A Beginner's Adventure to Becoming a Master

[amaranthxx]

Hi everyone,

I have been inspired to start a sketchbook of my adventure to learn how to draw, paint, illustrate, and reproduce all these pictures and visual ideas I have in my head, by MindCandyMan's sketchbook, http://http://www.conceptart.org/for...read.php?t=870.


I am a beginner, so any help or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

I am going to draw everyday and post it up here. I am currently in a location that has really slow, intermittent internet, so it might take me a few days to post my new stuff sometimes, but, I will draw every day.

So here it goes...

The first page from my sketchbook included some Loomis heads drawn from looking at the book, and the a potted plant and Buddha head statue from life, and then some figure movement from imagination, using a technique from one of the books I am reading.

The second page is just drawing basic shapes and how to give them volume, some more figure stuff from the book I am studying right now, and then I drew my eye from looking in a mirror....That needs lots of work!

The third page..the two male heads were drawn from my imagination, and the other is a self-portrait, though it looks nothing like me, the heads all messed up, and...yeah...but I guess for a first attempt, at least it looks like a person. : )

Thanks...

P.S. Does anyone know how to get the attachments to have some space between them?

[amaranthxx]

The other day my friend gave me a vase of daffodils, and I thought I would draw them. Earlier, I had been looking at some art work done in charcoal and pastel, and I really liked it. So, I drew the flowers in charcoal and then colored them with soft pastels. Afterwards, I thought the flowers didn't pop enough, so I decided to add a purple-blue background, and decided to do it with with watercolors, since I hadn't ever used them...make it a "try different media" piece...So I did a wash of red, and the dish a wash of blue over that...to get the purple...but then I decide to texture the background, so I grabbed my sponge and started dabbing at the paper...and you can see the result.

A couple things I learned from doing this:

1) fix the charcoal first because it smudged into the pastels in places and muddied the color.

2) Let the watercolor dry a little more before trying to texture it, because I ended up removing a lot of the blue layer...

3) I need to look at the flowers when I color them just as much as I do when I draw them, because I didn't really incorporate the light and shadows into my coloring...

A first effort...and getting a chance to play with different media.

[Psychobuddy]

Good start, it's hard to crit because you haven't posted much, but jsut keep drawing, all the studying you do will pay off in the end.

[amaranthxx]

@Psychobuddy: Thanks for the reply...I will keep drawing...

In fact, here are a few more things...

What I have found is the drawing comes out best if I am copying another drawing, then second best if it is from life, and the worst if it is from my imagination...not that any of them are great...but I do notice a marked difference between them.

The first is another attempt at a self-portrait. It still doesn't look like me.

The second is of a cup on my desk. It was done rather quickly.

The third is a drawing of a picture in some figure drawing book, I can't remember which one, that I looked at and drew.

[amaranthxx]

So, I am going to go back and re-upload a larger version of the daffodil painting, so you can actually see it, but I don't have time right now. But sometimes today...

The following is just some exercises I was doing on drawing lines and how your lines direct the eye and creates rhythm in the drawing from the See It, Feel It, Draw It Boot Camp book by Sheldon Borenstien. He was a student of Vilppu

Anyway, not much but wanted to put everything that I am doing up here...

[amaranthxx]

Here is some more...

The first is a small pastel piece I did the other day...I was walking back from a hike in the evening, and the sky was this amazing yellow color, and I tried to capture it in this...

The last three are pages from my sketchbook...working with the figure, volume, playing with a pen, etc.

[nouge]

That figure drawing in #4 is beautiful! You're doing a lot of work and studying different things, really good job.

[amaranthxx]

So here are some more sketchbook pages...

The first page is some quick sketches I did of people and things while waiting for someone at a coffee shop

The second page is some sketches I did while following an online tutorial on Manga drawing

The third Page is some things sketched from life: my hand, jar of pens and pencils, a sticky note pad with a thing of thread on top, and then some faces from my imagination

The fourth page includes some figure drawing, the negative space one was done while watching a tutorial video on it, and the others stuff was just drawn from imagination...

