Nick's Sketchbook of Growth :3

[Notgoodwithnames]

Art. I've never considered myself to be a talented artist, but I do hope to improve my skills in drawing realistically. You see, I'd love to use drawing as a gift. I am an avid letter-writer, a lost art in it's own way. I want to be able to create talented art for my penpals and loved ones, especially my grandma whose often too sick to leave her bed. The biggest passion I have for my art is to give it away.

You guys are wonderful people! I stumbled on this site a few months ago, and I've yet to see a more helpful artist community. The tutorials and advice here are so precise; this place stopped me from going to Full Sail! When I came here I was a little intimidated to put my artwork up, but now my jitters have passed away. I'm just glad people stop by to look!

Thank you for your comments and critiques! (:

[Zephyrion]

Alright! Welcome! fresh meat! No, I kid c:
Well, you're doing some cartooning stuff, but you need to get fundamenals down. May I suggest Loomis? Start drawing from life and whatnot. Also, "Drawing on the right Side of the Brain" is VERY good for beginners.

[JohanneLight]

Talent is just the beginning, I'm talented but I stopped drawing for five years so I kinda got lost. Now I'm following what everybody great is doing here. Practice and practice hard. If you do that you're going to go far kid.

[Notgoodwithnames]

cannibalcarnivale:
Thanks!

I put a hold on Drawing the Head and Hands and Betty Edward's book. I'll pick it up from the library on Wednesday. ^^

JohanneLight:
I can relate.
I used to be a talented singer. Award, award, award, stopped singing for four years, my talent goes on vacation.

[McArtney]

this is interesting! and don't doubt yourself, Just keep practising!

[Rhubix]

Art. I've never considered myself to be a talented artist, but I do hope to improve my skills in drawing realistically.

Talent is over rated. There are 2 kinds of artists, the natural ones and the stubborn ones.
I was never gifted but I decided to be an animator anyway. I started at the bottom of my class (my director told me I was her underdog) and graduated with 20% of the starting class.
Lots of talented people dropped out, lots thought they were amazing already so why bother to try hard? why study?
I think we stubborn crowd will win out in the end

...just watch out for those artists that are talented and stubborn... I think they're robots.

happy sketching!

[Notgoodwithnames]

Here's two more pictures from my sketchbook!

- The first is my DS with heartgold, inspired by a flying pikachu I caught.

- The second is a mix between two heroes of mine- Goku and Martin Luther King Jr. I had to stop drawing Super Saiyan MLK because I lack understanding of ear anatomy and shading is still difficult for me, but I'm still glad with the result. I hope to come back and draw this in greater detail someday!
Edit: My friend drew a picture for me on the back. =P

[garnetfenghuang]

:u I spy Pokemon, my favorite franchise~

Your more stylized art is very nice, you do need to work on realistic drawing but it's getting there! Just keep drawing from realistic pictures as practice and you'll improve in no time! Keep it up~

[Notgoodwithnames]

Thanks for the support McArtney garnetfenghuang!
Also that's a nice story Rhubix! I'll work on being more stubborn. :'D

So here's the studies I made today. I got Loomis' Head/Hands book, so I draw a few heads from the book.

[Notgoodwithnames]

I also made this picture today from looking at Strato's avatar.
Not exactly a study, but.. :3
The second picture is one I revised imagining what would happen when he gets really hungry.

[Notgoodwithnames]

By the way, I'm drawing every day now but my studies lack resources and direction.

Activities or book recommendations that have greatly aided you in drawing would be very much appreciated. ^^

[Notgoodwithnames]

Here's two picture from last year I found!
The first is a kirby rendition of "whose that pokemon" while experimenting with different color mediums.
The second is a corgi webcomic I was working on. I'm still "working on it" to this day, but I feel it better to get more skills first. :l

[Notgoodwithnames]

Hey Nick! It's me Nick.
You need to work on shading and details, instead of creating flat images that look like they have hay for skin. Alright then.

- Nick

[Leonor]

By the way, I'm drawing every day now but my studies lack resources and direction.

Activities or book recommendations that have greatly aided you in drawing would be very much appreciated. ^^

Set yourself goals, it might help put sequence to your studies. There's the major goal "I want to be an awesome artist" and then you break that down to minor goals "I need to learn perspective, figure, construction, values, etc" and those even to minor ones, for instance, for figure "First I'll do some gesture, next I'll try the simplified mannequin, next I'll study the skeleton..."

Also, let your flaws guide you too. For instance, when you noticed you couldn't do ear anatomy, you could have flicked the Loomis book to that part and do some studies straight away.

I've set a goal of learning how to draw characters from imagination consistently so I'm practicing head construction. I do self-portraits, draw from photos, study Loomis construction technique, study the skull, study planes of the head...

I am also following Loomis' "Figure Drawing for All it's Worth" in order. I read and copy a page and then recall it. I only move on when I can recall without having to copy, because that means I really understood it.

[Notgoodwithnames]

Much obliged Leonor, you hit my artist weaknesses on the head! I feel my three biggest problems are lack of direction, going through art books too fast/ skimming, and not having enough confidence in doing well.

Here's two things I've worked on. I'm taking a few cartoon sketches and trying to make them more realistic without referencing or looking at a model to improve imagination. Also I'm tracing anterior, posterior, and side skeletal and muscle views for study.

[yongs]

Hey keep up the good work! Nice advices from leonor. Think that would help greatly with your progress. Yea loomis is good explains just right for anatomy, I have a book anatomy fornartist by peck but it's really in depth, kinda too scientific for my taste. Bridgeman have some awesome structures for Anatomy too!

[Strato]

I've never considered myself to be a talented artist, but I do hope to improve my skills in drawing realistically.

Everyone wants to draw realistically, especially beginners. I certainly did. Here's the thing though, we already have cameras. Drawing realistically is fine, but bear in mind it should really ultimately be a technical skill. Drawing stylistically, personally, and uniquely are much more interesting and human in my opinion. If you focus too much on realism, you forget how to be creative and just have fun.

Anyway, if you want to really draw realistically, you need to do more drawing from life and references. I see you're already doing stuff like anatomy, which is also good, but why not pull out an apple from the kitchen and draw it? I think in the rough hierarchy of drawing skills, still life comes before anatomy anyway. ;P
But you've already got a decent grasp on contours, now it's time for values.

Leonor's right on the money. And bullshit you lack resources. There's an entire planet full of resources. Anything in the house is a candidate for a still life. Need gesture references? Put a sitcom on TV and do gestures of the actors. Draw everything you see relentlessly.

Happy drawing! And thanks for the hamster pic. ;P Sorry this ended up being a little lecturey. For what it's worth, I see lots of good potential here. =)

[KrispyKream]

If you can, do still life and landscapes as much as possible, they both fix and sharpen your observation and perspective skills. Taking classes can greatly help, as the teacher and students around can provide inspiration and drive.

[Notgoodwithnames]

My grandma died today.
She was with me ever since I was a kid. I'm sad.

We've had so many great memories together though, and she always let me know how much I meant to her. I'm going to give her my graduation plaque during her funeral, because she had more faith in me graduating than I did and pushed me to go back to school.
I miss you grandma.

P.S., Thanks for loving a gay grandson.
I've always wanted to thank you for that but never knew how.

[Notgoodwithnames]

I'm going to try and dedicate the progress I make for the next 180 days to my grandma and my brother James. I miss you both.

[Magyar]

Sorry about your grandma ):

The headstudy is looking good.