Joe's Road to Fine Art and Illustration

[JParrilla]

Hi everyone.. So I finally bought my scanner and there will be no more excuses. I promised many people around here that I would post my stuff.. and now I am. Heres my basic background: I want to be an illustrator... eventually, Im not sure what type specifically.. but thats not important right now. I want to spend my next 4 years in college improving my drawing and painting skills.. then most likely attend illustration school when Im a lot better. Im planning on using various methods of improving.. borrowing many of the exercises used in Ateliers. I will be doing bargues, casts, life figure drawing, still lifes, master copies, favorite illustrator copies, etc, etc. Im basically drawing all that I can and trying to improve. Im putting this thread in here because the Sketchbook section seems more like a showcase.. while I want this to be more of a student/teacher sort of display. Im hoping to use this thread to counteract the fact that Im not going to an art school. So please guys help me out.. help me to get better. Im trying harder than I ever believed I would.. and I think with proper guidance I can eventually get to higher and higher levels. Im not gonna post my older stuff cause theres just way too much. I have 6 books full of old crap but none of it was serious study anyways. Im posting my stuff starting from last week on. I wont put up little doodles.. only stuff that I consider to be a study or something similar..whether its crap or good. Here goes!

Whitaker Study


Another Whitaker


Raphael


Shoe from my bedroom floor


Sin City photo I turned into a "comic"


2 Loomis Studies



2 Bone Studies from Sheppard

[dose]

Running out the door so I can't comment in detail, but wanted to say I'm glad you got a sketchbook going. Looking forward to seeing your progress...

Tim

[JParrilla]

Another study I just finished.. haha I forgot the artist ill find out in a sec :0

[Anuran]

It's about time buddy. These are great studies, it's good to see that you being diligent.

Well, first of all these are good studies the rendering could be improved by learning to shade with the form...think cross contour and structure.

I really like the black and white on grey paper. That is very effective strategy for realizing form quickly and it's fun. Plus, its always good to study anatomy but I wonder if, at this stage, you wouldn't get more out of studying morphology and overall skeletal structure rather than the individual bones. Just a thought. These are actually quite accomplished and it's a shame you hadn't begun posting earlier. It is much easier to help this way.

[JParrilla]

hey there man. Thanks for dropping in. It really is a shame I didnt start earlier.. It really feels good to have people other than family see my work and give me honest opinions. I really think this is going to boost my improvment big time. About the shading.. I agree. I need to feel the form when I shade.. because i tend to flatten things out when I dont stroke the paper in the direction of the form. As far as the anatomy studies your probrobly right.. I might back up a bit and get less detailed than individual bones. Thanks again man.. Im gonna link your SB in my sig like I said I would.

[JParrilla]

Some Stuff from tonight.. Ive been revisiting my Bridgman books after using Vilppu for the past few weeks. Vilppu has given my figures a alot of solidity and Im using alot more rounded forms.. since bridgman uses alot of cubes.. I thought itd be a good idea to get back into that box feel.. maybe itll help my perspective. I didnt do much tonight because I have a terrible ankle sprain from running yesterday. Thank god i didnt break it but there may be tears so im goin to the orthopedic tommorow.. hoping for the best. I hate not being able to go for a run or bike ride.. ugh

Some quick bridgman figures, arms, and finally hands




Some of my hand from life


Some of the 1st Bargue plate. I wasnt really in the mood to set up a side by side and do perfect measuring. So I just used my eye.. and did it with a Pigma Micron to make sure I was confident with my lines. Im not sure if doing it without measuring helps at all.. but I really wasnt in the mood to be precise

[JParrilla]

I just realized how much old crap I have.. but theres really no reason to get critique on stuff from months and months ago.. anyway I dont wanna be scanning all night I just picked out these two things cause I kinda liked them. The first is my study of Rubens. The second is the first day I bought india ink. I took a brush and looked to my man Yoji Shinkawa for some practice




I wanted to put up stuff from life drawing.. but I realized I use a gigantic newsprint pad that I coulnt possibly scan. So Ill take some pics tomorow if I can.

[JParrilla]

A really old charcoal portrait of Patrick Stewart, I hate doing celebrity portraits but my dads a Star Trek nut so I thought itd be nice.. He liked it



and a quick.. very small study of Whitaker.. God I love his paintings.

[JParrilla]

Im began my bargue drawing toninght. Its the 5th plate.. the one of the foot. I managed to get a plumb line and a horizontal drawn.. as well as the top, bottom, left and rightmost points marked. Im realizing how tough sightsize really is. Being able to see the point from a distance and then walking over to the drawing without losing your point is really tough! Ive been checking my sight measurments by actually putting the thread right on the paper.. but only after ive made my own mark. Then I readjust my mark to the correct one. I have to say mine are getting closer and closer to being correct... I still have alot to go though. Some pics of my progress possibly tommorow

[Zombunny27]

Nice studies...I especially like the bones. Sorry, I don't think I have much in the ways of helpful crits at the moment. The folds in fabric in your last piece seem a bit rigid, I don't know the reference though. You seem to be on the right path in terms what you're studying and your commitment. I'll check back and try to be more helpful.

