hitchhiking the world of drawing (progress thread)

**antihero** · June 20th, 2003, 04:36 PM

# 0 // Editorial

Hitchhiking means walking along and trying to get somewhere. The Road is long and winded and it's really hard to reach the point you're heading for. But sometimes there are some cars passing you by and if the drivers are willed to take you with em, you're gonna move forward much faster...
ehem. So that's what i'm gonna do. I want to draw at least one picture per day. I'm gonna put up my results steady into this thread. Comments and critics (even more) are allways welcome. Feel free to tell me what you really think about the pictures, and how i can increase my skills. This is how you can give me a hike... (does this make sense ?)

I draw since some months. I didn't draw very much last days because i had my final examinations. You can see the "old" stuff i did on my website circum.ch by clicking on "portfolio".

antihero

**antihero** · June 20th, 2003, 04:40 PM

# 1

I have drawn a lot last days (thank mcm!

)a nd this is a first dump of the pictures i made...

A bottle i drew in the train.

self-portrait. done by using a mirror.

not that great. it took me about 20 minutes.

as i said... feel free to write comments to this.

There are also two sketchpages i did. I don't want to post them in here because they are really large.. You can see them by clicking on the links below.
sketchpage 01
sketchpage 02

**amphex** · June 20th, 2003, 08:17 PM

not loading for me..

**thomasaurus** · June 20th, 2003, 08:41 PM

me neither

**I.was.ink** · June 20th, 2003, 09:32 PM

or me

**antihero** · June 21st, 2003, 09:47 AM

# 2

The pictures should work again... if not, maybe hitting "Ctrl + F5" helps...

So heres the new stuff:

A chair in front of our house.

A quick sketch of a skull i made this afternoon. (reverence used)

I made some skull- and hand-sketches too. You can see them on this sketchpage03.

antihero

//EDIT: finally ordered a wacom yesterday :clapping2

**antihero** · June 21st, 2003, 10:10 AM

almost forgot these ones:

i made a lot of skulls yesterday.

Another skull... different perspective. I really have to draw with different perspectives because i allways tend to use the front- or profile view...

antihero

**amphex** · June 21st, 2003, 10:30 AM

When doing self portraits, or drawing anything for that matter, try to look at what you actually see, not what youve been used to interpreting it as. For example, eyes do not look like that, and your proportions seem to be very off. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get some Loomis books, and read them, and practice what he says! - http://www.fineart.sk

The first skull is very nice, you should do more of those, as you said, from different angles. Also, I checked out your sketch book pages, and that stuff is looking good. Do a bunch more hand sketches, as well as a bunch more of those sphere shadings. The hand sketches are looking real good so far.
Look at what MCM has done throughout his entire thread, that is always helpful to me when I cant decide what to go through and draw in my sketchbook today =).

Though I pretend to be, Im nothing more than a beginner like you, Im just trying to convey some things Ive learned so far.
Keep it up!!!

**antihero** · June 22nd, 2003, 04:34 PM

# 3

thank you amphex for commenting. I think i'm gonna get a loomis.

I really hadn't much time today so i made those two picks some minutes ago.

Some shaded back of a girl i think. Done by using a reference. mcm would say "lack of detail" and i think he's right.

This one was done holding one hand next to a lamp while drawing with the other what i saw (sounds terrible, but i think you'll get the point). My hand started to ake and the shadows may be a bit wrong. Don't worry about the smallest finger, it is correct that way.

antihero

**golgari** · June 22nd, 2003, 06:10 PM

hmm, i'd take a closer look at the index finger... i think he's getting to thin towards the end.
other than that, those latest sketches look great - very crisp & clear. i like the simplicistic approach you used in doing the shadows of that hand...

**amphex** · June 22nd, 2003, 10:37 PM

Keep it up man, do some more self portraits!
Regarding the back of the girl...did her elbow really look like that? if not, thats just proof that you should really draw WHAT YOU SEE. If the girl just had a really wierd elbow, then..still..lol, draw what you see =).

**antihero** · June 23rd, 2003, 01:25 PM

#4

well... here we go again.

Another Skull thing i did during lunchtime. Not lookin too good, but i used a different angle so it's what i've got to work at...

This is a _very_ rough body sketch and it looks somehow very wrong.

I'm gonna try to do a better one this evening...
Hmm... Lookin at those two pics it was a really crappy day. But i think things just weren't that well. i was told that i probably failed in my final examination... So that didn't really encourage me. tomorow has to be better.

//EDIT: sorry, i almost forgot that:
@amphey: thanks again. i'm gonna do more selfportraits... but i hadn't much time these days so i only drew during lunchtime. (the ellbow was different... 2:0 for you

)

@golgari: thanks for commenting. and: yeah, you're probably right with the index finger...

i messed it up.

antihero

**MindCandyMan** · June 23rd, 2003, 02:33 PM

keep your momentum up antihero...keep pushing. Good work. :chug:

**antihero** · June 24th, 2003, 02:36 PM

# 5

Thanks mcm! Erhm. I think... you said something... nice. Ehm. Actually i don't really get the point in your sentence...

