Chronicles of Jussi Tarvainen [Updated April 10th]

[Jussi Tarvainen]

[UPDATED Aug 2nd]
Okay so here's the deal. I've decided to become an independent artist. This sketchbook and the links in my sig are devoted to that journey. I invite you to come aboard and enjoy the ride and hopefully learn something on the way. I humbly welcome all critique that can help me to become a better artist.

The action plan is deciding the goals, means of how to get to my goals and executing them.

I have my goals setup. How am I going to get there. Simply put by studying life, perspective and anatomy.

I am taking classes at an online atelier from now on out at www.classicalartonline.com Instructor is a member of CA.org Jonathan Hardesty MindCandyMan(look for his journey here at ca.org).
Plan is to learn the basics with him. On the side I will be studying perspective, life and anatomy. Other things of course too but I want to get a good foundation so I want to get a good education of the basics first. Taking it step by step and focus being on only 1 to 2 things at the time so I can get the most out of my studies. I will have a list of "Daily's" which are things to keep my goals fresh in my mind and help with my studies.

So as of right now I will begin a hard to work with perspective on the side of the atelier studies. It's going to be a while like this because perspective will help with anatomy so I can understand the mass and form better. There's a great book called "Creative perspective for artists and illustrators" which will guide me through most of the way as well as some dvd's from draw123.com. I wont be posting these results because they are just boring to look at and I will have more time to work on drawing.

I will start a new thread for my atelier endeavors though and that will be updated time to time.

Other learning materials:
Creative Perspective for Artists and Illustrators by Ernest Watson
Marshal Vandruff Perspective DVD's at draw123.com
more info on study materials to come as I advance in my studies.




---------------
Phuh, a lot has changed since I started my "personal art school project" and all for good. I've learned so much about art, techniques, knowledge you need, how to think differently, some drawing skills and ways to learn.

Therefore I've decided to change the form of learning. It isn't going to be so strictly set into different lessons and hours but more of into a few different areas. Still working on the concept but obviously will be drawing my ass off in the mean time.

Please fee free to drop a line to give tips, advices, critique, feedback, anything. And maybe this thread can help you out in someways.

-----------------------
I started a "personal school" project two weeks ago and there's still 3 months and two weeks left of it. You can read more about at http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123722.

Here I am posting the results. I'm planning on posting once a week from now on out. The first two weeks were pretty hectic as I was studying relentlessly 7 hours a day starting between 6am and 8am and moving to a new apartment the rest of the time. Now I'm pretty much finally moved in and got a scanner so I could scan this stuff.

This thread is for showing the progress and to get critic I can learn more from. Any comments, feedback and critics are very welcome.

During the first few weeks I read a lot, draw a lot and learned a lot. Also getting a hang of it how the schedule works for me and how to deal with frustration.
So here's most of the work from the first two weeks.(photo reference used for digi paintings)

[algenpfleger]

whoah, you sure worked hard! tons of progress, especially in the structure of those heads!

hmm i think it would be better to update more often with smaller bunches of images, or even post your daily work, this way you'd get more constructive feedback i guess, because like it's now it's a little hard to know where to look first :D

keep it up! :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hey Algenpfleger.

Thanks a lot.
Yeah that does make sense. I just went through this thread and there is quite a bit of stuff in one post. I'll try to do daily updates in the future like you said.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's something from this week. Not that much stuff. I've been forced to do a lot of stuff in order to move into my new apartment and haven't had as much time as I've scheduled to be. Also I have entrance examination for a package and graphic design school to go to all next week so I've been reading and drawing a lot of relating to that.

Thanks for your critics and feedback.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okie dokie. So more stuff for last week.
This was a big week for me as I was at the exams for packaging design school. Days started 6.30 taking the train to the school and then drawing and making packages and graphics till 5pm and then taking the train and bus back home. Damn I love train rides. It so much fun to draw there and the time flies by. So the last bits are some train drawing.

Next week I'm off to US for 2 weeks and I will be drawing as much as possible but it's partly a business trip so not all fun and games. Anyways my friend works at Activision and he said he'd give me a walkthrough in house so expecting that very much.

I've kinda noticed that there's some kind of style developing for me or maybe a lack of style... no it's some sort of style but I'm not liking it... I obviously need more practice in every area but especially learning to use the line weight, contour and how to make characters more personalized...

Anyways here are dem results. On the very last page I was drawing this guy who changed positions every few minutes so he was a perfect model and it was hella fun drawing same person from little bit different angles.

I'm starting to memorize things in the skull when drawing so it's easier to draw now without looking at a model. Nice to find that I'm getting a tiny bit better.

Thank you for viewing and critics.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Time for a small update.
Found this awesome craft paper and did some drawing from reference and some ramblings out of my head.

Any critics and help are much appreciated.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Playing with my new Wacom 20WSX the first time. Here's an apple study from a photo reference. Need to go to the store and get some real apples though. Oh and program is painter. Need some training how to pick different brushes and which works for what.

C/C welcome.

[EvilBunny]

Wasn't sure how that personal schooling would go when I read the thread back then, but looks like it went well. For crits, your perspective could use some more work. It seems as if you have the basics down, but a little refinement would help. The Japanese rock garden coffee table looks a bit extreme, probably because your vanishing points are close together. I'll suggest looking at some cylinders and cubes still lives and just observe them, note how they seem to change as your position to them change. Looking at Loomis will also help. Second crit has to deal with your head and faces. Img 8595 has big eyes and mouth. His head is also too high in that he has lots of hair. Remember to incorporate your understanding of skulls into your drawing from imagination. If you have the time, I'll recommend checking out Bridgeman, Robert Beverly Hale, and KChen's class notes. They use anatomy as a way to teach you massing and construction, and will help you depict 3d objects on a 2d surface. Other than that, keep up the good work.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

EvilBunny:
Yes, it's going very well. I've learned a lot since the first "semester" and I think I'm changing the style a bit. I've noticed I don't need such strict hourly schedule but what I need is the certain subjects to study and put more time into one area at the time. I've learned that for me to be on top of things and to get as much done as possible I need to be some way organized and having certain things to study works well for me.

Thank you for the critics I really appreciate it. I will definitely put more time into perspective. I'm actually doing a lot of still life drawing right now so I will add different cylinders etc. to it. Thanks for the idea!

Yeah I seem to notice my flaws later on when I look at my drawings. I should probably incorporate mirror for checking my work. Hey I checked those persons you mentioned and found those were so good. I will definitely take those into my studying routine.

I think the main areas I will be concentrating right now are trying to draw as much from life as possible, anatomy studies, perspective, mass, value etc.

Very excited.

Here's a few life's from the past few days and one photo ref.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Alrighty. So here's work from today. Did a bunch of lifedrawing from photo reference. 20 to 40 minutes each. I should probably put some time limits and try to do some in shorter amount of time and some longer ones as well. On this I didn't have any time limit. Just worked on them till I thought they were done. Tried using some rules I've learned. Need to try to go back to looking at different "rules" or measures how long are the arms etc. Loads of fun drawing these. Slow start and then it picked up.

If anyone have any creative critic it's very much welcome. Said I was going to use mirror in the future. Forgot so I'm going to do it afterwards and maybe correct things with red pencil.

I also need to work on finding the balance for the figure... seems a little hard to figure out but then again it's more rewarding when it starts to work! And most definitely need to learn foreshortning. I'm helpless with that.

I drew these while listening to Bobby Chiu's podcast in Youtube "digitalbobert" channel. He's such an inspirational person.

Oh and these are in the order I started drawing them.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Past few days I've been drawing 30 to 60 second poses from www.posemaniacs.com. Trying to figure out how to get the gesture down with as few lines as possible. I think my brain is starting to understand how it works now I just need to keep doing it so I will actually start producing better results as well. Stoked that I am figuring out new stuff.

Here's a few self portraits I drew yesterday from 10minutes to half an hour.
I'll definitely keep drawing these self portraits. Fun and good for learning.
Any critics are very welcome.

[626elemental]

OK, first things first; this should be in the sketchbooks forum. That's more for this kind of daily/weekly studies and consistent updates, while this is more of a one-pic-development type forum.

I really like a lot of your stuff, you have a good eye for observation. Everything you do from life is detailed, life-like, and anatomically correct. The moment you start doing it from your imagination though, everything you've learned seems to go out the window. Figure out tricks to remember proportions (the head is five eyes wide, for example) and use them. Don't be afraid to use references for your drawings! You can even use more than one for the same pic; one for the hands, one for the leg, etc. Good work and keep drawing!

[Quigleyer]

Please don't stop doing this.

I'm extremely interested to see how it will work out. It's an interesting and initiative-driven alternative for art school. With the possibility of art school not available I think you've chosen a good way to go about this, using self-discipline a great deal.

I'm not going to lie. I'm currently in art school and discipline and initiative are traits found in too few people very far between.

Keep posting here for feedback- as you get better/post more you'll start attracting more people with different ranges of skill levels with different advice.

Keep going. Good luck!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

626Elemental:
Okie dokie I'll ask to have it moved, thanks for the heads up.
I really appreciate your help. You are definitely right about the rules flying out of the window. I've just recently started drawing from life and learning "rules" and anatomy and I think I still have the old mentality when I draw from mind. Definitely need to keep that in mind to include the rules and I for sure need to memorize them and use them in my work.
Never thought of that using references of different photos, great idea!:)

Quigleyer:
I will definitely not stop this:) To go for your dreams you have to be passionate, make sacrifices, be determined and never give up. ANd that's exactly what I'm doing:)
I've learned through this that routines and knowing what kind of exercises to do are what works the best for me. Though I need to learn more what kind of exercises people do at art schools.
If you're ever in need for motivation check out Bobby Chiu's podcasts at YouTube Digitalbobert channel.

