Pixel's potrayals.

**Pixeldragoon** · July 25th, 2006, 09:17 PM

I am going to do my best to do some sort of SP every night as long as possible (Though I might miss a few once in a while), And experiment with mediums. Digital, watercolor, etc.
(If an admin could give me Attaching privellages it would be nice, I would hate to loose these SP's (The digi ones anyways), Thanks!)

July 25::001

EDIT: Fixed some contrast issues+ General cleanup.
EDIT2:: Fixed even MORE issues, Form readablilty, some values, etc.

**Pixeldragoon** · July 25th, 2006, 11:12 PM

July25::002

Did a second one tonight.. Crapped out halfway through..

It's from the same angle.. accidentaly... My monitor is in that direction so it's hard to keep my head straight on.. =\

**GriNGo** · July 26th, 2006, 12:49 AM

woah man, now that's very good. Your first SP is amazing. I really can't see much mistakes, just I would add more detail to the ear region (it looks sloopy), and try to experiment with the hair more. There are some random strokes in there, which don't seem to follow the form. I maybe mistaken, but try to make the strokes go with the forms in your head. In the second one you feel kinda tired, and the mistakes are pretty much the same as in the first one. But anyways good start!... Hope to see more of your SP's! Keep it up man, you have gotten a lot better!

**Pixeldragoon** · July 26th, 2006, 07:27 PM

July26::003

I've decided to figure out how my emotions tie into the way I draw, and how my face looks, so this was mostly just observing and going with whatever was on my paper. Used a Prisma 30% Cool Grey that is crapping out on me, + pencil lines.

EDIT: Again there are skewing problems. I gotta figure out why that's happening...

**Flynt** · July 26th, 2006, 10:10 PM

Justin,

A suggestion:

When you’re doing a self portrait look for the shapes. Find a couple key shapes and every time you look back in the mirror try to position yourself until you see the shapes again.

I included an example from an older drawing that never went anywhere.
Good luck.

-Doug

**blanquish** · July 27th, 2006, 05:54 AM

heya pix
great job on the first one.
Self portraits help ALOT in drawing the face without ref, the shapes get stuck in your mind and you improve a lot...'
Its also worthwhile to do some drawings of your parents or siblings withing a tight timeframe...say 10/15 mins...
keep at it and try some different angles

**Pixeldragoon** · July 27th, 2006, 08:24 PM

Tonights fix

EDIT:
Finishing touches;

**daVinciWanaB** · July 27th, 2006, 08:27 PM

Great idea. Look forward to checking in often and seeing your new attempts.

**Pixeldragoon** · July 28th, 2006, 10:18 PM

I need a better light... trying to do a 2 or 3 value portrait with diffused light is NOT fun.

I'll try and do another.

Mm.. I tried 2 others... both just were total, total, utter crap... and I ruined the tip of another mechancial pencil out of frustration... gotta quit that.

I need android eyes =\

**Flynt** · July 29th, 2006, 07:06 PM

Hey man. Don’t get too frustrated. You do need a good single light source to make things easier to see.

Some more advise. Take it or leave it.

Your values need organization in their placement and shape. Breaking something down into a couple of values can be great and can explain a lot. But the placement of those values and the shapes they make must be right or they don’t serve their function. This is a huge function of drawing, to organize the placement of your values.

Your drawings carry many lines. But I fear many serve to help the drawing only slightly. Try drawing with fewer. I have seen many students draw and when not sure what to do or things aren’t looking correct they add more lines hoping to see improvement. It generally only compounds the error. My suggestion, tell yourself I am going to start with 20 lines. Then draw them. Since you know you are limited in them you will choose the most important. Make the best decisions you can. When done evaluate all of them. Correct. Only now give yourself perhaps another 10 lines and so on.

When drawing from reference draw first for abstraction. Draw the shapes you see. Think 2D. Simplify things to straights. Straights are easier to relate and revise than curves and force you to simplify. Let this become your guide to draw over with curves now thinking about mass and structure. To draw well from reference you must be able to turn off 3-D ideas and draw only 2-D shapes. And seemingly contradictory, you must also be able to draw thinking about form and 3-D structure. In drawing from the mind thinking 2-D in abstraction is only required for composition. However make an attempt to separate the two as various stages in you mind. You can combine them later.

Good luck and keep drawing.

**Dile_** · July 29th, 2006, 07:26 PM

Hey man, I was going to post here before, but then the lighting came
and took my computer down

nothing serious, just the power
and the protection cable.. however
Your portraits is really nice! Im lovin' the "evil" once with
the awsome lighting, although, they doesnt seem to caputre the same
person all the time, its the self portrait section right

So, try to caputre YOU, and sit down til' you get it, although I know
this section is to improve the facial strucure! So keep struggling pixel!

