Procrastinator 2: Judgment Day (a.k.a. Johan's Sketchbook)

[Brink!]

Hi everybody! My name is Johan and I'm 23 years old. I've been drawing cartoons, comics and funny animals since I was a kid, but I've never really paid any attention to art fundamentals.

Beginning in January this year I started reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and The Practice and Science of Drawing in order to improve. But I was kind of lazy, didn't draw much and had no specific goals.

After a while, though, I got inspired by a lot of talented artists out there and decided to reboot the system and start all over again. Because if I want to be in their league I better shape up.

This happened in June. I immediately began developing my drawing abilities, although I've been having some problems keeping a steady workflow. Maybe the summer wasn't the best time of the year to begin studying, I dunno. Having a sketchbook online will hopefully help me focus.

I'm gonna try to post everything I draw (and later on paint) during the day. Please feel free to critique and comment on my stuff. It would really mean a lot to me.

Just for comparison, here's two self portraits I did as part of the exercises in DOTRSOTB (made in January and April) and one I drew yesterday. Looks like I have a long road ahead of me

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Here's what I drew today (I don't have a tablet of my own yet, but as soon as I buy one I'll start posting my digital painting attempts as well). First some 30 second poses, then some longer ones. Some value studies of an egg and receipt, a hand and a self portrait. The self portrait didn't turn out that good, but at least I'm trying to see the values.

[Mepainter]

hey! lovely sketches... you seem to be doing especially well with anatomy figures. keep it up!

[Brink!]

Thanks, Mepainter

I tried to study some anatomy today with the help of Mr. Vilppu. Here's some sketches of shoulders, knees and elbows in an attempt to learn how they work. There's a lot to take in, so I haven't grasped everything yet. But I'll probably get this eventually... I hope









I've also been watching Stan Prokopenkos videos and reading his tutorials on facial features, something you can tell by looking at the eye and nose doodles. Still having problems with light and shadow, though.





After a while I started to lose focus and decided to draw some 30 second gestures to get back on track.









Then I began drawing some longer poses, but I didn't go very well.



I did a self portrait as well, but I can't show it to you since I drew it after I came back from scanning. You see, I have to use the scanner at my school and I don't want to ride my bike all the way back just to scan one single drawing. But I'll post it tomorrow instead. I promise.

[Brink!]

Didn't have much motivation today. I started questioning if I'll ever become an artist, because today it felt like I haven't learned anything... Do I have what it takes? Do I have the drive? Guess I have to work harder to find out

On the plus side - I ordered a scanner yesterday, and a friend of mine is going to sell his tablet to me. If I'm lucky I might get both at the end of this week. That would be nice.

Anyway, here's that self portrait I mentioned in the last post:



And here's what I did today. Not much, with the lack of motivation and all... I know that's no excuse. First some 30 second poses trying to capture the gesture.



Then some longer poses.



My computer started acting up, so while I was waiting for it to get back to normal I doodled some ellipses and lines. Didn't bother to scan them. I got tired of waiting and decided I could find a better use of my time. So I whipped out an egg and did two short value studies before I began my daily self portrait.





Still having troublues rendering values. And drawing heads. Gonna do some anatomy studies of the head tomorrow. Learning new stuff, heck yeah!

[k_z]

Hi, nice work. I think that Art and stuff is a decision. I don't know a student that feel excited to play the same piano song over and over again. I don't know a medical student that is excited to do autopsies. But it is necessary part of their learning process and has to be done. So don't thing too much about motivation and stuff and just draw, everything else will come You're on the right path.

[Brink!]

Thank you for taking the time to check out my sketchbook, k_z. You're totally right! Just gonna have to keep drawing

Alright, this is what I did today: some gestures, bodies, skull studies, nose studies and I also started on a Bargue drawing (no pictures of it, though). But I didn't have time do do a self portrait! A real shame, because these studies was kind of leading up to a self portrait at the end of the day...

I really, really hope my scanner arrives tomorrow. Having to use the scanner at my school is wearing me out.









Gonna end this post with some good news. I bought that tablet today Awesome! Celebrated by making a quick sketch/doodle/thingamajiggy.

[francois_k]

Hey man , thanks for checking out my sketchbook , it also made me feel good that I indirectly inspired someone to make a sketchbook as well I really like your anatomy stuffs

[Brink!]

Thanks, Frank

Today was not a good day. Sure, my scanner arrived, but I wasted so much time on getting it home, unpacking it, installing it and trying to find a scanner setting that was acceptable (don't think I succeeded, but this will have to do). 3-4 hours down the drain! Dangit!

