Eckis sketchbook - please rip me asunder

[AndreM]

Gaah your pencil line quality is just amazing, love the confidence and clean lines.
Im not sure if its done intentionally, but a lot of your sketch pages have a good deal of composition going on, and I really like that.
Keep an eye out for your head sizes, they sometimes seem a bit out of proportion to the rest of the body.


You are working HARD man, such an inspiration... keep at it!
Also, CA is up so no excuses, give us more!

[ecki]

I'm happy that CA.org is up again. What's going on with those "Badware" warnings?

---

@AndreM: Thanks, but I'm not really confident yet – I'm just not noticing the mistakes . About the composition: I've practised some composition once, maybe this shines through a little, but it's mostly unintentionally. I tend to draw short arms, unproportioned heads and big big upper bodies. There's still so much to learn. I'm always trying to keep an eye on that – I'll get it eventually / hopefully .

I'm really hoping that CA stays up now. I really want to upload every day – It just keeps me going!

---

Now to the stuff that has build up since CA went down:

I'll start this of with some anatomy stuff:


Now, some still lifes (Please do not credit me for the grounds, they are just textures :/ ):


And today I spent most of the time on the design of a hybrid car, that can drive and fly if it needs to. However, I went out of time :/ – But I'll do more of those soon.

[tsabu]

Hey, really nice progress! Good job

I think you really have potential, just keep with these rhythm of working and you will achieve your goals!

Don't forget about single portraits studies, just to make your character faces a bit more different.

[StressCavity]

Damn dude, you haven't skipped a beat! Keep up the good work, maybe bust out some more work from imagination

[ecki]

@tsabu: Thanks man You're right, my faces look very identically. I should work more on that. My anatomy needs generally a little more versatility. However, I have to get a better grip on proportions and anatomy in general first :/

@StressCavity: Thanks, but still feel that I'm kinda slacking of I should work some more. What do you mean by "from imagination"? Most of my slightly more detailed poses and characters are from imagination. Or do you mean some more finished pieces from imagination?

---

Today, I've spent about 3 hours of my time on a car design in perspective – and it still looks like crap :/
I should do more of those to achieve a higher speed. But I think my lines and ellipses are getting better


Some [crappy] anatomy stuff – I should hit the hay for today

[kevin_]

very nice sb! liking the progress, keep up the practices!

[BOMACHADO]

Your still life paintings are awesome! Getting a good progress here!

[GrayPersona]

hi ecki I really like those last still life studies,should make some myself. also nice to see you are working on foundation exercises such as perspective studies.
i would suggest though to strive for is good line work and clean presentation when doing perspective studies, try to draw a simple box using a ruler as cleanly as possible(without fish tails at the corners or dirty niggly lines anywhere) then repeat without the ruler and see if you can add some line weight,then apply to all other perspective drawing.
one thing I found for myself about making good straight lines is drawing from the elbow or shoulder and holding the pencils very lightly(they kind give that advice in every tutorial but i always ignored it for some reason)
it is amazing what happens once you dont tense your wrist,the change is almost immediate.
a goodie i am using right now is feng zhus schools gallery,they kinda give away a lot of the type of studies they do in there and since it is an inudstrial design oriented school there is much to learn from it if you are a concept artist,check it out- http://www.fzdschool.com/gallery_perspective_04.html.

hope i didnt sound to officious in the post because i am also a relative beginner,just that i am doing perspective oriented studies right now and it helped me formulate my thoughts.
will open a sketchbook soon!,hope we can help each other improve!

[Beartankmaster]

You seem like you really internalized that Scott Robertson DVD; those vehicles are constructed very soundly. I'm also working on my perspective at the moment. I'm going to work through Successful Drawing and then revisit the DVD. I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to let me know where those insect perspective studies came from by the way. I see them on a lot of sketchbooks and I was wondering if they were from a tutorial or something.

I wish I could offer you some sort of feedback in exchange, though my knowledge isn't there :/. I feel somewhat guilty receiving all the knowledge I have from people and having nothing to contribute. I don't really know why I'm posting this in your sketchbook but yeah O_o.

You and a few other guys on here motivate me to work harder. When I "get there" I promised myself I'd give back in some way.

