IllustriousHarry's Scribblings - Fun with a Pencil and Wacom

[IllustriousHarry]

CONFIDENCE, one of the great keys to drawing. Hence my new user name and title . I used to be know as Rhaucan and you can see my previous sketchbook here. However now I am REBORN, evolved you might say, actually no, i'm just the same except with a more overselling name.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=27455

The same again applies in that, simply knowing that people see my sketchbook will be enough to fire enthusiasm in me. So don't hesitate to post, even if you don't say anything relevant whatsoever.

Thanks for stopping by

I'll post my recent life drawings soon.

[Gaussian3d]

Hi, great , awesome, encouragement, encouragement!!
Keep drawing and all man, hope that's enough to fuel at least a couple of sketches, hehehe!!!

[IllustriousHarry]

Ok to start off I'll just lift some old pictures and posts from my my old Sketchbook




Returning to this I see how useful that tone chart was, I havn't done one since either


ANANOTMY ALERT. Never done a hand, by now i realising how much you learn from drawing from life. I kept going back to add more but it never felt finished. Hard to draw with one hand whilst keeping the other there.


Drawing from memory




And what better way to end an introduction, doesnt actually look like me, couldnt be bothered with the hair i was still taking hours over pictures i wanted to take 30 mins max, nose is bit misplaced, theres something wrong with the ear.

DSG : A blunt medieval hammer, this would be good to try out colouring with photoshop. Expect to see this soon


Oh and a piece of wood, nuff said


A dying Plant


An apple Tree


A copy of Samwise's drawing from the Art of Warcraft. One of, if not my number 1 favourite concept artist.





My Drizzledome drawing, never spent this much time on a drawing, great fun (not sarcasm). Can see loads of things I would have done differently now, which pleases me because it meens I've made proggression


A direct copy from a book called "how to draw and paint what you see", good for confidence and nothing else aparently, I can live with that



My wacom is starting is really starting to be fun - A leaf tutorial


And a mountain tutorial


The last, thunderdome style competetion I did, Topic was "A Hero Returns". Learnt a bucketload, but realised there was a tankload more to practice.


A world without wrinckles would be a sad one.
CA Acadamy Result, studying lineweight.



An example of the fun we get up to in my A level Art course. This was a copy of a piece done by Casper David Friedrich. I experimented with 3 different mediums on the different levels of the tree. Acrylic at the bottom with a pallet knife, in the middle inking with a brush (extremly fun), charcoal at the top, and soft pastel smudged in here and there.


Wow, looking back over my past stuff and things I said was pretty refreshing.
Now go home and try on your sketchbooks!

[IllustriousHarry]

Thursday life drawing class results


We started off with a grounding of charcoal, and then spent some time rubbing out the masses with a rubber and then working back into it with charcoal. I liked this, rubber can be very effective. Once I’d realised this there was no worry about the lines I was putting down. FREEDOM! Interesting misty soft effect. It’s not completed, but I’m not going to finish it.



3-4 minute drawing. These are usually the ones I have most fun with, you’ve got an excuse for any mistakes, and you really ignore anything but the most important shapes/rhythms. Also the whole point of this session was making the background as important as the foreground, which you can see I didn’t take to seriously. But this is great for showing proportion errors, wasn’t too great half way through the drawing. Lesson learned; get some background in early on.


I’m tired of curves so I started experimenting with different styles. This was an attempt to mainly use straight bold lines. Maybe I should try this to the extreme.
It looks messy in places as well. It was more fun than trying to get the curved lines in one go. I could go for a balance in future drawings, shorter curved lines that run over a little. Experiment, then choose a style I like, then practice it.
I’m pleased with more contrasted tones, but I could have been more consistent with this.


Ok so this wasn’t the most offensive portrait I’ve made of someone, although I do seem to have a knack for creating the worst. Again using the rubber for highlighting worked well. I’m not quite sure with what went wrong on the cheek but she looks a little skeletal.

Charcoal is odd, it’s a little like marmite, when it works out it really does, but sometimes it can be really problematic. I bet painting with marmite would give some meaning insights into it all.

Overall presentation is my main issue here, they could do with a little more care, a little more love

[IllustriousHarry]

Small update.