This is what I managed to do anyway... Started drawing later than usual and my back was killing me, so I didn't bother finishing the self portrait. Procrastination station in da house But tomorrow is a new day and I'm gonna make sure things get better

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Early update today, I'm gonna attend a birthday party in thirty minutes. Interpersonal relationships FTW.

I did some eyes and, yet again, nose studies. Can't really wrap my head around how the nose works. Then I took an image of a skull and tried to add eyes and a nose. Ended with a self portrait.

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Oh man, I need to stop fooling around and start working harder and smarter.

Blind contour and 30 second poses.


60 second poses.


5 minute poses.




Some doodles.




This one didn't turn out well...

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The local art school offers you a chance to draw from a live model every Monday... Guess where I was today

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As a warm-up, I did a blind contour drawing, some 30 and 60 second poses (drawn with a fine liner) and three 5 minute poses.







Continued on the Bargue drawing I mentioned eons ago, realized I relied to much on my measuring tool (a piece of thread) and scrapped the drawing. Started on a new one trying to rely more on eyesight. Unfortunately I couldn't take a picture of it. The lines were drawn so lightly they didn't show up on the photo

And here are two self portraits. I wanted draw more from life instead of using photo references. Gonna draw more portraits (and still lifes) tomorrow.


(Right eye is way too small.)

[SophieW]

Great sketchbook! The anatomy studies are looking good. It’d be nice to see some more of your work from imagination. I’m looking forward to seeing your progress!

[Brink!]

Thanks, Sophie Yeah, unfortunately I haven't drawn much from imagination Gonna have to work on that!

I was hanging out with some friends tonight (another birthday) so I could've drawn more than I did. But then again, you can always draw more.

Started with a quick blind contour drawing, which I didn't scan. Then I did:

30 second poses


60 second poses


5 minute poses


Neck studies


Continuation on the Bargue drawing.



The start of a self portrait. Didn't finish it because I CAN'T crosshatch and I SUCK at values.


Did some still life value studies to compensate.

(I decided to take a picture of the studies as well as scanning them)

Some doddles wilst hanging out with my friends. I really need to work on my imaginative stuff because these don't look good at all. So... uninspired and boring... "Unimaginative" is probably the word I'm looking for.


And a digital face from imagination. Unfinished because I think I bit off more than I can chew on this one. Might do something less complecated later on. Perhaps a cube or sphere.


I MUST WORK HARDER!

[Brink!]

Ahoy hoy! I'm back from my unintentional one day hiatus. Life got in the way But enough about me, have some drawings instead.

30 second poses.


60 second poses.


5 minute poses.


Vilppu studies.


Drawing from imagination (it ain't easy when you don't have any ). Probably gonna try to finish this one later on.


Still life.


Self portrait. Gonna keep on drawing these until they resemble me and have proper shading.


Digital studies.


Bleurgh! Shrubbery... I got so much to learn!


And I guess my Bargue drawing is coming along nicely. Though, I am having a hard time with that shadow...

[SophieW]

Great update! The figure from imagination is really nice; it definitely shows that the studies are working.

[twilightmoon777]

Awesome sketchbook! Your figure studies are really strong and nice to look at. Your self portraits have improved quite a bit as well. Keep doing those everyday or every other day and you're be a pro in no time. I agree with what others have said though, would love to see some of your cartoons/more stuff from imagination. That last drawing you did from imagination looks pretty sweet. The upper portion of the body especially (waist below looks a bit off). In any case keep at it. I look forward to seeing more stuff!

[Brink!]

Thanks, Sophie! It really means a lot to hear

Thank you, twilightmoon777, your post made my day Yeah, I'm gonna keep on studying and hopfully I'll get there. I promise to draw more from imagination. I'm really motivated now, thanks to you and SophieW

I was too tired to scan anything last night so I'll show you guys what I did yesterday today instead. I hope that's okay. It wasn't that much anyway. Lazy Tracy is in da hizzouse.

30 second poses


60 second poses


5 minute poses


Digital exercise. Just drew a random shape and tried to apply some light.


Tried drawing from imagination, but man, that's hard. It ended up just being doodles. This is something I really need to do more.


Photo referenced faces. Everything feels... kinda flat.


And here's what I drew today:

Went to the local art museum for two hours together with a cool friend of mine (http://kontrapunktus.deviantart.com/). I drew some sculptures.


When I got back home I did some warm-up poses.






A self portrait. Jeez, just look at those glasses!


More drawings from imagination that ended up like doodles. I need to snap out of this bad habit!

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No "Evening Croquis" at the local art school yesterday Apparently it's their autumn break this week. So I studied some anatomy instead. I read more than I drew, hence I don't have much to show.