Have a good one and thanks both for your comments!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okie dokie now I'm finally back home and able to draw and get more stuff online.
I'll scan some stuff later but here's a doodle or more of an exercise how to use painter. I did it by watching Ryan Church's DVD so it look's very similar. I guess I could've gotten more into being original but felt like I needed to learn the program and maybe something along the way.
Now I need to start drawing like a mad man because I'm not being as productive as I want to.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a few studies from photo reference probably took 1 to 2 hours each.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Yayo more stuff.

Dug into Bridgman and it's nice to see the techniques he uses and combine them with what Vilppu is teaching. Here's some photo reference 20 minute to an hour drawings trying to set the balance right at first and then tackling into the form.

Also did this faces drawing from photo reference and it was hella fun. One thing that I noticed that after the first face I got kinda frustrated and then I remembered what Bobby Chiu said about frustration that you need to go through it and keep drawing cause that's when you make progress etc. So stoked on that small mental note. Need to remind myself every time I get frustrated to laugh at the frustration and keep going.

I would love to hear some critique and advices.
Thanks,

[Jussi Tarvainen]

First seven sketches are quick ones from last weekend while celebration the tradition of mid summer in Finland.

After that one life drawing portrait 26minutes. Then after that two skull studies from life an hour and a 67 minute one. The first one has some issues on width and proportions. Second skull the mouth came out a bit off. Going to spend more time studying the skull for the next few days.

Fun fun stuff though:)
And yes, feedback is more than welcome!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's some life drawings from this weekend and a skull study from life.

Feel free to comment. More to come.

[Bagg]

Hey man just stumbled upon your sketch book and you have absolutely blown me away your commitment is phenomenal, keep up the good work man.
Oh and by the way you’re environment studies and that study if the apple are brilliant the colors are spot on :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Bagg: Thank you for your encouragement, it means a lot to me.
Back to the drawing board:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a few more studies from life.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's some simplified skull studies from yesterday. Need to do more of this and some out of my head too, these are mainly from life ref. I'm starting to get hang of things to remember and the placement for most of the stuff. Now just need to get consistent getting the proportions right.
Oh and the first one is a warm up sketch from my mind.

If you see anything to critique I would love to hear about it:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

So I've been drawing a bunch of skull life reference and it's a lot of fun. Starting to get good idea of it but still having problems with the bulk of the head. Anyone has any ideas to improve with that other than just observing?

Here goes...

[Monkeydominator]

I get extremely motivated looking at your work! Progress, self discipline and knowledge... You're going to be a great source of inspiration for me! Keep this up, I'll stalk your thread.

MAEK MOAR
MOARRRRR

[Jussi Tarvainen]

MonkeyDominator: Stoked to hear that! Best of luck with your journey!

Got an urge to do this sketch before going to bed. I was reading some Star Wars comics earlier and thought I'd draw Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Sorry for the poor quality. I'll get a better picture of it tomorrow.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

So after drawing skull from life for 2-3 days it was time to put myself to the test how well I had made mental notes while drawing from reference. I drew a bunch of skulls from imagination today without looking at reference and I'm very happy with the results. I wasn't expecting a day to come so soon that I would makes this big brake through. I mean for myself I've been struggling with this subject for ages and now with the right tools and exercises I gained enough knowledge to know how to put down a skull in various different positions from my imagination. Hurray for that :cheerleader:

Here are the results. I still have issues with the bulk of the head but everything else seems to come down fairly well.
Any advices and critique would be awesome. Thanks!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Not much to update this time. Been hella busy with some personal stuff.

Two skull studies which the other one is half of my head and half of the reference. It was a really hard angle to draw the head. The second one is out of my head.

Apple study. First tried pencil apple study with natural light late at night and then did the colored pencil one next day but couldn't get enough shades to it.

Going to start painting with Acrylics soon.

Let's hear some comments, really! :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a few life drawings I did recently. Need to get used to measure the subject more while drawing and some how learn how to spend more time on one drawing. I think that's one big problem I have. Need to learn how to see the shadows and not to leave any "white" on the paper.

Critique is most welcome.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a few hands I draw from reference(my own) and a quick life sketch.

Any tips would be nice:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's something from this weekend. Life drawings of my girlfriends dog and what I think she is thinking. Pencil and marker.

[bluefruitbowl]

Great thread!
Looking from the first few post to the last few, you are really getting better at understanding/ visualizing mass.
Keep it up! My only suggestion [I'm learning myself, and every one else has covered the important things] is to vary your drawing material now and then if you can, try doing figure drawing in pen or charcoal as well as pencil. It's frustrating at first to try a different implement, but quite worthwhile.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hi bluefruitbowl. Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it! I haven't really thought of that until you put it in words and now I can see it too:)

That's a good idea, I'll definitely need to work with more mediums, I'm actually currently getting into working with charcoal but definitely should try out drawing with other stuff as well!

Cheers!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a quick copy of a cast drawing from a book with charcoal, some life drawings of a guy watching a tv while waiting for my girlfriend to get her finger patched up and side profile pencil drawing of a friend of mine trying to work with the shading fairly quick.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

So here's some life studies of apple, apricot, mandarin and banana. Will be doing more of these with different mediums and various different objects. Starting with more simple ones and no colors and slowly advancing to more complex objects and to different mediums but staying away from colors so I will learn to see the values.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

okie dokie so I did some life studies of some fruits with pen and markers and then I did a few self portraits with pen, marker and pencil. I'm going to start doing at least one self portrait everyday and use various different mediums so I will get used to them.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's some life drawings of random objects around the house and one very crappy self portrait. I have no idea how to draw with charcoal and when the drawing is set on a stand but I'm learning and that's all good. Mediums used pencil, pen, marker and charcoal.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Today was a great day. Very frustrating and also very joyful. I was having some trouble drawing as I was listening to Betty Edwards the author of Drawing on the ride side of the brain. I wasn't cooperative at all and she just annoyed the heck out of me. I decided to keep pushing through the frustration and hear what she had to say. And it payed off. First I didn't get much results but after all I made a small breakthrough which got me all exited. This may not look much but I learned so many things from her video. Edges, negative space, light, angles, sighting etc. I think anyone in my position and is a beginner should read her book. Also the great thing was that I was able to push through the frustration. Bobby Chiu talks about going through the frustration and keep on doing it because when you kick frustrations ass that's when you make progress. And it sure works that way. Today was a great proof of that.

Anyways here's the two of the pictures I draw today. Gotto to step it up and draw more though and make better use of my time.

Thanks for dropping by.

[bluefruitbowl]

hey there,
i was wondering about how much time you spend on average on each piece? they tend to seem a bit rushed, so i suggest slowing down and giving yourself more time to work on each thing.
also, for selfportraits at least, maybe try laying off of the tonality/shading for a week or so, and focus on drawing as accurate as possible contour drawings. it'll help you to see, i think.
try some rectilinear contour drawings if you have time, also - of books and boxes and things in different directions.
love post 35, the fruits are really lovely. they seem whole and textured.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hey bluefruitbowl. Thanks for your good critique I really appreciate it.
I only spend 15 to 30 minutes... I definitely should spent more. Thanks for pointing it out.

Thanks for the tip, I see what you mean. I'll get the contour drawings on my list for sure.

Thanks for the nice words! Back to drawing, you got me all exited!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay so here's a few self portrait contour studies. All that I learned today from Betty Edwards is starting to make more sense. Thaks bluefruitbowl for pointing out the contour exercises! Now I need to spend more time on one piece and learn to take the proportion "rules" into what I draw when I'm drawing.

[xinranliu]

Hi there!

Please allow me to share some stuff I learned... Just wanna help :) with a kind heart

general proportions

the face is 4 eyes wide
the mouth lines up with the pupil

also take more time doing your drawings, use your pencil to measure and fix it/start over if needed

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Ronald Liu: Big thanks for your help. I'm aware of the proportion but when I start to draw from life they seem to go out of the window because I think if I'm drawing from life they'll be automatically correct. Well obviously not:D SO today I will concentrate on measuring and keeping the proportions!

Thanks again Ronald!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay so here's some life drawings. Tried to spend some more time on these and slower my drawing. It's getting better. I tried doing contour line life drawings and then shadowing afterwards learn two things at once. Also I've been trying to learn to se and measure and first it was so annoying but not it has almost come into an unnoticeable thing for me. So more work with that. Also did one head drawing of my mind... Need to do one some creative stuff everyday as well and not all studying so I don't kill my creative side and can actually develop it as well. So many things to study everyday and soooo much basics but they seem quite easy to learn and cause I'm such a beginner the next level comes easier. Loving this!

Advices, tips please:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Went to sketch out to the city for a bit today. It was fully a new experience to me and a bit frustrating and didn't really know how to act when someone notices that you are drawing. Never the less a good experience and might do it again tomorrow. Did some drawing around the house from life as well.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Almost forgot. Almost. My daily self portrait. Need to start spending more time with every study I do. This was a quick one before going to bed.

