Mr. Peabody,

I recommend that you look through the first few pages of this thread... A lot of work from less experienced artists, but all of it is very interesting and revealing. Don't be intimidated! At the same time, you'll notice that a number of the artists here have gone through remarkable evolution in a short period. Posting your work and opening it up to discussion, no matter what level you feel you are at, is a highly valuable learning tool.

Thanks for the advice Guyomech! I know there are others at my level, but damn! Some folks are just SO good.

I started really drawing about a year ago, and am very proud of my progress. I draw every day, and pretty much always have a drawing pad within arms reach. I posted up a few of my works in the Open Discussion section, and they were well received. I just get daunted when I view some people's art, including yours. I have been inspired, and want to create art on that level one day.

But there's a looong way to go!

Sorry for rambling, I'll put up my latest next post!

Just render that with the right attitude you can evolve very quickly.

Thanks again, Guyomech!

Any advice anyone has, I will gladly accept.

Here's my latest.

Woosah..! what u worried about Mr.P? That's the shiz... moar

No need to be sheepish. That is really very good.

No, my avatar isn't of my own work but is by one of my favorite artists, Mars-1. You should check him out, his stuff is unbelievable!

Don't be shy! We all begin someone and sharing with others is the surest way to progress! The work you posted is pretty nice

---

As for the black gesso... I just ordered a bob ross black gesso bottle on amazon...will try that soon.

Well thanks everyone!
I didn't mean to come off as shy or anything. I am proud of my work, but I have been awestruck many times by the work in this very art bin. What ever I can do to be that good, I want to know! I guess I always just see the imperfections in my work. I like it, but am seldom satisfied with it and I never really know how good it is.

I've been moving more to color, as I have used primarily black and white. If anyone has any guides or whatnot, I'd be happy to have some good information about color theory and that type of thing! I have been doing a bit of reading, too.

Edit:
You were right, Chaoticmethod, unbelievable!!!

In terms of learning techniques and colors...well, I'm in art school so that helps. If you want to make it your lifestyle, than art school is one of the ways. If it is a hobby, than I suggest getting a couple of books on techniques and mediums, doing lots of observation drawing and nourishing your eyes with fresh art on a daily basis. You want to look at art with an analytic eye and observe both composition, colors, themes, emotions and concepts. I'm also struggling with colors and haven't found a good book on that subject yet but there's a class on color theory that I intend to take next year... From the drawing you posted, I'd say you seem to have a pretty good handle of colors and lights..

I suggest this book for a good reference on most mediums and basic techniques: The Artis's Handbook

Also, never forget that good artists immitate...but that great artists steal.

Very cool Mr. P! Good to see you trying out those new prismacolors! Here's a hint for something fun to try with them sometime: Get some glossier paper like "bristol" and lay the colors on heavy, using white pencil for the highlights and blending into the color, and blending other colors into each other the same way. You can get some really cool effects this way that look more like paint than pencil.

IMO the best thing you can do to get better is what you're doing already: draw every day. Draw from your imagination, draw from life, draw from other drawings or photos. Draw tripping, draw sober. Draw anything and everything. Variety is good, it will make you more well rounded, and skills in one type of drawing tend to transfer to other styles in ways you might not expect. Being a perfectionist is good too, don't be afraid of using your eraser.

And as Chaoticmethod hinted at, there's nothing wrong with copying, as long as you're not taking credit for it as an original. It's just like how a musician learns to play by first learning songs written by others to develop the technical ability, then learns to write his own songs and eventually finds his own style. I started out in elementary school copying cartoons and photos of birds and other animals from books. My teacher supported these efforts and hung my pictures on the wall, and a lifelong love for art was born.

There are tons of good books of course, but my personal favorite for someone starting out is a classic called "drawing on the right side of the brain". It has all kinds of excercises and stuff designed to help develop your ability to put whatever's in your head onto the paper. Well worth checking out.

Mr. Peabody, very nice work! And like I said in the other thread, you could easily take it to the next level, I love all your drawings.. And I know exactly what you mean about never being satisfied with own work, everyone elses always look so much better. It's probably just an illusion caused by familiarity, but I think it's a good thing cos it pushes you to make that extra effort.


Here's another snakey thing I cooked up tonight, it was alot quicker cos I'm more familiar with the 3dsmax interface now..

Next up, along with finishing the frontpage stuff, I'm gonna dedicate my time to make a big ass oil painting for Dec 21.. ya know.. the kind that you'd gladly ascend into, just in case... (thanks to stalepixel for the awesome idea)

WOW Daeda that is SOOOOOO cool! I could zone out on that for hours. Hooray for animated bump maps haha!

The little lens flare type highlights are a great touch.

Yeah man, that is extrasuperdupercool. Wow. And simple too- I can easily imagine how it would be done. Have you thought of playing different colored light sources off it from various directions?

Peabody: that's great, and shows a lot of promise and discipline. I second all the comments made by both Chaotic and Crazyhorse- all very solid stuff to live by. The book Horse mentioned is indeed very helpful. In addition to that I would suggest trying to find a live figure drawing workshop in your area where you can get a couple hours in front of a model on a regular basis. Even without active instruction, this is something that can teach you about proportion and flow, can limber you up so you don't get hung up drawing, and can teach you all kinds of things about observation. It's hugely valuable, and no matter how challenging it seems at first you will notice your progress from one session to the next. It's a good way to train yourself without taking the big leap into art school.

Drawing found objects of interest can be a great exercise too.

Daedaloops: wow...

thanks, and hey that was a cool idea , it got a darker trip feel to it now, that's more or less what it usually looks like. Or atleast I see stuff like that pretty often, like gemstoned snake action, or it's not exactly gemstones it's more like highly fractalized faberge egg decorations, but that's really hard to translate to this world..

Wooh ! Daeda...don't know which one I like best...both so cool..

Here's a new one from me...

"ISITANOWL"

I love this "battle"

(I mean: whose turn is ´this?)

Nicee I can totally imagine meeting that owl entity out there, somewhere, in the dark corners of the dimensional fabric.. Awesome work man..

Thanks again for all the advice and compliments everyone!

Daeda, that animation is killer!! It put me in a trance for a bit. I looked like this guy----> Yep, even turned yellow and round.

cyb, how do you do your art? I think I might wanna try adding some digital to my repertoire.

That's a tricky one...
I liken it to making midi music (do you know Cubase, Ableton, Traktor?)
I use a variety of programs to generate forms and also sample pixel grabs from a library of collected images and vectors.
Then hours in Photoshop using many commands and filters, layer upon layer until something emerges.
Learn as many keystroke shortcuts as you can...and record repetitive actions...it makes PShop tolerable...

Merging digi with real life art can look amazing...I encourage you to get into it..

This should be of help...
http://vimeo.com/26861783