Ally Albon's Sketchbook

[AllyAlbon]

Aaand just a couple to end the weekend on.

Watching the old Trapdoor cartoons. Now that's a trip.

[AllyAlbon]

Im not feeling very well so am spending the day at home wrapped up and attempting to draw. Have some sketches from last weekend.
Went to the local park and was assaulted by ducks.
Awful, awful self portrait. If it wasn't for my "post everything" rule, this would be trashed. Obviously have an issue with painting around the mouth, too much emphasis above the mouth... but the eyes and the nose are better. Still, every pic is a tiny step forwards.

[AllyAlbon]

Hey hey, it is starting to look like me!

[AllyAlbon]

Still not well, but have to slog it into work. A few more sketches from a couple of days ago. First one is a digital ten minute scribble, the two ink characters in the second pic are drawn without reference; it's a start.

Aaand two moles for your viewing pleasure. There is a reason why people don't tend to draw moles. It isn't a lot of fun. Was mildly inspired by the book I am reading (Duncton Wood, William Horwood) to try but... nah. Perhaps in cartoon form.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Ally I can't believe you have mentioned Duncton Wood. I remember reading that back in my wistful youth. I'm sorry to read you're not feeling well and so it's great to see you are still drawing. I think the moles are quite cute. Hope you feel better soon.

[AllyAlbon]

It's FRIDAAAAY!

These are from my previous dinosaur day. Second dino was imspired by a rather funny cockatoo on tv.

Third is a rather strange looking dino.

[Cyberman]

great works, I appreciate the masterstudies.

[AllyAlbon]

I am alive, and I am still drawing, however about 10 days ago, my laptop died. It was sleeping, I turned it on, it made a strange noise and that was that.
Being a numpty, I hadn't backed up a lot of my stuff so I am starting from scratch. Luckily I had saved most of my art and writing, but alllll my references, guides, favourites... gone. And all my music. I had a little temper tantrum but fortunately my other half has pulled a miracle - I won't get my stuff back, but I now have a working computer.

And I am buying a hard drive back up on payday.

I need to scan in my sketchbook tomorrow- not having the computer did mean I got a lot of sketching done!

[Blunderguffer]

One more here getting back into it after a decade or so without drawing much. Great studies so far! The frazetta copy and the animals looks great. Only thing I could crit on is the eyes, seems to be out of perspective and proportion at times, usually a bit to big. Apart from that just keep on going!

[AllyAlbon]

@marian - I love anything by William Horwood, Stonor Eagles is one of my favourites of all time. although not an easy read

@Sean - thank you, I really enjoy doing the master studies.

@ Blunderguffer - thanks, and good luck with your own return! I have always, always done this with eyes, always make them too big. Slowly training myself to start smaller. Should probably draw Anime.


Right! Am now completely out of sync thanks to the computer crash, so I will put everything up in a couple of batches and that should catch me up to the present.

1. This... started out as a self portrait. I wish. And who is she? Cos she isn't me.

2. Blue tits! And my first attempt at drawing girl faces without a reference.

3. Quickie painter blue tit.

4. I don't know. I was half asleep and just fiddling in photoshop.

[jsn]

Hi AllyAlbon
Nice birdies!,...your SB is coming along nicely!
This last one, the birdie singin, has a nice style to it!

All the best!

[mary-cherry-me]

You make me want to do more studies XD Keep up the good work.

However, I suggest you do some nose anatomy studies, since you seem to have a bit of trouble with those. If you want, I can screenshot some nose things from all the artbooks I have and give them to you for study?

[AllyAlbon]

@mary-cherry-me : thanks! And yes, noses are a sore point (especially my own) however, I have loomis and a couple of other books, and actually did some nose studies the other day! Thank you for the offer though.

1. From a while ago. Was fiddling in painter trying to get a feel for it again, and to try and work out a couple of techniques I have been admiring. While the image itself is awful (and if I wasn't forcing myself to post everything, it would be trashed) I was pleased to have a bit of a lightbulb moment on the technique.

2. Master study

3. Yuk

4. Wagtails!

[AllyAlbon]

So. Very. Sleepy. Want. Bed.

1. noses, noses, noses, BOOBS.

2. Yuk. 5 minute poses.

3. Yuk. 5 minute poses.

4. 10 minute sketch. Really doubting I will manage my "50 birds by xmas" project but we will see.

