WhatsThatSposeToBe? Sketchbook (Watch a newb learn and grow)

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Update: Currently in Community College. Artistic classes are Photoshop and Drawing I. Current semester ends midway through December. Next semester I will for sure take Drawing II but due to financial insecurity I am unsure if going full time is possible.

Sketchbook started July of 2011 before formal classes.
Hi all,
As you have probably would have guessed from the title of this sketchbook, I am far, far, far, far (get the picture yet?) away from being the best or even good. Just scroll down to skip all the backround info crap.

I used to sketch all through school starting at age 11 when I entered middle school when I should have been doing my school work. I was the fat chick of the school (every school needs one eyyy?)and a weirdo and I was bullied constantly so drawing became an escape from everything around me while I was stuck in it. Of course my grades were never what they used to be. I'd go home and play video game all day instead of doing any school work. The bullying got worse after my family moved when I was 14, because I had to leave home and all my friends that I grew up with behind, and just never did make new ones at school. So it was literally go to school>draw>go home>play all day>sleep>repeat.
I dropped out as soon as I was old enough only ever having gone to highschool for a semester.

I'm 21 now, and really, really rusty because I haven't done much since dropping out. I am enrolled in my local community college now. I found school to be fantastic when you aren't getting teased non stop and earn the good grades I did back in elementary school.
I am going to begin taking art classes there this coming semester to pick up on everything I missed not going to school. I have A LOT to learn, and the thing is- I want to be good enough to go to art school for game design and programming. I'm guessing more on the programming side if I can't improve my art enough.

I am not in school until August so what is here is just what I've been practicing on my own time. I need practice on just about anything, so methods of practicing will be helpful. Anatomy is my biggest hill to climb.

All that said, I will value all tips, because at my skill level I'm sure all the wonderful artist here have so many to give me.

Lastly, my scanner is an absolute p.o.s. so please forgive me if some images look a bit fuzzy in the future.

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

More practicing, random stuff.
Registered for classes today for this semester too. Starting to watch instructional videos and using instructional books.

[Brightdreamer]

Hello! Just wanderin' through sketchbooks... don't mind me...

Decent start, here!

Keep an eye on proportions, especially on the kitties. (You might swing by your nearest library and see if they have How to Draw Animals by Jack Hamm; one of my personal favorite animal drawing books, with a nice section on cats.)

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

It looks like the only book my library district has by that author is How to Draw Scenary.
So since the local Borders Books got closed down, I'd know- I worked there D:, I bought it off ebay just now. Only 4.23$ + free shipping. Can't beat that.
Thanks for the advice!

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Sketch of a baby I worked on today, was practicing perspective.

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

More practice

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Sketch of a goblin and theres a quick sketch of my mum. Attempted while she was watching tv, she caught onto me and started moving non stop so I didn't get to work much into it.

But which one is my mum and which is the goblin is the question.

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Here is some work I did out of the book BrightDreamer (How to Draw Animals by Jack Hamm) suggested. I did my initial read through and have now begun to put it into practice.
One is supposed to be a greyhound but I didn't make it's legs long enough. Looks more like a weiner dog, lol.

[cloudcan]

Well, obviously the first one is your mom and the second is the goblin.. oh wait. Lol jk!
I love that you are doing sketches from life. I would recommend, though, to get the gist and form of whatever you are drawing (whether dragon, goblin or mom) before attempting to go and shade it. In fact, some pure line sketching using contour to explore form, might be good, before you attempt shading.
Also, about that book method.. I would suggest to explore proportions and marking your own way instead of exactly following the 'boxy' guide the book gives you (drawing boxes imo is kind of a waste of time, you don't need boxes, just mark where the butt, chest, paw is etc) I'm not saying you can't follow that book, sure you can, just don't follow it step by step if it goes something like 1. Draw this box here, 2. Draw a thin rectangle two boxes from the first box, 2. attach box #1 and box #2 like this.. etc. Just look at it far away, measure with your pencil, or with your eye, w/e is more comfy, but don't follow it blindly box by box.

