My first life drawing session (some sketches that are readable). It lasted 3 hours, was super hard. Failed almost all lying poses and the ones with severe leg foreshortening, so I haven't attached them.
It's an extremely useful experience but I think it would be more useful if I had more simplification practice and knew anatomy better.
I noticed that everyone was doing some basic shading (except me who was too slow) but nobody drew manniquins like from Proko's mannequinization videos or similar structured shapes.
Scott Robertson and other perspective studies. Not much application for now, I'll will fix it later I promise! :) You know I love theory too much :)
The most useful study was the spiral staircase, I got a much better understanding of cylinder and ellipse forms in perspective.
Thanks @Leo!
I'm back to my normal schedule.
All I've managed to draw during the last 2 weeks is Drawabox.com excercices. They look crap but really help to think 3d.
Started painting a statuette I bought in Crete , got stuck with rendering and decided to learn some techniques from Alex Negrea. Learned a ton from his still live tutorial, see the mouse still live below. His Youtube channel and interviews are also a goldmine, going to learn more from him.
And some today's lion studies/sketches for my freelance.
Upd: Tried to fix the mouse, although don't have that mouse anymore (it wasn't mine).
Hey Neo!! It's great you are doing the Draw a Box exercises too, you did a great job on these!! Did you submit your homework on /r/artfundamentals? Uncomfortable will give you feedback on how you did if you do. :) I have one bit of crit, though–on the form intersections, you kind of messed up on the line weights. You made some of the inner lines really dark, which makes the box look totally broken apart.
You should darken the lines at the edge of the form and keep in the inner lines a bit lighter, like this:
"Drawing is a skill like hammering a nail. You might not be great at it yet, but there is nothing stopping you from gettin' down and hammering away." -Irshad Karim
Welcome back Neo. That mouse study is the bomb. Tiny perspective issue on the middle scroll wheel section is breaking the illusion of solidity a little. Good job on the work you're putting in as always!
@Mech I was going to repeat that overlap excercice anyway because it was a bit confusing, thank you for the tips! Nope, I haven't posted it anywhere but here. As for the lines, I was trying to make the front lines (which are nearer to the viewer) fatter. But your advice makes sence, thanks!
@Amit, yep I noticed it a couple of hours after it was done. I'll try to fix it!
Some recent studies, figure and faces construction. I applied them to some project already but can't show it :)
Some of the faces are from imagination, I mark them with "I" letter and studies from reference with "R" letter.
My lines on tablet got much sloppier than pencil lineart, so I'm trying to sketch digitally as well.
Been buried in freelance, not much stuff.
I did some research and sketching for the CC, but it doesn't look postable.
After reading one of @Cracked's last sketchbook posts I decided to use the same methods that helped me to stay focused when I was productive. Determine clear goals, plan every day and week, wake up at 6.30, work out before breakfast, use Pomodoro technique to stay focused while working and studying.
Oh and I finished S.Robertson's excercises (took me a lot of time), next is thumbnailing and drawing environments and vehicles.
Oh wow. Really nice sketchbook neopatogen ;) I love your structured approach to studies. I wish I had any usefull feedback for you, but it seems that you're on right track. so instead i give you pat on the back and say that you're doing an awesome work. keep killing it. love!
Im going to give you a litle advice from my humble (im crap) position.
After seeing your cc03 and cc05 pieces. You are making the scenes too complicated. Stuff happening everywhere. This can be a personal opinion, but look at Eytan Zana. The environments are very graphic. Big abstract shapes must dominate the composition then some zones (focal points) must have the details.
and EDGES
above all in cc05. I see razor sharp edges everywhere. From foreground to the distant mountains everyting is sharp. Smudge those edges here and there and you will see how everything looks more integrated. Edges also have a role on the composition.
Thanks everyone! @Alfonsox tou seem to be right, I actually have a problem with understanding edges and what they are for. I don't actually like soft edges that much. Some master studies might help to wrap my mind around it.
New stuff here, studies, sketches, Crucible, etc.
Been doing drawabox.com from the very beginning because I didn't take it seriously first, but then noticed how much helpful those excercices are. I won't post them here anymore, only links to reddit.com once I (hopefully) finish some lessons.
Oh and I really love S.Robertson's How to render book.
Hey, just wanted to jump in on the edges discussion, I hope you don't mind -
I'm not sure it's the edges so much as the values that are important. You have high contrast scattered all over the image, so by bringing the values closer together in areas that don't need attention (using atmospheric perspective for example) you could make the image more harmonious and an easier read for the viewer. Did a quick paintover with an airbrush to show what I mean:.
Original:
Paintover with adjusted values:
Anyway, overall congrats on an awesome job on CC5. The rendering looks awesome and super studies and planning :)
So much beautiful work. You also inspired me about making assignments -- and the educational side of CD. I'm going to go check out those links of yours.
Thanks @Root! Inspiring people always feels great!
Figured out that I can draw with my left hand, although 5 times slower. Got some problems with my right.
3 Loomis heads below, frog and the sculpt are actually made with the left.
What I discovered is that seeing and understanding is much more important than the mechanical drawing skill.
I also noticed that I used to draw much stuff way off the reference with my right, because when my lines look smooth I use to skip measuring and checking proportions. While drawing with my left with poor line control urged me to measure the hell out of stuff to make the drawings look ok.
Oh and I also did some values guessing excercices using photos and a 10-value scale, but it's probably nor worth posting :)
Want to learn more 3d, it's fun! And hopefully start sculpting creatures.
Really nice improvement :D really godo job on the CC challenge as well, I'm hoping I'll have time to join the next one.
Sorry to hear that your hand is hurting, be careful so it doesn't get worse; yoga and weightlifting (or exercise in general) has helped me a lot.
I totally know what you mean with the left hand thing! I think a lot more when using my left hand, it's a really good reminder to not just draw mindlessly.
Keep up the good work and remember to take care of yourself! <3
Hey dude, you have a great sketchbook showing a willingness to do all the grueling study. Im sure it will pay off for you. Are you self taught or going to school? If you haven't already i would definitely draw your way through Hampton for gestures/anatomy. His drawings are a bit blocky, but they give an excellent foundation for developing your own style. Keep it up!
Thank you @Bjork and @Kimonas!
Bjork, looking forward to see your CC submission! Kimonas, I'm self taught, you? :)
Some studies here, and work on my current creature project for a challenge.
I also re-did Drawabox lesson 1(I didn't take it seriously first and missed a lot of stuff), here's the link, I also post it on reddit for crits. These excercises help me tremendously. Still working on Lesson 2 whenever I have time for a morning warmup.
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