Brandon returns (dinosaurs, ancient warriors, and studies)

[Brandon Pilcher]

Right now, as much as I love to draw, I'm not as good as I would like to be. This thread will be a documentation of my efforts to improve at drawing.

The first image in this OP shows my current level of skill, while the other two are anatomical studies and attempts at facial construction.

[Brandon Pilcher]

Some studies pertaining to Tyrannosaurus rex...

[Izi]

I like the first one it's really cool but it would be a lot better if you put a background in that you drew yourself. I know it's tempting to use photo backdrops - I have done it before but it really just makes your art look bad and doesnt match either.

You seem to have a pretty good grasp of perspective on the skull, but on your t rex on the upper right one, the top jaw needs to be longer than the bottom to be anatomically correct. Pay attention to the subtle curvatures of the actual skull, and how they are positioned in relation to the outer edges of the complete subject.

And I hope you are using reference.

[Brandon Pilcher]

Figure study using an online photo reference:

[Brandon Pilcher]

More of the same:

[Brandon Pilcher]

Human female portrait and perspective practice:

[Brandon Pilcher]

Shading practice

[Brandon Pilcher]

If I may take a break from studies, here's a soldier from ancient Egypt:

[Ultarant]

Very nicely defined line art! The dinosaurs especially 'move' well on the page.

I recommend drawing in some guidelines for the figures to better define where the shadows will fall. Exercises in light and shadow contrast are always helpful no matter who you are.

[Brandon Pilcher]

I recommend drawing in some guidelines for the figures to better define where the shadows will fall. Exercises in light and shadow contrast are always helpful no matter who you are.

I already do this. I first draw a stick figure and then attach muscles to the "sticks".

[Ultarant]

Cool, but try making the outline a bit more defined before you start adding detail. Draw circles for the various parts of the body, breaking down the form first. This will really add a 3 dimensional effect to the figures.

[Brandon Pilcher]

Another practice picture, this time using a photo of an African model as a reference:

[Naidy]

I see you have a new sketchbook up! It's good to see you're starting to look back on the fundimentals.

I think one way you could make your pictures look more three dimensional is if you changed how you coloured. If we take you last post, for example, the strokes you've used don't coincide with the form and the rigid lines make it look flatter to me. But if you were to be softer with your shading, and to try and picture the form you're going over, then I bet your pictures would definitely look more realistic.

Anyways, keep on working and you'll see improvements, so keep up the good work.

[Brandon Pilcher]

I think one way you could make your pictures look more three dimensional is if you changed how you coloured. If we take you last post, for example, the strokes you've used don't coincide with the form and the rigid lines make it look flatter to me. But if you were to be softer with your shading, and to try and picture the form you're going over, then I bet your pictures would definitely look more realistic.

What are good pencil kinds to use for shading?

[Ultarant]

Some people like graphite, but I was never terribly fond of it. I recommend just holding the pencil in different ways to create broad and thin strokes where needed.

Your line work is looking good, but the forms are still a bit off. For example, the elbow goes down to the end of the rib cage, ad the arm terminates about halfway down the thigh. I recommend getting some anatomy books and studying them to power up your human form. One book I recommend is Robert Barrett's Life Drawing, as he is a master.

Keep up the good work!

[Naidy]

To be honest, any pencil will probably do the trick; but lots of people are fond of 2/3B. I'm always using really cheap packs of mechanical pencils, so I'm not a good person to ask.
Just buy a set of pencils and experiment. xD

I think the main problem is still how you're making "///" and zigzagging marks when you're shading human flesh. Just try to pay attention to your mark making.

[Brandon Pilcher]

The first two in this post are rough sketches of figures from Sarah Simblet's Anatomy for the Artist. The third is another Egyptian warrior, albeit in a hopefully more dynamic pose than the other one.

[Brandon Pilcher]

More perspective practice:

[mirem]

Perspective! I need to work on that too.
You're on a roll - keep on going!

[Forrest_I]

Glad to see you started posting again. About the whole pencil shading thing, I prefer to use 2B just because I feel it has a larger range of values then most other pencils. Keep them studies up man, I also recommend to not keep posting immediately after you do each one. At the end of the day just upload everything you've done in one post, it'll keep your sketchbook more organized

[krysjez]

18 - it might be helpful for you to differentiate the light and dark values more obviously. For the small cuboid I can see that quite clearly, but on the larger one not so much.

Simblet's book is huge and hard to carry around in public because of nude photos on both front & back covers. Anyway I was thinking you could try to not just copy the contours you see - instead, include some construction based on the things you have read in it

[Brandon Pilcher]

Some arm, leg, and neck studies:

[Brandon Pilcher]

Someone commented elsewhere on this message board that my noses look too flat. To address this criticism, I did a few nose studies. I don't know if they look any better, but I just want to show that I'm putting in some effort to get my noses to look right.

[Brandon Pilcher]

Most of these are exercise with stick figures, although the first one does have a leg study as well:

[Brandon Pilcher]

A study of the skull of Homo rhodesiensis, an ancestor of humans:

[Ultarant]

Those studies are looking good!

[Brandon Pilcher]

Thanks, Ultrarant!

A face study:

[Brandon Pilcher]

This Egyptian archer (can you tell the Egyptians are among my favorite cultures to draw?) was drawn for fun, so the anatomy is almost certainly off, but I don't want to bore people viewing this thread with just anatomy and perspective studies.

[Brandon Pilcher]

This one was drawn upside down, using a drawing by Bryan Baugh in the book Thunder Lizards: How to Draw Fantastic Dinosaurs as a reference. This is the first time in recent memory that I've drawn something upside down and I found myself pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. This wasn't meant to be high art, just an exercise in drawing on the right side of the brain and training my mind to perceive things properly.

[Brandon Pilcher]

Dinosaur-hunting jungle woman, one of my favorite subjects to draw: