Eden’s 100 Day Challenge – 10 Value Thumbnails

[Eden]

For this challenge I will do 10 value thumbnails each day. I will set up a still life at home and some days will work on finding new compositions and other days work on changing the lighting.

I am hoping it will help me observe the 3D forms and also help me develop a good workflow.

[Josseline Jeria]

Eden,

This is a great challenge to set for yourself  🙂 thumbnails are so valuable. I need to get into the habit of doing them more often. I will enjoy seeing yours and how they develop.

Good luck and here to cheer you on

[Eden]

Hmmm, I posted some pictures but they aren’t showing up… This is just a test post to see what’s up with the system. Maybe posts with pictures just take longer to show up sometimes?

[Eden]

Okay I’m going to try re-posting this and will delete if the original post magically shows up.

So I’m trying to do the value compositions, but am struggling with the first key part which is setting up the still life and controlling the lighting conditions. It’s easy enough to control the light at night but is harder during the day. My goal is to just keep working with lighting conditions and paying attention to how light and shadow works.

Maybe the composition is secondary to the lighting conditions at the moment?

[PaulDidier]

Hi Eden,

Nice challenge. Again, something I need to do more of. Looking forward to your value studies. I see you had trouble posting your images. Mine aren’t showing up either. I simply “replied” to my initial post and added images. Do you know if this is the correct way to do it?

[Eden]

I don’t know why images just aren’t going through right now. Maybe it’s a system error? Hopefully it will resolve soon. But I also hope they don’t all show up and make it look like I posted an obnoxious number of times.

[PaulDidier]

I just posted my question on the “FAQ’ page. Hopefully someone will respond. I’m going to upload mine again.

[Josseline Jeria]

Hi Eden,

Cool setup you have! Your study there looks good

I think it would be good to focus on the lighting for the thumbnails to start with, not worry too much about the composition, and as the challenge continues, you’ll find it easier to work with the composition as there will be less mental effort going into the lighting. Day time can be tricky work with, as it isn’t stable, and if you’re working with ambient light, light and shadow patterns aren’t very distinct. Could be worth doing very quick thumbnails to get an overall understanding of your lighting condition. And setting up your overall value matrix. Because once you have that set, and set up your value ranges for each grouped area/mass, it’ll be easier to continue working with the drawing even if there are some shifts in the lighting.

set ups for good still lifes aren’t easy – well, to get ones that work well and are aesthetically interesting. just keep at it 🙂

I had difficulties as well with posting images. I found just posting one per comment solved the problem, for now anyway. Not sure why it doesn’t work the same on here as it does on the other areas of the forum, but at least for now that can be a way to circumvent the issue.

 

 

[Eden]

Josseline — thanks for the encouragement! I can’t wait to see more of your sketchbook drawings too!

I have been struggling with the still life set up. Controlling the lighting and whatnot. It’s difficult during the day, even with the curtains closed, but I figure this is part of the learning process of understanding the workings of light and shadow.

I feel a bit behind on my thumbnails already, but here is what I’ve been doing. I feel like part of this challenge for me will be getting more proficient and controlling and understanding lighting sources.

I’m also striving for a set up where I can draw for long hours without causing back and/or neck pain.

I would love advice if anybody has some!

Ultimately I’m going to be drawing comics, but I really want to master these fundamental concepts of form, light, and shadow and it seems that doing these observational drawings is crucial.

[Eden]

Okay here’s trying again. I’m not sure how posting images work or why some disappear. I tried posting twice more and they didn’t go through.

[Lucero]

Eden, I love the setup! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Dalek in a still life setup.

[Eden]

I’m going to count this as Day 1 since it took me some time to figure out the set up.

[Lucero]

Wonderful! It’s amazing how much the feeling changes based on your composition. Which is your favorite?

[Josseline Jeria]

Great start to the challenge 🙂 Could be good to have other setups where you have variations in the textures of the objects.

Getting use to this set up will help with the lighting. Ambient lighting is one of the more difficult ones to work with, so the better you get at these, the more you’ll get better at others. Maybe have alternating weeks of focusing on form and the other on light and shadow?

For back and neck pain, besides maintaining good posture and having your working surface 90 degrees to your line of sight (which you already have down packed it seems), it would be worthwhile looking up ways to strengthening your back muscles to help with muscular endurance. I’ve never had issues with pain. I come from a strong weightlifting background, so I think that’s probably a main reason for us.

 

[Joshua Jacobo]

Nice work. This seems like a great challenge. I’m sure you will learn a ton. Keep going!

[Author]

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