A funny thing here, theres two portraits, one took me aproximatly 9 hours, one took me probably no more than 90 seconds, I'm equally pleased with them both.



This first was a doodle in between the adverts when watching TV, and i'm not quite sure what I like so much about it, probably that it was completly thoughtless. Lesson to be learnt, DOODLE MORE. I will from now on whenever I get the chance, so I'm thinking about drawing all day and night, i'll doodle in my dreams. After all , for every 10 unintelligible scribles, there will hopefully be atleast one I grow attached to.


This is a copy from the book, "How to draw and paint what you see". I've been chipping away at it for weeks now at my art class and I probably havn't ever given a drawing so much time. And thats probably my main attachment .Its of Michaelangelo's "Pieta" and is probably not a touch on how much time and care he gave to his sculptures. . I feel It was good practice with control and skill with a pencil as well. I havn't claimed it finished yet, part of me doesnt ever want to, so if you have any crits or comments, please speak.

[NightVision]

Also checked out your previous sketchbook, nice progression.
I like how your work is very diverse, in subject matter, approach, time spent ...

A few crits if you don't mind ... I like how that lineweight portrait came out as a whole, but for being a lineweigt practice, you could have been a lot bolder, and really dropping some shadows in there, like under the eyepatch, the chin and so on.
Kinda like you did in the charcoal (I think) lifedrawings, but in those it'd be nice to see some thinner lines too (but I'm sure that'll come with practice).
If you haven't yet, you might want to try out some lifedrawing with a brush (a chinese brush ? not sure what they are called, it has a broad range in strokes (thick to thin)) and black ink ... you'd need to carefully watch before you put down each line, but it's very spontaneous and is very fun to do. Another approach is to do some sort of 'underdrawing' in diluted ink, so you have some guidelines down before going darker.

Keep 'em coming

[Crane]

>insert Massively inspirational Comment here<

Neat!! or not so 'neat' neer
c a n s e e t h e p r o g r e s s!
Love the most recent pic, something about her eye seems wrong tho.
and i love the hand hammer idea, you should work on that again! beef it up and put a w a r r i o r with it, hu hu

:chug: I'll be honest, i have no idea wat they mean by that...

A w e s o m e!

[IllustriousHarry]

Cheers for the comments!

I'm going to paint the fist hammer in photoshop, and i think your right, i'll make a charector for it as well.

Your crits are much apprieciated nightvision, I did some brush and ink painting before and loved it so i'll have a go next time I can.

We have a model other than the teacher at life drawing now, i'm going to miss the "frozen teacher" look.


quick sketch, these are the most fun.


background, Background BACKGROUND was todays lesson. It works, or atleast it shows alllll the proportion errors up


I LOVE shading when I actually give the time to it, but its always very rushed, and I only usually get to do it in parts, maybe i need to organise my drawings more.

Question, do you just draw, or do you go break it into sections??
For example , mapping out stage, line, more detailed line in certain areas, shading. etc


I like getting a background down early on, gives me more freedom, and i like the grainy look. All my life drawings so far are like lots of my work, pretty messy.
Also I could do with applying the practice of line weight, at the moment it looks like i'm trying to cut through the table with the charcoal.


Doodles are the most fun, because you never have to stop and think "Is this right?" And you have no idea what they end up looking like

I'm reading the loomis book "figure drawings for all its worth", Great stuff so far, especially that drawing is all about you and your attitude, funny that it should never really occur. I'm have a big enthusiastic on my face these days.

[IllustriousHarry]

I've been doing alot of copying recently, its really something I enjoy. I think theres alot to be learnt from copying, especially if you can direct your thoughts to certain questions.

This is a copy of one of Michaelangelo's Studies for my art project.



Biiig long post in the help section on this piece here if you want.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=404658#post404658

And next a piece for our UK city concept project
WAIT before looking, the center figure isn't mine, Its credit of SchloMo, I hope he doesn't mind me posting it here. Experimented with custom brushes for instant trees! and I used a stretched thumbnail of a photograph to base the picture on.
But hey, the two highly detailed and imaginative birds in the distance are completly my invention .


I also was going to post a copy of a drawing from the book "The art of LOTR". What do you think, would this be allright?

