Road to Somewhere: Jdem's sketchbook!

[jdem]

Like many others before me, I've been lurking for a few years soaking up the inspiration and so on, so figured it was finally time to get myself a sketchbook thread.

What I find most inspiring about people's sketchbooks is seeing the sheer level of improvement and dedication from page 1 through to the end, so hopefully I can echo some of that improvement with my own...

Anyway, after the icon pic, here's a few figure studies and some skulls (from references) to get things started:

[jdem]

Obligatory 'posemaniacs' sketches (Mix of very quick, terribly rough sketches and some longer studies) and a page of random pen & ink doodles;

[jdem]

Portrait of Mr Rupert Grint (aka Ronald Weasley) from the Harry Potter movies. Paint Tool Sai & more hours than I care to remember! (Also a work-in-progress stages picture too...)

[jdem]

Here are some pencil (and one gouache) sketches of faces I did yesterday, most are from references (pretty clear which ones aren't...LOL!)

[jdem]

Today's posemaniacs studies, page of 30 seconds quick sketches and some longer studies using the random pose viewer:

[Konstruktion]

Cool, posemaniacs has its advantages. Together with careful studies from books and the living model it's hard to get wrong. I suggest you comment on peoples sketchbooks to get them to comment on yours, time consuming, but every now and then you'll get some great advise. And memorize them proportions!

[jdem]

Thanks for the advice! I don't want to be depending on PM so will definitely be branching out to learn from other sources...sketchbook commenting needs to be done, there's so many wonderful ones that deserve recognition out there! Thanks again!

[n1frit]

Hi there! Nice start! Pay attention on drawing simple objects in to one light source! Ind do more anatomy studies! Cheers)

[jdem]

Thanks! Will do

[jdem]

Screencap study from the movie 'Amelie'. I know there's quite a few things off but quite happy with the amount of practice it's given me!

[jdem]

Just a quick update of a few studies, trying to get the basics down...

Negative space studies, few awkward 30 sec figure studies and some head/skull/anatomy studies from Andrew Loomis' book 'Drawing the Head and Hands'!

[jdem]

More Andrew Loomis head studies

Link to book

Mostly from imagination using his techniques and some references.

[rem92]

nice studies, but if its studying you are doing i highly recommend drawing from life or picture reference, you actually learn a whole lot more like that ; )

[jdem]

Thanks rem92, by 'life picture reference', do you mean photographs etc of the subject? Just want to clarify! Thanks again

[rem92]

yea, sorry grammar error haha, what i meant is like the best thing to do is join some drawing group of some sort and do drawing from a nude model, but if you cant, there is a lot of pictures on the internet where you can find reference for artist like this right here http://www.pixelovely.com/gesture/figuredrawing.php which is a tool for artist to draw like if they were in a figure drawing session

[jdem]

Ahhh, ok, I'll give that a go! Thanks, really appreciate the advice!

[Brandon Pilcher]

I like the skull drawing in the opening post!

[jdem]

Thanks, Brandon!

[jdem]

Followed the recommendation of Rem and had a go at this site. Very useful!

Below there's a page of 1 min and one 5min45 sketches, then below that another 5min 45 sec sketch, and then a full 10 min 30 sec sketch at the bottom. Long way to go but feel I'm making some progress!

[jdem]

More life drawings from the site credited in the last post, 30 secs, 1min & 5 mins 45sec, and a 10 min 30 sec study. (Will do something more interesting sooon!)

[RomanRiot]

Like the "Amelie" ref, eventhough its off a bit, kinda creepy. I wonder if you pushed it further from the ref what it might turn out looking like! Thanks for the fun sketchbook.

[jdem]

Hehe, thanks for the comment, RomanRiot! I deliberately chose that particular screenshot because I felt it was a bit of an interestingly creepy angle/shot

[jdem]

Sketch - 25 mins in Photoshop (pencil brush presets) part of 1hr class on here

Will be colouring in Photoshop as well, will upload when done.

[jdem]

WIP of the above sketch, Photoshop, with ref.

[jdem]

Just another WIP!

[Miss.BonBon]

nice sketchbook you have here and good studies, i especially love the last one, your coloring skill is really good, plus that Rupert portrait, it's perfect but about Amelie, i think the space between the eyes are more than it should be , also the shading of the nose where the light hits, need more definition to make it separate from her right cheek
keep working and have fun drawing

[jdem]

Hey Miss.BonBon, thanks for your comment!

I agree about the Amelie painting, the eyes being too far apart was something I had noticed too, and the shadow on the nose - I tried so many times to get that right, but every time I made it more defined/darker, it just looked terrible - I think I'm still learning to draw exactly what I see, rather than how I think it should be...!

Thanks again for the advice!

[pixel cheetah]

Nice start. You have a good eye for rendering. Both Rupert and Amelie looks good. Though, because of the way you left the hair both looks unfinished. At first try to use larger brushes for the hair, go into details only if necessary. When you draw avoid hairy lines, try to be more confident with your lines. Keep it up! Oh, and when you draw try to draw the structure not just the outline.

[Velocity Kendall]

if you get a little stuck with a thing and have the ref to hand, im not averse to just measuring things. this is obviously a last resort but it can help if youre in a pinch. in this analysis, you can see you pretty much nailed the vertical postitioning but the nose and eyes are indeed too wide-set... luckily with photoshop you can just chop things around till theyre looking good and then paint them in neat.. its not for purists, but who cares?.. see what you think..
Also, rather than trying to nail the rendering straight off, area by area, try using big broud blobby strokes first then successively tightening it up. thatll help you catch proportional errors and such before theyre a problem..

[mariposa213]

I think you're doing great so far! The two portraits turned out quite well.