My first sketchbook. Trying to improve! :)

[SophieW]

Hello! I’m Sophie; I’m 18 years old (19 now D: ) and from England I’ve followed this website for quite a long time but have never been brave enough to actually sign up. I’m really into drawing and hope to one day to be good enough to actually peruse it as a career. I’m really serious about improving and all advice and crits are welcome.

I have tendency to get lost when it comes to vast amount of things there are to learn so I’m hoping that by joining here and learning from other people I will maybe be able to come up with clearer goals etc. I’m really looking forward to getting involved with the community here So here we go…

I’m going to start by posting a few anatomy studies, hopefully I will be able to update at least every other day.

[black.diamond]

Nice! I really like your anatomy studying. : ) They look very good and I'm looking forward to next sketches.

[kevin_]

nice start! these pencils look very nice, looking forward to more!

[Gur Ghen]

Hey Sophie,

welcome to the CA.org-forums.

Your studies look fine. So keep it up!

I have tendency to get lost when it comes to vast amount of things there are to learn so I’m hoping that by joining here and learning from other people I will maybe be able to come up with clearer goals etc.

That's exactly what I am trying to get rid of! Let's hope we will both manage to concentrate on clearer goals!

All the best wishes!

Gur Ghen

[SophieW]

black.diamond– Thank you!

kevin_ - Thanks There will definitely be a lot more.

Gur Ghen – Yep, it’s all pretty overwhelming and I hope we will as well! Thank you for the comment

I was hoping to post this last night but the scanner was refusing to cooperate. I’ve decided to go back to the basics and do some Loomis studies; it’s quite refreshing to look at basic structure again. I struggle quite a bit with imagination work so there’s a page from imagination where I tried to apply what I learnt. Tried. Haha. The same goes for the anatomy studies and then a page from imagination. I also did a fairly quick pencil self-portrait, followed by one in Photoshop with another study. I’m really struggling with Photoshop, I’m thinking I may do some still-life’s in order to try and get more of a grasp of it in general.

Any advice is welcome

[SophieW]

Hello!

Here’s a quick update before I go to bed. A mixture of studies and imagination stuff from today! Feeling pretty motivated at the moment, gotta get better!

[SophieW]

I did some Bridgman studies today along with some more anatomy ones. I definitely need to do hand studies as well. There are also a couple of things from imagination. There’s so much to learn! I need to focus more, D:

[SophieW]

Hello again

I did anatomy studies today; I looked at hands and poses. And, again, I tried to do a mixture of study and imagination. I’m trying to be a bit braver with my poses and try not to worry as much about the final outcome. I found looking at yoga poses really helpful

As always any advice is welcome!

[SophieW]

Here’s a quick update of a terrible study I did in the tiny amount of free time I have today I need to start doing some environments or something so I’m actually challenging myself more with using colours..

[Zenith_]

I can tell this is gonna be a sketchbook to watch
Your figure studies are beautiful!
Be careful of the neck area though, some of them are a bit too thick or too short, but other than that everything looks great!
CAn't wait to see more!

[ootpa]

Your hands are absolutely gorgeous!
I agree with The-Idle-Elk that you should watch your necks and head placement a bit, though. I especially like how you're drawing legs and your Bridgman looks good. Keep 'em coming!

[Andre-Sutherland]

great start jumping straight into the figures
with your portrait paintings, have a go at a master study, I find you can pick up some tricks on making the faces more animated than life, mainly the colour choices are really incredible.
looking forward to seeing more

[asa]

very good start!
the studies are looking very good
keep them coming

[SophieW]

The-Idle-Elk – You’re right about the necks, thanks for pointing that out. I think it was becoming one of those areas you just choose to avoid. Haha. Thanks for the comment!

Ootpa – Thank you!

Andre-Sutherland– Thank you! I’m definitely going start doing some master studies; I had a look about online today and have chosen a few so I’m really excited to get started on those!

Asa – Thanks

I’m not really happy with what I got done today. I mainly ended up just doing 30 second gestures and a couple things from imagination. I did look at necks and shoulders and did a few studies and imagined stuff, and looked at some anatomy…

I need to start focusing more. So I’m going to do something in Photoshop every day and start doing some master studies etc. I’m feeling super motivated, it’s just actually sitting down and doing it. Sorry for the rambling, I’m finding if I write it down I’m much more likely to do it

[SophieW]

Mainly imagination stuff I did in college today and some anatomy studies Doing more imagination stuff really helps since it shows what areas need improvement, which is all areas I did some studies in Photoshop but they’re pretty rushed. I need to be more patient with them so I may actually get better. Haha.

