Lyraina's Sketchbook

[yah]

wohhhaa schöne studien krass wieviele hände du an einem tag raushaust ^^ ich schaff meißt nie mehr als eine ;( greez yah

[cricketts801]

Your studies are amazing! Thanks for the advice again I appreciate it.

[Lyraina]

yah: Kommt ganz drauf an wie viel Zeit man investiert, ne

cricketts801: You're welcome. Thanks for visiting!


I tried to leave my comfort zone:

[Lyraina]

Our dear cat Lily died this week, completely unexpected... Photo ref used.

[Lyraina]

Not much to show these days - I'm completely consumed by university right now.

I did manage to draw at least a few minutes each day though, which mostly didn't lead to nice results, but helped not to get rusty again. Here's some stuff, mostly without reference, unless stated otherwise. I'm experimenting with some wider hips right now because I'm somewhat missing the gap between the legs of my figures which I observed at some girls outside... (Thanks to all those crazy girls wearing skirts at -20°C)

Next goal is to do the same with good reference and also eventually get those tummy muscle/bone structures right.

[Jmob]

hey, keep on studying, you are making progress!

[Valyavande]

Hello Lyraina!

Good to see you doing so many figure studies! I just would recommend to you to construct the bodies much more, using 3D forms like cubes and cylinders. That will help you a lot to understand the foreshortenings better and how to draw all the bodyparts in perspective. Because right now it's very easy to see that you don't understand the masses and how the limbs are attached to the body. Things will get easier with using ways of construction.
Guys like Loomis, Bridgman and Michael Hampton have some nice drawings to show how you can do it.
Keep it up!

[LtPlissken]

I like the way you are getting out from your comfort zone.
It's like when a torpedo goes out from the second world
war submarines ignition tube, to blow up an enemy giant
alien turtle. My eyes watered as I observed your latest
creations, cause you are so magnificent, and you can
beat up a rusty old clay jug anytime, with no or less effort.
Oh, how I wish that I could be closer in your vicinity.

[Lyraina]

Jmob:
Thank you!

Valyavande:
Hey Thank you for your advice. I already tried different construction methods with the help of Loomis, Bridgman, Hampton, Hogharth etc - I just seem to forget it very fast! But you are definitely right, I will have to go back again and start over. Maybe mix my studies better.

LtPlissken:
I love your comparisons Thank you, as always, for your heart warming words! You really do have a talent for making one's days a bit brighter.


I tried to change my style a bit by copying various catwalk photographs (heads only), because I really dislike the faces I’m drawing.
I think this even was one of the reasons I stopped drawing a few years ago, because I hated everything I produced.
So maybe practicing some different facial proportions and forms will help. Not sure about that though, as they look mostly the same again. I am aware that they are unfortunately very flat again, I seem to be unable to concentrate on the different surfaces of the skull and the features at the same time.
I have some more pages, but feel quite reluctant about sharing copies of other peoples artwork…




Some byproduct, with reference, whip girl without reference


The painting is done without ref and just for fun. (I really must practice skintones)

[Sushy]

awww too bad about the cat, :<
The painting of her looks good though.

[Rustveld]

Great studies, it's good to see you working so hard on them!

Awesome job on the still life in post #118! Taking your time really helps when doing still lifes. I'm no expert, but I find it easier to set up a still life under controlled light. That way you can work on it for more than what natural light allows, you can even continue the next day with fresh eyes.

Your recent face studies are looking good, but be careful with the placement of the features. Some of the eyes are really far apart and not well aligned. Maybe you could use some guidelines and even a mirror to help with that.

Keep up the good work!

[iven]

wow you are working very hard, I like your schools stuff, it's
so boring that I can't do it for so long, I admire your endurance!

Machs gut !

[Conniekat8]

oh, noooo, I just read about your kitty, I'm so sorry
*big hugz*

your stuff is looking great! I too don't feel competent to offer any constructive input!. We'll have to compare the notes as we learn

[Lyraina]

Sushy: Thank you. She really was too young to die

Rustveld: Thanks - I guess you're right, the changing light really makes me rush, and it isn't really helpful to chase changing shadows all the time. Unfortunately I don't have too much control about the sun coming in, but I could try to paint at night more often.. or just counter the sun with even more unnatural light ;-)

iven: Thanks, glad you like it! Danke

Connie: Thank you for your kind words (and hug)!



