Pencil Pushing, a self-help sketchbook

[J@n!t]

It's been a while. I took more (non-art) classes, got married, moved across the country...

Attaching the work I've done since I set up my workspace here in my new home. Been trying hard to make gestures work for me to identify motion-- I like to participate in Spartan Camp's weekly 50 gestures, but have been struggling to figure out what "gesture" means for me. Seems a lot of people have a lot of different ideas. I'm trying to use them to show movement, so my pictures do not actually appear to be still.

I have a good place for drawing still lifes now, so I sat down last night to draw the apple & stuff sitting on the cutting board. Since gestures are hurried and my other drawings are just little attempts to absorb from the books I'm reading, I thought I need a little focus time and did a little sight measuring. What I think I see versus what is really there certainly turned out to be two different things pld: Of course, there are still lots of mistakes. I don't think I could fix them all

[Yemi775]

you are on the right track J@n!t keep going!

[J@n!t]

Some quick big cat sketches. Pretty sure these aren't discernible from the drawings I did 2 years ago, but I'm finding it easier to look at an image and put it on paper. There is much less time spent putting things to paper and I'm happy, not because of the speed, but because the understanding is a little more instinctive.

Also, I just noticed how fun cats are to draw because their whiskers give them another level of expression. It's like having another set of eyebrows or ears :-)

I've been doing other work, but it's dreadfully boring and might put some people to sleep. Perspective and figuring out quicksketch are two of my main areas of exploration right now. I'll post some soon.

[J@n!t]

This morning's sketches. I was so excited- the dogs were so easy and quick to draw that I thought I'd try some humans with the same methods. People are just not as easy to draw as animals, too many parts in too many places! :-P

[OakLeaf]

Nice work here. I like the drapery studies, and that Frazetta copy is awesome.

[choopcheek]

im digging the chip drawing. or is it dale? nice studies. I've always had trouble with studies.

[J@n!t]

choopcheek: I believe that when Preston Blair created his animation book, he had to remove/change all copyrighted characters, so that would technically be neither Chip nor Dale ;-)

Here are today's sketches. I'm really inspired by the "life" in animation and animators' drawings. I picked a few from Glen Keane and hacked away at them. I was working quickly, not trying to copy exactly but rather to train my hand (if that makes sense.) I could copy them painstakingly and put every mark right where it should be, but I'm trying to take a more gestural approach and work on making marks with energy.

The last one is my horse Bucket's christmas card. That one is done from memory and imagination.

[Yemi775]

You are showing humor with that horse haha love it. and your perspective, love them what book do you study from?

[J@n!t]

Yemi775: I mostly use Deborah Rockmans' book Drawing Essentials for perspective study. When I need more help, I search online or read some perspective threads here on CA.


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Sketch dump: a bit of everything. Not finished with the digital dog pic or the view of my neighbor's house through the front window.

[J@n!t]

My husband in his office, drawn from memory at the airport.

[GrayPersona]

really cool studies ,I would suggest though to up the contrast when working with pencils.

[Rhubix]

Glen Keane is pretty much my idol right now so I definitely dig your studies from him. My favorite of his is Tarzan- it's stupid how much control he has over anatomy - I love this site - living lines- for reference.
For gestures, I like to go for the movement approach as well- you might enjoy doing some gestures with coloured chalk on darker paper, or crayons - water colours are pretty fun too. You can slam down big shapes easier and focus more on movement and form. It helped me stop getting caught up in little details- and I was terrible for it.
the variety of things you draw is great- it's really the best way to learn .

Happy sketching