Crits and advice are welcome!

[SophieW]

Not a lot today I did some pencil stuff from imagination but they’re not worth posting and a couple of not so good Photoshop studies. Reminding myself that I will improve if I keep going…

[Psychobuddy]

Really great start, you're anatomy is solid, but when you work on the faces you seem to loose it a little bit. I guess that all comes down to practice though aha...so just keep going, you're gonna be awesome!

[lionheartGFX]

thats the way you start a sketchbook, working hard! your figures are really great, really fluid and the proportions are on the spot too, my only comment ist on drapery, you should take a couple of minutes to read on the anatomy of folds and how the colthes sits on the body, take up some reference from fashion sites like www.thesartorialist.com and copy them and really THINK about how they are behaving

great job cant wait for moooooooore!

[Brink!]

Oh boy, this is some nice output right here. Really lovely sketchbook

I need to start focusing more.

Don't worry. I think you seem focused enough. But don't slack off! Aim for the stars and draw more. I'm gonna keep track of this sketchbook, hehe.

[SophieW]

Psychobuddy – I know what you mean about the faces, I really need to look closer at the structure. Thanks!

lionheartGFX – Yeah, I really struggle with drapery, it’s definitely something I need to look at. Thanks for the link that site will be really helpful, I'll definitely do some studies from it!

Brink! – Thanks for the comment! I’m definitely trying to draw as much as possible.

Hello!

A couple Photoshop studies and a terrible thing from imagination. I’m going to start looking more at clothing and how it reacts with the body because it’s a mystery to me. Haha. There are also some things from imagination and some face studies. Not the best day today, nothing really looks too good. Ah well, gottta push on.

[SophieW]

Some face stuff and a page of quick clothing studies. Not much unfortunately.

[Brink!]

Hey, Sophie. Have you watched Stan Prokopenkos videos on how to construct the head? If not, check them out

[Tofa]

Thanks for checking out my sketchbook, great start to yours! Love the huge amount of studies you got so far

[SophieW]

Brink! – Thank you so so much for telling me about those videos! They’ve helped me to get a more clear understanding of construction. Thanks again

Tofa – Thank you!

Hello!

I think that I was focusing too much on quantity over quality, so from here on I’m 100% focused on actually learning and getting better, I’ve finally realised that it’s sometimes better to have less to show but to have learnt and improved whilst doing it. I think I may have been falling into the trap of doing mindless studies. So, on that note, today I looked at structure. Seeing the videos on the structure of the head I’ve realised that I need to get right back to basics. So, there are a couple pages of head studies then one from imagination. I’m finally feeling more optimistic, and I’m really excited about learning more. The next few days I’m going to be quite busy and not have a lot of time to study so I’m going to try and do things from imagination when I have the time so I can pinpoint my main weakness and eventually start looking at what I do to improve in those areas.

If you actually read that I thank you! I find it really helpful to type out my thoughts.

[SophieW]

I tried some 30 and 60 second poses and there are some of the studies and imagination stuff from today

[SophieW]

Hello!

Here are some of the things from today, including some ten minute environment studies. My proportions are so crazy D:

As always crits and advice are welcome!

[GDB]

Each day your digital paintings get better and better. Please keep it up!

[SophieW]

GDB – Thanks! I need to do more stuff in Photoshop. Can’t keep avoiding it!

Quick update. Some figure studies from today, trying to look a proportion. I did a couple from imagination; I think I have a habit of making the torso too long… I did a bunch of face studies but they’re not worth posting. The only way to get better is to keep drawing so I’m going to go do that

[SophieW]

Super quick and crappy arm study before bed. Trying to stick to using Photoshop every day. It’s stupid because I get put off because I don’t have a good understanding of it because I don’t use it enough because I don’t have a good understanding.

[SophieW]

Some faces from today! Studies and imagination I know it doesn’t look like it but I feel like I’m starting to understand the structure a tiny bit more. There’s also a couple terrible figures from imagination Crits are welcome! I’m really serious about getting better!