so I drew this little moving shed in celebration and preparation for a lovely new set of grey markers I received for christmas. I think I could work more into this piece but I will leave it where it is for now. Though, I did scan it in when it was just pencil in case I ever planned on taking it into digital. I would have loved to add a character to the final image but my figure drawing is abominable and is something I would prefer to practice digitally before ruining a nice drawing

What do you all think? is there anything you would change? anything I could have done to have made it a more successful image? or would you just like to let me know who you think would have lived in/used this vehicle?. Thanks, Luke

@NessIllustration Well now that you word it like that I suppose it's stylized rendering that i'm looking for and not a full style itself. That's definitely not a conclusion that I would have come to by my lonesome... It may be a by-product of the work that I did in the past but when I think of the kind of artist I would want to be right now I imagine works like Leyendecker's, Shaun Tan, or drawers like Mcque, Karl Kopinksi or any of the other brilliant draftsmen that are out there. I think if I were to develop a style in regards to my proportions they wouldn't necessarily stray far from those that would be considered realistic.. and I think it's particularly because I'm interested in creating graphic novels or illustrated stories from writings on myths or legends.

I think that a rendering that appears to have more realistic proportions would help support the idea that whatever I'm illustrating may actually exist in real life, such as a fairy, an elf, orc, or any other mythical creature that may come to mind!

And I suppose, in regards to Lee K, it's not really his rendering that I look for, but more that I adore his control of 'chaos'. I like the idea of having work that looks just as chaotic but still creates a sound and concise overall final image. A lovely but not directly comparable example of that in regards to children's illustrating would of course be Winnie the witch :). I grew up on a Winnie the Witch book and I had the absolute joy of going back through my childhood kids' books recently.

And I think I will always have traditional with me as I wouldn't want to lose it, I enjoy it too much. I adore the idea of watercolour and pen art and I really hope to learn the craft at some point myself! I can't say I've tried watercolour at any point in the last 5 years, or, generally speaking, at all. Seeing your brilliant use of colour I would love to see some watercolours being made! From what I see it seems it could be a good fit for you

@RioSim1 Why thank you! I'm enjoying them very much and I'm hoping to become even more familiar with them in the future. Only time will tell! It's a shame that the paper I was using let the ink bleed but that's my lesson learned!

Greetings from Leicestershire!

I've just joined the community, and am looking very much forward to working on some of the courses that SVS has on offer. I've been listening to the podcast for months (starting from the first-ever episode, I happen to be half way through last year currently). I am a student at Loughborough University taking a degree in Graphic Design and illustration, and I hope to become an illustrator as my full-time profession, but I won't need to worry about this for a couple of years.

My dad is a Graphic Designer and my mum happens to be a fine artist, so I happen to have been around art all my life more or less. I've done art all of my life but in particular, I had a couple of photorealistic drawings which were my calling card in most youth art competitions I entered. I have been lucky enough to win 2-3 times in the last 6 years but don't really enter them anymore for a multitude of reasons. My photorealistic drawings taught me the techniques I need in regards to penmanship, patience, etc but I'm trying to stray away from that kind of art and push more into digital work and more simplified work that requires more technical knowledge.

I am confident in my ability and I know that if I can learn to apply myself instead of play video games all the time I could be quite successful in the world of art and illustration (or at least I like to think so). I already have a lot of art resources and books like Loomis, Gurney, Robertson, etc, but haven't studied one book in full yet.

I'm making this rather drawn out post to ask any illustrators of experience what resources (books, courses on this website, youtubers..) I should be consuming and studying in my spare time in order to further my art and style digitally. I am in a position where I am struggling to transfer from traditional to digital as "style" is something I have always had an issue with (due to only pushing for realism) I hope one day to illustrate books, childrens or adults, and also create graphic novels, though, any job which can pay and additionally provide creative fulfilment would be a great start

I'm afraid this is a very vague and open ended question, but I would love to start a conversation with a couple of illustrators on this site in regards to what direction I should take towards developing my work. I'm showing below my favourite realistic drawing I ever did, it happens to be my calling card in a way for my art instagram. the piece is called "Thinking With" and is a pencil drawing. It's a favourite of mine because although it's main goal was realism it's an interesting and original piece, unlike most of my realistic drawings. I worry that the scan has always looked quite gritty and I assure you that the drawing doesn't look like that in person! My art account can be found at @lukejustdraws but I treat it as a showcase page and as a result do not often post to it.

