Eärendil's Sketchbook - Cast studies!

[Earendil]

Thanks everyone for commenting. I've been able to work more on the bargue, here is the latest scan.




Right now, I'm fleshing out more of the right side shapes to make sure those are solid. I've had to do some minor tweaks, but it's very good now.

[Earendil]

Whew!

[Earendil]

Guess I shouldn't have kept at it, as now my drawing hand is really shot. Here's some left-handed progress.

[jedininjaman]

saw this SB down way on the bottom and I thought I would bring back to the top
anyways the likeness on the study is fantastic, Did you use a grid or something?
and the values look great too, solid job on it overall man
keep it up
-jedi

[the ANGRY filipino]

that's just awesome man! let your hand rest and then go do some more!

[Earendil]

jedininjaman> Thanks. No measuring or aids on this one. Just started with a simple block-in, refine, fix, refine + 4 weeks.

the Angry filipino> Thanks. I'm going to see the doc tomorrow.

More! Her face doesn't look too wide anymore, yay.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

She's a beauty Earendil Ready for the cast?!

[Dahami]

Nice skies.

[kikindaface]

Hey dude, awesome studies ! I just think you should add a bit more contrast, you can see that the shadow looks darker on the barge drawing than on your study ! Damn, 4 weeks !! Keep it up !

[Earendil]

YuZa> Thanks, it's not quite finished though! I want to be ready though! Gotta draw harder!

Dahami> Thanks.

Walid D> Thanks. It's not able to go any darker (comfortably) with the graphite I'm using. The point of these is also to learn value relationships, so if the darkest dark is still lighter than the original, then the other values have to appear in relation to that.

Ok, honestly, I'm not posting another Bargue update until it's finished, which will hopefully be later tonight, or tomorrow. Tendinitis is better, but still limits the duration/amount of drawing I do per day.

In the meantime, here is my entry for the Battle of the Sexes Thunderdome. Topic was "Loss of Innocence". I wanted to depict a gay kid having to suppress his self/personality, because, growing up in certain families/environments, that's what we learn how to do. Let me know what you think.

And a 30-45 minute paint sketch of my camera.

[Earendil]

Here is the 3rd bargue finished. Next up, cast drawing!

[~KJK~]

wow, i love your patience! I would have given up already with that pencil work of yours! great job indeed so far!

[Earendil]

NoodleDoodle> If there's one thing I'm swiftly realizing, it's that I need more patience! I just want to put something down, but I don't think before I do it, and then I spend time fixing it, then I get more impatient...it's a dumb cycle, and I'm working and getting better at not getting myself into it.

Here are pics of my cast setup. I won't be doing the bust until after David's Eye, but I'm already looking forward to going through this one.

[Dissociation]

WOW!

I'm floored.
my art career is over.
Done.
Finished.

...unless...
I can learn from this!
Muaha! Yes!
Okay.
These are absolutely stunning.
Too lifelike.

How long do they normally take?

I'll be back...
Dissociation

[Earendil]

Dissociation> Yes this stuff is learnable! Mine took 4-5 weeks average, but the last one took longer due to tendinitis. I still can't put as many hours into drawing as I used to during this recovery.

Here is my first attempt at charcoal toning and block-in. There's really something magical about using a new medium. Everything works in different and mysterious ways.

[Janos]

The studies are awesome, I really like the perfection you get. Where do you get your casts from? I'd love to get something like that and try something similar.

Cheers

[Earendil]

Janos> Thanks. I got mine from Statue.com, but GiustGallery.com has some great ones as well. Statue.com messed up my order, and I'm not sure their customer service is the best so I'm probably going to try Giust next time I order.

Ok, I fixed some issues with the block in, then added a wash of charcoal to the major dark areas.

[Jamesy]

What kind of charcoal are you using? Will you be using different kinds/grades of charcoal?

[Earendil]

Jamesy> I'm using sharpened sticks of medium, and hard vine charcoal.

Ok so I'm learning how to handle charcoal better. This first image is the initial gradient exercise to try and get a smooth transition w/smooth tone. It was crap and there were a few things I wasn't doing right, like consistently keeping the point of my charcoal stick sharp.

The second image is several hours of awesome learning, on how to get a good tone. I'm starting to get a feel for it, but still have a ways to go I think.

[Kasper_P]

Wow that's some awesome progress on the gradient exercise but as you may well know there's a dull spot on the right where nothing really happens.. Keep working on it! The cast's are looking great!

[reme]

wow very nice barque studies there keep it up!

[Earendil]

I toned the BG to what I thought would work best, seeing the sharp defined edge on the upper right, so that was lighter there, and then the "not so defined" edges on the leftside, so it's a bit darker there, and I think that divot where the browline hits, may even be a lost edge. Same for cast shadows, make 'em pop, so keep surrounding area light. Not as light as the highlight on the cast I think, but I actually didn't check that, I'll go do that.

Toilet paper is a dream for this. This sable brush is good too, but creates different effects, whereas tp will be more consistent generally. I'll probably save the brush for small areas. Finally, the chamois does a good job of lighting up areas overall.

Super combos! I'm not sure, but I think I'd like darkening in the corners, or some kind of overall ellipse shape to show the light direction, and help support the cast somehow. Not sure if it actually does that however.

[Earendil]

Value relationships! nnyurrG! pld:

[strings]

Hey great SB, I admire the finesse behind your work/studies. Inspiring stuff mate. Looking forward to your updates.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

That's a solid dark right there bud! I see you are starting to work with the edges too. Very nice progress.

Are you doing any other studies on the side?
Keep it UUUUP!!!!

[Izer]

Hey those bargue's are great, nice pencils. And very nice studies as well.

[Earendil]

Reverie pics! I'll be uploading each pic individually in the official Reverie picture thread sometime tomorrow but here are a few previews. I just didn't want to upload 30+ pics, twice. Ok, they're up, here are the links. Page 1 and Page 2

As far as the workshop, it was amazing! By the 2nd day my head was spinning looking and learning. I got to meet a bunch of folks from the forums, freelancers, teachers, ReelFX...man. SO many. I was also able to stay with Jonathan Hardesty (mindcandyman) and I learned a ton from him as well. I also had my first Boba smoothie, and Dim Sum while I was down there. The museum of art had a beautiful Thomas Cole painting (Google, The Icebergs), and some great Sargent works too.

All in all, a Massive Thanks to Jason for practically going sleepless to put this on!

Finally, I'm including the latest on my cast study.

[Earendil]

Steady as she goes...

[Earendil]

A study on using photo reference. I made sure not to color pick from the original and to try changing little things to make it better than the ref. Usual mixed results. Edges...edges...edges...

[Janos]

The foto referenced image is so gorgeous. The added atmosphere relly elevates it from the original. I kinda feel dumb for not doing that myself. I just copied them... tja!
I love your dramatized water reflection a lot and the mist of course.
The cast studies are very nice as well. I think the light on the brow on the last one could be a little softer.

Cheers mate!