NiyanaMae's Atelier Journey - MASSIVE update: 2/1/2013

[silarvalla]

fantastic tonal studies!
you have such a command of line and gradiation

lovely work!

[firstmode]

I like how you draw things on paper

[n1frit]

Great anatomy stuff!

[NiyanaMae]

Thanks Marian Rowling! I am glad they are helpful. Always feel free to ask any questions you may have and I will try and answer what I can.

Thanks silarvalla, firstmode, and n1frit!

Sorry it has been so long since I updated. Below is my finished Cast drawing and my finished 5 week figure drawing of our model, Jasmine. Next week I will post a couple pictures of the new projects I am beginning.

[Yor]

beautifull!

[NiyanaMae]

Thanks Yor!

It seems that for the first time this year I have a Saturday where I can just relax and catch up on everything. Ahhh...

Below are my two new drawing projects that I began this week. Both have 1-2 days worth of work done to them. On Monday I will take pictures of my work after only 2-4 days. My hope in doing this is to provide help to those who learn greatly by watching other people's progress. Please ask me if you have any questions about any of the steps I show along the way.

The final picture posted is of a 2 hour figure study done in Graphite. These are the typical Monday night drawing studies we do.

Thanks guys!

Also, I have a feedback question. I would like to connect with more Concept Art people on Facebook. Right now I have a personal account and I am trying to decide how to proceed. Should I just use my personal account and make it open to everyone? Should I create a secondary, artist, account? Should I just create an artist page that people can follow by simply "liking" it? Please let me know your thoughts!! Thanks!

[I-Bomb]

I could never get the proportions right in cast drawings like you these are real good I hope you frame them

[brentos8]

Beautiful rendering keep it coming!

[Marian Rowling]

Ha Ha Lara I hope you enjoyed your relaxing Saturday! I know I've enjoyed looking at your last finished cat and figure drawing, they look lovely. As you know I really appreciate seeing your early start on new works. I am trying at the moment myself to see that line between the light and the dark however we don't have a single strong light source at my night school class, so I do find it difficult even though I am squinting away.

In answer to your Facebbok question I would think either a separate artist account or a fan page. I would choose which ever allows the people subscribed to get email notification so they know you have updated it, I don't frequent Facebook often so I can only speak as a potential follower.

[NiyanaMae]

Thanks udonhead! The trick is to get the proportions correct as early as possible (refer to my second post below of the Brutus Cast). If you are able to capture the correct proportions early and just maintain them, this makes for a much easier and cleaner process. Unfortunately, I was unable to do this with my figure drawing. : (

Thanksbrentos8! Will do my best.

Thank youMarian Rowling. I did enjoy my Saturday morning and I was able to relax this morning as well. I hope your weekend has been enjoyable so far.

That stinks about the lighting at your night class, but I understand. :/ It is considered a Naturalistic approach and if that is not the instructor's teaching method, I can understood why it would not be emphasized. That being said...keep squinting. It may be helpful to setup a still life at home with a single (natural) light source coming in. Even if you do not plan to do an in depth drawing, just a quick study, I think it would still be helpful.

Thank you for your advice for Facebook! I have yet to arrive at a decision, but I hope to soon.

_______________________________

Below is a timeline of 3 pictures of the first 9 days of the new figure pose (Man Holding Pole). I am really unhappy with this drawing so far. On Monday I plan to do some major drawing corrections and bring the drawing to a more stable condition. It may look okay but the process has been really frantic for me. It became this way because I was unable to capture the gesture at an early enough stage, therefore, in my attempts to capture the gesture and correct drawing mistakes, I began to react emotionally to areas that bothered me instead of following a specific process. :/ This may not sound like much, but it is.

The timeline I am showing in the second post, of my Brutus Cast, is VERY controlled and what I aim to achieve each time I approach a drawing.

[NiyanaMae]

Below is the timeline for my Brutus Cast. Four pictures over a 5 day period. I have only spent 1 week on this cast so far. If I am able to keep it this controlled and at this pace, I should be able to complete this cast in the next 4 weeks or less.

[House Hatke]

Wow, Lara, I just looked at some of the work from the beginning of this sketchbook to your more recent works and you've made great strides. Sometimes it can be hard to tell with atelier type studies (I've studied in similar programs) but your lines show a lot more confident.

[Ellis B]

Really amazing compositions. Your work is quite inspirational to me because you encourage me to have more diligence and patience for my studies also

[Jonromero]

Thank you very much! and great to meet you as well I'm Jon btw lol. Its great to see you fondness of figurative and representational work. Keep up the awesome art i look forward to seeing more of your work!

[NiyanaMae]

Thanks House Hatke! Ateliers can vary in their methods and their structure as well as the quality of teaching based on the skill/knowledge of the main instructor. I have studied at two different ateliers and discovered how different they can be! The one I study at now is simply amazing and immensely better in every area than my former one. Thank you for your encouragement. I do hope and believe I am growing and I look forward to beginning painting sometime this year.

Thanks Ellis B. I am glad! I think the middle is the hardest part of every artwork. Keep pressing forward!

Hi Jonromero! So great to meet you. I am really impressed by your paintings! I love the figurative studies you do, even the quick studies. You have a natural ability at capturing the figure and I look forward to seeing more and more of your work in the future. Thank you for your encouragement!

