back from the dead

[D.Labruyere]

ah, I get it helpful indeed

[Number_6]

Haldor - Glad you like the little robot.. those little guys are a lot of fun to sketch.

I'll try and explain what I said a little better. So our vision has two different ways of seeing. In the center of your eye you have your focal vision which can pick up a lot of color and detail. On the outside of your eye you have your peripheral vision, which is more vague, less detail.. picks up less color and is more sensitive to light and motion. Now, whenever you look at something you are mostly using your focal vision. Most of the time you look at whatever it is and sort of mentally "crop" off whatever is outside of what you're focusing on.

Pick up a coin or something small, hold it out in your fingertips, and focus on a small detail of the coin. Most of the time you would just see this small aspect of the coin and not even think about anything else thats in your field of vision . But what I'm suggesting is that you sort of widen your visual attention, so that you see the coin, the hand holding it up etc. But the whole time your eyes don't move, they're focused on the coin.. you're just mentally allowing the other things around it into your visual perception.

Then I'm suggesting that when you go to draw this thing.. when you look at the page and making marks, you can focus on where the coin is (in the drawing) and do the same there - so that your pencil and the marks you make are also in your peripheral vision.

Now of course you're going to have to move your eyes around some as you get going, but I just find this sort of helpful to get my eyes seeing all the relationships more easily. Sometimes when I am drawing without reference, I will get really focused in on some small aspect of the drawing and when I look at it from a distance it won't be in the proportions I thought it was. So to correct this I will pay attention to where I am drawing and also the rest of the drawing at the same time. Sort of mentally zooming out and letting some of my peripheral vision spill in so that I can get the relationships going better.

Does that make sense? I think that we naturally already tend to do this somewhat when drawing, especially when life drawing. But I just sort of figured out how to put this into words (that make sense to me anyways hehe) and I thought somebody might find it helpful.

That's an interesting idea, I'll have to give it a try. My biggest critique for this batch is the armored woman, her chest seems wrong. Kind of boxy, I suppose.

[Gloominati]

really awesome new stuff, dude. Great lines, as always!! Whooho, I really feel like drawing now, thanks for that !!

[Mike Frank]

Armando - Haha yeah.. I knew it would end up looking like she had cat ears. They are basically like ridges up on the side of the helmet.. who knows why, just seemed cool at the time until I blocked the value in. Yeah I meant for her leg and foot to be posed with her foot resting on the tip of her toes.. but you're right, its not reading right, because its not in the right placement. I will try and keep the VP idea in mind. Thanks man.

#6 - Yeah I think you're right.. there is something wonky about her construction that's throwing her chest piece off. I should play the idea some more maybe. Thanks dude.

Gloominati - Hey thanks man. Glad you like them


Had the past two days off work and tried to put in as much drawing time as I could get in. I started off with these figure drawings, then went into some character sketching, and then picked up Bridgman that night and did about 4 pages. Yesterday did like 16 more Bridgman pages and some more sketching. Breaking from study from time to time, and drawing without ref seems like a good way to go.













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These guys inspired by the Gun pics.

[Matt Smith]

nice sketches, they keep getting better. just keep practicing.

[bdfoster]

Mike--

Good stuff. I love the tip you posted-- it's not unlike the idea of squinting at a piece every so often to take away your sharp focus and look more at value and relationships-- except that with yours you can train yourself to do it naturally, which is nice. You would be able to always have it "on".

The Bridgeman studies look real good, and I love the dynamic action in your second to last piece. I'd love to see you take that drawing further. The last piece is pretty cool too, though he looks pretty long in the leg, escpecially the lower half. I'm also not really buying the hand holding the spear. You may want to get some ref for that. Keep up the good work!

[Number_6]

Wow, looking good. I guess I'll have to pick up Bridgeman for the hundredth time when I go to the library again (maybe this time I'll actually use it!).

[D.Labruyere]

these are all really nice!

can't say anything harsh about it, so just gonna look to them and enjoy myself

[Gloominati]

Hey man, really great studies and figure drawings, I like em a lot!! The head of this last guy seems a tiny little bit soo small though.
Keep up the great work, dude!!

[DerMidlet]

Liking your stuff man, makes me feel like damn, I should be practicing Keep up this pace and you can't not be badass.

[armando]

Were the figure drawings done from photos or life?

[Mike Frank]

Matt Smith - Thanks man!

bdfoster - Glad you liked the tip.. yeah it is kind of similar to squinting, only is different in the way that with squinting you get a lot of simplified values going on. Thanks for the crits also, definitely right about that hand.. hehe its struggling.

