Shad's CRAZY weeks : 2/15 week 2 = FAIL

[Shad-]

Hi guys ! I'm Shad, 17 years old, drawing since I can hold a pencil !
I wasted years and years drawing crappy dbz-like stuff, but I now want to improve, so I'll try my best !
Also, I'm french, so I apologize about my bad english...

Here we go ! I'll try to keep this thread as daily as I can, I guess it's a great source of motivation !

Some random scraps and studies I did in the past three weeks ( didn't had much time for drawing so there are only a few )
And at the end, studies from Kchen I did today








Please do not hesitate to give though comments and criticism, I really need help on how to work, see, and stuff !



Edit : I didn't find how to attach files, can anyone give me the tip ? :/

[saltfox]

Hello! Welcome to CA

To post attachments go to "Post Reply", scroll down a bit and you will see "Manage Attachments" under the additional options

Keep posting! ^__^

[Shad-]

Don't have much time for update... Here is an A3 observation from kchen, I will post more when I'll have more time ><
Thanks Saltfox by the way

[deadlyhamster]

thanks for replying my sketchbook, and about yours, well you made a good start .
Good shading and you got some understanding from anatomy, only the left part of the chest is a bit off I think but anyway you did a good work. Keep it up.

[RBeek]

shading in the last one was done nice,, you rly made the darks 'dark' and the lights 'light'
Just proportion wise its quite off..
But that can be fixed with a little more studying

If you have or have not heard of it,, Loomis figure drawing book is awsome for learning the proportions!
The DL link can be found here on CA or google

Good luck!

[Shad-]

deadlyhamster > thanks for stopping by ! Yeah I totally messed the torso of the last, I'll have to fix this for next ones ^^

RBeek > I try to draw thinking "push values, do not shade with only one pencil" because I really have difficulties for shading ^^
I plan to do a ton of studies next weeks, but for now I'm working on the book I do to try an art school
I have heard of Loomis books ages ago but never really took the time to read em with attention. Yesterday I downloaded the complete collection at "save loomis" and I will sure work with them !
Thanks =)

Here is a little tiger I did this morning. It's photo based but not strict study... And I totally screwed up the black parts ><
(But I'm still in love with pentel pen ! )
Also I'll work alot tonight and tomorrow, so prepare for a massive update =)

[Butterknife]

I hope you keep up with the goodwork too .

That tiger piece is an awesome illustration . You can also definitely tell you're improving with all of your shapes as well. I also like the shading in the second to last one, I have such difficulty with it x_x.

Can't wait to see more from you .

[Shad-]

Hey Butterknife thanks for alot the kind words, really motivates me !

Well the "massive update" I wanted to do didn't turned out very well as I'm feeling weird today, so I just drew 4 quicks sketches. Those are a girl from characterdesigns.com, and Leonard, Sheldon and Raj ( OMG I just killed him in that picture ) from The Big Bang Theory (which is absolutely awesome by the way).
Plus I think the shading on those are way too light, just used a HB pencil today :/
I hope I'll be much more motivated tomorrow, I need to finish my book (that means about 10 papers) for next Thursday. I don't understand why I took so much pleasure drawing yesterday and did it without even wanting to today ><

[deadlyhamster]

Your tiger is awesome and you didn't screw up the black parts imo. And the last post is a good drawing too but only one crit, the head of the woman is too small so watch out with that (I have problems with that too).
And about your lack of motivation to draw today, well I think everybody has some days they really don't want to draw but the important thing is that you draw anyway. Because you need to hold your rhythm to draw each day.
But your drawing good and I will wait for your next work.

[Shad-]

Thanks for replying again !
Well I think when I get thetime I'll try some tigers again, I just love drawing them !
And about motivation it oftens happens to me but while I'm through it I am kind of scared and desapointed of myself xD
Anyway yesterday and today are two "full of motivation" days, so here's a little more about what I'm doing for my book... I'm definitely late for it ><

Can't wait until friday to finally be free about what to work on, want to do some serious anatomy studies !
And watercolour ! And practice pentel pencil ! And ! And !
Comments and critics are more than welcome

[carakhan]

Great updates! You're moving right along. Don't get too heavy on your lines! Work your way down in value, I notice a couple of lines look particularly dark. Try using a lighter pencil first to get down your basic values, and then darken gradually.
I think now might be a good time to practice your observation skills. What I mean is, use your pencil to measure and mark the places where things meet, how much negative space they're taking up, and body parts in relative place to one another. I know sometimes I get caught up in just drawing it, and then when I look back and something is off... its because i didn't take the time to measure.
Keep it up! Artist power!

