KL's sketching life

Hello everyone,

My name is Kelly. This is my third year in Academy of Art University, San Francisco. In the past years, I have no confidence on my sketching, but this semester, I met an awesome instructor and awesome classmates, they encourage me to put my work here and get feedback from other people. Now, I just want to get better on sketching! I appreciate any feedback, and I will try my best to solve the problems. Thanks!

This week’s assignment- Soft goods
First time sketching soft goods. My professor has already gave some comment on it, but still looking for more feedback from you guys!
Thanks!

Hi Kelly! Right now, I am still learning to sketch myself and wasn’t going to comment on your sketches because of this but since no one else commented yet…

I think overall your sketches are looking good! Maybe this is more of a hardgoods thing, but maybe you could try to make your border lineweight heavier? Also on your luggage and backpacks, I can clearly see some secondary zippers but I was having a hard time understanding where the main, largest zippers would be in the sketches.

This is off topic but are those green marker comments from your professor :open_mouth:? Maybe this is a typical design school thing to get you to not treat any sketch as a precious thing (which I understand) but I would have to fight the urge of being a little annoyed to have someone giving me that type of feedback on my sketches haha. One bonus of seeking feedback on Core77 is that our feedback can’t ruin your original sketch!

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I’ve noticed you’ve been drawing through. Make that a habit :wink:

I find the lettering to be a bit distracting. In addition to practicing sketching, you should practice “designer handwriting”. If you see any of Yo’s sketches, he has really good designer handwriting.

If you get good at the lettering it becomes almost a textural part of the sketch. Soft goods can be challenging. The important thing is to think through the details. Soft goods are basically 2d sheet materials that are folded into the 3 dimensional goods. Things like stitching, seams, pattern breaks are much more important than wrinkles. I tend not to draw any wrinkles in my softwoods because I find them distracting, but I know other designers who do it really well. Bellow is one of my bag examples.

See how things like stitching and just a subtle simulation of materials using the marker to stipple give it a little believability? Also notice that if you take all the graphical and material break ups away, it is a very simple construction. A front panel, a pleated life panel, and a back panel that wraps over the top.

Thanks for all the suggestion from last time!
The products this week are bags and watches. I tried to make the bags look softer and improved my lettering, but I still think the lettering could be better.

Nice improvements Kelly. Very nice step forward with those last pages.

When thinking about the bags, think about the details. How it is put together. What is the bag for? Based on the functions, what little features can you give it? A hidden pocket in just the right place.

On the notes, don’t tell me it is fabric, tell me what kind of fabric it is. is it waxed duck canvas like a traditional outdoorsman bag, or is it a technical polly knit?

Lastly, don’t be afraid to pump up the contrast on these. Check out one of your sketches that I adjusted the levels on. Make it pop.

Good work! Keep pushing yourself and you will continue to see these big jumps!
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thanks a lot!
yea, going dark is always my problem, sometimes I think it is dark enough, but it looks really light when I put on the wall with other classmates, the adjustment you made really help me understand how dark it should be! thanks again! will try to improve more this week!

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So last week was watches and helmets.
I think I went a little bit too dark, also can be looser, especially on the thumbnails.

Your darkest darks can go even darker. Try to have a complete range on every sketch from totally black to totally white.

A little dodge and burn on one of your sketches to show the range of tonality that you can push for.
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Thanks Michael!
It is always helpful to see the change you made on my sketch, yea so I was trying to find the balance of getting dark but still leave white part to show more contrast.

no problem. It is always easier to see the faults in the work of others than it is to see the faults in our own work. That is why it is so important to find people you trust to get feedback from. Another thing I often do is to pin a sketch up and let it sit over night. Come back to it from across the room the next day. I always see what needs to be done to it when I let the sketch breath like that.