LukeTores SB- Please Point Out What I Need to Work On!

[LukeTores]

* THE BEGINNING OF THIS THREAD IS YEARS OLD- SKIP TO LATER PAGES! *

Hey everyone! I've recently decided to start drawing again. Right now, I've been drawing 1.5 hours a day and am trying to get up to 3 hours a day. I've drawn on and off for a while, maybe a few weeks at a time every couple months, but I hope this time I'll stick to it. I think I've quit so many times because I wasn't having fun, and was extremely picky. I think "The Natural Way To Draw" techniques of super-slow contour drawing for hours, and the need I felt to have _perfect_ reference for drawings really sapped my passion, so I went and tried a bunch of different other arts. But I always come back to drawing- maybe it's really what I want to do. I'm going to college next year, and with no idea what to do except some form of art, be it a visual art or literature or music. I'm a little desperate to find out exactly what, so I'm going to push myself to draw a lot and gain some experience and insight into what I can do with the medium, and if it's what I want. Even if it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life, it's an awesome skill to have. I'm noticing things I never saw, even in my own neighborhood, from actively looking from a visual artist's perspective. There are my drawings I've done so far, oldest is 3 days ago. They're all from photo reference. I've been doing these much more loosely than I usually draw, and using photos as reference which I wouldn't normally use, like thumbnail-sized b&w photos for the first 3 building sketches. I've been timing myself for each drawing to avoid getting too tight, which is a bad habit I had. E.g., I had put full detail into a window before drawing anything around it. I've been careful to make outlines of everything before going into detail in these drawings.






From "Woman at the Window" by Dali.


This took me an hour and a half, first half hour I was riding in a car so I didn't set up perspective lines like I should have (too bumpy), just eyeballed them. That's also why the wood on the doors suck, should have erased and redone that part.



Is this a good resolution/size for the scans? What should I focus on to improve overall?

Crits & comments welcome!

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New img for thumbnail:

[Recursive_End]

Welcome !!
You have some good observationnal skills. So my advice would be to work more on your rendering. try giving more convincing shading by using corss hatching or any other technique.
Anyway, you r doing some cool pics
Keep popsting !

[Snuggles]

Gotta agree with Recursive_End, you seem to be pretty good at observation, just keep practicing your rendering. Your marks could use some confidence, they seem kind of shakey...don't be afraid to go farther than just trying to catch the image of something--go ahead and grab it by the cojones and put it on paper the way you want. Try to be a little more purposeful and strong with the marks you put down.

Your choice of subject matter is cool, and you seem to be pretty talented at marking down what you see. I think you've already got some really important skills here. Keep it up, thar!

[katsgod]

Nice sketches.

[LukeTores]

Thanks! Does anyone know of good hatching/crosshatching examples or tutorials? Artists with an especially good rendering technique?

[Recursive_End]

Well, i cant find any good tutorials, but i did found other artist whom crosshatch alot , here are the links:
Steak-tron
VeSeljak

Just take your time about rendering. Cause its the last step on finalising a pic. hatching techniques demand a pretty big patience, but the result is more than nice
So good luck

[LukeTores]

Those guys you linked look really cool. I did this in school, it's the black plastic cylinder of a highlighter:



Man, I can't get it to look as rich and smooth as it does on paper. With Photoshop, I got it as close as I could, but it looks grainy. I used the better of my 2 scanners for this highlighter. There's also a faint white grid in all my scans. What could be going on? Anyone know why this is happening? This drawing is on normal printer paper and the others previous are on very slightly textured sketchbook paper, should I use some other, fancier paper?

EDIT: I think this was mostly because I was looking at my stuff again with a weird monitor. So, there's not actually a problem. Hehe.

[LukeTores]

Kiwis! About an hour. The fuzz and complicated texture confused me, so I drew them as if they were less furry.
C&C and suggestions on what I ought to draw next or more of is welcome—TO THE MAX!

[LukeTores]

From Ico concept art. I can't find the name of the particular artist. I messed up big on this: I never made boxes and guidelines, just drew the visible lines. (Except an ellipse for the windmill blades.) Two-thirds into it I realized there was 3-point, not 2-point, perspective. Very dumb. Another result was that I didn't realize the windmill itself was a very different shape, and was missing a big chunk. Oh well, now I know better.

[LukeTores]

About 50 min. The faint parallel lines are for rails that I decided not to put in. Used pic from http://pic.templetons.com/brad/photo/bm04/man-temple/
What's burning man without chicks with dreadlocks, baggy pants, and no shirts?

[LukeTores]

From a picture of a bust of Gala, Dali's wife. I'm going to shade this tommorrow, what should I fix before I do?

[LukeTores]

The Dalian theme indirectly continues. I plan on shading this tommorrow as well, which will be tricky for me because in the picture the lobster's wet and shines in ways I've never tried to draw before.

I'd like to one day keep a lobster as a pet, and walk it on a leash in public places to inform the world that absurdism is not entirely dead.

Keeping an online sketchbook is much more encouraging than I thought it would be.

