Colin's Daily Timed Thread 2011-2012

[Sir Cam]

Hi again, I just wanted to thank you for the honest critique and advice on my drawing attitude, I will take it to heart. Good luck with your studies.

[Dark_Eyes]

manartee: TY! I'm glad this is giving you a boost!
Sir Cam: No problem! Thing is, emotional states and behaviors get linked together, it's how the brain works. If you are bored all the time when you draw, then your unconscious knows exactly what to do when you pick up your pencil. This applies to everything in life by the way . Your going to be motivated by love or fear... Which will it be?. You want every fiber of your being to resonate with a desire to draw.. to explore.. to create... and if you can't do that yet, then fake it til' ya' make it. Or not.. it's just my opinion, and in my opinion, one can never trust in man... you can only trust your own experience of the world.

5 min (observation)

[Grzessnik]

Colin. Great one.
I draw figures all the time, but i have problem with drawing it from memory. It is not matter of proportions but life and movement. Do you know any exercise or something, what can help me? I draw from life and from photos. When i see model it is ok, but from imagination is worse.

[p sage]

Grz: When you do gestures, practice not letting your pencil tip rise off the paper. This keeps continuity of line. Use broad, sweeping arm movements. The lines will have a natural rhythm because they will all relate. It's hard to put down lines that don't relate when you work like that. You'll get life and movement through rhythm.

I'd also like to read what Colin has to add to that

[Dark_Eyes]

Thanks guys... the easy answer is you just need to draw from imagination more. Half of your time (or more) should be spent drawing from your head if you want to get better. This is something that I still struggle with so don't feel bad if you aren't there yet...It just takes time. I never had any instruction for this kind of thing, so I've had to formulate my own ideas based on what little information I could find on the subject.
First of all, I think there is a distinction between drawing from imagination and drawing from memory. Drawing from memory is like taking a photograph of something in your mind, trying to remember that image and drawing it later on. This is a great exercise for training your mind how to retain visual information and for building a mental library of how things look to the eye.
Drawing from imagination is more about creating forms/scenes/subjects from scratch, without necessarily having a remembered image in mind. This is more ephemeral and can happen in stages, allowing things to change as you draw. However, you can have a distinct mental image in mind before hand. (Frazetta once said in an interview that he could see his images in his head before hand, sometimes quite vividly.) Other times you can have a foggy idea in mind and build up that idea in stages, allowing for multiple iterations (thumbnails, comps, drafts ect..), or even responding to the drawing itself and making changes based on what appears.
I will make a few points that I think are useful for both methods...
1. Learn to actually SEE with the minds eye. This actually extends beyond what you physically see in the real world. You have to ask questions about what you see in order to encode this information to memory. Take notes. Later on, try to replicate that mental image from the notes and you will see what I mean. Make your mental pictures bigger, brighter... more colorful. Maybe pick up some sci fi and try to create those scenes in your mind. The more you do this kind of thing, the more your unconscious will provide you with clear images. Having any kind of picture in your mind will give you a target to aim for with your piece. If you think you can't visualize than I say bulls(*t... Stop right now and think of your kitchen, what color is the floor? How many chairs? Congratulations you just visualized.
2. Don't feel bad that you don't know how to draw something, instead get curious. Reference is perfectly fine to use while you draw. Yes, you can improve your imagination skills if you put your reference away when you draw. Don't confuse this with reference being "bad" though.. You can't draw something if you don't know what it looks like right? So don't be afraid of your reference, instead get creative in the way you use it. Never copy from reference... ask yourself questions about the qualities of the image and try to apply those qualities to your piece. Brad Rigney will open up his reference paint from it for a while until he gets what he needs, closes the reference and then hops back into his piece... so even Brad doesn't know how to draw everything lol .
3. GET INSPIRED! Read a lot, watch film, listen to music, meet people... You can't sit down with a little wimpy voice in your head and a tiny little stamp sized image in your mind and expect anything interesting to come out... Visualizing is an active process... you have to DO to experience, and EXPERIENCE to do... Fill the cup...
Anyways... blah blah blah... draw a lot! lol the end... hope it helps y'all!

