Step by step - trying to learn

[fernandoart]

Hello everyone, my name is Fernando, I've been lurking around these forums for the longest time and I've finally decided to register and start posting some stuff...

I'm from Uruguay, and as you're about to see, I've never had any proper art instruction in my life. I've been drawing for the past 5 or so years, with some off years, but now I'm back and I want to start learning something on my own time. This is why I'm here.

Anyways, thanks for reading and clicking on my post, hopefully, posting here will help me improve

PS: Crits are always welcomed, ofcourse

[fernandoart]

Ok, so here is the first batch of drawings I'm posting....

Here you can see, a bit of anatomy practice and some face rendering practice...I'm a bit obsessed with achieving realism on a piece of paper I know I'm still far FAR away from that, but that's what my aim is right now.

I hope you enjoy, and as I will always be saying..., crits are always welcomed

PS: Oh, and sorry about the crappy image quality, but the scanner is broken right now, so I'll be taking pictures of my drawings.

[NothingLikeNoonerz]

Some really nice stuff in there mate, Keep it up!

[Nonobot]

Achiving realism is pretty hard, youll need to learn a few techniques to get a highly realistic picture, its pretty much all in the shading. Try shading in tiny circles, working light and bulding up on them. It takes longer than crosshatching but the results can be pretty good.

Have you been drawing from photos/life? If so, really look at the photos, set them in greyscale to see the tones and not be distracted by the colours. Good luck!

[fernandoart]

NothingLikeNoonerz - Thanks mate!
Nonobot - Thanks for the advice, I have tried to draw from pictures, it is indeed hard and takes a huge amount of time to shade (at least for me), but I try to do it whenever I have time...


Here are a couple more drawings, these are my lastest two attempts at portraits..., I like the second one better (still, far from looking like the photo ref I used).

Thanks for the nice replys guys

[Enydimon]

Remember to really observe what you're drawing. Don't guess how things look, draw how they look. Draw with your mind, not with your hand.

[fernandoart]

Enydimon- Thanks for the input, indeed, that's what I gotta do, but it's proving quite hard to do. I'll keep at it anyways

Here are some more drawings, a few anatomy practices and one with a few gestures from posemaniacs.com

Enjoy!

[Seraph Fawkes]

Hey, thx for stopping by at my sb. I see how you using posemaniacs. I think I have advices )

First of all try all the time start your study from simple shapes and lines, and only after completing silhouette start detailing.

Remember that thin lines mean lighter area, and thick - darker. Also difference in value means is the object close or far from us.

Just keep looking around you, and after some hard practice you'll nail it.

Cheers.

[DSmith]

Hey There!

Off to a good start here,I would suggest studying from the books of George Bridgman or Andrew Loomis,those are the best books out there for figure drawing from mind IMO!
Keep it up!

[fernandoart]

Seraph Fawkes - Hey, thanks for coming to my sketchbook! And thanks for your advices, I normally try to do what you say, go from basic shapes to more complex ones... I'll try to keep that in mind next time
DSmith - Thanks for stoping by dude..., I do have several of Loomis books (in pdf format), and I have been trying to apply some of what I've read, I still have a lot of reading to do...

Anyways, haven't had much time to draw these past few days, but I managed to throw a quick hand practice with my recently adquire tablet.. so here is it...

Enjoy!

[fernandoart]

Here is a little update, more hand practice, this time done while at work with ball-pen (I think that's how you write it)... two of them are from imagination and one is from posemaniacs.com (damn, I love that site ).


Anyways, enjoy...

[RoisterDoister]

The anatomy studies are looking good Especially the hands, they turned out great.

I would recommend using more real life references for your drawings, especially studying how the neck joins to the head. I would also suggest doing a few drawing studies of skulls to nail head shape, as this really helped me and I think with a little studying you'll see big improvement. : )

[Mussy]

hey thanks for stopping by i see ur studying the body, u seem to be getting the hang of it, keep at it mate, also try doing some enviros u could be good at it.

