I don't have a clever name for my Sketchbook, but you should click it anyway.

[Nickles]

Hi, I'm just trying to get better at drawing before I start school. Any help is really appreciated.

Here are some sketches from today:


My dogs hanging out


Some sp attempts from the mirror...I couldn't seem to get my eyes right..maybe its because I moved around too much?

I don't know, one of my biggest problems is that I draw what I see and don't really see what I draw, if that makes any sense.

I'm taking an AP art class in high school and here are some things for my portfolio...I feel kinda out of place posting them here since it's mostly digital art, but, hey, I can use critique on everything.


colored pencil refrenced coneflower


colored pencil still life.. there's some shine from my camera right around the bottom of the drum..a lot of these wouldn't fit in my scanner


chalk glass still life


concentration piece of my chevelle colored pencil


concentration of chevelle, more colored pencil

If anybody has any helpful comments or critiques I'd be really grateful!

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Nickles]

I didn't really have time to draw that much today, I had to work

Here are some sketches from posemaniacs...they're all 30 seconds except the top left one.. and sorry about the bad quality my sketchbook is like a blank textbook so it's really hard to scan.



this is from life...the horns were just a joke, my dad was watching me draw him :p


i got a little crazy with the outlining

Sorry about the lame sketches today. I'll try to work on doing something from my head maybe and getting some finished stuff out.

I really have to finish my portfolio the deadline is in three weeks, so I'm definitely going to be very busy.

[Nickles]

I guess I won't be posting posemaniac practice anymore since photobucket hates me.

I'm going to try to finish a painting for school today so I don't really have all that much. But it's still practicee and that's whats important


I didn't want to post this on the dsg thread since I didn't color it or anything..I think it'd be fun to color it in photoshop if I actually knew how


I'm really er...not good.. at drawing from my head but I flipped through a hogarth book and then tried this stuff. i'll definitely go back and read it when I have time. any help would be appreciated!


these were just to practice shading

[ped454]

Ahoy hoy. First post !!!!!

K' so lets start. I think it's great that you've finally started to post your work. Improvement is bound to come around. I find the more you look through other peoples sketchbooks the more you understand why lines go where and how it works.

Your stuff is fairly good and it seems as though your eye focuses on what it needs to focus on. You draw what you see and that is where your issue lies.

I think that you have an idea of how the object works in 3 dimensions but when you draw you don't see it. The idea of drawing is to be able to draw it at any angle without any reference because the actual object has real depth in real life and on paper.

I suggest that you do some anatomy studies or life drawing classes to get your mind working. Whenever you put a line down ask your inner thoughts why it's going there and what it outlines. Think of your minds eye as a camera that can go anywhere inside the picture and then take into consideration the perspective...It takes a lot of thought at first and requires you to constantly think of why and how.

you're off to a great start. Hope to see more. latas

[Nickles]

ped454- thanks a lot for all your help! I think I know what you mean. I couldn't tell you what connects where on a human or how things move together, I pretty much just lay down the lines and go "well, that looks right."

I had a magazine out yesterday and I was trying to figure out the forms and shapes underneath the clothes of the models. It was really awkward because my brother kept walking by thinking I was just drawing the models naked. :p

Anyway because of the holiday I've been really busy with work and family, so I haven't gotten much drawing in the past couple days. I can scan the sketches from the magazine and some other quick ones I did tomorrow.

For Christmas I got a cheap tablet, and I was messing around with it before work. I've never used one before now and I think it's pretty much the coolest thing ever! Anyway, here's my first try with painter essentials. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to try more things with it.

[msvango]

Hello, I haven't been on this site much but have just finished my first sketchbook and was wondering what pieces other artists have been posting. This is what brought me to your post. Anyway, I do agree with ped454 about understanding your lines. What has helped me the most is a site called learning2draw.com. This site is full of how to information for all types of artists. Go and see what I mean. Todd, who developed the site went on to open up another site called alldrawnout.com. Todd developed this site for artists to watch instructional videos of him actually drawing. He explains the wheres and whys as he draws to assist you in understanding. He gives you a different practice techniques each month and you will be able to submit your own work for critiquing. There is a small monthly charge for the videos but is well worth it since you would pay much more for an art class. All I can say is that I have sure learned a lot from it. Your work is good so keep up the hard work no matter what you do.