[Dannelf]

Hi there Yousa! Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook and leaving comment!:)

I can see you're working hard with those selfportraits. Keep going with it! But it would be good if you started to draw some anatomy from reference. I would suggest Hoghart or Brigdeman! I don't think it would be any problem for you, when the first image in post #34 (which seems to be from reference) looks great.
The pictures you've coloured looks like the best I think!
Keep going! :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hey Dannelf. You are most welcome.

That is true. I should definitely jump on dumping anatomy into my daily routine. And I shall do it. Thanks for the push:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's todays work. I started by drawing a shoe form life, then some fruits, more shoes and then took a crack at the anatomy to see what I'm up against. Yup it's HUGE :D Lot to learn and lot to remember. I wanted to try drawing the full skeleton and simplifying it. Even that felt overwhelming. So next thing I'm doing is just taking a piece at a time from top to bottom.
Also did a bunch of reading. And here's a few things I need to concentrate on: contour lines, negative shapes and line angle compared to horizontal and vertical when drawing from life.

Oh and I started a daily portrait thread at:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131692

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's some Bridgman studies. Read a lot today and tomorrow should be drawing more.

[Kozak]

your technical drawings (objects, furniture, etc.) seem to be coming along very well. I don't really have any advice or critiques I just wanted to say keep up the good work! You're on the right track.

[safesheep]

hey yousa, thanks for stopping by my sketchbook and the advice! You have some great stuff going on in here. In particular I really like the drawing of the room in post number 38, it has wonderful mood to it. One thing I would suggest for your portraits and self portraits is to really study the forms that you see. In some of these it appears that you are drawing the symbols for different facial features rather than what is actually there. That was something that helped me immensely. I don't know if that makes a lot of sense, I can explain more if you'd like. Maybe try your hand at a couple pages of eye studies, or something similar. just my 2 cents! Liking your sb, I'll be back! thanks again!

[Quasi-almost]

Hey man I like seeing this anatomy recently.A tip I hope will help, just start with the large bones if your going to do a skeleton. ( The Humerus Radius, Sulma, Metacarpals, Femur, Tibia, Fibia, Metatarsals ) Don't worry about fingers and toes yet. After you do that then start doing the axial skeleton. Or you can do them in reverse order if you like, just don't try to tackle everything at once. Anyway, that's a little advice. As for portraits, you should work more on them. Like take more time doing them, It's ok to erase, try working inward, from the edge of the head to the within it. Keep on going man !

[xenoxr]

wow dude you look like your putting in a lot of work here, got a lot of cool studies, keep it up

[Jussi Tarvainen]

n.contemporary: Thaks for the nice words!

safesheep: My pleasure mate. Thanks for the props.
That's a good point. I think that's exactly what I've been doing. Just drawing the shadows but not thinking the form at all. Really appreciate having the time to write!

Talkingjello: Thanks a lot for your tips! That's my plan. I just wanted to try drawing the whole skeleton to understand how much I'm dealing with. But yeah good idea to start with the bigger bones which are easier to draw and slowly move on. I'll do that!

xenoxr: thanks buddy!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's some more Bridgman studies. I got really frustrated with this though but kept going. I couldn't understand the cube system and how to build the head with 4 lines. I think I was mentally not even wanting to learn it because the Vilppu way already works for me. I wouldn't like to leave anything out though from my learning process. Another try at it tomorrow.

Oh and here's today's "daily" portrait:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1850963&postcount=11

[Demo]

hay i really like the work your doing on facial structor and anatomy im trying to work on the same right now is their a book or guide your going by if so leaveing a link in my sketch book would really helpfull keep practicing u seem to be getting the heng of every thing

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Yeah you should get Bridgman's books, Glenn Vilppu's Drawing manual and/or Loomis. You can find Bridgman and Loomis books as pdf. files online for free. Just do a search on google or search at conceptart.org. It'll help you a ton!

[bluefruitbowl]

Hello there! Great stuff!
You've been improving in leaps and bounds, no kidding, since you've started reading theory/doing studies.
The shoes in post 49 are so much more disciplined than your earlier work, they are a pleasure to look at.
No real crits as you are doing all the right things. Perhaps though, the next pencil still-life study that you do, don't be afraid to go really dark with your line weight/ shading. Contrast between your darks and lights is important.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

bluefruitbowl: Thanks so much, that means a lot to me! It sure pays off to listen to critiq, most of my improvement comes from you guys.
That's a good point. Glad you said that cause I'm in the mids of working today's portrait and haven't started shading yet. So this one is for you(in an hour or so).

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay here's a bone... in the arm, can't remember what it's called in english. That's the next step:) Now I just draw it from different angles. Life size skeleton used as reference. Need to work on my crosshatching skills.

Also daily portrait at:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1852520#post1852520

[Vigilandus]

Humerus bone. Anatomy! Good!
Keep practising the construction methods for the figure.

"Need to work on my crosshatching skills."
Nahh you'll get there, go study more form and construction, crosshatching is part of style (IMO) and you'll develope it by time.

What hardness pencil are you using? HB gives you full range of grays.

Good luck you.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

And there we go, you said it Vigilandus. Humerus bone, nice.
Will do!

I've been using 2b or HB :S need to check. I think I need to set my self up for at least few different... HB, H B2 maybe.

Thanks Vigilantus

[Dannelf]

Great! It's shown that you can control the edge of the pencil with your rendering! Don't worry!
Keep the studies coming, and be productive!
I will be watching you!:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hey Dan, thanks for the nice words! I will for sure:)

[~Faust~]

Great shading on those bones! I say, keep on pushing and drawing everything and everybody (Damn there's not much to say abuot what you should do, since you're SO on the right track right no!)

Whatever, when drawing, do some more measuring, pinpoint proportions. Use tools if you must, but remember that the most important tool is your guts. If something doesn't feel right, think and think and think and revise until it gets better. It's really about your own observation. The measring exercises help you seeing more things. And the construction exercises help you to feel your drawings.

Great work!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Faust,

Man, thanks so so much! I really appreciate this coming from you:) It's nice to hear that you think that. I think it took me a while to figure out what to study and how and I feel like now I have the right recourses and that I'm on the right track.

*Taking my "the things to remember when drawing" TODO list and adding another thing to remember*:) Thanks for this one Faust. That's something I should do more in these stages still. I'll work on that.

[Quasi-almost]

Looks like you have crosshatching down man, The bone looks nice, and a comment from Faust man ! Your looking up, keep it going ! Don't quit ! Good Idea about the list too, I'm stealing it. :P

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Totally, do it! I write list from every feedback I get and read it few times a day when I'm drawing so I could absorb all the feedback and learn as much from it as possible!

[humanNature6115]

I see you are getting away from using symbolisim in you drawings.
Good job.

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:mittenbop: :mittenbop: :mittenbop: Sketchbook:mittenbop: :mittenbop: :mittenbop:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=120761 (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=120761)

[purb36]

yoooousa. :)

thx for stopping by my thread.

that is some nice shading on the bone. keep sending your drawings our way, and we'll do our best to help you out. by the way, that bone in english: humerous. take care dude!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Yes sir, Loomis time. Spent my birthday at the zoo and trying to cope with the heat. Couldn't get any drawing done but I did read a bunch. Spent all yesterday drawing the head planes from Loomis book and hours today as well. Damned it was frustrating. Just could NOT figure out how the planes of the head work and I was concentrating too much what Loomis had drawn instead of trying to figure out how the planes on the head look. Well I kept pushing through the frustration and telling my self if I'm frustrated that just means if I push a bit further then I will learn something new and be that much closer to my dream. Today I still wasn't really getting it so I took some random magazine and placed the tracing paper on top of human heads and started to draw the planes on the heads. After a while it clicked for me and MAN WHAT A RELIEF after :frustrated: for several hours:)

So what did I learn. Learn to love frustration and get exited when you get frustrated because that's a sign that you've hit the wall and if you keep pushing it, trying to climb over, dig under, go around, do what ever to get through that obstacle it means you've learned something new.

Oh and I also figured out how the planes on the head works:)

I'm a bit behind on my anatomy studies and daily portraits because of this but now I can go draw a few portraits because I have more info and tools to work with.

Cheers Loomis!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Humannature6115: thanks man, slow progress but every step is closer to becoming a better artist right:)

purb36: You betcha. Thanks buddy, yes, please, critique is MORE than welcome:)

[Brun]

Its really great to see u do so many sketches and studies they will help u allot in the end

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Brun, thanks a lot mate. Plan is to go step by step and build solid foundation. I think I've finally found the right things to study so now all I gotto do is execute it:)

Those Loomis studies are really helping I think. Now I see the face a totally different way. 2 new selfportraits at my daily self portrait thread at:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131692

[Jussi Tarvainen]

More Loomis studies today, a portrait study from life and a lot of reading and trying to figure out what Loomis is saying. Sooooo much to learn but trying to keep things compressed so I don't wander around too much in different areas and slow down the learning process.

Also daily self portrait at:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131692

[Kurjuus]

Man, there's some great improvement in your lines and heads look very nice!
Keep on going like :)

[Quasi-almost]

Yousa ! Your faces are getting awesome, you've been working really hard and it's showing ! Don't stop !

[Sedig]

Well sir, you have a fantastic attitude. Inspiring, really.

