NEW AUG 20th :erin's sketchbook (so if I mention that I'm 17 will more people look?)

[erinel]

I've been a member here for a while but have been too chicken to make a sketchbook. I'm going for it now. I want to improve as much as I can. I greatly appreciate any helpful crits or suggestions anyone can give me because I'd like to be a professional someday and honestly, I'd rather live in something bigger than a poptart box/

A quick bio, I'm a 16 year old girl, and I've been drawing all my life. I went through the anime phase in 6th grade and am just starting to get rid of it now. I've always been one of the best artists at my schools so it's given me a pretty bad view of how good or bad I am, but I'm still shooting for a good art school so I can improve more, I'm going to try and get into RISD and/org Ringling.
As always, newer stuff is on later pages, this stuff is a year old already.

[erinel]

here's something new, fanart from xenosaga iii.

I've got a load of new sketches coming up, just gotta remember to get them scanned now

[darthneko]

I like the style you have - I can see how it's based on the anime genre, but it's starting to be something unique looking. For suggestions on how to break out of it the too stylized look (I'm going through that myself right now!) I'd have to say start doing anatomy work, even if it's just drawing from photographs. That, and find artists you like and start figuring out why you like them and then try to figure out how they do whatever it is they do. This place is definitely great for inspiration!

[erinel]

pose practice, reffed from from vogue
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/sketchbook2.png

more practicing, expressions, anatomy, poses
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/sketchbook1.png

[Retronym]

The eyes on the last image at the top of the page are beautiful. I want to see more like those.

[AsaB]

Hey, what a unique style you've got, I dig it! I like your stylized drawings a lot. Your colour use if fun too. Sweet stuff going on, but like darthneko said, anatomy studies would most likely help you push forward. Now show us more!

[localfatheaded]

yes keep drawing and posting, I like your last post the best, your life based drawing is looking really good.

[erinel]

retronym: thank you, that I can do
AsaB: hey thanks! that's always nice to hear. I plan on doing plenty more anatomy studies, they're my favorite kind of thing to draw! the only trouble I've had has been finding fun and interesting refs.
localfathead: thanks :)

And something new. I wasn't going to post this because I'm not too happy with it, but then I figured it's better to post it anyway for crits so I know more of what I need to improve on.

watercolor painting of guitarist Chauntelle Dupree from Eisley
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/chauntellewatercolor.png

[erinel]

two drawings from today, I decided drawing on cardboard is my new favorite thing. first one is reffed from NYLON magazine. I think I need to use more references when I hatch faces, the shading's getting too stylized like this

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/cardboardprofile.png

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/carboard-double.png

[Autumnal Dream]

Thank you.. I'm doing my best :)
You've got nice ideas.. and i like the clear and hightcontrast way of rendering. Also the colors come out great :P

[erinel]

thank you very much.

new stuff, the first one looks a little weird because of the crop I think
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/cardboardclosedeyes.png

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/cardboardprofile2.png

[erinel]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg009-1.png

lyrics from the song "Sunfeet" by Eisley. I was trying out a new more graphic style and practicing lettering

[erinel]

huge sketch dump right here. I just got the most amazing brown paper sketchbook and I'm loving it! These pages are in order as they go in the book.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/cover.png

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg001.png

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg003.png

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg005.png

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg008.png


Bonus points if you can guess the artist that wrote each set of lyrics. c:

[HyperGiant]

keep workin! not bad 4 16. i see the typical issues with proportions, i would suggest figure drawing classes so by the time you in college you will be wayyyy ahead

[erinel]

keep workin! not bad 4 16. i see the typical issues with proportions, i would suggest figure drawing classes so by the time you in college you will be wayyyy ahead

can you point out specific areas proportion-wise? and I'm actually signed up for a life drawing class, my first one is tomorrow

[Rockhart]

wow i'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're already ahead of some of the people in college :) you've got a great style and a fairly decent grasp on anatomy I still think you have a long way to go, but only because I think you can go a long ways (wrap your head around that one :) ) anyways great job so far and don't be afraid to try new mediums, styles, and diffrent colors of paper ;)

[OmertA]

Cool sketches you have a great eye for line quality i would get your hands on some bridgemen books they really help teach you how muscles work.

[erinel]

wow i'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're already ahead of some of the people in college :) you've got a great style and a fairly decent grasp on anatomy I still think you have a long way to go, but only because I think you can go a long ways (wrap your head around that one :) ) anyways great job so far and don't be afraid to try new mediums, styles, and diffrent colors of paper ;)

wow! I'm not sure if that's quite warranted, but thank you very much all the same. I think I get what you're saying there, and I'll defiantly take your advice. There are so many different techniques and materials and styles I haven't explored yet!

[erinel]

Cool sketches you have a great eye for line quality i would get your hands on some bridgemen books they really help teach you how muscles work.

thank you. c: And I'll have to do that, thanks for the suggestion!

[Ash888]

Nice work, I like the style that runs through them.

[HyperGiant]

can you point out specific areas proportion-wise? and I'm actually signed up for a life drawing class, my first one is tomorrow
excellent good deal! those classes will be most valuable. ok i wrote a little note on one of you drawings but i will reiterate here>
the distance from head to crouch is about 4( including the head) the bottom of the breast hit right around 2.25 or 2.5 heads( for smaller or avg breast. the arms are about 3 heads long roughly so the wrist should meet around the crotch. on women( i think this also applies to males) the bottom of the third head should hit. i could go on and on about measurements. 5th head hits on top of knee a 6th hit around mid calf... double check these yourself some of my stuff may be a bit off but it should be about right

ok im done yappin:)
any more questions?

