Franks FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFU sketchbook.

[frankfrank]

Hello , I'm Frank , 21, from Germany and decided to make a sketchbook to show people and myself the process of becoming a good artist.

I've had my first proper art lesson in September 2011 , but only got the proper motivation early this year when I got my tablet. So I haven't really been drawing for all that long. Ever since then I try to work as hard as possible though most of the times I slack off and watch a movie , try to get inspired by my fellow peers here on CA or just take random naps that mess up my sleep schedule...

I wake up , draw , go to school , draw during classes , go home , draw more , go to bed reading a Digital Masters Vol. 6 and fall asleep.
Such is my life right now.

Critique , comments and such would be nice.

Hope you enjoy my sketchbook ^^

Thanks.

[frankfrank]

Some environments I drew last month , critique is welcome ^^

[frankfrank]

Environment from last month again.

[Mike L]

Good start to your SB!
Only thing I'd offer off the bat would be to keep exploring line and it's integrity/fluidity.
This can be done by working up values too, and pushing a sense light/shadow in your forms.
I sometimes have tendency to get a little 'brush happy' in digital work, meaning I loose things to textures being a bit overworked...try a couple brushes only for a few environments and see how it goes...
just my two cents, not really a crit but a hopefully a few tips, there's plenty of wonderful eyes and minds here to help you.
Good Luck

[Shirley214]

there's plenty of wonderful eyes and minds here to help you.

[frankfrank]

Thanks for the tip MikeL , I'll keep that in mind , I noticed it myself that sometimes I just get too brush-happy because I want a certain detailed look although I haven't really understood how to properly detail something yet.

The portrait is from last Friday and the sketchbook from today , the things i draw into the sketchbook are mostly from what I remember or from imagination.. Not very confident on paper yet.

I had to make the pictures darker otherwise nothing could be seen.

[frankfrank]

chimps

[frankfrank]

More chimps

[frankfrank]

Some mediocre sketches from today on the tram.

[frankfrank]

And another chimpanzee.

[Cojac]

I like your environments. I think you should increase the contrast in some mountains. Keep working. Great job you have!

[frankfrank]

I like your environments. I think you should increase the contrast in some mountains. Keep working. Great job you have!

Thank you very much It means a lot to me and thank you for the advice. I'll keep it in mind.


W.I.P

I love environments. So much fun.

[frankfrank]

Portraits are really not specialty...

[frankfrank]

I'll come back to this picture at some point I guess , I kinda like the composition but I really don't know how to detail this picture right at this moment.

[Umbravita]

Have you looked up Loomis and Bridgmann yet? I'd recommend it. I think it would help to do some facial anatomy studies in particular. It looks like you're using reference, but not truly looking at the subject. You're using symbols -- eyes as a symbol look much different to how they actually are. Also have a look at facial structure to help you get everything proportioned correctly.

One last tip -- try not using the chicken scratch lines. A confident, sweeping but badly placed line looks much better than a scratchy line that's in the right spot. It looks neater, and it trains your mind to get it right sooner. It also gives your lines character.

Looking forward to more. Those are some gorgeous landscapes, you're brave to take them on, they always leave me confused and discouraged, lol. How'd you get started on those? Your landscapes look like you've put far more time into them.

[frankfrank]

Have you looked up Loomis and Bridgmann yet? I'd recommend it. I think it would help to do some facial anatomy studies in particular. It looks like you're using reference, but not truly looking at the subject. You're using symbols -- eyes as a symbol look much different to how they actually are. Also have a look at facial structure to help you get everything proportioned correctly.

One last tip -- try not using the chicken scratch lines. A confident, sweeping but badly placed line looks much better than a scratchy line that's in the right spot. It looks neater, and it trains your mind to get it right sooner. It also gives your lines character.

Looking forward to more. Those are some gorgeous landscapes, you're brave to take them on, they always leave me confused and discouraged, lol. How'd you get started on those? Your landscapes look like you've put far more time into them.

Yeah I have a few books from Bridgeman , I have never really studied the face so all I do is draw from what I see infront of myself , in those cases , people who modeled in class. But I might have to take a closer look at those Bridgeman books.

I honestly don't know what I do when I do landscapes. I just try to get a decent shape , work from that and experiment a little. On my last one I didn't really spend all too much work on...maybe 2 hours? On my previous ones i've spent at least 5+ hours on but at some point I just hit that wall and don't know how to go on. I'm not sure if this answers your question

[frankfrank]

It's been a lazy Saturday... I drew this from the Bridgeman book "Heads, Features and Faces" before I dozed off ( not because it was boring )

[frankfrank]

Some poses and my hopefully now finished environment piece.

[frankfrank]

Did some sketching while watching a movie. It's not impressive...but I have the feeling that I have learnt something about the proportion of the face. So that's a plus.

[Klaustrophil]

Hi frankfrank,
nice effort here. I personally think that you go overboard with your brushes and textures. Try the round default bruhes first. Draw draw draw. Your animal studies are good.
greetings
klaus

[Okkoto]

Those are some cool animal sketches.
Keep up the work

[frankfrank]

Yeah Klaus... I've been told quite a few times before :/ I can't help it but I think it really needs to stop before it becomes a habit. And thanks Okkoto ^^

[frankfrank]

Just a few small things. Need to do more next time.

[frankfrank]

.....

[frankfrank]

Something from today.

[frankfrank]

5/17/2012 ( sorry about the bad quality )

[owlies]

Hello, nice studies in here! You're on the right track, keep going dude.
Apart from what the others mentioned, in one of your portraits you smudged the pencil to make the shading more smoother. Instead, try to build up the values without using that shortcut! I used to do it too, but I learned much more quickly after I stopped.

But anyway, great work so far!

[frankfrank]

Can't seem to get the shapes right, ah well.

[keremcantarhan]

You've made a good start but you have a pretty long way go. I think you're on the right track you just need to practice a lot. And you need to get your lines cleaner and better, that's your number one weakness right now, try to draw them freely, without thinking much about it.

[frankfrank]

You've made a good start but you have a pretty long way go. I think you're on the right track you just need to practice a lot. And you need to get your lines cleaner and better, that's your number one weakness right now, try to draw them freely, without thinking much about it.

Thanks for the advice , however I don't really understand what you mean by making the lines cleaner. I tried not doing too many useless lines like was suggested in a previous comment and making it more "simple" and no smudging and all that. But yeah my drawing is kinda tense right now.