In reading through your sketchbook I saw a few places where you wrote that you had trouble spending a long time on a piece. I don't know if you still struggle with this, but it is something that we all battle at one time or another. Your "never say die" attitude can and will get you through it. I find that the most important thing for me when working on a long study is not rushing. I try to remember that I have all the time in the world--even if I have to leave the piece alone for a while because of work/family/date/whatever, I can still come back to it later. I try to remember that there isn't any reason to hurry, and that the more I put into the piece, the more I will get out of it.

Continuing the thought- You do a lot of really great studies, and you have no trouble putting your nose to the grindstone. I'm suggesting some REALLY long studies. Five, ten hours, or even more. Not all at once (unless you want to), but maybe over the course of a week or two. Set up a still life, and take as much time as it takes to make it look as good as you can possibly make it, or maybe take an extra long time on a self-portrait. Take a drawing as far as you can. Test what you know, and then go further.

Good luck. I hope to more.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Kurjuus, thanks mate! Slowly but surely.

Talkingjello, thanks for the nice words. Yes work hard and it'll pay off need to get back onto drawing board:)

Sedig, thanks mate!

I'll post some more stuff as soon as the CA.org file attachment thing is working again for me.

I think I got way better at it but what you are suggesting is a great idea. I've never pent probably more than 90 minutes no a drawing so it would be good idea to see where are my limits and push them. Really appreciate your advice!! Awesome, I'll start one today!!! Cheers mate!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay so here's yesterday's work.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Loomis studies. Yep still going at it. Bone studies coming when I get that far in the Loomis book.

Daily self portrait:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131692&page=2

[minjarr]

Yousa, your words are kind. Thank you.

you asked for a critique, I don't really critique people. I don't think that it can really ever be positive for the other person. I do though suggest studies that may help.

For me and many others, drawing from life is difficult, but at least there is some reference. Life is the teacher that we all need to take advantage of instead of looking to an individual for a "quick fix). All that I suggest for you is to buy a tiny cube at a store and carry it around everywhere. Know it, study it, light it, draw it, paint it. Make it different colors and then take it outside and paint it at different times of the day.

A cube is something that is equal lengths all around thus making it the only true measurement of life. If you can truly understand a block than you can truly understand, form, subtlety in gradation, perspective, color and many other things.

DO NOT think that this is an exercise for the new beginner. Many artists studied blocks their whole life trying to understand it completely. ex.Davinci, Monet etc.

It doesn't matter what you draw or paint as long as the concepts are learned. That's why a block is so useful, because it tends to simplify all that we as people complicate in our heads.

Doing the block will help with everything, like heads, and the human form. Bridgeman taught faces and bodies with only blocks first then moved on to the fancy parts.

Anway, sorry for such a long response, I haven't really told anyone this info as of late. Mostly, because nobody would believe me that a block is so important. But, it's what I do.

I hope that helped, if not just a little

good luck on your studies!!:mod:

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Minjarr, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your advice. I had no idea that artists like Monet and Davinci had done this type studies but I can imagine it. Definitely made me realize I need to read more art history because there is so much to learn from it. After putting some thought to it, it started making so much sense. I will definitely get a cube and do some studies of it everyday. Thank you really for telling me this and explaining why it is so.

[Sedig]

Keep on studying, my friend, and try to internalize what you can. Spend some time working from memory after you study--see what you know, and then fill the holes.

Also, great advice from minjarr. Something for me to try, I think.

[remmy]

Great studies here, it really shows in your self portrait thread. You should try some more free studies like animals and architecture or just draw random crap from your head. Just have more fun, allot of really good studies here though. Keep at it.

[Kurjuus]

A tip for taking photos of your drawings btw: either do them with daylight or two ligthsources, one left and one rigth from the drawing, at a quite flat angle towards the image surface. That should kill the highlights on your photos. They're pretty bugging for the viewer.

[thinairart]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook YuZa! I think you will learn a ton from Jon @ COA. No matter what our skill levels there is always something we can learn. I thought I was ready for painting until Jon critiqued my latest cast drawing and I realized there were a couple really important lessons I needed to learn first. You've been very active posting in your sketchbook, something I need to do more of myself, keep it up!... Can't wait to see your Bargue work start showing up in this thread, your going to start growing rapidly over the next few months.

[Sybo]

Yuza,
Lots of sweat soaking these pages. I see you have found Lumis quite helpful, as I did. He is fantastic for foundational teachings of drawing, isn't he. So many artists swear by him it amazes me. I went through through a lot of what you are doing.

But be careful to focous on developing you style as well as building those foundations. Do some loose, fun stuff too (I'm sure what you are doing is fun, but just go crazy a bit and forget about other people's judgments for a few hours).

Good work Mate :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Sedig: Thanks a lot for the advice, that's definitely what I need to do.

Remmy: I hear ya. Because I'm so bad at drawing still and want to learn the basics before drawing anything of my head that I feel reluctant to do it. Though every time I draw something off my head it seems to come out okay, so I definitely should do it more. Thanks for your comment!

Kurjuus: I know man. I have the worst photos. The lighting in my appartment is horrible and so is the lighting. Need to get another desk lamp for sure. THanks for your tips and for bringing this up I definitely need to address it now.

Reidaj: My pleasure. Yeah man Jon is the man! I've learned soooo much already. So glad I started it!
I'll start posting those soon:) Can't wait to see your progress as well ;)

Sybo: Totally agreed. I need to go back to more basics though still and get back to Loomis in a bit but he's stuff is amazing. Can't figure why he's books are sold in so few numbers nowadays?!?! Not so into reading from computer screen or the prints but what ever makes you learn right:)


Alrighty so here's some news why I haven't been posting in a bit. I've learned a ton how and what I should be doing. I'm so out of clue about the basic knowledge of drawing and I need to get a solid foundation which I can start to build upon. But first I need that foundation.

So I've started and online art atelier style school www.classicalartonline.com. The teacher is the MindCandyMan from CA.org and you should check out he's journey here. Anyways I will learn different tradition mediums with traditional ways to study and learn how to see things like an artist should etc. So far it has been amazing and I've learned a ton in just a few days!

So on the side of studying with him I am also learning perspective and human anatomy. First I am tackling perspective full on. I have a great book called Creative Perspective for artists and illustrators by Ernest Watson. And also got DVD's from draw123.com. I will be using those for quite some time until I've learned perspective in and out. Reason why I'm starting with perspective is because it applies into everything. You will understand mass and form a lot better and understand how to draw bones, muscles etc. from different views and sizes etc. So perspective will make anatomy easier for me.

Those are the things I'm concentrating probably for the next few years depending on how long it takes to learn everything.
So it means less updates here. At least for the little while. I am creating a new thread for the Online atelier studies but perspective stuff will be too boring for you guys to look at and I can use the time to draw more.

So this thread will be revived again after I get back to anatomy etc.

Thanks for all the feedback and critique, it has helped me IMMENSELY and I appreciate it so much!

See you around!

[AsaB]

Hey, good for you and congrats on going to the online atelier!

I'm sure you'll improve heaps there. I myself wouldn't mind if you'd update this thread with your work from there, even if it's only 'boring perspective stuff'. Everything you learn is a part of the jigsaw and I'm interested in seeing evey part from everyone. You're not just updating this SB for us, you know :)

But alright, despite this all, I just wanted to tell you that your Loomis studies have been incredibly impressive. All the best of luck! :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hey AsaB,

That's true. I'll get some updates over the weekend. I think I'll keep the picture count minimal but I'll try to cover it with text of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it.

Thanks a lot for the feedback:)

[remmy]

I am creating a new thread for the Online atelier studies but perspective stuff will be too boring for you guys to look at and I can use the time to draw more.

So this thread will be revived again after I get back to anatomy etc.

Nooo! Dude keep everything here it will be heaps better that way. I personally would love to see your Atelier work together with your off studies and brain doodles. Please keep posting on this thread it would be better that way.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

For audience request:) I agree that it's a good idea to keep all the studies here so it'll be more fun to view my journey years later:)

I've been doing these perspective studies of these objects which you'll find below. Fun stuff. The book I'm doing the studies by is called "Creative Perspective for artists and illustrators" by Ernest Watson, highly recommend! At least 50 drawings from different angles per object and for the harder ones I do more.

Time to move on soon.

My first Bargue is ready and I'll post it shortly.

[Kurjuus]

hey buddy, your lines are top notch there in that latest update! I was just about to complain with the opthers that you wouldn't update anymore :D
the only thing that those studies are lacking is correct shading (like on the round objects the halftone transition is missing) but then again it doesn't matter right now AS LONG AS you really understand waht you're drawing! Keep on rockin it!

[AsaB]

I'm glad you decided against neglecting the SB! As you said yourself, it'll be more fun to reminisce later on with all the goodies packed in one place :)

These are some solid studies you've got going on, reminds me to do some myself! Understanding simplified geometry is vital (again, I'm putting this on my list) so I'm sure you'll benefit greatly from getting a good base and understanding in this area.

I hope you'll keep updating this baby regularly! All the best :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Kurjuus, thanks mate. I'm trying to keep in mind to use less fussy lines and try to make single line instead of 10. Yeah not there with shading yet. I don't really even know that much what I'm doing with shading yet. Just throwing in lines where I see shades to give it a bit more realistic look. But then again like you said I'm far from shading yet and just learning how to see the lines and proportions.

