Lyraina's sketchbook

[Jonas Jerde]

Thanks for the response Lyraina. I looked at at that art camp, it looks pretty cool. he has the first video for free and it just so happened to be the one talking about master studies.

http://www.noahbradley.com/artcamp/#footer-wrapper

[Kronos]

Wow awesome figures and so many! Keep at it

[Lyraina]

YOLOLEX: Laura? Anyway, thank you. ^^

JJ Aaron: Ah, even better, thanks for the link :)

Kronos: Thanks a lot! The more the better ;)

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First ones are from photo ref, last 4 pages are from mind:

[Lyraina]

Somehow this is getting quite anatomy-heavy. Might be because I always do the sketching first, and if time is limited, that's the only thing I can do..
Trying to leave my anatomical comfort zone and do some more foreshortening, body types, pen instead of pencil etc... last 2 sheets from mind.


















Also, here are two WIPs for environments. I really don't get the saturation in control, but desaturating parts makes everything look dirty... Also, I really struggle with refining the images, make it look more finished, without just slapping photo textures on them, or tons of custom brushes. (Like I did with the mountains and foliage). Any advice? I would like to be able to paint this from hand, before taking shortcuts.

[Lyraina]

Rhinos for the Weekly Visual Library




And yes, they can run, even if they don't look like they could :)

[Lyraina]

By the way guys - is learning this "overhand pencil grip" oder "violin grip" worth learning? I gave it a try, thinking that there must be a reason so many artists draw that way, but I wonder if it is worth the hassle of learning it.

Small morning sketch:

[Madzia]

By the way guys - is learning this "overhand pencil grip" oder "violin grip" worth learning? I gave it a try, thinking that there must be a reason so many artists draw that way, but I wonder if it is worth the hassle of learning it.

what kind of black magic is it? xD

[Lyraina]

what kind of black magic is it? xD

Sorry, I have no idea how the correct name is ^^;
I mean holding the pencil like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbSuMvdluvQ
Or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j39NqwL7s4
Not sure if there are variations, as I'm not even sure why they do what they do ^^

[Jaik]

nice updates :)
and in regards to the grip. You cant see it but the paper is pretty much vertical on an easel, its very hard to do it if it is lying flat on the desk. At life drawing it is good because it forces you to use your elbow and shoulder instead of the wrist. However, for drawing on a tablet, especially with the shape of the wacom it doesn't work. The other reason you change the grip on the pen is to stop your mind automatically associating drawing with writing since it is very different and most people write scratchy with quick short strokes which is a bad habit in drawing.

You can also hold the pen between your index and middle finger for a similar effect. (John Howe does this, but he also holds his wacom like a pad on his lap while using it. Wouldnt be able to do that lol.)



Still jealous of your figures and skin tones.. /sigh

[Lyraina]

Jaik: Thank you :) So it seems to be more of a practicality with the setup, not because it directly affects the drawing or something... I guess I'll just stick with my writing grip then.
Skin tone secret: Slap in every single color you can find in Photoshop and then blend :P Way too colorful!

A few quick (well, not really) color and value studies from photographs (yay for vacation!), because I really need to stop throwing around with 100% saturated colors all the time.

[Lyraina]

three more

[Lyraina]

quick character sketch, inspired by an insect I've worked with 2 years ago ;)

[Blewzen]

Good color studies they are simple but effective, I still need to do alot of those, and I can see your anatomy studies are getting very good!

[Lyraina]

Blewzen: Yes, now I only have to manage to also apply the studies ;) Thanks!

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Enough of this one; don't like it anymore D:

[Lyraina]

This one was quick & fun :)

[Wolkenfels]

ah - sweet updates!

[Lyraina]

Thank you, Wolkenfels :)

I wanted to sketch a few loomis heads for warmup... and was shocked to learn how hard I failed at them. So I guess it's time to relearn all that facial stuff. I wonder why digital is so much easier for me when drawing faces, while I prefer pencil for fullbody anatomy...

(All from photo ref)

[Lyraina]

Snitched the bathroom mirror once again and did some painting!
Not looking quite like me, but I tried to really see colors this time... my skin always tends to look just grey to me in this indoor light O_o (Wine does help to add some flush though :P)

[Jaik]

Everything is better with wine. EVERYTHING.

Really nice portraits, your painting skills are really coming along and so is the symmetry in your faces. I totally struggle with Loomis heads as well, they are deceptively difficult..
The self portraits looks great. Something you may want to test out is choosing either lights or shadows to have the really texture/painterly brush strokes and simplify like hell in the opposite. That way it provides a place for the eye to rest and strengthens your focal points.

Keep on fighting, you're getting there.

P.s. White or red wine?

[Lyraina]

Jaik: Good to know I'm not alone struggling with Loomis. It caught me kind of off guard because I though I had already done better before O_o
Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely give the simplification a try next time.
Oh, and this time it was a new red wine (no idea how you call it in English - the one which is not yet done fermenting), although I normally prefer white wine.

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For now, more sketches and some quicker paintings from mirror. Disclaimer: I'm not as evil as I might look :P No wonder people don't like me until they know me better. I like how I look almost like a zombie in the top right one...