#6 - Thanks! Definitely check bridgeman out its good stuff!

Gloominati - Thanks dude. I agree about the head also.. old habits creeping in, or never got rid of I guess

DerMidlet - Thanks! I'll try to keep it up.

Armando - They are done from the Virtual Pose 2 book.. I was actually trying to keep them the same size I saw them in the book.. really tiny, its a hard thing to do.




So its been awhile.. Xmas Season was crazy for me. Some kid hit my parked car and totalled it, not good if you deliver pizzas for a living. Add that on top of the usual holiday goings on and I end up getting out of the art groove. Though I had some time to think some things out and figure out where to go from here. I'm going to start working on building a bunch of work based out of my Call of Cthulu RPG that my friends and I play. Been looking up refs from the 1920s, started working on the main characters and this is two of them. A dilettante named Madison and private eye named Henderson.

[D.Labruyere]

hi some_guy

it's nice to see a update of you once again. You know what, I think they look great! I didn't read your reply and looked at your picture first, and I already thought that they had this 20-30's look, so I think you've succeeded very well I like the first the most, mainly because I think his hat looks better, and the contrasts are a bit bigger making him pop a bit more. nice job!

[Judy Warner]

Thanks for the vision tip--using the coin as an example makes it clear. I try to find things like this to do differently when I practice--do you have any more ideas?? I think a lot of artistic success is how people use their eyes and brain--wish I could get into their thinking! Judy

[Number_6]

#6 - Thanks! Definitely check bridgeman out its good stuff!

I did. No it's not

Seriously, I don't like him at all. His illustrations are way too sketchy.

As for these latest, they're both good, but I think the first one needs more work done on the face. The second's eyes are off I think. The skull is an immovable mass, and the eyes should be in a line on the same angle as the bottom of the nose AFAIK. Here you have the line of the eyes angled more to the horizontal.

[bdfoster]

Mike--

Good stuff. The second portrait is much stronger than the first-- more expressive and better definition of forms, though it doesn't quite have the same value range of the first. What medium are you working in?

Glad to see you updating again. Hopefully the new year is a little better than the holidays were for you.

-Ben

[dCepT]

Hey, man! Your latest post rocks! I enjoyed the batch of figuredrawings as well.. you're loosing the stiffness, and that's good! Just keep pushing... and post even though you don't feel like showing 'em..hehe...

peace

d-C

[Mike Frank]

Haldor - Thanks dude! I'm glad they are fitting the motif that I'm going for. Yeah I tend to agree the first guy is not as well developed but he conveys a lot of character which is cool.

Judy - Hey no problem, glad you could understand. Yeah it really is a big thought process. Realizing that was one of the biggest things I learned awhile back. Its really all about what you're thinking and what you do to try and get to the point you're aiming for. There's no sense in getting caught up outside of the moment (for instance getting frustrated that you can't make a great drawing.) I guess you could call that a tip.. I think most people realize that though. If I have any more insights I'll definitely post them.

#6 - Aww.. another who doesnt like Bridgeman I understand, he is pretty sketchy.. I enjoy his style though.. to each their own I guess. One thing that is important that I think he conveys is dynamicity of line, for instance if you contrast his style with Hogarths, I think that Bridgeman would seem more lifelike. I agree with both of your crits.. the first guy I kind of like his looser look but I should go back and rework him. I double checked the second guy also and see what you're saying about his eyes.. but I think unless its too distracting I'll keep them that way, sometimes a little asymmetry is alright I think. Thanks dude!

Ben - Thanks man. I agree about the first character.. bah I'm gonna go have to tighten em up I guess, hehe. These are done in photoshop.. so not a lot of excuses for that value range.. been exploring alot of the brushes though, which is fun. Still need to work on getting a good value range but maintaining a natural look.

dCept - Hey thanks dude! Glady you enjoy them.

Alright these are two more characters from my campaign. The first is my character, a professor of archeaology at Arkham. I struggled a lot with his picture and still not very satisfied.. The second is a tabloid reporter named Strange Sid. He's a burn victim.. hehe almost all of our characters have really low attractive scores, except for the PI from the last post. We had to sit around and think about what made them so ugly.

