Karl Becker's long, strange trip

Karl Becker

Karl Becker

Mac-Valve Maestro!
I'm starting one of these for several reasons.

First, reading through some of the others has been very inspirational for me personally, so I feel the need to give back. Second, it appears to be a while since anyone has. Third, it might motivate me to keep going so I have something to add to this. Finally, if I actually get any good at this here airbrush thing, it might motivate other newbies to do the same.

I'm sure all of you have seen the practice work billboard I uploaded a bit ago, but as a launching point for this thread, I give you...an eye. This was a freehand thing I did to practice using paint and scratching to create texture. Yes, I know there are no lower lashes. I was focused on the iris.


eye2.jpg

More to follow....
 
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This will be a helpful thread for other just starting out like you are.
I also suggest all newbies keep their first painting and repaint the same piece in 3 months 6 months and 1 year. Doing this allows you to see just how much you let at those points in you painting life.
I look forward to seeing your growth in this art form.
 
mr.micron is correct (as always) keeping a thread of your journey is a great way to see how much you have improved, date EVERYTHING and you’ll have a record of each milestone

That reminds me, I must go update mine :)

and yes Mr Becker, I made your picture full size so we can see it easier
 
Thank you all for the support, as usual! :thumbsup:

Most likely, anything I paint will be posted somewhere on the forum, whether it's for critique or suggestions or whatever. However, I like the idea of having a single place you can go to see the timeline of progression. It seems more beneficial than just looking at a random work here or there.
 
It does help Karl, it helped keep me going as soon as I could see some sort of improvement not matter how small.
I honestly can't draw but I'm proof that you don't need to be able to. with the gang here they help you to adjust how you attack a piece and it certainly makes a big difference with the support crew here and I'm glad I can help someone along the way now instead of the one saying 'please sir... can I have some more.."
 
Wow. I'd kinda forgotten about this section!!

Being the ego centric I am I had to go and find mine  Oh what good intentions I had. And Oh, what a slacker I am. lollollollol

Thanks for reviving this @Karl. This should really help you track your progress, and reach some targets. For all I was a bit of a slacker, it did actually help me at the time.
 
If you try your hardest and try and remember the advice that’s been thrown at you from all angles then you’ll do fine. Every piece it a learning exercise, mostly in what not to do next time but that the learning process. I look forward to seeing this updated regularly :)
 
Since the purpose of this is tracking progress over time, I'm going to throw in one more from about 2 months ago. About a week or so after the eye. Everything I upload here after this will be new work.

This was my second attempt at this stylized skull. (The first was horrible) I used a pic off Google to create a stencil for the outline, eyes, and nose. The rest is freehand. I know the area around the teeth isn't very good, but the rest I was happy with at the time. I was still trying to get used to controlling the brush. Looking back at it now, I can pick out a laundry list of errors, but that's to be expected.

Anyway, here it is, for posterity.

skull.jpg
 
Just wanna add this, cause I didn't comment yet in your thread.

This thread is great. We have many lurkers which are just watching they don't post and I am thinking this is because they see bunch of great work. But they forget each of those people had to start somewhere.

I am very happy you decided to make this thread. I am sure many people will be encouraged cause of it.
 
Well, after working on it here and there over the last month, I finished what I consider my first serious work. While some of it didn't go as planned, it turned out better than I thought it would. This is Lars.

LB.jpg
Painted with an H&S Infinity, Wicked Black for the subject with a little light brown for the background.
 
Lars is a happy cat :)
Pro:
everything is in the right place and I can see its a cat so that's definitely a win :)
from what I can see on screen you have the fur running in the right directions,
His head looks really good.
you didn't just go solid
black on his body, you've added subtleties of light and dark

Con:
a little dark on the body, but I didn't check out the reference in the other thread.
His feet, tail and back leg have become a little 'lost'

All in all you've done a great job so early in your journey, painting something that we all know so well is hard because our brain tries to take over because it 'knows what a cat looks like' you have to be really strict with yourself and only paint what you see on the reference. Its not easy, it takes a while to convince your brain that you need to look at the reference but you'll get there. You'll also find that you start looking at everyday objects differently and have an internal conversation with yourself about how you would paint it :)
 
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