[toastertoaster]

HEY! you're in the AP Studio Art portfolio class? meeeeee toooooo..haha well its my second year... i did 2d design last year which is some of the stuff you saw in my sketchbook....

your color pencil pieces are awesome! do more!
draw more from life and things you don't normally draw to fill up that library of images in your head! observe observe observe O_O

[ch1xx0r]

nice sketchbook, i especially like the colored pencil drawing of the jack-in-the-box; the colors just seem to "jump out" at me (pun intended). keep it up

[Nickles]

msvango - thanks for your help! I checked out the site and it seems a little shady to me :/ And, seeing as I'm just a high schooler with an after school job, I can barely afford gas, let alone an art class! But I did notice some free "how tos" and I'll be sure to read through them when I get a chance!

ch1xx0r- haha, thanks!

Here comes another lame sketchbook entry. Quality, not quantity, right?


I tried some more posemaniacs poses, trying to keep in mind what ped said. I find it really helps to kinda narrate what I'm drawing that way I have to pay attention instead of mindlessly copying. I also look pretty crazy talking to myself, which is a perk.

I realize my lines aren't all that confident, but I just got the tablet like three days ago so I'm trying to get used to it. I would normally practice on paper but the thought of scanning and uploading things made me queasy.

Here is a self portrait i worked on for an hour or two...I plan on finishing it in the next few days

Its reffed from a picture taken in sepia so I had to make up the skin tones. I don't know much about colors or skin, so any help would be appreciated

Now that I see it after not working on it I think I should definitely push the forms a little more

anyway I lost that one magazine drawing thing, and I have attempted drawing figures from my head but it's pretty embarrassing, haha. I'll see about some scannage soon.

As always, I'd love any help! Thanks in advance.

[Nickles]

Welll, I was up till six in the morning last night drawing, I had a little "ah haaa!" moment. I'm really trying to understand what I'm doing..it's hard but I feel like I'm learning, slowly but surely.

Anyway the first two I did last night amid the hundreds of other pieces of paper and painter files.

Then I figured I'd might upload some olddd sketchbook stuff to show where my skills are from memory. As you can see ref. vs memory is like night and day. If there's any tips on how to make them meet half way (say, dawn?) I would really appreciate it. I think it does have a lot to do with my understanding of, or lack thereof, form. But besides that it's not really clicking.

Thanks in advance for any help

[toastertoaster]

!! Nice update!
the figure at the top is slightly big by one head! tORSO!!!

im digging the old sketchbook stuff, very cool! haha quadratic formula ftw!!!

getting the hang at painting on the computer eh?! wooo!!

i know its hard to draw from memory, well trying to draw what you see in your mind onto paper..o geez...
i think you should ask yourself when you draw/paint anytime!!!..."does this look right" "do the proportions feel right?" "what am i missing, what do i need?!" all that stuff! hope that helps a bit

[Kai Black]

You have some real solid pieces here...especially the referenced colored pencil ones. I want to see more!

For some reason my math teacher adores me so she would freak if she caught me drawing all over my work I figure the more I draw referenced the better I will draw from my mind. 'Course it's no fun if you never do creative stuff......so don't only focus on the studies!

[markey2d]

hi there,
you have some really nice stuff here, good start to your SB, i wonder what it would be like about 10 pages.
youe portraiture stuff is really strong, but i think your figures and anatomy need some work. i suggest you try some george bridgman studies from his books or find andrew loomis' book 'figurative drawing for what it's worth' it is available for download somewhere.

anyway good start and good luck.
peace

[keith eager]

Good Stuff papaphobian! Those dogs are the strongest drawings I see here. I second markey2d's motion on structural drawing and anatomy

[Nickles]

toastertoaster haha thanks...gotta love quadratics! computer drawing is funnn I'll keep that in mind next time I draw. I don't put as much thought/energy into stuff as I should, but having to upload everything for everyone to seeee might help motivate me a little more. it's the actually getting time to draw that's killing me!


