Campside's sketchbook

[Campside]

Some photoshop pieces I've done over the past few days:








Did a few thumbnail composition studies of animation backgrounds:


Got the backgrounds from this blog: http://animationbackgrounds.blogspot.com/, it's full of beautiful, characterless backgrounds. I urge you to check it out. :)


A study of a sculpture which ended up pretty off:



I'd really appreciate any criticism or feedback in general.

[Lamb]

Wow, you're quite skilled. I't a bit hard to comment though, since it's so stylized, and you actually seem to know what you are doing. You may choose a more varied colour palette (your choices have been schematic, which I like actually) the next time you paint something, I'd be interested how that would work out.

The house painting is also kind of bad. A placeholder house in a placeholder enviroment with notional use of light. Not sure if it worked even as background since on the other hand it's so distracting, and doesn't really have depth.

The top guy doesn't really seem to be putting his weight into his elbows as would usually be the case, but the pose still works if he is just about to lean forward.

Interesting background site.

[Campside]

@random-lamb: This reply is months late, but nonetheless thank you for your input. Using go-to color palettes, environments, figures etc. has been a bad habit of my work.

Studies I've done over the past few weeks, organized chronologically:

[Campside]

For the past year or so, I've done nearly all of my sketches straight-to-pen. I didn't set out to; I think I just found the definiteness of using a pen far more satisfying than a pencil. I think it's benefited me in that it has forced me to commit to the lines I put down, but a downside may be that it limits your ability to explore alternative design directions. It may have been necessary for me though because I can easily fall into the bad habit of endlessly trying to revise a section to make it perfect. Nonetheless I'm gonna try to force myself to branch out into different mediums.

These sketches are some examples of straight-to-pen sketches I've done in the past month or so. Recently I've been focusing on trying to get organic poses that don't just look like posed action-figures. A bit ago I noticed that my figures were way too rigid and straight up and down, so since then, I've tried to apply all of the principles of figure drawing I know of to the best of my ability.

I've also been trying to apply what I know about facial anatomy to draw distinct faces that vary in proportion and structure. A big inspiration has been reading Inoue Takehiko's manga Real. I was amazed by how he's able to draw in aspects of the face that are almost always left out or ignored by artists and yet still be able to make his characters appealing.

Figure drawings and heads from imagination:












a study of Smaug concept art:

[Nmn]

Boy oh boy I love those! The way you present limbs has a lot of energy and 'spring' to it (as in motion, not the time of year), stuff doesn't seem stiff. That and the simplification of stuff is sooo pleasing to the eye.

My fav are the butter toast girl and that fat guy with a burger, lol looks like dumb manager waiting to mess his employees' good day xD

[Campside]

Thanks man! I'm glad you like how I simplify forms. I've always been trying to get an Alex Toth feel to my work.

A drapery study and an attempt to apply what I learned:






And noses:

[Grieverjoe]

Those draperies, man. Good work, sir!

[muzz]

Oh damn, i missed this! Outstanding work here man !!

[X Chris]

Originally Posted by muzz Oh damn, i missed this! Outstanding work here man !!

No kidding! The straight-to-pen sketches are especially great.

Originally Posted by Campside It may have been necessary for me though because I can easily fall into the bad habit of endlessly trying to revise a section to make it perfect.

This speaks to me.

[Campside]

Thanks guys - it means a lot coming from you two.

Studies of miscellaneous old-school American Illustrators:


Figures from imagination:








I've been trying to apply what I've learned from reading Michael Hampton's book on figure drawing. He does a great job of explaining how specific movements affect the arrangement of our anatomy such as how the scapula moves around are back in tandem with the movement of the humerus. Here's a link to the book if anyone's interested: http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing...sap_bc?ie=UTF8

[muzz]

Good pages! i really like the simplified figures.

[Grieverjoe]

Those gestures from imagination are looking pretty sharp.
Keep them coming.

[Campside]

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Building studies and practice drawing folds in clothing:

[muzz]

http://www.mightyartdemos.com/mighty...s-bradley.html

This might help with the folds!

[Grieverjoe]

Originally Posted by muzz http://www.mightyartdemos.com/mighty...s-bradley.html This might help with the folds!

Saving that one!

I really like the personality and character of that dude walking.
"Shut up, baby, I know it!"

[Campside]

Studies from the drapery guide Muzz posted and studies from an amazing collection of portraits posted on this tumblr: http://humanae.tumblr.com/

Their gallery is very useful in how clearly it shows the range of diversity between the appearance of humans. I often end up unconsciously drawing variations of a particular face that I like. I need to kick that habit by broadening my idea of how faces can differ from one another.

I also need to put more time into integrating everything I've been studying and using it in a finished piece. I think at some point studying can become a way of procrastinating on doing the real thing.

[Campside]

Face designs:

[muzz]

Solid stuff man! Lots of great variance in those faces!

[Campside]

Thanks dude. The studies you've been frequently posting have been very inspirational.

A model sheet for a character whose design I've been trying to get down. I'd appreciate any suggestions or critique on how her design can be improved.

[Campside]

Thanks for the input man. I definitely have to work on maintaining a consistent design from all angles. I tried to follow your advice and lock down the facial proportions by creating a head-turnaround model sheet. This is what I came up with:


She's supposed to be around eleven to twelve years old. I have a tough time drawing her the right age. She's from a nomadic tribe that roams across a desert landscape. Her story is basically about her going against the will of her tribe so that she can become a skilled hunter like her brother. I guess her story's a bit like Mulan or Arya Stark. She's very much a tom boy who naturally has the drive to fight and seek adventure.

I've been trying to get better at digital painting. Here are two studies I did recently:




and some horse studies cuz why not