Workshops and School work :D

[F!END]

Hey Everybody,

I'm a illustration/fine arts student in so cal. I'll be posting my figure drawings from class and workshops here. I am still trying to achieve a better friendship with my pencil and will hopefully overcome my fear of oil painting.....baby steps....
Any helpful tidbits and suggestions would be dope.

The first few drawings range from 5min-2hr poses... My quick sketch needs some tlc, I'm still trying to figure out how to be economical with my lines.

The last five are from class last semester, followed by my portrait final. I definitely regret not adding more medium to my darks... a few more months until I can varnish!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/RyokoAGogo/ART/workshop5min.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/RyokoAGogo/ART/workshop7min.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/RyokoAGogo/ART/workshop25min.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/RyokoAGogo/ART/Workshop_koko.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/RyokoAGogo/ART/Week4.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/RyokoAGogo/ART/Anatomy.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/RyokoAGogo/ART/Portraitw2.jpg

[The Pariano]

These are nice drawings. Proportions might be a bit off in the first few drawings. As for the painting- I really like it. The snuck in warmth in the whites of the shirt and the bold lighting in the face works well. Why don't you clean it with a rag and water, and then oil it out? that will bring back your darks and will reduce the chance of odd spots if some of your pigments were in fact very absorbent when it comes time to varnish. retouch varnish would also do the job.

[F!END]

Thanks for the tip! I didn't think to reactivate the surface again.

As for my gestures, I have to work on slowing down and getting the proportions right... I get caught up in the time limit and jump into the anatomy way too quickly.

Here's a couple of portraits 3.5-8 hrs

[F!END]

Here's some more classwork...

I'm still trying to get comfortable with painting and definitely need to work on my value and temperature relationships.

The red head was my first portrait assignment in color.... keeping the intensity in the flesh tones was difficult for me as I have a tendency to use lots of white which completely dilutes my color.

In the still-life of three objects, I worked on capturing the varying textures of the objects.

The TP painting was done in about 4.5hrs in class...for some reason I had a really hard time adjusting the values in this one.

Feedback is greatly appreciated! :)

[prufrock27]

hey that 2nd still life looks familiar! Beautiful!
The TP looks good too... did you do an underpainting for that?

[JeffX99]

Great stuff - was it homework or something that you guys all had to join CA?!
Looks like you're placing eyes a little high - but maybe that is just distortion in the photos or you're doing it intentionally. Just something I noticed.
With the redhead portrait, which is great btw, the value on left side of her neck seems way high? Doesn't fit into shadow family - in the little thumbnail "map" you seem to have it correct. Maybe to avoid bringing the lit side up with so much white you could try darkening the background against the lit edge? That will help it pop more and allow you to keep a little more color in those hot lights.

Anyway - it's great to see all the stuff you guys are doing.

[F!END]

prufrock27- Haha thanks.. You should post yours it's awesome. The TP painting did start out with an underpainting although the approach was new to me. I started out sketching the TP with c.yellow on white canvas and kept going back over correcting my drawing with darker, cooler colors... eventually you end up with a mixed up gray and then you just scrub that into the naked parts of the canvas. At first, this approach kind of messed me up, but I really like the advantage of the redrawing process, it allows you to fix all composition and proportional problems right away.


jeffX99- Joining CA is part of the initiation process...or so I'm told :p... Anyway, I agree with you on the red head portrait... There were two light sources and one was very close to her right side, completely blowing it out. I struggled with painting what I saw vs. painting what I know...Learning!


Here's another figure study...about 2hrs or so. I was trying to work out adding tone in on her 'light' side. I still have to work out some pencil handling issues tho...

[Patrick Szucs]

The painting of the toilet paper is brilliant; the human condition explored through still life. :drool:

[F!END]

Haha Thanks Patrick! I completey agree with you. I just completed another TP still-life today in class and am going to have to paint another one next week.... pretty soon I'll have enough for a show :P


Been a looong week... I just started a head drawing class with Glenn Orbik at 3 kicks studio. Holy $#!T! He is AMAZING! We've only had one class so far, but I have already learned sooo much. 2d shapes and design Design DESIGN! Not necessarily new to me but while watching Glenn's demo everything just seemed to click. Ahhhhh sooo happy :D

On to the drawings...

