Away we Go

[IronFistGoon]

I'm starting this sketchbook in order to improve. I have a long way to go and a lot to learn so I am all eyes and ears on what everyone has to say. I'm going to make an effort to post on here both for myself and to see what everyone else is doing. Here are some concepts I'm working on for a story idea. Hope you all enjoy and please give me feedback. Good back and ugly.

[Zebz]

Lookin' good, man. You're starting to show more of the form underneath which I like. You need to push those further more tho. The poses are really static and you're hiding a lot... like the feet. Sometimes the characters just don't feel very natural either. The sense of weight just isn't there. Keep doing studies and find some ways to ground the figure better. More dynamic poses too. You're improving. You just need to keep taking it up notch by notch, man. Keep it rocking.

[IronFistGoon]

here is a quick pic. i am going to try to post on everyday or as close to it as I can. Thanks Zebz for the comment I appreciate it. I am going to add some Anatomy drawings later.

[IronFistGoon]

I wanted to add a lot to this post. I hope you enjoy

[Krato]

work on you anatomy

[IronFistGoon]

I have been trying to do a little bit of anatomy each day. Currently I am a stay at home dad, so I draw when I get a chance. I need to work more on projects, but continue to chip away at anatomy as much as I can.

[IronFistGoon]

I need some serious help with shadows. I understand it, but I'm not sure if it is my lack of patience or just my plain blind eyes. I can't see the form through lines. So any suggestions would be helpful

[Not_Deadman]

cool start, keep working hard!
for shadows, look up planes and values and how light and shadows work with giving an object form. You should also think about planes and how they help turn the object. Hard to explain since im no expert, but thats what I know so far, hope that helped.

[IronFistGoon]

More drawings. I need some ways to get my mind moving cause I feel like I can't draw shit as of late. I think I am going to try to do some studies and see what happens.


http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...Anatomy011.jpg

[IronFistGoon]

[kingcoyote]

Things are looking good Kev! Keep up on the anatomy studies. posemaniacs.com has a very nice 30 second drawing app that randomly loads pictures in different poses. It's not necessarily the greatest for detailed anatomy knowledge, but it really helps with building a library of poses in your head to draw from. It's hard to come up with ideas of how to pose your characters if you don't have this experience to draw from.

Also, maybe check out some skateboarding, sports, and wrestling (like wwf) photos to do some QUICK studies from.

For form, try doing some small drawings of simple objects. Eggs, balls, blocks, cylinders... both singly and in groups, and from different angles. This will really help you get a handle on how shadows and highlights act and interact over the surfaces of your objects. Also, for now, don't worry really about the texture of those objects. Just the main masses.

Try to keep a balance between the time you spend on studies and the time you spend doing the stuff you actually WANT to do. Like, don't spend more than 20 minutes on studies/warmup, and maybe start off with just 5 minutes. It's amazing what just a little exercise every day will do for you. If it's a chore to get to the stuff you enjoy doing, then it just makes it that much harder to sit down and do it.

Keep up the good work man!
Your friend
KC

[IronFistGoon]

one more before bed

[IronFistGoon]

I'm trying to do a study a week of artist that I admire. So this is a start of one of Norman Rockwell pieces. Right now I am just using hard and soft Charcoal, but I'll probably go to other materials as the week goes on

[IronFistGoon]

[Bagg]

Hi great sketchbook, good to see you working hard here
erm I'd probably say keep working at your anatomy as this will always help lead to imrovement.
Also check out posemaniacs.org great for warming up, practising anatomy and improving line economics
keep up the hard work.

[Zebz]

You rule, Kevin. Keep pushin, my man! Some of these are really good. Just make sure when you're studying you're actually studying and learning and not just copying the image. Really think about what is there and why you're doing it. Keep it rockin'.

[IronFistGoon]

[Zebz]

Nice! You're understanding of structure is really improving. I like being able to see and read the forms in those characters. Very nice, man. I think we'll really be able to see how much you understand the structure when you try lighting and rendering these things. But you're getting a lot more across in these pieces then before, I think.

I'd say just keep working on pushing that and when you feel more comfortable with translating that into even more complex anatomy start doing those studies as well. I love how you're drawing the entire figure as well.

Try more thumbnailing. Don't let yourself get so caught up in the image and making is super pretty. Try getting ideas down quickly and moving on to the next batch. Getting better is a lot more about mileage than anything else. Just start accumulating those sketches. Keep up the great work! Lookin' forward to more!

