crashMMVII's amateur attempts to approach artistic adequacy (4/16/09)

**crashMMVII** · April 11th, 2009, 06:43 PM

Puck: Thanks! I appreciate the paintovers, I'll keep your advice in mind.

Mindbendermind: Thank you!

AphexTweak: Thanks, will do.

Haven't been as productive lately as I would like, senior year is coming to an end and all of the stress that comes with it is starting to get worse and worse. Still managed to squeeze out some skull studies from Eugene Wolff's Anatomy for Artists and a couple of doodles in my moleskine. I also got my R4 for my DS in, so I've been doodling around in Colors...Having glitches when trying to email the pics to myself, but once I figure it out, I'll get some of that stuff in here too.

**Mindbendermind** · April 12th, 2009, 04:48 AM

Good job crash, some nice studies you got going here. Feel some of those heads should maybe be a little longer heightwise and shorter in the other direction to seem really natural. Some of them feel slightly "compressed" somehow. The neck of the female char in your sketchbook seems a little wide and the jaw of the male one as well. Think your heads and skulls would look even more natural if you "stretched" them a little vertically.

Good luck on your studies - that goes for both drawing and school :-)

**Swampdigger** · April 12th, 2009, 04:15 PM

Hey Crash, I know what you mean about senior year, I'm a senior too and it's getting really hectic. Just keep drawing what you can. Have any plans for college yet?

**crashMMVII** · April 13th, 2009, 12:29 AM

Mindbender: Thanks

I was trying to copy as accurately as possible the proportions of my book on those skull studies (using pencil for length, etc.), but I'll make sure to keep as close an eye as possible on that.

Swampdigger: Yeah man it's getting tough, what with graduation plans and AP tests, etc. You know how it is. I'm probably going to a private school in Texas, already accepted and got most of my scholarships taken care of. I'm planning to be a computer science major with an art minor. What about you?

I ordered the Bargue book! Found the best deal at the Dahesh Museum's online website, so I finally broke down and bought it.

Squeezing out a couple more skull/head muscle studies from Wolff before bed:

**Mindbendermind** · April 13th, 2009, 02:10 AM

Beautiful studies. These feel much more realistic. Well done.

Am working through Vilppu's DM atm, currently at chapter 2. If you or anyone else feel like joining (or just looking at some links to a whole bunch of REALLY nice - and free ;-) - "tenminutedrawing" video exercises by one of Vilppu's students, Mark Chong, that I was recommended) just follow the "Basic drawing exercises" thread in the sig.

**crashMMVII** · April 14th, 2009, 09:27 AM

Mindbinder: Thanks! I checked out that thread, some really valuable links in there.

Update, page full of a Mark Chong exercise linked to in Mindbender's thread and posemaniacs, and some Loomis/Hogarth nose studies.

**Mindbendermind** · April 14th, 2009, 10:42 AM

Glad that you found them useful. Seem really hard to keep correct size and foreshortening on that "3D cube" exercise. Used perspective lines for my first attempt, probably will develop that one before I move on to 3D cubing in free hand. Those noses (and the shading of them) look great.

**crashMMVII** · April 16th, 2009, 04:13 PM

Mindbender: Thanks, yeah it's a pretty nice exercise just to get warmed up, he seems to have a lot of stuff like that.

My Bargue book arrived about 10 minutes ago!

Templar drawing and Loomis mannequins from reference, random skyscraper and crappy cartoony guy from imagination:

**Mindbendermind** · April 17th, 2009, 01:39 PM

Like all four of these. Good that you practice so many different kinds of drawing. That templar is really nice - and I like the perspective of the skyscrape. Your no ref. character seems a little 2D. Try to think about those basic shapes more to get that 3D feeling of the face. Like the relaxed style of it though, seems you had a good time drawing it and that's worth a lot.

Congrats on the new book, one of the best things I know opening the pages of a new book for the first time. Let us know if its a book you would recommend when you've read it.

**crashMMVII** · April 18th, 2009, 03:28 PM

Thanks man, yeah I've flipped through it and it seems like a very useful tool...Although I won't really know until I've worked through the exercises!

I got an easel and a board today in preparation to begin the Bargue stuff; I decided to try a photo ref (John Mayer) just to get into the whole feel of using one. I've never really drawn or painted standing up before...It's taking me some time to get used to it but I'm also finding it more fun

Attached a quick photo of my setup, a closer photo of my ref (about 5 hours in, I think), and the beginnings of a piece that I started during Psychology today. Many apologies for the extremely crappy pic quality...I need to get better lighting in that room, and the camera on my iPhone (don't have a digi camera) is about shot anyway.