**Pixeldragoon** · July 29th, 2006, 11:52 PM

Most succesful one so far me thinks... another boring angle... sorry..

@Flynt; thanks for your advice, I always ALWAYS listen and appreciate it, VERY much. I applied that when doing the lines for this one; as you can see, it worked out pretty well, thanks for the tips! Though I'm still not sure I totally "Get it", at least I "know it". I think this is "Conscious Incompetence"? =)

@Dile: Thanks for the comment... I watched my face for like 15 minutes before putting down a single line.. trying to see those abstract shapes and whatnot...

I made it with 6 minutes to spare!! D:

**Flynt** · July 30th, 2006, 12:46 PM

Nice work. I agree, “Most successful one so far…”

Ready. Here’s more:

There are areas on this self portrait that show possible over-modeling
For instance the light portion under the right eye (your left eye).

Over-modeling is where because of incorrect values (generally too light) the surface forms appear too full. I have included a couple of diagrams to help explain. In the diagrams the angle of the light would determine the lightness or darkness of each form. In the “normal modeling” example, the “optimal light plane” (surface plane closest to being perpendicular to the light source) of each surface forms are different. In the “over-modeled version” they each have the same optimal light plane. It shows what is suggested in terms of the form when they each have the same optimal light plane and over modeling occurs.

In terms of further understanding the 2D way of seeing and analyzing imagine holding up a sheet of glass in front of the object or objects you wish to draw and tracing all of the lines and shapes you see. Anything you can see as a two dimensional shape line or pattern can be used. Later you can learn about prioritizing what you are seeing but for now only worry about translating what you see into something flat. This may mean throwing off the idea that this is an apple and that is a person. Learn to see in terms of geometrical abstraction, or change the three dimensional objects you are looking at into two dimensional outlines of creatures and animals. Much in the way a child might see a dragon or a dog in a billow of clouds. Don’t let the depth of objects override what you see.

To go further Harold Speeds “Practice and Science of Drawing” may help further clarify this whole thing of proceeding from the 2D into the 3D.

I would suggest reading the section on
“VIII
LINE DRAWING: PRACTICAL” until you get to shading.

Here is the link:

http://www.scienceofdrawing.info/lin...tical/#plate18

If you feel up to it read the whole thing. Many good ideas and it is a book to go back to again and again. As you have more experience you will discovering new things with each read.

Good luck. I look forward to your future works.

**Pixeldragoon** · July 30th, 2006, 11:42 PM

I hate it hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it!!!! AGH! Past week my mom has worked me to the bone, and my brother has gotten on my last nerves... I have shown so many acts of kindness twoards him; Giving up my room, doing dishes when it's his night (this is a bigger deal than it sounds actually..), and working outside in Florida weather for 4+ a day so he could stay and clean in the nice AC. I've always tried to be so nice, but he constantly starts political crap that he knows nothing about. About how Every action one makes is selfish. Stupid things like that, and how he wants to revoke his U.S. Citizenship so he won't have to pay taxes. He just has no grasp on the real world... no car, no license- he's trying to get A+ Certified, but when I asked him where he'd work (because he has no car, no bike), he just says "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." Among him, the sunburn and mulch bag lifting, I have just been totally sapped, even as I type this my arm is getting too sore to type. It's sitting on the table btw.
Sorry for this crappy SP... everyone deserves better, and I have put myself above this crap I saw in the mirror... School starts soon, hopefully I will get my groove back...

EDIT: Thanks Flynt, for all your help. It truly is greatly appreciated. I feel honored that you've blessed this thread with so much knowledge! Keep postin' when you have the time, I'm sure I speak for most of CA when I say;
We

You!

**Victor B** · July 31st, 2006, 12:30 AM

hey pixel haven't talked to u since the workshop .Just wanted to stop bye and say that you have a nice thread going here, definetely some good advice from Flynt! Don't get to discouraged. Keep drawing.

**Tigermilk** · July 31st, 2006, 08:26 AM

hey man, I really like what's going on here, you're totally inspiring me to do some self-portraits too, so I did one the other day.

And you are one lucky ### to have Flynt giving you feed back, seriously.
Flynt: Keep throwing in crits, it's helluva great to read for us too!!

Tiger

**Pixeldragoon** · August 1st, 2006, 12:15 AM

Tonights is from memory so I can compare it to my real face to see my preconceptions/misconceptions of what I look like. There was no prior studying of my face (like I do before most SP's).

Sorry for the low res =P

**Pixeldragoon** · August 2nd, 2006, 12:18 AM

COPOUT NIGHT!!!

