Sifter's Sketchbook

[Sifter]

:: Sifter's Sketchbook :.

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Hey. I'll be posting my sketches and studies in this thread. I aim to make my figures rock solid, and drawn effeciently(quickly, directly, but accurately), before I allow myself to think about big boy stuff for illustration and design, so I'll be honing my fundamentals as I keep going. Any suggestions as to what to study I will keep in mind, and don't trouble yourself with how harsh or easy you should give me the critique. Any will do.

Also, note that there is a time gap, because I tend to spend more than a day on an image, and I also have more sketches done inbetween, but they're too unpresentable to even show for critique. 

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idk if the video above will give better intel as to what I need to prioritize. I did get a critique in the video's comments section, but maybe you guys have something else to say?

I'll study the planes of the head next, since I find myself falling short in that regard when rendering a face. Again, critiques are welcome!

[beau]

I like the graphic style of you images! Everything looks very clean, and I think I can get a sense for where you want to go visually. I read your introduction that said you want to be an illustrator, what kind of illustration do you want to do? (editorial, book covers, marketing, etc.?) And who are your influences, who do you want to take inspiration from? Once we know where you're aiming it'll be easier to help guide you.

As far as figure studies go, I've been feeling recently that having a strong sense of perspective can really help to get those forms looking right- if you think about it this way, it's easier to build a figure when you know how everything in it fits in space in relation to the other parts, and I feel perspective makes the anatomy make more practical sense for me. I'd recommend placing a horizon line or a grid under some figure studies and try to get a feel for how it would exist in the real world.But yeah, good start to your sb, post more and really don't be afraid to show us your weaknesses!

Also thank you for that website you posted in my sb, it looks really useful!

[Sifter]

Edit: To answer your question about what I wanna do, I think I'll feel happy doing pinups. Idk how far that'd take me financially, but I'll need something else in parallel to keep me in a safe spot.

Yeah, perspective is a big one for me. I guess I'll keep revisiting H2D, and see how that works out. If I manage to nail my perspective, I'll be on my way to the next step of my learning. But if you think of John Grello, and Adrian Wilkins, that's the level I wanna get to for Figure Drawing. And looking at their stuff makes me feel like a baby. Comparison is cancer and all, but the depresso's there. So I try to git that gud. Then I can read about biology, history and all that, and I can assemble all of that into a few portfolio-worthy illustrations. 



But I said I'd study planes of the head, and that's what I've been doing. Sketches on the left are drawn quickly and loosely, and others on the right I spent time on. One thing I've noticed is how drawing figures really slowly is starting to pay off. May not look like it, but I started drawing them a bit faster and more confidently, which is nice ig. 

Anyway, any help with how to go about perspective during construction of the head will be a godsend. Thanks for the comment, Beau!

[Artloader]

Hey Sifter, really nice start here.  I love how clean and well constructed your figures are.  You seem to have a very good knowledge of the main muscle masses from what I can see.

I looked up the two artists you mentioned and they blew me away - awesome!  

Before you read my feedback for you please bear in mind that I am still learning too and you should take my comments with a pinch of salt :).

I feel that a big part of the gap between where you are and where your art heroes are lies in visual library.  Their work includes a lot of those little touches here and there that comes from having built up a highly advanced visual library.  John Grello works a lot in line by the look of it, but one thing I noticed is that he still has a lot of respect for light and shadow, he still indicates shadow using his linework.  From looking at your work above, I feel that you are strong at constructing your forms but not as strong at indicating light and shadow on those forms.

So my suggestions for you are:

1. To continue building your visual library using either photo reference or real life reference but take more notice of light and shadow - actually sketch in the boundaries of the shadow shapes.  Dorian Iten teaches this very well in my opinion:  http://www.dorian-iten.com/howtodraw/.
2. Study the work of your art heros - sit down and draw studies of their work e.g. these sketches by John Grello:  

Hope that helps, please ignore if not.

Good luck anyway, keep posting :).

[Sifter]

It's interesting what's in that tutorial, because that's one of the few methods John Grello uses to draw his portraits. That is to say, get in your big shapes, lay in your landmarks, and keep articulating as you go further. I definitely have a problem with accuracy, so I'm sure to follow what's in that link. Thank you for the critique! Appreciated. I'll post some head form studies later on as well as the assignment from that tutorial—a few of them, that is.