Book of Sketches

[Sarxous]

Awesome style its real refreshing. Would like to see lots more anatomy stuffs to compliment your drawings though.

[Zeppelin]

Thank you Sarxous. You make a good point. I just started a studio figure drawing course this past week and will have some fresh figure drawings in soon. Figure drawing studios, workshops, classes, etc. are very difficult to come by in the burbs of chicago. I travel downtown for my studio course but that is streneous in itself. Once I find something closer I'll be there every night!

[Zeppelin]

while painting the composition on the right, the one with more color, i realized how much i didnt like it. i think the composition is weak and the anatomy way off. so i decided to redo it before i dive any further into the rendering. in the new one, less color and on the left, i'm trying to use more perspective, be truer but not toally true to anatomy and add more dynamic motion. i am still working out some anatomy and perspective kinks, but this is laid out well enough to see where i'm headed. please tell me what you think.

the illustration is about a boy that gets lost in the woods on his way to a swimming hole. he encounters three spirits, all larger than him, that are confusing and strange.

[Zeppelin]

here are some rough character designs reworked.

[Zeppelin]

here are some from this morning

[chuck18mp]

Your style is interesting and funny

[eminkey2003]

Keep up the lifedrawings-- I think your lines will get less scratchy and more confident with practice. They don't always have to be squeaky clean and minimal, but I think drawing too many lines might be a waste of time and might clutter up your drawing to the point where it becomes hard to see mistakes. Try inking your drawings and you might see what I mean.

[Zeppelin]

I actually just had a figure drawing teacher tell me the same thing this past sunday. He says I hesitate too much and need to commit to my drawing more. I have begun that process immediatly. Many of the drawings posted here are quick sketches and are often drawn in moving vehicles unfortunetly, but I do agree with what you said.

[Zeppelin]

first two entries

[Zeppelin]

on my way into the city to my studio class this couple watched me draw on the train. the woman asked me to draw her and so i did. it was such a new experience for me to draw someone i just met. she was sweet to me and sat still...for the most part hehe.

i'm not a stranger to photographing new friends and events, past experience as a photojournalist major, but this was completely different. instead of taking a few quick snapshots i had to constantly reference her face and body to get this done in the short amount of time that i had. there was a cool connection between the subject and the medium. what an enriching experience!

[Zeppelin]

there was a woman that left her chimney open and a fairy flew down and was burnt a little in the fire. once his fellow fairies heard his cry they immediately sought out justice on the woman that burnt their friend. before the troop could harm the woman the fairy that was hurt stopped them and told them he fell down by mistake and it was his fault he was burnt.

this is a story i read today from a book on irish folklore.

[Zeppelin]

i'm beginning to feel more comfortable drawing in a single sketchbook.

[Zeppelin]

Here I'm trying to introduce more shading into my sketches. There is no explanation for the tentacle like things.

[Zeppelin]

Had some time to sketch a few things in the city today.

The other two items are from my drawing and oil painting courses. The oil painting is my first one and so exciting!

[dark eagle]

Love your style in the linework. I do have to say your eyes look a little flat, you have to keep in mind that the eye is a sphere and it sffects the masses around-the eyelids also have depth which is something to show countless times i forget it... some of that was from a portrait tutorial by daarken at his/her website.

[Zeppelin]

including more shading and having more haphazard fun with the pencil

[Zeppelin]

The first two pages are observations from life and application of muscle structure. The second two pages are motion studies from imagination with relative regard to proportion.

[Zeppelin]

I woke up this morning with an itch to draw. I'm so excited. I took the day off to study up on color theory, read a book I just bought on perspective by Ernest W. Watson, and drool over Communication Arts Illustration Annual 49.

[Zeppelin]

Here are a few quick renders of some sketches I did earlier today on my way to my oil painting class.

[Zeppelin]

some quick gestures done before bed

[Zeppelin]

The first two are dreams this week and the second two are gestures form imagination.

[Zeppelin]

Here are a few doodles I've drawn in the past month. After taking a few drawing classes and seriously giving thought to going back to school for illustration I simply stopped drawing. I don't know how many of you feel this barricade, but mine lasted almost a year. When I draw I feel so much pressure and constriction over time. It is the nature of art I believe to be in a constant flux of creativity, boredom, control, and excitement. Well, feel free to critique my challenging anatomy and imagination for that matter. Thanks for stopping by!

[Zeppelin]

I get bored drawing people so I add strange things in to take away the tedium.

[Zeppelin]

Online photo reference for Voodoo ceremony

[Zeppelin]

Perspective of my kitchen with some dark blob creatures

[Zeppelin]

Photo reference, not the best lighting. Will have to pick a more dynamically lite scene next time. I've gotten rusty with my proportions.

[zombifried]

Hi there Zeppelin.
There is a lot of good strong energy in your work. I really like the character studies with the elongated sense of stylized anatomy.
i spy some issues with proportion and perspective, but from what you said, you're already aware of those .

when looking at reference (whether photos, or life)you may want to look longer at how things line up in relation to one another. As an example maybe if you drew a straight line from the tip of the nose of a figure to the big toe on the right foot you might see that the two line up along that line perfectly.
this helps keep things balanced and in proportion.
Hope that was clear!
Good luck, and keep up the good work!

[Zeppelin]

Thanks for the input and suggestions Zombifried!

It's easier to work from a real life model, but unfortunately there are no classes or clubs for that in the area. Hopefully my eye will adjust to the new challenge of drawing from photos.

[Zeppelin]

Bridgman hand study(1)
Copying his work is helping me understand things some more.

[Zeppelin]

Pile of chairs/6B