Knight's sketchbook

[dimensional-knight]

I really enjoy checking your sketchbook! The way you approach your drawing interesting for me. In my eyes it looks more like "technical" way, if i can say so. I'd like to ask you one thing: when I'm drawing from reference, my brain is just turns off and i start to draw unconsciously, i guess, almost just coping. This all comes to distorted result, it actually looks super weird. I tried to look at reference just once in a while, hid it from myself, and it actually works better. But it's not the best solution. I just wonder if you had something like that before, like when u started to draw.(Mb you can give me any suggestions)

Also looking forward to see ur painting and comic! Keep great work up!

Thanks! My advice is to wait for replies to my request and poach the proposed exercises.

I have similar accuracy issues, haha. I start increase in precision once I've draw enough of a subject but this is more retracing a well-worn path with this specific subject than getting better at the general skill of drawing. As soon I try to draw something outside those familiar areas everything quickly falls apart. I return to that state of wildly misplacing my lines until I learn through repetition where they're supposed to go in this new very narrow case. That's where the tree roots exercise came from for example, I picked a quicker and more chill subject to practice the motions I use for limbs.

I suspect—and I can't be entirely sure about it until I tackle these particular issues—that this happens because I'm a poor judge of angles etc like described in the other post. Every time I draw I'm not flattening the image, I'm uncovering the surface bit by bit. That's how I've been coping with this so far, I cultivated something else I was naturally better at: break things into planes; perceive the subject with my imaginary fingertips. It helps with light, volume and a few other things but it's a truly poor substitute for the lack of drawing skills in the long run. It makes me inefficient.

That said I have a suggestion for studying in general: Draw things that make you happy.

Eg I used all those portraits more to practice values than faces. You don't have to draw vases if drawing... err... fish feels more fun. As long it's improving the same skills the subject barely matters. A big part of practicing is keeping yourself motivated. To do so you need to avoid getting overwhelmed (don't constantly throw yourself completely outside your comfort zone, drag things into it instead) and having fun (like, if a good payoff for you is getting a beautiful result then make it part of the goal).