[Velocity Kendall]

OK so youve made the decision, youre in the groove. Thats the choice that will change your life. Now you need to get bang into drawing and download Photoshop, and also buy a $30 scanner. Then youre set.
Dont worry if you go through periods of intense activity and then burn out for a while, thats normal.
I thought school was a dick too, but your intuition is rightbeing an adult designer person is way fun for is own sake, can make you money without lifting any boxes or sweeping any floors, hot girls/guys love it by the way, and itll enrich the other aspects of your life in time too. i aslo recommend you immediately get into as many parties, festivals, bars, online events, etc that you can and really maximise your fun intake STAT, for many of the same reasons, but thats another story.. heres a quote I find helpful

[Merlyn, responsible for raising the boy who is destined to become the king of England, is an unusual teacher. Here, he tries to help young Wart/Arthur cope with frustration and sadness.]

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then--to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you. Look at what a lot of things there are to learn--pure science, the only purity there is. You can learn astronomy in a lifetime, natural history in three, literature in six. And then, after you have exhausted a milliard lifetimes in biology and medicine and theocriticism and geography and history and economics--why, you can start to make a cartwheel out of the appropriate wood, or spend fifty years learning to begin to learn to beat your adversary at fencing. After that you can start again on mathematics, until is it is time to learn to plough."


Merlyn, advising the young King Arthur in T. H. White's The Once and Future King, Berkeley Medallion Edition, July, 1966, page 183.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/426944.T_H_White

And heres another some guy on here has as his signature

"The good artists are the crap ones that didnt give up"

These have a good vibe about them:

[Ven S]

"The good artists are the crap ones that didnt give up"


oooh I like this one alot. Sig! Anyway, your dedication is good man. Keep going!

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Cloudcan- Thanks for the advice. Honestly I just like to try shading once in awhile for practice before the semester starts at the end of this month. I guess I should learn more about color theory before doing much more. I took your advice and start working more on exploring form. The book isn't a step by step hold my hand type of book for kids. Those sketches were just from the first chapter of getting the general shape of different animals. It goes more in depth to different parts of anatomy and approaches to different animals.

Velocity- I thank you for being so motivating. It is actually inpiring to go back and read your post.

Wanderer- I thank you for the encouragement

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Sketch of a fake decorative skull my sister has. On the right is where I began to sketch it from a different angle. I already notice many things off about it after seeing it on my computer. It is a fix for another time though. It's late. D:

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

I'm going to start updating this again with homework and in-class assignments from my drawing class and possibly photoshop class if I feel anything from that is worthy. Heres a few, when I look back I can already see improvement but that could just be me.

I've had a lot of fun with my classes so far. I'm still getting used to the professor hovering over my shoulder. I get so anxious that I pause and can't draw sometimes! Oh well, my friends in my class all have a good laugh about it.

Most of these are homework on contour line drawings with special attention to negative and positive space. We recently started looking into shading and lights relationship with objects (you can see with the picture of my wallet).
Sorry for the bad quality still, these were taken with my phone.

[Tim Murphy]

I've had a lot of fun with my classes so far. I'm still getting used to the professor hovering over my shoulder. I get so anxious that I pause and can't draw sometimes! Oh well, my friends in my class all have a good laugh about it.

Great to hear you're having fun with it! No reason to be anxious, just relax and have fun with it. Be sure to make use of having an instructor as much as you need.

Keep on going!

[mariposa213]

And heres another some guy on here has as his signature

"The good artists are the crap ones that didnt give up"

Wonderful quote!

Hi there WhatsThatSposeToBe, I was another token fat chick in high school as well. I also drew a lot! Hey!

