My first post here.
-
Hey, I'm a Canadian schoolteacher. I recently picked up a computer that can actually handle digital illustrations. I've been dreaming of getting into illustrating for years, specifically creating my own children's books. I started listening to the 3 point perspective podcast and thought I'd post here. Here is a drawing I did last night, I've only been at this for about two weeks now but I could use any help I can get! I'm working in Autodesk Sketchpad on a Surfacebook2 computer..!
-
Here's the same two characters, but this picture is from two weeks ago when I first got the computer. You can see I've tightened up forms and gotten used to using layers and all that.
-
Aaand finally here's one from like one week ago. I don't know if it's helpful at all to see my current progression, but I feel like sharing these somewhere besides instagram and my wife/cats.
-
Hello fellow Canadian
-
Welcome to the forums, I am also a surface book user. I love it and wish I could upgrade to the surface studio but who has money like that LOL. I am not familiar with Sketchpad, I use photoshop. My adivce is to keep the characters consistent in each piece. One the guy looks to be bigger then the others and the creatures eyes are different in each piece.
-
@chip-valecek Yeah, sketchbook studio would be awesome! I love the Surfacebook so far, I was afraid of using a stylus-but it's awesome.
The characters look different because I'm just fiddling with the look of them until I'm satisfied, these aren't finished works or anything.
Maybe I'm posting in the wrong spot..?
I meant to call it Autodesk Sketchbook, not sketchpad. Sorry
-
It's encouraging to see your progression and improvement. I really enjoy your style and characters. Thanks very much for sharing!
-
Welcome Kyle! Judging from what you've posted, I think you'll do great. It's somewhat hard to tell from just a few pieces, but looks like you already have a good grasp of a number of art fundamentals. It looks like you really know how to play with shapes, and have a knack for facial expressions. It also appears you have an understanding of basic lighting. My advice would be to keep playing around in those programs and make a bunch of work for fun. Looking at these pieces, if you decide to brush up on some art skills, I think taking a color and light class and a gesture drawing class would level you up even more. And if you want to do scenes- perspective and composition.
Good luck! Looks like you have a really good base to start on.
Website: www.tessawrathall.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/tessawrathall_art/
-
What a coincidence! I was a Canadian school teacher who dreamed of illustration! High five!
The support and learning resources here will be more than enough to jump-start your abilities. You've made a lot of progress in the two weeks you've been doing this already!
-
@tessaw thanks so much! I've doodled in a sketchbook for a few years now, and I've been making character sculptures for ten years, so that has helped me understand some stuff.
I have nooo clue how to draw backgrounds and how to think about the composition. I'll look at those courses, thanks!
-
@art-of-b It's not that I want to quit teaching, I just want to also do this. Did you quit teaching to illustrate? Maybe not a crazy idea in this current climate...
-
Oh, I'm not suggesting that you quit teaching. It's a good gig (depending on where you are, I suppose).
As for me, I quit teaching because I wanted to quit teaching. The occasional illustration gig was a happy accident.
-
Hello fellow Canadian! Welcome to the forum! Look forward to seeing more of your work.
-
I'd like to start a sketchbook on here, but that doesn't seem to be an option when I try to post? I'm having some overall difficulty navigating the site, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Should I just post pictures I draw in this post?
Anyways, here's something I drew today. Some more of one of the characters I'm working on. This picture is just a few expressions. I'm playing around with drawing shapes, and going with whatever emotion I think of when I see the shape. Thanks for the feedback so far! This forum seems great, lots of Canadians too
-
I'm enjoying seeing the progress. I like the ink/watercolour effect background. Is that a scanned texture?
-
@ians Thanks! No it's just me doing a quick inksplotch texture brush on a background layer with a bunch of colors. I just wanted something for the colors to play off of instead of white. Here's some more face studies of the boy character..
-
Man, interiors are a whole new thing to try and wrap my brain around. I've never really had to draw scenery. Maybe I'll take an SVS course on the subject.
-
I added some more things into the room, some lighting and shadows.
-
Hi @kylebeaudette I just joined the forums yesterday and also just recently started listening to the 3point perspective podcasts, it’s really inspiring! These sketches are great! I have to agree with @Chip-Valecek however, about the inconsistencies. You can fix it by trying to draw the characters in different angles : front, 3 quarters left and right and profiles so that you get an overall understanding as a 3D form. That’s what I would do I think. I hope it helps. Keep going!
-
@abbylucero The characters look different because these are sketches. I'm trying to find a look that I like and then will do turnarounds.
Thanks for looking
