3-25-10

**kingcoyote** · April 17th, 2006, 10:43 PM

Am I really that bad guys? Man Fatty... Laughed my ass off!

Wow... I was beginning to wonder where you'd got off to. I guess that's what happens when you're finally able to steal internet from your neighbors, and can check for updates two or twelve times daily. Ha-ha!

Your gestures are wicked awesome... I especially liked the snowboarding oven! Really, this pen and ink work lately (and especially in this update...) is just lovely. I mean really just beautiful! What it actually reminds me of (and I hope you take this in the spirit it was intended, and not as a dig on you.) is illustrations from Highlights for Children. I think it's partly because the line quality is so pure, but also (maybe) it's the content. "Young people doing everyday things." And you just capture that so well!

And then we get to the "drawing done of friends while they watched movie" gem. What can I say about it? It's an awesome drawing, down to the way the upholstery wraps around the arm! Dude, you're getting harder and harder to crit without sounding like a nit-pickey A-hole!

Here we go anyway... in the first drawing... (This actually took me a minute to work out what was bothering me.) Okay, the guy that is turned so he's facing the bottom of the page... I really enjoyed (enjoy... it won't change) the amount of attention you gave to texture and shading through hatching, etc. This is where I had some trouble... I was looking at it, and wondering why you didn't deal with his face the way you did the other faces on the page. The hatching makes him look dirty. (grimey... I think grimey is a better word.) So... I was wondering why you handled it the way you did, and it finally came to me... THE GLARE FROM THE COMPUTER SCREEN! It was acting as a strong, close lightsource, and casting portions of his face into shadow! Okay, then. Case solved. Now, this rases two questions:"Why did it work on the arm?" It's bigger and less detailed... Also We're used to looking at faces (actually... we're practically trained to look at them. That's why it's so important to get them right!) "What can we do to avoid this "mistake" (I use that in the friendliest way possible... I just can't think of another word to use.) in the future?" I have three suggestions for this:1.draw bigger pictures, with a finer pen. (duh) This will allow you to fill in those levels of details. 2.Bolder shadows with abrupt transitions between light and dark... The idea here is that at that scale, there's no need for the subtle skin gratations from hatching. Also the skin is a different texture than the clothes, so why shouldnt it be handled different? 3. You were very... suggestive of the form of the hand on him. Why couldn't that work for the face?

Super jerk-face minor crit numero two! In the pier drawing... The guy under the actual pier... He looks like he started off as either a blind or semi-blind contour. Again, it's an issue of heavy shadow values. You went back and added in the shadows, why didn't you finish his mouth and give him some cheek bones? This would've aided his dimensionality immensely. Generally even in deep shadows you can still see some of the details.

Like I said, you're getting harder and herder to crit... But having to really look at what you (and everyone else, really) has really helped me be able to evaluate myself as well. You're doing fantastic work man, and are an inspiration most (okay, pretty much every) days! keep it up! I don't know where you want to be, but it really seems to me like you're making serious strides on your way there!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

**Zord** · April 18th, 2006, 12:10 AM

Hey Scott, you seem to be pushing it pretty hard recently, respect for that. The sketch with the friends watching Shawshank is really impressive, it shows tons of improvement. And your blind SP's? You should tell everyone where you got them from, eh? Eh? [nudgesauce] Haha, but keep'em coming man. The lines are getting refined all the time to where they'll be the finest lines in the west. But keep keeping it up for the DooM!

**mbetteker** · April 18th, 2006, 12:39 PM

I am glad to see you continue to push urself, its really showing. That movie picture really looks good, see what u can do when u take ur time!!!! its very clean though i still think it could use some darker darks for more contrast since im guessing the lighting came only from the tv?... By the way, if you want to learn how to draw tech drawings, watch Scott Robertson's Gnomon Workshop DVD. http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/sro04.html
I am still working my way til i can do them that well...but honestly i learned so much in that two hours of watching that DVD. It all makes sense and u really feel confident when giong to draw ur own, and his techniques work for anything that is techy...