kai my calc teacher doesn't even notice me and i sit right in the front row right in front of her haha, she must think i study at home or something because all I do is draww in her class. and i agree it's no fun without creative stuff. maybe i should take more math classes to get the creative juices flowing haha

markey I wonder what it'll be in 10 pages too...with my fingers crossed. i requested the bridgman book from my library and i downloaded the loomis books some time ago. I really need to get better at managing time so I can actually read them

keith thanks for your help!

i've been having some stress problems lately..I have six hours of school, four hours of work, and any days that I get off of work my friends want to hang out. it's too bad my friends aren't into art, otherwise i'd be all set!

anyway for my new years resolution i bought an agenda and I made a schedule which includes lots of drawing, so I'll be updating a lot more often after this one.

Here is the concentration I've been working on the past few days

Its acrylic paint on canvas board. The back header pipe and the wire tie in the top right still need some work, and if anybody can point out anything else i should work on while i'm at it, I'd be really grateful!


really small study for school of some stairs in a library, we were supposed to experiment with charcoal. but i dont think i did much experimenting, haha.

annnnd, lastly here are two peer project things


I pretty much don't understand lighting at all.

My thought process was basically "the things closest to the light source are lit up, and the things facing away and which are further away are duller"

Add lighting to the list of things I really need to work on

[Nickles]

Real quick before I go to bed, here's a doodle, some hands/feet, and a posedoll study. Sorry about the doodle of the girl in the hands/feet drawings, I wasn't really trying as hard as I should have been.

More tomorrow!

[Nickles]

I have drawings, but I have no energy to scan them

I did do this yesterday for about an hour and a half, any tips would be appreciated.

I finished applying to college and I also quit my job so I can hopefully get the time thing worked out.

[Nickles]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add the DSG Sketch from today:



30 minutes? The light confuses me..I think I tried to do something much harder than I could do haha.

[Nickles]

Here are two more concentrations

One is colored pencil one is regular pencil...I betcha you can't tell which.

I have a lot of stuff I need to scan and take pictures of, I have some time off on sunday I'll probably do it then.

[Nickles]

First is a bunch of studies for school of ideas for concentrations, I figured I'd empty out my school sketchbook.





Random/Recent Sketchbook things:







Random Junk:



I knnoooooow I should be practicing anatomy, but the only real time I have to draw it is at school. And it's hard to learn anatomy and calculus at the same time

Admittedly, thats not a good excuse,
I'll start staying up later. I wish there was a way to make it fun.

PS> I got the president's scholarship from CCAD, for 32,000 I am still waiting to hear from SCAD, but tbh CCAD is my first choice anyway. So I don't really mind. I doubt they'll offer me anything different when you account for higher tuition/expenses etc.

[Nickles]

here is some sketches, some acrylic color experiments from art class, my first oil painting (I think I shoulda practiced first), my next oil painting 15 minutes in, and a random picture which I have the urge to put in my sketchbook.

I got my financial aid letter from SCAD, they are offering 50k (12,500/year) compared to CCAD, which is offering 32k (8,000/year). I'm pretty sure I've decided to go to CCAD.

My AP portfolio is due to take slides of this week, and we are doing a mural in art class, hopefully I'll get some pictures of it. I should have more free time soon-all the better to practice anatomy with haha.

I'd be reallllly grateful for any thoughts and critiques!

[Nickles]

I figured I'd post this real quick before I go to bed to see if I can get any input on it before I work on it again tomorrow

It's a tshirt design for my boyfriend, at the top he wants "megadeth" and underneath he wants "looking down the cross" (his favorite megadeth song)

the background is going to be like a orange reddish sky, and there will be silhouettes of two more crosses behind him, all on top of a hill

I couldn't really work out how to do the hooks/teeth on vic rattlehead or if I even could (or should) get that much detail in.

if anyone spots anything i could fix or change let me know

[Nickles]

how do I get him to stick out more compared to the letters?

[Nickles]

I officially need a new scanner. I had about 20 drawings, but I scanned two and then my scanner had a heart attack.