Biting the bullet- daily drawings

[ja1307]

Great sketchbook you have here, good to see so mantygood studies from life and they are turning out really well. You are definitely going to give yourself a good foundation to go on and do your own work with studies like this. Definitely keep it up and the pace you are making very good progress. Some of your still life painting are looking very good cant wait to see more from you.

[nouge]

Regular studies looking sharp, and the stuff from imagination is very cool! They look like snapshots from a dream. Are they in pen? Sharpie?

[black-swan]

Luther: Thankfully he’s given the ok and I can start to finish it off! Brilliant- I think this is the longest I’ve ever spent on a drawing. Thanks for the encouragement.

Ja1307: It’s important not to neglect life drawing, I try to do some every week even if I’ve got other projects on. Thanks for the positive feedback and encouragement, I appreciate it.

Nouge: Hey, hope you’re doing well. I did the drawings in a normal ink pen, through lack of choice. I think it did me good though; I had to be clear in my intentions.

I’ve got the go ahead to complete the bargue, so hopefully I’ll be able to do that in the next two days. (first days off in ages!).

Also went to a portrait group last night, this drawing took approximately 2 and a half hours, in 2B. A friend pointed out their that my drawings are getting smaller and smaller on the page, I don’t know why I’ve started to do this, any ideas?

[nouge]

I'm doing well, thanks!

That portrait is nice, the soft reflected light in the shadows is well done. Only thing I'd have a look at is the right-side ear, I'm wondering if it's placed too high.

I don't know if you're doing this already, but I find that an easy way to control the size of your drawings is to begin with a top and bottom line and decide what should be on each of them. The top line could be the top of the head, and the bottom line the pit of her elbows, then place a feature in between them, such as the chin, and continue measuring and drawing to fit those defined distances.

[black-swan]

Nouge: thanks, well spotted with the ear, when I was drawing her I noticed this, it did actually look higher in real life, maybe one ear is higher than the other. I have been using a top and bottom marker, but I’m probably not getting the initial measurements right, which is why I need to correct so much later on- I need to be tougher on myself at this stage.

I think I’ve finished my first bargue (hopefully my teacher will agree), darkened the tone and put some finishing touches on it. If there are height differences, it’s because I scanned the pictures in separately and put the next to each other in photoshop. The copy is lighter than the original because i've been using HB pencil and didn't want to push the medium too far.

[nouge]

That's great! Very good job Now find a worthy wall to hang it on!

[black-swan]

nouge: thanks

After receiving a video critique from my teacher, I went back in and adjusted the fingers and line weight, hopefully this is better,

[ja1307]

Nice work on the the first Bargue how long did it take you total to complete out of interest rendering is superb. That gradient that you did at the beginning of october was pretty solid. Keep up the good work.

[SophieW]

Nice! There are some good studies here. Your last update is great, it looks very clean and you’ve done a good job at portraying the form of the hand etc.

[black-swan]

ja1307: thanks, the bargue took around a month to do, so around 60 hours in all, having spent all that time on it I feel well prepared for the next one. Thanks for the encouragement.

SophieW: Thanks for stopping by and for the good feedback.

This is the new bargue, first block in of it, it’s going to be fun to do a head, I find the image quite interesting to look at and those transitions will be solid. I’ve included a red trace over to show what I’ve done, in case you can’t see the pencil drawing.

Went to life drawing class today, the focus was hatching, I ended up playing around with charcoal, copics, chalk and pencil, couldn’t show all the drawings as I can’t get decent photos of them, but it was a really good session.

Also, a pirate from imagination and some life drawings, I wish I had spend more time on rendering the metal tea pots as I have on the bargue, I need a slap for being lazy, haha.

Also included a photo of some objects I'm going to do a still life painting of, in oils, still at the blocking in stage,

[ja1307]

60 hours damn thats what I call patience. Now I dont feel so bad about my 5 hour block in.

Nice updates your working like a trooper. Watch your structure with still life objects for example the cup is unbalanced.The sides are not at the same angle. Maybe draw a plum and measure both sides to make sure they match up in terms of distance from the plum. You did well with the tea pots looks like your weren't that rushed to me. Maybe just work on your transition from one value to another to make it more subtle so you don't suddenly jump from dark to light. Its something I do too. Cant wait to see how your painting turns out looks like a good choice for a study. Need to do more oils too.

Great variety in your studies keep it up. I will be back for sure.

[nouge]

This is SO good, wow! Placing some midlines and horizontal lines to keep the symmetry sharp would bump it up another notch, but it seems pretty minor when the rendering is that crisp. Really, I declare a level-up, because this one is great!

[black-swan]

ja1307: thanks for the feedback and encouragement, I appreciate it.

nouge: thank you

recent work,

[ja1307]

just out of interest what camera are you using to take your pis. The quality is always so good.