**pennington** · April 20th, 2006, 03:05 AM

TFK thanks, haha, that's great compliment!
Andy glad i'm making you happy! have another sir.
KC man how gracious you are. you must have spent 20 min. typing that. i recently got a micron .005 and i loved it :'| may it rest in peace wherever i left it sniff sniff, but that's what i was doing the pen stuff with cept for the computer boy. and about him you totally made me think. i knew it looked bad and i just didn't know which way to put the lines. now i'm trying all sorts of different ways and most of them aren't succeeding. i better go look at some other artists around here or something. and about the pier drawing [ i don't mean to be defensive and i really appreciate your words cuz i realized i need to think a bit more about what i can do to a drawing later] but it was a 2 second glimps of the guy walking back to shore so i didn't have much time to think about the drawing. and thank you so much for letting me know i help inspire you, it's really encouraging!! take care jeff.
Zord yeah i'm pushing it pretty hard. thanks bro! and to everybody else... zord inspired me to do the blind sp's.
mbetteker yup i know i can do a lot when i take my time i just wish i could freeze people so that i have some time to draw them! and thanks a bunch for the link. actually i was thinking about getting that for a while now. just gotta put myself up to paying for it.

so here's another couple blind sp's

and some imagination stuff. hogarth is great. i drew the bottom girl and then i couldn't understand why the body seemed off so i consulted my book and i learned a bit. the only thing is i wish he didn't crop his pics so tightly >_< .

**ArcoNL** · April 20th, 2006, 03:12 AM

And again, showing boatloads of improvement. Your gestures are becoming very good and inspirational. You've inspired me to start doing more about faces.

Cheers,
Arco

**kingcoyote** · April 20th, 2006, 05:40 AM

I totally agree about hogarth cropping his pics awful tight! I've moved on to torso studies, and it's really hard to get a grip on what's going on because it's all out of context!

That contour on the right is great! Really dynamic!

Great work today! I'm very tired... it's almost five in the AM... Been up trying to finish (actually it's done, I just have to send it to Vigostar) my TD drawing. Man! I've got to learn to start taking things seriously sooner!

Sorry... didn't mean to gripe in your SB! Talk at ya soon!
Your friend
KC

P.S. It's okay to get defensive sometimes... Like I said, it was a struggle to find stuff to crit!

Take care man!

**MattGamer** · April 20th, 2006, 11:28 PM

i dont get the blinds. do they help you tremendously? i would think they're pointless unless your going to draw blind. hehe just me....

i like your imagination stuff. the mowhawk girl is sweet.

oh yeah MGS2 is awesome, have you played MGS3? i can't wait for MGS4 for PS3. w00t!

**armando** · April 21st, 2006, 12:03 AM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...man/412a01.jpg Unintentional humor in this one. Guy sniffing the other guy's rear. Alright, enough joking. The bottom girl is the standout for me in this new batch, good expression and use of line to emphasize the eyes and mouth.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...paint40min.jpg Be more mindful of edges. Notice on the photo how the colors don't blend into each other but stop sharply angainst the other.
I'm having trouble putting this into words, that keeps happening to me when I'm writing these responses, but it's helping solidify my own ideas. It's hard to explain some things without writing a chapter of words. Gesture drawing can teach us about design and the use of line. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...man/412a03.jpg Note how there's a sense of action on the stretching girl, what's giving this sense is the concave line of the back. The chest is also a curve with the apex near the sternum, like a diagonal line is starting from the seat and moving up in this direction, thereby pressing the line out at that point. This is all true since gravity is trying to pull the body down, while the seat is pushing back up against the weight of the body, and effecting the masses in such a way to get this effect. Notice the fellow on the left is lifeless since he's composed of straight lines, nothing is interacting..
Convex lines give a swelling active effect, concave lines are being acted upon. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ldoodles01.jpgYou used a concave line on the tricep of the girl here, but it should be a fullness because of the muscle beneath, resulting in a convex line. The upper arm can be simplified into a cylinder, which in a line drawing will be parallell lines. Subtly making those lines convex, () sorta like this except not as obvious, introduces a bit of variety and adds more life.