[Shad-]

Hey Arenyth thanks for stopping by my SB
For values, I tried to proceed like you said, in the drawings below !
But, I do not know anything about "negative space", what is this ? The "2D space" a figure takes in the paper ?
And, what do you mean by "body parts in relative place to one another" ? I read Loomis figure's drawing yesterday ( at least, I read a good half of it ) , do you mean being carefull to the weight repartition in function of the position of members ? Or somethign else ?
Sorry for all those questions ^^'
Also, I'm planning on doing loooots of sketching from life observation as soon as I'll be finished with my book ( so I'll begin next Friday )

Here are the things I did tonight !

[carakhan]

The values look better already!
Negative space is the white space around your figure or object. It's just as important as the figure you are drawing. You should teach yourself to look at your picture inversely, seeing a black mass of figure in white space. Next time you draw from reference, pay attention to how big the space is between the arm and the waist (in your #10 post with the last figures has a lot of good examples) Is the triangle between the bent arm and his body correct? Is it too big or too small? This will help you with your proportions as well, though I think they're pretty good this will only strengthen you.
Body parts in relative space: What I mean is something like this. Take your pencil and hold it up to your reference. Say from the shoulder to the elbow takes up about an inch. Use your thumb to measure on the pencil, and then take that pencil and place it on other parts of the body. Which parts are the same size? The other arm should be the same, perhaps it's also the same distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the neck. or the length of the foot is the same length as the shin (for example). If you can remember to do this, you can check your work for errors constantly and improve your drawing as you go.
I hope this makes sense, I'm trying to find a website with the information but I can't seem to...

[Shad-]

Ho thanks for taking time to answer me !
Yeah negative space, I never thought or heard about it before, thanks for introducing me to this ! I'll be sure to pay attention to this for tonight's sketches !
And about relative spaces between body parts, I already heard about it, maybe in a loomis book or something like that. But the thing is that I draw from photo references in front of my computer screen, so I can't even tighten my arm :/
I just HAVE TO do some from life observation, I'll start this stuff next Friday, so I'll be able to apply this !

Again, thanks alot for those precious pieces of advice !
(Now I'm going to rock paper until I go to sleep : D )
(It's my motivation week of the year, haha x) )

[carakhan]

I know they mostly talk about it in terms of life drawing, but you can still measure the relative sizes of things even on a computer screen. Just hold your pencil up to the screen, find out how long the arm is, and then compare to other body parts, etc. Or if you have photoshop you can just draw a line down the arm and then move that line around to see where else it compares.
Good luck, I wanna see more!!

[Cla]

Just so you know, I'll be keeping my tabs on you from now on! : D
How did your cross-hatching go?
Btw, you might like my crosshatching, but I am seriously impressed by your ambition! I feel kinda bad seing how much work you put into it every day while I'm just lazy. However, I find it quite motivating, too.

Please keep this up!

[Shad-]

A quick update just to tell about my life, no drawing in this post sorry guys :/

Arenyth > I read again Bridgman's guide to figure drawing yesterday night, and it's in it I read about measuring fhings with your pencil ! ^^
I'll give a try at this I'm going to start drawing anyway so I'll have to work on this ^^ ( And I don't plan to doodle on photoshop yet, just want to have loooots more bases to start painting and stuff ! )

Cla > Well thanks ! I'm glad you will follow my little SB ! ^^
Also, I worked hard this week because I was late with my book and all, but I'm easy depressed and when it comes I usually don't hold a pencil for several weeks :/ I'll try to fix this and keep motivated ! And you'll get motivated too ! And we'll rock on ! And we'll rule the world with pencils and papers ! : D (omfg, what the hell am I saying ? xD )
Also, I didn't had time to work on crosshatching because (and that's the better sentence of my post ) I GOT ACCEPTED BY THE SCHOOL I WAS AIMING AT ! YEEPEEKAI !

So I took train at 7 o'clock this morning and went for 800 km, then had a meeting with the school director, then I was delivered my inscription papers which I must send back as soon as possible, then went back for another 800 km, then I sat on my deskchair to say that !