One thing I do notice however is that some of your female legs seem abnormally skinny, specifically the girl in the scarf with her left arm resting on a rail or something. I don't know if that was intentional though *shrug. Also there doesn't seem to be an accurate hip-leg connection there. Assuming the dress is transparent the upper pubic area seems to me to be a bit too wide.

It's understandable not to want to emphasize musculature too much on a female leg though you can do so to a certain degree with the hamstring especially and still retain a feel of elegance. Or maybe you just referenced a really skinny girl, idk lol

Anyway thanks man I hope you accomplish your goals and I'll be following your progress.

[ecki]

Hey hey!

---

@kevin_: Thanks, I will

@BOMACHADO: Thanks!

@GrayPersona: Thanks for your detailed comment! I often have to remind myself of not tensing my hand while drawing. But drawing from the elbow is something that I already do quite often. Thanks for the link to Fengs gallery, I've already known it, but I've never looked at it as some sort of guideline on what I could study next – This is really brilliant! I'm already looking forward to your sketchbook

@Dichotomy: Yes, Scott Robertson is really awesome, I can't watch this stuff enough Those "animals in perspective" studies are from Feng Zhu. I think he talks about that in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rI6q6bv7do – what he's telling there does sound quite logical to me. Giving good advice should never be connected with expecting a comparable feedback – I should always be about helping others. So there you go Also, your advices rock! You're right, my proportions are often very strange. Those legs really look aweful. I'm just trying to get this stuff right from head – maybe it just takes a while

---

Here comes my stuff from today:

[Psychobuddy]

Hey man...not bad so far, your paints are good and your lines are coming along. Keep practicing and maybe study some construction methods, loomis, vilppu, Michael Hampton. Knowing an easy way to construct the body should really help you..well construct it!

[Beartankmaster]

Hey thanks man appreciate it. Glad I could be of some help also

[blazingdimensions]

hey dude keep working hard and keep up the good work, i admire your will to save up and then self teach yourself. nice still lifes, and great work on those perspective car sketches, those can get really annoying to make i know the feeling.a good idea when your working on cars, or characters or anything for that matter is to do studies of those things, like maybe look threw a lot of different cars and draw the ones you like in perspective, then design one after with those fresh images in your mind. dont take what i say too seriously tho im no pro.

[Eightball_]

nice designwork man! good to see you thinking out the function of things. my only feedback would be to keep honing in those fundamentals: perspective, structure, form. and you'll see your designs get tighter and more presentable. keep up the studies and keep up the good work!

[LastGen]

Hi Ecki, you're doing good. Gotta love the regular updates! Are the latest anatomy posts from imagination or reffed? I always recommend to do both, I think it's truly the best way to learn.

I'd also like to see some pencil renderings; still Lifes, from photos or whatever. It's always good to practice line quality, but the knowledge about the form, light and shadow is just unbeatable.
Keep going!

[ecki]

Wow people, all this feedback going on!
How am I deserving this

--

@Psychobuddy: Thanks man! I'm already studying construction methods, but I'm mostly choosing to just hint at everything with dots and little circles and keep the forms & masses a projection in my head. That way I'll have a lighter underlying drawing and need less time for the construction. Hopefully this will work out for me

@Dichotomy: You're awesome!

@blazingdimensions: Awesome name! Yeah, it's always frustrating when you have a really great anything in mind and fail at drawing it. Your suggestion with just studying real cars first is exactly what I should do. I should really tackle this. Thanks for the suggestion man! It's right on the head.

@Eightball_: Thanks! Form is something that often gives me trouble. Also my penmanship needs to improve. I think I just gotta stick to it and buckle down hard

@LastGen: Ironically, I've skipped the yesterday evening update :/ The last 2 updates were without ref – maybe I should have written that I'm always trying to jump between drawing from reference and drawing from imagination. I'm always trying to build up the "blueprint" of the human body in my head and then use it for imaginary stuff. You're right, rendering's the most fun too when working with pencil – maybe that keeps me from doing it that much, it almost feels like a comfort zone – I'm still failing at it, though Maybe I should draw some armor and complex clothes with pencil? That would really mix things up a little.