**guggemmaneuver** · April 21st, 2006, 12:25 AM

pennington, are you studying so much with pen to make your pencil technique better??? I did this and kind of wish i had kept up using pencil... now when i do my perspective on using the tool is totallly off.. i mean, my line quality is so much better, but i'm like a kid with a crayon who's trying all kinds of different stuff. like, one part of the drawing will be done one way, the other part another way, another part will have some embarrasing side pencil held style dark areas that look freaking horrible. ha ha... pen is good, don't get me wrong, just try to keep your pencil technique neatly groomed and not all unkempt like a dirty house--> haha that's more oof a reference to my own frustration than to your work.. that pencil drawing i linked above BLEW ME AWAY!!!! hot damn great work kiddo!!! gimme some more! and the pen studies are looking nice too... I might suggest finding ink artists you are drawn to and attempting to copy one or two of their works, (only a few minutess a day, jsut as your "warm up" type drawing) and i have a feeling it will change the way you do your drawings considerably. I actually spent some time with a coro sketchbook page that i printed out and have been working it up as my warm up for some time now... has helped me IMMENSELY... gets you into a whole different frame of mind, which is good.

feels like i'm ramblin so i'm going to tumble on out like the weed
420 baby

**pennington** · April 21st, 2006, 01:33 AM

yo arco thanks a lot!
KC hey bro! great TD pic!
Matt yeah i played MGS3 but only a little, kinda got out of playing games my junior year. and i like to do blind drawings cause my hand shakes terrible and it halps me loosen up.
armondo your thoughts are much appreciated! i'm takin them into consideration from now on.
Guggenmanuever oo good advice i've got guptil's drawing in pen and ink maybe i should start looking at it more.

anyvais here's today's poo

and yesterdays gestures from work and an imagination accident

a speedy 20min or so and then another 20 just doodling around on it. oh yeah i forgot this started as just custom brush expiriments and stuff in ps and i made a really cool one i like it a lot. uh yeah.

**armando** · April 21st, 2006, 02:14 AM

That old bum is an interesting value study. I also like the edges, this is all new to me so I'm having fun noticing this stuff, like the hard line on the shoulder on the right, more lost and blurry on the shoulder on the left. Keep practicing that sort of stuff since it adds so much interest to a drawing.

**Zulle** · April 21st, 2006, 08:03 PM

hi pennington
hey finally some rendered pencil stuff .. very cool - you can do it

! oh my gosh that cat is cute ^^ do more of that rendered pieces and try some composition in your scteches

keep it up!

**Qxzi** · April 22nd, 2006, 06:11 PM

Hey,

im really liking your poo update!

( like you said )

I would suggest you add more vaules to your pencil sketchs, it will add depth etc.

Qxzi

**kingcoyote** · April 23rd, 2006, 07:49 AM

Hey P! really diggin' the new photoshop drawing... I know it's just goofing around, but you pulled of a nice "50's era betty crocker minniquin-robot thing" that I really enjoy... I also like how the brush has a little harder edge, but still fades well. Good job!

In the second drawing, I really liked the Lollipop girl (she has a great sense of weight and balance... I also like the radial lines around her feet.) and the little truck you started... especially the truck. I was looking at the way you layed (is that a word?) down the lines, and realized that that's what you (and others have said it too) were talking about in my SB. I'll really try to keep it in mind... I just work really hard at finding my lines is all.

In the first one, the little farm scene (I just noticed it) in the old man's lap is cute! You're kind of falling back on the "make everything gray" approach to rendering... You've been making such great strides in the showing form department lately, but this one looks kind of flat. You know what I mean?

Okay, I'm gonna' be late for work so I have to bail. Talk to you later man, and keep up the great work!

Your friend,
KC

**ATLAS2900** · April 23rd, 2006, 07:18 PM

I went through your sketchbook 3 times. I really dig your relax gestures. You have a really good eye for form. Your photoshop stuff is coming along. I am trying to understand that beast myself and I know that what fun. You are doing some great stuff.

Check out my stuff if you get a minute: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...836#post830836

**pennington** · April 24th, 2006, 11:22 PM

umm picaso looking blind sp

yeah i thought this was good when i was doing it. now it's so boring.

these were fun i did blinds of my friends the top right girl is so cool. oh and the bottom isn't blind, just bad.

gestures of friends

more gestures but this time i asked them to hold still for a couple min.

and a friend sleeping

overall i'm not very productive recently. i think it's cause i havent been drawing from any anatomy books recently and have been looking at too many different styles. it kinda gets jumbled in my head and i cant figure out a decent way to draw.

