Jorvaa's Sketchbook

[jorvaa]

Hey all,
Name here is Moira (or Elle). Trying to get better at art/illustration and needless to say I have a lot of work to do to get a portfolio together. So check the latest page and give me a challenge, encouragement (read: coffee), or lashings with a wet noodle.

(go to latest page to see newest work)
Attachment 1644963

[Trisquel]

Welcome to the CA forums Elle, and congrats on a good start. It is always good to see a beginning artist's work at fundamentals and starting with the basics.
While the eye in the first image is generally okay, you do need to do some more work on facial structure. While the positioning and alignment are good (except for the fact that the eyes should be brought down to the ears' level), the features need to be more realistic - look at the eye in the first image and compare it with the eyes on that face, for example. Look at your own eyebrows in a mirror and see whether they really have such a high arch. See if your nose is really that flat, and if your face is really that broad for a female. That's all the advice I can offer for now. Hope to see some more studies coming from you

[jorvaa]

Thank you so much. I knew that something was wrong with the portrait and the eye, but sometimes it is hard to put your finger on what is wrong when you're so close to the drawing.

[jorvaa]

A conglomeration of sketchings - some old, some new, but all done between Dec 10 and now.
First is some tonal studies from a drawing book, along with some perspective practice.

Second is some more perspective practice from imagination.

Third is a copy of the features of Amy Pond. Excuse the lack of the rest of her face. It was a quick sketch, and I wanted to catch the backwards glance.
The second is a quick copy of a sketch of an eye by Loomis. (A sketch o' sketch?)

Fourth is a still life drawing of a black pitcher with light coming from the upper right.

More recent studies coming up soon. Lots and lots of noses.

[Rain Walker]

u have a good start.. and good pencil strokes.... and dont worry about ur age.. i started a year ago and i was 26!! .. ur still young and u will be fine just keep on drawinggggggg

[Trisquel]

That still life of the glass pitcher is pretty awesome. You really nailed the reflection off the glass.

[ladyknowles]

Nice work! Like earlier posters said, don't worry about your age!

[doodles-inc]

Yes, definatly do not worry about your age. I'm 27 this month, hahahaaaaaarrrrggghhh. Seriously it is never too late to learn. Faces are really difficult. Just keep observing from life and drawing what you see. Take your time....stamina before speed Really try to look and see what you are drawing. I do not know if you can take a life drawing class or something, but I seriously recommend it. I am due for my fourth session tomorrow and it does help.

You've made a start now....I would like to see how things develop in your skills and work, so I hope to never see an end.

All the best and happy drawing!

[jorvaa]

No pencil sketches today. Finished up this eye study though. First go at painting anything on Photoshop. Actually, its my first go at painting anything really. Watercolor attempts don't count. Followed this tutorial as closely as possible. No eye dropping from the tutorial, and but there are so many things I would fix. However, it is just a study.


First is the WIP, second is the finished version.

[doodles-inc]

Gooood eyes complete with nice juicy fleshy bits. If that's your first ever attempt at painting in digital, it sure is a good one. Don't forget to dabble around in your imagination as well as studies. Like, paint from a tutorial, then try the same from imagination to apply what you learn. Rinse and repeat.

That's a good study...now, I'm going to go do some myself

All the best!

[Morderischen]

From what I've seen, you really got the hang on how to render things. That digital eye is very well done. I belive you already saw MY first try... so you definitely got some skills. What you seem to have problems is proportion. I can't offer much critique since im in pretty much the same level if not less, but I do know that proportions is one of the first things I would tackle. Well, mainly, trying to find big shapes, so you keep the right proportions early on. That way you can easily determine if something is way off and correct it quickly, then getting into all the measurements and stuff. Keep goin' mate!

[jorvaa]

Newest digital. Slacked off (unpardonable) for a while, but now I'm back.
Both of these are terrible, and I definitely need all the help I can get. The human "gesture" was to practice getting the general location of the main parts of the body right. So far it has served its purpose. Still very confused when it comes to applying my own color to things.

[Stormslegacy]

oo, the eye study looks wonderful, especially for a first-time in photoshop. It's clear that you're observation has improved significantly from the first sketches in your thread =)

As far as gesture, it's really one of those things that come down to practice, practice practice. My favorite tool:
http://pixelovely.com/tools/gesture.html
It enforces the time limit that's so crucial to developing stroke economy.

[jorvaa]

@Storm: That link is BRILLIANT! That is just what I needed at the moment. I'm working through Michael Hampton's "Figure Drawing: Design and Invention", and I am making slow progress, but enjoying it. I think forcing myself to do some crappy gesture drawings from photos might help speed up my progress, instead of just copying the gesture drawings that he has in the book. Thank you!

[tronrobot]

pretty good so far! id say just to do lots of studies. maybe some anatomy n stuff. goodluck.

[ayoub66]

great studies .. keep it up

[jorvaa]

paranoiak: that is a great link! Thanks!

Still sort of at a loss on what to practice when, but I'm not really letting that bother me as I think it will go away once I get a grip on a few more concepts.

I need to do more life drawing though.

This is a digital drapery study WIP - from a watercolor image that I found on DA (I'll post the original when I'm finished). I have no idea what I'm doing, and I know I'm all over the place, but I feel myself learning bit by bit.

[Suncut]

Nice to see someone starting up, good choices for reading so far!