[amaranthxx]

@nouge: Thanks...I can't take complete credit...I was watching a figure drawing tutorial, and this time, instead of drawing along with the instructor while I was watching, I waited until it was over. Then tried drawing it from what I remembered. I really like the pose...and I find the human figure fascinating and a lot of fun to draw.

I started working on the first assignment in the
Concept Arts 101 Thread

But it is not done yet. Hopefully tonight, until then, here are few more sketchbook pages:

1#-Some people from imagination...then some basic shapes. I really need to work on those, especially cylinders.

2# The figure and the pelican( I added the hatching background) are drawn from a book I had, hand I drew from life, and the heads from my imagination...one using Loomis princples.

#3 The spheres are some more Loomis studies, the butterfly thing was just something I was doing with pencil strokes and decided to make a shape. The foot and the elephant statue are from life, and the little twisting blobs are some exercises from Vilppu's Drawing Manual.

#4 Is just some more blob exercises...It is definitely helping me to get a sense of where I need to draw the line in order to convey a particular movement...and keep a sense of volume, instead of my just haphazardly trying some thing...definitely want to work more with this...

[amaranthxx]

Hi guys,

So these are the two pictures I did for the concept Art 101 Assignment #1. I don't think I followed the directions right...for the second picture, instead of just adding something imaginative to the shoe I already drew from observation and make it look like it was part of the original, I drew a completely new imaginary shoe...but hey, that is the best drawing from my head I have ever done...so I can see how learning to draw from life really helps with drawing from imagination, which was what this assignment was suppose to help you see.

On a separate note...does anyone have advice on how to fix the trail running shoe...I know the perspective is off on the grooves on the bottom of the shoe and I wasn't sure how to get the different textures to come out...the leather,the rubber, the meshy water resistance stuff, and also how to delineate the different colors with just pencil... Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!!!

[Mental-Mouse]

I do very much here you. I am terribly perplexed about creating texture. To try and help solve this I've just started grabbing Super-High Rez Pencils works and spend time trying to study the direction and density of lines used on the various represented textures...

I have also started to stick my eyes really close to these old, old Pencil/Pen Works my College Library has hanging around. (Gettin' some really strange looks from people in he process.) There is this strange, weaving pattern used on pretty much all of them. Haven't ever seen such a pattern discussed in any of the Drawing Books I've looked at.

[CR Faerber]

From a couple of your figure drawings I can already tell you're improving!
But I must know what those strange semi-circle type lines you have drawn repeatedly are haha I'm so confused by them

[amaranthxx]

@Mental-Mouse: Thanks for the suggestion about looking at some pencil works and see if I can see how they did it, especially ones with the texture I want to achieve.

@CR Faeber: LOL...those are just some line exercise...the first and last one was learning how to see the relationship between the two different marks...keeping the angle and distance between them the same...and not just once but every time...as you can see, I wasn't able to do that...and the middle two were exercises in learning how to create rhythm to the line....and directing the eye by the lines...which later can be applied to the figure drawing...Just exercises from this book I have that I use sometimes to warm up before I start drawing....

So here are just some more sketches from my sketchbook

#1 Snapple bottle drawn from life..I know it is a bit lopsided...then two faces from imagination...

#2 I was sitting on my deck and decided to draw my legs...I started too far up the paper and ran out of room to draw the ends of the feet...That was a lesson in blocking in the general shape first...or starting with the feet and working down next time...

#3 Practice drawing my hands in different positions, and then some figure stuff from imagination and more blobs

#4 These are some quick sketches of my cat...as soon as I decided to draw him, he kept moving...just had seconds to get something down before he moved...it was interesting, but fun...made me laugh. I think I like the second one best...

[amaranthxx]

So I am heading out town for a couple of days. I am bringing my sketchbook with me and will continue to draw everyday. I will post what I did when I get back.

[amaranthxx]

So I am back in town...I need to scan in my sketchbook pages before I can post them...so hopefully have them up tomorrow.

