smrrfette►Odyssey

[smrrfette]

[smrrfette]

Hello all of you marvelously dedicated people of ca.org!

I'm Steph, 18 - I come from the land down under (Australia) and I'm uhh sorta new here... I guess. Well, posting on here anyways. I've known about conceptart.org since I was 13 -yr7- and it easily became one of my biggest inspirations.
(This part below is skippable indeed :^^;: <corny>)
Although, at the time - I didn't take art as seriously as I should have - thinking that I'd 'probably get to that level when I'm an adult'... but I never fully realised the amount of hard-work and commitment it takes to become an artist. So I coasted... and coasted some more.

Sure, I've been drawing since I was three in sketchbooks, and then during my schooling life - doodling on pages, worksheets, wherever there was white space... but nowhere near as much as I did when I was a child. I got distracted in high school when I could have been using all of that time that I poured into useless time-killers into refining my art skills. I feel so ashamed thinking about the years I've wasted coasting, brainlessly.

So by finally creating my own digital sketchbook on this inspiring (now even more populated :P) website -- I've become twice as motivated than I was at the beginning of 2013, (Jan 1, 2013 being the day I actually started studying and practicing art) hoping to achieve an extensive improvement in the coming years, like many of you succeeded in doing! :D
(</corny>)

Although up until now I thought I was up to the level of painting figures, environments, vehicles etc... I've come to realise I'm far from that...
It's back to the basics of drawing, firstly - I need to learn how to draw the proper way - with my arm, not my wrist :nohope: . Alongside this - I need to learn anatomy, perspective (weakness!), forms and in my free time - sketching without references/doodles/anything (just need to make sure I'm not wasting anymore time)!

To kick off this odyssey - this morning I've drawn 1000+ circles. Working on using my arm, not my wrist.


2ndly, 60 second gesture drawings from posemaniacs. Anatomy be hard... anatomy be very hard. The quality of my lines are eh as well as the anatomy in general... sadly I only had a 2H pencil at the time ugh. But I want to murder my weaknesses, so here goes round 1:


3rdly, I've done a couple of Vanderpoel eye, nose and mouth sketches as well as a couple of Bridgman hand studies:


I really hope to update daily with a minimum of 5 studies/refless sketches per post (and then some). I would also greatly appreciate comments or critiques -- if even at all possible... though I'll keep hopeful :D.

Thanks for stopping by

Ta, :yayca:

[smrrfette]

I drew another bunch of 60 second gestural drawings from posemaniacs... toward the last 20-30 I tried to keep my pencil on the paper as much as I possibly could to try and get some hard, more fluid lines... and to finish each gesture faster. At the start of this round of gestures, I could barely finish within the time frame :/ I really need to speed up!



After these I decided I would try and quickly sketch a self-portrait. Not great but it's a start :


Some quick Bridgman arm studies:


Some refless (yep, very noticeable) portraits/figures/animal type thingy from le mind:

[smrrfette]

Probably the last gestures of the day, I feel refreshed knowing I studied hard today.

Some of these in this round of gesture studies were glob-awful :/ feels bad man. Only way to fix this: do more tomorrow!



20:27 - dindins is almost ready - later dinner, gah ;_;
I'll be sketchin' while I eat that's for sure

[smrrfette]

Some sketches I did while eating dinner -- from my mind.
note to self: need to study fabric
in addition to noses, eyes, more anatomy and mouths

[smrrfette]

Haven't really done that much today (although the day isn't over yet_just updating) - after this I'm going to move onto some Bammes studies, followed by more of yoitisi's Assignment studies.

The gestures in pen = 60seconds. Need to get in the habit of using my ARM and not my WRIST. I can't believe I was doodling all wrong when I was growing up. Dang bad habits

The ones in pencil were 30 seconds a pop - they were done before the 60 second bunch.

Pluuuus some perspective -- my weakness (now along with crappy linework ) and some of the assignment stuffs.


Note: also definitely need to work on proportion!

[smrrfette]

Bammes skel studies ¬ screwed up a lot of the proportions so I focussed more so on my line quality (doesn't excuse me from studying proportion & form though! -- hello tomorrow)

Really need to get my lines looking confident, showing energy and whatnot.

2nd - hand study, same as above

my glob do I suck at hands , practise makes neeear perfect though!

3rd - daily self-portrait : fml, so bad. Practise, practise, practise... that is all ¬


Note: elongated face is elongated. In the future, redo this for sure >8(

[Spudonkey]

at this rate of work you will improve fast! just keep going!

[I STRaY I]

Hey there, thanks for taking the time to stop by my sketchbook. You too have a crapload of potential and I see some nice studies here. Those circles crack me up, since I've started with the tablet I do the exact same thing. Keep at it and we'll all enjoy your progression!

[nickbernstein]

I can actually see a good chunk of improvement in your anatomy studies already. Keep up the good work. For your self portraits, I think you do the same thing that I do - just draw straight from what you see; I'm trying to start with the classic anatomy models and then overlay the features on that. That might help for getting the proportions for your self-portraits.

