Just Another Noob Trying to Improve :)

[Thistlegorm]

'ey man, get yo' behind back 'ere and post some work!

[Beartankmaster]

Haha

Hey thanks Thistleborn and eroquii. I appreciate that I have people to chew me out if I start slackin I really mean that.

Incidentally I was gone the 7th and 8th helping a friend move up to another city. I was able to get some drawing done there but I was tired and hadn't slept that night so I feel it wasn't very productive. I had crumpled up the storm trooper helmet thing(I was drawing it from a piggy bank the guy had) because I thought I'd reached a point of diminishing returns but then I remembered that I committed to posting everything so I dug it out of the trash. Also tried to draw my friend sleeping(asked him beforehand) but he kept moving :/.

I did a decent amount of hands as well. These are the first I've drawn from life. I had a lot of anxiety setting out to the task because I've heard so many artists go on about how difficult they are but I was pleasantly surprised at my results; not by any means satisfied though.

The ones I'm posting took around 15 minutes each I'd guess but I didn't time them. I had drawn a lot more hands from Bridgman's Book of a Hundred Hands but I accidentally left those at the library(it's where I go to work free of distractions) and someone threw them away :/.

Also I found some old work that I did for a highschool art class I took a few years ago. I didn't really enjoy the class and the work isn't that great but I'll attach them to the first page for the sake of showing development. That art teacher made us ABUSE tortillons(I may have spelled that wrong) lol.

I did some character creation work but I don't want to post anything more than the little rough draft guy as I intend for the project to be a sort of comic book and some elements of his design might spoil things(not that I think anyone cares, but yeah). I'll post all of that stuff when I post the full, completed work.

The past 2 days or so I was busy trying to register for spring semester classes and get all my books and stuff. Firefox was giving me warning when I tried to get on so I thought it'd be best to steer clear for a couple of days until the dust settled. It looks like it's alright now though .

I was able to get into a life drawing class which I'm really excited about. The requisite was the introductory drawing class which I hadn't taken yet but I explained why I thought it was something I really needed, showed some of my stuff and said that I didn't even care if I got credit for the class and I was able to get in(while still getting credit for it) =D.

I have no shame. lol

My art classes I'm enrolled in are: an introductory drawing course, a color theory course, an art history course(Renaissance to 1900s), and the figure drawing course.

Also I found one of Bammes' books in Barnes and Noble(I had no idea there were English translations) and swiftly proceeded to procure it . I'll be studying from that a lot I expect.

[kamikazel33t]

Hey buddy! I just wanted to say that I pretty much went down the same path with hands! xD A little tip which really helped me is to try and break it down into perspective cubes. My process when drawing hands is that I draw the quick gesture of the hand keeping under a minute so that I know where everything is placed and get the rough idea of the proportions. Then over the gestures I draw the cube for the palm and the draw the fingers attached to the palm using ellipses, after that I simply just start filling in the details and rounding everything up. This probably sounds like a smooth process when I say it but it is a big problem because a slight movement of the hand could lead to a complete change of perspective and then you would have difficulty checking the proportions and stuff that is why you really need a strong gesture in the beginning.

[eroquii]

You still did quite a big update despite being away for a bit! I see you managed to get some creative work down finally huh. That dude is from your imagination right? He's pretty cool!

From your life study of your friend, I think you suffer from the same thing as me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to get a little caught up in details before you check if your proportions/perspective are correct. The left brow is a bit off. Try using guidelines maybe and see if that helps!

[Beartankmaster]

Thanks man yeah I probably should've started with constructing the head and making sure I've got a frame work to work with before getting into specifics. I've found myself having to erase a lot of my hand drawings because I get half way through and then see some mortal error lol.

[nouge]

Hey! Good and varied studies here. I especially like the hand where you tried to make a harpy-like point, the gesture turned out very life-like.

About this cube:

I think an angle less than 90° is impossible, so try to avoid those.

Keep it up!

[Beartankmaster]

Hey! Good and varied studies here. I especially like the hand where you tried to make a harpy-like point, the gesture turned out very life-like.

About this cube:

I think an angle less than 90° is impossible, so try to avoid those.

Keep it up!

oh thanks i didn't even see that. you've been a big help with perspective

[Beartankmaster]

Did my first digital painting today came out better than I expected but I'm not really satisfied with the end product.

