JoshB's Sketchbook.

[jigje]

Hey joshB. Keep up your hard work and don't stop posting man. Your faces are coming along.
Im just a begginer and when I first started posting, people told me what Im about to tell you. The range between your darkest value and your lightest value needs to be bigger. Thats darker darks and lighter lights yeah? The faces you have done are good but their values are all kinda mid range. If you have a mid tone across the face and then made the shadowed areas a little bit darker and then used an eraser to highlight the lightest points, those images would pop off the screen man.
I look forward to more.

[JoshB]

jigje: Thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate tips on how to improve. I was actually just talking to someone yesterday about how my drawings were dawdling in the middle ranges. Kind of hard to escape them sometimes. But maybe I should just try extreme dark and light to get the feel of it.

Just #8 today.

[Rolo]

The stuff looks great!! I'm not sure if you're going for style or not, but have you considered blending your shadows? Creates a more realistic feel. I suck at shadows.. and in fact don't draw much anymore, but I did start drawing a portrait, and the use of tortillions or a tissue for blending (not finger) really helped with the portrait over all!

[JoshB]

Rolo: Thanks! Also, I used to use the tortillions but it always just ended up making my drawings look smudgy and dull. But that might be because I didn't practice enough with them. Plus when I draw I usually like to use the least amount of materials as possible so I'm trying to make it look good with just the pencil strokes. But thanks for the suggestion.

#9 for now. I didn't notice until after I scanned it that I didn't shade the teeth. Oops.

[JoshB]

Ok.... so I slacked for a few days. I probably deserve a slap on the wrist or something like that. But alas I'm back and here is #10.

Gonna pick up the pace on these faces cause otherwise It's gonna take me a year or more to move onto something else.

[JoshB]

#11. Really need to spend time on figuring out hair.

[JoshB]

Alright so today #12. I left it as line art cause I wanted to get some feedback about what I can do to build up the faces better before I start to shade them. If there are any suggestions that is...

And that eye on the left side looked strange in the picture so it kind of translated over. Although I'm not saying that I didn't mess it up more than what it was. Pretty hideous today, I hope your eyes don't bleed.

[JoshB]

#13 today.

[JoshB]

so check it out. been a while since i have posted on here and honestly i haven't drawn much over the last 2 years. but decided to post again to get some feedback cause i got the bug lately that tells me to draw.

now i know most people seem to start a new SB after such a long break to hide the fact that they slacked off but forget that. cause stuff like a 2 year break just happens sometimes (although i don't plan on letting it happen ever again! )and you just got pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again.

and by the way does anybody know how to avoid putting in all the copyright info when you upload a picture? if so PLEASE let me know. Thanks!

and without further ado. here's some lips.

[JoshB]

A few more. I should probably use a scanner...

[JoshB]

more. is there anyway to avoid typing in the copyright info over and over for every upload?

[JoshB]

just the one today

[JoshB]

more stuff

[JoshB]

Drawings from the last few days. A few feet from Sarah Simblet on the last one. Love her style. Any suggestions are welcome btw...

[JoshB]

I'll spare you the excuses about why I haven't posted.

Picture quality kind of sucks but I'm still trying to figure out how best to do it.

[JoshB]

Still trying to get a better picture

[JoshB]

Some Matessi and a few other things

[Jonathan L.]

Wow! You've improved so much. I haven't updated my sketchbook in months; I've got to get back to it!

[JoshB]

Hey Jonathan, thanks for the kind words man! Your SB is looking good too so you should most definitely update it. You won't regret it I promise.

A few arm studies today. I don't know if it's just me but even drawing the little amount I did today takes me a really really long time. Here's to hoping I get faster.

[JoshB]

[JoshB]

Starting to try and draw figures from my mind without getting too detailed yet. Also a little photo study and Bridgman.

[JoshB]

Just a few shapes today.

[PeteJ]

for your faces, why don't you read andrew loomis's book on drawing heads, I think it will help alot.
your gestures look great though.

[JoshB]

PeteJ: Thanks for the suggestion! I have actually been meaning to take a gander at some of his books again. I'll have to do it sooner than later

Some bridgman stuff again. I'm trying to gain an understanding about wedging and overlapping. I tried to darken the pictures a bit on the ones where I drew really light so hopefully it's enough.

[kamikazel33t]

I really like the amount of improvement you are showing through your sketchbook. You are really working hard it seems, and you are pretty good with gestures and seem to have a good sense of rhythm. What I've noticed although it is slowly correcting itself over time is that it seems you have some problems with the eye where you have a tendency to make "almond" eyes. The best way to deal with it is to notice the asymmetry with the bottom eye lid and the upper eyelid, another thing is that the eyeball is round and the eyelids tend to wrap around this ball form. It's awesome to see you are doing practices on form(I really need it >_<). If you are looking into overlaps I suggest studying the phenomenon of T-overlaps which is used to show that one form is in front of another.

[JoshB]

kamikazel33t: Thanks for the feedback! I can see what you're saying about the eyes looking like almonds. I will have to pay more attention to it when I'm drawing heads. The head seems really tough to get right although that might have something to do with me not practicing them nearly enough...

[JoshB]

some loomis heads and other stuff

[kiichi]

Thanks for recommendation, and I'm lovin' the amount of work you're putting into this. Keep at it man, i'll be rootin' for ya!

[JoshB]

kiichi: Thanks! I'll be watching your progress as well.

Some more heads/shapes/gesture. I have a hard time knowing how big the face is supposed to be relative to the size of the ball.

[Asmundur]

I'm loving all the studies
as for the Images being being too light
in Photoshop go to Images->Mode->greyscale->Discard
then to Images->adjustments->curves-> bring the top right point down 10% and to the left 20% and bring the low left point 45% right
or white balance your camera and shoot in natural light (outside at daytime)