2 hrs 15 m(imagination)

[Grzessnik]

Thank you Colin. It is a detailed approach.
In the book "Natural Way to Draw" is exercise Daily Composiotion. You try to remember one situation every day and draw it later from memory. I think it is close to your advice.
I'm doing this exercise from a month and i think it is good way to learn. It doesn't matter how these drawings look like, a process is important.

[Dark_Eyes]

Grzessnik: I've noticed you mention that book MANY times, and I never realized until now that I had a copy of that buried in a pile of books I don't really read anymore You should try some different books. Maybe Anthony Ryder's book, or vanderpoel's book http://www.drawingbooks.org/ or Andrew Loomis books. Sorry, but Nicolaide's book is a lot like the "drawing on the right side of the brain" book, lots of exercises that take you forever and the drawings in it don't really give a lot of information on how to draw the human form. The book has some interesting ideas and exercises in it, but repeating those exercises ad nauseam wont help you a lot with understanding the human form when drawing from life/imagination. You NEED to expand your library. The more books the better imo . May be the only useful advice I can give you. I apologize if the language barrier is making things a bit unclear to you .

2 hr poopy (imagination)

[Grzessnik]

Colin. Thanks for link to this resources. Great books and site.
I have "Drawing on the right side of the brain" and this is totally not for me. But i found interesting (for me) things and exercises in NTWtD. I agree, that it is not a book for drawing human form and i'm aware that i need other resources. This book like "Experiential drawing" and "Spirit of drawing" gave me one think i felt never before. It is joy of drawing and feeling that i can draw in my own way, regerdless of final state.
Btw. how is your way to learn human anatomy? You only work from model, or try to memorize it or maybe something else?
Thanks for inspirations and advices.

[prsnsweeney]

post 332 is beautiful its drawings like that that make me dream of sitting in the back of a figure drawing class every day and just draw the figure for hours, you bring out the beauty of the human form

[p sage]

Agreed on the Nicolaides book, Colin. In fact, I just gave my copy of it to Salvation Army yesterday. I tossed the Betty Edwards book in the bin

That's not to say as an art student you want to dismiss different approaches out of hand (which obviously you don't).

This imagination drawing is nice.

[Dark_Eyes]

Grzessnik: Yes... work from model. yes... memorize.. yes something else lol! If you are learning these things on your own then you need to find as many books on the subject as you can. I have a s)#t ton of books.. I live for them. I don't think you need to know every muscle in the body, but you should know the skeleton, the basic shapes/groupings of the muscles, their function in the body, and their origins and insertions (Elliot Goldfinger's book is good for the technical aspects of anatomy). You should know them well enough that you can draw them from imagination. I have at least a dozen or so sketchbooks filled just with anatomy studies, and I am still learning. I'm convinced that the learning never ends, but that eventually I will reach a level of competency that will allow me to do what I want when I want. You will have to find your own way though, everybody learns differently.

I'm doing this exercise from a month and i think it is good way to learn. It doesn't matter how these drawings look like, a process is important.

I agree that a process is important, but honestly, it really DOES matter what your drawings look like, even if they are just studies. I recall a story from a professional who was working in a gaming company doing background paintings (might have been Jason Manley, can't remember). He was new to the industry, and one of his co-workers came in while he was working and said, "This work is terrible, stop masturbating with paint." lol. As harsh as that sounds, it is a great lesson to learn.. It's not enough to just love playing with paint (although it IS great and you SHOULD enjoy it! ), you have to have an end goal for the piece, and have an audience in mind... you need to try and understand why a piece works or doesn't work, and adjust accordingly. In the end, I feel like we have a duty to communicate to others with our art.. otherwise, well, we are just masturbating lol.. I'm not saying I'm great at this btw, only that I recognize it and am understanding it better. Just some food for thought.
Prsnsweeney: Thanks, I know what you mean, I could draw the figure for hours and hours...
p sage: I agree all information is important, especially to the beginner, I was worried that Grzessnik was relying solely on those books... Didn't want him to get trapped for years doing needless exercises when there's so much great information out there. Fleeeexibility....