[eroquii]

It came out great man. I was actually thinking about doing some painting, but I have no idea where to start. Did you use any resources or did you just kinda go for it?

[Beartankmaster]

It came out great man. I was actually thinking about doing some painting, but I have no idea where to start. Did you use any resources or did you just kinda go for it?

thanks man it was done off of bumskee's tutorial.

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...inting-In-PS-2

[AdrienneRose]

The apple looks SO shiny! Great job capturing that!

[Sumgai83]

Hey! Good and varied studies here. I especially like the hand where you tried to make a harpy-like point, the gesture turned out very life-like.

About this cube:

I think an angle less than 90° is impossible, so try to avoid those.

Keep it up!

Just a question. If it's below the horizon line, does it mean you're looking downwards at it?

To clarify ---> below horizon line = three point perspective = three vanishing points = sides should get smaller near the bottom??

Does it work that way? Because I've been drawing for quite a bit and it seems so to me.

[nouge]

Yeah, you're right. With the right and left vanishing points as close together as here it would be more correct to do a 3-point perspective.

When the vanishing points on the horizon are far away from each other (compared to the size of the object drawn) then you can simplify to a 2-point perspective. You can think of it as a zoom lens on a camera. If you're taking a picture of a building with a wide angle lens (zooming out and standing so that the building fills the image), then you will clearly see the vertical lines converging against the same point (third point), above you if you're looking up. If you zoom in then you'll have to go further away from the building for it to fill the picture the same way, and from this distance the vertical lines won't be converging as quickly, and to your eye they might as well be parallel (2 point perspective). I'm no expert (yet!), so take this with a pinch of salt, but this is how I think of it.

[Beartankmaster]

Did one from life this time. I think I chose colors that were too light a lot of the time. I feel like I learned a lot though.

Also I realized I've been doing this whole sketchbook thing for a month today onwards!

@AdrienneRose

hey thanks I appreciate the feedback

@Sumgai83

I had no idea man thanks for pointing that out.

@nouge

to the rescue again on the perspective issues haha =D. I really appreciate it man. When I get good enough I promise I'll give advice to newbies like you have

[Aquascale]

Hey man, this is looking great! Those apples in particular are very appealing. I'm loving all of the studies, it's something I have yet to crack down on! Keep it up! (:

[ninaren]

Hey! Glad that you started a SB, I think that you are doing really great so far. I dont have so much critique at this moment, its 2 in the night where I live and I just wanted to stop by and drop a line. I think that your still life studys are coming out really nice and just keep doing them. Have fun with your art classes

[Beartankmaster]

@Aquascale

thanks man I appreciate it

[Beartankmaster]

Hey! Glad that you started a SB, I think that you are doing really great so far. I dont have so much critique at this moment, its 2 in the night where I live and I just wanted to stop by and drop a line. I think that your still life studys are coming out really nice and just keep doing them. Have fun with your art classes

thanks for the kind words I feel like I could be better for a month but we can only move forward from here

[AdrienneRose]

You may feel like you don't know what you're doing, but it looks like an apple to me!! A very nice one. Man, I think I need to buy a damn apple now... *sigh*. Well... I do have bananas, and Kiwi all the time. But... They're not AN APPLE. lol. I need to learn more painting.

I think you're doing very well!! Keep it up bro!

[Thistlegorm]

I'm loving those apples, nice job with the colors! you're posting a good amount of work, as always, keep pushing, and when in doubt, think about what your past self would say if he was shown your more recent drawings

[GrayPersona]

nice apples ,my advice though is to focus on drawing before moving to painting-good drawing then good value then good color.
keep working hard!

[Beartankmaster]

Not much today. Tired and I start classes tomorrow. I'll post more then even from the little bit I did however I learned quite a bit. I think I'll like Bammes. He seems to have a knack for breaking things down effectively.

Thanks for the kind words guys. I've been at this for a month and 2 days today and I don't know if I would've gone that long without the feedback and accountability here. I say this a lot but I really appreciate it. That's good advice by the way Thistleborn. As of right now my priorities are anatomy, drawing from life, and perspective. Though I haven't really been living up to them I think my past self would be want to see some gesture drawings, perspective work, and some more hands.

Also thanks GrayPersona for the advice the painting thing was kind of a detour just to see if I could do it. I'm satisfied for now and am returning to the fundamentals I was kind of afraid that if I tried to paint anything it'd be horrendous. I'm just glad I didn't make any eyes bleed lol


Looking at the little message I wrote, I meant to have the guy say "mountain of painting" lol. That comment makes no sense as it stands.

