Looking for advice crits and maybe some friends?!?!!

[latigid]

Ok new here so sorry for the double post. A bit about me well i am older than most i see on here and a lot less talented there really are some amazing artists here!! I used to draw a lot years back but life just kinda took over and i stopped (silly me) i got made redundant from my crappy job last september and i now stay at home and care for my 8 month old son Oliver!! I found that when i had some time i started to draw again so here i am!! I would like to make some friends on here who can guide me to becoming ALOT better than i am so thanx for listening and here goes again

[latigid]

Ok wanted to try some colour stuff today so first is pencil line drawing of Bougeureau's-Letoile perdue which i scanned in and coloured in photoshop to attempt some skin blending.

Anybody help me with the quality of my scans i know they are crap but they look even pantier on the thread?

[latigid]

Been working on this one in photoshop a WIP of Rubens two satyrs minus one of the satyrs so probs should call it a satyr??

[latigid]

My little boy has been ill for two weeks now so not had too much time for art jollity but he is on the mend now after loads of cuddles!! Got some pencil sketches which i will scan when i have the time.

First two are simple digis done with photoshop referenced from photos a polar bear at dawn and a lion at dawn and the last one was a head study from imagination tryin to work with a bit of colour thanx for looking

[citrusfrukt]

Your colors are coming along quite well i think, i definately need to start working on that as well.

Really love the polar bear, says so much with so few lines.

[chazillah]

keep pushing it bro!
careful of your colours and linework. if you want to improve your lines, do some blind contour drawings (they will look ugly but warm you up really nice). also look into warming up with http://www.posemaniacs.com with the 30-second drawing thing (or longer).

pump out more work and you will see yourself improve.draw every day if you can...make it your drug

[Marian Rowling]

Hi latigid I'm an older student and I'm just starting out with drawing so I can't help you progress your skills. I can offer encouragement though and say how great it is that you are being so positive after being made redundant. I really like your paintings and it looks like you've still got your skills. You've come to the right place for help and friends as the other artists here are fantastic. I hope you keep posting as I'm already excited to watch your development.

Just noticed your in Bucks my Sister lives there......small world!

[sandeepbarot]

nice work!

[Grunden]

hey man,
well, all i can say is keep drawing. do lots of studies of things, and remember only draw what you actually see, if there isnt a line, dont draw it kind of thing. it helps so much, i have done it, and stopped unfortunately should get it started back up actually, did a lot recently in school though

[latigid]

chamo : Thanx for the comment and for being the first too

chazillah: Gonna try out the blind contour stuff and ill definitely be getting on some posemaniacs soon too!

Marian Rowling : Hey Marian thanx for the encouraging words means alot i think we can both watch each other grow in here and i will keep posting so long as you do too!!

sandeepbarot: Thanx

Grunden : Thanx for the advice i will be drawing as much as i can

Ok i have decided after going through Mindcandymans thread to post everything i do be it good or bad (in my eyes that is) so i can actually see any progress being made and also so you guys can hopefully crit what i am doing wrong so here goes

First 3 are just some doodling and the rest are Bridgeman studies from "Bridgemans Life Drawing" last one is from memory
Also going to start doing some self portraits hopefully tonight!!

[latigid]

As i said i have delved into the world of the self portrait going to try and do one of these a day hopefully pretty basic line drawing which doesnt look too much like me but hey gotta start somewhere second one is a drawing of my boy Oliver taken from a photo got quite upset with this one because i screwed up the eyes amongst other things and i really wanted to get it right

[rainytown]

Pretty impressive! Hope I get as experienced as you at painting! Practice practice practice!

[Enydimon]

Keep practising.

Remember to really observe your references when you draw. Figure out what the lengths are and really try to apply that to it. You're doing good.

[latigid]

Evening all just had enough time to squeeze my daily SP in so here it is still not really like me but they are fun to do hopefully have a bit more time to play tomorrow

[latigid]

Rainytown ; thanx im really not that good at all but the words of encouragement are needed so yep your right practice practice practice

Enydimon : Thanx for the kind words man


hmmm Sp of the day didnt want to post this coz its real pants but i said i was going to post everything so here it is! Tried it in photoshop but it turned out awful im going back to honing my pencil skills first i think!

Oh and just got delivery of "Drawing on the right side of your brain" by Betty Edwards so im gonna give that a read and see where we go!

[Twan]

I read this book by bettie edward, it was really well-explained and helpful for me, I hope it will help you.
try to draw from life simples objects and learn percepective to be able to draw object from all views ( first you draw boxes and then you draw object such as guns or cars)
keep on drawing

[latigid]

Twan Thanx for the advice i am finding the book very helpful so far and also very interesting i will keep on drawing for sure!

i said previously i was going to try and do a SP every day but i decided to slow myself down and think about what i am doing a bit more so here is a work in progress of my latest portrait which is actually turning out to look quite like me unlike the others!!
The other is my upside down drawing excercise from the Betty Edwards book of Picasso's "Igor Stravinsky" had to pump the levels rather alot so you could see it though as i said to Twan up there im finding the book very interesting and i will be doing all the excersises soon as i find the time!