='(

I think I will say I was taking a "miniminlastastic approach" or whatever dem things is.

**Pixeldragoon** · August 2nd, 2006, 11:23 PM

For feeling as confident as I am tonight, there is absolutley NO excuse for posting such utter shit. I am extremley mad at myself, but I can't seem to do to well with SP's tonight.. back to drawing Lions, tigers and Bears...

**Evil_Sloth** · August 3rd, 2006, 03:13 AM

I actually like the last one the best

maybe set up your face with contruction lines at the start so you can
get the proportions down. it might help if your getting frustrated with likeness and such.
with your digi's make sure you flip em often, no only will it let you see the image differently and find mistakes but youll give equal love to the whole painting.
looking very nice man. keep it up

**blog** · August 3rd, 2006, 07:41 PM

lol it looks like there's a penis contour on #18, awesome thread! And keep it up!

**Pixeldragoon** · August 4th, 2006, 12:37 AM

I'm suffering from extreme lack of epiphany right now and it's KILLING ME. I need to figure something out, but I need something to push me to it. I start school on monday... Not nervous, just excited, great drawing op.

I was looking at Lung's Chazzwazzers... I want to push my self there... I am trying to figure out what he has done, or what he does, that I can't/don't... I need to improve, I need to get better, there are secrets out there I don't know or I don't understand, and I need to begin to understand them, because it's driving me mad. People say "there is no secret to drawing."
I beg to differ, but there is no easy- one way rule. I know there are 'secrets' to drawing, because I've found some... it isn't what people tell you that you know right off (aside from drawing from life, go deeper), but it's when you suddenly learn how to do something. You aren't sure how you were doing it wrong before, but now you know how to do it RIGHT. Those are my epiphanies, and I have forgotten how I came upon them, but I need to do it again.. I need a push- or a punch, an ignition key, a spark, SOMETHING! Sitting in this damn house all day and drawing nude ref of this monitor is destroying me... I need to get out, stretch, join the Sports team, be more active... I need to observe more and learn more, I need a car to go to the movies, or to go to the beach to chill, I need to draw- I need to see,

I need to live!

**blog** · August 4th, 2006, 11:07 AM

dude fukkin ditto, its like u've read my mind... twice! About the whole secret thing

**Pixeldragoon** · August 4th, 2006, 11:49 PM

I hate scanning this book but... y'know... I love yas

Thanks to the wonderful Layil for chatting with me;

**dylanryan** · August 6th, 2006, 05:08 PM

Hey, nice work. Try smiling in some pictures.

**wookiedabo** · August 7th, 2006, 10:57 AM

theres a semi smile in some....... i like the style of some, but it might be worht, if ya have the time, spending a few hours on one, in pencil, really working at areas, and ending up with a polished finished piece. really is worht the trouble, you learn a lot from occasionally doing more in depth studies.

**Onir** · August 7th, 2006, 05:22 PM

hey Pixel, nice sp's you've got here. your digital ones look great, especially the more rendered out ones; definitely looks like you've got a good hang on the program. this last one here is my favorite though, your hatching is showing the volume of your face well. I agree with wookidabo, would be cool what you could produce if you put alot of time into one sp. if nothing else it might be something you can throw in a portfolio or something hehe. keep it up

**Idiot Apathy** · August 11th, 2006, 07:43 PM

Hey, how'd I miss this... looking good man.

Good to see you've broken these down into their basic properties - tackling everything at once is a hard thing to do (a stupid thing to do!). I definetly suggest more grayscale and line drawings, maybe a color or two just as long as you focus more on the proper color instead of everything at once again, that will just wear you out and you won't learn much at all.

Ephianies... are difficult. They don't really "exist", it's just that something clicks after working hard or thinking hard about a problem; they don't seem to connect to something like that but I think you are really just learning from your mistakes basically. I know one thing for sure about ephianies - they don't come when you are as stressed out as you are! Work smarter not harder mate. Approach things from wild experimental angles, give yourself strange rules like only using 5 shapes or 20 lines - use some charcoal or ink or something. And, enjoy life you bastid. Edit: You should have a smiling self-portrait, you're depressing the hell out of me, which means you're not enjoying life you bastid.

Damn, Flynt really layed down some goodies here - going to have to remember those.

**Wolfbane** · August 12th, 2006, 04:01 PM

looking good Pixel! those pencils are awesome, but i think that the digitals are too soft.
keep em rolling bro

**mbetteker** · August 16th, 2006, 02:23 AM

Im digging this thread pixel, you are painting well and not forgetting about the importance of learning the good old pencil! Keep up the same routine and you are sure to get better.