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[Lightship69]

Hi everyone

here we go after a few more pages of facial planes and various head shapes we have the following.

No1 is actually a later drawing but it pulls together where I am at the moment with the sudies of the head.

No 6 in interesting as I was wondering how some of the planes change with differing expressions

No2 is just crap but it was practice and I accept my fails! LOL



Will post again very soon, thanks for calling in.

[Barefoot]

Hi there, you helped me out in the crit section of the forums so I thought I should return the favour by taking a look at your sketchbook
If I had to crit you I would say that while it's good your lines are solid and confident, they might be just a little too hard (I'm the total opposite by the way; feathery lines all over the shop) and I think you want to spend a little more time on your shading, at the moment it seems too scratchy (probably the result of that slightly heavy hand?), from looking at all three pages of work, I can say that you are definitely improving.
good luck and keep drawing

[Lightship69]

Hi guys I got fed up of studying all my books and thought I would play a while.





Thanks for dropping by and Im sorry about the helm I know its wonky, but hey its just playtime.

[Star Eater]

Strato pretty much said it all, to paraphrase another great teacher: "...your eyes may deceive you..."

Glad you are updating again.

[Naidy]

Hey mate, good to see you're working on headplanes. I've been doing them recently and they definitely help.
One thing about open mouths, isn't the jaw like a hinge? In number 6 it looks a bit like he's popped his jaw out, I'm not sure, but he might have an overbite if he closed his mouth.
Have a go drawing a skeleton from the side a few times, but move the bottom jaw in each drawing.
Now, I tried to redline the shouting guy but I derped it up pretty baddly as I'm using a touchpad. Hope you see what I mean though.

KEEP IN MIND I'm a begginer myself! I'm sure someone better will come round and, spurred on by the bad advice I have given, will most likely swoop in with a better explanation and redline. xD

Anyways, that said, good work so far so keep it up!

[shiNIN]

Indeed, that helmet doesn't look round... And the man has huge eyes. I really don't like to criticize what I can't do either but the beard is just some lines, without showing form and white between the lines, it looks strange next to the better drawn face (I have this problem when I draw hair... my face and hair drawing skills are very different. hair is tricky, don't follow rules as well as faces).

The front view face looks a bit badly proportioned because the forehead is small (well such people do exist) and you drew hair where the skull is. Hair and even clothes should be drawn showing their width. There are people with small forehead but I tend to think they need a massive jaw to
And the skull doesn't look like a sphere at the top and side either. The sides of the sphere are missing, well the top can be different, humans has variety at it too.

[Lightship69]

Ha ha ha ha thanks guys you are all stars and hero's for the day!

I genuinely appreciate all the help and advice I can get keep it coming please I need it all! No really I do.

I hold my pencil wrong I talk bollocks and draw for shite. My only good point is that I can drink like a fish and stay upright (well its kind of a skill).

all the very best to you guys and thanks again

[Lightship69]

A face planes work up on MR HILTER (see monty python), I found this reference painting and thought his face looked rather interesting, so I interpreted it my way, as you all know this is crap artist speak for I tried to copy it but cocked it up rather!! LOL

Ref first



Then Mr Hilter



I am actualy reasonably happy with this one as I inadvertantly changed his expression but I think i got the rendering on his clothes somewhere near, In my opinion of course, which is usually wrong but hey ho whats a guy to do. LOL

all the best

[shiNIN]

Nice reference...

Hm, about yours. The face is skewed, the inner eye corners (and many other places) need a deeper shadow. Individual eyelashes aren't needed at all. The mouth is outlined, reality isn't like this. But I don't know what could I say that would actually help...

[Lightship69]

You already Did help my mate!! you pointed out the bits that are rubish and need doing again, so I shall do him again, and again etc etc until I get a good one.

Cheers mate, see you soon

[Lightship69]

I think I need a new reference by the looks of these two attempts I am not observing them and understanding the planes in his face, I am putting a rather arrogant sneer on this one and a guilty look on the first. I am putting my feelings and impressions of the man in this, Oooops LOL!

I shall find another interesting face and come back to him later with a clear head and with more self discipline.

[Strato]

Yeah, you're getting on the right track. Even if you feel like you're not really observing well enough yet, this is probably your best work yet in terms of observational skills. That right eye especially shows a lot of "correct" observation. All I can say is do more, and really consider doing some blind contours. It won't be fun, but it'll give you a big boost in your observation skills.