AsaB: Definitely, so important to have the basics down because if you don't it'll come haunt at you at some point:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okie dokie so here's my first Bargue master copy. Took me about a week and I learn SOOOO much from it. Now it's time for the second Bargue master copy:)

[remmy]

That's a very nice foot you there, but really its amazing, a week on a foot, you are very patient. I don't don't have any patience, great geometrical studies as well, nice solid stuff happening sir keep at.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hey Remmy, thanks a bunch. Hard work pays off. Patience is a virtue, right. Well it's not like daisies to me either but I'm getting better at benig more patient. The thing with patience is that when you loose it and decide to do something else that's when you were close to make a breakthrough and learn something new. So every time I become frustrated I just think that if I draw this out I will learn something new and it seems like I pretty much do every single time!

[AmontilladoAg]

Looks like you're goin' great guns! :D Keep it up! :)

[Cup_of_Tea?]

Hey YuZa, I need to take a leaf out of your book and get back to the basic anatomy stuff.
One comment, something that annoys me about your portraits, is that you draw an outline around the lips. Unless you are wearing horrible 1990's lip-liner, you should try to avoid this. Draw the face using shadow and light to make the form - more like your avatar.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

AmontilladoAG: Thanks mate!

Cup_of_Tea?: I'm glad you found this useful!

Hah haa, I hear ya! Never even thought that. I'm too used to draw a line to make things more clear for me but it's definitely time to step out from that. Really, thanks a lot for the advice!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

I haven't been updating much lately here. I've been working on my second bargue at Classical Art Online with Jonathan Hardesty and it's going super well. I've learned so much and it is exactly what I need.

On the side I'm learning perspective and been drawing a bunch of cubes, sphere's, triangle's etc. Boring at times but also learning a ton!

I just finished my second bargue and I thought I'd share it with you guys.

Hope all is doing great on their artistic journeys. If you need help with self discipline, productivity, motivation etc. check out www.stevepavlina.com

[remmy]

ahhh it looks so good but i can't see it properly pls PLEASE!!! get a scanner :D
keep up your learnings, hope your having fun

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Thanks Remmy. I know! I actually do have a scanner but because this is on A3 size paper I can't fit it into the scanner and the lighting in my apartment is the worst. At some point I need to put time and take good photos of these.

[Kurjuus]

hey yuza, great bargue drawings there. I, for one would be really annoyed to correct a single line more than once :D

Which is missing there though to make it a really perfect copy is the right amount of contrast I think. I guess you're using the same hard pencil for the whole drawing? You should think about switching to softer pencils (5-9B) for the final rendering to get a better feeling for values.

Oh yeah, and where's an update? :D

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hey Kurjuus, thanks mate!

That's exactly what I thought of Bargue before I started the online school. The whole deal is about teaching your eye to see lines in certain angle, learn to see relationships, proportions, negative spaces etc. You learn immense amounts during this progress even if your Bargue was half way done and you have to start it all over the time doesn't go in vain because you can learn so much more.

The reason why this Bargue doesn't look as "dark" as the original one is because the purpose isn't try to make it look as dark. The purpose is to learn to see the value relationships and to work with the limits of the medium. It is impossible to copy the EXACT colors from the nature the way your eye sees them so that's why value relationships are so important to understand. So the darkest dark and lightest light in the actual bargue needs to be translated into the copy the way that the relationships of the values stays the same, if you know what I mean. The goals isn't trying to make it as dark as the actual Bargue because it's impossible for the reasons stated above but to learn the value relationships. This goes to color as well but I assume it's a bit different.

Uum update eh:D... will take some time. I've only been working on Bargue and reading about perspective. Soon will be time to take my nose off the books and dig into the different exercises:)

[NFECT]

I'm really jealous of how smooth your shading looks!
The only critique I can offer though is to practice all the time with real-life references and try some point perspective work.
<Note: I'm a nubcake.>

[paperX]

wow man really frikin sweet Bargue drawings! I remember doing a cast study last year that took me 2 weeks, really learnt alot from the experience, patience really reap rewards haha :)

not much to say as you seem to be damn well structured and know what your doing, all the best and I look forward to future updates :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

NFECT:
Thanks for the props. A lot of time and frustration went into that but it pays of with how much I learned doing that.
I'm already ahead of you:) I've learning perspective on the side and doing real life reference studies of different objects and starting to do building studies too soon. Very important as you already know.

paperX:
Thanks a lot, very much appreciated. Agreed for sure. I'm finishing up my third Bargue and then off to drawing casts. Very exited!!!

Cheers mate. Updates are little scarce at the moment but I'll get some new stuff up in the next few weeks.

By the way I strongly encourage anyone who hasn't intensively studied perspective yet to really take a head lock of perspective because it will help you with everything you do and help you become better artist and you will be able to develop your style way further. I'd recommend to buy www.draw123.com perspective dvd set, get Joseph D'amelio's perspective drawing handbook and Ernest Watson's Creative Perspective for illustrators and artists book. Watch the dvd's and use D'amelio's book at the same time and then hen you are done read through the Watson book. After you've done all the exercises and really worked hard I believe you will have a very good understanding of perspective.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Long time no update here. Rest assured I haven't given up or anything. Been working on my third bargue which is coming quite slowly but I'm learning a ton more. On friday I did a 3 hour portrait drawing by using the techniques and things I've learned from Bargue drawing. Learned so much during this and many things started to make more sense. I went drawing perspective outside yesterday. I'll go at it again soon and post some results. But for now it's just the portrait.

[Kurjuus]

Wah, those bargue drawings surely improved your cell shading! That portrait is lookin pretty good (apart from the low contrast which I would usually bitcfh about now :D)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Thanks Kurjuus. The idea on this assignment is to work inside the pencil range and work with value relationships. I'm using HB so it's pretty light. The lighting was setup pretty harsh so it would be easier to recognize shadows.

Need to do this more and speed up my process a bit.

[Earendil]

Yuza, you're making great progress. Love the bargue drawings, although the values don't seem to be as dark as the original. Push those darks! How is the online atelier?

Also, I just wanted to put Loomis' "Successful Drawing" into your bookbag. I'm doing Betty Edwards too, but Loomis reallllly breaks down perspective, and combined with Dobsky's video download, I'm really starting to understand the technical side of things. :) I'll definitely check out those books you mentioned!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Earendil, thanks for the props.
The reason why the values aren't the same as in the original is because basically you can't reproduce the values that human eye sees in real life. The values of pencil are lighter than charcoal, charcoal is lighter than oil and oil has the biggest and darkest value range but even that isn't exactly the same as your eye sees in real life. So we are working on the relationships of the values. So you establish your values and then you balance them through the whole bargue. So the darkest dark can be lighter than the original one but then the shadows and lighter areas must be in relation to that. Does that make sense? I'm not so good at explaining it. So yeah I could probably get it as dark with the pencil but that's not the point but the point is to learn the value relationships. And this is also training when I start drawing the statues from real life with charcoal.

Online Atelier is so great MindCandyMan is an awesome teacher and really smart. I have learned a great deal there.

Hey thanks for the info, I'll check those out! I have the Loomis books and they're awesome. I'm still waiting to get into them big time though because first I want to study this book and video course on perspective and will study the Loomis part of perspective as well. After I'm done with those then I'll tackle with the rest of the Loomis and human anatomy since learning perspective will make more sense on form and volume it'll be easier to understand and progress faster.

[remmy]

Great portrait attempt. Due to the fact that its in light pencil its kinda hard to see all the details, but I can make out most of it. Looking really good, if you get a chance you should try doing some ink or charcoal, much more depth and expression because you'll be able to work in more contrast. Keep studying and drawing.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Remmy, cheers mate. Yeah and because it's took big to fit in the scanner I had to take a photo which takes it down even more. The reason why it's done with pencil is because I've been studying at an online atelier since July with pencil and been learning the medium among other things. I've experienced with a bunch of other mediums as well and next I get to start drawing with charcoal and learn that medium so you'll seee some other mediums here too later on.

Thanks again for the feedback Remmy!

[remmy]

ahh working on just the pencil. I see, well I can't wait for some more diversity :D

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Long time no update...
Here's the three Bargue copies I did at Classicalartonline.com third one being the last. Now I'm moving onto casts! Whippee!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Just launched my new website at www.jussitarvainen.com check it out. Thanks

[Jussi Tarvainen]

I haven't been as productive lately as I've wanted to. So now it's back on the horse and I'm giving myself some assignments like trying to do a portrait per day. Now I'm concentrating on proportions and values.
Classical art online is going great and I just started my first cast with charcoal! YAY.

Thanks for checking out.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay here's another one. 35 minutes. She look's a bit masculine probably because her hair was tight back and it doesn't show. Also I made her head too big. That was probably the biggest mistake. Ear is too small but all and all it was fun.

[remmy]

nice studies. keep it up, your starting to get a handle on form and value

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Thanks Remy, Learn so much on each of these. Though they might not be the prettiest I am building a solid foundation and now I have a goal with each drawing and I know where I'm going.

Here's some more 20-40min ones with charcoal and toned background.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a few perspective studies from Feng Zhu's dvd. Although most of these are copies of his work I learned a lot and it was very fun.

Also here's where I'm at with my first cast drawing with charcoal at Classical art online.

[erik-jan v/d schuur]

hey YUZA!
nice drawings!!! i like the last one alot
i think u would like the angelartschool u should look at there site!!
if u havent done that already they have the same kind of studies that u do
on a very high level!

maybe its time for some color and paint pieces?

your doing great keep it up!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hi 'ej,

Thanks for the nice words. I'm actually already studying at an online atelier which I prefer more than angel or florence academies. I was looking into ateliers this summer and this solution was best for me and I'm super happy.

No paint nor color for a while for me. I want to learn one thing at a time which will help me in the next step so now I'm learning the value lesson and it's enough to keep me busy for quite a few months. After I got that down it's time for some paint and colors.

Thanks for dropping by and cheering:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a self portrait from a photo reference. I was nice to try to put the things into this one that I've learned at the online school. So much knowledge in my head that I wasn't able to put everything into this. Need to pay more attention to proportion and values but this was great training.

[bharat]

yes...good study things......keep walking..........

[xobgob]

great work draw more until hand bleeds :) my new motto

[davidcrowlands]

hey

nice drawings, u can really see how you have improved!
did u find that taking lessons helps? im about to start some, ive always just self taught myself tbh. hope i really get something out of it. keep drawing!

[sleepingbeauty]

thanks alot, good luck

[mairuku]

Good improvement. Keep your eyes open for your proportions though, especially in your portraits, some of them are still weak. Remember to always flip your canvas to catch mistakes.
I would also do lip studies, it seems to be your weaker area.
Keep it up!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Thanks for the props guys and sorry for the lagging reply.

David, hell yeah. Helps so much, good teacher is a life I mean art savour!
Mairuku, thanks for the heads up and feedback. I'm slowly learning to get into habit of comparing everything all the time and the more I work the easier the habit becomes.
Definitely have a lot do to and I'm starting to get together a routines and schedule and what to study.

Okay I'll get an update here today finally.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay so here's what I've been up to. Haven't been very active online and tried to spent that time working on getting better at art.

I've gotten myself into a fairly good discipline of drawing about 40 hours per week. Need to crank in a few more hours thought and get my discipline better but I'm really happy with my current schedule.

I study about 4 hours per day for my atelier studies which now is my first cast drawing and 2 for Vilppu's drawing manual and 2 for perspective. I think I'm going to switch things up a bit but not sure yet about the schedule. I want to do more anatomy and more quick life drawings and also some imaginative stuff.

I'm learning all the basics so I'm trying to do everything in steps which will each support each other. So I wont be starting with color for a long time because that would just screw up my learning process of values.

With the Vilppu's drawing manual I'm learning capturing the action which I guess is called gesture drawing as well as same time learning how to understand the 3d form on 2d surface. I'm really stoked cause I've noticed that my thinking has changed and I'm starting to understand it a bit now.

Atelier is currently going a bit slow but I've learned so much and I'm so happy I'm doing it.

Here's just a few examples of the stuff I've done pages of. Technical perspective studies(which I think will help me understand the form on paper and help me understanding foreshortening), gesture studies of photos from Vilppu's manual(guiding the eye with fluent lines through the figure to capture the action and describing it with "wire frame" to understand the form better as well as using "overlapping" to describe the form), a ten hour drapery study for the atelier(understanding values, comparing relationships of value and proportion), cast drawing(relationships of value, proportions, angles of lines, negative shapes, not copying but transferring from life in the limits of the medium of charcoal and keeping the values in relations, because it's impossible to capture the same values as one can see in nature with any medium. Impossible to represent light with white paper.) Uum... I think that was it for now.

Critique and feedback is very welcome and please be blunt, no need to make it any prettier than it is:)

Oh and sorry for the bad quality of the pics :S

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a few skull studies from reference. I don't think I need to remember all the different bone names in the skull though:)

[Genome]

Hey, thank you very much for the nice PM. I'm honored you wanted me to talk to you about your awesome progress(Which I see a lot of BTW), but since you asked for it I am really really gonna dig deep and talk my butt off.

Alright so lets just jump right into it. First, you have excellent habits and I love that; these will lead you where ever you want in life, So don't become an idiot and lose them. Second I love your motivation, art everyday is the best way to get where you want to be.

Ok crits:

Tones!- use five clearly stated values ( Mindcandyman probably says this all the time, but one can never hear it enough!)

(I grabbed this from a MindCandyMan reply one time, it concerns painting a bit more than drawing. but its ALL connected.)

From MindCandyMan

"Definitely don't be disheartened that's for sure. You are doing really well. I will try to give you some things that I think might help you out. I think you actually spatially draw really well.
For the most part on the majority of your drawings things are lined up correctly and everything looks proportionate. I think the problems you are having are in two main areas...value relationships and edge relationships. Color becomes much easier after these two areas are kept in focus. You are doing well separating light and dark which is super super important. You always want to be thinking about what is in the light and what is in the dark. I can see you drawing the shadow shapes really well. However your edges are too harsh between the light and the dark.
Zorn would simplify values in his paintings in the same way that Sargent would do it (5 values....3 in the light and two in the dark). When you simplify your values you have an extra challenge of getting the edge to appear correct...because you're not using a million transition values. Especially if something is super soft.
So Zorn would "save values" by using brushwork with edges in mind. He would sort of swipe around the shadow to the light side letting the paint run out. In this way he wouldn't have to adjust the value and the edge would still appear correct because of the stroke.
These studies are very very quick that you are doing so you should know it's very difficult to get really pleasing results in an hour...people like Schmid can stop painting after 20 min and it looks amazing...we're all just trying to get there hehe. So I know you are definitely going quick on these but it only takes a second or two of thought (before making your stroke) to get that proper edge. Try that out and see if it helps.

Also I think I have noticed that some of your value relationships are exaggerated. The darks in your works are usually too contrasty. Start with the midtone as sargent would always say. You always should keep your darkest dark and your lightest light in mind but you work out from the midtones so that you can control how far you want your value system to move out. If you look at the orange stroke on your stomach there you'll see that the color would actually be fine but the value is actually too dark. Same with the pink stroke on your chest to the right. Don't let those dark values creep into your light areas.

Also as far as color is concerned you need to treat it the same way that you treat values and edges. Everything is a relationship. If you are under an incandescent light (orange light really) then the shadows are going to be cooler than in north light...but that doesn't mean they need to be black or blue. I could do a whole painting under orange light with red paint yellow paint and white. You only need to preserve the relationships...so in other words your shadows just need to be cooler than the light areas...but don't feel the pressure to make them blue or black. You get to decide what you want to say...but everything else just needs to relate properly. Just imagine using a 6h pencil to do a drawing. The darkest area of your drawing is going to be really really light...it will look nothing like reality, but as long as the lights are "that much lighter" than the darks you defined on that drawings you will be ok. It's the same with color. You can use any color scheme you want...but the relationships have to be the same.

I read your thread that you were losing faith recently and so I wanted to try to give you some concrete things to chew on. There are people much more experienced than me but I thought I'd do my best to try to help. Don't stop painting."

Ok wow I'm probably almost over the single post limit but ill keep going to the sun comes up.

Studies

The anatomy studies look, well... like your copying out of the book. ( hopefully your analyzing them and i just can't tell) Sorry to be harsh but thats how it feels. And to be honest this will advance you faster than doing no studies at all, but your in a snail race rather than in a F1 car.

If you're asking "Well Genome, how do i get this race car status you speak of?"ANALYZE stuff.
-Simplify everything! shapes and planes man, Shapes and Planes!
-Make notes on the side of pages about what you learned.
-Do not focus on the names of things over the shape and the 3d shape of them. Names are good if you wanna be a doctor, and can make stuff easier to remember, but artists need focus on what they look like.

-Check this guy out (use the whole thread its basically a course for free :yayca:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1432
If you've already seen this thread go through it again, and soak up that KNOWLEDGE!! DO STUDIES.

-Another example is this dude, and studies like this (paper can be used too) are optimal for fast and progressive learning.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1674137&postcount=233

I am really really diggin those perspective studies too bro, i love when people focus on foundations. But, they along with everything else seem ( I hope i dont offend you with this) bland.
I guess what I am saying is, Where are the fun loving doodles?! where are the monster or w/e you love to draw. Have fun with drawing and studying! Maybe you enjoy the simple things you have been drawing, and if thats the case awesome :) But then that is another area in which you should push yourself to the limit; changing the subject of what you draw to include a variety of things! The best artists are the most varied!

Self portraits

You always seem to measure so well with your Bargue studies and that nice cast. But with SP's I think you should apply the measurement side of things rather than the value studies for now. Drawing as you know is half of a painters world. Lines and confidence in them make an amateur into an professional. Now, you might get Ancy in your pancy and wanna jump ahead sometimes and focus totally on rendering everything, But let me say this. El Coro went to DanielC's sketchbook thread a while ago and told him, HIM of all people, to stop with the rendering for a while and focus on lines. If he should, WE ALL should.

Also for the charcoal I dont know if you are using your finger, but try to use tissue paper ( i bet you are already doing this) The best stuff (this comes from the atelier that I went to for a painting work shop) is the tissue paper that they use at hospitals.

Oh also, watch what you do with the eyes in your portraits. the eye is far from flat, its more like a diamond, and also watch how big you make everyones pupils. They all look like they are on Magic mushrooms hehe.

Ok so now that I've typed out a whole book, I wanna say that in closing I am super duper Impressed and wish you the best. Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes. It is sad that I only know one language and cannot do it with finesse.
Also, Btw i dropped you a PM. :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Now we're talking! Thanks mate. Big time, THANK YOU!

I won loose those habits, I'll just keep making them better:)

Alrighty you definitely hit where you neeeded to.