Atlas:: thanks for the kind words. yeah good luck with the beast.
KC:: yo! your definitely persistent i'm so grateful that you keep poppin in here. and your words are definitely helpful. i swear my drawings aren't that grey really! i swear. oh well, man i guess i just gotta go over it and over it again to get the blacks darker. or maybe it was the national geographic that gave me a bum black and white pic.
Qxzi:: hey hey. yeah i know value. i wish you would have been there when i was drawing it so you could have told me from the start. thanks a lot!!! Glad you like it.
Zulle:: hey haha glad you like the cat. it was sitting in the old guys lap but i wanted to make it bigger.
Armando:: not sure what kinda stuff you're new to, but i'm glad you like it!

if anybody's reading this, i'm telling you now that you muuuust have contrast in your drawings, value is more important than color. it's the struggle of my life.

**Zord** · April 24th, 2006, 11:26 PM

Scott, your lines are improving faster than a bullet shot out a revolver. And I agree about the contrast, good to see you noticing such things. Digging the gestural work too, 2 minutes? Not baaad.

**tensai** · April 25th, 2006, 01:38 AM

nice updates man - pen work looks especially. like this one
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...man/bakery.jpg
nice detail and you get a sense of light and therefore atmosphere in there.
also like the face on this
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...man/audrey.jpg.

of you want to play more with value, go get some grey markers in different values. really forces you to break things down in different shades of grey..
10 30 50 70 90 % or 20 40 60 80. great to sketch with the lightest shade and built things up from there. and works nice with pen too.

keep it up man.

**ArcoNL** · April 25th, 2006, 02:34 AM

Pennington dude! Nice updates man, and I must say that I'm in the same position as you at the moment. Tried out so many things and so many styles in a short period, and now I'm not knowing how to proceed.....
Cheers,
Arco

**Sybo** · April 25th, 2006, 10:56 PM

nice updates, bro. Good to see ya loosen out ... even more heh. keep working on quality of line tho
i agree about the contrast thing. laters

si

**senbdoij** · April 25th, 2006, 11:50 PM

great quality!! and i love the blind and gestual drawing

**guggemmaneuver** · April 25th, 2006, 11:59 PM

scott,
this.
is.
gorgeous.

blow it up large and hang it on the wall, at at least 11x17 minimum. if you don't, i will. i will anyways (with yr permission

pretty please?!? ), it looks so over the top EXPRESSIVE. I LOVE it!

the only crit that i have is that the top of the head is cut off. Word man, great work keep up the fantastic journey INK FIENDING DOOM FREAK

SINE~cerebrally,
gugg

**pennington** · April 26th, 2006, 01:27 AM

woo! i finally some consistency.

this was saturday i was having a bad day, drawing just wasn't fun.

my toaster heheh and the truck in front of me at a stop light

trying out my markers some more

yay, random imagination stuff that makes sense. and i killed my sp, oh well live and learn.

my friend 3 or 4 min each. she kept moving. but because it was basically the same position the later ones were easier.

at dinner and in art history, i decided not to worry so much about taking notes and draw a bit from people who aren't moving so much

and my most recent painting, it was fun. don't know if i'm finished or not maybe you guys could tell me what it needs.

zord:: great to hear from you again and thanks for the DOOM.
tensai:: thanks a lot!! i took your advice today, i better do it from ref a little more.
acro:: hiya, yeah it makes for a real downer week.
sybo:: tanks man! will do.
senbdoij:: merci beaucoup!
guggenmaneuver:: haha thanks that's great you can do whatever you want with it.

**Zord** · April 26th, 2006, 01:34 AM

Scott, ni hao! Hao jiu bu jian! I'm really feeling this last update, lines = gorgeous. Especially in the toaster and the truck. But wait, the truck was in front of you during a stop so that means someone else was driving...RIGHT?! All the gestural work from your friends/class is nice too... that's what happens when art history classes get dull. It's always nice to get a little drawing in, just a bad habit when it happens every class period... but enough about that. Good attitude with the SP too, they can't all come out as winners. Every mistake no matter the size is a step towards progression. And i'm liking the distortion in your painting, it gives the piece a nice wavy feeling with the foreground figure being a lot bigger than the rest. Keep this rhythm going man, you're on a roll like fiber tumbling down a hill.