The first one is from Hope's figure class that I sneak into regularly. I feel like I am getting better at proportioning and designating value.

The second one is from Glenn's class. I finally have figured out how to draw comfortably while controlling my mark making better. I cannot tell you how valuable it is to be able to watch a great artist draw. I immediately figured out sooo many things I've been doing wrong.

[j umfress]

looking good, keep it up! :)

[AztcFireFlower]

Love the tonals you're doing in Hope's class.
I agree, Glen IS an incredible designer. I am focusing on understanding & acquiring his beautiful marks, some day.

[F!END]

It's been a crazy semester... Glen's head drawing class has been sooo beneficial! Taking the time to really memorize the planes and abstractions of the head is a must. This summer is gearing up to be more intense as I'm now taking Life Drawing with Glen and Sean Cheetham's portrait painting class.

The first pic is from the last head drawing class, followed by a 2 hour head drawing of my sister. My self portrait painting was homework in Cheetham's class using his palette/method. Took me about 6 1/2 hrs. Sean's demo was like magic, he keeps things sooo simple....

Crits are more than appreciated... I'll post more as my classes progress :^^:

[bkkm]

The progress in your drawings is amazing. Your marking making really improved, and, if the order of the posts give us a fair chronology, it almost happened from day to night. It is great to see you learned so much from Glen's class, and so quickly :)

[F!END]

bkkm- Thanks so much for the kind words :) Glen is the man! I have learned soo much from him and am grateful that I'm able to be in his class this summer.

I've just begun watching some instructional head drawing videos by William Maughan. I've only gotten through the first lesson and have already had a ton of 'ah hah!' moments... The concept that struck me the most was not using lines in my drawing. He only uses abstract shadow shapes and the only lines he uses are for bringing out the edge of cast shadows. I know I've probably been showed this a million times in class, but for whatever reason it didn't click until now. Maughan's book is really helpful as well.

Here's a painting from week 2 of Cheetham's portrait class. I've really been trying to simplify my colors and create a more topographic gradiation of value and temperature shifts. One of my biggest problems so far is not mixing enough paint....

The second drawing is a study I did after watching the Maughan video. I'm starting to understand what it means to see the features more abstractly and to draw those shapes as opposed to an 'eye shape' or a 'basic nose shape', etc.

It's gonna be a looong summer....

[F!END]

Some new stuff.... Feedback is appreciated! :)

[bjoern3000]

Feedback is appreciated?
Ok, here it comes:

They are really nice, I especially like the fourth one and the sixth one most! the sixth one looks digitally made. Her hand is a bit too long, isn´t it?
First one and sixth one have the strongest composition.

[*ViRuS*]

Some really fantastic work in here, loving the paintings. =)

[Raileyh]

Look at you gurrrl!! You're killin it! I'm so excited to be able to watch you grow in your skills. The next few years are going to be Big for you. One thing to work on is your hand construction. The last drawing you did in class is really nice - I love the simplification and the push of the light effect.

h

[vikramranu]

i love the time i invest looking at these works...
usage of colurs and strokes of brush are seen.
feels good

[Crush]

Cool stuff, where do you go to school? I recognise Liz, JJ, and Roxanne, possibly dick and Lynda too :p

Jealous that you get to paint with Cheetham!

[the_allejo05]

I think your work is really strong,but to me sometimes it seems to crude. They are great studies,but to make them art,i think you should study the classic artists to make your work have the appeal and taste and feeling of art..while natural talent and your art can make you a great artists you need to feed from great art and learn it...it is a language...So many of the great artists learn from others as well and i sense there is a lack of it...
Also,drop the charcoal for a while (i know that is required in your classes but at least you can do it in your personal work )and draw with pen to get a firm grasp of line and going over the form...Also study perspective deeply...that will help you self correct what does not look right

[F!END]

bjoern3000- That last painting was done in oil on gessoboard. It was fun to be able to experiment with lost edges and color notes. I have only really done paintings for class assignments so this was the first one that I could play around with.

