POPUPS Sketchbook - A true beginner who needs a helping hand.

[POPUPSart]

Hello everyone, POPUP here.

I have been a long time lurker of CA.org and finally decided to post up some of my own work and begin my own sketchbook.

I have always had a keen interest in art, but it is not something I have ever pursued.

I'm not sure what it is exactly but I feel now is the time for me to pick up a pencil and nurture my creative side.

I have always been a 'doodler' I spend a lot of my work time on the phone to customers and me and my work colleagues are often intrigued by the detail I put into these so called doodles.

The girlfriend recently took a keen interest in my ability and bought me a wacom bamboo pad to keep me motived. And motivated I am.

So where am I at right now?

Well I played around for a bit on my wacom pad. doing a couple of studies. I am quite proud how some of them turned out but after reading tutorials on line, searching youtube high and low. Purchasing loads of drawing books and magazines I have decided I need to start waaaayy back on step one and build up my fundamentals if I am ever to get any better.

I put down the digital pad and went back to paper and pencil and got myself a decent how to draw book.

Hopefully with my hard work and determination, and with the help of you guys I will be able to achieve my goals.

Thank you for reading and please comment.





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[POPUPSart]

So here is a selection of the first few bits I did when I got my Wacom tablet.

Kind of all over the place. But that was how my brain was at the time.

I have since tried to streamline the process and start from scratch.

[POPUPSart]

Here is a little piece that started off as a doodle while on the phone for some time.

The original was on a scrap bit of paper that was then scanned in and this is what it turned into.

I liked the idea of telling a story through a sequence of pictures.

Apologies for the random sizing of images. Still getting used to this.

Any ideas for uploading? Size/res etc?

[POPUPSart]

Ok so I have got cracking on some some basic sketching.

I started with just some technique exercises that the book recommends just to get a feel for the pencil and paper again.

This is just the starting posts on my long journey. I would love to see some comments or guidance to point me in the right direction.

Thanks for reading.

[POPUPSart]

Some further images I have done today.

I really want to be able to draw people correctly. one of my biggest problems is just getting proportions correct. So I spend the night knocking a few out. I personally feel an improvement already.

I'm not going for realistic looks just yet, just focusing on proportions. The rest will come later!

Thanks again for reading. Crits and advice welcome.

[MonoOrder]

Nice drawings. It's great that you are going back to the fundamentals. I'm trying to do the same as well.

I can't really offer any technical critique but keep posting! I'd love to how you progress.

[Clur]

Hey there, welcome to CA.

Looks like you're starting in the right place (makes me wish I had myself, haha). Just keep on going!

For the figure, maybe try doing some drawings from life to cement the concepts you learn from books/online. Even if it's just a quick gesture of your friend watching TV or whatever, it's really helpful to apply your knowledge like that.

Also personally I find it easier to construct the figure out of boxy shapes rather than circular ones, but do whatever feels right for you!

[POPUPSart]

Hey guys

Thanks very much for the comments. Mean a lot when people take the time to help me out and for that I appreciate it. I will aim to do some lift studies shortly and maybe try a more blocky method. But for now. Here is something I knocked up on my lunch break at work.

Some female mannequins for your viewing pleasure.

I'm noticing some improvements in the way I draw. My lines appear to be more confident as I go and these anatomy fundamentals seem to be sinking in!

Overall feeling very good. But the road is long!

[POPUPSart]

Another quick update.

Nothing exciting yet but hey! I guess we all need to start from somewhere right?

I do intend to do some life studies this weekend to hopefully utilise all the things I have learnt so far.

Thanks for reading.

Please comment and crit. Im open to all suggestions. I am in awe at the standard of art on this forum and if I can ever hope to achieve those levels I am willing to take everything on board.

[Blue Gun]

I like what I'm seeing POPUPSart. You're doing it the right way. The digital Game of Thrones & pathway in darkforest are awesome.

Here's are 2 links that will help you on your journey. The first one is for sketching gestures. The other link is a guide to sketching. It's helpful to starters. Keep drawing, you'll start to see improvement in no time.

http://www.pixelovely.com/gesture/figuredrawing.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmiwGm32dXU

[POPUPSart]

Hi Blue Gun, thanks for the reply those links are perfect and im sure they will come in handy!

I did some studies of the arm today. Lower and upper and did a few arm sketches to show what I have learnt!

Not much more to add, been crazy busy recently!

Next up I think I will do legs, in a similar way I have done the torso and arms. Then hopefully some gestures.


Thanks again for reading

-POPUP

[will123will]

Hey man thx for the visit, I would recommend studying Michael Hampton's figure drawing book, he uses a lot of form development from the basic forms and it is really a great learning resource. you should also always remember to draw in form and not in line, remember your paper should now be treated like it is a 3d surface not a 2d one, so start with these forms and use planes the same way a sculpter would shape form and create your more complex objects. Your doing great, just carry on and study people like Hampton, Loomis and Bridgman .

[POPUPSart]

So it has been awhile since my last update, I have been slacking recently as it has been my girlfriends birthday

Luckily I have been able to find some time to do some drawing.

Again just working on anatomy getting a better idea of proportion, muscle/bone structure. and studying a bit of Loomis and working what I have learnt about proportion into some gesture studies using the mannequins he recommends using.

Thanks for reading.

[POPUPSart]

So.....

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I updated.... Finding it very hard to find time as I have just found a new job and am in the middle of a transitional period.

However I have found some time to do a couple of sketches and continue my anatomy studies.

