Fear and Learning in ConceptArt (Updated not-so-daily!)

[Joe777k7]

WOooo!!!!!!!!!!Nice anatomy studies up there!!! Keep on posting and working hard! Dont ever stop drawing!!!!

[MrFrenik]

Things are off to a great start, but I will refer back to what someone mentioned in an earlier post and say that perspective is the number one thing you should be concerning yourself with. Can you CONVINCINGLY draw a cube in 1 point perspective? How about 2 point, or 3 point? What about a sphere? A cylinder? These basic shapes and forms are what combine to make up EVERYTHING you'll be trying to draw from here on out, and if you can draw these in each of these perspectives, from any conceivable angle, then you are off to an enormous start when it comes to trying to draw something as complex as the human figure.

Also, when it comes to learning anatomy, I found myself completely lost when staring at an anatomy book and trying to draw what I saw. At the end of a "copying session" (since that's really all I was doing), I hadn't actually absorbed anything and felt just as confused as I was going into it. I recommend trying to learn the forms first, then after you've gotten a general idea for how the body is comprised of simple volumes (elongated spheres wrapping around cylinders for the arm and its muscles, for example) THEN you can go and add names, functions, and more specifics to these basic shapes you've become familiar with. Start with the most general idea you can then go more and more specific as you become comfortable. An excellent book to help with this is Micheal Hampton's Figure Drawing: Design and Invention.

Sorry for the essay-long post, but I hope some of this will help you out. Great start, and like someone else said, looking back I totally wish I could've started learning this stuff at the age you are now. Good luck on everything!

[keeptime]

Oh wow, thank you for the huge post Frenik. It gave me the kick in the butt I needed to practice perspective. I'm confused about how to draw a sphere in perspective though. Isn't a sphere just a circle until the lighting comes in? How can that be warped in perspective?

I also have Michael Hampton's book in my bookmarks, just one of those things I haven't gotten around to because I'm lazy. Thanks for reminding me about it.

I did only a little bit of perspective work tonight. I might come back to it later on. I found out I struggle a lot with vertical cylinders, so it's nice to know that's a weakness I can work on.

[keeptime]

How the fuck do you do triangular prisms in three point perspective

[keeptime]

Started working through the Hampton book. I can't believe I've been putting it off so long. Lots of great new information for me in there. Didn't draw too much, just worked through some of the examples and then doodled a bit in my lectures. Still learning to get back into the groove of things. Apologies for the light pencil drawings.

[keeptime]

So much for updating daily! I've been assigned a 'zine project for studio art class so the free time I'd be spending drawing has been spent on this project instead. Here's the handful of stuff I've drawn, plus the 'zine WIP pages I've done so far. I'm not much one for layout and graphic design so it's a new challenge.


Apologies again for the overexposed scans. I'll have to fiddle with my settings eventually.

Guess what this 'zine is about. Go on, guess. The right page is an old drawing I did from a photo, though I've long lost the reference.


Left page still needs an image of some sorts. The right page also still needs a lot of work (the text is still in its first draft). What I didn't know was that when you switch a project from RGB to CMYK in Photoshop, it automatically compresses all your layers into the background. I lost a couple of pages to this switch. I might wipe out the entire page and start from scratch again instead of trying to manipulate individual pixels.

These two pages had text that continued from the last page. I removed it because I didn't feel like sharing my entire history on CA


Not a huge fan of the left page, but everyone I've shown it to so far loves the handwritten text and the amateurishness of it. This was another page compressed to one layer by the RGB -> CYMK switch, which is a real bummer because it's a lot of work to redo if I change it later on. The right page might be my favourite so far, though obviously is nowhere close to being done.

I would LOVE any critique you guys could give me on this. As I said before, I'm really not good with layout and graphic design, and I'm not sure if I'm making one giant eyesore with this 'zine. I really want to try printing in colour, which I realize has added another difficulty level for this project.

[keeptime]

A bird of prey rehabilitation group is on campus today raising money for a new facility. I was less than a foot away from some of these guys. Going to go back right away to get some more sketches, but these were the ones I did earlier today. Edit: Or not! They were packing away the birds when I came back. Oh well.

[Dr Charbonneau]

I bought a small sketchbook so I can draw on the bus. Let me know if I should scan sketches like these or if it's okay if I just take pictures.

Something's bothering me about the jawline but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

The jawline can be a booger in that pose. My suggestion? Nail down the head and hands before going after the full Monty. You have a good start on proportion, but, for example, the ring finger gives the woman the appearance of a deformity. As artists we can be kind. If she has a deformity, we can correct it as a compliment to an otherwise pretty face.
Look up Bertram Chandler "Redezvous on a lost World." The cover has a similar difficulty. As of this point, work on penumbra.