[erinel]

hahaha, thank you for explaining, you're right there, I think the main part of the problem was that I drew the breasts too high up.

no more questions for now :)

[loveandasandwich]

all the ones on the tinted paper look greeeeaaat!

[thespianmonsalvo]

I like your style - not bad at all for only 16! Definitely watch your proportions, though, since that seems to be a weak spot. Your sense of color is very good as well.

[Hybrid_75]

really good for 16, you'll just get better and better too. you gotta nice confidence in your line drawings. Those pose drawings from vogue, are cool. I'm always enviouse of that kinda clean look. You should have a look at Coldrums SBhttp://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98483 and http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37606 you could easily go into those kinda styles. I wish I could , but you can't really force style it just seems to happen.

[FadeThen]

Very interesting style! I must say that I love the way you do your eyes and noses- truly wonderful!

May I suggest you play a little with shorter hair? (Boy's length) I Am sure you could do wonders with it. My only problem is that your torsos appear just a tad too squashed to me. Perhaps you need to lengthen them just a bit?

[liquid cures]

Love this work!. & extra for enjoying Eisley. Good luck with your first figure class.

x

[Missile]

Very nice style. There's something quite simple about it - not to say effortless or lacking anything, it's just quite pure and enjoyable to look at. I'm impressed, keep up the good work!

[HyperGiant]

hahaha, thank you for explaining, you're right there, I think the main part of the problem was that I drew the breasts too high up.

no more questions for now :)


cool. yea once one thing is too high everything else will follow suit. crotch will be to high and so on

[erinel]

@chelsea: thanks! tinted paper is so much fun because you really have room to play around with different effects.
@thespian: I think you've got that, I've been trying to practice proportions a little more but I keep falling back into the same old habits
@hybrid: I love the first sb, that's actually the kinda thing I'm going for. the second is what I'm trying to escape though, I'm trying to get out of the cartoony style.
@fade: that's something I have a lot of trouble with actually, short hair, I guess I can't avoid it anymore :'D
@liquid: thanks! asdfkhk; eisley is super amazing, you like them too?
@missle: :'D what a nice compliment, thank you very much
@hyper: very agreed. I'll jsut have to pay extra attention to proportions from now on.

[0shade0]

wow, someone with talent.
i'll be watching you!...

[brutalXbear]

your really good for 16 andddddddd im thinking those pictures were inspired by metric at least the grow up and blow away one is anyway ..... ehh i dont listen to her that much... im 16 myself and just joined this great thing called concept art i dont have anything up but i do have my old art on my gayspace -_- check it out at myspace.com/brutalXbear777

[frog and *BAM*]

hey, nice stuff, its good to see someone into more fashiony things. keep drawing!

[liquid cures]

yes! Eisley is major amazing, I agree.
did your class go well? I just started an English class two nights a week, for six weeks. I'd rather take a figure class, except it's not offered over summer.

[erinel]

oh wow, I kept forgetting to post here! to answer any questions, the class is a load of fun and it's fantastic practice! the teacher may not be the best, but it's still a great experience. I'll try and dump my sketches soon but I'll probably forget :'D

instead, here are some caricatures I did at Sesame Place (bad quality because I had to sneak pictures of these with my phones camera)
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/n14230837_36595779_1905.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/n14230837_36595780_3822.jpg

[oODanyalOo]

Your stylised drawings are very well defined for someone of your age I think, do you draw influence from somewhere for those? You have the makings of a great illustrator! You need to do some anatomy studies, but we all need to do that :)
I'd like to see some bolder colours? you're drawings are quite subtly coloured at the moment (which is by no means a bad thing!) but do something outrageous and unexpected!

[thesadpencil]

hey you're off to a great start, i really like your style its very expressive. that life drawing class will definitely help you out immensely whenever you take it. keep up the good work.

[erinel]

alright! here are the promised life drawing class sketches. I've put the longer, more detailed drawings first, followed by the shorter ones. Most of the poses were done in 5 minutes, and since this was my first class, I was concentrating most on getting the figure down instead of making it pretty.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass6.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass20.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass17.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass12.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass1.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass2.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass3.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass4.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass5.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass7.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass8.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass9.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass10.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass11.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass13.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass14.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass15.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass16.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass18.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass19.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/figureclass21.jpg


I realized I was having a really hard time keeping the proportions consistent. As I got farther down the figure, it got bigger, and I never managed to fix that.

[IanE]

You are going to be very successful.

[erinel]

Your stylised drawings are very well defined for someone of your age I think, do you draw influence from somewhere for those? You have the makings of a great illustrator! You need to do some anatomy studies, but we all need to do that :)
I'd like to see some bolder colours? you're drawings are quite subtly coloured at the moment (which is by no means a bad thing!) but do something outrageous and unexpected!

Oh, I missed this. To answer, I draw influence from everyone I see and like. I end up taking parts of other people's styles that I like, and then changing them to fit me a little better. So my style now is a huge mash of everything I've ever liked. I'll definitely try some bolder colors soon, I've sorta been shying away from color in general, so I'll made sure to give it a try.