*ViRuS*- Thanks!

Ms.Raileyh- It helps having someone who can teach art in a language I understand :) I've been studying that Hampton book on hand construction. It's been really helpful.

vikramranu- thanks for the kind words

Crush- I go to school at Laguna College of Art + Design. I studied with Cheetham at 3kicks studio. Sean is so mellow, it helps take the anxiety out of trying to finish a portrait in 4 hours.

the_allejo05- thanks for the advice. The greatest thing about art to me is that it's a never ending learning process!



I Just got back from a week long workshop with Henry Yan. It was AMAZING!! Watching him draw is like seeing how a magician does his tricks. I had soo many 'aha!' moments it made my head spin.

The drawings on newsprint range from 3 minute gestures to 20 and 40 minute figures. The ones done on drawing paper were 40 minutes long and executed using a wiping technique to get the midtones. These were done mostly in vine charcoal- compressed was used on the outlines and for the core shadows.

The last two done on toned paper were an hour long, using only vine and white chalk pencil.

Thanks for looking!

[kevinwueste]

those last 4 or 5 drawings are like a rocket ship took off ( the Henry Yan ship no doubt among the glen and hope ships (and yours!)).. those are just beautiful - doing some tonal drawings with the henry yan wipe technique maybe ? anyway - great stuff - you have shifted so many gears so fast - wow!

[vaporz]

wow you got to learn from henry yan? i'm envious. your works are pretty good. all the best, man =D

[F!END]

Kevin- Thanks! I've become a total workshop junkie.... good stuff. Speaking of which...when's the Wueste workshop??? I'd def be down for that ;)

vaporz- Henry Yan is such a great teacher! He's got a dvd coming out soon on his drawing method.... check it out.



School is back in session...yay. Super busy semester, which is good. LCAD just added two long pose workshops on the weekend...hookd up.

-The following gestures consist of 2,5,and 10mins
-2.5 hr Charcoal drawing on canson from life
-4/4.5hr Figure painting limited palette (w,y.ochre,b.sienna,u.blu) from life
-4.5/5hr Portrait grisaille from life and photo


Thanks for looking :)

[Raileyh]

Dayy yyummmm great work. keep it up.

[kevinwueste]

Great new things! All excellent!!! wow!

[purplegoat]

I'm really enjoying your sketchbook. It has given me some inspiration to push my studies. Thanks for sharing.

[beigeape]

wow, top knotch, inspirational work, thanks for posting

[surus]

Thanks for sharing! Thread added to the pencil masters thread.

[mattlinz]

Thanks for sharing all of this great work!

[F!END]

Wow, Thanks everyone for the support! It really means alot and helps keep me focused.

I've just started going to a gesture workshop taught by Erik Gist at Watts Atelier. It is such a great class, Erik is a really awesome teacher. There are alot of really good students in that class and insane drawings and paintings all over the walls, it's inspiration overload! I've also been extremely lucky to be able to sit in on Hope's figure studies class. Figure/portrait drawing with Hope has definitely been the most important element in my development as an artist thus far. I've noticed a shift in my thinking now when I go to draw or paint. The first things I think about are lightest, brightest, darkest shapes- edges- light effect and color relationships.... I rarely ever focus on the subject or likeness anymore, I'm guessing this a good thing. Slowly but surely I'm learning :p


on to the work..
-2,3,and 5 minute gestures done in Erik's class

-2 day charcoal portrait from Hope's class




Thanks for checking out my thread :)

[rattus]

good work here!

[OldJake666]

WOW you've shown such an incredible amount of improvement! How much figure drawing (how many hours) do you do a week?

[mattlinz]

All of your work is great. But I really like your gesture drawings. And that last painting in post #15 is amazing!

