Sketchbook: Version 1.5

[Damien Levs]

No ink drawing today I'm afraid. Had a busy evening. Got a little study time in though. Trying to overcome the problems I'm having with eyes.

[Damien Levs]

OK....so...here we go. 

1. Eye studies, because I'm struggling with them (more to come, many more lol)
2. Straight ink with a Pentel brush pen. This was fun...thanks darktiste.
3. Blindly sketching with Shaman in mind for the CHOW....(I really should dig up so e reference)

[cgmythology]

Nice updates. I really dig those eye studies, hopefully they'll get you a better understanding of how they work. Keep it up!

[Damien Levs]

cgmythology - Thank you...yeah, I'm hoping to concentrate on the features of the face a bit more. I'm still failing to place them in the face though. As we can see here. Going to keep it up though. Things will come together. Cheers!

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Here's some more mess...Really messed up that last portrait >.<

[Lege1]

Really cool updates here and nice to see someone working traditionally. Keep up the great work!

[Damien Levs]

Really cool updates here and nice to see someone working traditionally. Keep up the great work!

Thank you. I actually feel much more "at home" working traditionally. I love digital stuff, I just find myself getting frustrated when I try it. I'd just really like to get proficient with pencil and ink mainly.

Did you reply to my thread before about doing master copies of Sargent? I'm not sure if it was deleted or I accidentally pressed something. Either way, it was duly noted!

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Only a very rough sketch. Nothing really substantial. I've been trying different things for the CHOW.

[Damien Levs]

Admittedly I've not been studying. So I thought, as it's Friday, I'll just have some fun. Friday Fun Time. Digital Sketching >.<

[Damien Levs]

Here's something from a few days ago. Just trying faces from imagination...much more substantial post inbound in a few more minutes.

[Damien Levs]

Ok, are we ready for some terrible drawings? Because you're getting some. Mainly for documentation. I attended my monthly life drawing session yesterday. I just wish I could attend some more frequently, but they only run once a month where I'm available out of work to be able to make it. Anyways, here you go...

[darktiste]

I suggest keeping the imaginative stuff realistic for a while so that you will be able to tweak your proportion alot better later on.Also focus on breaking the model into is basic form in the live drawing session it get you much further then trying to capture it with flat value and just look at the model you gotta see past the model you gotta break it down.To much flatness doesn<t translate to imagination.

[Damien Levs]

darktiste - I see what you're saying and I'll definitely try that when I feel more focused. Sometimes I do just go with it to see what happens. Just to play around and see if anything interesting 'just happens'. I know it's not such great practice. 

I'll keep that in mind for my next life drawing session thanks.

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Here's a page I used as a warm up while watching one of David Finch's streams. The one where he was oil painting Moonknight with E.M Gist...So I tried a bit of a draw along.




and, my work so far on the current CHoW...

[Lunatique]

In your sketches and studies, focus more on getting the proportions and shapes right, because no amount of expressive line quality and brushwork will mask deficiencies in the underlying structure. Take the necessary time to "explain" the structure of whatever it is you're drawing, and then you can lavish expressive rendering on it to make it more individualistic in sensibility.

[Damien Levs]

Lunatique - Thanks for bring that to light. I really should be concentrating on the basic shapes to construct the forms. Thanks for your comment!

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Trying to work this up for this week's CHoW. The legs are forever giving me trouble. They're so hard to attach. Everything about the figure is difficult and challenging, but legs...damn. I really want to push through with this however it turns out just for the sake of seeing something through to the end.

[darktiste]

Lunatique - Thanks for bring that to light. I really should be concentrating on the basic shapes to construct the forms. Thanks for your comment!

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Trying to work this up for this week's CHoW. The legs are forever giving me trouble. They're so hard to attach. Everything about the figure is difficult and challenging, but legs...damn. I really want to push through with this however it turns out just for the sake of seeing something through to the end.

I don't get the gesture you are trying to achieve. The gesture is gonna bite you up.It just stiff and unbalanced.

Just goes to show that you don't jump to the little detail before you get something that support the rest.This would be an after though if only the basic structure of your weight was establish with some kind of ground plane to establish how that weight is shifting on the weight bearing leg.