That being said, yeah, time to get a new reference. This one isn't that good to begin with anyway.

[LtPlissken]

The lady in #51 do look surprised, and you did a great job.
She saw someone coming at her with a big mallet, and her
face will be turned into a pie in any second from now. I just
see Loomis face turns to grey when he sees his grandmother
all over the place. Pizza will be for dinner after the massacre.
James Gurney and Walt Stanchfield are both my great friends,
we grill at regular base, and I have to tell you that you did a good
job on those faces, you just watch a bit for the proportions and
try to work more on your shading.
The reference face in #59 is a bit scary and please do not watch it
too long, cause it will make you have nightmares. It has something
really morbid in the look of that sculpture or whatever it is.
Anyway you did a nice copy of it, and I like it.
Hitler frightens me also, he got a strange look in his eyes, he just
saw something in a rosebush, but he do not know what it is.
Brutal rape scene can follow here. Generally you tend to draw faces
flat, and objects flat, but you will learn to do a 3D style in no time.
I was also struggling with flatness earlier. Now it is a bit easier.
I change my socks and take my pills on a regular basis, and nothing
can go wrong. You are a magnificent artist already, you just imagine,
what it will be from a few years from now. I will try to get your autograph.

[Lightship69]

Lt.Plissken I already want your autograph mate, you are a star and your advice is both encouragement and criticism and I thank you for it.

Thats enough grovelling for now I found a betterface to draw, I thought but its old and a bit washed out and I had to improvise so sorry in advance to any relatives of fans of Gen Robert E. Lee

REF:-



And now the drawing, I think I referenced his facial planes right but Im not sure, like I said the picture is a little on the bright side and hides some detail. But that was the challenge, to get it somewhere near without too much reference.



Ok thanks for watching children now you can all kick the crap out of the old guy, and thanks in advance for any crits offered

[Velocity Kendall]

hello LS
thats an awesome photo. i missed the name first around so guessed it was u.s.grant. sorry im a brit and my history's rubbish!!
youve almost got him. i scribbled on his eyes a bit, see what you think. i made him more hang dog thant he reality; in the photo theres still a fierce defiance in those old eyes.
i really recommend flipping the page in photoshop to get a handle on things, and also getting (if you dont have one) a graphics pad. i got one for xmas and its totally life changing. no more fear...
ps thankyou for your message in my SB, i was really touched!

[Lightship69]

Hi man thanks for calling in, I couldnt flip him in photoshop mate It was a scanned drawing, I hadnt taken the time to shop him yet.

I like what you did with him though He is pretty close isnt he! I like that one.

Sigh! all I gotta do now is another 20 or so and we'll be in good shape to do something else thats fun LOL!!

All the best everyone

[shiNIN]

As Velocity Kendall said.
You should focus on eyes more in general, make sure the irises look at the same direction... Practice, practice!

[Quigleyer]

Hey Lightship, I had (and have) problems with my traditional drawings becoming skewed as well. While holding it up to a mirror is a good temporary flip trick, I'd also urge you to establish a "scaffold" of sorts to try and stabilize your drawings. Try to sort of "grid it off" (though not to the extent that you would see a gridded drawing). Draw a line (with a ruler, if you must) that establishes was a horizontal and a vertical line are IN your drawing (lightly, of course). Use these guys as comparison every now and then, and don't hesitate to lightly draw your forms and discover where the middle and sides of your bigger masses are.

Can I ask you. Do you rotate your paper while you draw a lot?

Man keep up the good work. I know it's a pain earlier on, but you'll start to see that your studies come easier and that they inform your work more and more. Kickass, pal!

[Strato]

Yes, you're definitely on the right track now. Keep following people's advice and practicing. I'm really starting to see observational skills blossoming.

[Lightship69]

Blimey I never had this many people imterested before, thats pretty cool thanks everyone.

Ok on with the next one, This reference is brilliant, I hope all of you copy him and have a go, seriously what a face.

[Demo]

Hay Lightship looks like you have quite a few people giving you good advice and it is helping you lots keep practicing, keep observing, the only advice i could really give is that smaller more basic studies such as the loomis heads, will benefit you more in the long run then spending more time on one project. Keep working !! your moving forward !!

[Lightship69]

Hi Quigs do you mean put a line through the ref and the drawing in the same place and see if theres a balance as it goes along? I'm not quite with you mate sorry.
Also yes I rotate the paper everywich way to get the angles and lines that I want, I am actually pretty crap at this drawing lark and thats why all the practice. Its easy in photoshop to hide the mistakes but the pencil never lies LOL!!