[eroquii]

Good studies bro. Try doodling the figure from memory too. It might help it stick better. I actually skimmed through Bammes and was thinking of hitting him up hard soon. You should look at Hampton if you haven't already by the way. I think you'd enjoy him too.

[lionheartGFX]

i see your cramming the knowledge in your head, dont forget to apply it, or you WILL forget it in time, also i love seeing quick figures try to do longer ones at the end of the session (2 10 minute figures are fine) because the way i see it the quick gestures are only to get your eye ready for making those big and long poses that take time to figure out its almost like a puzzle and a very VERY fun puzzle at that! also try to aaaalways input shadow information and think about where light is in ANY drawing, because by doing just that eventually you will begint to feel shadows better doesnt have to be the whole shebang simple and quick is fine just a little reminder to always work with shadow and eventually you will do this without thinking

cant wait to see mroe stuff dude keep it up!

[Beartankmaster]

@eroquii hey thanks man I actually did that over the last few days. I was kind of stuck with nothing to do lol. Also I have Hampton he's on my to do list along with Loomis, Hogarth, Vilppu, Bridgman, Bammes and probably Vanderpoel(in no particular order)

@lionheartGFX oh hey it's you! =D I always love it when someone whose sketchbook I've visited or subscribed to takes the time to comment on mine . Thanks for the advice man. I've been drawing away from my computer a lot to avoid distractions but it's been a while since I've done some gestures. I could maybe pick up a reference or something. I've heard Anatomy for the Artist is good. But anyway I'll be sure to incorporate shadows. That's something I've been seeing a lot in this Bammes book as I've been reading it.



So I had my first days of classes yesterday and today err...again yesterday technically O_o it's after midnight. I'm excited. I think this is the first time I've ever been excited about school to any real degree.

I was kind of afraid that my drawing teacher would teach some sort of new-age-y bullshit after reading Mindcandyman's story about how his teacher had no respect at all for the masters and discouraged attempts at realism but I was pleased with my teachers . The teacher for my drawing course also teaches my color theory course. She's cool. She emphasized the importance of discipline, linework and perspective in the first class; said we'd be starting with linework. So she had us do some blind contours of one another and then do a regular contour drawing. We had a minute to do each and we weren't allowed to pick up our pencils. In color theory she said the first half of the semester we'd basically be making a shitload of swatches(not her words) lol and for the first half of drawing pretty much all we're doing is still lifes. I'm pretty stoked.

I have a feeling a lot of the kids in there are gonna drop. There were a few who were sighing at the parts where she'd emphasize needing to work hard and whatnot. It was basically what you'd expect at an entry level community college art course. Especially in the way of anime fans and the like lol . Not that I mind anime, I'm just staying away from it in my development after reading countless threads on /ic/ about how it's SO HARD for people to draw anything other than anime once they start.

In both classes some of her past students said the teacher was a slave driver. I'm glad about this =D my intent is to do 3x the homework.

One of our assignments was to try and draw our shoe from memory(1 minute) and then draw our actual shoe. I think she meant 1 minute on the shoe but she didn't specify so I just treated it like a still life. Also I'm supposed to get 5 objects and draw blind and regular contours of them( 1 minute each) I'll post those in a sec but I wanted to update

My art history teacher seems pretty cool. He's from Mississippi and has a rat-tail but he also wears a pretty classy suit . He doesn't have much of an accent surprisingly. The course covers Renaissance to 1900s. The other two that were available to me were Ancient to Medieval and I think 1900s to Modern. He seems like a nice guy. Told us that so long as we didn't "come at me bro"(yes he used those words) we'd be fine =D.

My figure drawing teacher is equally cool; also emphasized discipline and drawing from the shoulder/elbow. She passed out some Hogarth pages as handouts and told us that we can expect to do literally hundreds of drawings in the first half of the semester. She told us to do a quick 30 second gesture drawing of her and I was like "I got this." mentally . She's pretty nice. After we were done seemed pleased and said something like "We have some talent in this class. You guys thought I wasn't looking didn't you? But I was!" while looking at me and this other girl who kept making Doctor Who references, and then she laughed.

I know I'm still crappy but it was nice to receive a compliment, even if it was on a little gesture drawing and indirect.