Any suggestions in regards to how I should go about developing myself, or anything I should prepare myself for, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time, Luke.

@NessIllustration wouldn't it be lovely if style could just pop out of thin air!

Thank you Ness, I appreciate your time giving me some advice. I think a good step forward may be some master copies to force myself out of trying to work out a problem by myself. Perhaps trying out an Ian Mcque drawing or a Lee K portrait. I'd love to learn something from either of them.

I love your work, especially your work with colour. Is your work 100 percent digital? or does it begin somewhere traditional?

Thanks

@NessIllustration I suppose I can be quite glad that I know what I want.. though of course it's likely my tastes may change in the future. I hope very much to have some good development in my quality of work next year! Thank you for your time!

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Yes, I think for sure you have got a point there. I think I'm slightly afraid of closing some doors but I think at the worst-case scenario I could just open them again if I change my mind in the future! for me, I would prefer/love to specialise in working on comics and graphic novels for teen/older audiences I think if I were to narrow down my choices. Focusing on one thing is good advice.

I would have to say that I do think quite broadly with my art. Maybe I would see a lot of benefit from specialising. I'll try to make an effort on keeping that in mind! Thank you

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Thank you so much for your kind words and also your time. The first post i've made and I've already had the benefit of coming to a realisation on where I should first take the brunt of my work! I wonder how long it would have taken me if I hadn't posted on this forum...

It's strange, the TPP podcast just now came into a conversation too on how people need to specialise into a particular form of art for their portfolio instead of just art in general. Very odd timing!

@RioSim1 Why thank you! I'm enjoying them very much and I'm hoping to become even more familiar with them in the future. Only time will tell! It's a shame that the paper I was using let the ink bleed but that's my lesson learned!

@Coreyartus Thank you! and apologies for such a late reply! I've been quite busy between my studies and my work. I would indeed love to return to this vehicle and its driver in the future. I imagine it could make for an interesting illustration

so I drew this little moving shed in celebration and preparation for a lovely new set of grey markers I received for christmas. I think I could work more into this piece but I will leave it where it is for now. Though, I did scan it in when it was just pencil in case I ever planned on taking it into digital. I would have loved to add a character to the final image but my figure drawing is abominable and is something I would prefer to practice digitally before ruining a nice drawing

What do you all think? is there anything you would change? anything I could have done to have made it a more successful image? or would you just like to let me know who you think would have lived in/used this vehicle?. Thanks, Luke

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Thank you so much for your kind words and also your time. The first post i've made and I've already had the benefit of coming to a realisation on where I should first take the brunt of my work! I wonder how long it would have taken me if I hadn't posted on this forum...

It's strange, the TPP podcast just now came into a conversation too on how people need to specialise into a particular form of art for their portfolio instead of just art in general. Very odd timing!

@NessIllustration Thank you very much for your advice :). If that happens to be the case, I think you're absolutely right. Concept art did initially interest me and I think it still does, but i've heard from a lot of people that the humble concept artist is treated like crap a lot in the creative industry. That being said, it would definitely not be the worst job I've ever had and is still a possiblity of mine.

Perhaps my work should be more exclusive to graphic novels and the like, it's the idea that excites me most after all.

Thank you Ness, and Nyrryl if you happen to read this! I was looking for general counsel in regards to how I should go about improving my work and I think that's exactly what I've gotten. That being said, if either of you or anyone else for that matter has something to say I'll never say no to more valuable insight
Really appreciate the warm welcome, there are nnot so many places that put so much effort into a new account's first post. Hopefully, I will become a regular here.

