Crankshaft's Sketchbook

Thanks Valence! I appreciate any critique and the assignment here was pretty simple. Just render the object in matte finish with one main key light and fill light. I got some feedback from others similar to what you said. To make sure I learn as much as possible I went back and fixed the piece as per the critiques. It's amazing how we over look our mistakes that can be very obvious. I'm also realizing I have a bad happen of making things too similar in value (low contrast) which is probably caused by zooming in too much and worrying about finer details. It's a bad habit I'm trying to break. Thanks for the help!



Lots of big updates today! Work hours are getting longer but I'm not going to let that slow down my drawing progress. Finally calling my engine room done. Critique away but I may have to leave it as is. While the composition may be off I think this is a big improvement over my factory door, especially design wise. The piece was a long battle but I'm glad I stuck with it all the way.

Anatomy update. I admit this was a lot of fun and it's a great way for my to use my perspective and draw through to great advantage. However I realizing how dead my figures are (they look like robots) so I'm trying to combine both gesture and full poses in my routine.

Hey Crank, a lot of nice updates here.
The schoolism project is looking much better, I struggle with the stronger values myself and tend to have to work from a mid-tone pushing my values in both directions at the same time. Suprisingly, to me at least, the lighter values come easier to me and I find I have to revisit my work a lot to push those darker tones further than I am comfortable with.
I hope your (justifiably) proud of your engine room too. Your dedication to resolving all those issues you began with does you a great deal of credit. The rim light on the foreground elements and the shafts of light cascading down those chains looks very accomplished and I think the tonal range and use of colour is handled very well.
The gesture poses from your latest post remind me of Picassos' sketches so I guess you're in good company there.
Your structured studies are also coming along nicely, just be sure not to forget about the surface rendering when you progress them further. The real character of the reference image you have posted (for me) lies in the way the light describes that left leg through the knee and ankle and the tilt of the guys head, eyes looking toward his next target and the 'come and get it' expression on his face. In your study his head and therefore eyeline is at more of an angle pointing toward the ground and therefore loses a little of the believe-ability of the stance.
Good work Sir! Keep at it!

So many wips due to multitasking but it's probably because I'm too slow and deliberate with everything I do. Schoolism wip. This is really hard as I have zero experience with color but I'm learning lots. I'm really struggling with understanding reflected color light. How dark or saturated do you know to go? Also another full pose I'm working on and some fail gestures. I'm watching the proko vids over and over and trying my best to apply certain rules. Eg Find the longest line of axis, exaggerate, etc.









Upcoming nuclear reactor. Going to keep it simple this time. I got the idea from a boiler off the Titanic.

Thanks Atto! Great advice! I completely forgot about his face and where his eyes were! As for the engine room I'm happy I resolved a lot of problems but I also feel that I wasted a lot of time. I wonder if I would of been better moving on instead but I'm sure everyone goes through similar experiences. Thanks for dropping by!

Hey Crank,

The engine room is looking very detailed, I think all the objects look great perspective wise, and I really like the added touch showing the two guys, and crisp shadows from your light source, shows the scale of the machines as there something to ref.

Knowing where the light source is at the beginning really helps, with shiny surface like metal, having multiple light sources can make it look great with all the reflections.

The machines seem to share the same volume of space so, It's hard to distinguish from one piece to the next. If some parts were taller/larger and others smaller/shorter, they would stand out more.. The colored lights from the ceiling seem to be enveloping everything, maybe try to focus the light on parts of the machinery to give it a better highlights. Just things I notice looking at it, but it looks much better from before and you are definitely improving!

Don't think you wasted time if you're learning and growing, you don't have to keep the art if you don't like, just the knowledge from painting it! The anatomy pieces are very strong right now, those poses are really dynamic, I'm sure you'll get the normal poses down very easily after starting there! That just some harmless feedback from me.

Atto, if you are having trouble with dark values, you should try to start off with a dark canvas and then go lighter from there, might help you out.

Wow that's great advice Micro! Everything you said was bang on! I can't believe I overlooked about them with different volumes. Next time I'll try something simpler and apply your advice. Thanks for taking the time for the crit!

Gestures, full pose and schoolism update. I'm learning lots and I'm re watching the video feedback to try and self critique.

I love machines! Update on my spider mech. Still a wip and trying to understand line weight. Have any questions about perspective? Or man made stuff? Fire your questions away!

Schoolism assignment. Calling this one done. Lots of fun but also really hard as I have no experience with color or reflected light. Learned lots. Critique away.

Love this class was my favorite one. I learned more from this class than all the others. Your bounce light on the red object should be graying out and be less saturated. The bounce light on the blue object from the red ball should be more purple it's a bit too harsh right now. The cast shadow from the white ball isn't right if the light is coming from that upper angle the shadow wouldn't be right below it. If you watch the crit videos where he goes over other student's assignments he gives great tips on getting the cast shadows right. The white ball looks pretty good. Right next to the terminator on the light side will be the most saturated your local color will then wash out as it gets closer to the light source. The only area that can be more saturated is when the object bounces light back onto itself or there is subsurface scattering. I think you made your shadow side too saturated it should lose value and trend a bit warmer. (He says trending towards a warmer color in the shadows always looks better but doesn't really give an explanation for it) If you watch those student crit videos you'll learn just as much if not more than from his lectures. Hope you stick with it his class made huge improvements in my painting skills.