I started drawing around the same age as you and thought I'd share a few ditbits I wish I had realised earlier. I used to obsess on getting the perfect eyes, lips etc drawn and would do countless of them seperately on paper. Some of them looked pretty good at the end, but that time was totally wasted as far as I'm concerned. It did nothing for me as far as understanding lighting, proportion or actual human features went. So my advice would be to study portraits and whole figures, and lay down your basic tones to describe structure before starting with specific features.

And hang your own drapery on the back of a chair and draw that instead of pictures. It will help a lot more than interepting something that's already been interepted.

Hope that I was of some help, keep drawing!

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Elle thanks so much for visiting my SB. I can see you are off to a good start and already have some very promising drawings and paintings. You asked me where I got my viewfinder so here is a link to it http://www.livepaintinglessons.com/tools.php. I actually brought the Mastering Colour download video and the file was included with that. You print it out and assembly it yourself which is pretty handy as if you lose of damage it you can just print and make another one.

Being a very,very, very latecomer to art myself the best advice I can pass on is to do as many still life's as you can. Photos and books have there use but you will find drawing from life trains your eyes much better. If you can attend a life drawing class I would highly recommend doing that as well. I shall enjoy watching you progress.

[Dope Fiend]

draw everywhere..draw in classes, at the library, coffee shops, life drawing is the best, and it teaches you to be quick, use your lines effectively and efficiently

notice everything, observe the world as if it were a basic shape..it's becoming an addiction to draw everything and everyone i see :

and..yeah structural anatomy.
posemaniacs.com is another site

i wanna see some more! and dont forget to render out a few, learning how to control your values is equally important.

check out my book sometime!

cheers

[Sunny]

Drawing doesnt come easy to most people at first. So dont feel like your alone on that one. But after time and a lot of drawings under your belt you will develop. Just make sure you learn from your mistakes rather than repeat them. So the search then is to find out what you are doing wrong. Thats all you need to do Keep em comin!

[jorvaa]

All of you have been so, so helpful. I honestly cannot thank you enough.
Drawings will be coming soon! I've mostly just been doing tiny studies and contours, but this weekend I hope to tackle some life drawings.

Been looking for a small, hard cover, non spiral sketchbook to take with me on a trip. Any suggestions? Or should I just take my big sketchbook? Choices, choices.

[Krystar]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook jorvaa!

Looking really good so far. The key is to just remain consistent and keep drawing, you can only get better, so all of the time you spend drawing, even if your not happy with the results or progress you are improving. I've just started to get serious and I'm noticing that drawing is learned mostly subconsciously through repetition.

You are definitely on the right track though! Do some basic perspective studies and life drawings of simple objects. (Something I need to do more of!).

Once you are feeling more comfortable and want to start to tackle the human body just work on stick figures or with basic forms, gestures and go from there.

Another good, but somewhat boring exercise is to just fill pages with circles, ellipses, lines and curves.

I personally prefer the spiraled sketchbooks because you can fold them back if you have a small table or not much room, say on a bus or small table.

Some great material for learning gesture is from Glenn Vilppu's DVD's and Drawing Manual. For form and structure; Bridgman, Michael Hampton, Kevin Chen and Hogarth, etc can provide some great ways to break down the human body into simpler shapes.

[jorvaa]

So, currently:
I've rearranged my "drawing nook" in order to get more light. That alone has changed the quality of my practicing.

My focus has been on line quality, training my eyes to see what is in front of me (apparently paper bags and pizza boxes), and learning to observe basic forms in complicated shapes (such as the human body).

Actually sitting down and completing a life drawing has been challenging thing for me to do every day, and I must admit that I haven't really succeeded. Mostly I've just been scribbling. This upcoming week I will challenge myself to do at least 5 life drawings. I have an interesting pile of ribbons that is just begging to be analyzed and drawn.

Incidentally, the contour hands are foreshortened...you just can't quite tell because I left them unshaded.

Perspective is (dare I say it?) coming a bit easier to me. I'm beginning to see how it applies in real life, and not just on the page, and that has been encouraging. I still have a long way to go, but I enjoy the process so much.

[jorvaa]

Ugh. Apologies for not updating.
Started a course in drawing, which has helped a lot.
Decided to start working towards a portfolio (10 observational pieces, and a sketchbook full of imaginative work), but I need to get up to a decent level before I start.
This stuff is a mixture of old and new stuff, but all from this year.

[carriejo]

Wow your sketchbook is really good especially the eye sketches. I suggesting working on the body first maybe figure drawing. Good work keep em coming!

[jorvaa]

More recent stuff. Haven't practiced for the last few days though. Need to snap out of it and get back to work.

The drawings below are either life studies, technique studies, or Rockwell studies. The spoon is ballpoint pen. Most of this stuff was done on a trip, and I fully acknowledge its crappiness.

First two are eye studies from observation, the second is from imagination. Spoon is from life. Then head studies (drawing course work), observational (ice water and purse), Rockwell studies (blah). The figure drawing wasn't done for figure study, but for tone and form, which is why it looks so loose (from a picture, btw). The final, a boot, is from life.

[jorvaa]

Awful first attempt at a portrait. But I promised to post the good and the bad. Bleh. Kind of happy with the background. Don't remember where the ref photo came from.

[jorvaa]

Pencil studies from Michael Hampton's book. And a bunny (doodled in photoshop).
New resolution: update sketchbook daily.

[jorvaa]

Digital self portrait that I am working on. I'm relieved I got this far. Any suggestions?