---

Yesterday, I was playing at a D&D RPG, it went till 3 AM, so I was just hitting the hay hard as I arrived home.
Now I'm just uploading my stuff from yesterday this morning (which happens to be also noon ).

I'll start this off, with some 30 second and 2 minute drawings as a warmup (from http://lovecastle.org/draw/):


Now, some 10 minute studies (from http://lovecastle.org/draw/):


Some hands from life (my left hand ):


A skull from imagination (which turns out to be a almost perfect "boy" skull - http://www.google.de/imgres?um=1&hl=...r:13,s:0,i:118 - still failed, because I wanted the skull of a grown up ):


And some stuff from imagination:


I think that I should do more really detailed renderings from ref and from imagination.

[MrFrenik]

Good work on the perspective studies, ecki! Now it's time to take that knowledge further and begin to apply it to everything you draw/paint/see, and that means ALWAYS be thinking about construction of form. At the moment, especially with your figures, things still seem to lack solid construction, but I would suggest that it's only because you're unsure of how to go about it. Get Michael Hampton's book, Figure Drawing : Design and Invention. It'll open your eyes to how to begin to break down seemingly difficult forms into graspable constructions. Hope this helps and keep up the good work!

[ecki]

@MrFrenik: Hey hey, I've taken a look at Hampton's book and it seems quite nice so far. Nothing too different from Bridgman, though. I'll definitely have to think more in form and less in symbols that I'm used to (this is a manga leftover / disease). Thanks for pointing it out! Maybe I should also go back to some anatomy (muscle) studies more often. Man, I wish there were some life-drawing sessions near where I live. But I'm really living at the arse end of the world

---

Today, I've spent a lot of time on rendering faces. It doesn't look like much though, but It had eaten about 5 hours

First, some stuff with reference (at least the faces):


And after that, I've tried to apply what I've learned to imaginary faces:

[Rinua]

you're awesom ) I like how you did jar and spoon.

[Yemi775]

Dude, improvement! that texture and perspective works are awesome.

[Kerro Perro]

Hi ecki! I really admire your plan and dedication! It's looking great - but maybe do a few pure fun pieces/doodles? I know they been helping me loosen up a lot lately! Try to reconnect to the kid lying on the floor drawing his heart out

Also with your figures i think you should try to think about how they are distributing their weight, a lot of them look like they're gonna fall over Im afraid i disagree with the no eraser thing - but then i am a noob tho so maybe ignore this - i find if i think "do better next time" i tend keep making the same mistakes whereas if i have to redraw a limb 40 times until it looks i think i learn someting...

Anyhoo keep it up! ( btw that black layer set to color is a great tip! )

[ecki]

@Rinua: Thanks!

@Yemi775: Thanks! I'm doing my best

@Kerro Perro: Hey, thanks for dropping by! Yeah, just doodling is fun – maybe I should really get a little more messy Weight distribution is something that I'm not really focusing on yet because I'm only trying to get the anatomy right. Thanks for pointing it out, I'm trying to keep this in mind now. If I'm erasing, I'll get stuck and totally confused and end up with just one picture at the end of the day. It's even harder when drawing digitally. I often need way too long without having a better result. It also boosts my confidence if I'm able to hit the line at the first try. Also I think its important to be able to be confident with errors and to show them (they are sketches after all).

---

Today, I've focused on faces and face renderings (all done with ref):

[lionheartGFX]

holy crap ecki you put the C in Consistency man! ive been lacking my self seeing so much progress in form understanding and most important of all in construction i think you should revisit Neck studies and how they connect with the torso, actually hamtpon has a small chapter of this in his book check it out, othet than that sweet relentless precision you got sir keep it coming!

[ecki]

@lionheartGFX: Man, i've not deserved your praise But you were right – I've revisited neck studies today, but just by reading and watching that is :/ But I think it helped a little. I really got to think more in form. Manga and Anime is still kinda haunting me

---

Today, I was trying to put to work what I've learned so far. I've started an illustration and I'm about 2 hours into it.
I think it's still kinda manga-ish, the skintones are not yet to my liking, it doesn't tell any story, it shows no depth and the composition is boring. But yeah, I should do more real illustrations, I really suck at them

So, here comes what I did today, first, 2 pages of stuff from imagination (I should put them clothes on, I really should practice some clothes )


And here comes the wip (every critique is highly appreciated at this point):

[LastGen]

@LastGen:Maybe I should draw some armor and complex clothes with pencil?