[smrrfette]

] Spudonkey - thanks you! Exactly what I needed right now, really helping my motivation!
] I STRaY I - No worries at all! Haha score! Let us be glorious together ¬ and oh my glob... attack of the circles haha, hopefully they really will end up helping us!
] nickbernstein - Hey, thanks for the advice and for stopping by, I really appreciate it I'll be sure to try and put your advice into action

[ sb - ugh, the first couple really show how I'm not used to drawing with my arm, yikes

Lost track of time doing these... I only planned on doing 50, but ended up doing 70 or so --- and now it's past my bedtime lol



tomorrow: proportion study/form, portrait, anatomy, maybe a bit of perspective

[smrrfette]

(15:08PM)
Needed to do some proportion studies (first of many, herp)
as well as legs. Later this afternoon I'll try to do some more feet studies as these were abominable .


(Mmm. Gotta work more on line quality too :/)

After I get some green tea, time to study facial features, followed by more gestural studies and a daily self-portrait + if time, a portrait. Hope I can check these off my to-do list before 23:30PM.

[smrrfette]

Managed to get most of the work done that I set out to do... although I feel I can pump out a couple of portraits (aside from my manly, bummy face #fml) before bed.
So, more gesturals -


More facial feature studies (from Vanderpoel & Hogarth) -


Aaaaand this abomination of a self-portrait! Tried using markers that were lying around the house to change things up a bit. I thought it was a good idea, until...


Ugh. Looks like I have a mullet.
Screw it! I don't care, I'm motivated like a mofo dodo >8( I will conquer this. Practiseeeeeeeeeeee!
Do as many portraits as possible in an hour. Tackle proportion tomorrow.

[smrrfette]

Feels good.
After I did the portraits of the chics, I received some advice from a friend about a book by Andrew Loomis (Drawing the Head and Hands) which I quickly browsed over (considering I had an hour to pump out as many portraits as I could...I wanted to do at least 10, oh well, next time). Applied Loomis' theories to the male portraits... so helpful zomg.


Must study that book more! Also: female face, proportion again, hands and more proportion!
I hope I have time tomorrow. out the door by 13:30 :/

[Xcarbon]

good going on the pace!!
im starting to like your linework and good job on those lips i like them alot
one suggestion, although posemaniacs is good but i would highly recommend looking at real ppl or photos of real ppl one site where i always go for practice is [ http://lovecastle.org/draw/ ]
you can just type how many seconds you want and check the boxes for the type of photos you want and then begin!!
hope that helps!!
and keep up the good work!!

[smrrfette]

] Xcarbon - ooh thank you a bunch for the advice -- I'll be sure to take it on-board yeah I get what you mean by the importance of looking at real people (I think I've been putting it off actually. Maybe I really should take advantage of life drawing classes in the city ;P)
thanks for stopping by and for the motivation too! Much appreciated!

[ dear odyssey - was basically out all day... although I woke up pretty early so that I could study as much as I could. I realised I should have used that time a bit more productively instead of pumping out a bunch of gesturals :/ I should really have studied proportion or hands -- but I guess only having a couple of hours before you have to get ready and leave for the day does that to you (or at least I'm gonna put it down to that).
Brought my A5 skb along to the pub we went to - I had to draw something... and if it wasn't studies - refless all the way!
(My glob they're horrible. But I won't blame it on the a-a-a-a-a alcohol iblamebutonmyselflololol)
OH WELL at least I was able to draw something!
Notes: hands, proportions, facial features, http://lovecastle.org/draw/, line quality ]




oh and the numbers are all wrong in this bunch. Failed and forgot to write the number before the sketch... not after /facepalm

[Slothstuff-J44]

I am liking all your studies and sketches! They are very fun to look at and I can really see improvements! The only thing I would comment on would be the fact that you spend so much time on complete anatomy that you rarely do any facial anatomy! This is the opposite problem for me :/ I do so much facial anatomy that my gesture studies look funny I like what I see! KEEP IT UP :3

[Kvetch]

Hey, don't beat yourself up about your figures, they're looking a lot better already. People have got to be pretty much the hardest thing in the world to draw anyway, it's going to take time...
Looks like you're off to a great start though, and have the discipline to get wherever you want. I'd suggest trying to break down what you're studying into more digestible chunks, and find ways to check yourself. If you just do hundreds of figures you'll go mad pretty quickly... It's more fun to learn one thing at a time (basic proportions and anatomical landmarks is probably a good place to start), an effective approach is to choose a body part to study, then look at how a number of artists sketch it, then try using those methods yourself when drawing from life or reference. The ability to think in terms of a variety of abstraction/construction methods is very useful.

Keep going!

[smrrfette]

]Slothstuff-J44 - Haha thanks you dude! and yep I totally agree! I took what you said on-board and will definitely study more facial anatomy!
]Kvetch - thanks a bunch for the advice! Very helpful indeed. will create a to-do list tomorrow and break up what to study to be more effective ¬ and yeah, I probably should quit knocking myself when I screw up, . I mean, can't succeed without failing!

[skb - These past couple of days have proven to be quite troublesome and gave me no choice but to neglect my studies... which if anything is even more of a motivator! Just the idea of losing two days worth of studies is enough to get me going... but to actually lose those days?! aisjdiahsd riwuhd-!!