[JParrilla]

Thanks Hades.. I definetely do need drapery study. Its funny you brought that up.. I was just setting up a white towel over a chair in my house Im not making an excuse.. but it looks a bit worse than normal in that study because I really did a quick rough job. I was doodling in my little sketchbook and I just came across that Whitaker drawing so I took like an hour before I left my house for my life drawing class and did it.. You are right about it though... thanks for the crit!

[JParrilla]

Select drawings from my life drawing class at the ASL. Sorry about the heads on some my newsprint is huge and I fit them as best as possible in my scanner lol

20 minutes each:





20 Minute.. line only



My favorite of the week.. this one is 30 minutes

[JParrilla]

So I finished my first ever oil painting.. really my first painting period. I have to say the biggest thing ive learned from it is that painting really is drawing. Every single aspect of drawing is used in painting.. plus a lot of extra stuff. I found myself going through the same procedures while painting that I do while drawing.. I was looking for the big shapes, squinting to see values, measuring for proportion, watching for the hardness/softness of edges, etc. Its really just drawing excpet you have a big old blob of a pencil instead of a point I now realize why the ateliers require years of drawing before touching paint.. I can see how much of a better painter one can be if they have tons of drawing experience. Still though im not worried about that. Im going to try to keep my time to 75% drawing and 25% painting.. maybe even a little more drawing than that. I will slowly spend more time painting as I feel more comfortable with my drawing skills.. and my understanding of values, shapes, etc. I must say.. I have found yet another love in my life Painting is really tons of fun. Its still drying so I dont wanna touch it but Ill be posting it shortly.

[JParrilla]

Im a moron so I couldnt wait for my moms camera.. so I decided to scan the painting Some light leaked into the bottom thats why theres that bright spot at the bottom. I did SLIGHT brightness adjustment in PS to make it match the actual painting since it came out a tad darker. I will post it again with a camera but heres this one



what I really dont like about it is the cast shadow.. i think its too dark

[Anuran]

Remember to use your measuring methods. Use comparative measurements to control proportion but also use relational measurements. Find diagonals, plumb lines and horizontals to keep alignments from wobbling. I'm diggin the Rubens study, the Whitaker study and the few life drawings I can still see...damn photobucket censor. Anyway, it's good to see you experimenting with paint too.

[JParrilla]

Thanks man.. I know they censored my dam drawings.. ugh its not porn!! When you talk about measurements.. were you referring to any of my drawings specifically? or just in general?

[JParrilla]

So my litltle sisters 5 and im ashamed to say she draws more than I do She absolutely loves it.. im very happy about that. She occasionally asks me if she can use my tablet to draw.. She uses sketchbook pro and i have to say shes gained very good tablet skills.. she draws the same way with the wacom as she does with a pencil... im very impressed well anyway she was doing that tonight so i did 2 quickies of her.. nothin special

[Anuran]

Oh well it's a good general reminder but, the last figure drawing in post 12 could have been improved by the use of comparative measuring and the relational measuring would have solved some of the wonkiness in the teapot. Love the attitude and the industry.

[JParrilla]

I did another study of the teapot.. just finished it a few minutes ago. I pre mixed my values this time and I think the results are a lot better. Its drying ill post it in a bit. Other than that just some news.. Ive decided that Im not going to go away to college. I live a short train ride from Manhattan.. and I thought to myself.. why the hell am I going 3 hours upstate to school.. when everything I could want as far as art education goes is right here at my front door? So Ill be continuing my studies and the Art Students League with my Life drawing class and a new anatomy class, as well as taking oil painting classes at the School Of Visual Arts. Im going to a local college so Ill have plenty of time to go to school.. and then get to my art instruction. If I went to the university... I wouldnt be able to get anything close to this quality of art instruction.. so I think I made the right decision.. Plus Im saving around $12,000 a year. So a total of about $48,000 over my 4 years.. which I can put towards attending art school for a masters in illustration or fine art when the time comes.

[JParrilla]

A few 20 min life drawings from today and yesterday. I feel like I have more of a plan now when drawing the model.. instead of just noodling around the paper. Its just frustrating because Ill draw one that im happy with and the next will be total garbage.

[JParrilla]

Even more news for anyone who cares I feel like this is a blog lol.. I hate blogs. Ok so I went to the ASL today like always for life drawing. My instructor found out through one of the monitors about how I decided to stay in the city and not go to a university. She usually teaches at the School of Visual Arts in the fall/winter.. but she decided to hold a private once a week class in her studio for 2 months. She has room for only a few students... and she asked me to come! I couldnt believe it.. its gonna be just me and a couple of other students for 4 hours straight every week. Theres gonna be a model as well. Im sure this is gonna be big for my development. Im not sure why she asked me when there are like 40 people in our class.. maybe she saw how dedicated Ive become through my decidion to stay home for college. Anyways thats the news.. and Im extremely happy

[JParrilla]

I havent drawn too much this past couple of days for 2 reasons.. One.. ive been painting a lot.. and Two.. Im so busy sorting out this college switch.. Trying to fit in time in my day to be able to go to school.. then hop on the train and get to the art students league and my instructors studio in the late afternoon. It seems like its gonna work out though. Heres what Ive been doing lately.. first drawings.