**MrBobMarley** · April 19th, 2009, 02:23 AM

I see studies which is a lot more than I've done..so keep it up! lol

On the mayer drawing there....first thing I see is the eye's a bit large...you could use the pencil measuring method (i dunno if that has a name or not) to estimate the proportions from your ref.

**Mindbendermind** · April 19th, 2009, 02:45 AM

Hi again,
seems that book has really got you going. Inspiring to see your "workspace" also. Great start on that photo ref, looking forward to seeing the finished one.

Pay close attention to the proportions, the head seems a little big compared to the shoulders. I know how tricky it is trying to draw something in another size than the actual ref though. Maybe you should start by drawing it the same size, just to get the general feeling of the body shape. Or - maybe even better - do a quick tracing of the contours to really "feel" the actual size. Tracing seems to be a great tool for learning proportions and line rhythm (like using a metronome for music practice) that many don't use since they consider it to "simple" or "cheating". Am currently following an interesting thread discussing tracing as a learning tool, might be of interest to you: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=113058. Tried it the other day and it certainly was instructive in a special way. You could always give it a quick try.

That eye looks really good. No doubt that your constant drawing practice is paying off. :-)

**Swampdigger** · April 20th, 2009, 08:01 PM

I'm actually gonna go for a career in art. Not sure exactly how I'm going to get there though. The university in my city has a terrible art program, well, to be fair, they do have decent looking foundation classes. But both the student art and the majority of the faculty art is either bizarre modern art or simply poorly made art. So I'm not too excited about the possibility of going there. So I'm thinking about going on my own for a little bit while I work part time and save money to head out somewhere. So I don't really have a set plan in my mind except to do be doing art like crazy and not getting stuck in rut.

Annnyyywayys... Nice job with the studies. Keep drawing from your imagination too. Even if you don't like what you do most of the time. It helps.

I guess I really don't have much to say, but to be patient about your drawings. Make sure you're getting things right the first time.

**pixelflux** · April 21st, 2009, 08:36 AM

You know, that's a really good photo study. And I'd have to agree about standing up while drawing. It gives you a sense of freedom in your strokes, and allows you to move around a bit in order to gain a new perspective on your project. In the future though, I think it'd be beneficial to post your in-between's that way you allow us to see how you're approaching your construction methods. Generally if I am working from a reference, whether it be digital or other traditional mediums I will usually jot down some forms, or values. And then gradually build on it, that way later I don't have proportional issues.

On another note, I am totally jealous of your easel. I am lacking space to set something up like that in my living area. Keep it up!

**Mimesis** · April 21st, 2009, 08:07 PM

I am also blown away by the new artists I see working away diligently in their sketch books, also referencing Loomis, nice! I like your templar drawing particularly because of the loose style contributing to the subject matter, and good use of contrasts.

Also on the same post, the structure beneath it. I have a weakness for ultra-modern colossal looking buildings.

As for your post on my sketchbook, thanks! And I use the 'pentel brush pen' seen here: http://www.artifolk.co.uk/images/products/314x300.jpg
So far it's been my ultimate sketching tool, no more erasers. I like it for the immediacy to capture the world. I also work in a small moleskine sketchbook, which holds the ink with that pen very well...

Normally you need to buy plastic replacement wells, but I've recently been screwing the system and using a syringe to fill the empty plastic wells with my own ink. And it seems to work!

**My57** · April 22nd, 2009, 03:30 PM

hey thanks for the stop by, im sure you will improve as well if you keep up with the studies.

**crashMMVII** · April 28th, 2009, 12:35 AM

MrBobMarley: Thanks! I've done a bit more on the Mayer ref, I'll post another progress shot soon.

Mindbender: Thanks man, I read through that thread, definitely some interesting opinions in there.

Swampdigger: Right on man, good luck! For what my opinion's worth, you've got the talent to make it into a respectable art school, just keep it up!

pixelfluxa: I agree completely! Thanks for the comments.

Mimesis: Thanks a lot! I have a brush pen I've been using that's very similar to that, mine's pretty much 100% black though...I need to get out and find some kind of midtone.

My57: Thanks, I'll keep it up!

Been in a bit of an art slump, which isn't helped by the fact that I'm doing my best to keep up with school (which isn't slowing down for me) and prom this last weekend. Plus, my scanner is being a prick, so I don't have anything to post right now. Hopefully I can get a couple pages up by tomorrow.

-crashMMVII