Serp's occasionally updated Sketchbook!

**Serpian** · December 23rd, 2007, 06:01 PM

Ouch, long time since last update! Things have been really hectic back in the real world. And I'm not even talking about christmas stress. I didn't draw for some days... And when I began again, predictably, everything that came out was crap:

Okay not everything:

But after a while, I just thought to myself: Let's draw some space marines.
Games Workshop stuff is the reason I started drawing. And I hadn't drawn a Space Marine in ages. GW is the source. And hopefully you can see I had fun doing this one:

And updated after som crits over the chat:

Happy christmas!

**Serpian** · January 4th, 2008, 05:51 AM

Hey! Prepare yourselves for a dumping of a certain gargantuan quality. New years resolution: post more often. Yeah, right...

DOODLES, STUDIES, SKETCHES AND PURE CRAP

Here's to hoping for a productive new year!

**OBX** · January 6th, 2008, 02:28 AM

wow your anatomy is improving in leaps and bounds. And a lil quickie, I remember listening to marko talk about rendering at the montreal workshop. He said get your lines right, make sure your contour lines describe everything, even lighting and light source. then render over them. and its not something you do fast... until your as good as he is.

anyhow, I like that ranger like dood in the last post. nice texture and pattern variation/design.

**Cup of Joe** · January 6th, 2008, 10:36 AM

Definite improvements in those imagination drawings. The guy with the sword looks good in particular, but the scratchy rendering takes away from it.
I do agree with OBX that it might do you good to just focus on lines for a bit. Also, more still lifes and life drawings!
Keep it up.

**Serpian** · January 16th, 2008, 08:44 AM

Quick post. Started a life painting. Gonna do it in oils. I've just noticed that the drum is very skewed in my drawing.

REF

**Serpian** · January 22nd, 2008, 10:58 AM

I tried to fix the construction of the drum, and slapped on some paint. There are still cunstruction errors, but there's still time to fix that. The photo is very glary.

**Serpian** · January 31st, 2008, 01:31 PM

I totally blame Team Fortress 2 for making me update this seldom.

Doodles!

Crap from life!

Robots!

Guys and Girls!

And a comic about how it is to play the spy. What, me bitter?

Later...

**Cup of Joe** · February 3rd, 2008, 09:57 AM

Alright, let's see here. Your imagination pieces have definitely improved, but maybe try slapping some backgrounds on there. Some drapery studies wouldn't hurt either. The only other thing I see is consistently tiny heads.

Just keep up the great progress man! (And yo, what happened to that painting!)

**Quicksilver** · February 5th, 2008, 08:34 PM

Heya, cheers for posting in my SB

I think you should defo grab a pencil with softer graphite, like a 4B or 6B, 'cause your shaded sketches mainly consist of white and light grey.
Dunno if you've done this exercise, but a good way to practice is to either have white paper and two pencils (say, B and 6B) and fill in the darks and midtones, OR get yourself some toned paper and grab a white and black/dark brown pastel pencil, then fill in the darks and highlights. That way you'll get a good range of values, and it works out to be pretty simple if you limit your tools to literally two pencils and a piece of paper.

Start off with observational studies, then move on to doing your own thang.

Happy drawing~

**Suncut** · February 7th, 2008, 12:03 PM

Hey, saw your thread in lounge, but thought I'd come comment in here since it's not really relevant to the discussion. I'm currently studying in Alfa-art, and though it most certainly doesn't seem to be up to the quality of the Atelier Stockholm, I think it's around the best you can find here if your aim to illustration or anything realistic. The teachers are working artists and the first half year is drawing casts, materials etc before moving to painting. Anyway, feel free to ask if your interested in hearing more.

I like the varied poses you got a lot. Your feet seem generally better build out than your arms, especially on some really stretched poses the 3d dimensional feel is somewhat lost. For improving your tones I'd suggest taking some pretty simple still life object, then drawing it on big paper with plenty of time and patience really concentrating on getting every possible value out of your pencils. Remember to step back frequently to view the big picture.

