Every mass has 3 properties that effect the composition entire piece.
-The first is the placement of the mass in the image. Thomas recommends the rule of thirds as a rule of thumb.
-The second is the shape of the mass. This one is a bit foggier. You breakdown the mass into silhouette and consider what the shape is asking the viewer's eye to do. Eye's tend to follow straight lines, so you need to conscious of how many shapes are pointing up or down. Too many downward shapes will make the viewer's eyes slide off the page. A shape might also lead the eye off the page.
-The third is the light dark contrast. The amount of contrast decides which shapes the viewer's eyes go to first. You also must balance the light and dark masses on you image so that it is not right or left heavy.
Thomas provided four or five image for us to put together into a composition. One was a statue, another was a park, and the rest where dogs at play. My goal was to draw anything but a dog park.
I'm not very happy with this image but I'll show it in the spirit of transparency.
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| The provided images. |
However, I thought the dogs were hurting my image more than helping it so I took them out.
Would you recommend the course? Did you learn anything? Did you enjoy it?
ReplyDeleteThe answer for all three is "yes." However, I'd only recommend it if you're willing to put in the time. To give you a frame of reference, I spent 5 to 10 hours a week on each assignment.
DeleteThe most helpful aspect of the course for me was that it forced me to finish larger scale projects. I was prone to quitting a piece after the doodle stage.
Another thing I want to point out is that Thomas tends talk like a stereotypical artist. He tends to use abstract rather than concrete adjectives when he's explaining a concept or critiquing your work. For example, he might say that something doesn't feel right without explaining why. It caused a little frustration for me, personally. This isn't to say that he doesn't know what he's talking about. Quite the opposite. He know's so much that I think he forgets to bring it down to our level.
Still, if you're serious about starting strong on your art quest, I'd recommend this course.
p.s.- You're the first person to comment on my blog. Thank you! What kind of content would you like to see more of? What would be more helpful to you?
Well I found your blog looking for Schoolism reviews. Also the 5-10 hours shouldn't be a problem since I put in a MINIMUM of 1 hour a work a day and sometimes 4+ on a day off. But yeah I usually abandon pieces once I realize it's going to require hours of little detailing to the point it would drive you nuts lol. I have a somewhat understanding of Perspective but not really its limitations I should say since in 3 point I can only think of extreme shots. I was debating between the gesture course first with Alex Woo or this (I'm more obsessed with the human figure than the fundamentals in truth) but it's probably more practical to take fundamentals first. Now I remember you mentioned you was taking it to see how well you compared in your own self study...in hindsight do you think you were on the right track training yourself or was the course actually worth it in discovering new things?
DeleteTo answer your final question I wouldn't mind you posting some of your knowledge similar to how Sycra does on Youtube about how you would do certain things. But mainly I'm happy with how detailed your course reviews are which gives me a bit of insight into how it would be run =)
That's Great! Stay disciplined, keep working, and you'll make some killer pieces.
DeletePerspective is definitely tricky. I make no claims of mastering it yet. I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend "Perspective for Comicbook Illustrators" by: David Chelsea. The limitations that you mention sound a lot like the cone of vision (which he explains thoroughly). The book is a comic book itself as well, so it reads quickly.
I've been keeping a list of great videos and books that I find really useful. Keep an eye open. I hope to post it this weekend along with my cafe drawings. I think you'd find it useful.
I've watched a few of Sycra's interviews but not many of his tutorials. I'll be sure to check them out soon. Honestly, I don't know that i'm skilled enough to add anything new to the conversation. However, if you have any questions, I'll do my best to help you out.
I'll definitely look up that book at some point in the near future. I do have "Vanishing point: perspective from the ground up" that was recommended to me by a teacher when I was attenting Full Sail University online. I've barely cracked it open but it does explain perspective but doesn't really help me with coming up with ideas on how to play with it. Now that I thumb through it I should seriously look through the pages instead of just the first 5-10 lol.
DeleteHere are some recent drawings I've done.
Perspective (it's a broken perspective since I kinda freehanded/half-assed a good portion of it as my art guild as point out) https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/1173839_737741179579649_3325607087710990576_n.jpg
Some feet/hand gestures I've done today: https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/10169434_738446199509147_2545150863013272928_n.jpg
And recently just 5 mins ago a 30 min sketch based off of trying to recreate someone elses sketch that turned into this picture of Chun-Li: https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/10250237_738458076174626_5967298923416464271_n.jpg
In case you're wondering I recently started using this site for quick classroom like gestures(never done one in a real class setting): http://artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/hands-feet-practice/
Awesome site man. Thanks for sharing! Everyone says that hands and feet are the go-to acid test for new illustrators. I've been working on hands recently too. I'm putting together a post for next that'll chronicle some of the things that have helped me. Keep an eye out.
DeleteAlright, and I assume acid test due to the very subtle shading required for hands and feet? I also just discovered how to properly do gestures and feel like I can actually make progress and do anything now! =D Thank god for this video actually explaining sketching and gestures go hand in hand lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j39NqwL7s4
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ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated note unless you would of mentioned those ghosts were spirits I would of been generally confused on why dogs were jumping off the desk and high into the air and the guy pondering the physics of it all lol. Unless the one by the desk is real and reacting to the spirit dog in the background.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the review... it really helped me learn more about the course. I was wondering whether to take it.
I did / am doing a Chris Oatley course, where he does a good job explaining and managing perspective. Apart from that, the painting lessons are sometimes useful, but not always.