Seems to be that the SVSLearn Forums is a stirring pot of creativity, knowledge, and some hard-earned wisdom/hindsight. Seems crazy to turn so much information down so I reckon that I'll be posting and interacting with this site more often.

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Yes, I think for sure you have got a point there. I think I'm slightly afraid of closing some doors but I think at the worst-case scenario I could just open them again if I change my mind in the future! for me, I would prefer/love to specialise in working on comics and graphic novels for teen/older audiences I think if I were to narrow down my choices. Focusing on one thing is good advice.

I would have to say that I do think quite broadly with my art. Maybe I would see a lot of benefit from specialising. I'll try to make an effort on keeping that in mind! Thank you

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Hi Nyrrl . I would be interested in doing more or less any form of design or illustration, as I've always thought as long as I would be creatively fulfilled and was also paid for my work then I would be enough. I also would get great satisfaction with having my artwork out in the world in any general form. I feel like if I were to have my art out in the world I would have changed the world, at least a little bit. And any change for the better is a good step forwards. ( just as an example of this belief of mine, I was actually an apprentice at a tattoo parlour for some time prior to my degree.. though it wasn't a good fit for me in the end)

That being said, the concept of working on an action-like graphic novel or a noir comic, perhaps even on illustrated horror stories or the like would be something that interest me.

This being said, I also like the idea of forming children's ideas and help to bring them up, and turn them into good people. I think that I would enjoy illustrating kid's books. There's a chance that I would become an art teacher of some form after my degree in fact.
I'm aware that the two interests I have do not often mix, and it's likely in my best interest that one or the other are done under a different name in order to help separating the two, which I have already taken some steps towards.

To sum up my answer to your question, I think as long as I was exercising my creativity a lot of markets would fulfill me to a great extent. While my degree is based a lot on graphic design, I am definite that I would at the very least end up doing illustration on the side. Exploring and illustrating more action-like stories with an adult or teen audience in mind is something that fascinates me

@NessIllustration I suppose I can be quite glad that I know what I want.. though of course it's likely my tastes may change in the future. I hope very much to have some good development in my quality of work next year! Thank you for your time!

@NessIllustration Well now that you word it like that I suppose it's stylized rendering that i'm looking for and not a full style itself. That's definitely not a conclusion that I would have come to by my lonesome... It may be a by-product of the work that I did in the past but when I think of the kind of artist I would want to be right now I imagine works like Leyendecker's, Shaun Tan, or drawers like Mcque, Karl Kopinksi or any of the other brilliant draftsmen that are out there. I think if I were to develop a style in regards to my proportions they wouldn't necessarily stray far from those that would be considered realistic.. and I think it's particularly because I'm interested in creating graphic novels or illustrated stories from writings on myths or legends.

I think that a rendering that appears to have more realistic proportions would help support the idea that whatever I'm illustrating may actually exist in real life, such as a fairy, an elf, orc, or any other mythical creature that may come to mind!

And I suppose, in regards to Lee K, it's not really his rendering that I look for, but more that I adore his control of 'chaos'. I like the idea of having work that looks just as chaotic but still creates a sound and concise overall final image. A lovely but not directly comparable example of that in regards to children's illustrating would of course be Winnie the witch :). I grew up on a Winnie the Witch book and I had the absolute joy of going back through my childhood kids' books recently.

And I think I will always have traditional with me as I wouldn't want to lose it, I enjoy it too much. I adore the idea of watercolour and pen art and I really hope to learn the craft at some point myself! I can't say I've tried watercolour at any point in the last 5 years, or, generally speaking, at all. Seeing your brilliant use of colour I would love to see some watercolours being made! From what I see it seems it could be a good fit for you

@NessIllustration wouldn't it be lovely if style could just pop out of thin air!

Thank you Ness, I appreciate your time giving me some advice. I think a good step forward may be some master copies to force myself out of trying to work out a problem by myself. Perhaps trying out an Ian Mcque drawing or a Lee K portrait. I'd love to learn something from either of them.

I love your work, especially your work with colour. Is your work 100 percent digital? or does it begin somewhere traditional?

Thanks