Sorry for that, it's just that englisch is not my native language... A small explanaition would be nice...

OK. Lets go again.

I made those without reverence and they look very off. But it was fun to do them. And beneath improving skills and learning techniques drawing should allways be fun (IMHO).

I kinda like this one. The arm looks a bit weird and the leg looks also a bit wrong. Has anyone some good "Armtutorial"? I think that would be very helpfull because it looks like i allways mess up the arms.

I weird mix of simplistic elements (head to waist + arms) and a sketchy pair of legs.

Hmm. This one looks not too good, but i realized that it is important for me to work at my "Life"-Drawing. I'm not that bad at copying pictures or photos. But if i have to copy some real Object i'm really getting into serious problems. Perspective might be also a good thing to work at.

So that's it. I made another sketchpage which takes a little longer to load.

Comments and Critics very welcome.

antihero

PS: @amphex: Don't say "Draw what you see." , i'm really trying to...

**golgari** · June 24th, 2003, 03:11 PM

considering that you drew this right out of mind, they're not thaaat bad...and you're damn right, fun is always an important part of it. where would be the point of learning everything when you never can enjoy it?
i'd say the upper bodies of your three sketches look quite right...that running figure is also quite good, although you're right, the arms don't look that good. i'd say his left arm is a little too short, but i'm not that good in anatomy, either.
i think either his head or his legs are also a little bit off.
the head looks like he's running directly to the left, the legs look like he's running a bit "into" the picture

by the way, concerning the momentum... not really easy to explain - in german it would be "schwung"...if that's helping you any further. it's basically the force which keeps a ball rolling after you kicked it or which keeps a swing swinging while you're sitting on it. i think what mcm wanted to say was basically...keep on rolling!

**amphex** · June 24th, 2003, 04:48 PM

No arm tutorial for you! (soup nazi anyone??)
Get a good anatomy book!
I just ordered bridgman's guide to anatomy I think its called..check it out on amazon.com

**antihero** · June 25th, 2003, 03:39 PM

# 6

I think amphex is gonna love me...

I did some more selfportraits yesterday, late at night. Here we go:

The form is a bit off. Maybe because i realized too late that i didn't allways place the head in the same position and angle... Not really an excuse, but the light was also weird...

Mhm. This one has less details but is more correct in it's form i think. A combination of those two pics maybe would be quite near to reality.

Well... I also did some studies about the human arm (with reference). Here they are:

I started with a simplified look at the arm, tried a shaded version and so on. The bottom part looks a little small and weird. i'm gonna work at it.

Same tactics, different angle.

I made this one after the arm studies and the overall look seems not too bad. i didn't use any reference. The arms are still not too great.

So finally, here's the big deal... I made them during my lunchtime today and i'm quite satisfied because it seems like this is probably a first improvement. I allready told you that i'm having serious problems when drawing some real/3D Objects or environment. So here we go...

This is an ambulance (i work at a hospital). After i finished the sketch they drove away. the sketch probably took me about 15 min.

This is a small place at our hospital. I hardly tried to draw what i saw and it seems to work...

@golgari: thanks for the explanation, i think i get the point.

Thanks for the critics as well, i really appreciate that, and i'm glad that you took the time to point out some mistakes in my work.

@amphex: your advice seemingly worked well... (draw what you see)

thanks again!

I'm very interested in what you guys think about those last ones...

antihero

**golgari** · June 25th, 2003, 05:35 PM

hey antihero...
hmm, when i'm looking at your selfportraits, i'm getting the feeling they're kind of rushed. how long did you work on one? maybe try taking more time to do a drawing at this point.
definately take a closer look at the lips, there's much more volume to them. think of them as shapes and not as just two lines. generally, i'd say, spend a little more time to find out where your face areas are darker and where they are lighter, since that way you're able to render the headshape. for example, the nose distinguishes itself from the rest of the head mostly by different shadow levels, only sparely by real conture lines. in your second picture, the space between nose and chin is way too long...maybe try measuring a little bit while you draw? you know, using your pen to look what relationships in your face are the same (for example, usually the space from eyes to the top of the head is about the same like from the eyes to the end of the chin) and then drawing it.
the drawings from reference look quite good.
the car isn't bad either...although one can probably see too much of the right lamp...i think it should be more slim, cut off faster.
the place seems a little bit symbol-loaden. (the leaves or the branch, for example). maybe really try first to only draw contours...and to only draw what you really see! also, maybe try to define things via their negative shapes. that's helping me a lot of the time when i'm drawing something from life.
keep on going!

**amphex** · June 25th, 2003, 07:02 PM

keep it up!!

i think its obvious that your much more used to drawing from photos than from life. You need to work more on life!
Im sure you can tell that those sps neither look like you, or like any human for that matter

. Really look at yourself. Practice drawing individual parts of your face and make it as detailed as possible.
For example, just draw an eye, or just draw your lips.
Then get the proportions down (http://www.gameartworks.com/LoomisBo...ds/page_01.htm) and put it all together while really studying what makes you..well..you =P.