I know you like skull i just which you did something abit more creative like a skull that isn't human for example. Anyways i am not gonna be nitpicking to death you should have fun.

This is certainly a different level of mastery to achieve a full illustration planning and using time wisely become the differential factor between a hit or miss.

I would certainly recommend doing more full figure as it seem to be something you are not engaging fully with right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN0q3jXKbJM

[Damien Levs]

Lunatique - Thanks for bring that to light. I really should be concentrating on the basic shapes to construct the forms. Thanks for your comment!

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Trying to work this up for this week's CHoW. The legs are forever giving me trouble. They're so hard to attach. Everything about the figure is difficult and challenging, but legs...damn. I really want to push through with this however it turns out just for the sake of seeing something through to the end.

I don't get the gesture you are trying to achieve. The gesture is gonna bite you up.It just stiff and unbalanced.

Just goes to show that you don't jump to the little detail before you get something that support the rest.This would be an after though if only the basic structure of your weight was establish with some kind of ground plane to establish how that weight is shifting on the weight bearing leg.

I know you like skull i just which you did something abit more creative like a skull that isn't human for example. Anyways i am not gonna be nitpicking to death you should have fun.

This is certainly a different level of mastery to achieve a full illustration planning and using time wisely become the differential factor between a hit or miss.

I would certainly recommend doing more full figure as it seem to be something you are not engaging fully with right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN0q3jXKbJM

Oh absolutely. Figures are such a challenge. I'm doing this solely for the fun of doing it, and to actually see the process through. I do plan on more study and I understand that it's stiff looking. The looseness and dynamics will come with practice. Thanks for your comment :)

[Lunatique]

Trying to work this up for this week's CHoW. The legs are forever giving me trouble. They're so hard to attach. Everything about the figure is difficult and challenging, but legs...damn. I really want to push through with this however it turns out just for the sake of seeing something through to the end.

When you draw characters with clothing, you should always draw through, and then put clothes on the character. Draw as if the character is nude, then when you put clothes, helmet, and other stuff on the character, they will fit properly and the underlying structure of the figure will be correct.

[Damien Levs]

Lunatique - That's sort of what i've tried. I think it's my lack of study in the figure and clothing...and well, generally all things. If it's one thing that this CHoW is helping with is highlighting major problem areas, as well as working through an entire workflow. This is good practice. I'm learnning a lot here.

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Ok, here's some study. Some portrait studies and some gestures I've done as warm ups before going back into the CHoW project. 

[darktiste]

Do you know what ghosting is?Have you heard of the term chicken scratch?

Can you draw ellipse?

I recommend doing ellipse as a warm up.It get rid of the 10000 stroke syndrome.The result is better lineart even in a rough stage but as i often say don't worry how messy your work is when you have no intention to show it at the rought stage all that matter is you have a line quality that allow you to understand yourself i just personally recommend cleaner rough when asking for feed back as it can be harder for people to give you feed back if they can't tell what a line is suppose to tell.

[Damien Levs]

darktiste - Yes, I know what ghosting is, and, yes I know chicken scratch. 






I don't share these because they're simply not that interesting. But, I am doing them in the background.

I don't think I've been completely clear. The figure gestures were me concentrating on the torso drawing from film on TV, as you can imagine, they are moving consistently. I'm trying to get things down quickly while looking at the screen and glancing my paper. I'd like to eventually capture people from life out in the wild, and as we know, people don't sit or stand still for very long. So, I thought using film, I can at least put this quick sketching into practice. 

Ellipses, tough...yes...I've been neglecting them >.<

[Lunatique]

One thing I did for a while back in my younger days, was to only draw with a Sharpie. I filled entire sketchbooks one after another that way. It forced me to be decisive and accurate in my drawing process, because each mark I laid down is completely black, thick, and heavy, with no chance of chicken scratching lightly first to mark some shapes and measure proportions or to put down unnecessary details. Every line contributes to the overall macro level of the drawing, with no micro-level pointless visual noise. You might think, "But I need a thinner-sized tip to draw the finer details!" but no, not really. Focus on what you CAN convey with just a thick-tipped Sharpie marker and your will be much more efficient in how you depict shapes and forms effectively with as little details as possible. Visualize it in your head and you just draw, and that's it. Try it and see how that forces you to approach your drawings differently.