[latigid]

Update on the latest self portrait after slowing down and thinking about what im doing i have come up with something im kinda proud of so far i know its not super great but its a big step for me im having real fun with this one and i am going to work on it some more when i get the time!! I have decided to stay on drawing from life for the time being as i feel i am actually learning some stuff here thanx for looking and any advice is always greatly recieved!

[Marian Rowling]

Hey latigid you've been busy. Well done for working so hard. I agree with you about slowing down and taking your time. I've found that it is more important to study what I am looking at and understand it rather than just knocking out inaccurate drawings. I think your last self portrait shows real progress and your drawing of your son is cute. Keep up the good progress and keep posting.

[latigid]

Marian Thanx for the words means alot to me! I would reccomend the book i am reading at the moment "Drawing on the right side of the brain" by Betty Edwards really rather interesting stuff!!

Ok done some eye studies from photo ref i could do with some advice on pencil rendering i seem to always get that smudgy look?

[Enydimon]

You're really starting to improve, keep going!

[toastergargletop]

hey latigid, some nice work here! i like your figure studies, they show a lot of movement. your pencil work is good too!

[Maunty]

hey the new eye studies are awesome, nicely done

[purplegoat]

That last self portrait looks really good! You can tell you put some time into that for sure. Draw on!

[latigid]

MarianThanx for the gee up and slowing down has got to be the way to go i think we need to understand what we are acrtually looking at before we can portray it on paper keep plugging at it!
Enydimon Thanx for the much needed encouragement
toastergargletop Thanx
Maunty Thanx also
purplegoat Thanx i did slow down a bit for the last SP and no fear of me stopping

Ok i decided in all my wisdom to attempt a bargue drawing that stuff is seriously hard and i am still plugging at it also needed to to do some looser stuff after all the heavy thinking on the bargue so in order

1 Piccy of Bargue setup believe it or not there are some faint outlines on there i will keep updating as and when
2,3,4 Some loose gesture drawing from memory sorry for the scan quality my scanner was last sold with stegasaurus burgers
5Decided to try shading with some cross hatching for a change that stuff is pretty hard too
6So obviously i then had to grab a pen and get hatching all over the place!

Crits always welcome and im also looking for some advice on rendering or a good book suggestion please!!

[Peetaer]

as far as advice go, i'd say keep doing those bargue drawings, keep doing master copies, study the human anatomy thoroughly and study from life (very important!!). also, really take your time to get things right, i.e. proportions, light/shadow interplay, forms, likeness, etc... don't feel like you need to rush through anything or that this or that must be completed by this or that time, it will be complete when it is complete and you will know when it is. also, try a variety of mediums. conte and charcoal are great mediums. if you use those two constantly, especially the conte, then your drawing IQ will go up big time. if you can draw well with conte then you can pretty much draw anything well with any medium. drawing with charcoal will definitely improve your rendering and painting skills.

hope this helps. keep rockin dude!!!

[Enydimon]

I can barely see the first study you're working on. Could you change the contrast on it or take a better picture?

Don't pet your lines, make them long and sweeping.

Keep going! You'll get there, just take as long as you need and make sure you learn it properly.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey latigid I'm so excited to see your decided to have ago at a Bargue. Your much braver than me I picked to do the eye plate first which has no shading. Thanks also for the heads up on the Betty Edwards book. I brought it many years ago but the old me didn't get too far with it. The new me, at your suggestion, went and found it on the bookshelf and put it by my bed so I can start re-reading it. Meant to say I thought the eye studies you did were great and I think the ink drawings at the end of your last post are interesting. We know what we have to do we just have to keep at it. Well done you.

[latigid]

Peetaer Thanx alot for taking the time and offering the advice i kinda know i need to slow down and observe more than i do i actually got myself some compressed charcoal sticks and some charcoal pencils the other day and will be delving into a bit of that very soon

Enydimon Hey thanx for checking up on me! My lines in the bargue pic i posted are really really light i was just trying to get it right i have played with the levels a bit in the following update so you can see them a bit better

Marian Rowling Hey Marian hope you enjoy the Betty Edwards i am finding it very interesting its more about the mindset of drawing and i think some of the excersise in there will be beneficial. Good to see you are doing a Bargue study too where did you get the plate for yours? Its hard to find any decent plates on the net the one i am using is not fantastic quality but the Bargue book is silly money i will have to save my pennies or maybe ask father christmas if he has a copy

Ok a coupla pics of where i am at with the Bargue the paper i used is 180gsm so fairly textured which isnt helping me with the shading but im gonna keep plugging at it

[Marian Rowling]

Saw this and thought of you http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=...39/I49Q2o7QJO0 may help you with your rendering especially now your trying the Bargue. There was also another two videos on the right hand side showing cast rendering. I brought the Bargue book by the way, and yes I am a self confessed bookaholic! It is expensive, in fact the most expensive book I've ever brought, however it should last a life time and if you compare it to other forms of training it is well priced. I feel it was money well spent and the book is lovely quality and the drawings are great. I was also interested in the text as there is so much debate over Bargue drawings and how to approach them.

Ooops in all my excitement I forgot to say well done on your progress so far. To my eyes it looks good but you know they are not fully trained yet!