[luthertaylor]

loving your updates Swan, glad to see my catastrophic computer issues doesn't mean the end of the world for others! lol as per usual no current feedback from me, you're are heading in a pleasing direction with your ability! keep at it.
I've been working with alkyd oils which i recommend btw. stays open wayyy longer than acrylics which I like, and dries wayyy faster than traditional oils, which I also like.
a day to dry, completely.

keep it up, im noticing a definite improvement

[black-swan]

Attachment 1695885ja: fuji-film fine pix S, fuji all the way!

luther: Those paints sound pretty good, thanks again for the encouragement.

Sorry, long time, no update. I just tend to get too caught up in this site, and then I don't do enough work. I have been updating at my blog, hrartwork.blogspot.com http://hrartwork.blogspot.co.uk/

Still going at it, all fairly recent stuff- all figure paintings are in acrylics, the still life paintings in oil, and the rest is just the usual

Attachment 1695885

[black-swan]

[black-swan]

[luthertaylor]

someone's definitely been at it!!great update! I know what you mean about getting caught up in this site. I sometimes feel obliged to comment on someones sketchbook if they commented on mine so i put it in my signature to not let others feel like I do. personally though I think I will just stop going to peoples sketchbook if they come to mine. I'm grateful for the comments but I think I will just look at peoples sketchbook randomly from now on when I feel like it. Only a few people that I actively follow here.

keep it up, by the way you sketching those figures out with a hog or sable brush?

[black-swan]

Hey Luther. I know, i have the same problem with comments. I do like to reply to people, but it does take up time.

I used hog brushes, one flat and one round, around size 10. Some of those paintings are only 10 to 5 minutes, so I'd rather use hogs for those. I have some mongoose hair brushes I use with oils for secondary layers , I get those from rosemary & co, they are a British company who sell via the internet, they have good value brushes, the sables are good but the bristles don't keep their shape, http://www.rosemaryandco.com/

[nickbernstein]

Really enjoy how systematically you're studying. What online class are you taking? I went back to try and find mention of it in the comments, but didn't see it. Has it been worth it so far?

[black-swan]

nickb: Thanks. I'm taking a course at classicalartonline.com, the only pieces from that course are the master copies (bargue drawings- the arm, girls profile and reclining man)- everything else is self directed. I think it has been worth doing, the exercises aren't easy but they have improved my standard in just a few months. Still, everything is very much a work in progress, I'll be moving onto drawing from casts next month. The course was worth doing, plus mindcandyman (Jon Hardesty) is a good teacher

[I-Bomb]

you did a real great job on the brague and master studies and thanks for commenting on my sketchbook

[black-swan]

udonhead: thanks and no problem

i should call this a monthly thread really, does anyone know how to edit the thread title?

A lot of life drawing, mostly in pencil, pen and ink, crayon, chalk and charcoal. Also some oil painting experiments with limited palettes from life. A few recent portraits in charcoal and pencil, I always happen to make my grandad look like an American indian, it's a bit weird, haha- I love drawing him though. There are some gestures of cats, some Vanderpoel copies too.

I've got myself a Mabef box easel, model 22, so expect some plien air oils in the next update. I'm also hoping to finish the bargue soon and move onto charcoal drawings of casts. I've let this one drag out too long, mostly because I took a break around Christmas time. The photos are of the casts I've decided to use. I bought a few statues at a local garden center and painted them white. They've turned out pretty well, but the gargoyle will need retouching. I've also included a photo of my garage space, which I will convert into a small studio space, Mr.bones will have to walk.

It's funny, the more you look at other people's work and the more work you do, the more you see your own mistakes and inadequacies. It's a good thing to see them, it means there is still room for lots of growth.

[black-swan]

[luthertaylor]

yummy update. still nothing to feedback you on not that you need it from me. follow your own direction. you are at a level where you can see your own mistakes keep pushing.
everything's fine on my end, just not caring to update sites at the moment. I feel I know what I need to do for improvement now so just blowing through.

will check back soon.

[JakeB]

Nice work, really pushing those fundamentals. Keep it up The life drawing/painting looks great.

[black-swan]

Luthertaylor: Thanks man. I haven't got a lot to critique on your sketchbook either, but to encourage you to keep going at it of course

JakeB: Thanks for the encouragement

[Veshkau]

Going well, good to see mixing practice in there too! Would advise avoiding the wobbly lines in some of those figures though, or maybe make the wiggles a bit more organic and balance them out with more solid looking lines on the opposing sides. Keep up the good work!

[Chris Sanders]

Hey Swan, thanks for the crit I love the cubes in post 108 and the jug 114, values are handled very well in both. The anatomy has improved since i last saw aswell so good job, keep on doing what your doing. If i had to crit something it would be the pencil portraits in 114. the value range looks a little timid and slightly unstructured. one thing i found particularly helpful when rendering is to get in the measuring done, then the lines for the terminator shadow, then mass the shadow in the value range your going to use for your bounce light, then darken the areas of your core shadow so you build up the darkness in the shadows positively, rather than starting with the tone of your core shadow and erasing away your reflected light. You may know that but it kind of looks like the latter. Then work the midtones obviously. You can then push the creases in the eyelids and the pupil as dark as you can, then have the contrast levels decrease as you get further away from the eyes. See you Saturday! Chris