continuing to get my Watts on - updated a lil bit [02.07.06]

**quietadrian** · January 20th, 2005, 02:15 AM

Hey everyone, I'm back and recuperated after break and the very inspiring but mentally exhausting SF workshop (I miss it already). but I'm back and ready to get on with classes.

This is Quarter #2 for me at Watts Atelier. I started a new thread because the old one was getting really cluttered... this time around I'm not going to include *every* single drawing I do in class. If anyone feels like seeing the quarter 1 stuff it's here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=33900

Anyway, I'm enjoying it as always and I hope this term will be as rewarding as my first.

Without further ado, here's what I've been up to these first two weeks. Critiques are very welcome. There's so much to learn. Thanks for looking!

First night back, 5 min head warmups.

Long portrait drawing from the same night. My hand was feeling pretty rusty - a sign I should have drawn more over the break.

Figure drawing. I was pleased with portions of this drawing (mostly just happy that I managed to push things a little darker than I usually do-one of my goals for this term)

This model doesn't really have a frankenstein forehead. That's what I get for rushing into things rather than taking my time and measuring properly. Lesson learned.

This is just a page of quicksketches that I thought came out ok.

2nd week, 5-minute head warmups

Portrait drawing from that same night. Any time I thought this was going well, all I had to do was stand up and watch Ron, Vanessa, and Patrick drawing to put me right back in my place

Figure drawing from this morning. I made a conscious effort to slow down and take my time measuring and re-checking, rather than get ahead of myself. I think it paid off.

**|NTeRN** · January 20th, 2005, 02:26 AM

sweet stuff man! nice progress from last term to now. very impressive. what classes did ya take last term and waht are you in now?

p.s. im start at watts next term so se ya soon

**twoheaded** · January 22nd, 2005, 03:19 AM

GREAT PORTRAITS, I mean it. Carnitas-tic! Your sensitivity for value and and line quality is just amazing man. The last portrait of the bearded eskimo man is really nice. especially the upshot, tough one.
The quick sketches are awesome, love how you use one stroke to get define the form and a loose line to get the contour. keep up the style, its working really well.
The ones where you drew the gluteus medius, side hip, is really nice.
The lips on the lady of the first portrait is really well done, its a tough angle, I always have problems with extremely foreshortened lips. Great drawings.
The last drawing of the old man is nice too. The expression on him.
Man you making me wanna move there. But then I have to change my visa, go to Immigration services, find accomodation.
arrhh. too late for that choice.
However I will commit to drawing at least one head study every day till kingdom come.
Stay vigilant my friend. Keep me updated always. I insist.
Share your thought process/work process sometimes. Id love to learn.

**jetpack42** · January 22nd, 2005, 04:24 AM

Artists to kill:

1: Shinkawa
2: Frazetta
3: Chiang
4: Adrian

**Fusion** · January 22nd, 2005, 06:09 PM

Everytime I see work from Watts, the technique look very similar. My technique is terrible so if university doesn't work out for me I'll have to travel down to diego and get me some lessons

Fantastic work though! I might be jelous enough to have to create a "to kill" list like my buddy jet

**quietadrian** · January 22nd, 2005, 09:03 PM

Thanks for the responses, guys, it's very encouraging. Even the death threats. Nothing like the imminent threat of murder to keep you motivated!

Jetpack - but.. but.... we went to the bank together. doesn't that mean anything?? seriously though, it's too bad we're not in more classes together this term. i'd like to see what you've been working on-you've been making crazy improvements. i was really impressed by how quickly you've been moving after looking at the sketchbook you were toting at the workshop.

Fusion - thanks! The reason the technique from students at Watts looks similar is because it is

There are only a few instructors, and they have all been taught by Jeff Watts, the founder of the school. There is definitely a specific technique being taught so that's what most people are working on. Some of the advanced students and instructors will be practicing with their own styles, but most everyone else sticks with the basics.

Twoheaded - thanks for the kind words. I don't feel I'm very good at explaining the process, but I'll try. Right now I'm just following the basic approach that the school teaches - everything starts with measuring and marking off the page, and locating the center point of your drawing (which isn't always the center point of the model). It's a lot of observing and looking like a doofus while you hold your hand up to measure. After that you start looking for rhythms, angles and shapes, and try to get the whole figure blocked in with those while constantly checking your proportions and trying to think of the shapes as actual 3d volumes in space. That's something I struggle with quite a bit. After I feel ok with my lay-in I usually start to map in the shadow patterns, trying to spot where edges are hard or soft and rolling (or somewhere inbetween). After that's done then the shadow patterns can be filled in, trying to shade with the direction of the form. From there it becomes a lot about refinement, assuming everything you did beforehand was correct.