I'm kind of freaked out to draw from my imagination also guys. I was trying it in the commons today and the whole time I was expecting someone to walk up behind me and go "Dude that sucks." lol. I'm not even a self conscious person. I'm really confident in other aspects of my life but the thought of drawing in public spaces kind of irks me. But I think the main reason I have some anxiety about drawing from my imagination is cause I know it'll be shitty and I feel like I should be studying. Like whenever I go to start some sort of creature scribble or like an orc drawing I just end up feeling guilty for not spending my time "productively" and then end up crumpling it up and throwing it away before I even really start. Nonetheless I did a little proportion doodle from my mind in the few minutes between class I had.

I've been reading a lot in general and watching some of Feng Zhu's vids and I don't want to be stuck in an illustrative mindset(not that there's anything wrong with illustration). I want to create eventually. I just feel like I don't have the tools to make my ideas come out right now. I kind of wish I had the shamelessness I had as a kid. I'd draw terrible DragonballZ characters and Pokemon without a care in the world. I wonder what happened to that mindframe :/ it seems a shame to me that it was lost. Perhaps I can regain it.

Sorry for the long post; it was basically a journal entry lol. I'm gonna go do the remainder of my homework and maybe extract something from my mind. It won't be easy to get out.

I'll need pliers, razorblades, and lemon juice.

[Beartankmaster]

These amuse me =D.

[nouge]

Nice journal entry, I liked it Sounds like it'll be a lot of fun, as you've got the right mindset and ambitions.

About drawing in public: try to ease into it. Just do simple drawings you don't mind screwing up, and you'll soon notice people don't really have anything negative to say. If they say anything other than "nice" it'll be something like "looks like a dog" or "looks like a tree", people are usually just curious about what you're drawing.

For your contour drawings, I think some simple line practice could be useful. Draw long, slow lines from the shoulder. Just fill a sheet with those now and then, no lifting the pencil and erasing, just focusing on getting them parallel with the edge of the paper. It'll get you used to doing controlled continuous lines, it was very helpful for me at least.

Good job, and keep it up!

[JordyLakiere]

You're doing the right stuff man - the apple studies are looking great. Make sure to apply what you have learned to some more creative interesting "for fun" drawings as you go along - creativeness and imaginary stuff (+ finding what you enjoy) is also a skill you shouldn't neglect practicing.

[Beartankmaster]

Just a little update. I'm pretty sick. I think I caught a flu that was going around my campus. Hopefully it'll resolve itself soon. I've been doing some more character design stuff from imagination. Again, I don't want to post it until the final work or at least a kind of rough draft is complete. I'm not so anxious about not being able to form ideas as I was before. I thought about it and I realized that I can envision the scenes and characters in my head and can think of ways I'd articulate their descriptions if I were working in prose; so the ideas are there. I just don't know how to portray them correctly yet. I think one of the major reasons is a lack of perspective understanding. That's going to be my focus for the next few days or until I get it down to the point where I feel I can create environments with characters in them. I'll post some grid practice a bit later.

On Thursday I did my first drawings from a live model in my figure drawing class. They were mainly gestures on 18x24 newsprint paper. The teacher is pretty oldschool and has a strict "no technology policy" like not even cell phones on silent. I'm going to explain what I'm doing and ask if I can take photos of my work after class to upload here though. I think it should be fine. She's pretty nice. There's also a figure drawing club that one of the students is trying to start. I'm gonna email him to express my interest and hopefully it'll get off the ground.

My art history teacher did something I thought was funny that same day. It was the second class so we kind of had an "introduction/brief summary of art up to the Renaissance" lecture and he said: "Alright now it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff." then he threw up a Thomas Kinkade painting along with a few other examples of what fine art isn't. lol =D

We've started swatches in Color Theory. Mixing primaries to create secondaries and all that sort of thing. It's also at school lol :/ but I'm gonna make three of them in Photoshop. We're doing a still life in Drawing I we were told to focus on line, not shading but we can use heavy lines to indicate darkness. I don't have it with me as it's on 18x24 Strathmore drawing paper :/ I'm gonna start bringing my camera to school.

[I STRaY I]

So far, my favorite thing in going through all the sketchbooks here is seeing just how much people work on getting better. All the studies, and exercises and everything. You seriously exemplify this, and I want to say thanks. Because it really makes me want to learn so much more, and work so much harder because I see your progress, and know it's a result of the time you put in. Keep it up.