**Serpian** · February 15th, 2008, 10:30 AM

Hey you guys. An update! Surprise!

Just some really crappy SPs and some studies (mostly bridgman) and some doodles. I'll respond to your comments when I have more time... Gotta go start my oil SP!

**Serpian** · February 18th, 2008, 02:00 PM

Small update: some oils.

**Serpian** · February 27th, 2008, 10:13 AM

Just an update on that SP... The changes aren't really as radical as it may seem, the first version is just a crappy colour correction job...

**Cup of Joe** · February 29th, 2008, 11:56 PM

That oil's looking pretty nice yo! There seems to be some squashing in the face though (vertically, I mean) compared to some of your other SPs. Also, if the first version is a mistake, and the second is what it really looks like, you could put some warmer, brighter colors in the areas of the face in the light to make a nice focal point. Everything read fine now, but the colors are all a little close to each other.
Keep up the hard work man, you're improving more than you probably think!

**mellongcreate** · March 5th, 2008, 12:11 PM

Hey nice to see someone else to share my crappy doodles with. I love intimate doodles that are not designed, and with little to no thought behind them other than moving the pencil or pen around on paper to keep you amused. Big fan of them!
Also the feeling of doing crap drawings is overwhelmingly a mood killer! My amazing girlfriend kindly posed for me last night for some life studies and after 3 quick sketches of pure crap I gave up and have been grumpy all day!
Would be interested in how you get over it when your drawings don't please you enough.

Check your PM box!!

**Serpian** · March 17th, 2008, 05:18 PM

Hey, thanks guys!

Joe: Yeah, the squashing thing is wierd, because on my monitor it's squashed compared to the real thing! But if you've been seeing my other SP's non-squashed, maybe the original is a bit squashed as well. And I'll try warmer colours on the next one, thanks!

you're improving more than you probably think!

This cheered me up more than you probably think!

Mellong: Yeah, crappy doodles are fun. To come over bad art days.. i usually wait. Stop doing it if it isn't funny. Computer games. Or I force myself to do some studies. But I usually just say forget about it! and do something else. And I'm on it about those textures! I just have to think of a way to send you several megabytes of pics!

Now, I've been away for a while again, so here's the usual dumpage. I've been on my first figure drawing classes! And it's SO MUCH FUN. Also, I just found out I've been accepted to www.ateljestockholm.se, which totally rules! It's expensive as hell, but I believe it'll be worth it. I begin this September!

Now, models! These are 1-15 mins.

**mellongcreate** · March 17th, 2008, 07:40 PM

hey nice life studies, I attended some classes a few week back but never posted the sketches but..... in light of being honest about what work I do in my SB I'll post them all, good or not, I need your ongoing input for inspiration, both from you posting on my SB to get my arse moving and also your posts here are always inspirational.

Your attitude about your work, others work and art in general is one I hope will blend into mine.

**Cup of Joe** · March 17th, 2008, 08:11 PM

Nice initiative on those models, just be sure to keep the essentials in mind. Check your proportions often. It also helps more than you'd think to have your shading strokes follow the form of the object.

On a side note, dude, that's TOTALLY bitchin' about you getting into Stockholm. Best of luck to ya, bud!

**Quicksilver** · March 20th, 2008, 09:59 PM

Nice life drawings

Still need to push those darks though. Use charcoal, maybe?

Also, with your pencil studies, try and take more time to tighten up the edges and get the values right. It'll help you more in the end

**Serpian** · April 21st, 2008, 08:29 AM

A month later, I return! For internet cred, I will express the following in LOLcat language:

I can has massive sketch dump?

So massive I will post it in separate posts ovaer a few days... Because I'm lazy.

First, a pic I drew for a school application. It depicts a scene from Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. The slave boy Kullervo is out tending the cows. He cuts his bread, but his mistress has baked stones into it, so his knife, a family heirloom and the only link to his past, is broken. In his rage, he magicks the herd into the swamp, and sings to the wild animals, turning them into cows. When the mistress comes to milk the cows, he turns them back into wild animals, and they kill her. And it's all kinda downhill from there with Kullervo.