Happy Valentine's Day to those of you who care! I don't - but why miss the opportunity to paint a somewhat pink half naked pinup thingy? Well, didn't turn out very romantic or whatever, but it was fun for sure. I just struggled with the face/head, I think the upper body is really off.. but I wanted to finish it before midnight.
No reference used, but I googled for some dreadlocks and cogwheels. I swear, I never even thought about painting dreadlocks before!

[tigerthelord]

Thx for your post in my SB

Your really had a great improvement over the last months!

[Sushy]

Nice work on the skin tones. The eyes look a bit weird though, maybe you should have started out with reference (I realize that all the time when I start working, I usually start without reference XD). Hmm I never painted dreadlocks either XD

[LtPlissken]

First of all, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas
and a happy new year! Then I want to wish you a happy
Valentines day. You managed to pull out this magnificent
half naked roughly shaved highly sexually embraced little girl.
We can all see the look in her eyes. There is a lot of sexual
tension, there is no secret. We all know what she wants.
Oh, how effectively you have portrayed her desires to us, how
stellar you did went through and under the desert,
without getting burnt. You should give us some more
things like this, some milk mixed with silk.
Honey dipped.

[Lyraina]

tigerthelord: Thanks as well!

Sushy: Thank you - as always you are right, I really must get around and use more reference, without feeling like cheating or something.

LtPlissken: Thank you, so much happy wishes! I'm glad you like the Valentine girl



A small and a bit boring update - just very simple poses for now, everything from memory, but I did practice some of them with reference before. I was/am a bit shocked that I'm not able to draw simple frontal female poses correctly! I also have to take care of balance more, they always seem to nearly trip over..







Hands are from life obviously - it's scary how fast I'm getting rusty again, when not practicing daily.




Now, back to Bridgman and Bammes.

[Lyraina]

Today: Bridgman studies.

[Lyraina]

Gottfried Bammes.

[LtPlissken]

Lot of practice is making you perfect.

[Lyraina]

LtPlissken: Thank you, I hope so! At least better, if not perfect.

Master copy:
Bouguereau - Head Of A Young Girl (1898)

[Lyraina]

More Bammes.

The next two weeks, starting tomorrow morning, I'll spend entirely in the laboratory, working with bacteria and toxic stuff.. I'm so afraid of those two weeks, can someone please fast forward time?

[Lagarto]

your anatomy studies look great, and those enviros look nice too, but I think it could be useful to try not to use textured brushes, because you have to work more and you end up learning more. and the digital stuff from life it´s all so nice-looking

[Lyraina]

Lagarto: Thanks! You're definitely right about not using textured brushes.

So here is another master study, this time I forced myself to only use the hard round default brush, no smuding, fancy color modes, custom brushes or whatnot. I did use a sharpening filter in the end though. I also took advantage of Photoshop’s grid function, because I didn’t want to spend too much time on getting the rough proportions into place.

Original Painting

Steps on my blog

[Lyraina]

Experimenting with environments again, especially trying to pay attention to mood, atmosphere and scale this time.

[LtPlissken]

That's it, that's it.
You are getting better,
and your colors are getting better.
You are mastering the secret art of mystery.

[Lyraina]

LtPlissken: Thanks, dear!

Not much stuff to post these days, as I only find the time for some simple practices after or between learning for my next exam – but since I started getting nightmares about bad grades again, I decided to take a day off and do some more art! Really was about time for some still lifes. Lighting was a bit complicated because I was surrounded by windows, but maybe that’s a good practice as well. I’m alsways unsure about the background – a neutral grey works better than random colored paper or cloth, but it does not work so well with the cool and/or warm light sources…

[Lyraina]

New still life and a speedy before cooking dinner.

[Lyraina]

Again, still life and a speedy.
Looks a bit more painterly this time...?