FraserMcT - 12th December - Follow me through this crazy journey

[Jamie Romoser]

digging the pencils man my favorite would have to be the portrait right under the hands holding the apple.
keep it up
have a good one
-Jamie

[FraserMcT]

Commented everyones sketchbooks, and thanks for the comments.
I will reply later, but I am in a rush. Sorry!

[FraserMcT]

alexson - Thanks Steadily improving, but I still find it slow and quite difficult. But I am combating it haha.
I haven't studied Loomis yet, I have skimmed through a few of his books, but not enough to actually get anything from them. I will get to it soon, I promise. Thanks.

Φ phil - Haha, thanks. It did help. And I write fail because when I do a really bad drawing, it annoys me. Hence why I am annoyed a lot of the time. But we all suck in the beginning, so at least I have something to look forward to.

Saska Ithiur - Thanks I think you are right with the failed face. I noticed the eyes were small, but not the other points. Thanks for pointing them out. And I don't think I am too bad with colour. I get the values fairly close most of the time when painting straight into colour. But I need to work on controlling my saturation range. I definately need to look at different light sources though. Cheers for the comment.

trexmaster - Thanks

Omerta - Thanks a lot. I love your pencils, so that comment means a lot. Cheers.

And I did a quick digital painting. Mainly trying out another way of working. Worked ok, but didn't go to plan. Need to play with painting textures. All mine look similar. Painted straight into colour, but I think it is ok value wise. I painted the reflected light at the bottom a bit too bright though.

[FraserMcT]

quick one from head:

And a Kchen study.

[Eddieee]

Watch the proportion on the figures.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...9&d=1262677287

Head's kinda big on this one

Keep up the studies, Kevin Chen is the man! His anatomy thread's really useful. Keep it up, good progress so far.

[kikindaface]

Hey dude ! I find the painting of the aple really great, the portrait from head too, i find that the proportions are really goos, the features are nice ! tho i think you could improve the jaw line a bit ! For the figure studies, there are some proportions' mistakes ! Try to make a line for the shoulder's angle and the hips angle, it's help yo to have a better gesture, then, , watch out the negative space, and fix them ! Keep it up dude !

[andres333]

Nice SB!
I think you should focus more on gesture, I mean when drawing from a photo or a master study, you should try to feel the gesture, try to represent the gesture only in a couple of lines, a couple of lines full of life.
keep it up!

[merrycarousel]

liking the colour studies! the girl that you sketched from imagination is pretty good too, in the sense that she looks alive, with attitude. at the same time, her softness is in her hair, the roundness of her face shows that she can be gentle and tender as well. try to finish it! apply what you learnt so far on her... the bones and muscle beneath, how light will wrap around the form, and the choice of colours too.

[Kambei Shimada]

Nice sketchbook,


Good to see your trying different things.

Some of the figure studies are really nice.

Keep on posting and i'll keep commenting.

Kambei.

[Roia]

Lovelovelove your stuff The lines are really smooth!

[FraserMcT]

Eddieee - Thanks for the comment. I need to pay more attention about everything in general haha. Oh well, I'm sure I will get better with more practice

kikindaface - Thanks for your kind works, and your crit. I see people doing the lines for the shoulders and hips like bridgman, I always forget. More things I need to pay attention of when drawing haha. My head is gonna explode. So much to learn, so little time. I don't think the rest of my life will be enough, it never is. But hey, if I don't try, then I will never find out!

andres333 - cheers for the tips. I am doing life drawing in a month or so, so hopefully the tutors will help me there. I need to get into more of a routine when drawing. I think it will make it easier to improve.

merrycarousel - Thanks mucho. I like her, I would continue, but I hope I will be more informed soon to make a better drawing to focus time on. I always feel this way, I guess that is why I don't do many finished works.

Kambei Shimada - Thanks for the comment, and I hope you do come back for a visit!

Roia - Thanks man/woman! hehe

Comments returned to all.


I have started doing Loomis Head and Hands, like someone told me to earlier. I find his way quite difficult, but I will soldier on and hopefully it will become easier.

First one, and oil painting of coro. I used a the largest brush I had on the smalled gessod board I had to try and make me work from big to small.

Definately my best oil painting of a head yet. I need to take a lot of care when mixing paints. I find it very difficult, but I believe it is meant to get easier with practice. I didn't put in a background because I didn't feel like it... haha

Pen until I say.
Just drawing really., and then loomis.




Acrylic head and pencil bot (from head)

Landscape speedie. I am happy, considering I never do lanscapes. I want to do a lot more.

[FraserMcT]

Here is one of the drawings from today. I definitely need to do some leg studies. Every time I do them, I need to think ridiculous amounts compared to the other body parts. Ribcage is another must study part.
ref:http://www.gracefulnudes.com/Galleri...y_fall-006.jpg (i forgot to flip it back).

[GoGoJojo]

Woah, I did a double take at the girl with the giraffe, it kinda looks like me!! those studies are lookin real good there. I don't know what else I can say besides that.