So I'm very very happy and much more motivated than I was this week, I just plan to work harder and harder

I think I said it all , I'll just get some sleep now, I'm sooooo tired o_o

Edit : Oh yeah, i just took pics from what I did yesterday : crappy Bridgman studies and crappier than crappy onion study x)

[Cla]

Congrats! : D Looks like it was worth the trouble to travel your entire country! (or even farther? I thought france wasn't that wide...)
Which kind of school is it? An art school?

[Shad-]

Well it's in France ! The country itself is about 600/650 km wide, but I went from north-east to middle west so it was 800 km long xD
And yeah it's an art school ! One of the last in france wich teaches you academical drawing basics BEFORE working with 3D, photoshop, or any other thing. That's why I like it : every single student who get out of that school is a drawing beast ! Hope it'll work for me ! :p
I took a break this week end to play a little minecraft ( damn this game is evil, it's a time swallower x) ) but training starts again tomorrow !

And thanks again for stopping by !

[deadlyhamster]

congratulations you got accepted in the art school
and about your work, your studies are great and I love your linework in your last post
so keep doing what your doing because your doing good

[saltfox]

Ooh congrats on getting accepted! Studying in France, lucky you :p
It sounds amazing btw, I wish I could attend a course like that, that teaches the basics

Your Bridgman studies are lovely, keep up the good work!

[Dannyphoto]

Some good designs here my friend! keep referencing as some detail might not be spot on, but keep posting

[stabby2486]

Just wanted to say thanks for popping in my sketchbook. Anyway, I'd say focus less on contour and when shading, clearly define light direction by simplying your values into two values, lights and darks, before breaking them down further. Other than that, keep up the work.

[seili]

Hey, those anatomy studies are looking great, and you have some great expression in your figures. Keep it up!

[Shad-]

deadlyhamster > Thanks man ! I'm going to try going back to work, because that month was a huge desert of no-drawings-land ><

saltfox > Yeah I guess I'm very lucky being accepted in that school. All the students who gave me feedbacks were like "man it's so hard but it really teaches you how to draw" so I can't wait for next year !
I'll try to do more bridgman, I really like how he stylizes his figures ! Thanks !

Dannyphoto > Thanks ! Yeah sometimes I don't understand well what I'm drawing so I just skip a few lines because it would look ulgier with those. I guess I must continue to train my eye !

stabby2486 > You're welcome ! :p It's now my turn to thank you ^^
Well I guess it would be interesting to work only in black and white to clear my mind. I'll try that soon. Thank you for the tip !

seili > Wow thanks alot dude ! But i still have huge lot to do but, thanks : D

Wow guys so many positive feedbacks made me all happy and gave me alot of motivation !
This month turned into a kind of "minecraft month" during wich I... Played minecraft too much >< But I'm now back to my pencils and I expect to do alot of work until the summer ends.
After seeing iCreate's SB ( http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...=1#post3113696 ) , I just wanted to have my attempt at drawing in huge proportions.
I didn't had enough time to build up my 8" sheet, so I took my A2 canson sketchbook and gave a try at a Raiponce study. I did it with a pencil then used a "conté black stone" pencil to do the lineart.
I guess the black stone with it's fat mine kinda ruined the original sketch but, you know, whatever, I had fun doing this one, and my girlfriend is happy with it as a present, so ! ^^
( His eyes are ... OMG ... >< )

[dracken]

Nice sketchbook. Not much to say past keep working hard. You just need more practice ( don't we all

The life drawings look good, I'd recommend doing more of those. More fruit, maybe a chair or a corner of your room. It's way more boring than doing characters, but it helps.

[Shad-]

Thank you for stopping by !
I'm seriously back now, I guess I'll give a try at those from life studies, but before that, I'll be learning my anatomy !
It took me a huge amount of time to get myself at it but now I won't get back !
Today was my most serious drawing day since I stopped in april.
I did 2 sketches from imagination wich are huge uglinesses so I won't show em. I also doodle a lot during classes, and I made a little start at anatomy.

Back muscles, then arm bones. I guess I'llstart with bones.

Could you tell me if I'm doing good having a try at this, if I should do anything else first or whatever.
Anyway I hope this week end will be full of drawings !

[deadlyhamster]

hey shad, I'm glad your back.
You got a good study there, keep working mate and I will come back

[RBeek]

Yess! ram urself with anatomy studies till you get knocked out!
Just keep drawing,, no matter whats,, drawing=improving so.. just do as much as u can!

Keep it up!

[tronrobot]

Keep up those anatomy studies ! looking great!