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[archipelago]

thegreypencil - thanks, I sort of struggled with values today, everything turned out metallic or too dark... Need to try and keep the light values in check I guess.

One question, are there any rules to rendering? my hatches allways turn out going in random directions, usually at a 45 degree angle...

I did another cast drawing today, failed horribly though




Todays SP, way too dark!


I suck at drawing hands?


Did all of these from my head, just shows how much Ive learnt from the books I bought... ie nothing D:
Anatomy For The Artist proved to be not that helpful at all, It seems more like a coffeetable biology book more than anything... or something. Ill still keep on reading it though, Im up to the pelvis right now

Life drawing class tomorrow

[thegreypencil]

heya!

well it aint too bad! I think you've got a lead about working on your light values! more importantly success or failure at this level is about what you've learnt from your drawing experience rather than whether you've recreated the subject or not.

so...the more things you find yourself noting down to work on...the more successful i'd say your session was. step at a time now huh

i dont do alotta hatching but your hatchign looks a'okay to me try hitting a couple of tonal bars before you do any rendering? that helps me when i begin to shade, it gives me some sense of order when i number my shadign values and assign them to the subject..like 10=darkest and 0=white of paper..blah blah...

hope it helps! keep em sketches coming!

[archipelago]

thegreypencil - thanks I should try that number thing, sounds interesting.

yesterdays stuff:





Subway sketches on my way to the lifedrawing session

And here are some of the better ones from the session lol, please tell me what I need to improve on other than those incredibly hairy lines (any good ways to do that?) and anatomy:








oh and sitting still for 2 hours totally killed my butt ):

[archipelago]

todays stuffarooney:



From head (omg I just noticed that it looks like the dudes in the middle are banging eachother! that wasnt my intention D: )

[archipelago]

Did lots of neck studies today, mostly bridgeman, but some anatomy for the artist too:







And todays SP, eerily similar to yesterdays D:

[thegreypencil]

hello!

firstly, i think its great you're drawing so much and posting them up. also, great studies from life, keep at them!

secondly, i dont think theres a problem with your hairy lines. its all a matter of personal style. you do however have to be aware of your intentions. hehe oooh.....mumbojumbo. its like this. what are you thinkign when you are layign down line after line? is it:

-im not too sure what this line is supposed to be so i think if i draw a hundred liek ones ill probably get one of them right. thats kinda like confusion and itll definitely come across to the viewer as that

or

- i like the flow of this particular line and ill try to recreate variations over it because i like the energy it conveys. this entails understanding and knowledge of the nature of the line whether is curves slightly or acutely and in what direction. it will convery your appreciation and your HIGHLIGHTING of that particular line and its aesthetic qualities.

im not saying you should intellectualise every stroke you make but you do have to have understanding of what your drawing. if your confused by the flowof line from a waist to a hip to a forshortened leg for intance, take a longer time to look and appreciate the curves, subtle and obvious. before putting down your strokes. more haste, less speed.


hope it helps!

[archipelago]

thegreypencil - thanks alot, your comments are allways helpful!
I guess I do have a pretty good idea of where Im placing my lines, but personaly I like clean lines better so I think theres definently room for improvement.

Todays stuff:

From head:




and the rest are torso studies:

[thegreypencil]

ooh hoo great stuff

i think your facial distortions are stylistic, havent seen anything like that before so thumbs up right there!

like the feel of movement in the mugging bit, though i think proportions do not conform to perspective somewhat...hmm viewpoints should be kinda low if we're seeing htat much of the mugger's ass mmm...coudl be wrong though..im not too sure. mull.

well work on em clean lines then

oh by the way, have ye tried the practices detialed by sarah simblet in the back chapters of anatomy for the artist? theres bits about drawing the pelvis and torso that i found really useful!

ps: just notice something about the back anatomy you've drawn(the one with the skeleton, which i think is from anatomy for the artist) them shoulder blades are supposed to slant medially and downwards i think. they're definitely not horizontal.

[archipelago]

thegreypencil - Yeah, the mugging scene is very off hopefully the anatomy studies Im doing will help in a while.
Ive had a read through the lessons at the back of anatomy for the artist, and you have to have a full model skeleton for most of them, which I dont have =/
Oh and yeah, those back studies are way off, I did them pretty quick just to find out where things are and such, I will go into more detail and proportions later.

These where done today, lots of torso studies still:

[archipelago]

Holidays are over =/

One question, whats the best way to learn about proportions, lots of life drawing or books?
Oh and are there any cons with using a mechanical pencil? I tend to use one all the time instead of HBs, would it be better to use normal HBs or what?

Did some craptacular torso studies today that I cant be bothered scanning but heres the rest of the stuff:

[Zord]

Hey dudey, your stuff's improving really quick. The most noticeable difference is your line quality and structure of faces. And to answer your question, learning proportions comes from books, life drawing, and constant constant practice. There's no real step-by-step method, other than to keep doing it over and over and over again. Hope this helps, keep it up man.

[archipelago]

Zord - thanks man! any good books you could recomend?

Yesterdays stuff (got home pretty late, french sucks =/) :



Half of this is from today:


And todays SP:


Subway sketches whilst going to life drawing:


And heres some of the life drawing stuff (i hate my lines D: )









And subway sketches on the way home, The man sitting infront of me gave me his pen for some reason although, I wasnt alowed to sketch him


Note to self:
I should do more anatomy studies...