5. A bit better, like the curves of the gal.

[Mellori]

I really like the second picture in post #2. It's a great study of an object with two light sources.
Your animal sketches are too cute, especially the birdies. :3

[AllyAlbon]

@mellori - thank you! Birds are my favourite topic...

1. More quickie lifedrawing

2. Loomis feet. Lots of feet. I don't like drawing feet.

3. More Loomis

4. Even more Loomis.

[AllyAlbon]

productive daaay! Now I have a sore back from leaning over the computer. It is time to tuck the art away for now, cocktail and lord of the rings time...

1. Pigeons. I love pigeons. Especially ones with furry feet. A few twenty second cat sketches too.

2. Ugh.... but slightly better.

3. Lifedrawing in colour. Not happy, but its a start.

[AllyAlbon]

How come the weekend is over already??

1. More lifedrawing.

2. Magpies!

3. Self Portrait. Getting a bit closer!

[mariea]

Keep it up with the studies, there's visible improvement going on! Your eyes in the self-portrait look big, don't forget your proportions.

Love the birds XD

[AllyAlbon]

@mariea - Thanks! And big eyes is still an issue, slowly getting it under control...


1. A master study, fairly pleased with it, and a torso drawn from imagination that I was quite chuffed with.

2. Jaguar being Jaguary.

3. A character drawn from imagination properly, am quite happy with her.

[Jamie Romoser]

diggin the sketches and updates!

[AllyAlbon]

@OmertA - Thanks!

I can't believe it is December already... where does the time go?

1. Nekkid dudes.

2. Nekkid woman.

3. Meeee. Looks like me, but something nuts is happening with the eyes. I should probably also stop drawing as soon as I get home from work as am knackered, bad lighting, and hair is definitely not behaving.

[AllyAlbon]

Its lovely and warm in here, and it is Saturday, so plenty of time for drawing before panicking that I haven't bought any Christmas presents yet...

1. on the way to work one am, the scene outside was so beautiful. Tried to capture it, failed, but for a quick sketch, not too bad.

2. Fluffy cloud! Having a try at the basics to build an environment.

[AllyAlbon]

Another fluffy cloud to end the night on. Been working my butt off today, but nothing ready to show yet.

[ANtY93]

Thanks for checking out my sketchbook!

Haha man, I have a bird phobia but ur birdies are so cute that I could look at them whole day

Also I like the way your drawing fur on animals, I always have problems with this.

ATM your better in drawing animals than ppl, maybe after that birds drawing challenge you should focus on ppl for a while? Just a thought

[AllyAlbon]

@ANtY93 - thanks! A bird phobia? Oh no! I couldn't imagine how frustrating that must be. And I am trying desperately to keep drawing birds to a minimum and concentrating on peeps. I know what I prefer to draw though


1. Landscape After David Atkins.
Trying to copy the colour and feel of one of David Atkin's paintings. Love his work, his brushstrokes and colour. I have never really been into landscapes, but my opinion is rapidly changing. 30 mins

2. Another Landscape after David Atkins
Another one. I love snow and wish I could capture it in paint... it is very hard to do, much more practice needed. 20 mins.

[Libra]

Hi! Thanks for checking out my SB! You know, I've also decided to return to drawing after a 10 year stop But hey, I'm having loads of fun. I wish loads of luck with your return.

About your figure studies, I think your Loomis books are already paying off. You should also try to have a go at the 30 sec drawings on Pose Maniacs. If I do them 10 minutes every day, after a week I start to feel it's way much easier to start a pose. But anyway, good luck and keep those studies coming

[AllyAlbon]

@Libra - Thanks! Looks like we had a similar background (although I didn't finish much of my course as it was just awful.) I love my Loomis books. I am not so great at the fast poses yet, but will take it into advisement!

One pic to finish the weekend on, a Self portrait wearing a towel. My OH says this is pretty accurate, if I was a lot older and an evil queen.

[David.W]

I loooove your birds! And the jaguar too! The other stuff is really coming along nicely as well, so keep it up, you are improving!

[LuckyCharm]

Very nice sketchbook! I love those fluffy clouds, and your birds look great!

Only thing I can say is that you should practice your faces more. The posemaniacs sketch faces look somewhat weird. I'd suggest using other resources as reference rather than posemaniacs since you won't get a clear view of the face. Posemaniacs is pretty good for anatomy, but not much for anything else. Try looking up some pics on the internet and reference those instead.

Keep up the great work!