The rest is life drawings:

More to come later....

**Serpian** · April 28th, 2008, 08:06 AM

Update....

More of the same, doodles and figure drawing...

**Serpian** · May 6th, 2008, 07:51 AM

An the last of the three massive dumps.

Some SPs and colour studies, but mostly doodles and sketches

Also: yay! Over 1000 posts! Does this mean I get to level up my art skills as well? Darn...

Later.

**dmitri** · May 6th, 2008, 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by Serpian

Also, I just found out I've been accepted to www.ateljestockholm.se, which totally rules! It's expensive as hell, but I believe it'll be worth it. I begin this September!

I shouldn't be doing this... and I'll sound completely random... but eh.
Do you find yourself a very calm, patient and understanding person? Do you like the work the teachers are producing?

**Serpian** · May 8th, 2008, 10:59 AM

Yup..

**Sept13** · May 8th, 2008, 03:57 PM

Go for it Serpian, I'm sure it'll do you wonders and you'll never look back

Get skill to back your motivation!

**dmitri** · May 9th, 2008, 02:37 PM

I didn't mean to discourage you, not at all, sorry if it sounded like that.
It just seems that not being able to answer those questions with a "yes" is causing some students... eh, issues!

**Serpian** · May 9th, 2008, 05:02 PM

No problem, dmitri! You have any experience on the matter? I'm sure it's gonna be tough, but with the poor work ethics I have now, I just think that's a good thing. It'll force me to work really hard. Yes, traditional and figurative art is my favourite when it comes to fine arts, especially 19th century artists and the American golden age and such. But I also believe that if I do it right, this school will not lock me into a specific style, but with the strong foundation I'll get there, I hope that I can go anywhere I want with my art.

And as far as being calm and patient goes, I'm definately not the 'fuck the authorities' kind of guy..

**mellongcreate** · May 9th, 2008, 09:55 PM

hey i see some nice anatomy studies since my last visit. You have some tight life drawings too. Something I need to do is sketch more with pastels and charcoal, I miss doing that, would be great to see some here. Nice progress though, it's coming together serp! Keep plugging away at it!

**dmitri** · May 17th, 2008, 03:47 PM

Maaybe I could have mentioned I'm a student at said atelier... hmm.

While you probably won't get to draw the model straight away, I can give you little tips to make your... figure drawing more "atelier acceptable". You'll be hearing this stuff PLENTY, so why not start a little early, no?

(I'm sorry if I sound harsh or something, I'm too lazy to try and make myself sound somehow pleasant.)
Get rid of multiple lines. It's OK to sketch around lightly, but you must at one point commit to one of the lines and erase the rest.
Start with a block in of straight lines. No curvy lines until proportions are correct.
Your lines seem to be quite thick and heavy, thin 'em up, try using a lighter pencil (I was recommended a 2H) for sketching... A thick line might be hiding mistakes you should have corrected. Seems to be largely due to your pencil just being quite dull, though?
Get the entire figure down first. Don't worry about whether the first lines are correct or not - just get some indication of the entire thing, head to foot, on paper. Then start fixing.
It's figure drawing - screw little details like eyes.
...Forget about shading unless the pose is five weeks long. :B

**Serpian** · May 18th, 2008, 03:08 PM

Oh really, dmitri? That's awesome! How long have you been studying there? Have you progressed as much as you hoped to? Is there time to work on evenings or weekends? If not, how do you finance your stay there?

Your comment doesn't sound harsh at all, it's really helpful! Unfortunately the figure drawing course was really short and I'm not doing any right now, but that was some good advice!

Yeah I know my lines are crappy and I'm working on that, but I've never been taught any specific technique, so I'm doing all the mistakes I could avoid if someone had told me! And about the shading.. Yeah I felt that the few times we did sittings as long as 30 minutes, it was FAR too short just to even get the basic figure down, but the teacher insisted on adding values.

I'm actually going to visit Stickholm this friday and the next monday, so I'll probably visit the school as well as looking for somewhere to live... So maybe I'll see you there?