Drawing Again After 15-year Break

[jhofferle]

Everything in this first post was done between 1992 and 1994 when I was 14-16 years old and trying to determine if I wanted to pursue a career in art. I decided against it, and these images are some of my last stuff before putting the pencil down and forgetting to pick it up for 15 years.

I've decided to take a stab at drawing again and see if the fun is still there for me. I'm hoping that this thread will keep me motivated to pick up the pencils from time to time and not let another 15 years go by.


These are pastel landscapes done on location.







These pastels are copies of photographs.





These are copies of comic book artwork.



Airbrushed T-Shirts. First two are copies of comic book artwork, third is a copy of a photograph.



Pages from my old sketchbook.

[jhofferle]

My first sketches in a very long time. A tree from imagination, my backpack and bookend from observation.

[Dahami]

Even though the images are based on existing art and photographs, for a 15 year old to be able to copy anything that well demonstrates a lot of talent. I wonder what you'd be doing today if had chosen to pursue an art career. Keep at it. It's a decent hobby even if you can't make a steady income with it.

[jhofferle]

Dahami - Thanks. I sometimes wonder the same thing when I watch DVD special features and see all the concept art and CG work. Forums like these do a lot to keep young artists motivated through their frustrating times. By the way, your sketchbook reminds me of some of the freaky drawings in the Mysteries of the Unknown UFO book I had as a kid.

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Some more sketchbook pages. Some of the images may look a bit odd because my sketchbook is 11x14 so I have to make two scans of a page and stitch them together.

[PxelSlayer]

15 years! I can`t even imagine that! I also had a period when I was pursuing another career, but the urge to pick up the pencil was always there...I`m glad one of the "sheep" got back to our artistic flock...and a talented one, mind you! Great work, keep posting! And welcome home

[vardoburrito]

My eyes are untrained, but those pastel pieces I find so romantic-quiet.
Hopefully you've built up enough emotions inside that body & mind
to unleash this second time around.

15 years is so long, but now, unleash that fun jhofferle.
Personally, I'm glad you shared, just to remind myself that some images are made from pure
love. Or not. You could've been doing it for donuts or something. I know I would.

[jhofferle]

PxelSlayer - Thank you. There were plenty of times over the years I thought to myself "I really should start drawing again." But thinking about something and doing it are pretty different. My interests have been all over the place and now I feel the need to focus on the things that I really enjoyed.

dwardo - The pastel landscapes are what I'm most proud of because they were done under the sun, out in nature. I certainly wasn't working for donuts. I think I just realized I liked drawing and explored it as much as I could. There were far less productive hobbies I could have picked up as a teenager. Thanks.

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More sketchbook pages. One moment it feels like I'm getting back into the swing of things, the next minute I want to tear out the page and toss it.

[Newman101]

Damn man... I couldnt even imagine taking that long of a break from drawing. Even if I chose another path, its too much fun to just put the pencil down.

Either way, your doing a good job with the new stuff. Especially since you havent really done anything for so long. Good luck, and keep on going, I cant wait to see more

[Mariusz Kornatka]

Hi man!

You have nice landscape paintngs, could you post more of these?

sincerly regards,
Mariusz

[FOYLE]

those landscapes are really nice...i especially like the top right one with the stream and the one with the stone building...nice texture to them.

[jhofferle]

Newman101 - Thanks for the encouragement. I think I just kept getting sidetracked with other things until I was no longer the teen with a lot of potential. It's a bit of a mental block when you can't use the "I'm just a kid" excuse when you suck.

Mariusz Kornatka - Thanks. I'd love to post more, but these are all I have at the moment. I recently picked these up from my family farm where I grew up, but there are a few I remember painting that I didn't find. I'm hoping to try a few new ones after I get confident enough.

FOYLE - Thank you. Most of the landscapes were done under the instruction of the late August Gloss. He was an amazing teacher and I wish I had spent more time working with him when I had the chance. Here is a photo of him showing me how to render some of the trees near that stone building:



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[Marth]

A truly stunning set of landscapes.

[Anup1]

Stunning and wonderful landscapes.. I really aprreciate the use of colours. and the atmosphere created in it. Woildd love to see more.

[a la bapsi]

very nhice observational drawings.
i'm looking forward to see how your studies and life drawings pay off in the near future
keep drawing!