Yeah, isn't it great when you can take classes where you can actually be taught without constantly worrying about being harassed? I never, NEVER want to go back to high school. I've blocked a lot of it from my memory—a totally forgettable experience.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how I think you're doing great and to just keep doing what you're doing. I love that quote about the good artists being the crap ones that didn't give up, because it's totally true. I look back at some of the artwork did when I was in high school and while some of it isn't too bad, there's a lot that is completely cringe-worthy. But I didn't know at the time and didn't give up! That was the secret, just not giving up.

There are a lot of artists on CA that didn't give up, and their progress and success is incredibly inspiring! So you're going to be in good company and it's going to rub off on you!

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Hi guys, thanks for your encouragement and constructive criticism.
Mariposa, it is so nice to hear from someone that was in a similar situation to me. It makes me feel less alone.

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Also I wanted to post this piece I did for my Photoshop I class. I presented it today. I was worried because it is not 100% finished and I was not completely satisfied with it up to this point because this is my first time trying to make anything with Photoshop. I know many things I need to fix, I just need to squeeze in time to do it.
I got up and presented to find out that this went a lot further than what everyone else did, excluding possibly one or two classmates. Many of them looked to be done under 2 hours even at our beginners pace, but there were a lot of creative concepts, but I digress.

I will probably finish it in the lab (at least until I am satisfied or I will OCD otherwise) anyways for my Photoshop process notebook, which is part of our grade. At the very least theres areas where I need to feather.

Before I forget, the assignment for this was to make an abstract self portrait using representations of ourselves from what we've learned in class so far and include a quote that we believe in. I, of course, used elements from video games, mostly. The backround is a screenshot I took from WoW, and then "I" am made of parts from dragons, videogames, and anime's I love.

[Slothboy3000]

^ Now draw that PS assignment on paper. Digital art skills are based on the same fundementals that traditional art is based on so in future you can put what you learn traditionally to use on the computer.

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

I will take that advice. Thanks Sloth!

I wanted to add the project I have been working on for my drawing class. Tomorrow is the last studio to complete it, which I am close to. There are quite a few things to fix but shouldn't take too long. Never knew basic shapes would be such a pain in the ass to draw correctly.
The composition is from life, done in conte crayon's sanguine color on my drawing pad (18x24 I think). I really tried to make this look less flat as someone in another post stated. This was my first time working outside of graphite pencils, and I must say I am not a big fan of this medium. We are starting charcoal soon. Can't wait.

Again, sorry for poor camera quality.

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Here is my finished project I posted previously and also the beginning of my first charcoal project which is currently unfinished. I'm still getting the hang of charcoal but I LOVE this medium. I need to post my sketchbook assignments as well.
Right now I am trying to apply for scholarships left and right and figure out how I will go again next semester. I have money I saved from when I was laid off, but I'd rather not be completely broke. Hoping for a work study even though I get screwed out of financial aid.

Money supposedly doesn't buy happiness, but it pays for my classes, and I'm pretty damn happy there!

[anonanon]

I love that last value study, and bird that you did. You have improved a lot in just a few short months and that is great to see. The one thing I noticed is that your drawings are looking a little stiff. One thing that helped me with that is to do tons and tons of gesture drawings. I'm not sure if anyone else posted these, but here are some great links. Keep up the good work!

http://lovecastle.org/draw/
http://www.pixelovely.com/gesture/index.php
http://escapefromillustrationisland....ion-downloads/
http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

Some more sketchbook stuff. Been working in Charcoal a lot. I've been going back to practicing sketching in graphite, mostly quicksketching because I have a unit on it coming up. I'll post one of them. Most of these pictures are still low quality pics from my phone but I received a printer/scanner for Christmas, but ran out of spray fixative. Heh. I can post others I have once I rectify this issue. I can spot mistakes in the two completed ones that I have not fixed. Got a 101/100 on my sketchbook final so I can't have done too crappily.

My next semester starts next week so after a little break I've been easing back into it. This is probably the last semester I can afford unless I find a job this summer. There is potential to go work for my old man over the summer but it may fall through.