[archipelago]

Yesterdays:




Todays:





SP, turned out distorted because im leaning over the table, I think thats the main problem in all of my SPs.

[ogar555]

Whoa! That's great improvement in just a month! If you keep this pace up, who knows where you'll be in a year!

[archipelago]

ogar555 - thanks man

drew lots today:

Arm studies:


Training my visual memory, tried to draw a bridgeman figure from my head, then correct it with a pen. Im planning on doing more of these, however tedious they are


More arm studies


And some more, plus playing around with poses *cough*


Todays SP, fixed my posture and it looks so much more like me than my other ones, I cant belive I didnt notice I was leaning over the table before =/


Mostly from head


Misc stuff


And from head


Thats all folks, planning on getting some loomis books, Figure Drawing in perticular.

[thegreypencil]

hey dude!

dead on the progress!
keep it coming isnt it all gravy when things come together?

[archipelago]

thegreypencil - hah yeah I'ts pretty gravy, feels like Ive wasted the past couple of years when I could have been drawing instead though

Todays batch:

[SirGreenSock]

Cool stuff, a lot of improvement all-around. Your shading especially has tightened up a lot recently. Keep up the studies!
One thing I'd look at is that you seem to go into darker tones too soon in your shading, leaving dark shadows and stark white highlights, work on developing some lighter shades and midtones for more depth.

[archipelago]

SirGreenSock - Thanks for the tip, Ill try and work on that

Todays and Yesterdays update, some really crappy stuff in here so watch out D: Yesterday I had a headache and had to study for a maths test that turned out way too easy, and for today I really dont have an excuse...





The goblin thing is from a nightmare I had

[thegreypencil]

heh..hey dude..we all have crappy moments..dont let it get you down eh..drop it and move on...its another great day today/tomorrow!

be mindful of your thoughts when you;re drawin as a wise man once said he he



guidelines are for reference only....you'll gather some of your own soon enough!

hope it helps! keep at it!

[archipelago]

thegreypencil - yeah I should try to understand the more technical sides instead of just drawing straight off. Ill try using guidelines tomorrow

Went to life drawing and did some thigh studies, nothing really worth posting though but heres the SP:


And today:

[archipelago]

This is from my head, done on and off these last few days, The guys pose in the background makes no sense :


And todays stuff, did some bridgeman studies/some other stuff that i cant be bothered posting lol.

Some calf studies and some random drawings, really need to learn how to construct the body, any tips on that?


And todays SP, started with some quick quidelines to keep the face in proportion, and it did help the likeness a whole lot! I really need to learn more about the technical details in heads...

[Orozc0]

keep practicing. you need better hatching and stronger layouts in order to define your structures. Also higher contrast would help, and by that i mean a wider range of values.

[darkwolfb87]

Very nice, I like your dedication I'd say make many more full-body copies of loomis and bridgeman drawings, and really pay attention to what the lines are describing. Like for bridgeman, can you identify the hip bone on both sides of the figure? The edges of the rib cage? I think once you internalize the entire body in simple, geometric shapes your muscle and bone studies will come into better use.

[archipelago]

Orozc0 - thanks Yeah, my hatching is crazy, need to learn how to controll it!
darkwolfb87 - thanks! did some fullbody studies today

Late night doodles from yesterday


Todays, should have drawn more:
Bridgeman, most of these are way off D:


Anatomy for the Artist


nose and back studies


Todays SP, distorted =/ and Im really having problems with hands, but Im doing them daily so yeah, should do some anatomy studies of them too.


And misc crappy stuff when my brain was saying "I dont want to draw thank you very much good sir":

[Cup of Joe]

Wow, great stuff archipelago! Your improvement over such a small time is amazing! I like your recent nose studies, and your SPs are great too. I notice back on the 11th you wrote "The winning days are gone".( I'm a The Vines fan myself). Overall, very inspiring improvement. Hmmm....I should check out Bridgeman.

*edit- I just checked your profile! Finally, someone else who like Animal Collective!

[sabe2003]

I see tons of improvement as of late.

[thegreypencil]

you're gettin there archipelago! aint it great now keep at it huh!

[archipelago]

Cup of Joe - thanks The vines are awesome, too bad they split up though... Bridgeman is really good for getting to know the forms, but sometimes his drawings just look like mumbo jumbo though
And yes, Animal Collective are geniuses!

sabe2003 - Thanks, thats good to hear!

thegreypencil - Will do so good sir! thanks!

From head, played around a little bit with cast shadows, something I really want to explore in the future


Yesterdays:

Bridgeman


Ribcage studies


And the SP, last page of my sketchbook, I miss it allready


Todays, I did some arm studies too, but theyre not worth posting really:

Subway sketches (super smudgy), been doing these daily, about 20 mins all up. finding it hard to render this fast though D:


SP, eurgh


and some bridgeman stuff with a torso from imagination, eurerurgh


I feel that my drawing is getting a bit stale, I should draw from life more...

[archipelago]

Todays:

A room in my house, didnt turn out too well, and some quick bridgeman stuff


SP and hands (aaargh! haaands!)


Reffed from newspapers, mostly the economy section mind you


And some bridgeman and anatomy for the artist