Algenpfleger learns to draw (He really does!) December 2012, what is this?

[algenpfleger]

new stuff on the last page!


Hello, happy people of conceptart.org
I'm, umm, new here. My name's Hannes, 19 years old, male, from Germany. I've been lurking around this place for quite some time and finally found the courage to join

While i always did a bit of sketching in and for school, the common stuff like doodling on your books, and a bit of manga-style crap, it wasn't until July of 2007 that I started taking art seriously. Around that time, someone showed me the world of Digital Painting, and i was off the hook, beholding the vast mass of inspiration.

So i spent the last five months learning to paint, and working with light and color.
Well, I found out that all of this is completely useless without basics, and I saw that anatomy is what I have to learn. So today i put my tablet aside, said to myself "Dude, you need to get better, start over", took my pencils and started studying some serious stuff.
That's why i came here, I'm sure that conceptart is the place to go to when you want to evolve as an artist. I really want to improve my skills and will be thankful for every hint and critique i can get. I'd also love to participate in some activities.

I won't post anything that's older than 24 hours. (Edit: Or maybe I will D: )

So here's the stuff I did today. I started with 60 poses from posemaniacs, 60 seconds each. I have a lot of trouble seeing the important forms and the essence of the pose, but i will keep practising that.
The next thing is some Bammes studies, i apologize for the crappyness of my lines and the bad scan, but please bear with me, as I'm freaking motivated right now.
Last are a life drawing of my cat and some non-reffed faces, also with a lot of issues regarding anatomy but ah well, I'll practise, I promise.

I hope I'll be able to update daily with at least as much stuff as today, I'm highly inspired by all the great artists here, I hope I did the attachment stuff right, and thanks in advance.
Cheers

[ped454]

Elloe. Good job with the first post.

60 second poses are great for warming up. In fact I recommend that's all you should use em for.

Once you're fairly lose move up to 5 minute ones. Then 10. then 30 or howeveer you feel comforetable.

You seem to have a pretty good understanding of depth and know how to manipulate perspective. Your faces look rather geometric and unnatural so I would recommend that you spend a day practicing just them. In fact spend a lot of time practicing one thing at a time. It is the one crucial thing that has worked for me. The more you do one aspect the better you get

Other than that I recommend looking @ some anatomy books and seeing how the body can be formed down into geometric shapes. it helps understanding more.

Remember...success lies in the power of will. Never give up...and learn to enjoy frustration. Cause once you kick it's ass it will feel so good haha.

Hope to see more ~ peace

[Zeitwolf]

Welcome to CA, olle Alge!
Nice sketches - I wouldn't have the patience in 1000 years, you know. Looking forward your future stuff!

[hmanafi]

practice,practice And just Practice.
and post your value studies too.
keep it up

[algenpfleger]

ped454, thank you so much! So much advice. Okay, I'll practice more faces. You're right, they look weird. I need to seriously study Loomis, I'm afraid.
And i got an anatomy book, but i still didn't find out how to break the body down into usable chunks. I hope that will come with time.

Zeitwolf, hello again Thanks for stopping by.

hmanafi, thanks. Value studies. I seriously hadn't thought of that before. But I did some today, thanks to you

So, today I did some more poses, then moved on to studying Bammes again, bones of the arm, blargh. Then some eyes, some after Bammes, some with ref, some from head.
Some random faces...
The last two are from life, i did them after reading hmanafi's post and thought "OMG value studies", first is a drapery study (yay! ), just a towel hanging over a chair, second is a fairly crappy self portrait which took about 50 minutes.

My scanner should actually be delivering better results :-/
And does anyone know how to put those attachments directly into the post?

[algenpfleger]

Woot, i found out how to scan properly
Some poses and value studies, some from life.

Hmm, i feel like i really should do anatomy and faces instead :-/

[Carbono]

Nice poses man, i really need to start doing this. Loving the shading of the pencil on the last picture, very nice.

If you feel like doing anatomy, will not try to mix it with the poses? Draw the pose and then try to define the muscles with the help of anatomy books.

Keep it up man!

[Flakari Leader]

Wow, so much work each day. This really inspired me to just sit down and draw. Definitely keep this up. b"b

[Flaskpost]

Haha, i´m just as impressed with your amount of studies! Keep them coming! Looks great so far!

[algenpfleger]

Carbono, thank you! Great idea, combining poses with muscles. I'll give it a try tomorrow!

Flakari Leader, glad to hear. But how could i not be motivated, beholding these great forums with all those awesome artists?