Your doin good, I like those arm studies alot =)

**antihero** · June 27th, 2003, 03:50 AM

Hello you guys,

just wanted to thank for the comments from amphex and golgari. You guys are helping me a lot!
I really wanted to post yesterday, but there are a lot of things to do in these days. I finished my apprenticeship some days ago, and yesterday i received my diploma and we surely celebrated that. So i came home very late and i really could not do any more scans or uploads...

The pictures will follow this afternoon.

antihero

**gooch** · June 27th, 2003, 04:07 AM

The drawing with the 3 arms in it (second set of arm drawings) , the one to the left looks great.

The landscape sketch also looks great, gives a good sense of actually being there.

keep at it. maybe someday ill get the guts to post my drawings like you and mcm. =p

Gooch

**MindCandyMan** · June 27th, 2003, 08:23 AM

I"m with gooch...definitely keep thinking structurally like that...it will help a lot.

**antihero** · June 27th, 2003, 09:02 AM

#7

Thanks for the positive feedback, gooch & mcm!
@mcm - have you received my latest email? just need to say yes or no...

@gooch - hope you will... For me it helps a lot to get some feedback from guys who know what they are talking about. And it also helps me to keep on drawing every day.

Here is a Collage of my recent sketches. As i said, lot of other things going on, so i haven't had much time for drawing. Yesterday about one hour, which i spent on drawing thousand of sketches with human bodies in various positions and angles. I wanted to get a better feeling for the human body as a whole object, not only parts of it. I drew without any reference. Here they are:

Some bodys...

I really like the one above. The long leg looks wrong, but the running figure as a whole does not work that bad.

Wanted to practise some arms, and this is one of em.

c&c welcome as allways.

antihero

PS: my wacom will arrive monday morning at home... :beer:

**Avetice** · June 27th, 2003, 10:24 AM

that last one is pretty good, I just wanted to give you something to keep in mind as you draw the figure. Remember that the human figure has body fat and it has a weight to it. Just imagine the skin as a blanket thats covering the muscles and the muscles are not not set in stone as to their form.
Example is when you flex your muscles show more definition.
You should do some drapery studies with the drapery covering some objects like a bowling ball or a number of objects. The drapery will begin to take the shape of whats underneath it, and thats basically what the skin does.

**antihero** · June 28th, 2003, 11:40 AM

# 8

back on track...

@avetice: thanks a lot, i'm gonna do some of those "drapery"-studies in future. Thanks for mentioning!

A quick sketch of an eye and some face... Not too good, i made some more, but i've lost the sheet. Maybe i'll put them up tomorow.

I spent most of the time drawing on this one. I used a reference and tried to draw a muscle-view and a skin-view.

perspective
I also did a Perspective thing, nothing special.

bye for now...
Feel free to comment.

antihero

**golgari** · June 28th, 2003, 02:31 PM

those body sketches are quite good. especially the arm study on the last one and the broken down person right above it manage to convey the pose pretty well. the arms on the runner on the same page are pretty good, too, the runner's left leg is much too high...and his ass is to thin

those studies are good, too, especially the ones with skin. i don't think that it's important for an artist to know that latin-muscle-names-stuff. but if you like it....

**antihero** · June 29th, 2003, 05:25 AM

@golgari - thanks and... i had only a profile-view sheet with those muscle names, i copied the names on a simplified sketch to just get some overview... Maybe just a waste of time... i didn't cut it after scanning because i hoped to get some attention from you guys for my latin skills...

not really.

antihero

**antihero** · June 29th, 2003, 02:44 PM

# 9

Oh my...

I did not do anything interesting today. Actually i only made about 3 Pages full with stupid sketches... Sort of an unmotivated sunday...

sketchpage

so hmm..
You don't need to comment today, i know they suck. ;9

antihero

**antihero** · June 30th, 2003, 02:44 PM

# 10

Hey y'all,

Here are my latest sketches. They are all very rushed so please have mercy. I received my wacom today and i'm still trying to get along with it...

Ok, this one is for killing.people. I just wanted to say that you nickname rocks...

I like the picture, even though it's very rushed and sketchy.

I don't like it very much but the crash looks not too bad. The clouds don't look very great.

antihero proudly presents. The first thing done with my new grafic tablet.

//Seems like there's a mistake in the picture. It only loads half for me. I gonna fix it tomorrow.

So, more stuff to come soon. Critics and Comments welcome again!

antihero

**golgari** · June 30th, 2003, 03:55 PM

hey antihero...
i like that fightingscene-sketch aswell - i think it captures the dynamic pose very well...
the crash...mhhm...at first i didn't recognize it at all, to be honest - but now that you mention it...hm, i'd say you rushed it too much...should have taken yourself more time to do this, going a little bit into detail. also, for clouds, the outlines are waaay to hard.
that wacom-sketch's not my favorite, too...the nose looks pretty strange, and i think the left eye stands out too far.
anyway, keep going, your figure drawing is doing great!