by the light shapes. A slight down tilt would also make for a little extra dynamic in the expression as well! Of course, that would be a major change now, but hopefully the advice can be applied to future paintings as well.
Casey Holtz
•
4yr
I also feel a little worried about this! I was recently really excited about a new course, only to realize that the entire course was locked behind premium besides the first video which was basically an ad for the course followed by a random lesson from it. I understand Proko and all of the artists collaborating here to make this happen have to make their income, but I feel like there will still be plenty of that even with a greater percentage of free content. Personally, what is so incredibly exciting about Proko to me is that I can access high-quality, in-depth art education even though I can't afford to pay for it right now. I know that this content will take me to a point where I will be able to make a steady income myself, and I speak genuinely when I say that at that point, I will ABSOLUTELY be returning to all my favorite courses to complete them with premium content. I think that will be true of many here, and having more free content will draw more users overall which would also benefit the social side of Proko. I think people would be able to sense quickly if the site was "herding" (as killgannon called) users towards purchases and be discouraged from participating and investing in the first place.
I feel like my idea is similar enough add on here - I'd like the ability to move images between albums after uploading!
Hi @Casey Holtz you can move images between albums by going to My Classroom > Albums > Click desired Album > Click desired Image > Click "Move to Album" on the upper right > Choose a new album
Casey Holtz
•
4yr
Asked for help
30 second and 2 minute poses! Any critique welcome but especially appreciate advice for the boy buns - I feel like I always make the pelvis too small and/or end up with extraneous/disruptive lines near the glutes on male figures. (See the hanging pose near top left, the pose with two blocks, ladder pose, and bottom right.)
Hi Casey,
really good work there! I especially love the first page of very simple strokes where you really get the movement across. In the second picture, you bring in more structure by adding more lines.
Here's what I noticed:
- Because you draw more lines in the second one, it reveals some proportional errors. For example the head size compared to the rib cage, or the width of the pelvis compared to the width of the legs, or the general width of the waist.
- Secondly, try to bring in a little more structure because for example the pelvis region and the legs (although it's a 2 minute gesture) feel a little bit too focused on the outlines which makes it flat.
- And last, it could make your gestures a little more interesting when you use a few straights in there.
Keep it up! -Max
I love how clean your gestures are i always end up making mine messy..as far as the pelvis is concerned I think practicing bean and the robo bean will be real valuable as it will give you an idea of how to place the pelvis and help with making it more proportional
Tony Vu
•
4yr
Asked for help
I tried to focus more on the flow of the figure as a whole more, but the rhythm isn't quite there yet. I guess there is much work to be done! Any feedback is always welcomed
Great work! I especially like the middle figure on the second sheet. I think on some (particularly first sheet) you could exaggerate the shoulders a bit more, but take that with a grain of salt as I recognize I tend to have a preference for leading my figures by the shoulder (if appropriate for the pose of course). I also notice your poses get slightly stiffer in smaller areas, I definitely struggle with that as well but I think working on it is as simple of being mindful about whether you're restricting the pose in order to fit the space. That's what helps me, anyhow. :) Keep it up!
yuri
•
4yr
Asked for help
Very difficult to think of twist. But I understood I need more and more robo bean practice before mannequinization practice for the whole proportion.
I believe the pelvis should be somewhere between your two tries, for the bottom figure. What's visible should be a small piece of the front plane and the side plane, I don't think the top or bottom is showing much from our viewpoint. (I would maybe get a second opinion on this? I am not 100% sure.) The glutes/butt can make boxing the pelvis in confusing especially when the legs are in different positions, but if you think of the bones underneath it can help. If you're struggling with this part of the robo-bean, maybe check out the pelvis video from the anatomy course! I wouldn't recommend drawing "the bucket" yet because honestly it is a difficult shape especially in perspective, but learning about that area might help you figure out what your box should look like! And once your box is right the twist should be a lot easier. :)
Roberto C
•
4yr
Why is it so hard to be an intermediate artist? And how can you make sure you keep your morale up before you reach that industry standard quality?
In my personal experience, it's because our artistic eye often grows faster than our skills - but that's natural, recognition is far easier than creation! As a beginner you don't even know what you don't know, but as an intermediate artist you've learned the ability to critique yourself and start seeing the vast amount of knowledge left that you could feasibly acquire. As to keeping up morale, I have fewer answers 😅 But key for me is that if I'm not enjoying something in art, I ask myself if it's because I'm uninterested, or just frustrated with the difficulty due to lack of knowledge/practice. If it's the first I change course, whether that be medium, style, subject, etc. If it's the second, I break down what my next step should be (sometimes it's simply asking for critique, if I don't know myself what I'm missing) and work on that skill before returning to what frustrated me.
Hope that helps, would love to hear others' input also!
Marcus
•
4yr
If I’m not listening to music I almost always have a podcast on or something on YouTube haha, but occasionally there are times I’m in the zone without it. I love video game soundtracks! Undertale’s is awesome. I particularly jam with splatoon music haha it’s sick 💯.
But my favorite band to listen to while drawing is by far Vulfpeck, they’re a funk/rhythm type music, some with bangin’ lyrics 💥but mostly instrumentals, they are almost lyrical in how they sound though. Super high energy, but low volume in the background, I think it can really get you in the flow. They’re super skilled and I totally dig the vibes. Anyway there’s my pitch can you tell I’m a fan ahah.
If your interested in a transformative mind-bending musical experience, check out miracle musical- ミラクルミュージカル - Hawaii part II. My recommendation is to listen to it from beginning to end! So freakin cool!! A truly immersive musical experience unlike any other!
Yiming Wu
•
4yr
Some movie OSTs are okay. I like 90s/00s pop and some older soul stuff. The most frequently I've been listening to podcasts while drawing, tops are 99% invisible, Radio Lab and several other art shows including Draftsman.
BUT recently like two month or so I've stopped completely. I categorized audio (lyrical and non-lyrical) and visual (text and graphical) are "destroyers of automatic thoughts". I control my time of doing these things. I have my earphones on noise reduction but silent. So I can think better how to arrange my compositions, think deeper into those automatic ideas of mine and jot them down quickly.
It makes me feel good when listening to beautiful OSTs and other great musicals, and just like their purpose is to deliver an "sensational image", you get carried away in that cinematic mood and often don't do stuff as efficiently.
I like all your thinking! Is that silence just for compositional/thumbnail phase of your process, or are you going through the entire piece with that mindset?
yuri
•
4yr
Hi Casey!
I’m surprised to know that you like Undertale too! I played in Steam and I love the story and the music so much.
I often listen to Nier Replicant’s OST. It has orchestra version, and every boss theme sounds really emotional.
I didn’t know CloZee, so I will find her music☺️
I love Undertale and all I crave is to be able to experience it for the first time again haha. It's still an EXCELLENT game but the first playthru, going in blind, hits different. I'll check out that OST, thanks for the recommendation!