Keep up the great work!!

[kevinwueste]

what Matt said! amazing gestures and that head study is Strong! - kevin

[F!END]

rattus- thank you
Jacob- Thanks! I usually try to sketch everyday, atleast an hour or two.
mattlinz- Your work is awesome! Thanks for the encouragement
kevin- Thank you sir :)


I've survived the semester and have a lot of things to work on. Erik's gesture class has really helped me understand form and how anatomy wraps around it. Working on toned paper has also really helped me see shapes and the importance of creating a good design. I have to keep reminding myself to lead the eye and create an interesting entrance and exit in my work.

Just drawings for now, I'll post the paintings later..

first up, gestures from Erik's workshop ranging from 3min-5min. Followed by some charcoal drawings done early in the semester in Hope's class.

[F!END]

A few paintings from last semester finals. And a portrait done in a 5 hr workshop. My goal for this semester is to clean up my flesh tones and incorporate more of the environment's interaction with the figure.

[mattlinz]

Beautiful.

[kevinwueste]

Tattoo lady painting - really cool! the attitude, the features, her emotion and the ink - all good stuff! - Kevin

[F!END]

Happy to be starting the new semester with classes I hope will help me somewhat figure out this painting thing. I struggle with values and color so much, I'm still waiting for it to click. This term I have a portrait class with Hope and figure painting with Joseph Todorovitch.....stoked

Gesture drawings 5, 10, 20 mins

Head study 1.5 hr in portrait class

B & W portrait from life 4hr workshop

Venetian Red sketch from life 4hr in figure class

Figure limited palette 5hr in figure class

[mattlinz]

I can't imagine drawing and painting at this high of a level while still in school. Wow!

Great work F!END.

[F!END]

Well, it's been a minute...

How 'bout some art ish...

-drawings done in class ranging from 1-4 hrs I think.

-final project painting... 48 x 66. This was my first time trying to incorporate multiple figures in an environment, and definitely the biggest thing I've ever painted. I went into it sort of naive and ran into all sorts of problems along the way, which was a delight... I tried to lay down paint with my palette knife, to get texture and play around with shapes... needless to say, it's made me older and a lil' bit wiser ;p

-the last two mini heads (5x7) are something that I plan on doing all summer. They each took about 4-5 hrs from photo. Hopefully I can get some good mileage out of it. I still have to force myself to use more paint.

[mattlinz]

Great update! I love all of them - but I'm really drawn to the multiple figure piece. It's so nicely done!

Great work!
Matt

[Konstruktion]

Nice stuff man! I'll have to keep an eye or three on this thread of yours.

[PostalFry]

Kevin- Thanks! I've become a total workshop junkie.... good stuff. Speaking of which...when's the Wueste workshop??? I'd def be down for that ;)

vaporz- Henry Yan is such a great teacher! He's got a dvd coming out soon on his drawing method.... check it out.



School is back in session...yay. Super busy semester, which is good. LCAD just added two long pose workshops on the weekend...hookd up.

-The following gestures consist of 2,5,and 10mins
-2.5 hr Charcoal drawing on canson from life
-4/4.5hr Figure painting limited palette (w,y.ochre,b.sienna,u.blu) from life
-4.5/5hr Portrait grisaille from life and photo


Thanks for looking :)


Greate inspiration for as a begginner, proportions, pose , drawing style is an amazing. I prefer digital painting , but traditional painting is an essential...

Anyway thank u for your help, that u have shared u'r drawing experience with us, thank u.

By the way are u drawing with charchoal ?

[F!END]

matt- Thanks! Your thread is such an inspiration!

konstruktion- third eye vision... I'm diggin it :)

postalfry- Thank you. I draw mostly with charcoal 2b and conte pencils.


Soo I've been trying to keep busy this summer, although it has been kind of hard resisting the beach. I'm helping out in Hope's summer high school program and am finally starting to find the fun in gesture drawing. It's kind of a trip because this time last year, drawing a 2 or 3 minute figure was torture...although it has been a good reminder of what anatomy I need to revisit.
I'm also making sure I paint atleast once a week, or else I start to throw fits.