[shamandalie]

Pastel lanscapes! Those look really beautiful. And at a really young age! Glad that you wanna pick up your pencils back again. 15 years of not drawing is really long, but i am sure that you will regain those skills. Keep it up alright!

[jhofferle]

Marth - Thank you.

Anup1 - Thank you very much. I'm hoping to bust out the pastels again soon. I think I'm a bit nervous to find out how rusty I've become.

a la bapsi - It's helpful to have a lot of online resources for advice on what to work on. When I started, I wasn't sure what the best use of my time was. With all the forums, tutorials and videos available these days, it's pretty easy to figure out what you need to do. It's just a matter of doing it. Thanks for commenting.

shamandalie - Thanks. Right now I'm starting slow and hitting a lot of the basics. When I was young, I tended to avoid the areas I wasn't so good at, like figurative work. This time around I want to make sure I concentrate on weaknesses.
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A couple more pages. I've been trying to organize my house so I have a bit more room to work. I feel much more energized and productive when everything is clean and tidy, but right now I'm so cramped I want to scream.

[astroluc]

hey man... we are similar ages, though your drought was certainly a bit longer than mine... great to see you pick up the pencil again. shake off that rust, it's like muscle memory... you never completely lose it, you just need to retrain and then advance.

if you have a sec, check out my sketchbook too http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130729

[Black Sun]

Hey there jhofferle! Good to see that you are interested in art after all those years. Don't get discouraged because of your age, your never too old to learn!

I adore your landscapes, and that airbrushing is wicked, especially the alien.

Can't wait to see more from you, cheers!

[jhofferle]

astroluc - I'm hoping a lot comes back to me, but my concern are the things that I never learned properly the first time. So far, I'm enjoying myself though. Thanks for taking a look.

Fetid - "your never too old to learn!" Yikes. I remember saying that to "old" people and now I'm getting hit with it! The airbrushing is what impressed most of my friends in high school, so I think that's why I spent a lot of time on it. The problem is that I neglected building a solid drawing foundation. I should have listened to my teacher when I wanted to draw dragons instead of observing from life: "draw from life so you are better at drawing from imagination." Thank you for your comments.

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Some charcoal on newsprint.

[AmbientSounds]

wow those pastels are amazing. Liking the poses too, they are starting to get looser and looser (in a good way =P ). Hope you're enjoying getting back into drawing, it'd be a terrible thing to lose!

[adammelo]

Your work still holds shape after 15 years, keep up the great work, and ill keep coming back for inspiration!


Sketch back if you'd like...

[jhofferle]

AmbientSounds - Thank you. Getting looser was exactly what I was going for when I switched to newsprint.

adammelo - Thanks. I hope to get my new stuff past the level of my old stuff.

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This is from a photograph I found at Roel Renmans Flickr page.
Lessons learned:
Don't choose such an ambitious subject when you're doing this for the first time.
Work larger than 11x14 with this much detail or you'll go nuts sharpening charcoal pencils.

[jhofferle]

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Traveling for work until the end of the week. Hopefully I'll get a chance to sketch some.

[jhofferle]

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Didn't get much of a chance to draw while on the road. I almost missed my plane when I lost track of time sketching the Starbucks counter.

I did start another photograph copy. This one is from Andy Lay's Flickr Page.

[jhofferle]

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Tonight's progress.

[JERI]

It's cool to see the art scene did not end up losing someone like you

I enjoyed looking at the environments in your first post, would be keen to see more of those

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

The other stuff is cool, but those t-shorts are just epic!

-E

[jhofferle]

JERI - Thanks. I'm hoping to do some more landscapes when time permits. I also need to replenish my pastel set. After many years of being jostled around, quite a few sticks are dust.

Mischeviouslittleelf - Thanks much. I always had a lot of fun airbrushing.

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These are some sketches for Creature of the Week #144. The final was pretty frustrating and I'm not happy with it at all. I haven't painted digitally before so I was trying to figure out a wacom, painter essentials and photoshop elements. I have to do memorial day with the family soon, so I went with what I had. I really need to read up on some tutorials.

[comixnut]

This is a great sb, hope to see more soon!

[jhofferle]

comixnut - Thanks much. I hope I'm done with my slacking off on the updates.
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