Keep the studies coming, and remember draw what u see not what u know.

[xxPurple Nugxx]

Wow! your sketchbook started off way better than mine you could be ahead of me within a couple months If I don't draw more than you. This helped me alot-
1. Conception
2. Construction(establish forms)
3. Contour (limits of forms in space)
4. Character (specific qualities in light)
5. Consistency

[fernandoart]

RoisterDoister - Thanks for the good advice! I'll try to keep that in mind!
Mussy - Thanks! I have yet to try one single enviro, I really don't know where to start (they kind of scare me)
xxPurple Nugxx - Hey, thanks for you kind words, but could you elaborate a bit more on those points?

[fernandoart]

Here are a few more hand studies (some from observation and some from imagination), and warm-up doodles...

Enjoy!

[corran]

You can see you have a very good understanding of anatomy from you sketches. Like all artist we want to improve, grab yourself some Burne Hogarth books, they really help me, they are a bit lengthy in dialogue, but persevere and you come away with an even better understanding. Also Christopher Hart has a nice book on anatomy for the artist.
keep me updated, and good sketching.

[Raffix]

thanks for checking out my sketchbook dude! id say you're off to a really good start as you're doing rad stuff from your head as well as anatomy studies. just make sure that when you're drawing your own stuff you keep what you've learnt about anatomy in your head or maybe keep referring to anatomy books as you draw.

ill be back soon!

[RoisterDoister]

Great to see you doing studies of heads and how they connect to necks, I think you could benefit from doing some full-body sketches using reference too (easy to find on deviantArt under photography if you're unsure of where to look) and looking at some shading resources such as this one.

[fernandoart]

corran - Thanks for your words, I'm trying my best, but I know I still have a long way to go when it comes to anatomy....
Raffix - Thanks for coming this way dude! I'll try to keep that in mind!
RoisterDoister - Hey, thanks for the suggestion, I'll try to do some full body sketches once I get some more drawing time..

Now... I finally got some time to do some studies tonight.. so here they are..

I know they're not much, but more will come.. just gotta find the time


Anyways, enjoy...

[QuickClawSamurai]

Step by step, you'll get to where you need to be!

[fernandoart]

Hehehe, yeap, that's the general idea, hopefully by posting here, I'll force myself to improve...

Thanks for stopping by!

[QuickClawSamurai]

No problem man! I'm trying to do the same thing myself haha. Just keep posting! I'm looking forward to your next artwork!

[Abnormally]

Great sketchbook. I'm a n00b too, so I'm not too sure about critique...Also, not sure if it's your scanner...but it seems to me that your faces/portraits look a little flat, allowing some 'light' on them helps, as well as shading. Keep going , it's looking awesome!!

[fernandoart]

Hello again! I'm back with a small update...


Some anatomy much needed practice, an attempt at a portrait (gone horribly bad), and a full body photo reffed male model...

Let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

[CRYPT]

looking good keep up with the studies

[fernandoart]

Thanks I'm trying!
I also tried to apply what I've been learning from all that anatomy studies into the last guy... I still think I messed it up on several places.. Oh well.., I guess I still have a LOT to work on (big surprise there uh? )..

Thanks for stopping by though!

[vanaga]

There is an improvement for sure in those last pieces. Keep up the studies!

[fernandoart]

Hey, thanks for stopping by man! I'm trying but it's hard to find time to do them! I'll post more as soon as I have them....

[fernandoart]

Hello again, I'm back with some digital love...sadly, I'm still trying to master the straight line when it comes to using a tablet, so tonight's update is not much fun...

All form imagination, trying to get use to the feeling of using a tablet..., so far, the best portrait I've gotten out of the damn thing, and the same thing goes to the gesture..., best one on the tablet so far...

Anyways, I'll try to be back soon, with more pencils!

Later!