30 second poses


60 second poses


5 minute poses


Anatomy studies


Worked a little bit better today, although I didn't work on my Bargue drawing and I didn't draw any digital stuff

Warm-up






Anatomy studies


Imagination doodles


Still life of a book, crumpled up receipt, kiwi fruit and a pen. Not finished because I drew it within a time limit. Need to work faster and more focused.


Self portrait. Made myself look fatter than normal.


NOTE TO SELF

I need to

1)Stop wasting time on the internet when I should be drawing
2)Draw more from imagination

Because I'm sick of making excuses and whine like a little baby!

[Kanda]

There's a lot of great improvment here and I'm really loving the figure studies. Keep up the good work

[Mepainter]

lovely improvement! i've been watching your posts... and you've seem to have gone a long way with your skills.

keep at it!

[Brink!]

Thank you, Kanda

Hi again, Mepainter And thanks! I still got a long way left

Not wasting time on the internet turned out to be harder than I thought. Shame on me!

Warm-up






Anatomy studies. Thank god for bodybuilders


(The one on the lower right is obviously drawn without reference)

I tried drawing from imagination. I drew and erased for 30-45 minutes until I got some idea of what to draw. And this crap is what I ended up with.


Oh boy, I really need to crank out more of these.

Still life.


I also tried some digital stuff from imagination, but I got stuck at construction and adding light and rage quit after almost an hour. I've once again bitten off more than I can chew. Gonna go back to the basic stuff tomorrow.

No Bargue drawing or self portrait today :'(

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Bargue drawing. Suddenly I notice so many errors...




Self portrait. Head slightly tilted forward.


Anatomy studies.


Imagination. I should probably buy books about clothing from different cultures and/or ages.


Digital stuff. Cast shadows... Oh, man... I also began drawing a leg, thought "I have no idea what I'm doing" and switched to a photo study instead. Gonna continue that one tomorrow, 'cause it's getting late and I want to sleep.

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Early update because I'm off to a Halloween party later tonight. Booo! (I love to procrastinate if you haven't noticed. Well, I won't get any better with that attitude so I guess the joke's on me.)

Warm-up. A lot of 30 second poses.








Anatomy.


Some sort of cowboy from imagination.


An elvish warrior thingamajig from imagination.


Self portrait.


Digital study. Didn't have much time to work on this one.

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Did embarrassingly little this weekend. I guess I have to stop partying. That crap messes up everything.

Went to the art museum today.


Ha ha ha! Oh, lord... You can tell this was a quick one.


Trying to understand feet.


And a random face.

[JackGriffin]

Hellooo Ive just been looking through your work and its so impressive how quickly you've improved! You're doing great and your portraits have come a long way. I dont have any constructive criticism but just keep doing what you're doing and i'm jelly of your work ethic.

[Brink!]

Thank you, JackGriffin Truth be told, I could be working harder but I'm just sooo lazy. Hopefully I'll get better at focusing the more I draw.

Read an awful lot of comcis today because... well, I just love comics. But I managed to do some scribbles.

30 second poses.


60 second poses.


Drew my girlfriend's feet. She wasn't creeped out at all



Tried drawing something with an extreme angle. Ahehehe... Better luck next time


Everything from today's croquis session at the art school. I really need to draw more from live models, because everytime I do I feel like I don't know anything. Too bad it's only once a week

[Brink!]

Installed an add-on yesterday so I can block time-consuming and distracting websites. Oh yeah! Didn't do very much besides that, though.

Arm studies.



Doodles.


Took an old self portrait (October 23rd) and tried to paint it just to see if it was possible for me to do one from scratch later on. Have to get more comfortable working on the computer first.


This is what I did today:

Warm-up.






Moore arm studies. Trying to understand forearms is hard work.




Scribbles from MAH MIND!


Digital study. Gonna keep on doing these, leave my comfort zone (but I guess that goes for anything I do artistically).


Self portrait.

[Brink!]

This whole week has been awful! My motivation and confidence have steadily gone down. I guess it's beacuse I don't feel like I have improved at all when I draw from my imagination. I know it takes a lot of time to get better, but it's kind of mentally exhausting when you don't like anything you do. Don't get me wrong, I won't give up or anything. It will probably change for the better in a couple of years or so. As long as I keep on drawing, that is. And, I guess, if you haven't drawn much from reality you can't really expect to be good at drawing from your imagination. I'm just gonna have to keep on doing studies and not beat myself up if my drawings suck.

Anyway. Less talking, more drawing!

30 second poses.


Arm studies.


Turds.


One abandoned digital disaster and two things that I'll probably try to finish tomorrow.






Wanted to spice things up and decided to do a portrait of my girlfriend. Felt it was heading towards the wrong direction,
so I did a quick self protrait instead. Gonna try a digital self portrait soon. I'm leaving that comfort zone, ya hear!