I may feel feel like death - but that is NOT going to stop me!
come at me life obstacles!

__________________________________________________ _
First attempt at hand studies and a couple of portrait/eye studies (with and without refs)

[smrrfette]

Bunch'a Bammes studies this morning -- really quick ones -- then tried to apply them to a couple of refless faces - sah hard! But fun nonetheless

2 self-portraits from last night - the first one is so screwed, I didn't realise I kept changing positions while drawing from the mirror - I wasn't happy with it so I did a quick 5-10 min sketch this self-portrait is probably the first that actually looks somewhat like me. Yay progress! ;P

[smrrfette]

So I gave female portraits a shot without references after I studied Loomis' Drawing Heads and Hands book
The amount of fun I had was ridiculous haha
Although I must admit, it would have been a bunch more productive if I had been studying instead... but I was called upon to watch the original House of Wax with Vincent Price so... better than doing nothing I guess

[razvanb08]

Awsome sketchbook and a good amount of work. Keep pushing!

[eroquii]

I'm loving your dedication! You're going at really a good pace and your line work is beautiful. Also, I see that you're applying what you're studying to imaginative stuff - that's really good! Keep doing that! For gestures, you should try mixing up the lengths and approaches. Some 10 second ones, 30 second, 2 minutes, 5mins, etc. For form, you can practice drawing from life. Draw still lifes or people at your local cafe, library, mall, etc. I hope that helps some! Keep challenging yourself and you shall be great one day!

[Emmi]

Hey! Awesome studies, inspires me a lot. Especially love the lip studies. Hope to see more from you.

[Revidescent]

I like your style! Be a bit more careful measuring out your facial proportions; a lot of your heads are too narrow, and too long around the middle of the face. You're placing your eyes closer to where the eyebrows should go, making for overly long noses.

[Caio Chagas]

Man, those "loosen up" circles are getting serious, lol, keep doing it dude!

So, looking at the figure studies you have here, i can say that you have a pretty good sense of value already, just be more careful with the measuring and the eyes direction. Anyways, so far so good man, hope you learn a lot in 2013^^.

[smrrfette]

] razvanb08 - thanks you dude! Will do!
] eroquii - ooh thank you and thanks for the really good advice, I'll be sure to take that onboard next time I do gesture studies/life studies in general! (which should be after dindins seeing as I missed out on a life drawing class this evening !)
] Emmi - much appreciated ! And there will be a lot more to come, that's a promise <:
] Revidescent - oh my goodness thank you & thanks you for such helpful feedback! I'll work on it next time I'm to study portraiture! !
] Caio Chagas - haha they're fun to do every morning I just don't post them up anymore because I think they'd count as spam bahaha. But thank you for the advice, I'll be sure to take it on-board my studies! And thank you! I hope to learn a buttload this year!

^ thanks for stopping by guys ^!

[skb - I was able to do a bit of Bridgman arm studies this morning -

in the afternoon I trekked to the city with some friends to go to a life drawing class... turns out they changes the times in the New Year, so we rocked up late and the seating was pretty much packed ;_; so we went to the comic book store, I bought a comic and came home <foreveralone> lol. Anyways, gonna need to do some life studies from home instead... after dindins, yeah I'll do tha--- OMFG A BLACK SPIDERONMYASCANENR HHHRRRNNMPHHH... >8(

Edit: need to get up early tomorrow to start studying - finished dinner at 23:00PM >w<" , might as well get a good rest and get up a lot earlier than stay up late working... although I'm upset about losing so much time today -- tomorrow the sun will shine brighter for me!

[smrrfette]

Did my loosen-up circles as usual before I cracked down on some gesture study (it has been over 3 days since I last did some life studyin' D

Started with 30secs, moved on to 1min ea, then did some 2min ones -- although I didn't really know what to do with my extra time with these ones... what am I s'posed to do with an extra minute? Now that I've gotten used to trying to complete the gesture between 30-1min -- 2minutes felt weird... like I was either finishing too quick and not knowing what to do with the extra time... or taking too much time :/ I dunno.)

Followed by my first batch of animal studies super fun! Not as hard as human life studies I would say - but yeah good fun
from 30secs to 1mins to 5minute studies.



Now it's time for lunch ¬¬--! 13:14PM -- after lunch, I'll probably do some fabric studies (yay for new studies)

Edit: weird, i'm missing a bunch of 1min human gestures... :/ I don't know where they ar--, ugh

[smrrfette]

I did like one fabric study of a cowl/hood/scarf and some silk - took around 2-5 mins a pop... I could have done so much more, ugh.
So afterward I tried applying what I learnt from recent studies - drew a couple of figures wearing a cowl (because I've always sucked butt at drawing people wearing a hoodie etc) -- tried to pose some up ~ tomorrow: proportion studies here we come! (+ hands, muscles, head studies )
They were pretty rushed figures - around 5-10mins ea. ~



01:05 -- must... stab... the... hay... >w<"

[Matija Vuk]

Keep it up, you are starting really well with important studies lips are really great