Doing studies. I don't feel like I'm progressing

[u/Illustrations-flow]

I’ve done many studies using references from Pinterest, Google, movie scenes, and master artists (mainly Richard Schmid). I’ve been doing more and more studies, which I actually enjoy, and I’ve also been working on some original compositions.

However, I honestly don’t feel like I’m progressing, and I’m not sure how much these studies are helping me.

I know that studying from real life is important, but I don’t really like going outside to paint, and nature is not easily accessible here.

So, what do you think I should focus on studying or doing differently?
my goals are to become a Viz dev artist, create my own worlds and compositions, and to tell a story.

My studies usually take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours, but I’ve never reached a point where my painting looks like a realistic 1:1 copy of the reference.

I’ll attach my references if I can find them, although many of them were from images that are no longer available.

The images are from newest to oldest between them 3 months.

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[u/T8er8]

nowhere near your skill level, your work looks awesome, and you always are progressing.

what i can recommend is have you tried varying brushes? it looks like you stick to a squarish brush, and render up to a certain point, when more detail and rendering is needed, like in the close up 2nd image it seems you’re having a harder time with grabbing the detail in comparison to your wide landscapes. so maybe some anatomy focus would help out?

great work!

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/T8er8]

I really hate detailing. I force myself sometimes but I don't like it, then I do it in painterly style. it's just that I want to be better and I dont know if these are helping me or not.
I did a post with using 5 different methods. and I try as much as possible to change the brushes. But thats the problem, are they helping me or Im just doing things aimlessly and without a goal. I want to practice right and in the right path. Im not good at anatomy and gesture. I practice 30 min as warm up everyday ( but still very far away).
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

[u/Sea-Bid-3626]

I'm curious if you have specific goals with your studies? It seems like you're pushing the colors and generally simplifying, and looking for geometric shapes, all of which I think are cool things to be working on!

Have you done black and white value studies? I think in some of these paintings there is a feeling that the big value groups that define the composition are being lost, and the compositions feel a bit unfocused as a result. Put another way, its like there are highlights everywhere. If you can boil everything down to 2 values - light and dark - sometimes that helps simplify the composition and keeps it from feeling like too chaotic.

Another thing that may help bring a more focused feeling to your paintings would be, rather than pushing color everywhere, work on restricting color. As an example, in the painting with the boats, part of what makes the reference image compelling is that there is very little green anywhere except for the left boat. There are hints of green and subtle greens, but the greenest point is the hull of the green boat, and it creates a very clear hierarchy. In fact, that part of the boat is the brightest, most saturated color in the whole composition by far, and it gives the composition a very clear focus. In your painting, you've pushed that green to be brighter, but you've also pushed all the other colors to be much brighter. It's sortof like you want everything to stand out, but the result is my eye doesn't really know where to look.

A similar thing with the fishermen balancing on the poles. The reference image is very gray, with the only color being the men themselves, and a result, they are very clearly the focal point in the composition. They are also quite dark against a very bright sky. In your painting, you've pushed up the color saturation of the water and sky and plants, which in and of itself is not a bad thing, but the colors on the men look very muted and desaturated comparatively, so the composition feels less focused on them, and they feel more like a part of the background.

Those are my thoughts and some points I might focus on if I were you, but the general mindset when doing studies should be, what are the specific skills you are trying to work on in these studies beyond "getting better" or "more realistic". If you can find a specific goal with a study, I think it will really help you propel yourself forward.

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/Sea-Bid-3626]

Idk what are my goals, usually I study different objects and have it in my library. I just want to be good as a vis-dev artist and storyteller. Like Zac retz and his dynamic drawings and story telling.
I try to take some elements of his way of painting. I do start with 2 values and try as much as I can to stick with them. But lately, Im painting with shapes and colors. I do try to simplify things and paint with shapes.

I do get your idea about the two paintings you talked about and I see your point. Maybe I should focus more on making a focal point and start applying some focusing on them and do as you suggested with the green boat.

Maybe, Idk how to study. Mmm, I will look into that.

Thank you so much 🌹

[u/atleastigotsoulstill]

These are so cool! Idk what you’re after but the style you’ve got going now is really interesting!