Does that help?

[keeptime]

Thanks for taking the time to critique that piece, but it was something I drew three months ago. I've been working on heads and hands throughout this thread and any critique on those would be much more helpful as they're more reflective of my current abilities.

I was stuck in the waiting room for two hours today just to get a birth control prescription, so I took the opportunity to draw some people. Still really out of practice, but feeling a bit better than I was when I first moved here.

[keeptime]

'Zine update:

[Dr Charbonneau]

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...46#post3545346

I could get along with you.

I've seen some of your anatomy, the skulls (cats?) the dinos?, yes, the people...

This is one thing I learned while working as an EE at FedEx during the early 80's. Some of the illustrators there became friends (Memphis, TN) and they had me do some airbrush work of dirigibles and such along with redesigning the wiring on 737's... (tedious)

Put your pencil or pen down and draw. I had the same sketching habit. One instructor told me I sketched like a sculptor. When learning to do signage, I had to learn how to pull a long straight line with a quill and just the right viscosity of enamel, or in using temperas with a chisel point brush, aka truck lettering brush. Doing lettering helps imensely in learning to put the point down and moving the contour where you want it.

Do you hold your pencil like you do when you write?

Dr. C.

[Xcarbon]

u might say some of the artists are amazing here but even those artist started somewhere and they were not so good in the beginning!!
sometimes u might think im just bad but if u compare your current work to the time when you were just starting you will see the improvement ..thats the big picture!!

[keeptime]

I do hold my pencil for drawing the same as when I write. Yeah, I know my sketchy lines are a bad habit I have to get rid of. I think a big problem is I don't draw every day like I used to, and so I always feel sort of intimidated now when I draw. I'm trying really hard to get my self-discipline back that I had from when before I moved.

Some gestures, more lecture doodles, and some 'zine WIP. I finished off a sketchbook! Took a year and a half, which is waaaay too long. I'm going to have to practice more often so that doesn't happen again.




I made the frame too short for the skate which is squashing the wheels, so I'll have to stretch it out and start over again.

[Velocity Kendall]

You know, its not cheating t do a drawing in pen and then scan it and manipulate in PS.
At least, I do it all the time and it seems to work fine. Its certainly a more productive use of your time than
starting all over again because you measured something wrong.
you should alayws be trying to find ways to do things quicker, or do more in less time, not the other way round.


good luck!

[keeptime]

Oh wow, thanks a ton VK. It's like God came down from the heavens and asked if I needed a hand with my groceries.

More lecture doodles, the work I did today in my studio class for my 'zine, and some more work on the skate that'll go on the cover. Crunch time! One week left and 13 more pages still to go. Aaah.

[keeptime]

Front cover for the 'zine.

[keeptime]

Some Hampton studies. Must draw more!



Why are my sketchbooks always too big for my scanners

[keeptime]

Some more gestures I've done over the past few days. Want to do some more perspective studies soon.

[keeptime]

Some two-point perspective work, plus the three-point cube on the left. The shading is sort of random because I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to light.

[keeptime]

I did some thumbs in my lecture notes and then took the two I liked the most and ran them through photoshop. Started work on the one on the left, but I think I might try to do both depending on how my interest holds.

[Bowandbrush]

Great work, just keep at it! Like your landscape studies

[keeptime]

Certainly living up to my tag line lately. I drew my mouse at work today and that's been about it. I did some reptile gestures the other day but they're not really worth looking at since they're all drawn on top of each other.

[keeptime]

Some more stuff from work. Didn't have time to finish the cloth.

[keeptime]

Drew a guest speaker during his lecture, then tried drawing my crocodile skull again before getting frustrated and giving up.

[keeptime]

Tried painting some of the view from my window. Free-handed over about an hour and a half in the evening (around laundry, dinner, etc), so the light had changed outdoors a lot by the time I was finished. I found the orange light from the greenhouse very difficult to replicate, and even now I'm not happy with it.

[keeptime]

Thought it'd be fun to try and do a self-portrait. Really struggling with that forearm and not having it look muddy.

[keeptime]

I did some reading on painting skin, then saw how horrible it looked and restarted. Still not really happy with it, but it looks better than before.

[Brandon Pilcher]

The bird and crocodile head sketches are my favorites. I wish I could give you a more detailed critique, but all a newbie like me can say is keep on going!

[keeptime]

Keep forgetting to update. Here's some stuff I've done in lectures. I bought one of those fancy 4-in-1 pens so it's making doodling a blast.

[keeptime]

Some quick horse drawings.