Loomis



My hand



Pontormo



Baroccio



Now for the paintings.. I redid the tea kettle. Im a lot happier with it this time but its still flawed. My 2nd painting ever so Im not gonna get too down on myself.



And heres my other one.. some eggs and a plate. Im getting a bit more comfortable with paint. Im gonna begin doing studies of spheres with munsell neutrals very shortly.

[Ramon Hurtado]

hey Joe, glad to hear about the private study opportunity! It should definitely help out in your development You're on the right track, just stay at the League for awhile and study on your own too. I think that once you have a bit more experience you should try to see if you can study at the Waterstreet Atelier, place looks good, tuition if fairly inexpensive. It won't teach you everything you need to know (like perspective, imaginative drawing, probably not too much in terms of composition) but it'll sure help.

In your figures, I think you should follow the procedure Vilppu outlines more closely, work out the gesture with a few simple lines, but don't move on until it's right. You learn more from really nailing each step than from racing along and hoping to come up with something good. Whether academic or constructive, every approach requires that you nail the initial stage (block in or gesture, respectively). The most important thing in a drawing is the action, if that's wrong, no amount of rendering will help. Also, study some more anatomy and work on the simple forms before moving on to light and shade. The point is that you need a better understanding of how the figure is put together, once you learn that, you'll know why light falls the way it does on the figure. At the moment I think you're copying the model a bit much.

best,

-R

[Jasonwclark]

Hey Joe, a lot of these links are not showing up for me.

Instead of hotlinking the images from photobucket, use the attachements manager. You can attach images to previous posts too, just click edit "go advanced." Once images are attacked to the post, you can use the paperclib icon to insert them into the body of your text.

Otherwise what's going to happen, is all these images will eventually turn into litte red X's, or adverts, or dissappear on account of 'profanity' violations and other such nonsense that CA isn't going to do to you. Beyond ensuring the long term integrity of the thread, attaching has the added benefit that we can see the file name (or title) for each attached image just by scrolling over it with the mouse.

[JParrilla]

Ramon - thanks for stopping in man.. I really appreciate it. Thanks for the advice about school.. Ill surely look into the Atelier. About my figure drawings.. I know exactly what your saying. I always felt like I was getting to detailed too fast when doing my life drawings.. maybe I felt like it had to be complete in the 20 minutes. I actually bought Vilppus DVDS since his drawing manual has so far been the most helpful to me of any book. I started watching the gesture one. I absolutely love his approach and Im going to spend a long while with his dvds and manual. He makes it look so easy. I can definetely see that you studied with him by looking at your figures.. it really shows.

Jason - The only reason I wasnt linking through CA attachments is size. When I scan or take a photo of my work.. its absolutely HUGE on my computer. Photobucket allows me to upload everything 800x600 which is perfect for here. Also the attachment size is limited on here. If there is a way I can get them resized without photobucket.. Ill surely do it. I guess I can use photoshop but im not sure exactly what to do.. Im not to great with the program

[Jasonwclark]

?

I'm not sure what you mean. If you right click and save these pictures to your Hard Drive right now none of them goes over the 530 kb limit for ConceptArt attachments.

Just to show you, I'll repost the last one using the CA attachment manager.

Tea



You can use photobucket first and then upload to CA if that is easier. Already 3 of the links in this post are down http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...2&postcount=12.

With the CA attachment that sort of stuff won't happen

[Ramon Hurtado]

yeah Joe, no problem I was actually surprised at how slowly and patiently Vilppu tackled a one of the 1 hour long poses we had in class. We were all speeding ahead, but getting bogged down later on correcting what we had wrong...he went ahead slowly but surely and schooled all of our asses

Also, I just looked up Water Street again, I think it might not be around anymore, I guess Collins disbanded it and formed a bigger and better school, the Grand Central Academy.
Still in NY though

[JParrilla]

Ya man he really has a great method. I like how he has sort of 3 steps.. 1st he does a gesture, then on his 2nd pass he defines the form with shapes, then the 3rd time he hits the details. Can you recommend a good way to use his DVDs and manual? Im sure its not the same as being in his class. But should I watch them and then apply what I learn to my life drawing class and some photos? Should I draw along with him? Should I copy his drawings? I could do all of that haha and I probably will anyways.. but in your opinion what helped you to improve by using his instruction? He has a lot to teach and Im sure I can get a lot from him

[JParrilla]

Jason - Well the files arent over the limit because photobucket resizes them for you.. If I was to try to attach them just as they scan in to my computer... they would take up 3 computer screens When I upload to photobucket.. they automatically change to 800x600.. which is usually perfect filesize for this site. Ya I see how some of them are being censored for nudity.. Im gonna have to resize them on my own I guess.. then use the CA attachment manager like you said

[the_allejo05]

Big joe's nice ..just work everyday..
oh draw cubes by the thousands..hehe..even at my supposevely good drawing, i have problems with it..perspective..it sucks..back to the drawing board.