Heck yes, haha! It's even better to draw that stuff from life, that's a great practice for your eyes. Just spend some time on doing the renderings when you feel uncomfortable with the values.

Do you draw in a A5 sketchbook or is that all A4?

[AndreM]

Hey ecki!

Regarding the water lady, very nice work so far! - You asked for a crit so Ill try

Proportions/Anatomy:
- There is something funny going on with her right arm.
- Her boobs seem to be placed a bit high (the cloth folds funny around her chest and up around her left breast)
- The left arm turns unnaturally.
- The hand seems very masculine, and there seems to be a proportions issue with the finger lengths (esp. the thumb). It could definitely use a more feminine look to go with the curves.

The face:
Her eyes are looking very far off to the side, can almost feel the strain it must be putting on her eyes to keep that eye position.
Nose size, seems a bit exaggerated because of the shadow on the left side (her right).

Light:
Her left arm seems to hang down along her body, it is casting a shadow onto her body.
You could definitely go darker on one or two shadows (the butt-crack and face) but that is about it, I really like the colours/values on her back.


I played a bit with the RGB levels (might have gone overboards, my monitor is a bit bright) and drew lines to relfect my comments above, hope you find something useful

[ecki]

@LastGen: I will do some of those pencil renderings soon, just stay tuned First, I think I'll do some digital color studies. I think that my values are kinda ok-ish already for now. First, I've got to focus on color a little more. I think that's really a weak point of mine. (and clothes / drapery). My sketchbook is A5 at the moment. I've done some A4 sketches on loose paper also, but I'm not sure, If I'd upload any yet – this is my sketchbook at the moment: http://divinestain.deviantart.com/ga...craps#/d5mbguv – I want to have finished it by the end of January.

@AndreM: Hey man! Thanks for the very detailed critique, this really helped me out! I've fixed some of the anatomy errors. (her left arm was supposed to reach out to the viewer perspectively, so I've changed it a bit more, I think now this is more visible, maybe?). I thought that her boobs are kinda held in place by what she's wearing, so they get pulled up a little? I've tried to refine her face more and fixed her eyes I've noticed, that the values were kinda strange, so that everything was kinda muddy and in the same range – I've fixed that as well. Thanks again for your help, rock on dude!

---

Today, I've spent all my drawing time on my illustration from yesterday. I've also put a little story into it, by making her a little luring and giving her kinda strange eyes – she could be some sort of ghost or wisp
I will finish this tomorrow, right now I've spent about 5 hours on it, and I don't want to spent more than 10. Maybe I'll revisit it, after doing some more color studies.

But I think it really helps me to create some finished pieces – at least that's what I'm most afraid of at the moment.

As yesterday, this is a WIP, so critique is very appreciated (haha, the background needs some more love)

[wutangclam]

ecki! thanks for poppin by man! also i so appreciate that invaluable piece of video you had for me i think it will really help! your studies are lookin great! i have the same issue in that i usually dont get past a greyscale painting or sketch haha. In terms of your illustration i think its a huge improvement with the "murky"-er colours, also i think the density of detail in the background is good as is, i don't think it needs more rendering than what you have right now. don't need it to draw attention away from the character. the only other thing i really have to say other than that i like it haha maybe relax her left wrist a bit, let her hand unfold an inch or two, it may look less strained that way. KEEP WORKIN man!

[Xcarbon]

you inspire me man ....
i can already see a hell lot of improvement in your linework in this [3rd] page.
and great stills studies they look quite good they best one i like is the round gold thing. [#62]
im doing a non art job and trying to save up so one day i can quite and do art all day long.
and my hopes of doing this are even more brighter after looking at your thread.
keep up the good work!!

[I STRaY I]

Your still lifes are pleasant. You put in alot of work man, and its awesome. I wish I had some better knowledge to share but I'm not too experienced. I only have encouragement & positive reinforcement for you today!