Cheers for looking.

[Crane]

I'm so gunna lose to you in TD

Maybe i can.. sabotage you in some way
*throws cow on you hand*
mwahahahaha-cough hack..hahahahahahahaha!

[IllustriousHarry]

Here is my entry for the UK Norf vs Sarf Thunderdome. It was a big struggle.

Its far from i'd hoped for a final piece, what i'd imagined I'd be able to make.
Overambitious is the key word.

The competion challenge was to create yourself as a "thunderdome warrior".
It had to be an image that in some way depicts you or your personality.

This was done in the last 24 hours as my other photoshop piece just wasn't coming together, i had planned to have a larger image of myself.
Again I was over ambitious with what I could do.

Question....Do you digitally paint because it gives a better result or because you prefer to use it??



Well anyway My concept idea was "THE GYM OF VALHALLA". I wanted to exagerate all the usual gym equipment and attentdees. Me being dwarfed by this hall of heroes, all training for Ragnorok. In an old style workshop/foundry style, with lots of thick ropes, giant splintered wood beams and cogs, movement, runes, jeweled weapons, flaming torches with dramatic dark lighting..etc. I got all very excited, but success takes more than a good general idea.

Simplicity is important, being selective of a few important parts of a painting, I wanted a million. I just imagined it being "detailed" giving no effort to actually creating that detail.

Still it was a huge progression for me again, its great how a little competition can push you much further than ever.

Again I learnt loads about other things, the importance of developed preliminary drawings, but also how photo references can have their uses. I think a balance is needed between these.

Crits and comments would be welcomed. Do any of you have similar problems? Do you approach these in anyway?

Thanks for looking

[Pupil]

Hi IllustriousHarry, I like your thunderdome entry. It has a real sense of scale and humour - in fact, this is exactly how I feel when I come on this forum and look around the 'Finally Finished' section .
As for crit: It's a shame your digital entry didn't turn out - if you're feeling brave maybe you could post it and people can help you to see where it went wrong?
The composition of the pencil drawing is pretty strong, though the ceiling under the lightning is a bare - not really defined enough - you could add chandeliers or wooden beams or smaller arches (like the ceiling is ribbed?). Also add a bottom to the top of the doorframe (like you have done on the lightning bolt part) to give a third dimension. P.S. I don’t think the doors can close - you may have to move up the lightning bolt? I think this drawing could look even better if you colour it. It may help to colour an image you are confident that works already? Both your Michelangelo studies look great, and I hope you can apply these studies to your own life drawing.

[IllustriousHarry]

Hey pupil cheers for posting, your comments were really useful. For some reason I hadn't really connected applying my michaelangelo study to life drawing, because they were done in different classes.

As you suggested I am posting my WIP photoshop image, but much of it wont be very clear, I think one of my main problems was being to afraid to give any particular part propper commitment. So I was left with lots of mess and despair.

I'm a bit uncertain about photoshop really. At the moment its much harder to make images with it than with a pencil. But many people on this website seem to use it solely. A question I have for anyone is, how long did it take you to learn photoshop to a level of it actually being useful?, is there anything in particular you can recommend. I have a book of tutorials, or maybe I will do some colouring like you suggested, perhaps I could colour my final TD. Oh yes and I realised the doors couldn't close but i carried on for some reason, maybe I hate the idea of this website closing


I suppose its just practice, but i'm just unsure weather I would even want the ability to use photoshop. Ofcourse I do, writing out problems in a thread like this helps me really think things out clearly.

Another thing about this is i'll take my drawings more seriously if i'm going to post them to the world, I'll post once a week from now on.

I've also just decided recently, enviroments and landscapes are my calling, dense mysterious woods, epic mountainous landscapes, stunning cloud forms, magnificent architecture, the list is endless. I want to explore all these places and sights, and capture them. THEY WILL BE MINE!


Weee, I went to Turin in Italy on holiday and it was very very very very nice. This was one of the most relaxed drawings I have ever made.


I want to see mountains again gandalf, MOUNTAINS!. Well I did, from the plane, flying is great. As was the city in the clouds in starwars.


A concept for my school art project, A Buggane, shape shifter demon, often seen in the form of a horse, so I tried to make a demonic leaping horse with a little more humanoid build. Any suggestions?


