nouge's sketchbook. Learning to draw - hopefully

[nouge]

Hitting second page!

To go for now:
14 Loomis heads from mind
10 guys from ref
0 skull studies
5 planes of male head studies

So, current upload:
Mushrooms from ref, heads from mind, bears from ref and skulls from life.

[black-swan]

Some very nice drawings here, I like the way you vary the line strength. Watch the alignment of the eye sockets in the skulls and the angle created by the jaw and cheek bones in the 3/4 views. Also, I don't think the back of the skull has such pronounced angles, I noticed this the most in no 4 and 6. Always try to work with the largest masses/ shapes first and don't put dark lines down too soon in the drawing process, just in case things don't line up or look right.

Keep going, you're doing well

[nouge]

Hey, thanks for the kind words and for stopping by!

Yeah, I see the eye sockets are off in pretty much each and every one now that I have them a bit more at a distance. I'll work on that! You're right about the angles of the back of the skull, too. I think I'm just trying to pay attention to them, thereby exaggerating, but I'll try to tone them down The part about starting with the big masses and saving the dark lines for later I'm already trying to do! Works quite well together, fleshing out the rough shapes and putting down more precise lines with a softer pencil afterwards. Thanks again for commenting, I appreciate it!

Today's update is five guys from refs. I realized a bit too late with a couple of them that the pictures were taken with head-on flash, I'll make sure to avoid that from now on. Also, when I'm done with the current list of tasks I'm going to do studies of lips, eyes and noses individually. My "library" or understanding of those are way lacking.

[nouge]

Guys and Asaro-heads from ref, skulls and random objects from life, heads from mind. Feels like the Asaro-head was especially useful, will continue with those. I see I should tone down the eyebrows and noses in my heads from head.



To go for now:
10 heads from mind
2 guys from ref
0 skull studies
1 planes of male head studies

[Smapel]

Good stuff man! keep it up

[nouge]

Thanks, Smapel! I am

Two heads from ref, and a my first enviros. Was fun!



10 heads from mind and a plane study to go.

[nouge]

Contour drawing from life, 2 heads from mind, one (bad one) from ref (haha, that neck!) and 2 pages from moleskine. The ones in the moleskine were really fun! They also show the difference between eyeballing and measuring. Will definitely do more of these.

[ja1307]

Really nice studies espc your drawings from life, if you keep going an dont stop I am sure your going to improve really fast.

[black-swan]

nice to see drawings from life, some of the structural head studies are really good, great sense of volume. Keep it up

[nouge]

ja1307: Thanks for stopping by! I'll keep going, improve as best as I can!

black-swan: Thank you! I can feel them getting better, studies must be paying off In today's update I've tried to keep an extra eye on where I place the sockets of the skull, as you rightfully mentioned that earlier. The last one's sockets are starting to look alright, aren't they?

A wonky plane study, three heads from mind, some ellipse practice and a couple skulls from life.

[nouge]

Still lifes today! Spent so long on that bust, but still didn't get anywhere near likeness. Real fun drawing a bust, though!

[black-swan]

Those skulls are looking much better. The eye sockets should be parallel in relation to one another from any angle (shot me if I'm wrong!)

Some nice line variation on the bust. I'd watch the direction of your pencil marks, try doing some hatching or parallel lines across a form and see how it looks, try different methods out

[nouge]

Thanks for stopping by, black-swan. I always appreciate your input and advice. You're very right about the eye-sockets, and I'm starting to realize I have a bigger problem with those than I earlier thought. They're wrong in the drawing of the bust too, I just didn't see it earlier! I'll also work on my hatching/shading, as you suggest. I see the shading on both the cube and the cone looks very sloppy. I think I had my mind very set on getting the perspective right and ended up giving the shading too little attention.

Some doodles from mind, 30sec posemaniacs and nose studies.


Note to self: make list of things to practice, both regarding technique and anatomy.

E: Haha, just realized today's update has another badly placed eye-socket.

[GUNNM_nana]

judging from your construction lines and planes, i assume you read loomis' books?
remember that the whole head needs to be drawn in perspective, it s not just about the placement of the eye-sockets. even if you got them right, the head can still look wrong if it s not entirely constructed.

look at these sketches from loomis, especially the second head in the last row. there s a change in direction of the construction lines according to perspective. if you remember that, your drawings will look much more solid.

[black-swan]

Keep going, the gestures are a good idea, is posemaniac's the site with the 3D models?

