HalleyOrion in the post "Announcement: What would you want out of a dedicated ArtFundamentals website?"
2014-11-23 00:24
Congratulations on the new job!
For each lesson (or even each subsection of each lesson, for the ones that have multiple parts), I'd really appreciate being able to look through an anonymous gallery of people's submissions and have access to your responses to each of thembasically, the content of the comments you've posted here. Reading through your comments to other people is very instructive.
It would be especially nice if there were some way to filter the gallerye.g., to look just at the submissions you've made redlining corrections for, or to look just at submissions that got the perspective correct, but got proportions incorrect, or whatnot. I think seeing a gallery of very specific errors, side-by-side with a gallery that didn't make those errors, could really help people learn how to recognize the errors in their own work.
It would also be motivating to occasionally have people repeat an old lesson (say, after completing X number of more advanced lessons) and then to offer before-and-after comparisons to show how much they've improved. It's often hard to notice that you're improving, because it usually happens so gradually. (Note: A gallery of before-and-after images might be good for marketing, too.)
Another thing I think would be nice is "official" support for getting comfortable with tablet use. So, for example, if someone wants to get more comfortable using their tablet, maybe they'd be instructed to do X task on paper and then repeat it on the tablet. Maybe even some lessons specifically addressing common problems tablet users encounter (like practice drawing lines in different directions, since it's harder to turn a tablet than to turn a pad of paper) would be greatly appreciated by many, I suspect.
It would also be nice if members had a kind of "portal" page that listed all the lessons and extra curricular they've completed (and the number of times they've completed them), and the ones they have yet to complete (with links to the appropriate pages), just to help keep them organized.
HalleyOrion in the post "Who Are You? Introduce Yourselves!"
2014-11-23 03:39
OK, so, I have not yet begun these lessons, but I'm working on it (running into issues finding a felt tip pen, actually).
I have been drawing extensively since I was a toddler, with a focus on animals. However, I have never taken any art classesunless you count making coil pots in middle schoolthough I've attended a number of life drawing events (which did not come with any instruction). I've definitely missed out on the basics.
This has never been a major problem for me, as I ended up pursuing a career in science rather than art (though everyone, when I was younger, was trying to get me to study art). However, I've fallen sideways into a mini art career anywayspecifically, making 2D and 3D game assets.
Unfortunately, I'm not pleased with the speed and skill I've developed thus far. I also need to expand my repertoire. Most of my experience is with drawing people and animals. I'm much weaker with landscapes, fabric, non-organic objects, texturing, hair and fur, etc. I'm also pretty shaky on perspective, and my lines could stand to be a lot cleaner and bolder.
I'm most used to drawing on paper, but most of the work I do now is on the computer. I'm still not very comfortable using a Wacom pen, so I hope to do these lessons in both analog and digital. It's really hard to get myself to practice digital drawing because it feels like such a big step backwards. (Sometimes I cheat and just scan and tweak something I drew by hand, but the results aren't great and it greatly slows me down.)
Here is a smattering of pictures I've made from references:
Male model (from life; colored pencils)
Female model (from life; watercolor pencils)
My partner (from life; pencil)
I know the proportions look weird, but he's over 6'6 and his shirt is really loose.
Self-portrait (from photo; tablet in SketchBook Pro)
I can't do hair!
Fruit (from photo; Intuos in ArtRage)
ArtRage is really good at making short, wobbly lines look intentionally painterly. It's a dirty lie.
Plastic greyhound (from life; Intuos in ArtRage)
More feeble line work (most apparent in the dog's outline).
Rat (drawn from photo; Cintiq in ArtRage)
The color blending around the wrinkles looks forced and scratchy. Not sure how to avoid that.
Perhaps it goes without saying, but the work I've done without a reference isn't nearly so good.
Unfortunately, most of the assets I have to make now don't get the benefit of references. So I really need to work on committing visual concepts to memory. (You wouldn't have any tips on how to do that, would you?)
Here are examples of my work without references:
Goblin kidnapper (Intuos in ArtRage) Facial expressions are too stiff, among other issues here and there. This was intended as an experiment in skin tones, though, and it was a big breakthrough for me on that front.
Tapir-horse creature (Intuos in Photoshop)
Log Lady (Cintiq in Photoshop)
You can tell I rushed the planning stage on this one.
Woolly wallaby (Cintiq in Photoshop)
A (mostly failed) experiment in rendering fur.
Wildebeest (Intuos in ArtRage) Ugh, that twisted back leg is especially embarrassing! A number of other flaws, too, but at least the image is vibrant, eh?