Here's some recent gestures (2, 3, 5, 10 min)

The charcoal portrait is a 3hr demo I did at the Art-a-fair in Laguna. Drawing in front of people like that was definitely anxiety inducing...

Another mini head painting. I only allowed myself to use a palette knife and one synthetic flat for this piece to make sure I lay down more paint. I'm not sure how I feel about leaving those marks... it was hard to not soften my transitions.

Lastly is my backpack :) I was reaching the seven day no painting mark and was getting ansty so I gave myself 6hrs in my studio and treated it like a workshop.


Thanks for Looking!

[Konstruktion]

That shark backpack is really nice. Well executed for sure and not bad to make a painting of a bag look atmospheric and awesome. The charcoal portrait is pretty damn cool to. Laguna eh I have a good buddy over there somewhere, laguna beach college or whatever it's called I think. Gestures are looking nice, making me miss life drawing

[Invalid User]

Beautiful stuff, your work is inspiring, I especially love the portraits.

[kevinwueste]

great stuff and the head paintings are -wow! - kw

[F!END]

Long overdue update!

Fall semester is underway and I'm trying to figure out what to do for my senior port next year. I've been in my sketchbook mostly instead of in the studio, and only have a few things worth posting for now. I finally enrolled in a figure drawing class with Kevin Chen that starts this week *excitment* and I'm also taking a gouache painting class with Glen and Laurel. I hope to learn some new techniques that I can maybe implement in my studio work.... we'll see how it goes...

-"Chibi Companion"
Mini shark bag alla prima

-"Juice County"
two oranges...one fresher than the other ;) alla prima

-"Ms. Nelita"
workshop drawing

[jetpack42]

I'm really enjoying your work. Looking through and picking up some technical ideas. Thanks for sharing! Keep whuppin ass!

[mattlinz]

I'm loving those shark backpacks! And the edge work on those oranges is perfectly handled.

Beautiful work!

[Mane]

SO much love for this thread.
Chrisx

[kevinwueste]

Hope looks.. thoughtful and distant.. something! - kw ( all good works)

[prsnsweeney]

wow amazing improvement and beautiful work what school exactly are you attending i live in so cal and attend the art institute but i have been looking for a new school to go to. Im not really happy with the teaching i have been getting

[F!END]

wow amazing improvement and beautiful work what school exactly are you attending i live in so cal and attend the art institute but i have been looking for a new school to go to. Im not really happy with the teaching i have been getting

Hey thanks!

I attend the Laguna College of Art and Design. I completely nerd out over school I love it so much. I will say though, that a lot of my growth has come out of gaining exposure to artists that teach workshops in and around oc. I am really fortunate enough to be pushed by Hope. She pretty much laid it out for me, as far as the reality of what you can expect to get out of art school, and what it takes to be competitive in the 'art world' depending on your goals.

My focus has been on strengthening my foundational knowledge (the one's and two's). I believe that if I have that down solid, then I can have the freedom to explore different media and techniques with confidence.

If you are unhappy about where you are, then I suggest you try to attend classes at an atelier, find someone who's work inspires you and go take classes with him/her. We are extremely lucky to live in so cal because there are sooo many schools and workshops with amazing teachers. I remember the first time I saw really good gesture and head drawings, and found out that I could go take classes with that person. The accessibility to the 'source' is incredibly available in our area.
Or find a place/school that can give you solid teaching in your foundations. No use in paying for a school that isn't giving you your money's worth.

LCAD has a pretty strong foundation and fine art dept. but it's still going to take mileage outside of class (lots of it!)

Hope that helped. Feel free to message me if you have anymore q's

[jooxis]

These are jaw-dropping! You are extremely good.

[Raileyh]

such a......... young badass.

[Lakka]

Your portrait work is amazing. Personality of subject really shines through!