[VENiM]

I've been workin on a few digital pieces with PS7 over the past few weeks and I've noticed something. During the late refining stages of a drawing, i usually find that i'm tweaking certain aspects of an image whether it is proportion, anatomy, design...etc. Very often, i end up "tweaking" or adjusting these things until the final outcome is very different from the original concept or idea and i end up spending a LOT of time doing this. my question is, should i be spending more time on the initial drawing stages of a painting? or is what i'm doing ok...

EDIT: crap i just realized that this isn't digital discussion um. i won't double post so i hope someone can give me some comments here or if the moderators could move this over it would be cool =/

[ July 28, 2002: Message edited by: Venim ]

[Asurfael]

The initial drawing should be worked on more. You should have a good base for the drawing before you start to paint, because otherwise you'll end up painting sketches that aren't actually that good, and when you finally realize that it's too late to fix any major issues.

[Mharett]

nothing can stand without a good foundation.

mhar

[Sumaleth]

(Moved to Discussion)

[liv the fish]

I think there needs to be a distinction here. The others are right, you need a strong sketch before you get too deep into the final product. But don't kick yourself for coming up with new ideas later in the process, like different colors, adding something to the background, etc. Sometimes things just pop in your head as you go along. Its all a part of creativity.

On the other hand I would consider "tweaking" proportion, anatomy, composition to be major problems with your foundation sketch. If you find yourself doing this alot in the late process of your painting, you need to seriously consider how much time you're spending getting your sketch to be correct.

What I do (and maybe it will help you) is first do thumbnails of the composition (just roughly figure out where things will go). I'll do about 50 of these to really get the juices flowing. Next I'll pick out 3 or 4 of them and do comps on 1/2 page of paper (letter size 8 1/2" x 11" in the states). I'll put my comps away for a day so I can look at them refreshed the next day. Then I'll pick one comp and do the final sketch at the final size, fixing any problems I find now. Sometimes I'll put the final sketch away for a day too just to make sure I've caught everything.

Its a lot of work, but its much more satisfying to end up with a great final image than to realize half way through that it was flawed at the start.

Good luck,
Brian H.

[Frog]

At the sketch stage it is a good idea to flip the image (if digital - just look at it in a mirror if it's on paper). This makes you look at it from a fresh viewpoint and instantly spot flaws. It is very similar to looking at it again the next day, except that the effect is immediate. Do this and fix your mistakes mercilessly before proceeding.

[liv the fish]

That's an excellent comment Frog. I'll give it a go and save myself a day hopefully

One other thing I do though that I didn't mention is turning the sketch upside-down. Probably a more difficult method than what Frog suggests, but I often see interesting things I didn't notice before.

later,
Brian H.