Still focusing on the male figure for now. I have been using loomis style mannequins and building up from there really.

I feel I have come a long way from my initial proportion drawings.

Let me know what you think!

Thanks again for reading and feel free to add some input. I love reading peoples comments.

Hopefully it wont be so long until my next update!

[POPUPSart]

In this next update I decided to go back and do some digital work utilising what I have learnt.

The first is some male torso studies from different angles in slightly more dynamic but natural poses. I tried to make them as quick as possible 1-2 mins each so I was relying on what my anatomy studies have taught me rather than just copying the reference.

The 2nd image is some value studies of the male torso. again fairly quick.

[O_ranger]

Welcome

for where you're at in your practice you have much better line quality than many others who are at the same stage. You have a lot of potential, keep at it.

Your figures have definitely gotten better. I think you could benefit from doing more in depth value studies. I find it helpful to really try and get the value to suggest the muscle groups accurately.

[POPUPSart]

Thanks for the reply!

I really do intend on doing some more in depth studies but I really want to be able to do the full figure. You may have noticed none of my figures have faces or hands.

I am just awful at drawing them and trying hard to remedy this issue.,

I have been working with Loomis books to try and get it right but something just doesn't 'click' for me just yet.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what learning material is good for heads and hands?

[O_ranger]

Are you drawing your figures with any sort of formula to base it off of? If you are looking at reference and just drawing them without any sort method, learning could take very long. Once you have it down you can skip the formulas or use your own method.

It seems pretty indirect but value studies helped me understand the full figure. It really help you understand the forms that exist inside the body. At least that was the case for me but different artists learn differently. Hope to see new stuff soon!

[IsaacEs]

May i ask what position you were talking about? haha i was confused but for studies im doing bridgman studies from his ebook "constructive anatomy" its free i think >.> but thank you for the post on my sketchbook i really appreciate it, i do recommend you learn how to construct figures instead of just drawing from the eye, sometimes we cant get certain measurements right because there is no sort of construction going on

i recommend loomis and bridgmans books they have alot of valuable info and also from life otherwise youre off to a good start its consistency that will prevail in the end... i should learn that myself

[Pete Hidalgo]

Hey man great book here. Also I would agree with ^IsaacEs here. It is also something I am working on. Learning the proportions and construction of the figure. Though mundane it will greatly help.

I was in IsaacEs and saw your post. And I wanted to drop this on youhttp://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94571 Look through the list and pick out the ones you think will help you or what is parallel with what you are wanting to draw. I would bookmark it and refer back to it when ever. Hope that helps man and look forward to seeing more works.

[POPUPSart]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'm working with Loomis at the moment trying to learn how to construct the head so working through a few examples.

Then decided to do a study to try and utilize what I learnt. I spend much longer on it than I initially intended but I was having fun.

Let me know what you think.

[POPUPSart]

Study

[POPUPSart]

Hello all.

Still a bit slow on the updates so thought I would throw in some of my WIP.

Both still in the very early planning phases but at least its something right?

Any advise would very greatly received.

For the First one. My idea was to have it set in an African plain. A father is taking his son out for the first time to hunt and encroaching on a heard of animals (not yet pictured)

At the moment it feels very static far too open and a bit dull but I do have some revisions to make to bring the whole thing together.

The second is a sketch of an idea I have had bouncing around my head for some time and utilises some of my anatomy work.

Let me know what you think so far!

[Cabbage Caterpillar]

Great stuff here!! Nice Portrait painting. Hope to see more paintings XD

[Erikly]

I like that you are doing a lot of figure drawings and muscles studies! Keep at it man, I recommend you doing some still lives also! They will really help your paintings!

[POPUPSart]

Thanks for the comments!

I have been working a little on my Demon man.

Looking for some advice on how you think im doing so far.

The foreshortening on his outstretched right hand is giving me a bit of trouble.

The heart may be too big, again suffering from foreshortening issues.

Also I think the background needs to go. Or at least be a different colour. I was just messing around to make the demon 'pop'

As for the demon colouring, I don't quite know why I went for this purple colour. I guess it comes across as surreal and demonic to an extent which was the effect I was going for.

The facial expression of anger/pain was a little troublesome too. Having only just delved into studying facial expression but I think I have almost nailed it.

Anyway. let me know what you think. I'm also happy for any paintovers etc.. if that helps you explain your advice.

Thanks again for reading.

[POPUPSart]

Hi guys

Just a quick update on my WIP.

This is the direction I am currently going with the demon.

Let me know what you think.

[POPUPSart]

So i'm back after a long hiatus, still trying to get to grips with faces. looked around for some resources and used sinixdesign on youtube for some basic ideas.

Here is a bunch of my quick sketches a couple of minutes each some from reference others from quick study. there are some ok ones I guess. Most terrible or just plain creepy lol!

I find it funny that I live my life surrounded by people and faces but when it comes to drawing them I fail miserably.

I think if I take my time I can get it down nicely. Like my Daniel Craig picture above but I'm not sure how much of that was actually understanding the forms I was making but just copying the reference material.

Can you share any tips for constructing realistic looking faces? What reference material did you find most helpful? any information would be gracefully received.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

-POPUP

[POPUPSart]

Another quick study.

[POPUPSart]

Another quick study. This time I chose to go for a much harder rougher brush with a higher opacity compared to my usual low opacity soft, almost airbrush brushes.

I had much more fun with this one. Only took me 20 mins or so and it seems to have a lot more character. I added pictures of multiple steps for this one to show how I built the image up.