[IronFistGoon]

The First part of this post is just some images I have been working on and trying to push myself a little further. I am trying to work with going from light to dark pencils and find the right values. This is something that lacks in my work and I need to push more.




The second part is thumbnails to work out images before I take them onto paper. I am also trying to get more confident with my photoshop skills. I would love any and all advice.

[AsaB]

Hi Iron, thanks for dropping by!
That's a pretty solid start for a SB, loads of variety and studies going on. You're doing all the right things, tackling those foundations but not forgetting to add the fun and imaginative stuff into the mix! So I have no more advise than to simply urge you to continue this Keep updating!

[IronFistGoon]

I am working on my portfolio. Currently I'm working on a concept art portfolio. What I'm posting is the sketches of character concepts. I will have some concepts of environments, weapons, and hopefully some action scenes. Let me know what you think so far and I'll hopefully have more posted in the next day or two.

[IronFistGoon]

Here is my latest update of some life drawing on the dc metro, and some other fantasy sketches I'm working on. I'm really trying to understand how to shade things properly. It has always been a thorn in my side. I would love any and all advice. Thanks.

[Maunty]

Hey nice start on the sketchbook so far. I see you mention shading a few times and one thing that has helped me is to search youtube for speedpainting videos. There are some really talented people on there and for me just being able to watch the way somebody lays out tones in photoshop helped quite a bit to build up my own confidence with it. Also, I find myself constantly looking at real-world objects and observing the way the light plays off different surfaces, textures, planes, etc.

Keep it up!

[Lateman]

hey mate, thanks for stopping by ... realy life this life drawing you did in i guess in public tranzportation shit but realy cool ... i did thoose too ... realy helpfull!

keeeeeep it up ! MORE!

cheers lateman

[Kaileighblue]

A lot of your non-life drawings seem off balanced or stiff in the legs. But the upper bodies are OK. Since most of your life drawings seem to be just upper body, maybe you can try to do the whole body or legs for a bit.

[CecelyV]

IronFist, Thanks for stopping by my SB. For some reason I can't see any of your images except for the first one you posted. Only see your text, but none of you posted images. Do you post the images or links to them? If there's another place to view them I'd like to see your stuff and comment/crit where I can to help out.

Someone mentioned that it's difficult to think of different ways to pose your characters, which is true at first. Posemaniacs is a good place to get an idea for different poses--but the catch there is that there are really only a limited number of different types of poses; the rest are the same poses from different viewpoints, which is still good. However, as Davi mentioned to me, they are extremely stiff because they are not based off real people. He said working from reference books (books specifically catering to artists by filling their pages with nude models and little else ^_^) and photos are better for times you can't be in life drawing or out of doors.

To find really dynamic poses, here are a few areas I've found helpful:
1. Circus/ Cirque Du Soleil - if you Google images from Cirque Du Soleil, you come up with all kinds of great poses, as well as interesting color schemes and costume/character inspiration.

2. Sports - Especially extreme and contact sports: football, basketball, martial arts, many of the Olympic sports, gymnastics, etc.

3. Action films - find some good action movies that you like, and pause them during your favorite scenes. You can draw straight from your tv, or take a digital photo, OR (even better) play them on your computer so you can take a screen shot for future reference. This can be saved on your computer and/or printed out--though print outs won't have the same fidelity as just working from you computer screen.

4. Theater & Dance - This is similar to the circus and sports, but it comes under a different search in Google. There are a HUGE amount of images when you type in dance and/or theater in Google--and there are a number of different kinds of dance. Dancers are all athletes, so all these poses are awesome and very often dramatic. This is also helpful when you want to get inspiration for characters/creatures.

I hope that helps, and I hope to be able to see some more of your work.
Happy drawing!

[Jeff Lai]

Hi IronFist!
Thanks for dropping by,
you can do it!, it just takes time and study
good to see lots of sketches!
keep at it

[Jeff Lai]

Hi IronFist!
Thanks for dropping by,
you can do it!, it just takes time and study
good to see lots of sketches!
keep at it

[IronFistGoon]

I want to thank everyone for their helpful advice. I took it all to heart and started working on some suggestions. I went to a figure drawing session last week which felt really good to get out and draw from a model. Then I also tried to do more master's studies (I'll post those some other day). Finally I have just been working on some fun stuff. I hope you all enjoy and please keep the advice coming.

[AsaB]

I see steady improvement here! Your drawings have so much joy in them, it shines through, especially in the personal pieces. Some people tend to forget to enjoy drawing when it's all about studies, all the time. So don't forget that part, it's vital!
I hope you'll keep up this rate, it's very promising