Below are two updated pictures of my Brutus Cast drawing and my recent figure drawing. I will try and write more soon. This figure drawing has been the HARDEST drawing I have done to date. O.O I only have 3 days left on it too!

[sharks]

your blending skills are insane damn

Keep it up i love everything \m/

[Cameronator]

Coming along quiet nicely - Keep it up!

[Marian Rowling]

Beautiful to look at Lara, your figure drawing is starting to remind me of the Russian Academic drawings I so admire. Great to see the progress you are making.

[derekdedgell]

Lovely drawings! Look forward to seeing more, keep it up!

[Cyberman]

beautiful rendering, nice edges.

[I-Bomb]

I Love that painterly effect you put in your drawings

[Neyut]

your cast and figure drawings are mind blowing
can you explain me your shading?
it's quite fascinating how smooth and balanced your is O__O

[NiyanaMae]

Hey guys,

I am sorry for the long delay in updating this thread. My husband and I had an unexpected event occur in our lives several months ago. At the end of March my husband had a routine surgery that was suppose to keep him in the hospital for 2 days and at home recovering for roughly 1 week. Unfortunately, he fell into the category of the rare 1% of people who suffer severe complications from this surgery. He spent a total of 15 days in the hospital and has spent over 60 days recovering at home. He is on short-term disability, cannot eat or drink, and receives all his nutrition through IV. This has been a very long journey for both of us and hopefully by the end of July he will be past all of this and will be able to return to work.

Due to this I have had to miss a great deal of studio time and the time I was able to be in the studio, I know I was more distracted than I would have liked. I missed a total of 5 weeks, but I was able to return for our last 5 week pose.

The Brutus cast is just a repeat image from where I left off before leaving the studio for several weeks. The figure drawing is the early stages of our last 5 week drawing that I was able to return to the studio in time to work on. I will have completed pictures of both in the next few days.



Thanks so much sharks and Cameronator. It is always encouraging to receive such kind words.

Thank youMarian Rowling! I have only seen some of the Russian Academic drawings, but I adore some of the Russian Painters. Ilya Repin is actually my favorite artist and I have just recently discovered Ivan Kramskoy (Kramskoi). How have you been the last few months? Well, I hope.

Many thanks to derekdedgell, Sean McClain, and udonhead for all your encouraging words.

Thanks Neyut. I would love to explain, as best I can, about my shading. But I am unsure exactly what you would like to know. I use Vine charcoal and build it up slowly over a matter of weeks. Unfortunately, much of the technique and approach is very complex and would be very hard to explain on here. I hope to do a tutorial at some point as that I feel this could be rather helpful. I know years ago, before having the opportunity to train at my current atelier, I would have greatly appreciated a tutorial. I still do appreciate them!!

[GEB]

Beautiful stuff here

[Chris Sanders]

silly amounts of amazing-ness!

[NiyanaMae]

Thanks GEB and Chris Sanders!

Now for a couple of photos of my completed work. The completed Brutus Cast as well as my final figure drawing of the trimester. I am not too pleased with it, but considering everything going on outside the studio I am not unhappy with it either.

The final drawing is a two day charcoal study of John. I had a lot of fun doing it and I plan to do another one next week!

Happy 4th of July!

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Lara beautiful updates again. I think the female pose has a very soft quality to it which is very nice. Really like the look of the latest pose. I don't know if it is possible for you to do, later on maybe, but I would be interested in seeing the very first steps you take with your figures, like which measurement you use and where and how you start on different poses.

[Mane]

some back poses can be pretty boring but when the light is almost directly over head it creates great shadows just like on the last piece. Looking forward to more.

[NiyanaMae]

Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry it has been so long since I updated this thread. Last summer, shortly after my last post, my Husband went back into the hospital for 25 days. He was then at home on short-term disability while healing until September. Thankfully, Praise God, he is completely healed now and returned to work last October. I, also, was able to return to work at the studio.

Since that time, though, life has been quite hectic as that we had fallen behind in so many ways and had so much to catch up on. Now that life has finally "normalized" a little...I have a few minutes to begin posting again. I will post a massive update next week. This includes two 5 week long figure studies (including in-progress pictures) and a 10 week long cast study. As well as the beginnings of our newest figure study and a quick drawing I did for my Husband for Christmas.

Thank you so much Marian Rowling! It is always wonderful to see you drop by. I think you may be my biggest fan on here, hah. I will post the first 3 days photos of our newest figure drawing next week and explain what I look for when I begin a drawing. I hope this will help! I am very intimidated by a blank canvas and it helps drastically to have a proven process that you can use each time you begin.

Thank you Mane! Hope you enjoy the new updates later this week.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I look forward to posting more this week! It is great to be back and, as I have time, I will try to look at more people's sketchbooks. Also, if anyone would like to connect with me on Facebook, I should have a link to my account below. Just send a quick message that you are from ConceptArt.

Thanks!

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Lara, your No.1 fan here! ........hehehe So sorry to read that you and your husband have been having such a tough time. I really do hope all continues to get better for you both. I will look forward to your updates when you can manage.
Take care.