I don't know if that helps. I'm sure many of the other students at the school could it explain it better. How is your sketchbook coming along? I'd love to see what you've come up with since the workshop. Post it up if you get a chance!

ok, one new drawing from last night's workshop. Apparently January 21st is

Dress-Like-A-Pirate Day

. I wasn't aware of this, but luckily our model was! This was only the 2nd or 3rd time I've had to draw a clothed model, and my head was just about exploding from confusion. I was just happy to get everything in, to some extent.

**dadamafia** · January 22nd, 2005, 09:17 PM

wow this is the stuff i like seeing. keep posting.

**twoheaded** · January 25th, 2005, 12:32 PM

sweet pirate, your strength truly lies in your depiction of faces!
the left feet looks broken, maybe its cause the even tone. running out of time?
I will post stuff on my sketchbook thread as soon as my internet works. Im mainly loggin on at school now.
Dont forsake this fellowship of the arts! keep me updated.

**waronmars** · January 26th, 2005, 04:27 AM

a pirate!!! awesome, i love pirates. those life drawings are smashing, too

**jetpack42** · January 28th, 2005, 04:04 PM

Yo man. One of your strengths is being able to see the whole picture, and bring it all up at once. Keep workin that way, its really pulling things together for you. I'm trying to get over my mentally retarded handicap of finishing a small section before working the rest of the picture out.

DID YOU EVER KNOW THAT YOU'RRRRRRRRRRE MY HERRRROOOOOOOO

YOU'RE EVERYTHING IIIII WISH II COULD BEEEEEEEE

DID I EVERRR TELLL YOU YOURRREE MY HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRROOOOOOOO

YOU ARE THE WINNNND BENEATH MYYY WIIIINGSSSSS

(but it doesn't mean you're off the list).

**The Biocreep** · January 29th, 2005, 05:09 PM

nice work adrian!

**quietadrian** · January 30th, 2005, 08:16 PM

New week. As always, I appreciate the comments. I'm always open to critiques though... please lay it on if you see things that are bugging you!

**E.M.GIST** · January 31st, 2005, 07:31 AM

Your stuff is looking great, my big critique is still with your values. I do not know if it from lack of pencil control or not squinting enough, but your valus are a bit piecy. Your dark accents jump out to much from your shadow value. Do not get too carried away with your values when trying to model form, it is not necessary, look at people like Mike Mignola especially his old stuff like his Dracula movie adaptation if you can find it and see how much he achieves with only two or three values. You are doing great, infact you, Jeff, Forest, and Jane are all just kicking ass for only your second semester. Keep up the hard work and keep it fun.

**omarpac** · January 31st, 2005, 09:42 AM

hey ur stuff is really good
wud u tell me plz how u get the shading soo smooth?
do u use a stump?

**quietadrian** · February 3rd, 2005, 12:27 AM

omarpac - We're not using any blending stumps. Just charcoail pencils and smooth newsprint. The newsprint is what gives the smooth look.

Erik - thanks for the critique. i think i'm going to be struggling with values for awhile... i'm hoping the gouache class is going to help with that a bit. if you catch me making things spotty in class please hit me with a stick or something.

This guy looks really friendly in real life, but i ended up making him look like Charlie Manson, as someone kindly pointed out to me this morning.

Can't take a whole lot of credit for this one, but it was a good learning experience. My instructor sat down and worked on this one at the end of class, especially in the stache and the eyes.

Slow morning, I spent a lot of time trying to get the layin looking correct. When I got around to tone I tried for a more sculptural approach... trying to think of everything as basic forms (cubes, spheres, etc.) Don't know how succesful it was.

**omarpac** · February 3rd, 2005, 04:40 AM

thanks for the tip cud u plz tell me what charcoal pencils do u use like their values?

**dark pop toy** · February 3rd, 2005, 08:56 AM

hey quietadrian these figures are pretty amazing.. the rhythms in your gestures look great. do you think you could expand a little more on how they teach you to do those?? like, how long did the figures in watts_web_q02_012.jpg take to draw? how long do you guys usually spend measuring? any good place to start, like position of feet or.. center of gravity? etc

That's a huge problem I'm having right now, is getting the beginnings of a figure drawing to look that good with such few strokes..

**Sanby** · February 3rd, 2005, 09:03 AM

These are beautiful. I like your gestures, they look great as well as the finished stuff. Just curious, how long do you spend on each of these?

Sanby

**big keith** · February 3rd, 2005, 12:32 PM

those r bomb gestures

**fukifino** · February 3rd, 2005, 01:19 PM

Nice stuff Adrian! Man, I don't understand how you guys get that control in your values. I really like that sculptural study too, although I'm not sure if I like the way the abdominals were rendered...they seem a little too stair stepped. (I think because there's no light tone on the plane that brings the next muscle up after the shadow tone.)

Keep it up!

