Mine? Not being able to devote full quality time to my art career because of my completely unrelated day job; alas, bills need to be paid somehow. I think way too often about "running away and join the circus" but at my mid-40s, that's not an easy decision to make, even if I don't have children of my own and have pretty stable finances.

Hello all,

I'd like to share some links that might come in handy for anyone who is interested in learning some basic 3D modeling, sculpting, and has wondered how/if blender can help in the conceptualization process. For example, here is a basic expression sheet that I came up with last afternoon:

FaceTest12.png

It took roughly 3 hours total (not including the time it took to model and sculpt it.)

I'd also recommend it for architectural scenes which can be tedious to render by hand. It is also useful when creating background elements like vehicles, trees, streets, etc

Right off the bat, I would recommend basic youtube channels like Blender Guru, Blender Daily.

Here are a few tutorials that might help you right off the bat:

Basic Character Modeling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7zRQjDQmS0&list=PLw1UrVT7WTJuJc1Jwm0EUQwcEWt8TGgqs&index=23

Shape Keys to make a variety of expressions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWWCPPg6T_g

a Tutorial on how to use Archimesh, a free Blender Plug-in that helps you visualize architectural elements:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiDnW3AwISk

How to draw traditionally (like you would in photoshop) in Blender. This one is one of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY0gjIttZRw&list=PLw1UrVT7WTJuJc1Jwm0EUQwcEWt8TGgqs&index=49
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAl89LsSFk&list=PLw1UrVT7WTJuJc1Jwm0EUQwcEWt8TGgqs&index=51
Follow Sophie Jantak for a ton of useful Grease Pencil tips.

and last but not least, one more grease pencil tutorial that teaches you how to use the camera, lighting, and the grease pencil to come up with a variety of compositions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGRt24fYYWU

Jama Jurabaev, a renowned concept artists uses it frequently and had done work like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8puJClvNYE
His tutorials cost a little but are well worth the investment

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions!

@Lee-White These pros and cons are perfect! Definitely what I had in mind. I am going through your 'Loose Watercolor' course now and seeing a lot of this. Excited to test some of the ideas.

Aggie Morton is a really fun read especially if you are already an Agatha Christie fan!!

I read an wonderful book recently. However it was published in 2018 so it may not make the cut. It is Sweep:The Story of a Girl and Her Monster, by Jonathan Auxier. It was really amazing and thought provoking as well as touching and sweet and sad. So very well written. I loved it.

That’s all I can think of that has been published recently. I’m going to watch this thread too. Happy Reading!

There are some new art-oriented platforms that have come into existence lately that seem to be getting a lot of attention, but I don't anticipate they will gain the same popularity that the current giants. Neither uses the same type of algorithm that most social media platforms employ, as both seem to downplay the "popularity = reach" paradigm.

Artfol is growing rapidly, but I think it has an emphasis on its internal community more than anything else. I don't see many people on there using the app to connect with non-artist followers, so it's more like ArtStation or Behance or DeviantArt than Instagram, in my opinion. There's a lot of anime and manga on there, and from what I've seen the user base seems to skew toward a younger crowd of teens and young adults. At least in my opinion. It has optional challenges, a community message hub, a method for asking for critique, and it limits the number of hashtags and categories one can use when uploading your work.

Bubblehouse has some very very cool design features for display, and seems to have a LOT of non-artist users. It's only iOS right now, but will be getting to Android soon. There's more of a variety of art including photography, comics, and animation Bubblehouse. The app still crashes at times for me, personally, and there are a lot of "placeholder" accounts with one or two images, but it's the closest "replacement" I've found to Instagram. It's very slick, but currently has a very small user base.

Anyway, thought I'd share the two alternatives that have wafted into my life currently. I doubt they'll ever reach the levels of popularity that our current slate of social media platforms has, but they're interesting to explore.

@Janette I had a request a few years ago to do a dog portrait after someone saw the children's picture book I illustrated which happened to feature dogs. I also did the portrait in colored pencils and charged $250 just like you did. I see you used Faber-Castel Polychromos (oil-based) colored pencils which is better than what I knew - I used only Prismacolor Premier (wax-based) and didn't know about wax bloom, for a portrait of a mostly black dog which I did not spray with fixative, oh yikes! Haha. But the client was very happy. Sharing in case this saves someone my past mistake (@Pinky). I no longer do portraits because I'm focused on my greeting card business for mostly retailers (wholesale), and licensing. I hope everything worked out the way you wanted it to Pinky!

@davidhohn No worries at all! People are watchful for when it happens because the Breakdown is so very helpful!

A bit late to the conversation here, but pastels should never be stored in plastic or cellophane, not even if they've been sprayed with fixative. The plastic will cause static electricity and dislodge pigment. (For this same reason, pastels should only be framed under glass).

