A Beginner's Sketchbook

[PhC]

Hello CA o/
I just started drawing, following the advice of an artist/teacher who live around here. I wanted to paint, but she said "Who can't draw, can't paint. You may paint, but you'll feel like something is missing in the future." She told me to draw everyday...
So, here I am!
I was reading Betty Edward's DOTRSOTB, but a week ago I stopped, and didn't draw anything else until now. I think that keeping an sketchbook here is a good idea to don't lose my resolve again :)
As I don't have acess to a scanner (I intend to buy one sometime later), I took pictures with my cam (none Nikon, nor Canon, but still...) and I would like to know if its worth, or if I really need better quality images.


That is the first drawing I did, after I was told to draw. It's a copy from someone's avatar, along some silly sketches, in charcoal:)
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The drawings Edwards ask to do.
Drawing a person from memory (err... five years old?)
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Self-portrait (doesn't look anything like me, and the eyes are way off)
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A chair (is just me or some parts are missing?)
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My left hand
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Exercises:
Drawing with the image upside down (I got lost in the proportion =/)
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Another drawing upside down. (The horse came out diferent of the original, but I really liked it. The knight came out strange, his helmet is out of proportion too)
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Modified blind contour exercise.
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That is it for now :) I will do some negative spaces exercises next.
What do you think, guys?

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[Marjolein]

welcome to CA :)

Try getting some anatomy studies done, it can be a real bitch, but it'll benefit your progress. keep em posting!
Oh, and resize your scans a bit ;)

[PhC]

Negative spaces exercise.
Positive spaces were always distracting me >.<
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[Anurizm]

I am currently doing drawing on the right side of the brain also, getting ready to do the hand study under the picture plane. I usually do 3 exercises from the book then do some life drawing on my own. yours are looking great keep it up. I still need to post mine ;p

[Kai Black]

Keep it up! Also, try to draw what yo see...measure everything. With the chair you drew what you knew was there..

[PhC]

@Marjolein - Thanks :) I will do some anatomy studies later, I want to grasp the basics first ;)

@Anurizm - I intend to do at least 3 exercises everyday too. Be sure to post yours :D

@Kai Black - Yeah, I'm working on drawing what I see... But the last chair was better, wasnt it?


Two negative spaces exercises... the plant was way too complex, too many spaces confused me =/ It came out as an alien plant xD
And a brazilian can opener. While drawing it I realized I need a steadier hand, and need to work on basic shapes too.
Also something that should be a blind contour... I learned that you can't do it in a hurry...

I'd love to hear your opinion guys

[Gods left hand]

Your stuff shows some promise if you keep working on it. I to am a newbie, by the way how did you get a sketchbook started? please leave me a post.

[PhC]

Your stuff shows some promise if you keep working on it. I to am a newbie, by the way how did you get a sketchbook started? please leave me a post.

What do you mean? I got an old school sketchbook, with only a page used and started doing some Betty Edwards' exercises.

[MCImaginary]

Keep up the drawing!
It would be best to learn anatomy and proportions
Learn proportions before anatomy though.
I recommend Andrew Loomis (book) and Riven Phoenix (videos, you can see some examples on youtube).
You also want to study: Composition, perspective, and color theory. Some of these can be done on the forums, check out Seedling's stuff here (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81332).

Oh, and as for the images, I have a few crits.
Keep in mind for the heads the eyes are half way down the face. The forehead is actually quite large. On the chair, the perspective is going in two directions. Watch the line of the seating part vs. the line of the backing. Notice they are in different angles, this gives a twisted look.

There are also two strategies to drawing. One is boxing in. Look or picture what you are going to draw, and make a box to set proportions. After all of your boxes are made, fill them in with curves and angles to finally get a shape which represents (but does not symbolize, avoid symbols) what you were drawing. The other way is to draw out, draw a human stick figure, then draw the bones, then draw the muscles, add skin and clothes. Continue your studies, have fun!

[PhC]

Keep up the drawing!
It would be best to learn anatomy and proportions
Learn proportions before anatomy though.
I recommend Andrew Loomis (book) and Riven Phoenix (videos, you can see some examples on youtube).
You also want to study: Composition, perspective, and color theory. Some of these can be done on the forums, check out Seedling's stuff here (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81332).