I also got some of the drawing books I ordered. I was excited about that. I got Bridgeman's Complete Guide to Life Drawing and Dodson's Keys to Drawing and Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. I just started to look through them....seems to me that Hampton's book is showing a similar approach as Vilppu and Borenstien's books...I really like the Keys to Drawing...I like all the small exercises scattered through the chapter.

I wanted to start focusing on my line work more...I know my lines are pretty 'hairy'. Tonight, I just worked on drawing lines...getting a confident line instead of a 'searching line'. I think I am going focus on some contour drawings just to work on that.

I have also noticed a couple other things....how I get involved in drawing the details instead of drawing the overall form first...and also how I can get impatient and then just start drawing lines from what I think it should look like instead of looking at what I see and drawing that...if that makes sense...

I got a cheap graphic tablet the other day...and just drew a few really quick face sketches. I haven't done any digital drawing before, so I am still learning how Photoshop and Manga studio's works...how to chose different brushes and pencils, and change the size, etc. But I thought I would post them...just some faces from imagination.

[FalconessN]

I can see the improvements! Keep working at it!

One way I learnt to draw longer, more confident lines was to draw from my elbow and shoulder instead of using my wrists, some good exercises would be to draw ovals, focussing on not how pretty the ovals turn out, but by focussing on using your elbow and shoulder.

I actually learnt quite abit of good drawing basics from Ctrl+Paint.com. You'll be able to better build on Bridgman/Loomis and other books after getting used to some simple techniques. (It's what i've learnt anyway... )

Anyway! Keep it up! I'll be watching you

[amaranthxx]

@FalconessN : Thanks for the tip about drawing ovals with the elbow and shoulder. I will practice that, and I will check out that website you mentioned.

So, I am back after a hiatus. With the site being down for awhile in September and then moving. I got out of sync with posting here...But, I am back now. Here are just some rough sketches from my sketchbook. They are pretty messy because the pencil smeared on the pages when I closed them. I didn't put fixative on them....they were just sketches.

I have some more stuff I will be posting, just wanted to get this up....more coming soon.

[amaranthxx]

Okay....so here some more stuff...These are some exercises I did from the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Book....The hands were done from life using a viewfinder, and the other two are from the upside down drawing exercises...They are copies of master works...

[amaranthxx]

Okay...so here is some more stuff....These are two drawings I did based on pictures in some drawing anatomy book I ran across. I can't remember the name of it now. The guy is done in pencil and the woman is in charcoal.

[amaranthxx]

Okay...so here are some exercises and copies of pictures from a book on how to draw Manga comics that I borrowed from a friend. It was fun to play with. Some of the faces are off...like the blond haired woman in green looks like she has an insect face, and I had to start over on the sword wielding character because I started getting the face all wrong...but enjoyed it...and had fun just messing around with adding some color.

[amaranthxx]

And here is a Manga style face that I just drew from my imagination....based on what I learned from the book. I decided to make a copy of the pencil drawing and color it for fun.

[amaranthxx]

Okay....so here is the last post...the following were all drawn from life...not picture references....the elephant was a little garden statue.

[nouge]

Hey, been a while! Studies from life are looking nice, good job!

Would like to see more real anatomy studies rather than manga stuff. If that's what you want to draw it should be easy enough to transfer real anatomy knowledge over to manga drawing later on.

In your life studies you should keep an eye on your lines. You stroke them, making them very hairy some places, like on the sleeve of the hand holding the necklace. Also, don't be afraid to try shading things deeper. You've got pretty bold lines, the shading gets lost compared to it a lot of the time.

Keep it up, you're doing well! (Oh, and I think the link in your signature is dead. I had to get here through your profile.)

[amaranthxx]

@nouge : Thanks for stopping by and letting me know about the broken link. I think I fixed it. I will work on my lines...I have noticed the hairy lines too. I have been practicing a bit with just drawing lines, but haven't posted that stuff because figured it wasn't too interesting to look at, and I also working on shading...I think I hesitate with that a bit, because I don't feel I really know much about tone and value, yet. I will do some real anatomy studies...the Manga stuff was just for fun...I don't want to exclusively draw that...I want to draw real people...I picked up some anatomy books the other day...so anatomy studies coming soon.