First off, you are right, Jon does a good job reminding me about values and how important they are. It was good reading that excerpt from him and good hearing it from you as well. I will put on my while drawing reminder list cause right now there are so many things to remember as they don't yet come from the back bone:)

Aah you said it. I actually have been drawing anatomy from life mainly but you are absolutely right that I need to analyze and not just copy. Definitely, that's what Glenn Vilppu keeps saying too. This will come in handy and will also go into my while drawing todo:)
Shapes and planes, shapes and planes and simplify. Most definitely you are right. So stoked you had the time to tell me these. I really need to keep these in mind.
Electric race car status here I come:D

Aah Mr. Chen. Yeah seen it but haven't put enough time to it. You are absolutely right. He simplifies and analyzes and put's things into planes and shapes. Study study study:)

You said it. That's my fear and one has to face their fears eventually. I've kinda stopped drawing from my imagination and stuff I like to do to study instead. I was afraid I wasn't going to be happy about the results. But you are once again absolutely right, I need to have more fun and do that stuff too. I mean the more I learn even the foundational studies have become so much fun. Perspective has become very interesting after reading three books on it and capturing the action is great fun too. But need to do some more "own" stuff.

I actually quit doing the selfies because it was too hard for me. Mainly cause I was trying to copy what I saw without analyzing and doing it sight size wasn't working cause I was never at the same position when I looked back. So I rather do portrait studies of other people who stay still. But yeah I have a big problem with eyes because I always make them too big to that's definitely something I need to keep in mind when drawing people. Jon my teacher said that it's because I probably focus so intently into the eyes that they become the focal point and my main interest and that's why they become so big.
And yeah edges edges edges, so important. You are right I definitely ought to pay attention what is there rather than what I know is there.

I actually haven't used any smoothing "tools". I think the idea is to learn the tool the best we can before using those "tools". But yeah I can definitely use those when doing my own studies and probably with the cast too.



Hey, I have a dare for you now Genome. I dare you to start your own sketchbook! Quoting Arnold "DOO EET". And I know you can't back down from a dare. So I'll see you at your sketchbook thread!

Big thanks again mate and have a great one.

[Nibras]

Looking good yuza
You got great adivce there!
REally take it to heart and tackle what genome talked about.
Don't ever stop working because your improving and your hard work is paying off!
Tons of improvements really impressive
Keep it up

[Genome]

Hey, I have a dare for you now Genome. I dare you to start your own sketchbook! Quoting Arnold "DOO EET". And I know you can't back down from a dare. So I'll see you at your sketchbook thread!

Damn! Well I can refuse a regular dare, but never an Arnold dare! Today is Thursday so give me a week to get a scanner together! Ill post a link Either before that or then! Its a promise. :) thanks for the push.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

lilnebo, thanks for the encouragement:)

That's right! I knew you it:)
I'm excited and can't wait to check it out. See you there soon!

[Kurjuus]

woah, ye'r making huge steps I see. The last few posts doesn't even look like they were somehow made by the same person as the earlier things.

And congrats on that cast study for it turned out great.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Thanks for the kind words. Just checked your sketchbook and I have a lot to learn from you!

[knoxie]

Hey YuZa!

thanks for stopping by my SB. I should take more time off to just surf the galleries, but it seems like I've got so much on my plate with my own studies!... and I see you've been up to the same drills I've been doing (but not posting) the perspective stuff... I recommend Scott Robertson's "rendering matte surfaces" and "perspective" dvd's from ... i've learnt so much.... really, he's awesome.

I've picked up some tips from Genome's post too. No doubt you'll put all on your already heavy plate of things to consider... I was staying away from color too for ages.... just too afraid to jump in. but it's fun to play with on a day off.

hope to see more soon!

carl.

[kikindaface]

Hey dude ! Really nice improvment ! I think for your cast study, you can add a bit more contrast ! Keep the good work up !

[openanewworld]

nice sketches you are on the right track more more practices on fundamental stuffs, 1 thing you should try to apply those knowledge on some imaginative drawings too, use those knowledge better than just copy and remember them only

[openanewworld]

nice sketches you are on the right track more more practices on fundamental stuffs, 1 thing you should try to apply those knowledge on some imaginative drawings too, use those knowledge better than just copy and remember them only

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Carl, many thanks for the tips and referring to Scott Robertson. I have he's perspective stuff I decided to get the matte rendering which seems brilliant. That'll definitely come in handy.

Yeah you are right, the plate is heeeaaavyy:) Need to figure out a new schedule to organize things and do them in order so each step can help out the next one. And I definitely need to remember to have fun also.

Walid D - Thanks for the encouragement and tips. Working on making the cast pop out more but I kinda screwed myself when I picked too dark background and now it's hitting me in the ankle cause I'm working on the very limits of the medium. "edit" Well actually the background isn't too dark but I made it too dark so I have to work on the limits of my charcoal. So I could've made the bg lighter and it would've been better. So that's What I'm going to do next "edit end". Basically I need to compress the dark values closer together and light values closer together to represent the reality as the medium can't represent light.

Openanewworld - thanks a lot for stopping by. You are absolutely right. Need to put what I've learned into action:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

I went to my first ever life drawing "night" yesterday and boy it was such a great experience!

Just being around other artist felt great though 4 out of 5 were over 60 years old:) Anyhow the model was okay thought the lighting was horrible. She did a few 15 minute poses at first then a bunch of 10 minute poses and at the end some 5 minute poses.

I tried to keep in mind what I'd learnt from Glenn Vilppu and to use the technique to go from side to side and create a movement which the lines to guide the eye through the figure. Then I laid down some describing wire frame lines to show the form and which direction the form goes in space.

And I made so many notes after wards from what I learned. I kept having problems making the figure too short, so need to pay more attention there. Also I made too broad curves because I didn't control my lines well enough yet. I noticed how subtle all the curves were and that was a great discovery. Also did some awesome discoveries in the knee area as well as the pelvis area.
I learned to use the scapulas, collarbones, ribcage, hips, bones in the ankles and wrists and knees as landmarks to pay attention to. I'm sure there are plenty more but I was so stoked to notice how much I've learned from Vilppu and put his teachings in action.

That's all for now. Next update you get to see the finished cast drawing as it's coming to end in the next few days. Finally!

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

Hey that master study is really comming along i think, but your life drawings are a bit behind, and there is only one cure: DO MORE!:D

-E

[Genome]

Watch those shoulders , they tell us what is going on with the torso. Study them up for next time :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Mischeviouslittleelf: Whoa, thanks for stopping by:) Honored by having your caliber in my book. You are absolutely right:) Will do.

Genome: Oh totally hadn't even thought about that. Definitely a good heads up for next time. Cheers mate!

Okay I absolutely love doing these small quick sketches with pen and tombow brush markers. I went to walk around and did a bunch of these and here's a few. Oh and the cast study ought to be finished tomorrow! YAy

[Jussi Tarvainen]

So after working on this for three long months it's finally done. No matter how long it took I learned so much from it so no time wasted. Although I can already see many mistakes these are just the first steps and my first cast so I can only get better from this.

Next I'm starting another cast, my oil painting color charts and have one assignment to do. Here's also a copy of my new updated schedule I'm starting in a week.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a quick glass study with charcoal. This was a very interesting assignment. One needs to focus more on what not to draw than what to draw. I made it easier by having all white background for the reference.

[kikindaface]

hey dude, it's a really beautiful cast drawing ! I wanna see more ! For your schedule, i think you really should do life drawing everyday, instead of drawing 4 hours 1 time in the week, look, if you do just 1 hour of life drawing everyday, at the end of the week, you draw 7 hours, and you'll have all the wednesday afternoon to work another thing ( i think you can also work on color/light, and do some digital paintings it's funny :D) Anyway, keep it up ! Peace

[Jussi Tarvainen]

THanks Walid D. Hopefully the next one will take tops 1/3 of the time this one took. No need to do the same mistakes again;)

THat's definitely a valid point Walid D. I might just ad that on top of everything else. An hour of day quick studies and then a 4 hour one on one day. Because you see I already do some life drawing. The cast study is all life drawing though a longer process. For anatomy I draw partly from life. ANd then I take quick life drawing class once a week... hmm that doesn't seem that much though. So I'm thinking maybe I'll do ad an hour per day. THanks for the idea mate!

As for color I'm staying away form it still for a while. I don't have any great urge yet to go to color because I like the b&w stuff and I still need to get better understanding of values before hitting the color. I do some life studies with a few colors and trying to concentrate on value on those too...

[kikindaface]

haha, even you're drawing 24 hours, 7 days, it's never enough :D Anyway, try to draw a lot of organic things, do selfportraits, draw your hands, or draw your parents, your brother, or sister, because i drew a lot of objects before, did some still lifes, i thank i was quite good at drawing, but when i started to do selfportraits, or draw my hands, it really ucks, and now, i'm only doing it, because it's a lot more difficult than still lifes, and you will improve greatl by doing them ! So keep it up !

[Jussi Tarvainen]

You're absolutely right and you also need to remember to live and have time to go out and socialize because that is as important as drawing.

I stopped doing self portraits for a reason and the reason being that it is not worth it to me. I rather draw other people than try to get myself to the same pose after I've looked into my drawing if you know what I mean. It is much much better to do studies of other people who you can ask to stay still for a few minutes or longer. You can though learn to see some features when drawing self portrait but you can't make it very accurate "portrait" because you are never back at the same pose at least while you aren't really good at drawing and can't get back to same exact pose. Just my opinion. But yeah definitely ought to draw other people and hands are great for sure. Always available:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Walid D, you're an inspiration. Here's some life studies:)
I will definitely try to do these daily.

