Candragonart's Sketchbook

[Candra H]

Thanks guys.

It does feel like I'm starting to make some progress with the anatomy studies. Just wish there was more progress in other areas. But I guess that'll come with time and practice. Just gotta persevere.

Here's another small landscape in oils done this morning from my workroom window.

[Candra H]

Another oil painting and a couple of sketches done while out walking.

[Candra H]

Some more Loomis stuff.

This will be my last update for a while. I'm going into hospital on wednesday for a cataract operation so I wont be able to draw until my eye settles down again. But hopefully I wont be out of commission for too long and that my vision improves a little.

[LordLouis]

Ohh, good luck with the operation, hope you get better soon.
Just wanted to pop in and let you know how I admire your plein air work, it's really getting you somewhere!

[Candra H]

Thanks, L. Not sure about that last one - I think I overworked it but without enough detail so the house looks kind of cartoony.

Also, thanks about the operation. It went well but I'm still in recovery and trying to get my eyes to work again - it's like having half good sight and half bad which makes everything blur over occasionally - so I'm still not drawing or painting yet. Maybe in a week or so.

But the colours... wow. Everything is so clean and crisp. I cant wait to get the paints out.

[Candra H]

Well, I havent been doing much drawing. Cant seem to get my eyes to work together yet. I did get the paints out though and tried a couple of still lives - one very small one of a horse figurine against fabric and another of some orange flowers which is still a wip.

The horse painting has dozens of mistakes but I was just happy to be able to paint at all. Hopefully the second one will be better...

[ja1307]

you have a sketchbook packed with lots and lots of good stuff, you are def improving and its good to see u working on so many different things at once. I am jealous of you living in scotland being surrounded by so much beautiful scenery your def taking advantage of that in your landscape studies. They are looking good your making good colour choices and your values are looking pretty sweet too. Like the way you are taking on the dragon and breaking it down into skeletal anatomy ect Todd Lockwood should look out.

One note is that you might benefit from doing some longer pencil studies to help improve your rendering at the moment it can look a bit rushed and scratchy espc on your figure studies. I know sometimes we dont want to spend forever on one study when we can get more into that time but your rendering skills will help improve your painting in terms of thinking about values, planes ect. Any way keep it up I am def going to be following your progress you are on a really good path.

[Candra H]

Thanks ja1307. You're right about the pencil studies and I'm hoping to get some time for that over the next few weeks because I really do need the practice with more dedicated stuff.

Like the way you are taking on the dragon and breaking it down into skeletal anatomy ect Todd Lockwood should look out.

Haha. I wish. Maybe one day. Really pleased though, that you like what I'm doing with my dragons. I'll need to get back to those.

[Candra H]

Vent alert.

These last few weeks have been dire where art is concerned. Trying to draw or paint right now is like pulling teeth and it's beginning to drive me fucking crazy. Since the eye operation which only got rid of one cataract, which means I'm now long sighted in one eye and ridiculously myopic in the other, I cant get them to focus properly and cant see detail in my work. So I'm stuck with glasses with one lens popped out that don't work anyway, and a magnifying glass just to see what the fuck I'm trying to draw. Fun times.



Anyway, until I get the other eye done, it'll probably be like this so there wont be much updating going on in here.

These are what I've managed so far. A pencil study of a little wooden horse figurine and an oil study of some orange flowers.

[PeteJ]

everything looks good so far.

[Candra H]

Managed a couple of bits and pieces. Not much but it's better than nothing at all.

[UniversalDDBB]

hey candra i've gone through your thread, it's really amazing and i really like the as you say "pedantic" approach to your artwork. i also appreciate how you had a theory of changing the anatomy of the dragon's flight on the 94th post rather than going by what has already been discovered in nature with the tail being used as a rudder. i have no advice to give as i am not in your league, but i do have a question regarding what books and tools you use for your human and animal anatomical studies/practices. i know you mentioned Loomis but is there anything else?

i have always really liked dragons and dinosaurs, its good to see things that vary from humans and humanoid characters.

[UniversalDDBB]

it's good to see some art that varies from humans and humanoid characaters. i've always liked reptilian looking creatures like dragons and dinosaurs. i also like your "pedantic" approach to your artwork, how you try to deviate from following what has been discovered in nature like using the tail as a rudder during flight i can appreciate. like how you explained in the 94th post. i can't really criticise your work as i am not in your league but i would like to know what you used for your human and animal anatomical studies, besides loomis?

[Candra H]

Thanks Universal, thats great feedback. It's good to hear what works for others in my art and that I'm not always on a wrong track with it, heh.