[Turbosnail]

Nice SB Fraser!! Your pose studies are definitely showing progress. The leg length in post #105 is much more realistic than in a couple of your earlier studies. Keep up the good work my Scottish brother!!

[artistcaleb]

Nice work man!

[Keeviin]

You're coming along nicely, I also just started with the Loomis heads, they're great! I recommend you also check out Loomis' figure drawing, it'll do a lot to your proportions.

best wishes

[FraserMcT]

GoGoJojo - Haha, cool! Thanks
Turbosnail - Cheers. I still have a lot of trouble with figures, especially the legs. I'm glad there is a bit of improvement! hehe
artistcaleb - Thanks
Keeviin - Thanks for the comment. I'm not really a fan of Loomis's method of creating figures, I don't think it suits with my way of drawing, bridgman seems to agree more with me. I'm sure I will give it another try someday though, it can't hurt


Comments given to everyone's sketchbook.

As for my art, I have done quite a bit, at least it has felt like it. I have set up a little studio type thing in my loft today. It is cold up there, but at least there is room to breathe. Lighting is a bit annoying, but again, it is better than my bedroom.
I went out to the art gallery yesterday with my friend, and we both did some sketching. Was awesome fun. My friend got 4 guys chatting her up, so I am glad I am a guy, so I got peace and quiet! haha
Heres two pics of my set up, only thing is that I am too far away, easy to fix haha:



Anyhoo, heres some stuff:
First is a pen drawing of the same ref as above

More pen fun:




Pencil fun (I prefer using pen now, haha):



Pencil from life and a mirror:


And pen from life at the art gallery (painting, then two sculptures) I should have spent more time drawing, instead of wandering about looking at paintings:




I hate charcoal, but I am liking it more now. Both copies from a book:


Finally, that felt like the upload took days haha

[GoGoJojo]

No need to comment back, I just wanted to say that I like YOUR line quality. I'll keep looking here to make sure I catch up!

[Anid Maro]

Hey man, I was just checking on who dropped me a "thanks" and happened upon your sketchbook.

I have to say you've made some progress in the past year, and progress always deserves applause. My personal motto is, "so long as I'm improving, the work is worth doing". And you've done well in that respect.

However for the present, I was looking at one of your more recent referenced drawings (second down in post #97, the FemJoy sample) and noted that you could do with some better observation. As far as I can see it would seem as though you had placed the lines of your drawing as quickly as possible and did not care to re-check them, this is a fatal mistake.

Comparing your drawing to your reference, I can readily state the following:

- The space between her thighs far exceeds that of the reference, by at least double.
- Her left breast (the one that can be seen) is not nearly as pointed as you had represented, it is more round from the viewed angle than anything else.
- You drew her face more flat than is represented in the photo, although that may not have been a primary concern considering the lack of detail.
- The lady's left arm (the straight one on the right) was drawn somewhat longer than what was depicted in the reference picture.

And that's just what I could notice off the cuff. Not that you did poorly, per se, but rather that I think you could do with a lil' more time studying the reference.

Go ahead and tackle the reference as you do now, but once you do so take a 5 to 10 minute break. Once you do so, compare your drawing to your reference and make adjustments as necessary. This will help you see as an artist does, as opposed to merely seeing as a layman does.

A very important aspect to art, be it drawing or painting or whatever, is to be able to see as an artist. Seeing as an artist entails not just looking at a subject as an ordinary person might, but removing oneself from the subject in order to view it in the abstract. That means measuring the space between a woman's thighs in centimeters as opposed to what you think the distance might be, or curving a woman's breast as what is actual as opposed to the impression you received, or drawing a woman's arm as long as what it is as opposed to swore was true.

So take the time, after you have drawn your subject, to double-check whether or not the proportions and dimensions are correct. If need be, use any tricks you can think of to help you view your drawing truthfully (e.g. digitally you can flip the canvas horizontally, if you're drawing in pencil then turn the page around and view it before a light), but just make sure to re-check your drawing for accuracy.

As I said, I think you've made great progress and you have done well so far. However I believe your next step is more accurate observation.

[FraserMcT]

GoGoJojo - Thanks, and I am not far ahead at all, if I'm even ahead at all!

Anid Maro - Thanks again, seem to be thanking you a bit haha. Just want to say thanks for putting out a lot of helpful posts recently. I does go noticed.
And much appreciated for your post. Very helpful. I need to be much more aware of observing. In this post for example, I thought my second guy was great, until I flipped it in photoshop, and I facepalmed! Had the features positioned way too far to the right. Mouth is too far up, chin too low. Right side of chin is wrong shape. Left eye is a bit wrong shape. His forehead isn't dark enough, and I didn't manage to get the form to read like the photo. Depressing really.
I took a break in that too, hmph. I guess it just needs more practice and thinking.
I tried the light trick, but it doesn't really work on the thick paper that is moleskine. Oh well. Serves me right for loving it silky smooth texture.
Thank you very much for taking the time!