**ArcoNL** · April 26th, 2006, 06:50 AM

Great updates! nice linework.
I like the painting, the expression in the eyes. But something is not quite right imho. The hair on the person in the foreground and on the left side of the figure on the left seems to be 'disconnected' from the figures itself. Maybe it's a lack of dark tones, but some pieces of hair seem to float in front of the face sort of...

Cheers,
Arco

**pennington** · April 28th, 2006, 01:37 AM

woah, i didn't realize it but that was a reather large update last time.

thanks zord haha yeah i was driving, but it was at a stop light. there's nothing wrong with that. besides if i tried to draw while i was driving it'd be too bumpy.

Arco, thanks a lot i darkened up the hair a bit, but i can't post it.

so here's a little random painting i did tonight. procrastinating soes i don't hafta write my 15 page paper due anytime now.

**kingcoyote** · April 28th, 2006, 09:11 AM

I missed commenting on TWO updates!!!? Man, I'm really falling down on the job! That's the problem with having internet @ home... you always say to yourself that you can come back and do something in a minute... Sorry about that. I don't know how you got on without my mindless chatter! Ha-ha!

Anyway... This latest digital paint is be-yooo-ti-ful! Really. It combines all the things you're fantastic at (contour, lineweight, personality...) and Bengals colour pallet and simple sensibility (which is something else you're really good at!) Great job man!

I was thinking a lot about that truck you drew yesterday when I was driving home to Warrensburg (It's a three hour drive from where I live now) and even took my sketchbook in the front seat... Just in case. I didn't get any significant stoppage though. Anyway, I was just admireing how you're working everywhere, and really trying to draw a little of everything... You've inspired me to up my level of commitment, and to start filling in those "blank spaces" of time with something worthwhile.

Well... That's all I have to say for now. Keep on killin' it in here man! You just blow me away with the leaps of progress you're making!

Your friend
KC

**pennington** · May 1st, 2006, 05:55 PM

thanks a lot KC! your a real friend. i know what you mean about saying you'll get to something but never really doing it. and i'm glad you're using more time to draw. just don't over do it like i tend to do. there's a time for everything.

this one was just some late night doodles practices a fewe are copies of cotrons sb and then i tried to visualize the japanese girl from a different perspective. i can't tell how effective it is. but it's not terrible. then i tried it with and easter egg and a candy box. that's a great exercise.

next one Kingcoyote you inspired me to do some studies from hogarth.

cafateria sketches the one guy[with the ponytail] looked exactly like russel crow (sp?)

and this one's for Zord, i drew my friend with both hands at the same time. pencil is left and pen is the right hand.

some stylized portriats of him

a random head and then i asked my friend to pose for a bit.

and more random heads, trying to put bodies on them cause i really need to work on that. but i need ref for it.

**MattGamer** · May 1st, 2006, 07:32 PM

real nice hogarth studies and i love your paints too!
i'm sorry your hand shakes too much.

it's nice that you found a way to loosen up!

oh yeah.... you should check out the MGS games again... they are very fun to beat.

**kingcoyote** · May 2nd, 2006, 02:02 AM

You're right, this is a great excercise! Good job!

Torso studies are a bear! Ugh... I'm just having sooo much trouble with them! I really do think that actually figuring out how the torso works is the key to the figure as a whole. I was doing some sketch work for this TD entry that I'm working on, and used some (little) that I learned from the torso studies I've done so far, and they (the TD sketched) came out much better... much more dynamic than they would've otherwise. So... Like I said. Torso studies are very important! Keep up the great work!

I think it's spelled crowe... but don't hold me to it! Ha-ha! Liked the little value studies in the corner. It's important (I think) to do random marks evry now and again (eg. all the time) to see how they wear in different combos, and different "wheres". Nice work!

Couldn't wrap my head around this one...

These two are bad ass!

Take care man... I've got to get to bed... I'm fallin' asleep here.

Talk at you soon!
Your friend,
KC