Art Studies/Exercises~

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I didn't have time at lunch today to sit down like normal and look at pictures, so I did these gestures without references at my second break instead.

[Hodge]

Studies for today~

@duckuga ayy those arm and face studies are looking really promising~ especially that one foreshortened hand at the bottom of the second image, the lines really express the gesture elegantly.

[AfroAtelier]

So exhausted, here are today's studies:

@Hodge I also own making comics and framed ink! Do you have any other favourite art books you like to reference or felt taught you a lot? I'll take a picture of some of my favourite art of books later to share w/ the thread. I also put some money down for:

How to THINK when you DRAW BOOK 3 +REPRINTING SOLD OUT BOOKS

@nathanKmcwilliams those are good poses and if that is from memory It shows that your memory bank and your approach to practicing is paying off. And good job managing to draw even when you dont have much time in the day

@duckuga amazing! cant wait to see more

@LCT_m_a_d your close up of hands is always so detailed, you do really well capturing the gesture of the hands and it's always a pleasure to see what you'll draw next!

[nathanKmcwilliams]

@SoulShark I always try to draw at least one thing every day. Most of the time I manage that. My most productive moments are usually at lunch time, so I always keep paper on hand. (Usually just copier paper, because I am very cheap and I get it for free at work XD)
This box is all the physical sketches I've done at work for the last two years. I expect to go through more this year with the additional work I'm doing on these studies

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Alright. Here's today's. I did two very rough photo studies of skateboarders, some ears of different varieties, a couple of cartoon hand doodles, and another sword kata, short this time.

I highly recommend looking up pictures from 80s Skateboarding magazines. Lots of weird camera angles, and odd body contortions. It'll stretch both perspective, and anatomy practice!

[AfroAtelier]

Another busy day at work and I was not able to get as much done as I would like but I was about to practice my colour theory. I have painted watercolour swatches of a yellow and a red trying to study and learn more about my paints.

What I learn was moleskine watercolour paper is extremely convenient and cost effective but it does not seem to absorb water as well as cotton paper. I am currently only using student grade paints so I should consider upgrading to more professional grade paints to help with precision painting. And much more I'm even contemplating recording myself paint to watch the playback and see what I do well and where I can improve

Until then, here is a study of the space police cruiser from lilo and stitch, designed and drawn by chris sanders.

I also include one of my stages when it comes to studying other art pieces.

@nathanKmcwilliams I'm really enjoying the dynamic perspectives! And that is a massive collect of sketches just sitting in a box at work but it's amazing you have so many well stored somewhere. I heard a saying once that you should always keep your old drawings because there's a chance they will become your 401k if you become a popular artist

[nathanKmcwilliams]

@SoulShark if that's the case...I have a plastic tub in my home office filled with all my signed sketches going back to 2008 and even a few from the 90s when I was a kid xD if I do get famous, I'll be set for life, lol.
Also that ship from Lilo and Stitch looks really good! I love the alien tech designs from that movie.

[AfroAtelier]

Taking it easy day

[LCT_m_a_d]

@SoulShark
Those color-charts are NICE!!!

@nathanKmcwilliams
I'm loving your movement/gesture studies!

[Hodge]

Studies from yesterday and today~ Just discovered that quickposes has an app you can use your own images with, so been playing around with that.

@LCT_m_a_d liking the skin folds on the hands, adds a feeling of realism~

@SoulShark lol and those swatches of paint are cool to look at! Yeah I've heard that it's usually worth it to upgrade when it comes to paint. The video idea is interesting, hmm never thought of that.

@nathanKmcwilliams oohh that's why the color of the paper is always different! I was wondering about that lol.

[LCT_m_a_d]

Thank you!
By the way, when you do all these studies, is it like 50% of your total drawing time is studies and 50% other stuff,
or do you designate certain days to only studies and other days to other stuff?

[Hodge]

Ah well if I had to sort of layout my average day it'd be ~2 hours of studies and then other stuff (comics, illustration, random sketching . . ., etc.) for several hours, so not quite 50/50. Though I might spend more time on studies if there's something specific I need to work on, or spend less time on studies if I'm busy with other stuff/deadline approaching.

But there was a time in which I'd spend all day doing only studies and then another day only doing other stuff(or nothing at all . . .). Whatever works y'know~

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Just did these sketchy character faces really quick. I need to get better with consistency on them in the comic.

@LCT_m_a_d thanks!

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Ho-kaay! Here's today's. A kata, which was an odd one. A skateboard photo study. And some birbs.

[AfroAtelier]

Today's and yesterday's studies

@nathanKmcwilliams your really did well capturing the motions of the bird and the kata. Have you ever thought about doing animations? (if you haven't done so already)

[nathanKmcwilliams]

@SoulShark I've done a few. I feel like I'd have a better grasp on it now, it's just a matter of finding time to do it. I've got a lot of ongoing projects and only about 20 hours a week to work on them xD

[AfroAtelier]

@nathanKmcwilliams
The fact that you find the time to create content for your webtoon is amazing that is the dream goal!

Then you also have time to practice your fundamentals AND that's pretty cool, even if you dont have the time to do everything

[Hodge]

Studies for today~ feeling like a slow start to the week, but keeping at it!

@nathanKmcwilliams I love how animated all your studies feel as well~ would be really cool to see your animation stuff! Though yeah it really does take awhile haha.

@SoulShark I think your skulls have improved~ and can really see the draftsmanship developing in those pen drawings!

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Here's today's. Did a photo study for this one. It's gonna be the last sword exercise for a while. I need to move on to new exercises for a bit. Probably work on the female form next, maybe hair too.

[AfroAtelier]

I wasnt able to complete as much as I would like bit ideas able to practice my inking:

I also received the new watercolour paper that I ordered through the post! This means that I will be able to start experimenting with actually 100% cotton paper

But I'm saving for the time being because I'm still using my winsor & newton cotman brand watercolours which are student grade. After that, I'll move to Arteza, they also sent professional but they are transition to professional watercolour paints

@Hodge Thank you, it means a lot knowing that my art is improving. I would like my anatomy to really shine, so that I can start manipulating it. My goal is to lean towards horror webcomics (I obviously still have a long way to go ). Your thumbnail exercises are always impressive especially now that you've started incorporating colour theory into them. I especially enjoy your panel studies of other webcomics, it's got me motivated to try and study the works of Jinjo Ito and how he organises his panels as well as how I could translate it into a scrolling webcomic.

@nathanKmcwilliams variety is always important, I look forward to seeing how you approach hair designing afro hair is something I particularly enjoy