Creative Composition Class

[Amber Lynn Benton]

Just a few things on my desk: case pocket knife, snail shell, small turkey feather

Cropping exercise:

[Amber Lynn Benton]

So far this was my favorite exercise. If I were doing this old school I woud have done this larger than the thumbnail then cropped and pasted. Actually I think this would be good to try.

[suenaumi]

@Amber-Lynn-Benton did you do these digitally? I wish these were posted a few weeks ago when I was going through the class. I would have liked to see how other people were solving the problems, and if I was on track. These look great.

[Amber Lynn Benton]

@suenaumi Yes these are digitally. I took a screenshot of the workbook on my iPad and imported the photo into procreate and drew in layers on top with native Procreate brushes. It definitely makes working on this class convenient but I don't do all of my work digitally so I really want try some of these again with media.

I just joined SVS last week so I couldn't have posted them earlier - sorry. But I'd love to see your work. Feel free to post in this thread. I definitely think there is value in repeating some of these again. I would love to go through them again after I take a perspectives class!

[Gabriel Lung]

Hi @Amber-Lynn-Benton! These are looking very nice, i think you thumbnails are nice and bold and I instantly get the image. I'm going through this class as well and it has made me re-think my thumb-nailing processes. Keep up the good work!

[Amber Lynn Benton]

@Gabriel-Lung Thanks Gabriel! Post your exercises here I'd love to see them!

[Amber Lynn Benton]

Here are my next workbook assignments all thumbnailed with no reference. The last one was a doozie for me. I probably worked on that thumbnail for more than an hour!! These complicated compositions especially involving overlapping and perspective are pretty difficult for me right now.

I wound up roughing each item separately on a different layer and just kept rearranging things. I think if I did a few more quicker thumbnails and pulled in some more reference this might make a good 10-15 somethings piece before making an even more complicated composition. It does not have a strong focal point or enough action/movement. And I think I could do a better job of alternating lights and darks.

[Susan Marks]

@Amber-Lynn-Benton This is great Amber. I sparked a do and share work for the Gesture class-and then @Braden-Hallett organized a work-along thread still in play for Creative Environment. The CE class seems way over my head yet--but I'll see if I can dust off the Creative Composition work and start it again and join you here.

[Coreyartus]

@Amber-Lynn-Benton I've decided to share my own work in this class, as I'm working through it myself at the same time!! LOL! Seems there are a lot of folks "going back to school" lately!

[Amber Lynn Benton]

@Susan-Marks yeah, I don’t feel up to creative environment right now either!

[Amber Lynn Benton]

@Coreyartus Corey thanks so much for sharing - your circus solution is great!! I’ll look at the other more closely when I’ve finished my own exercises!

[Amber Lynn Benton]

Here’s my latest Creative Composition worksheet. I really kind of like the last one.

[Susan Marks]

@Coreyartus These are great! I never know quite how "finished" or far to take these. I'm hearing at least one of the SVS guys saying in relationship to which art students really progressed and they were the ones that took the assignments seriously.

I love your circus exercise (it was one of my hardest ones so far).
!

(what's the trick to make these images smaller on the screen in the message?)

[Coreyartus]

@Susan-Marks I haven't figured out how that works, either. LOL! Anyone know?

[Coreyartus]

More homework from the class. I have to say, these classes both inspire me with confidence and cramp my brain at the same time!! LOL! But that's good, right? Onwards!

I am particularly interested in whether those of you who have been through the class think I did these assignments correctly... I'm not confident in my understanding of what I'm supposed to be doing, honestly--I'm doubting whether I actually accomplished the intent of each exercise. Especially the Random/Organic Shapes, the Simplifying Complex Shapes, and the Master Study... I would really appreciate some feedback on those specifically if you have any observations. Thanks so much!!

[Heather Boyd]

@Coreyartus

In the summer I may return and do some digital versions like you have.

[Heather Boyd]

@Amber-Lynn-Benton

I think characters are more intimidating lols. I am learning a fair amount in CED - we are still working through it - though I am not entirely sure how to translate it to more children’s books.

[JerrySketchyArt]

@Coreyartus I feel like you could go a lot further with simplifying the shapes. Stripping master works down to their core has helped me understand composition better. After making detailed thumbnails in our CED group class I actually went back to redo the exercise with more simple 3 tone shape studies.

For me, these were actually a better learning experience than the more detailed ones. @Will-Terry always talks about the 3/30 rule (should look good from 3 feet away or 30) and details only matter up close. Give it a shot and see if breaking it down even further helps you see the bigger picture (no pun intended) more clearly.

In the CC class they mention the book Framed Ink, which I purchased, and it pushes even more simple 2 tone thumbnails. That book's thumbnails make mine look overly complicated.

[Susan Marks]

@Amber-Lynn-Benton Here are a few of my latest assignments in this course. I love it when they include a workbook like this-it really helps me apply the concepts presented.

As i mentioned earlier, the circus one was one of the hardest for me. And I've been finished them way less than you and @Coreyartus.

[Coreyartus]

@Susan-Marks I wonder if maybe I'm making more of the practice assignments in the workbook than I should be. As you and @JerrySketchyArt have mentioned, they're a bit blown out. I didn't look on the forums for any examples of how other folks had completed their work, and now that I've also done the workbook projects for the Mastering Perspective class, I can see that maybe I complicated them by fleshing them out too much. In the end, I'm not sure I actually got what I was supposed to get out of each assignment... LOL! Keeping things simple is one of my personal hangups I think I have to work on. I really really like to over-complicate things sometimes, and I wonder if that's not a defense mechanism some artists have when they're trying to hide that they don't really understand at all... hehe...