As for human/anatomy stuff. I used Joseph Sheppard's Anatomy for Artists for bones and muscles etc, photo's for reference studies, and myself in front of a mirror. Thats about it apart from Loomis so far, though I just got Bridgman's Constructive Anatomy and another of Sheppard's books - Drawing the Living Figure. They both look pretty interesting so I'm hoping they'll help me develop to a stage where I either need to get out to life drawing classes or onto the streets (not really possible here unless I travel sixty miles each way lol), or can start building my own figures from my head. I'm hoping it's the latter but my gut tells me otherwise.

Anyway, I'm not sure if any of that's useful but I hope it helps a little. Also, speaking of dragons...

I decided to revisit a previous sketch and try develop it further. It needs a lot of work still in various areas but I'm posting progress shots of it in the hope it'll keep me working to finish it.

[kevin_]

really like that there's so much traditional work here, its a great foundation if you ever want to go into digital more. anyways great sb!

[Candra H]

Thaks Kevin. I got into art long before digital came along so I'm a traditionalist through and through. Your comment did remind me though, that I need to get more digital practice in, so thanks for that.

Did more work on the dragon from above. I messed up the shading because the dragon is supposed to be darker than the background but I got scared that I'd ruin the entire drawing so I kept it really light. I might put some colour on it in Painter and maybe finish the traditional drawing properly at some point.

[ja1307]

like how this dragon illustration is shaping up. One thing I think might help it, is giving us some indication of what he is looking at. Is he climbing up or down why is he facing that particular direction. Over all I like the dragon design think he is characterful. Good to see you still working away.

[Candra H]

Phew, seems like an age since I updated this SB. Second cataract operation out of the way last week so hopefully I can get back on track again. Fingers crossed nothing else gets in the way.

Anyway, first, I'm going to dump some previously finished stuff from over the last year that either didn't get used or is personal work, along with more recent bits and pieces.

[Candra H]

These are the first drawings I've done since the operation and I don't know if it's me, but I feel like there's a difference in my art. It seems a lot easier to see depth in pictures now and things don't seem to be squashing themselves into one corner or other of the page.

Anyway, I guess time will tell if I improve to a level I want to be at.

Most of these are doodles from imagination, a couple from life and one from a book. Done in pen in a little A5 sketchbook. If anyone has any comments/suggestions/feedback, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

[Candra H]

Pencil study of Lauren Bacall. Lots wrong with it and I'm not sure how it displays on people's monitors - it seems a bit pale on mine but I don't want to darken it too much - but it was for the practice so I'm happpy enough with how it turned out.

[Candra H]

Some more bits and pieces.

[Candra H]

[FROZ3N]

Hey whatsup best wishes for this new year to you. I am enjoying your black and white "creepy" drawings those are pretty cool, also the loose hands are appealing with the way you drew the bones and knuckes....hands are so sweet if you nail one its like hell yeah.
nonsayin?

[Candra H]

Thanks dude! And back at you for Christmas and whatnot.

Yeah, I totally hear you about hands. I actually stole those from Bridgman so they're not my own invention, heh. I hate hands because they're so difficult to get right and I havent found a good study book for them until now. Really like the way Bridgman draws - something about his lines feels similar to my own way of doing it - so hopefully I'll get better with them through osmosis. Hopefully.

[Candra H]

Some mirror scribbles today. Got a bug for hands at the moment - determined to improve those fuckers one way or another.

[Candra H]

Here's an edited version of the self portrait from the last post. I managed to get my eyes looking in the right place but think I went too heavy on the darks in my hair and forehead. Oh well. It's better than my previous portrait attempts though.

[Candra H]

Another vent alert. Seems to be a recurring pattern on this page. Feel free to scroll past it to the art if you cant be arsed listening to someone whingeing.

Had a bit of a setback with my eyes. Turned out there was still a lot of inflammation so the doctors put me on these crazy drops that dilated my pupils. It felt like I was on a permanent trip and I couldnt see at all for about a week. So no art. Things are slowly getting better though so hopefully I can get back on track again. Third time lucky...

Anyway, here's what I managed over the last couple of days.

[Candra H]

Today's stuff.

[Candra H]

More bits and pieces.

I've been thinking about the dragon thing. Maybe what I'm trying to do wont work in a single creature and I need to separate them out. Go back to the tried and tested methods other people use and incorporate my ideas into different versions - wyverns and humanoids etc.

I dunno. Still thinking...







Going to concentrate on digital and colour stuff for a bit next. See if I can get a better handle on all that.

[Candra H]

Lots of hands and a small study of a snake, courtesy of Pixelovely.