Flaskpost, thanks! I hope I'll be able to keep it up


So here's, with my newly found scanning ability, more stuff from this afternoon, making the second update today

Some Bammes studies, then some random faces, some of them with ref. Then some more poses - 149 in 3 days
Last for today are two value studies, some toy horse from my little sister, and a roll of adhesive tape which creative some interesting caustics, i failed to render them though, gotta try again soon :-/

And I still need to find out how to put attachments directly into the post

[algenpfleger]

Didnt get around to do much today... some 60 second poses, some 5 minute ones, then anatomy studies after Bammes, and finally some faces.

[algenpfleger]

Didn't get much done today either, for obvious reasons. And yay! It's 2008. Which means my I-won't-do-digital-for-a-while is over now.
Note how the second random faces page looks better as i drew it while listening to other music and hanging out in the living room.

[theblueroom]

man i like your art much. i love the expressions of the faces.

[Gadbury]

Some of those quick studies are really great, and like someone else already said, nice facial expressions on those quick ones too. I agree, music can make a big impact on the work, it does with me anyway, its almost become an essential thing to have good music while I draw !

[algenpfleger]

theblueroom, thanks! I gotta say that one of my goals for this year is to really learn a wide variety of expressions, so i can give life to my pictures.
Mr. Gadbury, thank you And yes, music is an input just as important as inspiration through other people's awesome art

So today was the first day of 2008, and also the end of my Non-digital-period, which i decided on to be able to focus on studying anatomy.

Here's what i did today, some random girl, a few enviros (last two with ref), highly inspired by bumskee, a 20 minute apple study and a bit of Bammes. No poses today D:

[Jakers]

Tons of effort here, just wanted to drop some more encouragement. The face of the last girl looks great. Don't get tooo caught up in those textured brushes, keep up on those value studies maybe try some black and whites from reference if you want a change of pace? All around your doing the right stuff.

I agree with the comment that sticking with one thing at a time will faster show improvement, though I myself don't end up doing that!

[algenpfleger]

Jakers, thank you! Encouragement is something everybody needs, and I must admit that all the stuides can get exhausting. But I'll keep going!

So here's today's stuff, bammes studies, a value study from a newspaper photograph, some poses and a quick 40 minute doodle.

[kischi]

Hey great stuff. Your faces coming allong very nice. Your hard work i really paying off.
Thx for reminding me how lazy I am

[Maidith]

Gotcha Finally found your sketchbook ^^
Great stuff, all of those. It inspires me to practice anatomy and drawing people more...

[algenpfleger]

kischi, thank you for the nice words i think that work always pays off, if you put your heart into it.

maidith, wonderful to see you here!


here's today's stuff.

[Flakari Leader]

I love the colored pieces you do, they're nice, clean, and well rendered. Keep up the other studies too, I think your dedication is wearing off on me. xD

[algenpfleger]

Flakari Leader, thanks Yeah, i enjoy working with color more than just penciling... it's so rewarding %D

Today's stuff! I'm happy because i reached one of my goals, which was to draw 300 Sixty-Second-Poses.

[algenpfleger]

One more quickie before going to bed! 1 hour, single layer.

[algenpfleger]

Almost nothing today :-/ Had to do quite a lot for University and also help out my parents D:

[UnSharpened]

Oh! I envy the progress you got!!
Those two environment with strong light from sky are my favorite among your sketch, though I can see your digital portrait is getting better. Maybe soon I'll fall in love with them.. Your work has gave me some idea of improving myself,

so

Keep updating, man!!

[Zeitwolf]

Are you getting cleaner? Or is it just the scans
The hand studies are great. I really like them. Good that you're heeding my advice with the eyebrows, the bottommost face looks a lot more feminine, now. Now work on the right proportions of the face on the skull (it's all a bit small in this painting. The width of lips is in general nearly the leght of the nose and thus the eyes are too small too). And get some reference of the pinna, you know you can't help it.

[algenpfleger]

UnSharpened, thanks! 'll try to do more of this stuff
Zeitwolf, thank you. No, it's just the scans I see you have a point there with the skull and face proportions, thanks, I'll remember it


More Stuff!

[algenpfleger]

Today's stuff! Didn't have much time because of university starting again an everything, but here's what i did. Some anatomy, and then I moved on to poses, but this time only 30 seconds, which is freaking hard.
Nothing digital today, but I'm gonna work on my WIP a bit more.

[algenpfleger]

Just some cubes and a bunch of hands today x_X I'm tired. Motivate me, people.

[Zeitwolf]

*sends shiny waves of motivation*
You have done lot more than me today.
Bring a sketchbook to your lectures and draw.