Looking to improve

Michael, can you explain your lighting choices here? Areas 1, 2, and 3 all make sense. Light is coming from the top left. So shouldn’t 5 be darker, and 4 not be a highlight? And shouldn’t 5 and 6 should be similar value? Just trying to understand your reasoning.

No problem. Here is what is going on in the back of my mind as I’m sketching. 4 is actually the direction of the light which lines up with 1 and close enough to 2, and the highlights on the UI above 4. 3 is bounded light from the background. 5 and 6 shouldn’t be the same color because light gradates. It isn’t even. Since between 4 and 5 is a surface that turns away from the light, emphasizing the difference between 5 and 6 pushes that surface back. 6 gradates back to light to the right to catch some of that bounced light. The light source is roughly to the left of the viewers eye but still the front of the product. It is the light source I use the most because the goal is to show form, not show how trick you can be with light sources! :slight_smile:

Very helpful! That all makes sense. The light reflected from the background/floor is always what trips me up when I’m sketching. My thought process is, “those surfaces curve away from the main light source, therefore, they should gradate darker.” Like what I did below. So it’s funny you say it’s about showing form, not tricky light sources–to me, the background reflections ARE the tricky light sources.

Good, other than some of the reflected light, it is pretty simple. Reflected light helps the form read more.

When I was first out of school the senior partner at the first firm I worked for told me this story of when he was in school. He was trained as an architect. He did this elevation of a residence and in the drawing there was a tree going right over a critical design element. The professor asked why the tree was ruining his drawing and he replied that is where the tree is in real life… to that the professor said real life? Is that what we are doing here? Are you doing the drawing or is the drawing doing you? … point being, control the elements of the sketch to convey what you want to convey. Don’t worry about getting it perfect so much. Just focus on getting it better than your last one.

Thanks Michael again for the continued advice :slight_smile: I need to get a scanner, i will try and pick up a second hand one from ebay…

Another sketch…

I mentioned to you earlier in this thread, when starting a concept try beginning w/ orthographic views (front/top/side) and really focus on proportion / design intent. Think about overall form and then work out the details. Trying to cram every single detail into one sketch is tough and you can loose intent quickly.

Also, be careful with your surfaces transitioning between planes…
IMG_2366.png

I see you pushing out of your comfort zone! Nice. On scanner, I recently booth a Brother portable scanner. $99, super happy with it. It is basically 10" by 2" x 3". It is very convenient.

Hi, when I’m making a sketch I really have no idea what I want it to look like yet. I am more experimenting with shapes and forms to see what appears nice on the paper. The 3/4 view allows me to see the forms more and play around. If i start sketching in orthographic isn’t that somewhat limiting my freedom at this early stage of design? Perhaps I understand incorrectly. If you have some examples to help me see this would help :slight_smile:

I’m just saying to loosen up and sketch quick and dirty in the beginning. Don’t worry so much about making a tight sketch until you have a concept you want to push further, in your case a sketch render…

Here is a 5-10 minute page I did yesterday (sorry not cameras)… just working thru form, little attention to detail, working out proportion/intent.

Thanks for the guidance :slight_smile:

Might be time to take a break from cameras. What other subjects are you interested in? It is always good to shift your thinking and then go back.

Decided to start on watches

Still no scanner lol, I will sort it out eventually.

Todays effort.

Some sketches for today. Will try to take one of these into a finished concept tomorrow.

These are great, wonderful compositions. I would love to see these amped up in Photoshop a bit.
I have to see if I can post some sketchwork one of these days as well.

Thanks man. I gotta leave the photoshop until i get a scanner :frowning: . Unfortunately I am low on cash at the moment and no money coming in, so scanner is on the shopping list still.

Some really rough sketches followed by a refined sketch. Tomorrow i will try and loosen this up and make a couple adjustments.

https://www.amazon.com/Brother-DS-620-Mobile-Color-Scanner/dp/B00EKWE55K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496789909&sr=8-1&keywords=brother+portable+scanner

Thanks Michael, its in the pipeline :slight_smile: