scrap's book

[scrap]

at a crossroads in my life where if I don't get back into drawing I'll end up 50 years old regretting not trying to become an artist

I don't know what type of art I want to make, I like drawing people? I struggle with ideas and pushing things further but that's something I can work on, hello

edit — just to give some background, I got into drawing/painting quite heavily whilst studying at university, some of my previous artwork can be found here:

https://www.deviantart.com/andrewrobinsonart

drawing/painting fell to one side when I started work, so it's time to get back into it — I'm rusty but the plan is to study and apply, rinse and repeat.

[scrap]

for my first post — this is a recent character from my first game of D&D, such fun.

[darktiste]

I think it would add visual story telling if you would actually show abit of some kind of magic glow around those item because right now the story telling isn't quiet there yet in my own opinion.Adding that surnatural glow help the viewer understand it not simply object falling or attach on a string.

I don't think those feet are dark enough.The hand habe strangly proportionated.The cloth design is also kinda strange in my opinion.You got a ''mage robe'' baggy pant and some sandal but that doesn't fit with the rest is the vest in my opinion .It like he trying to be two character at the same time.It confuse between a noble and a street magicien.Try to clarify is statue in society it generally help make you design more coherent in this kind of setting.Since in those time there was a clear cast system maybe not in your universe but it can still help to think in this fashion.

[scrap]

I think it would add visual story telling if you would actually show abit of some kind of magic glow around those item because right now the story telling isn't quiet there yet in my own opinion.Adding that surnatural glow help the viewer understand it not simply object falling or attach on a string.

I agree — the storytelling aspect is something I'm struggling with but will work on image by image, I think writing a short piece about what I want to draw before just diving into it will help with this.

[scrap]

studied some Hogarth heads last night, sketched this guy this evening.

[Pubic Enemy]

Welcome to the forum scrap. Good choice of avatar. The perspective of the feet in the mage image looks pretty good. That's hard to do, so good job.

Not having a clear idea of what kind of art you want to make is fine. Getting even the smallest sense of enjoyment or satisfaction from making art is the most important thing. Basically, what I'm trying to say is... keep going!

[scrap]

Welcome to the forum scrap. Good choice of avatar. The perspective of the feet in the mage image looks pretty good. That's hard to do, so good job.

Not having a clear idea of what kind of art you want to make is fine. Getting even the smallest sense of enjoyment or satisfaction from making art is the most important thing. Basically, what I'm trying to say is... keep going!

Thanks Public Enemy! (great choice of name) — you're right exactly, just enjoying the process and seeing what ideas I have as I go along.

I did some Hogarth studies, the drawings are terrible but just understanding the head a bit more, especially from underneath (I usually resort to drawing the head in the same position all of the time). I'm going to draw some heads at different angles from memory tomorrow/Tuesday.

Then I started painting in the sketch I did the other day, I like where this is going so far, although his upper body anatomy is off, need to study necks also.

[darktiste]

A monocle as to be held in place it does not simply sit inside the eye socket there still gravity pulling it down.To hold the monocle it as to actually be force into the space between the eye socket.A reference is always a good idea but a good observation is also required.Your seem bit to high to be resting in the eye socket.I think i over reacting again hope it helped if not feel free to ignore my renting.

[bonesworth]

at a crossroads in my life where if I don't get back into drawing I'll end up 50 years old regretting not trying to become an artist

Whoa, man! Are you sure not a professional artist? Can I know a bit of your art history?

[scrap]

A monocle as to be held in place it does not simply sit inside the eye socket there still gravity pulling it down.To hold the monocle it as to actually be force into the space between the eye socket.A reference is always a good idea but a good observation is also required.Your seem bit to high to be resting in the eye socket.I think i over reacting again hope it helped if not feel free to ignore my renting.

Appreciate the feedback Darktiste although it's still a working progress, I'll bear it in mind when I come to painting the monocle — the guy is pretty magical so I might just make it float in front of his face, not too worried about it.

at a crossroads in my life where if I don't get back into drawing I'll end up 50 years old regretting not trying to become an artist

Whoa, man! Are you sure not a professional artist? Can I know a bit of your art history?

I think that's where I truly want to be — I can imagine nothing better than being in a well-lit room painting and drawing day-to-day. I painted/drew a lot when I was around 18–22, did studies, studied from life etc. I think I got into the 'study hole' — doing Gnomon Workshops/Schoolism/New Masters Academy... you name it I probably did it. But did I apply any of these studies to anything? Not as much as I should have.