Hi Demo! A new visitor, Wow thanks for calling and thanks for the input mate. I am doing more Loomis stuff as well, I just thought it was time to play a little and do some propper heads.
Its mainly for the interest I was getting jaded with all the loomis and bidgeman without end.

[LtPlissken]

Your referenced bearded portrait drawing (Gen Robert
I guess you said?) is not bad, however you should learn
more about shading and you could have gone more dark
overall. I see that Kendall fixed the eyes a bit, it’s a problem
for me also to do the eyes in the same height and almost the same
size. It’s a hard quest that you will learn after a lot of training.
You kinda got the likeness but the face is still a flat plane.
Draw more round objects from life that will help again.
The last bearded guy in #81 is done better a bit, I think
that you nailed the proportions much better this time.
Now you should go all dark shading in the dark areas
and to make it much much more realistic. Do not be
afraid to experiment.

[Black Spot]

Looks like you just need to keep on drawing. They are getting better. Get Irfanview (free) if you want to flip pictures you've scanned.

[FootstepsBeckon]

dear lightship,
it seems one of the main issues you seem to be undergoing at the moment is the relationship between what you see and what you then draw on the page- you'll note from the reference loomis heads you drew for plane-studies that they don't look much like the references. Now is a very fine time to put a brake on things and ask yourself why that would be. It certainly won't do you any good to study from refs if the work isnt coming out right- so go grab something for your desk (a sharpener,a can,fruit etc) and just pencil draw it,focusing mainly on the shape. Try closing one eye and really trying to capture an accurate representation of what you're drawing because at the moment if you overlayed any of the above to the reference there are a lot of things out of place.

Be determined and practice a lot and you'll go far


love footsteps

[Lightship69]

HI matey long time no read as they say, I hope you are well.

As for your kind comments all I can say is "now that sounds like good advice !!" I must admit I am getting a little fed up with loomis heads and stuff and it was starting to get worse. Observationaly I am improving a little with copying photos etc but putting it on the page is an arse !!

I shall do as you ask my mate thanks for the suggestion, cant hurt can it, and my still life practice is way behind, as usual.

thanks for calling in and thanks for posting, all the best.

[FootstepsBeckon]

add me on msn lightship,WE'LL TALK.

[Lightship69]

Hi guys
I thought I would add some of my other works from my archive to the pot, this is just for the record and to say that Its not all pencils and occasional water colours that I am working on. Oh no I struggle with all forms of artwork, but I do have a powerful engaging interest in all things 3d.

I cant afford a major league 3D package at the moment but I do have Bryce 5 to play with and most of things that I do are either to help me visualise something in my artwork or to do something with an interface design for a web page or whatever.

I hope you like them, There are a few notes to mention and that is the ship model was found whilst trawling the internet and I used it simply to see if I could make a sci-fi scene that looked halfway convincing. I added the decals on the side and the lights on the engines and the lights from the planet.

The other one to look out for is the attempt at the Roger Dean "flight of Icarus" in a 3D package.

hope you find them interesting, they were certainly interesting to play around with and more importantly educational too.

all the best, Lightship69

[Lightship69]

Hi there

I found a new way to get in trouble with my Kids school, They wanted him to bring in a photo as part of an art project. It had to be to do with something he enjoyed doing, and the only thing he could think of that he enjoyed was playing on the computer and the X-Box. So he asked me if I would make him a picture of him playing one of his games this is the result !! LOL

He loves it and his teacher wasn't so sure that it was politically correct, all his mates in the class were as jealous as hell ha ha ha ha.

The photo of my boy was from a trip to the zoo, where he was sort of looking into the sun. The game screen shot is from a MMORPG called Tabula Rasa which was sort of like world of warcraft but with guns of all kinds, It was brilliant fun to play but was unfortunately canned / or binned depending on your geographical location due to the company being uncomfortable with the way it was developing comunity wise or some such political nonsense.

anyway thats how it ended, and it made him happy and me laugh a lot so here you go guys enjoy!

[Lightship69]

Hi guys

Here is another experiment of mine, I have noticed that some people use a 3d package to lay the bare bones of an environment or character layout to help with pre visualisations and light layout etc. and thought it was kind of interesting, so I thought I would try to see if I could do something along those lines with the tools that I currently have, it took about 7 hours start to finish for the 3d and the photoshoping of the characters and lights.

What do you think?