Operation "Sketchbook"

[kabewu]

Hi,
I've been dropping by from time to time in recent years to look through all the amazing stuff posted here. This time i figured i can try and participate in the general awesomness of this place and registered.
Here's my sketchbook.

I hope to improve (sooner or later). Much needs to be done though- basics refreshed (mr. Loomis, here i come!), errors realized and unlearned, and things i never really started learning tackled at last.

I decided to take it easy at first and just drew faces from photos/screencaps; and some exercises based on posemaniacs.

Any comments, crits, tips, tricks and shortcuts to perfection (ha.ha...) are welcome =D

[Aaron_]

Wow these paintings are awesome. Great portraits and figures. I really like the first and fourth one.

I hope you post more, I'll definitely be following. Subscribed.

[Obstfelder]

Can't give you any critique because you're skill level is above mine, so I'll just settle for saying that those are awesome!

Hope you keep at it!

[kabewu]

[ Hopefully it's not impolite of me, but what comes now is a double post. I simply can't abide putting two updates into one post]

Long overdue july update:

Thanks for nice comments, guys! (and sorry it took so long to properly acknowledge their super positive effect on me)

And yeah, july wasn't too productive for me. But i did manage to draw something before the heatwave hit and rendered me braindead.

[kabewu]

September update :]

So far it's been a golden era of screenshots.
I started trying to capture the likeness, but than moved on (uh.. back?) to practice more basic stuff: color schemes, shapes, lighting, narration and mood.
Sometimes it worked.. sometimes it was just.. practice :T

[kabewu]

Well, i tried drawing from imagination. Mostly to check if i might have learned something while drawing from references.
I think i got better with shoulders :]

[kabewu]

drawing from references like a mindless zombie...
very relaxing!

[johnny24]

great studys! like someone said before, your skill is above mine so i cant guive you a crit either!! just enjoy your work!

[Gpozzo]

Nice studies indeed, imagination sketches are quite nice, i'll keep an eye for more!

[kabewu]

johnny24:Thanks for kind words! =D Although frankly, i don't think that a skill level is something that validates (or invalidates) a critique. No need to push oneself though. I'm sure one day someone will come by and yell in dismay: "My dear god!!! What are you doing to those people's eyes/ears/nostrils?!?"
(Yeah, for now, i'm just trying to put exactly two of those on each face... 0___o )
(or less than that amount, come to think of it...)

Gpozzo: Yup. I also think, that referenced stuff is better (i did read it right, right?). Still, i guess it's to be expected. Thanks for fueling my motivation! ^^


And as for today's practice:
it made me grin! =D

[Greenhouse]

What an entrance! Very impressive photo and body studies! I look forward to see more.

[kabewu]

Greenhouse: Hello! Thanks! =D Drop by from time to time and you most certainly will ^^


Today's practice:

the bad:
I can't draw fast, i can't draw loose and i couldn't draw a strong, decisive line to save my life ;__;
Believe it or not, but i actually set out to make those gesture thingies nearly everybody around here is doing..
i have no idea how anybody manages to draw anything in thirty seconds...

the good:
some of them turned out nice : ]


Here they are: small, naked people for your enjoyment.

[kabewu]

Playing with screenshots.
Again.

[giby]

Luv Ur B&W studies

[kabewu]

giby: Thanks ^^

Today:
Faces. (because i tend to misplace features...)
Based on screenshots. (Because i have heaps of those)
In monochrome. (because of giby's kind comment)

[kabewu]

Faces. Again.

...

It's one boring sketchbook... 0___0

[EduardoGaray]

boring? you are kidding me right?
your studies are great, also the imagination stuff.
keep going!

[Vinicam]

"booooooooom"

That's was my head exploding.
Really like all your studys, especially the speed paintings from movies. Also your imagination drawings are getting very solid.

[kabewu]

EduardoGaray: well, i meant how tedious my choice of topics is.. you know- faces from screenshots, screenshots from screenshots... 0___0 I try to vary the techniques, but it still seems to me like a lot of the same. Hopefully, once some progress is made, it will be easier to spot^^ Thanks for comment!

Vinicam: I'm so very happy you like those =D (They are in fact my favourite practice method, because they let me practice several things at the same time:)


Today was terrible day for drawing. I wanted to make some studies for warmup and then try making something creative. However... after about 1,5 hour of drawing and deleting i got really furious..
So i drew till i managed four decent studies! Ha! Today's battle won!!! >=D
(..and i will get creative some other time...)


(ok.. so it's more like three decent ones and one, that's pretty terrible.. but it's still a win!)

[Mewball]

Just the sheer amount of studies you do is awesome. Keep it up.

[kabewu]

Mewball: studies are good for the soul! *___*
(it's a confidence training for free : )


Alright!
Today's studies.. well, standard stuff here. I think i will continue with females till there is 50 of them. And then maybe change to men. Or landscapes... Or animals..




I found thread for POW challenge. Got somewhat excited about it. But the only idea i came up with so far is rather silly and too long.
I decided to doodle the character from it.
seven hours later...



...I had a proof that I should plan ahead more... =__=;

He is cute though, isn't he?

[kabewu]

Practice, practice, practice!

..so one day I can bring those wonky eyes and tilted noses under my control!

[kabewu]

..and a late night doodle!

(i probably won't be able to look at it in the morning XD )

[Dinosawr]

gdamn dose face studies.

[tabletoppler]

love the way you paint! good job with the face studies and poses, keep posting more and more c:

[Vistico]

"sometimes it works, sometimes it was practice" funny stuff. I really like your studies here! I am not worthy to make any comment on your said struggles other than to say.. you demonstrate great understanding in them! As you said sometimes there looks like there is something wrong with the nose.. however many more times it looks slain!

I look forward to when you get to a level of satisfaction with these things, we must overcome!

[Othrandir]

so cooool!

[Greenhouse]

“It’s one boring sketchbook… 0___0”
It’s definitely not boring! ^^ Those face studies are very impressive! Your dedication inspires me to work harder
I like the POW image, very cute indeed! ^^ The pen strokes are great, very smooth! Wish I could do that...but I can't...not yet!
Keep them coming!

[Gpozzo]

yes definitely, it is better with reference, the end result will obviously come better... great updates man, very nice stuff, keep at it

[kabewu]

Dinosawr: Damn them! damn them to hell!!!

tabletoppler: Thank you! Will do^^

Vistico: Thanks! I'm still trying to figure out how to capture the softness of the features. Female faces, that i draw from imagination usually turn out.. wrong :/ In two or three very distinctive ways. So however this came to be, i'm trying to unlearn that "mannerism" by the sheer amount of repetition. And i won't rest till i kick its ass and dance on its grave!!!

rastaray: Thank you

Greenhouse: Yay!!! I'm not the only one who finds him cute ^^ And about the lines- they aren't really all that smooth- my lines are those weak, little, broken things that only look sort of good when they work together. I make one short stroke (because it's all i can manage without losing the control) and if it's ok, i pick up where it ended and continue the line. It gets the job done, i think (doesn't look all that good in a closeup, though..).

Gpozzo: Thanks for encouragement!



The female faces continue!
I am not sure if i am getting better at them, but i sure find it easier to spot the mistakes (good sign!)


ok, so here should go the after-faces-doodle, but it was so stiff and pathetic i threw it away..

did those in hopes to loosen the lines up.
(i can sketch the whole figure in 4 minutes now! >.< ----> 5 times faster than when i started that thread )
(although they are very messy...)



some doodles that left me exhausted:



and, after not giving up, some doodles that were a lot of fun =D