And to go completely against what I just said, here's a black and white progress shot. I jacked one of Idiot Apathy's assignments from a mentor thread and decided to try it myself. I'm trying to do a 1:1 copy of this photo.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/1to1copy02.png

[erinel]

and the final
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/1to1copy03.png

[erinel]

New sketchbook stuff.

hatching and lettering practice
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg019.png

grandma
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg011.png

from my vacation to florida
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg012.png

random doodles. some reffed from magazines
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/pg013.png

[erinel]

This is the first time I've tried starting dark and adding lighter layers on top and I love it. I'm never going back because this is easily the best digital coloring I've ever done, and it didn't even take very long!

[erinel]

new stuff! I did both these in my moleskin ripoff with a watercolor pen and watercolors. both are referenced from NYLON magazine. they looked a lot better before I tried to edit them.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/moleskin01.png

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/moleskin02.png

[jedininjaman]

first thing: Attachment manager
Secondly: Keep an eye out for proportions and that will help a lot but keep it up, I am 16 too, you are not alone :)
-Jedi

[erinel]

jedininjaman: oh shoot, that must've gotten deleted for nudity, thanks for pointing it out

selfportrait watercolor, I know the proportions are wonky on the flying part, I didn't realize until I inked it
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/moleskin03.png

[a la bapsi]

your style is so cute and full of energy and..bounce. xD;
I love the variation in line weight in your inkings.
Keep those figure drawings up if you can, and if you can't, don't forget those life drawings of things and people chilling around you. You'll see major improvement in the proportions department.
Would love to see more watercolor works from you. Very crisp and colorful...not all washed out and muddy like mine. :x

[Grafguy]

i freakin love it! :D

[BRINKMAN!]

The two watercolors from Nylon are really nice...great line quality, character and the colors are really tasteful too!

I'm going to echo jedininjaman and give you the same suggestion that we all get (it seems to be the rallying cry of CA): Figure studies and anatomy studies! :) Keep up the good work.

[thespianmonsalvo]

You have a refreshing style and it works well. The last two watercolors are especially nice. Keep up the good work. Practice anatomy through drawing from life as often as possible. It'll help you when you draw from imagination later.

[erinel]

a la bapsi: thanks! yeah, I've been thinking about heading up to this place in the city to go to some open figure sessions, I just have to figure out how to get there.
grafguy: thanks!
BRINKMAN!: thanks a ton! And I've been trying, I promise
thespian: thank you! yeah, I haven't had a chance to go to life drawing recently, so I've been trying to practice on classmates, but that's not always so easy

Soooo here's some new stuff. I've been doing loads of watercolor stuff, it's amazingly fun!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin05.png
the lyrics from an emily haines song got stuck in my head and came out on the paper

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin06.png
the left painting was reffed from NYLON magazine, and the figures on the right are classmates giving presentations

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin02.png
Get it? Olde? Like old? Yeah?
...I thought it was funny

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin04.png
this is really mean. we've got a black midget and the guys I was talking to had these crazy theories about how she ended up like that.


thanks for looking!

[erinel]

http://lh6.ggpht.com/lufiamanaelf/SOfXMn1kKII/AAAAAAAAAFQ/_6PFDqhk02o/s720/moleskin08.png
here's a sketch I did during lunch a little bit ago of a couple of my friends. I'm really happy with how the guys came out, not so happy with the girl.

[Nettle_Mountain]

The girl is just fine, yo have your own style and it covers most of the pose/anatomy mistakes.

You should draw fast studies or sketch more i think, it would help you to define your style more

[erinel]

new sketchbook pages, imma make this quick cause I'm in a hurry

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin09.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin10.png
(I'm erin)
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin11.png
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin12.png
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin13.png
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin14.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/stilllife.png

[walnut]

Looks like you're pretty talented already, got your linework down and everything. it'd Trye to broaden the spectrum of what and how you can draw as much as possible and i think you'll really shine one day.

S.

[Pseudocognition]

What do you have against arms?! DX
Cute stuff in here. You have a great handle on watercolors. I hate those bastards, haha D:

MOAR TEEN GIRLS ON CAORG *rallies*

[erinel]

walnut: that's a good point, I've definitely gotten into a watercolor rut. I need to break out of that. and of course draw other things.
pseudo: ARMS GET IN THE WAY. no worries, I'm not someone who's "afraid" or whatever, I just think they aren't visually pleasing sometimes
hell yeah! I feel like we're such a minority sometimes

[l0stinth0ughts]

nice imagination, i like the charactures. if they are charactures of hanna montana. lol keep them coming :rocker:

[erinel]

thanks! and yeah, the one is of hannah montana.

here's something silly. my new pair of shoes. I copied the drawing from an Audrey Kawasaki painting and just changed up some of the details and colors
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/shoestwo.png

[Crrristian]

Omg, I was just about to say how your armless girls reminded me of Audrey Kawasaki, and then I just saw the shoes. You a fan of her work too?

I love the skeleton girl.

[Pseudocognition]

DUDE I forgot to mention, my sister is named Erin... and is 16... are you secretly her?! Er, just kidding. Lol.

Those shoes are stylish. I want to see a pair with a design thats totally yours! Then I want to buy em. Mmmmmyes. <3

[erinel]

chrristian: oh my god yes I love her stuff. her, mucha, and monaux are my three favorite artists. and thank you!
pseudo: heh, well uh, now that you bring it up....
see now that's the hard part isn't it? thinkin up stuff and stuff.

[erinel]

I had off from work today, so I came home and drew. These are a bunch of studies referenced from the new Urban Outfitters catalogue.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin15.png

I'm gonna use it as a digital practice and watercolor practice too I think

[erinel]

new sketchbook pages

art assignment, hand drawing from weird foreshortened angle
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/moleskin16.png
my friend olivia
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/moleskin19.png
my way of not getting bored when I worked at six flags for a day
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/moleskin18.png


and now, here's the thing. I decided I'm going to apply for governers school. does anything know anything about there or things I could do to improve my chances of getting in?

[coelakanth]

I looked just because you were 16 ;)
Nice sketchbook you have here, seems like you have a very distinct style looking at the fist few pieces, which is great.
I haven't time at the moment for a full-blown comment, but basically just keep developing your style and enjoy working at it ;D

-Adam

[erinel]

adam: thanks you and will do!

here are a few new pages and some more progress on others.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/moleskin20.png
a quick portrait of my friend olivia. I'm really happy with the blues I managed to squeeze in there

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/3116994030_615cd827e8_o.png
starting to paint the six flags picture

once again thanks for looking!

[sjmarshy]

some good style going on here, keep developing :D

[erinel]

thank you!

and I forgot to post these last two pictures. the first is a quick self portrait we did in art class, the second is a touch up of an old life drawing. I'm sorry for the bad quality, they're cell phone pics!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/selfportraitsecond.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/figuredrawing.jpg

[super skoda]

Hey! your stuff is awesome. Aren't watercolors great! They sort of force you to work loose and quick. It's really fun. And not as messy as acrylic and oils.

I really like the green hand drawing. did you pencil it in before you painted? The lines look really confident and plus you get extra points for going across the spine in your sketchbook!

I can't wait to see more life drawing!

[ewing]

great stuff dude. the watercolors are awsome.

[erinel]

super skoda: they are such a dream. that and the fact that they're so spontaneous and unpredictable are what make them awesome.
the hand was just straight brush pen, no pencil, no paint, and thank you!
still gotta get cracking on life drawings though
ewing: thank you!

[erinel]

FROM NOW ON A SHOOT TO POST DAILYER. HERE'S MY FIRST TRY.
I got a new moleskine. A real one for xmas. Name brand even. This isn't the first thing I've drawn in it, but it's the thing I'm most excited to share.

A colored pencil portrait of EMILY HAINES the best musician in the whole world. Sorta. It was my first time using CP, I mean colored pencils, for "real". It came out better than I expected, even though I obviously have lots to learn, especially on the hair.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/spreado4.png

[AvisNocturna]

Wow... great sketches, I like you're style a lot!

[spaztastic]

you still looking for a SBG(sketch Book Group) I am trying to start one up, let me know if you're interested.

[JailHouseRock2]

Hi Erin,
Great watercolours, sketches and life drawings,
Your my age but you seem to have a much better understanding of colour and light and form. love your brown paper sketches, and nice start with the colour pencils, btw have you ever tryed watercolour pencils? I think you'd do well with them.

You've got a wonderful style, and great colour techniques, but I say doing some anatomy studies wouldn't hurt.
And I have to say that the portrait of your friend,(the one that's a thumb nail on this thread) is bloody awesome!

And do you really do caricatures in theam parks? Wow sound's like fun!
stop by my sb if you find the time.


Keep on drawing,

Matt,

[erinel]

avis: thank you!
spaz: yeah definatly! I'll PM you in the morning if you don't see this..
matt: Hey thanks! It's probably just because that's what I practice more, you know? I actually have tried watercolor pencils! At work me and my friend spent a day using them, and I just bought a set.

Yep! Caricatures at Sesame Place, right next to Elmo and Big Bird. It's awesome.

Thanks for stopping by!

[erinel]

new moleskine stuff.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/spreado2.png
my friend drew is an idiot.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/spreado3.png
classmate sketches

today I decided I was going to try digital again. but to do that I needed to clean a tiny space on my desk! an hour later, the whole desk is clean and there's been no drawing ):

[erinel]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/digital001-01.png
I tried. It took every ounce of self control not to just delete it! I'll just have to improve in my next try!

[chris chUa]

cool stuff! I like the watercolor stuff the most.

[erinel]

thanks chris!

here's my entry for the teen challenge. It was good, but I found out the hardway that moleskines aren't the best for watercolor

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/page1o.png

[P]

Hey lufiamanaelf, really superb art for such a young ages. Such a nice lines, style, such a freedom. The last one u colorized it only with watercolors? Its adorable. Im going to buy watercolors now because of u! heh. Keep up. Cheers. :)

[erinel]

thanks! and yep! only watercolors. I definatly suggest them. they're so much fun.

[mysocksrock]

I love your watercolour stuff your sketchbook thumbnail is my fav. The colours you have used work so well with each other, keep it up!
this is great! (http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2008/moleskin15.png)

chris

[super skoda]

The "Africa" comic made me laugh out loud. :)

[zou]

original style and consistent character, i'm digging
that funny art

[erinel]

thanks chris and zou!
skoda, I'm glad you laughed too, we were dying listening to him

and here's a quick caricature of my friend monica
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/page13.png
I'm not sure how close I got on the likeness
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/monica.jpg

[Craz]

Hi.
You have a great way with watercolours, and you make me want to get a moleskin! I strongly advise you to do more anatomy studies and practice realistic observational drawing often. It will do wonders for your style. Not that your style's bad, it's just that style is a culmination of all your experiences and knowledge, so the more kinds of art you do and the more diverse your life (not that I'm criticising your life), the richer your style will be.

For that last caricature, it would help if you had drawn her in the same pose as the picture. I can't really criticise on likeness with one reference that's different.

[erinel]

thanks craz! believe it or not, I spend a lot of time do observational drawing. I was actually worried I was focusing on observation since almost everything I do is that. That's a good quote on style right there, I like it.
sorry about the reference, I drew her during class so I just grabbed a picture that showed her teeth
thanks for taking the time to comment :)

and here are a few silly scribbles. pregnent pinata, poo heaven, my history teacher (drawn by the above monica) and some thumbs for art class
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/spreado7.png

[Craz]

Ooooo, those last two portraits are beauties. Eyes on the lower one are a bit skewed, but since it's a thumbnail, it doesn't matter. Keep it up.

[erinel]

thanks craz!

today I tried digital painting again for the first time after that disastrous first attempt up there. it's a painting of sherri dupree from eisley, using this photo ( http://flickr.com/photos/photostoshare1/2576727419/in/set-72157605444937581/ ) as a ref. I'm not going for likeness or anything, just trying to learn this dang nabit photoshop painting!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/sherri1.png

[Craz]

"That first disastrous attempt"? You mean post #78? I thought that was pretty good.
Why do your photoreferenced PS paintings have that wierd grainy look?

[erinel]

Hahaha yeah I did. That one's just a mess of random brush strokes that don't really make much sense. I do my paintings with a weird "chalk" brush that I got from zhuzhu. it's my crutch

here's the finished. I think I like the WIP better, but I'm just happy I finished it.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/sherri.png

[hunchback]

bad ass stuff
your style is very natural i love it
i vote for you in teen challenge

keep on rocking! (poo heaven?)

[Two Listen]

Erin, you remind me a little bit of myself at your age. You seem to have a thing with faces, I used to sit down in school and sketch faces, find faces in almost everything I was supposed to be focused on. Homework, food, the insulation on the attic ceiling, etc. I too, was one of the "best artists in my school", and I - as you too, have probably noticed...came to find that that isn't worth a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

Not to discourage you, you definately have potential, and you have a greater passion for art than I did at your age (I'm presently 19).

If I have any artistic advice for you, I would say try to broaden your horizons a bit outside of faces and basic human shapes. It seems like everyone enjoys the human face/human body these days. It's a good thing to know, but there's a lot more out there - particularly for someone with your potential. Maybe try a few environments - even if only from your imagination, a completely fantastical image.

If I have any advice for you that is likely far, far more important - it's this. It seems like right now, that you count on this sketchbook more for attention and criticisms (which, if you're anything like I was, are best kept as compliments in your mind!) I mean no offense by all this, I only mean to say this:

This sketchbook I feel, would benefit you more if the replies you got from other people mattered not to you. This sketchbook and its contents should speak for themselves, and you should want them to. Far too many people, I think, attempt to sell themselves as artists with everything but their artwork. Whether it be age, humor, a witty title for the thread, or a thread icon that's completely unrepresentative of what's inside.

I recommend looking more inside of yourself right now, and doing this for you, not for the replies. Doing it because artwork is your style of life, because you feel like the images you can create give off a message, a feeling - one that people will either respond to or ignore without any of your help. In short - the sketchbook should exist for the artist's artwork, moreso than for the artist herself to satisfy a need for replies.

Don't mean any offense by this, but I think it might help you in the long run. Cheers for now, I'll be stopping by more often.

[erinel]

thanks hunchback.

two listen, I like you. you got me pretty spot on, it was almost scary. while you were finding faces in the insulation, I was finding it in the peeling paint on my ceiling. I spent so much time when I was little trying to find all the people in the paint.

I'll definitely try some environments next. That's actually a big part of why I'm really trying to learn digital better, I feel like it's the best medium to learn environments with. I think I'm going to make it my goal to do at least one drawing a week, that I put some effort into, that isn't a human.

No worries about offending me, I'd much much rather hear something straight than any other way. You make a really interesting point that I'm not really sure how to respond to. On the one hand, I feel like these sketchbooks are here just for people to get responses to their artwork, but on the other hand, people (like me) shouldn't be more focused on the response than art. I feel like a sketchbook here is for communication, and if I wanted to just show people my drawings I'd make a gallery or something. Am I missing the point?

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to write all this, it was an interesting read and an interesting perspective. This is what a sketchbooks all about!

erin

[Kageko]

hiya ^^ i wasnt gonna reply to this thread at first but hell, i got stuck =P youve got a nice style going for u, and it seems like youre trying to get rid of the manga-style, which is a good thing, because even though its a cool way of drawing, it limits you, and its SO freaking hard to stop drawing those faces. (i still have problems with that, drawing from reference seems to help though)

With the risk of sounding like twolisten´s echo, im still gonna say this, being the best of your school is not always a good thing (even though everyone needs a pat on the back once in a while) and it made me comfortable, and comfortable equals shooting your artistic self in the head with a hollowpoint round, well it is to me anyway, and tbh i got worse. Luckily you dont seem to have that problem though, as i said before i like your style, and youre really good for being a 16, youve got one hell of a head start there, and you really should make good use out of it because once i got to college, my confidence just completely disappeared and i pretty much gave up 2d painting and started focusing on 3d since less people start early in that field. After that however i realised that being a good game-artist means you need to be a pretty wellrounded artist, so here i am again, starting from pretty much scratch, and tbh, im glad because ive never been more motivated about anything.

Anyway, back to the point, you. Youre a good artist and you have an insane amount of potential, so start doing more anatomy studies, and if u have time and dont mind re-doing a few basic lessons, id suggest taking a look at the mentoring forum, theres a thread there in which Kian (i think) teaches another guy the basics of digital painting, now this is really basic basic stuff, but then again the pace he makes this guy learn at is pretty fast so i think the third lesson is introduction to enviroment painting. I've been trying to follow the same lessons on my own and ive made some pretty good progress lately. Oh and dont forget to do anatomystudies regularly! =)

EDIT: forgot the most important thing, dont rely on a chalk brush, i know it makes your paintings look better sometimes, as i (once again) have been there only a few weeks ago, and my friend told me it looks as though i was hiding with it because it takes away all the imperfections instead of dealing with them, just something to keep in mind.

[erinel]

man! today's been a good day! don't worry about me getting comfortable. I'm here looking around almost every day and seeing how good I can get if I practice. I'm really glad to hear you're motivated now, that's awesome! seems like you've found what you like.

thank you SO MUCH for pointing that out. it's exactly what I've been looking for, a good, basic, painting tutorial. this sounds like exactly what I need.

I'll keep that in mind, I really need to step up and face photoshop like a woman!

thanks for stopping by!

[Two Listen]

You make a really interesting point that I'm not really sure how to respond to. On the one hand, I feel like these sketchbooks are here just for people to get responses to their artwork, but on the other hand, people (like me) shouldn't be more focused on the response than art. I feel like a sketchbook here is for communication, and if I wanted to just show people my drawings I'd make a gallery or something. Am I missing the point?

You response to my proposal was nearly as perfect as it gets in my opinion, your determination a large part of why I'm taking the time to post all of this.

To answer your question, yes, the sketchbooks are largely - and for some people, entirely, for getting a response from the community. The difference between what you are presently doing, and what I advised you to do is simple. I'm going to go ahead and call it patience.

I had a feeling I'd understand you pretty well. You're smart, talented, determined - you have all the right qualities about you, the potential to become something great if you set your mind to it. You acknowledge this, but presently are likely more caught up in dreams and overconfidence to the point that it prevents you from getting the amount of responses you want from the world without saying something like "so if I mention that I'm 16 will more people look?" I used to do almost that exact same thing. So many times in my past have I sat down and opened up a sketch thread and said to myself "This is where I do it", only to wind up disappointed with the amount of responses I was getting, and eventually wandering off the path I'd set for myself.

It occured to me during my more recent past, that the reason for this was always because I was too focused on the responses - as opposed to the path towards them. It is a little bit confusing, but I feel as if the truth of the matter is that the response and communication we desire will only come when it isn't the priority. As a result, I label the difference between your present course of action, and the one you could be taking as "patience" - because one is all about "now", and the other is all about long-term.

You presently are trying just about anything you can, in order to get responses to your sketchbook. You're 16 years old, you have talent and you know it, and you want to develop that - while looking at everyone else pay attention to your accomplishments. It isn't a ridiculous thing to want, most of us do. You're just grabbing at the wrong straws. It may be that you shouldn't be grabbing at any straws at all, you should be making your very own.

To continue what tend to be book-long posts from Two Listen, I'm going to toss out a scenario. Imagine yourself for a moment in the wilderness, in a field of tall grass at the edge of a forest. You've been told that within this metaphorical forest, you'll find the place where you'll be able to communicate with the best of the best, share your art with other artists like you, and get the help you desire. What do you do?

Do you pack a bag, run in head held high, full of dreams, hope, and determination - hoping that you'll run across what you're looking for if you just keeping running all over inside? Do you wait and observe a little bit first, observe the fact that you're only one of hundreds, THOUSANDS of people about to plunge head first in along side you - all after the same thing - and then run in feeling one step ahead? Do you watch the others, and then proceed to walk in at your own pace?

Or do you take a few steps back, sit down, and start drawing the forest in a style that fits your mood - only three hours later, to find another artist sit down beside you, and comment on the drawing. You look to your left, your right, and you notice you are not the only two out here - still on the edge of the forest, there are others who've taken the time to appreciate the path before them. Eventually, all of these artists notice eachother and proceed to discover the artwork each of them has created. All those who ran into the forest without...patience, well they're all probably running around covered in bugs and shit, having maybe bumped into one or two of their companions - traded a few words and then run off to find the "prize" again.

Years later, at the edge of the road where it meets a vast field of tall grass - a young artist is ready to pursue his dream by plunging into the field. He was told that somewhere in the field, there was a group of artists who would all communicate, help one another progress and hone their skills.

...shit. That wasn't anywhere near as cool as it was supposed to be. This is ok I guess. ...anyway, the moral of the story is that yes you may be clever, and yes you might have a step up over a lot of people because of your potential. But putting your desire for responses above your desire for your artwork won't do anything but keep you wanting. Doing things differently might not get you a hundred responses in a week, maybe not more than one or two. But five months from now, whereas at your current pace you'd continue only having one or two a week - you'll be so focused on your artwork you won't even notice how much renown you've gained. Have patience, live a life full of artwork, have this sketchbook for your artwork - and as a reward for your patience and dedication, you'll have all the responses you could ever want.

...you know what, it's worth noting that by this point in the post not even I can fully understand what's going through my head. I'll close with this: Looking inward has more outward effects than you would inititially give it credit for. Think about it.

[erinel]

OKAY. I've had a busy couple weeks. I had to actually pay attention in school, which totally killed my amount of drawing time. I have a buttload of stuff to post when I get a second on the family computer again, so for now here's my first CHOW entry.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/CHOW146_erinel.jpg

I promise. Real stuff soon.

[hunchback]

hey loved the last chow you did.
its great to have someone who isnt going crazy with digital on this website.

see ya:lounge:

[Rustveld]

Thanks for stopping my my sketchbook. I really like your watercolor and pastel (?) pieces.Some of your pieces reminds me of Audrey Kawasaki. It's really refreshing to see traditional art.
Do you have more drawings on cardboard? I tried that once with pastel, it's fun. I'm not confident enough to color my drawings with watercolor, I think I would only ruin them. I haven't used watercolors in a while, but after seeing your work I want to try using them again.
Hope to see more from you soon.

[JailHouseRock2]

Hi there erinel,
Really love your CHOW entry, awesome stuff, your watercolours still inspire me:P

Great work on you TC piece as well, Come on girl where's these updates?

cheers
matt

[Noë]

Great stuff Erin :)

I like the stylized people in here a lot, though (I think I'm sorta repeating Two Listen' here') it would be wise to broaden your studies from life, and also to make studies with different materials and with different styles. From what I've seen in the Ringling thread so far these really good art schools want to see a good basic set of skills for drawing still lifes and drawing people realistically. Even though your stylized persons are really good, I think the realistic ones need proportion practice. :)
But anyway, you have time and you are well on your way definitely.
Much respect for the amount and quality of work in this sketchbook ^^

Love
Marleen.

[AustenFM]

hot damn kid, this sketchbook is great so far! I wish I had your ambition when I was sixteen. Your stuff has gotten continuously better from the first page, lets see some more anatomical studies and life drawings though! Keep up the good work, i'm sure you'll be going far!

[erinel]

rustveld: thanks! I havent really done anything on cardboard since, but I am thinking of trying out painting on wood
jailhouserock: thanks again. I keep meaning to update but school and work are so overwheming!
noe: thanks so much! and you'll be happy to know I'm taking another figure drawing class right now, and making extra sure to get my proportions good.
austen: hey thanks! good to hear :)

so here's what I've been working on. it's a poster for a school art show and it's still in it's very beginning stages. I want to get what I have right before I work on anything else. so crit away!

[P]

hey, nice variations, watercolours sweet as always. Great CHOW entry. Keeeep up. :)

[The Pariano]

Hi erinel, I found you're sketchbook and was quite impressed with the drawings for your age. Lots of style. You remind me of me ( im 17 years old :] and similarly the best artist at my school) BUT by knowing that, you MUST let yourself try to be humble. No one is really humble until you're really old and stuff, but it's something to strive for.
I won't bore you with philosophical stuff( besides, 17 year olds are horrible philosophers) and show you a paint over I did of your poster piece that I think might help, if any of the changes are unclear just say so, in a bit of a time crunch so I can't explain at the moment:
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg310/Chriskhaos/poster1.png

[Swanii]

I'm only 14 but I can tell you must've been much better than me when you were my age, you've got talent!

[erinel]

thanks everyone, and especially the pariano! that paintover's exactly what I needed!

[IanE]

I'm seeing improvement since last time! Stuff's comin' along. You're all over the place, trying new things, fixing old things, and progressing! Keep at it.

Put in a few more miles in the old anatomy and drawing from life portions!

[erinel]

alright! lots of stuff's happened since last post. jr prom last week, I won our newspapers art contest the week before, I've been doing lots of art for our school newspaper and loads more I won't even get into. needless to say I've been busy. here's a couple things I got together though. the first is a watercolor that I overlayed a texture onto, and the second is Ted from my life drawing class. he's a crazy guy so I gave him a crazy face.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/dontask.png
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/ted.png

[wookiedabo]

the watercolour wood one is lovely, really delicate stylish piece, nice work.

[erinel]

IanE: thanks! I'm trying. Somehow I only just now realized how great a resource stock photos are for anatomy, so I'm diving right in with more figure practice!
wookie: thanks!

here's a new digi paint of my friend marissa. it's reffed from a photo by my other friend. I'm really really trying to learn digital, and I'm starting to get it.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/marissa.jpg

[erinel]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/uocover.jpg

practicing watercolors and stuff the cover of the urban outfitters catalogue

[erinel]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/ghost.jpg
in memory of all those who've died recently.
leah chapman. 14. died of cancer
both the principles' sons who killed themselves

[erinel]

a mermaid tattoo design for my friend annie.

[JailHouseRock2]

Hi erinel, see you've been rockn' along in here as always!

Love your water colour, Really like the in memory of one.
mermaid tattoo looks awesome you'll have to do me one!