I ended up finishing my degree in Graphic Design and now work as a designer/web developer which can be fun but it took a lot of time away from this. Don't get me wrong I definitely feel fortunate to work in a creative field — but if I could spend the rest of my life doing one thing it'd be drawing/painting. My absolute favourite artist is James Jean, the surrealism and attention to detail in his work is astounding.

[scrap]

Didn't get as much done as I'd like today —did some heads at different angles from memory, so funny to look at the variance, some seem much better than others. Also did part of a sketch of a girl from some reference on google, dove into the details too fast possibly and needed to loosen up a bit (the lines for the hair are my favourite part).

Trying to inject study sessions between finishing the fun stuff, planning on some still lifes soon when I have a full day to myself.

[scrap]

Google'd 'face reference' and did some sketches — then a sketch of a girl with crazy curly hair, liked the mark-making more than just rendering and rendering. Back to Fez Man tomorrow.

Edit: Just after posting — kind of see her eye is too far out on the right-hand side, seems to be a common mistake I repeat when drawing faces, need to learn to bring the eyes closer together.

[darktiste]

There a one eye distance between the eye just so you know and remember it as a tips.

[chubby_cat]

Both a welcome to CD and a welcome back into art. Glad to see you're picking up the pen again.

Nice sketches you have posted so far. I really admire how bold in colour choices you are with the orange dude. Takes a lot of guts to commit to a saturated colour palette like that, and I dig it. In terms of drawing faces, if you want a good resource for it, pinterest is pretty good. Or this blog here as a wide variety: https://veraxvoltus.tumblr.com/

Looking forward to seeing more!

[scrap]

There a one eye distance between the eye just so you know and remember it as a tips.

You're definitely right, important to remember those are guidelines — if you watch Scott Eaton's portrait anatomy course he delves into the bell curve and the outliers on that, some really interesting things in there, so most people's eyes are one eye apart but some are closer together and some are further apart. 

But in the last sketch, I was just wrong.

Both a welcome to CD and a welcome back into art. Glad to see you're picking up the pen again.

Nice sketches you have posted so far. I really admire how bold in colour choices you are with the orange dude. Takes a lot of guts to commit to a saturated colour palette like that, and I dig it. In terms of drawing faces, if you want a good resource for it, pinterest is pretty good. Or this blog here as a wide variety: https://veraxvoltus.tumblr.com/

Looking forward to seeing more!

Cheers chubby_cat! Colour is one of my favourite things, going to see if I can refine it without losing that spark. Really appreciate the link — sometimes I'm like where do people find all these references? So thank-you!

[Pubic Enemy]

Yeah, there's a lot of individual variation in the amount of space between the eyes. The distance between the eyes in that last sketch isn't even "wrong" if you include birth defects. You can see people that look like that if you do a search for "hypertelorism". It's definitely best avoided if you don't want to depict dysmorphic or alien-like features though, LOL.

I find the lines and overall style of the sketches to be very pretty. They remind me of Artgerm's sketches from the early 2000s.

[scrap]

I find the lines and overall style of the sketches to be very pretty. They remind me of Artgerm's sketches from the early 2000s.

You are waaay too kind — but I appreciate it!

I spent some time on a Hogarth sketch (should probably do more quantity and not focus on the drawing so much... these are meant to be studies right?) — compared to Loomis and others I do appreciate his exaggerated forms, definitely helps you understand overlaps. Does anyone have a preference on which Hogarth book to use?

Then made some progress on the Fez Man, struggled with the nose and lips so not much has changed — trying to avoid getting stuck into rendering before blocking things in. If anyone has any comments on the shadow side (still super rough), I think I'm going to put some rim lighting on that side later on. Once I've finished this piece with other studies in between I think it'll be time to do some painting from life with an aim to build things up without linework.

[scrap]

Wasn't feeling the Fez Man tonight, I made his lips too small, and want to get a bit looser with my painting — started a portrait study instead (thanks again for the website chubby_cat!), really happy with how it's turning out so far, slowly building up shapes, going to work on it more tomorrow with the intent to render some parts out and leave other bits quite painterly.

[scrap]

Getting pretty bored with this now, might just move onto some drawing studies, think I'm having a hard time with the sides of the lips so maybe do some studies on those, or carry on with Hogarth, or draw something fun.

[darktiste]

Hey wait come back show us more of that sweet rendering...if you don't mind...