Oh, and as for the images, I have a few crits.
Keep in mind for the heads the eyes are half way down the face. The forehead is actually quite large. On the chair, the perspective is going in two directions. Watch the line of the seating part vs. the line of the backing. Notice they are in different angles, this gives a twisted look.

There are also two strategies to drawing. One is boxing in. Look or picture what you are going to draw, and make a box to set proportions. After all of your boxes are made, fill them in with curves and angles to finally get a shape which represents (but does not symbolize, avoid symbols) what you were drawing. The other way is to draw out, draw a human stick figure, then draw the bones, then draw the muscles, add skin and clothes. Continue your studies, have fun!

Thanks man!
after "Drawing on the right side" I intend to study The Practice and Science of Drawing, that I was told cover composition and rhythm pretty well, and then Perspective Made Easy. And after that proportion, anatomy and color, respectively :)
I think I will prefer boxing in, Loomis cover this subject, right? I never heard of Riven Phoenix, gonna take a look at his works.

P.S.: Where is the "thank you" button?

[MCImaginary]

I think you're using the word pretend incorrectly, or maybe I am confused. Maybe you meant another word?Definition (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:*&defl=en&q=define:pretend&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title)
I have not heard of those two books, but I am sure they will help you.
Well both styles of drawing are used under different circumstances, the boxing in I use for life drawing, the boxing out is more drawing from your mind- especially humans. Loomis is more about drawing outward- he teaches stick figures, then bones, then muscles, so as a beginner you would most likely be drawing outward for drawing humans from your mind.

The "Thanks" button is on the bottom right of a users post.

[PhC]

You are right, man, my mistake. I used "pretend" thinking it was "intend".
From portuguese/english dic:
pre.ten.der
[pretëd'er] v. to claim, demand; to aspire; to intend, contemplate.
You can see why I presumed so.

Thanks for correcting me and for explaining both styles :) What book would you recommend for me to learn proportion? I presume it would teach boxing in, right?

I only see the Quote, Multi-Quote and Quick Reply buttons o.O

[MCImaginary]

No problem. Both Andrew Loomis and Riven Phoenix start out with proportion before anatomy, so my advice is to stick with them.
Boxing in and boxing outwards are used for different things. You can not really choose between the two, they are simply different methods which most likely will be used at some point. For proportions and anatomy you would be drawing outward, starting with a stick figure, then bones, then muscles. There really is no choice between the two there, sorry.

It should be to the right of those three buttons, it will not appear on your posts at all because you can not thank yourself, but it should appear on anyone elses.

[VenustusVis]

HAHAHAH!!!! that's hallarious! isn't the picture of the guy with the glasses in your first post called egar or something like that? The only reason I ask is because in high school I had to draw the exact same picture upside down.

Anyways keep on keepin on with those studies. Do atleast one a day and you'll get good in no time. Remember that the more time you put in the better results your gonna see.

[PhC]

@ MCImaginaryErr... I think I confused you.
I know I will need both, I also know that Loomis teaches boxing out. But who teaches boxing in? Does Loomis do it too?

@VenustusVis Its a copy of Pablo Picasso portrait of Igor Stravinsky :) Teachers having creativity issues xD


Where is it?!
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[MCImaginary]

Ahh I apologize then. I'm not really sure who teaches boxing in..I just..learned it...
basically when drawing from life you create boxes where certain things will be placed, then after you have all your proportions done you start detailing and shaping in the boxes (erasing the actual boxes)..does that make sense?

[PhC]

Nothing to apologize for.
It does... kind of.
But you didn't answer me, where in the image of the previous post is the thanks button?! Its driving me crazy >.>

[MCImaginary]

this should help.

oh, it appears that you have edited your post when I was repying, it should be there, maybe you need a certain amount of posts before you can thank someone, I'm not sure.

[Maddy33100]

I'm just a beginner. A few questions- Where do yo find the exercises? Are they free? Please leave me a post back. Thanks. (: