I've been lurking this forum for years but I'm finally here to share and learn. I've been absent from art for a really, really long due to depression, anxiety, and severe OCD but I'm well enough to get back into it now. I've been wanting to start my own sketchbook thread since forever-ago but blahblah the second best time is now and whatnot.
Feel free to drop by and say hi! Constructive criticism welcome, of course.
Some of my recent works in gouache. I haven't painted in years so I am very rusty.
Hi first off i don't want to start with an art critic. I just perhaps want to offer you a reframing of your own head space an opportunity to understand and appreciate the good and the bad aspect of being we own worst critic. I think it important to operate a shift in the way we think if we want to make sure we can lay a fertile ground for happiness and success.
There time to contemplate and some to celebrate the little thing of life. I think starting anything is one of those.
@darktiste - thanks, I appreciate the kind words. I am trying to be more positive in general. I suppose that's also going to be a process!
Started the Draw a Box course today. I also did a quick portrait sketch with no references to see where I'm at. I don't know where the shadows go... (yet).
@Jephyr: Thanks for the encouraging words! Appreciate you dropping by.
This week I finished the Draw a Box homework set for Lesson 1. I've also copied a page from "Successful Drawing" by Andrew Loomis (top right). I'm having a lot of trouble drawing from my imaginations with zero references... I kept drawing and erasing the whole thing, quite frustrating. Ahh well, will try again next week! I don't want to spam updates on the daily so I'll probably update once or twice a week.
It a misconception to not use reference also pro artist who don't use them may advise to learn from imagination but that doesn't mean they didn't use them to build an understanding of how to draw those from reference first and combine them into something new.
You still need to cultivate a visual library before so that you can actually draw from a place of knowing that mean that you are training a ''muscle'' here drawing from imagination is not something you don't struggle with until you reach a certain level of understanding of fundamental it totally OOOOK and expected that it will not come easy.
How would you draw a bird from imagination with no notion of anatomy or form let that sink in a moment you might have seen a lot of bird but that doesn't mean you understand stuff like perspective or light which aren't necessary to draw from imagination but will be if you use value instead of line to capture a form. The path forward in my opinion is a practical understanding of the fundamental this is what drawing from imagination rely on. One thing to help start drawing from imagination is drawing loosely looking for the big 3D shape that can be assemble to create a starting point being able to find the middle line of a form is very important milestone so as to maintain an axis of symmetry which help for example correctly place a double door in the middle of a door way and have both door be the same height and lenght as each other or just place the arm on a character.