**quietadrian** · February 8th, 2005, 09:48 PM

more more more.

omarpac_people use various charcoal pencils around the school. most common ones are conte 1710 Bs, Wolff's Carbon 6Bs, Primos (Bs and 2Bs i think), and some people use Prismacolors too. just depends on your personal preference. i think most people start with the contes though.

dark pop toy_those figures were done anywhere between 2 and 5 minutes. i think that page was mostly 3 minutes a piece. that's the whole focus of the quicksketch class. a lot of the time they start with the head and shoulders, to get the proper orientation, and then the long gestural sweep of the pose to try and capture the action. each pose is a little different though, sometimes it works better to start with a more abstract shape or silhouette and fit the figure into it. the main thing is to try and keep things as simple as possible since there really isn't time for much else.

Sanby_thanks. we usually have a little over 2 hours for the figure and portrait sessions

big keith_thank ya

fukifino_thanks, forest. i agree with you about the abs on that drawing... my rendering skills in general have a long, long way to go. how come i never see you in classes this term? we must have completely opposite schedules.

trying a different approach to quicksketch for this page. our instructor had us trying to think more compositionally to get a pose to read quickly with 2 or 3 values.

first gouache painting, from photo ref. pretty fun medium, actually!

**critchelow** · February 10th, 2005, 09:31 PM

Very impressive Adrian. I too am in my second "semester" of atelier training at the Lafayette Atelier.

Just wondering what your typical schedule is? Do you do mostly life drawing and portraiture in charcoal, are you still doing some cast studies? How much study of composition and design do you do?

Also, on your quick sketches, do you start with gesture to get the proportions down and then lay in value. Or do you start with just a line or contour drawing?

I definitely plan on keeping up with your work. Good Luck man.

**jetpack42** · February 10th, 2005, 10:11 PM

G,

seems to me that your heads, in the longer poses, are getting pretty big on the bodies. especially on Super Mario, and the lady a little further up. It seems pretty noticable in retrospect...might want to keep that in mind. Quicksketches look about right, and that goache is dope!

**silverslash** · February 11th, 2005, 12:57 AM

jetpacks gonna kill you.

**|NTeRN** · February 11th, 2005, 02:04 AM

ya i was gonna say you heads are kinda big but jetpack called ya on it. aswesome stuff

**quietadrian** · March 2nd, 2005, 07:10 PM

more drawings!

jp and intern-
thanks for pointing out the big head issue for me. a good example of how your eye can get complacent pretty quickly. i've been double checking all my head sizes since. also intern, looking forward to meeting you next term.

silverslash- not if i kill you first! er...

critchelow- my schedule is all charcoal figure & portrait stuff, plus a gouache class. i haven't done any cast drawing yet unfortunately, because i think i could really use it for my longer drawings. rendering is always a struggle for me. oh, and the quicksketches mostly start with a "gesture" of sorts first, trying to capture the essential flow of the pose.

ok.

warmups.

i really liked how this one turned out. i can't take credit for a lot of the polish on this one-my instructor Ben sat down at the end of class and showed me some things on it. i was happy with the initial drawing though, thought it captured a decent likeness of the model.

this was an attempt at a more graphic approach. i pushed it way too dark, but it was a good exercise none the less.

workshop night. i like drawing this model, and i was relatively happy with how it turned out.. especially with how shitty the night started out.

feet. smelly, smelly feet.

these quicksketches were done with a different approach than usual - pure shape recognition this time. good exercise!

i usually have a hell of a time getting this model's likeness, but it wasn't so bad this night. similar to the other portrait, i was happy with the initial drawing but a lot of the 'pop' and nice rendering was due to my instructor working on it at the end. one day...

super mario returns

**tinyhands** · March 3rd, 2005, 12:55 PM

Hey adrian. Some really nice stuff man. Your making really good progress. Yesterdays figure class was pretty rocky. Should've done an easier pose that the model could hold better. I'd say on your head drawings make sure your half-tones have a "shape" to them. Rather than tone being smudged in areas. Making them into specific shapes will help roll the forms better and help accent the shadow pattern, not to mention getting a more volumetric feel to the drawing. Keep it up man.

-tiny(mark)

**dns2k** · March 3rd, 2005, 01:25 PM

very nice quick sketches and warmups. those to me are the most striking... you seem to get the forms right off and in the course of the drawing on some of them the measurements go on you. it is a problem i have as well. nice likeness to most of the models i can recognize who they are with out any problem. your feet studies are solid. by far my favorite is your gouache painting.

keep up the good work and dont mind me peeking over your shoulder.

-dns

**J.Mac** · March 13th, 2005, 03:49 AM

quietadrian - this is good work, i am very curious how you approach your head drawings process wise. if you could share what it is and how you do it, i would appreciate it.

-Jesse

**SpazMcFlash** · March 14th, 2005, 05:29 PM

Damn Adrian... if you keep going to town like this I might have to become Jetpack's partner in crime so we can get rid of your talent once n for all!
Just keep making those oversized heads to keep us at bay.

Hurry up n finish that next guache painting man! It's looking pretty awesome so far,
especially for how much more complicated it is compared to your first one.

JJ