[blankslatejoe]

dude, those grayscales are looking sharp mike!

its been too long since i checking in on your SB, there's a lot of good stuff happening here. Bridgeman studies are always nice too

[Orozc0]

you need to do more careful observation, bro. You're heading the right way with those gestures and hand studies. The last charcoal drawings(or painter/photoshop) are pretty dope. Keep it up!

[bdfoster]

Mike--

Love the last two portraits. I think they're both stronger than the first two in personality, composition and value. I think the only reason the last one starts to fall short is in losing that 1920's feel to it, but given that the character is a bit of an eccentric, I think it's a non-issue. Are you using reference for these?

Keep up the good work
-B

[Mike Frank]

Joe - Hey thanks for dropping by dude! Glad you like them.

Orocz0 - You're right I need to get down and do some more life drawings and studies. Thanks for the crits and comments!

Ben - Thanks man! Yeah, I was kind of aiming for him to be a little out of the times, with the crazy hairstyle and sunglasses. I am kind of liberally using reference. I went through at the beginning and found a lot of 1920's photos to draw on. But for the most part I just look at them pretty quick and see what I like about them, take that and use it for the drawing.

Here's another one, probably not as strong as the others. The rest of these guys will be NPC's.. this is Strange Sid's boss, Peravski, editor for The Arkham Oddities.

[Rebeccak]

Some_Guy,

Hey there, I've just seen that you've signed up for my CGWorkshop! Thank you!

I am really looking forward to the course, as it's the second one I've taught through the CGWorkshops ~ it promises to be really exciting, and I'm thrilled that 14 people have signed up already, including yourself! I've looked through your sketchbook, and can tell that you are really dedicated to learning how to draw ~ that, in my opinion, is the most important ingredient for success as an artist.

Looking forward to seeing you online in February. In the meantime, definitely swing by the Anatomy Forum, and feel free to post your work there!

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

[Number_6]

I think you're making the heads too long and not wide enough, and the necks are too big, especially on the first and last ones. Good job though.

[Saturns Gate]

Your definently getting somewhere with your anatomy, great stuff so far. Just goes to show that practice makes perfect!

I think you should keep at the anatomy studys for the next few pages, then you will surely be a force to be reckoned with!

Keep at it buddy !

Sean Donaldson

[cotron]

nice new posts mike! You're really getting somewhere with your shadows and lighting. I especially like the drawing of henderson. there's a bit of funkiness that's going on in the proportion side of things, but it's way ahead of what you were doing before. It just takes time to hammer inwhat seems right... kind of like driving, where you're super concious at first, then you get used to the feel of your vehicle and kind of know what can and can't work.

haha, I just realized I made an analogy about cars and read about your mishap...sorry man, that blows. hope to see some new stuff soon, glad you're still keepin up the fight!

[Mike Frank]

RebeccaK - Hey no problem! I am looking forward to learning from and getting some serious studying done. Should be awesome! Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

#6 - Definitely right about the width of the heads.. and the length of those necks getting out of control hehe, especially on the last guy. Thanks for pointing that out

Sean Donaldson - Thanks man! I am about to have 8 weeks of anatomy study with Rebecca Kimmel coming up, so the studies will be coming up shortly.

Cody - Thanks dude! Hehe its no big deal about the car man.. just a stressful time thats all over now. I'll have to post up a pic of the new ride sometime. You're definitely right though.. just have to keep playing with things and really looking at people.. clicks a little more each time. Thanks for checking out this stuff and rooting me on bro.

So for the past 11 days, I have effectively not smoked cigarettes. A foolish 9 year love affair has come to an end. At first drawing was a bitch, whenver I am not sure where to take a drawing, I like to take a smoke break and think my way through the next part of the process. But now, whenever I can keep smoking out of my mind, drawing is a lot more focused and rewarding. So if you smoke, just quit .. you will draw better I think

[bdfoster]

Mike--

Good stuff in the last update. I particularly like the first one. The head studies all seem a little on the long side-- There are certainly people with that lean bone structure, but since it happens in every head I assume it's a trend on your part. Your handling of shading is becoming much more confident. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see what you gt out of Rebecca's classes!

[D.Labruyere]

quited smoking? ghehe, that's something I should do to ;P ah well....

last update looks great, you're getting better with each update you make, so all I can do is just support you

[Number_6]

Great work on the latest, with the first picture, the girl's head seems wrong. The guy's armor has some issues, namely the clasps aren't the same size as each other and the rings at the bottom aren't centred. I think the arms need to be more symmetrical with each other too. I love the faces, but almost all the noses seem too straight. You might want to study them more.

And grats on quitting smoking!