Hi guys! Decided to finally make a sketchbook on here. I'm in currently a little bit of a slump both mentally and physically and I hope this will help me get back on track, it's something that I want to do. Been a long time lurker since 2012 probably back when CA was still up and running (jeez 8 years!?...) so I'm happy to finally have made it over.
I appreciate any feedback, thank you so much!
Lets git gud! :)
First little batch of portrait studies I've done, I want to get better at them and doing them from reference is quite a comfort zone for me. Definitely not as strong in the imagination parts of creating but I will study and upgrade that!
From imagination for me simply mean not being chain to the reference it being able to borrow from many of them and invent to fill the gap i think this is a way of thinking that can free us from the though that everything as to come from your mind eye wishes would be probably more of the realm of a functional autistic or someone at the end of is career.But it certain something you can achieve if look you at kim jon gi for example.
@Darktiste - Thanks a lot! Exactly, it's that chain to the reference that I want to break lose from. I was trained in observational drawing so not that it's a bad skill to have learned, i'm deeply happy with my studies but that means the imagination parts has lagged behind. A habit that needs to be broken basically! Great tips actually, thank you! :)
@Ognjisa - Thanks! :D
@Shuty - Thanks for the motivation and faith in me :D
Illustration personal work and some portrait sketches I got done tonight. Had some packed weeks with family and other non-art oriented things but getting back to it! They were done without much reference and I'm trying to "find *my* face" a little bit, the aesthetics and facial type that I would like to have in my work. Call it same face syndrome but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing :D
Keep drawing everyone, and thanks for the encouragement.
You're really good. Your style reminds me of some 19th century painters. I like the illustration in your last post; it has a very dreamlike quality.
Regarding drawing from imagination, you may find it useful to do more studies from memory, if you aren't already. I think a lot of imaginative drawing is essentially drawing from memory, so that may be a good place to start.
Hey Uiriamu, welcome to CD. I adore all of the images you have in your sketchbook so far. Your use of brush strokes is very nice, and the way you paint eyes and lips is rather captivating. "Finding your face" is one of the hardest things to well... find (lmao) in my opinion. All you can do is explore, explore, explore and don't be afraid to make ugly faces while you're doing it. You never know something will work until you try.
@Pubic Enemy - Thank you, I've got some academic training in me so that does explain the 19th century look hehe! Definitely agree about the memory drawing. I'm trying to hold myself accountable and really practice memory drawing. It's lagged behind due to the heavy focus on observational drawing where I used to study, so gotta get those other skills up on par hehe! It's a journey
@Chubby Cat - Hi and thanks! :D I know right... I feel like I'm closer now than I was a year ago, which feels nice. Explore is the way to do it, gotta keep searching until i find it. Thanks for the encouragement, seriously, sometimes I quit before even trying when doing imagination stuff, and that habit has got to go :D
@Xelfereht - Thank you :) It's a tricky balance but it's fun to explore I think. Everything doesn't have to be spelled out, but some things definitely does, and I enjoy looking for that.
Some updates on portraits, most of them are from mind, and i'm trying to just get more intuitive with how the head feels and looks in terms of structure. Used to do some Loomis back in the day and I think some of that still sticks, but some of it has been forgotten (crap) so I'll go back and have another go at it I think. Also a portrait that I've been tinkering away on,
I have to study how the eyes work, especially the far eye that gets forshortened. I've always found those tricky!
Good stuff dude, definitely doing the right things if you wanna improve with working from invention, i think all you need is just mileage with constructions and quick studies. Keep the updates coming! : D
@Ognjisa - Thanks man :) I hope so haha! Feels good and also mega scary at the same time. It's weird because I remember a few years ago when I was much more of a natural sketcher it wasn't scary, it was just a lot of fun to explore and doodle but so often now there's just an unfair amount of pressure that imagination things *SHOULD* be on the same level as observational, which is a ludicrous idea. Thanks for the encouragement, keep killin it :D
@JosephCow - Thank you! :D I did 3 years at the Swedish Academy of Realist Art so it was very much focused on traditional drawing and painting.
Todays update, didn't do too much today - hung out with a friend. I feel like I'm learning things though with the heads. They're getting more and more intuitive and I've started combining it with references in some of them to just see if i can sort of X-ray the photos and understand the structure of that person. It's been a lot of fun, I will continue. Planning to take them a bit further also in terms of the neck and clavicles, to see if I can get those in there. It's one of those things that are "easy" to kind of bullshit and fake it till ya' make it, but really understanding the neck fully and how the head is attached to the shoulder girdle is definitely a challenge that I have.
Any critiques are as usual very welcome, shred em into pieces!
oh that's awesome. There's another guy on here, Tristan, that attended the same academy I think. (I hope I'm not wrong about that). Idk if he's posted in a while. Your sketches definitely have that feel, very uncluttered and beautiful.
Man those portraits are awesome. You are excellent at capturing the life in people’s eyes. Additionally, I’m jealous of your brush work, great stuff. Do you mainly focus on portraits or do you have plans to do more illustrations? Pardon if you’ve already been asked this, I mainly look at the work haha.
@JosephCow - Hmm... I studied there from 2015 - 2018, maybe he was there earlier? I don't recognize the name unfortunately. Thanks man :)
@kvSketch - Thanks a lot :D I love doing portrait and have definitely had a focus on them for a long time now. I want to get into more illustration and practice narrative drawing and painting a bit more, definitely not within my comfort zone. The brushes I use come from Karla Ortiz, there's like three she uses primarily and I like them as well. I also got some from Greg Rutkowski I think his name is!
Todays harvest! Will see if I can start some thumbnails or quick studies for illustrations in the upcoming days, had grand plans of doing that this summer but due to certain life event it was put on hold briefly - but I'm here now! Some heads gets too narrow, some gets a big cranium or the spherical part of the skull, its something I will have to look out for that.
Keep it crispy guys, keep on drawing and crunching and gitting gud!
Glad do see you on here, it has been some time my friend. I remember seeing your strong work back in 2013-ish on the late Conceptart.org
How has life been treating you? Last I remembered you were asked to be a teacher at the atelier. Hope you're able to work your way out of any slumps.
Your values and edges has gotten more buttery each time I look at them. The cosmic illustration with the red robe looks fantastic. Looking forward to what else you share, keep up the great work!
It's been a hot minute since the last time I was here. I came back to look if the place was still alive and was pleasantly surprised! Nowadays I don't do much studies and mostly just rendered pencil drawings but I wish to get back into the game. I remember back in CA days it used to be such a great to just draw and "be on the grind".
So here's a tiny dump of quicker sketches from tonight. Observationally I have a decent eye I think as a product from my academic training but it's imaginative stuff and things from imagination where I lack the most currently. I really have to force myself to not get into the "just-copy" mindset and more towards a deeper understanding of why something looks the way it looks.
There's not much to critique as of yet but please if you have any input what so ever don't be afraid to shred me to pieces ;)