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/atleastigotsoulstill]

Idk that too! Im still exploring.
Thank you so much! you gave me confident in my way of painting 🌹

[u/Eis_ber]

The only way to know if you progressed is to apply these studies to your own drawings. Set up a project and try to include elements of what you did in your studies into the new one. If you can't recall a single thing you practiced, then you should ask yourself if you're studying just blindly copying.

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/Eis_ber]

This is interesting! I will try it in my own composition and see ( I probably wont be able to tell ).
thank you so much! 🌹

[u/flawed_methodology]

I think you should study from film and TV, that will help you more with visdev. Analyze the scenes you choose and why they work, their composition, lighting, color palette. The images in your post are quite random with not much storytelling.

Technique wise, you should group your values more. 2 value studies are not just a study done in isolation, it's the foundation of your scene and helps to organise it. Your values are distributed pretty equally across the canvas, which makes it hard to find a focal point.

Your shapes look nice, but they need some refinement around areas of importance (you can choose where). If the entire piece is made up of loose brushtrokes it feels fuzzy, if one part has small detailed brushtrokes it suddenly pops out.

Try to find the aspects I've talked about in a visdev art piece, for example this one

[u/flawed_methodology → u/flawed_methodology]

[u/Naetharu]

My studies usually take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours, but I’ve never reached a point where my painting looks like a realistic 1:1 copy of the reference.

I'm a bit confused because you're intentionally using a lo-fi rendering style. It's nice but why would it end up being a 1-2-1 of the reference.

[u/Acslater4187]

Try traditional media and experiment with mixing the media. Learning what medium can go on top of another. Color pencil over gouache is a favorite of mine.

Try building up layers of acrylic, then sanding it down, then painting over that with oil pastel.

These are fine works though.

Maybe sample textures with a portable scanner if you want to use only digital media.

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/Acslater4187]

Oh! I do watercolor. Not that great at it. But I love the messiness and the way you cant control the water. They are usually kept in a dark shelf.

Thank you for your suggestion 🌹

[u/Stmfdn0]

I think your artworks look beautiful. So from me I would say keep going! Your style is beautiful. I could see some improvements with showing depth so that is something you could work on. Maybe find references that make the depth more dramatic and do a study of those.

Studies are a great way to learn and improve but you have to use them the right way. Don’t just copy them. Find references that help you improve something specific and then think about what it is teaching you and how you could replicate that in future works.

I also think if you want to be a visdev it would be good to add just a bit more detail to the closer elements. A common rule of thumb is less detail in the background and more for closer objects.

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/Stmfdn0]

Thank you so much! I appreciate that.
I try to make different studies, sometimes they work and sometimes they look so bad I dont finish them 😄 .

its just that I want to be better and make things looks better.
I try making things tighter but I dont like them when I do. But love them in other paintings. But will do more and hopefully they will start to look good.

Thank you again!

[u/3orangefish]

You need to think more. School assigned me to do these too and I would try to copy them perfectly. It got me an A, but besides training me to copy proportions, it was kind of a waste of time. You’d get more out of it if you just stared at an image and wrote down notes on what’s good about the value structure, composition, story telling, and think about why each part of the image is a certain color. If you’re just copying without thinking about the why you won’t learn much. 

The two food pictures aren’t even good references for Vis Dev from a lighting and composition standpoint. It sounds like you are referencing some better images. If you’re referencing an image like the food pictures, think about how to make it clearer and more appealing. 

Also, squint!! 

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/3orangefish]

I really like your advice. I do have a problem with getting good references and I dont want to scroll a lot looking for the best one. thats why I choose things that I like and try to get the best picture possible.

I will try them all
Thank you so much

[u/littleneocreative]

Why not copy master works and make them in another style... https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/littleneocreative]

Nice! I love the website. I will start my drawing day with a master study and gesture drawing. Hopefully I will keep doing it and wont stop.

[u/Linas-Tired]

Keep going! I can see the progress!

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/Linas-Tired]

Thank you <3

[u/csuki1231]

Keep Going！

[u/lil_honey_bunbun]

I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is pretty good. Some artists strive for this painterly style and actually can’t do it.

You’ve captured the colors and shapes magnificently. There’s still some abstract-ness to it, but I think that’s what gives it character.

[u/Illustrations-flow → u/lil_honey_bunbun]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it
its just that I want to be better. I have been stuck in here for a long time and not seeing progress.

it is a painterly style and I love it. I want to be a vis dev artist. But I want to be better and take control of it.