Try Quickposes.com, the gesture drawing system on there is really good. G_nana made a good point too about planes

[nouge]

GUNNM_nana: Thanks for pointing this out to me! Yes, I've read some Loomis, but I suppose I should finish the book(s) stick closer to his teachings. I will make sure to do some specific practice!

black-swan: Yes, the gestures are posemaniacs. I'll try Quickposes too! I was wondering it the gestures were doing me any good, as my anatomy knowledge is veery lacking, but I feel the gestures can be good if I think posture rather than anatomy. Also, I've tried to do better hatching for today's update, I think it shows. Thanks for pointing it out, and thanks for cheering me on!

Some (barely readable) 30sec gestures, nose studies, skull studies (wonky as usual! doesn't matter, though) and some heads from mind.


Note to self: don't tilt head while measuring angles.

[Boomage]

You have some wonderful sketches! I'm not sure I know enough to offer criticism, but your linework is really appealing to me.

[nouge]

Boomage: I think I blushed IRL. Thank you As you can see in the first image of today's update, I don't always think too highly of my own lines, so I appreciate your kind words!

Today's update starts off with a few studies of the head in perspective, as ordered by GUNNM_nana. I'm realizing I'm not too good at this, but it's very nice to catch myself in doing errors I didn't notice earlier. Also, a couple studies from life, trying to push my values.

[black-swan]

The hatching on the last drawing is a definite improvement. The heads and skull drawings are also looking loads better. Keep thinking in terms of perspective, like you've done with the fab cube

[in2eternity]

Goog to see more or less regular studies))) It leads you to improvement) Just don't stop

[nouge]

black-swan: Thanks! Yeah, I get a lot out of not doing wild scribbling when shading. Also feels a lot better laying down neat-ish lines.

in2eternity: 2 months of drawing regularly today, can't wait to see what 2 more months will bring me!

Today: 2 upside-down copies from Drawing on the right side of the brain, my pencil case and blind-contour drawing of the creases in my palm.

[Lost Shock]

Man, these still lifes are looking fantastic. Your line/contour quality is improving a ton as well . Keep going, I want to see more! Also, you reminded me to try some of those head plane studies.

[black-swan]

Wow, I love the pencil case. Great lines, good graphic quality. Keep going as you are, you seem to be doing well

[Papu]

Pretty cool sketchbook. Keep it coming

[nouge]

Lost Shock: Thank you very much!

black-swan: Thank you! I liked the pencil case too, almost scared of trying it again Just dropped straight into the right mindset and got it all right without erasing or second thoughts. It felt great.

Papu: Thanks, I will

Some stuff from life, some stuff from head, you can tell which is which. The hands were done as an exercise from Drawing on the right side of the brain, where you use a plastic plane to help you get the contour right. Felt a bit like cheating, but it was fun and got me in the right mode. I'll try drawing my hands without the plane later.


I included a lot of sloppy stuff in this update I'll omit in later updates. So, forgive me!

[black-swan]

keep em coming nouge. I especially like the pencil shavings, very delicate drawing. The book seems to be doing you some good, despite some of the reviews of it, drawing on the right side of the brain can be a good starter for many people

[nouge]

Thanks, black-swan! Yeah, the book is indeed a good starter for me. Other than the technical tips and exercises, Betty Edwards' whole drawing philosophy is also very interesting to read about.

This update: drawings from life and some posemaniacs!

[black-swan]

Massive improvement in the drawings from life, much better sense of depth and proportion. The first drawing and the drawing of the cubes are especially impressive. The ellipses on the cups are great, not easy to do.

Enlarge your gesture drawings next time so we can see them better, good work

[Greenhouse]

Hey, you're up to a good start here! I like your dedication to the sketching. The still life is really nice. I see you've started with the Loomis heads, keep doing that basic stuff. I've just started out sketching those heads myself....puh it's hard I tell ya! I can also recommend Bridgman body study. Keep trucking, you're doing great!

[nouge]

black-swan: Thank you! Yeah, I'll enlarge later gesture drawings. I've kept them small since they're pretty bad and I'm not too proud of them. I'll do them better and post them larger.

Greenhouse: Thanks man! I'll have to get back to Loomis' heads and heads in general soon, they're very helpful indeed. Been much still lifes lately, but I really needed those too. Much to do, so I'll do as you say and keep trucking!

Today's update looks rushed because it is rushed. Been very busy days. I'll do better tomorrow. (Skulls are ~4 min each)