I use the plastic sleeve portfolios mentioned above for watercolors, ink and acrylic, but have a simple folder type portfolio for any paintings done in charcoal or pastel. I separate the paintings with sheets of acid free paper...and always keep the portfolio stored flat, without anything on top of it..

This one summer by Jillian Tamiki. Her illustrations are amazing. But this book is also scolded for its poor story-arc in the writers' community, even though it received a Caldecott honor.

Awesome.

Firstly, thanks so much for putting this whole website together @Jake-Parker, @Lee-White and @Will-Terry. I’m a late starter (at 44yrs) but have always been interested in drawing. I’ve just never taken the time to teach myself.

I’m up to the shading part of the curriculum with Lee and I’m having a blast!! I’m having sooo many “aha” moments and I’m like an excited school boy when I run in to tell my wife what I’ve just learned as she looks at me confused and like I’m nuts 😂

Anyway, the reason for my post is to ask if Jake, Lee or Will are familiar with the platform “Circle” - https://circle.so/ or if any other members here use it with other groups and what you think of it?

I am in no way affiliated with them but I use the platform for a few other communities I’m in. One is a drawing one that I started before I found SVS, the other a 3D animation group and lastly a startup business group.

They work like a forum but can be configured into sections/topics for easy navigation. And there is an app with push notifications making it super easy for all to use.

You may have seen this before so if you have, feel free to ignore this post.

If you haven’t, check it out. It’s excellent.

Thanks again for all of your work at SVS!

Rich 😃

Hi @Alex-Gilgenbach, search the forum for the class as a key word and post your work in the existing post (e.g., vehicle assignment class).

If you can’t find an existing post, make your own 😊

@geekinm cool! Thanks for sharing!

@Alzamon Yeah I've always been into comics and animation. I thought because of that, drawing children's book would be a piece of cake, but the truth is it's not. I'm not 100% enjoying what I draw. Maybe 75% at most, but deep down I want to illustrate stories with heavy themes, but that's just not appropriate for children's books it seems. I try my best to be subtle, or try to tell it in a way that I personally believe is appropriate for children, but I guess I really do not know how to that.

What I'm trying to contemplate now is what to do with the portfolio work I have already produced in the coming months that I've dedicated to children's books. Do I just ditch them? Place someplace else. I'm thinking that my website needs a total overhaul and makeover in order to fit a more authentic interest of myself. 😰

Right now I am writing a story for a teen action drama about teenage superheroes and mental health. I cannot wait to share my YA stories here in the coming months.

Hi guys!

I know it's a little bit last minute, I didn't think to post in here about this sooner (not sure why!)

I'm hosting a free, live mini-class in my Facebook group in about 10 minutes (at 2pm EST). The topic is: How to get started in freelance illustration!

If you're interested, join my Facebook group to participate! https://www.facebook.com/groups/freelanceillustratorscafe

Even if you miss the live, it will be recorded and you'll be able to watch the video afterwards in the group 🙂

Have a nice day!

The ABC's of hand lettering by Ivan Castro covers the basics of handlettering both structure and style. Is a beautiful book with some really great examples and step by step instruction. Also I had some of my hand painted signs featured in a new book all about
handletter that has just been published by a pal of mine. She is a professor at SU and the book is called "Drawn to Type, Lettering for Illustrators" by Marty Blake. Its filled with examples of illustrated lettering in all sorts of capacities as well as tips and tricks to think about when lettering.

this was great! Thanks for sharing....
L

@Annaaronson All the best, you’re work is really good, I’m sure you will have multiple offers from agents.😊 Thank you, I’m excited to start my mentor ship.

@Kerisa-Greene wow, this is amazing and very productive. I’m signing right away, I’ll update here once my mentor ship starts. 😊

@lmrush I know this thread is old, but I'm wondering, are you still happy with the scanner? Did you figure out a way to scan larger items in two phases and seam?

@j-sienkowski @xin-li Great question. I tried the Draftsmen podcast about a year ago and wasn't impressed. Too rambling. But about 4 months ago, I tried again, and I'm now totally hooked and loving it. I'm listening to it from the first episode to the present. I think it's an excellent compliment to SVS's Three Point Perspective. It has pointed me in the direction of many resources to help fill the gaps that SVS Learn leaves, 2 of which I'm now working through to improve my gesture drawing. Both podcasters, Stan Prokopenko and Marshall Vandruff, are excellent teachers and experienced artists. Marshal is probably 20 years older than Stan, so there's a good balance of experience & opinions. You can skip over the first couple of minutes-- they play rambling sound tests and it doesn't give a good first impression. Highly recommend.