Guys, I'm going to scale back my responses to comments and questions. Will respond maybe once a week or so.. I really love crafting worthwhile responses to you guys, but it is taking up a lot of my time, and I want to keep posting images here every day. Just so you know, I'm not ignoring you guys! Be patient and I will answer everyone! Thanks for your support!

page of 2 mins (observation)

[mrd33ds]

so lovely

[Grzessnik]

Colin. Great sketches.
Thank you for your honest words. I really appreciate your advices.
I don't rely solely on books, but i try to find what suits for me.
Only thing i know for sure is i need to work all the time. As you said the learning never ends.
Happy creating.

[p sage]

Colin, the figure in the upper left is amazingly well done. Kudos.

G...honestly, it really DOES matter what your drawings look like, even if they are just studies.

Agreed through and through. One should always try to bring artistic integrity to whatever one is doing... you don't have to always succeed, but even doodles should incorporate your skills and knowledge.

No worries on the "no answers" stuff; completely understand about not giving responses all the time. Time for drawing!

[Dark_Eyes]

Mechs.. not my forte.. struggled for 4 hrs with this and a break in between. Took way more time than I should have for a "sketch".. good reminder to practice my perspective drawing

[dusty imp]

Liking those nudes a lot, although I wish they were even less controlled and more gestural.
Gestures are fun! Keep up the good work.

[Dark_Eyes]

2 hr 15 min (observation)

[prsnsweeney]

i love the fast 2 min drawings the mech looks pretty cool your thread is really inspirational

[inmygucci]

i like your gestural drawings way more than the more detailed ones. so much energy, its unique plus with just a few strokes you capture it beautifully.

[DvrJeroen]

Drawing figures with such few lines, thats amazing!

[Dark_Eyes]

5 min (observation)

[Jesus Food]

really beautiful sketches i love how efficient u are with ur lines and shading. great work

[MarcSampson]

amazing pencil skills.

[MattGamer]

beautiful work and insight on art. thank you for sharing!

[Dark_Eyes]

Thanks everybody, I'll make some responses tomorrow!

4 min (observation)

[theUNKNOWNsketcher]

oh last page is wonderful!

[Dark_Eyes]

mrd33ds: Thanks!
Grzessnik: Thanks man! You have a killer attitude when it comes to learning and working hard at your craft! I'm really glad you've hung around here, I'm learning a lot from your contributions to this echo chamber! Cheers!
psage: Thanks M8! I think we all have that kind of integrity in us, it's just a matter of working long enough for that impulse to naturally express itself! You've been great for me here, and I appreciate your contributions!
Dusty Imp: Thanks for that! I think I know what you mean and I have been trying to incorporate a more natural/gestural feeling to my longer drawings. I still fall into the trap of slowing down too much and being "too careful" with my approach to longer poses. It's a strange balance between making calculated decisions/movements, and remaining loose and confident with your strokes.
prsnsweeney: Thanks! Hope the inspiration serves you well!
inmygucci: Thank you! I think your observation is similar to Dusty Imps.. Thanks for reinforcing that criticism, I will take it to heart.
Jarkuzy: Thanks!
Jesus Food: Thanks man! I LOVE your historical stuff !
MarcSampson: If you mean my graphite stuff in my moleskine, then thanks! I'm still ironing out a process with graphite. I'm still pretty slow with it and I need a lot of work imo!
MattGamer: Thanks man! A real honor coming from you.. I've seen you around these parts for a while now! Real solid stuff m8!
theUNKNOWNsketcher: Thanks!

~2 hrs (imagination)

[Grzessnik]

Colin. Great as usual, but i prefer broad strokes in your drawings. This one reminds me Loomis drawings. Great form, value but i can't feel it. When you use broad strokes, life is vivid and i can feel it.
Going back to our conversation about drawing. How you train anatomy? how you do anatomy studies? Do you use for example reference photo and anatomy book together? Or maybe you work in other way? I ask, because i can't memorize anatomy and it feels artificial for me. But maybe i need to find right approach to it.
Waiting for next great works.

[Dark_Eyes]

7 min (observation)

[Samszym]

I was surprised to see color here! I like it. That's chalk pastel right? Awesome work as usual Colin!