[LukeTores]

Finished shading. I really rushed her hair because I had no idea how to do it. Must do hair studies in the future. Total shading time was over 2 hours. At my level, should I do more of these detailed studies or should I do a bunch of sketches? Or mix it up? Any input greatly appreciated (*begs*).

[koshime]

You're off to a good start! Keep at your studies...and try to loosen the lines, as in , in your studies of enviroments/characters. try to use the natural flow of what you see/feel and place it on paper...it is almost ..instinctual, or somethign you can develop

[Monny]

follow the link in your sig
got a nice progression of work going already, is good to see, as for the workload i'd recommend a mixture of a few things.. like, do a nice detailed study followed by a few quick loose ones using some of the things you learnt from the detailed peice. can work the other way too, a few fast loose drawing to get the tools warm can help you get a feeling for the peices you want to work on before you commit to something with more depth.
reading your first post and problems with motivation, all the things you've posted seem to be reference peices and technique practices which could grind you down a bit, dont forget to let the brain free and just make it up as you go sometimes the product can be just useful as the lesson peices and fun in the process
hope it helps, feel like ive rambled a bit, sorry ;(

[camilografix]

well luke if your not that motivated you have to find something your really interested in drawing it seems like your just doing studies just to get better. you need to just draw what your interested and expand from there.

[squakz]

Here's a tip,

When you sit down to do a longish study, try looking at the negative shapes. (I.e. if an arm is resting on the waist, the shape inbetween the arm and the body)

I think that you're off to a great start.

[LukeTores]

Thanks everyone, I can hardly express how much you're all helping me out.
I've been looking at colleges and didn't have time to draw anything postworthy, except for this, which I just sprayed with new fixative. I'm not sure if it's chalk or charcoal, hehe, found the medium in a drawer unlabeled. This SP took about 15 min-I captured my likeness, to my pleasant suprise.



I'm playing around with vine charcoal that I bought yesterday, will post some of that soon. Also did Nicolaides's blind contours, which don't look good because they're blind. Seem to be helpful for seeing lines, though.

Motivation increases with every drawing I do, and I'm getting over my 'fear of drawing'. I'll try out all the tips you've given me.

[smashpansy]

good job here, I really like your buildings and would like to see more. What kind of pencil do you use? Do you have a range of types? To give your work that extra bit of jazz, try smudging and using your eraser to make highlights

Rock on, I wanna see more.

[LukeTores]

Smashpansy: Thanks! I've only been using 2H, but will try using a range of 'em. Recently I've been trying out vine charcoal.


My first study in vine charcoal. Have another that I'll post when the fixative dries on it.

[Richard_M]

LukeTores,

Thanks for stopping by my scketchbook and commenting!! I appreciate the feedback!

I think you are doing quite well here. Keep up the work and it will pay off. I agree with what smashpansy had to say about the pencil hardnesses. When I do a pencil drawing (which I have neglected the last few months) I will layout the drawing in one of three hardnesses, 2H, H or F. Depends on how I feel at that moment. Anyway, I will continue to layout and darken with layers of "glazing" until I reach the desired effect. I have some drawings that are NOT in my sketchbook that I did to practice this. Acctually the Horse, Groundhog, Skull and Prarie Hawk in my sketchbook were started this way. The final darks will probably be with a 2B or 4B, depending on the contrast I want in the drawing.

Anyway, I babble. First and foremost, Keep on Drawing!! Woot!

Thanks,

Richard_M

Yes, I DO have a Sketchbook!

[LukeTores]

Next chance I get, I'll do a pencil study with various hardnesses. Good idea!


Done in vine charcoal, from a photo ref on http://www.fineart.sk/show.php?w=338.

[cold_dynamite]

nice man keep going

rock on

[LukeTores]

Still alive.

After not having an opportunity to draw for a few busy days, I guess I gradually forgot. Oh man—fear, doubt, and lack of direction are killing me. Something in me wants to keep going, so I'll keep drawing. I can't find a target I want to reach, and this is doing terrible things to my motivation. I did the following stuff to try to get back into the groove.





Does anyone have any tips on getting out of being 'stuck'? How do you (individually) find things that are fun to draw?

[Pixeldragoon]

Hover your pencil!!! best possible thing to do. Hover your pencil over your paper and ideas crowd into your head.

[Ink_Monkey]

sketch sketch sketch and if you cant think of anything ref drawings are always good the subject is right there and all ya need to do is copy it.

nice start btw. keep em coming.

oh yeah thanks for the visit to my sb.
Ill come back to check your sb
Later.

[LukeTores]

Some stuff copied from from "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" & a SP.


Loomis! I did these today after work- very tired, quick and sketchy.

I think I'm getting over my crazy 'fear of drawing'. No, it's actually just a matter of learning to ignore it; working despite it. I'm planning on doing Loomis, Hogarth, and Bridgman for a while.

[LukeTores]

More gestures!

Top 2/3 of page from imagination, bottom third from Muybridge photo ref.




What should I focus on or do next? Get progressively more detailed with gestures?

[LukeTores]

Last two from memory. Some C&C?

[LukeTores]

From Bridgman's 'Complete Guide to Drawing from Life'. Any comments, suggestions, &c &c welcome!