TomKu's path to glory

[tomku]

Hey guys, I'll use this space to document my art exploits and hopeful progress.

I appreciate any and all kinds of feedback I revel in being yelled at

As a general rule, whenever I do a direct study/copy, I post the reference alongside the drawing.
The initial art dump will be mostly related to the adobe class run by Sam that I'm currently taking, since its start coincided with the point in time I started thinking about art more seriously.

[tomku]

2016

July/August

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One of my first attempts at an environment sketch, I spent around 3 hours just cleaning the lines on this #noregrets

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With pugs I had a mini breakthrough when I tried thinking about things as simple abstract forms

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[tomku]

August cont.

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[tomku]

September

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I reverted back to black and white still lifes in my free time (what free time? ) to get a better grasp on values

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[tomku]

September cont.

Bananas and egg cups, guys. That's how you get better at art. Bananas and egg cups.

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[tomku]

September cont.

Around this point in time I experience a massive drop in free time which results in almost no still lifes.
I still keep up with daily classes, so there's that.

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I still feel dread, just looking at this. For this exercise I found a cube on the referenced photo, measured the proportions of the jeep and then reconstructed it in two different view angles and cones of vision. For the amount of effort and brain power I put into this, the final effect is - for the lack of better term - turboshitty But at the time I felt I really needed this kind of challenge and the worst part is I should probably do this more often.

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This was referenced but I didn't attach the sources.
When I was working on this, just as I got to the row with Natalie Portman I started feeling really, really burned out for some reason - but I forced myself to work through it and finish the sheet.
Unfortunately by doing this I've developed a mild trauma and since that day I can't stand watching any movie Portman starred in
Sorry Natalie.

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[tomku]

October

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Those are supposed to be caricatures. Let's um, let's just move on

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In my ignorance, I never really cared for landscapes of any sort but doodling those thumbnails was super fun and definitely sparked my interest.

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My first 'finished' landscape, this was a pretty huge paradigm shift because up to that point I had no idea I could paint such a thing.
Watch out Whit Brachna, I'm coming for you

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[tomku]

October cont.

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[tomku]

November

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Doing loose and quick studies felt super refreshing

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Coming up with animals that have believable anatomy AND don't look completely terrible at the same time is (un)surpsingly challenging

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[BigMisch]

Hello!

Really nice studies in here, man!!

I would say your portrait work might not be as far as the rest of your stuff, so maybe do a couple extra face studies mixed in. Otherwise you're on you're way to glory!!

[applejjacks]

Really nice stuff. There is lots of variety of subjects which is really good. I would agree that the faces were probably the weaker things in your post. You tend to over-exaggerate features so that your faces look more like caricatures. You're doing a lot of great stuff though so keep it up.

[tomku]

@applejjacks @BigMisch

Thanks for the feedback guys. Due to circumstances beyond my control I've had significantly less free time in the past 7-8 months, so my portraiture skills are even worse now, if that's even possible

I'll definitely throw in some face studies into my warmup practice, even if that would mean just 2-3 rough sketches.

In the meantime I'll try and update this topic with what little art-ing I've done since the last post.

[tomku]

Getting back on track
2017
-----


January
January was pretty rough, my art workload dropped to around quarter of what it used to be and so did my motvation.

Random studies:

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This piece was done for a video game contest, looking back at it now it's obviously quite naive but I learned a ton (mostly what NOT to do ) Should be fun to revisit this few years down the road.

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Knife concept sketches for some thing, unsure about exact date on this one

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[tomku]

2017 continued

As it turned out, the 2017 was so-so as far as my artistic progress is concerned, I only spent a few hundred hours practicing art stuff for the remainder of the year.
Part of that was due to IRL circumstances beyond my control, but there's a fair share of laziness/lack of motivation in there as well.
Looking back, I'm not even upset at myself for slacking, I'm just disappointed. That realization was a pretty good kick in the butt though, so 2018 should be a much more productive year

-----

Still life drawings:

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Some gesture drawings:

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Mashup of concepts/illustrations with occasional study:

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[JYELtheREAL]

Keep at it!

[tomku]

Thanks Jyel, I will!