Near by plains, very moving , got carried away with crow studies, added tails for fun.


Some of the most tormented woods I have ever seen, I think some trolls or something must live here, the trees that arnt fallen and shattered, squeel and growl in the wind. Overgrowth comes to mind.

I've been a bit uncertain really with drawings, about which ones to make, how long to give them, what counts as finished, when to draw etc. Questions for any readers (don't feel pushed to answer them though)... how long do you draw for in a drawing session? how many drawings do you make? how long do you give each drawing on average? I leave it at that although I could write a book of questions.



Until next week

[IllustriousHarry]

Right i'm going to catch up on updating this, just o be fair to myself, I have about a gazillion images to post.



Daily Sketch image for "biological stasis device"




A beetle study I did in painter after reading Prometheus's art tutorial
http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm - GREAT READ!!

Question.. Out to all the painters out there, whatever level. What was the most useful, or main practice you have done that has helped you with painting, any particular tutorial.

Cheers!

[IllustriousHarry]

A doodle I did before entering a woods, and then I went in to see what i'd missed. Turns out i'd forgotten to include the alien space pod.


A rough design for the mod I'm working on, its a helpful little Mr Fixit Healthbot.

Woohay, i'm On a game Mod project
Apprehension - FEAR IS YOUR MOTIVATION - for UT 2004
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~apprehension/GUI/index.php if your interested

its taken me a few year to realise, FOLLOW YOUR DREAM, just dive right in.

[IllustriousHarry]

I havn't done many pencil life drawings such as this, simply because class teachers always seem to shove charcoal down your throat. Doing it again I'd take more care with the pen outline (note the moustache). And take more care over getting a smooth skin like gradation, especially on the leg and left breast.


As gimli said in LOTR "You could have chosen a better spot", but otherwise playing around, testing out pen, messy, but i'd like to practice more fast directions and hatching.


Proportions appear to be off in this, the back seems very long, head to small, the hair looks wet. Messing around with ideas for background shading, Again i will take more care with this sort of thing.

I've been a little self consciouss in life drawing sessions, I think i need to forget about it all and just draw

[Badger]

Hey Harry, when working with charcoal try to paint in the tone, then blend up. Don't try to use it like pencil, because it will look clumsy. Just use the side and block in tone.
Nice drawings, i love the amount of ideas you sprout out! just keep doing that. I've seen some technically brilliant people, but without an imagination as active as yours they wont go anywhere. The technical side can be taught ideas cannot. Keep going!
-B-

[IllustriousHarry]

Some texture doodles for the mod project (see my last post for explanation)

aaaand a med bot just for any of you suffering from hay fever or some other rare summer nano future disease.

[The Iconoclast]

Well first off, forget about the whole 'sketch under x minutes' thing. Most beginners have the problem of drawing TOO quickly (I did that for about 20 pages of my sketchbook before I started figuring it out). Your attitude should be that of someone focused, ready to work for a couple hours, and exploring his imagination. Also, try to draw what you see, not what you THINK you see. That's your big problem with your hand drawings.

Now for the positives It looks like you used to post a lot and you're just making a comeback, so WELCOME BACK! I'm in that situation as well. I really like your Michaelangelo copy and the bug painting. You have some really nice stuff and you just need to post more, k?

[auto_matt]

nice rendering you got here!

bye

[IllustriousHarry]

London Life drawing session, I'm reluctant to post these, but to be serious about improving, i have to tackle my mistakes.








Here are my main problems with life drawing.
1. TOO HEAVY- far too soon. It looks like i'm trying to slice through the page, and thats just with my construction lines.

2. Confusing construction lines with the actual outlines of the person.

3. Not simplifying enough with early construction,

4. Being undecided about which method i'm using.

5. Too self conscious, - Stop caring and start looking

The first step is adimitting you have a problem


These were some gestures I did on the journery home of reflection of my self in the coach window. Started to fix the problems, started to relax, started have fun

As for the timing my drawings, I know everyone is saying that, but I really think in a more focused way if I work to a time limit. Quick gestures in life drawing is one of my favourite ways to work. I'd love to here anyones thoughts...