Oh thanks for dropping by my SB before too,
Keep well,
matt

[The Pariano]

Did you have a birthday? I believe your thing use to say " so if I mention im 16..."
if so, happy burfday : D
You're watercolors are looking nice as well as the tattoo design, all though you could have done more with the line weight- either way you're very good at drawing ladies; I probably would have failed miserably at that design.

and that " in memory of" piece is very well done. it seems that the rest of the picture is handled as sensitively as the face and hair which is a shame because that part has a real nice touch to it.

keep it up :]

[Hungry_Wombat]

It's nice to see another sixteen year old artist who isn't half bad :D. I really like your watercolor work (thanks for the advice btw) and I'm looking forward to more.

[erinel]

Pariano, yeah I did! It was a while ago now, at the end of february. thanks though, and I agree with what you said about the in memory one, thats something I wish I had done
Wombat, thank you!

I haven't been drawing much for fun lately, since I'm working doing caricatures 8 hours a day, but I did take a portfolio pre class at Tyler, which was amazing. I had a great teacher and learned sooo much. Here are three pieces I did during the class.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/hand.jpg
the first thing we had to do was a "body landscape" so I cropped in close, even though I could have gone in closer, to my hand. I'm really happy with it, even though I had to rub it out a couple times to get it right

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/diptych.jpg
then we did the dreaded still life. and after we finished one, we found out we had to do another one that had to connect to the first one! it was a good challenge though, and even though I don't like the result, I learned a lot

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/selfportrait.jpg
then the self portrait. I had the hardest time with my nose, I think I rubbed it out and redrew it at least 10 times, and it's still not perfect

I have another still life too, but I haven't photographed it yet

[erinel]

caricature of emily haines I did at work. I'm trying to work on pushing my exaggeration and colors more, so this is a baby step
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/emilyhaines.jpg

[erinel]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/jammin.jpg
super quick sketch of two friends playing guitar

[Jasper_]

Hey cool stufff. I like the caricatures a lot, and that's awesome that you have a job doing them. I'm from an area close to you...your not working at dorney park are you? I was really close to taking a caricature job there this summer, but I just never had the time to take the pre requisite classses. Anyway even if your not it's great to have a job like that at this age, good luck.

[Cuervo]

your character concepts are really good. But i have to say that your watercolour work is definatly your strong point. I wouldnt mind seeing some digital watercolour work to see how you fair, but really impressive sketchbook.. you've got quite an illustrative / stylised workflow which is nice to see.. a change from the skulls and gasmasks that this place seems to be littered with... well done mate, keep it up! :D

[Sekino]

That Emily Haines caricature looks fantastic! I'd definitely love to see more along the same line. I also really enjoyed the little sketch/watercolour in post #111. It has a fun style. And great job on the two boys playing guitar; good sense of movement and attitude on there! I will check back again, for sure.

[JailHouseRock2]

Hi erinel! Good to see some updates!!!

Love the last two, and the sp on the last page is great!!!


Keep at it!
all the best,
matt

[erinel]

pyro: THATS AWESOME! No, I don't work at Dorney, but I know, and have gone to a party with, a couple of the big guys there, Zitman, Chris Chua and Alex Clare. You should try working there next season! Those guys are fun and awesome and amazing artists! I only work at Sesame Place, but we're all the same company so it's cool.
cuervo: thanks! I'm not sure how I'd do a digital watercolor, so much of the fun is not knowing how the paint's going to dry! it's probably worth a try something though.
sekino: thanks so much!
matt: it's been a while hasnt it? hahaha. well thanks so much!

and here are some more caricatures, basically all I do in the summer. these are mostly a couple weeks old, but I never got around to posting them.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/gwen.jpg
gwen stefani for a friend

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/house.jpg
house

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/pooper.jpg
ariela, stuck at the rejected caricatures stand, which has cobwebs because no one ever goes there

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/soo.jpg
my coworker soo. she thought it was funny, she's a good sport. this ones from last year

[JPagan]

Great work!! I SO didn't sketch this good when I was your age. Keep it up!!

[Sekino]

Wow! That was quick!! :D

It's official; I'm totally in love with your caricatures. The likeness is good, judging from Emily and House since I don't know the other people. They're funny/exaggerated but yet they are also beautiful to look at. You pick lovely, subtle colours for them (also in many of your illustrations).

[erinel]

jpaga: hahaha I jsut practice a lot...
sekino: thanks so much! I've been experimenting with colors and trying to find out different ones that work together lately


a self portrait and a drawing for my friend

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/self.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/lipzinger2.jpg

[Mayday!]

Very nice sketchbook here. Love the Emily Haines stuff; I'm a big Metric fan.

[erinel]

thanks christian! that's awesome, me too! they're prooobably my favorite band, AND they have an awesome live show.

for ap art we have to do 5 pieces in a similar medium and or subject matter, so im doing watercolors, of course, and musicians with skulls and flowers

heres 1 of 5, the sketch for feist
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/lufiamanaelf/art/2009/feistsketch.jpg

[Sukizan]

really good stuff O: looked at your stuff from pg1. Nice style too.

[BlightedArt]

Jealous of the watercolours! I really never know how to get started on them or what to do with them (might sound odd... painting really destroys me, wish I just knew how to start!)

I love your "poster of a girl" pic, you've a very quirky catchy style. Hope to see more from you soon. :)