I started a new moleskine the other day. I am trying to change one thing every two pages, for example:
Female portrait in graphite:

Male portraits in graphite:

Could be figures next, or a medium switchup. I think this will be quite beneficial to get me to try new things!

[latigid]

Nice improvement since i last visited i really like the charcoal portraits just tried charcoal myself for the first time and that stuff is hard to use! Keep on trucking!

[Φ]

this is not true…THIS CANT bE HAPPENING…I just wrote a fucking long comment and then my browser rapes my brain by crashing and deleting all the wisdom haha, so here we go again:

Nice portraits bud! I digg that one making stuff work with simple, big strokes is really cool.

a point of critique about the last post would be: the left one appears flat. I know its hard when you draw a face that is shows the front view. but try to get the planes and that stuff going. model it as if is was made of sculpey (or however that stuff is called)

also, the landscape a few posts back: you kinda tried to pump in a ton of detail. but your values a pretty much the same all over the piece, thus leading to a flat appearance. for a start, try to keep a landscape as simple as possible. its not worth painting 100 stones or so. I hope you get what I mean.

g, not so long after all. I forgot what I was going to say before I lost the post. now Im really tired. haha, I think this post reads as if an eight year old wrote it. Ill edit it if I remember more……these fucking browsers! Im telling you!

[Turbosnail]

Nice updates Fraser!! I think the sketch of the girl with long hair (post#113) needs tweaking. The bottom part of her nose looks ok, but as it rises to the bridge it looks off-set. Love pic on the easel btw. Keep pushing yourself my friend.

[FraserMcT]

latigid - Thanks! Charcoal is hard, I have to use it more often now, it is growing on me. I need to be much lighter handed though haha.
Φ phil - Got to hate it when that happens. yeah, landscapes are savage, I dunno why I don't draw more of them. It would make sense considering that I love looking at them. Thanks mucho for the crit though!
Turbosnail - Thanks mate. I find hair quite difficult. I need to simplify forms on the hair, that is my major problem. The easel pic didn't turn out as good as I wanted, I noticed quite late on how mad some of my shapes were. Oh well! I will do better next time.

Comments returned to all.

Here is some updates. I reworked a few of the sb portraits and did a few figures.
I also started lifedrawing today. So every wednesday we will be doing that for a few months. Very fun to be drawing on A2.
Nice to have a person there saying things and critiquing. Although I would much prefer if he was harsher, as he seemed to only concentrate on the good things, and never on the bad :/
Anyhoo, heres some stuff.
2 minute poses. There are 3 here, but I drew over the faint lines with the other 2. lol
I found the short poses the hardest. I need to prioritise.

Next, a 30 min pose where we could do what we wanted. I went fast, and got quite a bit of tone in. However I should have focused more on form, and been more careful proportionally.

And a 20 min pose, where the model seemed to be very uncomfortable
I like the arms.


Drawings from life of paintings at the local art gallery Bout 45mins on each. I'm gonna go back and finish these off sometime. Maybe.



Sketchbook pages.


The two sb portraits modified a bit.

[donalfall]

Love the improvement visible on just this page alone. Hard work pays off. The last few SB pages are great, the two girls (black/white stripes and rope) are a massive level up on your last ones from reference. I'm impressed.

[Jamie Romoser]

keep it up man really like the painting of the apple really good colors there
if you dont already you should get your hands on some Bridgemen books think theres some free ones on the net
looking forward to seeing more of your progession
have a good one
-Jamie

[FraserMcT]

donalfall - I know right! I haven't worked nearly as hard as what I could have, and I see a large improvement too. If I work harder, I reckon it could be even better! Thanks for the comment.
OmertA - I got some, but haven't had the time to properly go through it. Thanks!

Here is some sb pages. These are pretty quick, apart from my moleskine. 2 Male figures. I like them!

[FraserMcT]

I couldn't sleep, so I did a painting instead.
A bit less than 2 hours. Photo reffed.

Steps:

[mike butkus]

Terrific sketch book! Keep it up, i look forward to new posts.

[FraserMcT]

Thank you very much Mike. It means loads hearing it from an inspiring artist such as yourself.

Another life drawing session this week. Unfortunatly she was late, but I modeled (clothed) for about 20 minutes and she turned up, so we still got some drawing done. Oh yeah, also ran out of newsprint so had to use a3 cartridge. blah. Not fun with charcoal....
First one on newsprint, second not. I don't like the second one, although I got a really good likeness in her face, even though you don't see much of it haha. Sounds weird I know, but that is what I am happy about


Drawings on the bus. 1 of a guy reading his magazine, and 2ndpage is bridgman studies.

2 sketches from the art gallery. One of a sargent portrait, and second of a sculpture. Not happy with that one, I was really messy value wise, and didn't simplify enough.


Last, a quick painting in acrylic. Focussing on having fun.