But, here are a few more drawings...I couldn't scan them in. They were too big...~18x12...so I took pictures of them. They seem a bit dark to me, but basically you can see the drawing.

There are two quick 30 second gesture drawings on newsprint of some flowers I did when I was warming up one day. I just liked the way they turned out....
Then, there is a chair drawn from life and the egg/apple/cube still life...I don't really know how to do drapery, or folds in cloth....and then a exercise on perspective.....

[lionheartGFX]

awesome studies, keep doing those and you will see imrpovements in no time! keep up the good work!

i like the vilppu curve exercise i do those for warm up the aye really GOOD

Cheers!

[amaranthxx]

Sorry for the delay between post. I don't have a scanner and I have been borrowing a friend's to post here, and I have been so busy that haven't gotten over to use their scanner very much. I just started taking a beginning drawing class. I am three weeks into it. So far, I really like it...just starting out with drawing the basic shapes, and adding cross-contours to create form, and this past week we started talking about rhythm. I don't have everything I have been drawing, but I have a couple of pictures. They are just basic; that is all the teacher wants us to do right now...keep it simple...get a foundation, not worry about everything like perspective etc. I think next week we are going to start looking at tone. So, here are a few of the images I have managed to scan.

The first pic of the toothbrush, etc. and the trashcan is just practicing basic shapes.

The second pic of a rock still life is practicing cross contours.

The third pic is practicing cylinders and cross contours. I got some feedback on it...about altering the direction of the cross contours to make it appear branches are going away and coming towards, and to loosen it up a bit with more gesture, and not have 'Y's'...so I am going to do it again...putting into practice some of those suggestions....

The fourth was still basics shapes and cross-contours, but also working on adding some rhythm to it...

And I did start working on some skull anatomy studies, but they were pretty bad. But, I am going to keep working at it.

[amaranthxx]

Just some practice with tone.

[amaranthxx]

So I have been away for awhile...here are some of the things I have been working...I started taking the Basic Foundations online class at the new Portfolio Art School. I have been learning a lot....I need to practice more to get all the principles into my drawings, but I can tell a difference...So here is some stuff to share...

1) The pear was my first completed piece working with tone and value....I find my core shadows are too hard sometimes...need to work on softening them...
2) The house was my first attempt at perspective. I got so focused on that, that I didn't really give the house much form...and it was rushed.
3) The two drapery pieces...not very good, but my first two attempts....I went too dark too fast on the one on right, my first try, and the one on the left, I made the lines too uniform, and there were multiple light sources, and I haven't worked with that yet, and it kind threw me with the light and shadow...again did it too fast.
4) The Still life with bottle, eggs and box... I like this one... I went slower, took breaks, only thing is I think it could be more organic, less rigid, and some of the perspective on my cross-contours on the box seem a bit off.
5) On tree, I think the core shadows need to be darker and stand out more, especially in the bottom of the trunk where it kind of blends...I thought I fixed it but the scanner didn't pick it up.

I find with the tree and drapery that I sometimes am not clear on where the cast shadow goes...and how that sometimes covers up the highlight of the next fold...I just need to practice that more...

Any critiques or advice welcome...Thanks!

[amaranthxx]

So, I have been busy with moving, etc...and I haven't had an internet connection since the beginning of February. But, finally got internet again and my scanner back, so I will be posting again. I am going to try to post every other day, but draw everyday.

So, here is to renewed commitment, and here is some of the stuff I have been doing the past few months...starting with some perspective stuff, and then some different sketches+

[amaranthxx]

So here are some still life of rocks I did...I didn't do complete drawings of them...I was just trying to get the position and basic lines in...so they don't have much form to them...I wasn't practicing that...I just wanted to work on position.proportion and lines...