@elkad
@elkad
Long time art hobbyist finally learning the fundamentals :P
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@elkad
Asked for help
Here's my eggs! The RGB/CMY ones were tricky but I think they turned out okay
@elkad
6d
Did some self critiques/correcting mistakes after watching the week 9 critique vid. Main areas for improvement were: * General value accuracy * Making sure the core shadow is clear which is critical for the form to read as 3d * Making sure cast shadows and regular shadows properly wrap around the form otherwise it'll read as flat
@elkad
phew done! It was fun discovering all the hidden shape design, there's a lot going on that makes these pieces harmonious and flow together I found that paying attention to silhouettes and negative space particularly useful for getting the shapes right in the drawing studies. The silhouette is like a container for the inner shapes so once you've nailed it down, the rest falls into place
@elkad
13d
Watched the week 8 critiques but felt that it mostly applied to using shape design in original pieces which we weren't really doing in this assignment. So I don't have much to self critique here, onward to the next one!
@elkad
My assignment + paint along with the demo :)
@elkad
2mo
Did some self critiques and revisions after watching the week 7 critique. Main things where: * I didn't really stylize the forms at all (I think I forgot :P), and the colour/lighting stylizing could've been pushed further * When stylizing, exaggerating existing characteristics in a model is generally more effective than going against them * The dynamic range was a little flat, needed more contrast * Making sure the 3d forms are reading well is more important than trying to replicate what you see in the reference Also unrelated, I figured out my painting software export settings wrong, the export was more desaturated and had less contrast then the preview :') but thats all fixed now
@elkad
Assignment done! Got carried away with rendering again and didn't simplify as much as I'd like, but I think I did okay for likeness
@elkad
2mo
Doing some self critiques after watching the week 6 critique vid. There were definitely some stronger sketchers than others * In terms of likeness, some of the relations with the facial features were off, particularly the eyes. I found the "constellation" of landmarks a pretty good way to check if things were accurate and correct them * In terms of rendering, there were a few places where I got caught up in details that the primary 3d forms were no long reading so well. Also some of the secondary forms like the cheeks and wrinkles I needed to really study and understand the forms before rendering
@elkad
Asked for help
That was pretty difficult! I found painting directly to be a lot to juggle all at once (shape, value, hue, saturation etc), but I can definitely see how refining big to small makes things manageable. Just need more practice I guess (and to refrain from jumping into details too quickly!)
@elkad
2mo
Back after watching the week 5 critiques. I think I did okay applying the alla prima technique, the main areas for improvements were: * Dynamic range - I tended to make the darks not dark enough so the painting looked a little flat, pushing the contrast really makes the forms read more 3d * Soft edges - I tended to use the same semi-hard brushes even to indicate smooth edges. I ended up using a lot of small strokes which things visually busy so I simplified it by using an air brush * Details/focus - the level of detail was too uniform and no real place to focus, tried making it a little more painterly
@elkad
Loved this exercise! It's such a joy seeing how effective the simplified the shapes and brushstrokes are at conveying the subjects, especially when watching it take shape as I paint the study 2.5 hours on the first painting, about 45 on the second and third
@elkad
6mo
Back from the week 5 critiques and decided to redo the assignment because there was a lot I missed I did a revised study of each reference, particularly to: * To properly understand the forms and brushwork * Capture the soft and hard edges and understand the focus of the piece, which I previously missed * Generally better values and value groups Then I did a new speedpaint of each pic, particularly to: * Simplify more - being more conscious of what information I'm conveying with each brushstrokes and how to do that in less brushstrokes * Paint in fewer, more authoritative brushstrokes for clearer forms * Paint faster/more efficiently
@elkad
Asked for help
assignment finished, yippee
@elkad
9mo
Back after watching the week 4 critiques. My biggest area for improvement was with value groups and making them read clearly. The saying "the lightest dark is darker than the darkest light" and vice versa is a good guideline and definitely applies here, there were a few instances where I didn't follow this guideline which I had to correct. I simplified some shadow groups and toned down the secondary light slightly so that it wouldn't distract from the primary light family of values. The changes are kinda subtle but i think it makes it easier to read especially at a distance or when squinting
@elkad
Asked for help
Got way too carried away with rendering but I finally finished, fun exercise!
@elkad
9mo
Back after watching the week 4 critiques. I think this exercise was mostly successful in experiment with different colour palettes and applying them in different contexts. Main things to work on were: * Getting the values right, since they are foundational for colours - and also for the painting to read well * Hue shifting in dark/light, particularly for the more complex palettes. I think I got too caught up in staying accurate to the palette instead of following my eye and applying the previous lessons Did some paint overs on pieces I felt could most do with some improvement
@elkad
Asked for help
Finally done! Feedback is welcome :)
@elkad
9mo
Back after watching the week 3 critiques, the main take aways for me were: * first and foremost make the paintings read well, this may involve deviating from the reference or accentuating certain features * make the light and shadow families obvious and readable, start by simplifying the big value groups and work your way to smaller ones * be thoughtful using highlights and don't over do it I did some paintovers of my assignment, I notice the chin area of the 5 min paintings were a little sloppy and not reading well. I upped the contrast on the cropped features to make them pop. I also tried painting a marble sculpture as an exercise for simplifying value groups, I found it pretty helpful
@elkad
Asked for help
I don't want to see another skull again lol Looking back, I think the biggest improvement I made was the cranium and jaw proportion and positioning. I was also finding it easier to visualize the skull in more extreme angles. Still making mistakes (particularly with the face features), but I think I've gradually improved To check against reference I used 3d skull (thanks Nio@): https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/male-skull-1e54622b84ab46fd9f4518c47fa60929 For anyone interested in seeing my notes and comparison to reference: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BP-_OFwXHfBikhXLyK_b-HNfNM8_WqYm?usp=sharing (google drive cause this site compresses images quite heavily and it might not be readable)
@elkad
9mo
Back after watching the week 2 critiques, I'm not doing new revisions cause the exercise itself involved self critiques and iteratively drawing. Its a bit tedious but this method is super useful self improvement
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