Oh here's what I'm trying to pay attention to. Proportions of lines not features. Squint to simplify the values and block in the darkest and mid value and leave the lightest light to white. Angle of lines.

[Kristo Novo]

interesting stuff going on here - keep going
i´m also on my challenge to master lines and colors

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Kristo, thanks for the props!

Okay here's a few more quicktudies of people. 8am isn't a good time to find people to sketch by the way:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay here's a bunch of drawings from life drawing course. I absolutely love studying nude models as anatomy is my passion. Also it's a great way to out in action different techniques I've learned and try what works best in which situation. These nudes are from 5 minutes to 15 so they're really quick. I tried to pay attention to proportions, land marks like collar bones, scapulas, hips etc., blocking in major values and angles of all the lines. I did a few with the technique where I blocked in VERY simply the over all shape of the figure. Only using max 5 lines and then fit in with right angles all the other lines. Also tried some techniques where I hardly used any blocking lines and just tried to swing it.

Oh and lastly my new cast setup with the appropriate blocking done. This was a bit tricky. My cast is huge and if I have my easel right by my cast the drawing will be too cramped in into the paper. So Jon instructed to either get a bigger piece of paper and drawing board or move the easel towards me so the cast "becomes smaller". So it will look like it's not very correct in the photos because the camera distortion etc. but after redoing the block in a few times I think I understand now how it works. This is a bit harder cause you need to be more accurate to get back to the exact same position in order to be able to produce an accurate blocking. But it's grrrrreeaat practice too though it might take longer for me to finish this but who cares I'm learning more:D

[Genome]

ALWAYS use composition with intent, on everything! Think about it while doing SP's, while doing sketches at a bar/cafe. If you think about it and use it with EVERYTHING you draw for a month it will become almost instinctive. The more we practice it the better we get, the better we get the more woman want to sleep with us. Haha, hows that for a change of an old saying?

[Bushido]

Intresting stuff, keep posting! :)

[Parsakoira]

Hey! Where do you get these casts from? Do you make them yourelf or...? Anyways, a nice SB man! You seem to put a lot of effort on your studies, which is great! Postaa lisää!

Cheers!

[a la bapsi]

awesomestuff!
i see some real passion in this sketchbook.
keep drawing, you're doing great!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Genome, very true. Thanks for the heads up... I definitely need to keep that in mind!

THanks for the props Bushido!

Noodledoodle. Got them from Porvoo. Very good quality though takes a while to get them. http://www.koristevalukarkkainen.fi/
Thanks, trying my best:)

a la bapsi. Thank you, I will:)

Okie dokie. Been working according to my new schedule and it's coming along great. Here's a bunch of anatomy studies. Man you definitely want to draw every bone for a bunch of times from different angles to understand it completely and to memorize it. It all looks complicated at first but braking it down and simplifying things will make everything a heck of a lot easier.

Oh I sold my first art work and started a business. Pretty stoked though the journey is just starting.

Here's a bunch of anatomy drawings and where I'm at with my current cast drawing. Oh and some fun drawings from life and some studies from Vilppu DVD's. Vilppu is such a great teacher. I'm really starting to get a grasp now understanding the 3D form and how to put it down on a 2D surface. All these studies are making my brain over heat but it's great. I love doing these studies:)

As for the schedule it's constantly changing as I learn what I should be working on and what works best for me. Though I think it's very good for now for me. Some days I draw 11 hours and some only 4 but the minimum of 8 hours is becoming more and more consistent all the time. I wanted to put drawing from imagination for the last hours because when you draw from your imagination it will make your brain work harder and pick up those things you drew from observation and therefore they will stick in your memory better and you will learn to understand the form better. One thing I've learned too is that SIMPLIFICATION IS THE KEY!

[Genome]

No critiques. Which makes me sad but alsooo oh soo happy. I wanna put down a bigger post but I am in history class right now, and the teacher is behind me sooo bye.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Good is always worth the wait:D

[Juhani Jokinen]

Terve vaan!

You've got some great stuff going on here. Those cast drawings are really awesome and show great dedication towards improving your craft. Continue on this route and you'll be über awesome in no time.

Thanks for leaving a comment in my sb and you are spot on about the figures. I have been meaning to start learning anatomy for a while now and take it more seriously as opposed to learning how to make realistic looking environments. Anyhow, I seem to have some trouble figuring out just how should I go about learning anatomy? Copying anatomy books, photos and the sort?

Keep on going!

-Juhani

[Earendil]

It's great you're figure drawing! I need to start doing that too! Maybe setting up a vertical line like your bargues would help you starting out, just make sure not to depend on it. Just something to establish your boundaries, and help eliminate those "too short" "too tall" problems.

Here's the SSG stuff here too. :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Earendil. Heeeey thanks for that vertical tip! I definitely need to pay more attention to the verticals and horizontals *blob mental note blob*!

Juhani, thanks for stopping by and my apologies for the very late answer.

I'm in the mids o fwriting an article and part of it is about studying anatomy. I was going to wait till I finish it to give you some tips but it seems like it's gonna take a while so here's a few tips on anatomy which I've learned.

First off Algenpfleger said it in his thread that you should first learn to capture the action/pose/gesture of a figure with right proportions before learning anatomy. I agree 100% with him.

I'm just changing my approach a bit after I read that I realized that's what I should be doing. Glenn Vilppu has some great videos where he is teaching how to learn to draw the figure. Basically he starts with learning to understand the form, then he continues to capturing the gesture and from there he goes about using, boxes, cylinders to describe the form and slowly he starts adding simplified anatomy.

I would suggest tackling with the gesture, first getting the action down with loose lines and then simplifying the figure into boxes and cylinders. You're already familiar with perspective so that will help you out a lot.

As for learning anatomy here's some of my personal notes...

ANATOMY EXERCISES
-Begin first by studying the bones. Copy the plates in the anatomy books to familiarize your self with the form.

-Draw from skeletons. Start with the skull and work your way down. Draw everything from multiple views and label everything(Very important).

-Lay a piece of tracing paper on photographs, magazine pictures etc. and draw the bones on top of that and label everything, then lay another piece of tracing paper and draw the muscles on top of that and label everything.

-analyze the form
-simplify into shapes and planes
-draw sphere/cylinder and cube figures
-memorize proportions and their relationships to each other
-draw bones and muscles on separate sheets of tracing paper on top of a photograph
*make notes what you learned
*label everything but no need to memorize the names
----------------------------


Last but not least is my new schedule. Believe it or not a lot of thought went into this:) I'll explain later.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Oh man I'm so happy. I'm finally starting to get over producing bad work and therefore not trying to draw from my imagination. I've been studying intensely through Glenn Vilppu's drawing Manual program and I'm learning so much. He has a great way of teaching figuring drawing starting with capturing the action/gesture with just a few descriptive lines, then working with cylinders to understand the form and slowly adding simplified anatomical details and so forth.

I'm starting to shift my thinking into not thinking the paper as 2D object but the paper being just a surface which I draw into 3D objects. I dunno if that makes sense but it's all starting to make a heck of a lot more sense than ever before. The results do not look good but for me they are huge improvement as I am starting to think differently of how to construct the form. Also I am able to laugh at them not being pretty and being happy that I'm learning something and now that I am loosing my fear of not knowing what to do and how to do it and so not drawing from my imagination.

Here's a bunch of stuff from the VIlppu, where I'm at with my seconds cast study at classicalartonline.com and last are few pages from imagination with pencil. Oh and I finally started my oil color charts which is very exiting! I'm aware of the proportional error that the cast should be more narrow in my drawing and it's something that will teach me to pay even more attention to the proportions next time. It's very hard to notice some stuff until you have some tone down to help you see it. Good lesson:)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Almost forgot. Here's a pencil portrait of real life reference. 2H pencil used and the idea was to simplify the values in the range of the 2H pencil.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Oh man I'm pretty stoked. Before when I tried drawing something I'd only try drawing heads, because I thought I'd learned a some kind of technique to do it. Well the heads looked absolutely horrible because of the lack of information and training but I tried at least. I never really tried drawing figures because I didn't know any tools of technique for it.

Now that I've been watching Glenn Vlppu's videos I'm starting to get a grasp for seeing form on 2D srface and I've learned some tools how to build a figure. I mean now I have something to base my drawing into which is absolutely wonderful.

I'm just having a glimpse of how far I still have to go but the main thing I will keep in mind is how far I have come already. A year ago I didn't have any tools or techniques to draw from life or even think of drawing from imagination and knowing what I'm doing and how to do it and see the end result in my head before I lay a single line on my paper. Now things are very differently. Obviously these are still horrible and far from pretty but I know that I'm heading the right direction and now it's just all about balancing training and having fun while drawing as much as possible.

Here's a few figure drawings from top of my head.

PS. First capture the action with few simple descriptive lines, then build the form squares and cylinders and third lay over the anatomy:)

[Fumble]

your figure drawings are coming along really well. Have you tried posemaniacs.com ?? - i find the 30 sec drawings to be a great help.

[Suncut]

Hey! First of all I have to give you huge props for working on your own on a schedule like that, I really admire your dedication and drive. I'm scared shitless of next summer when I need to put forth at least 8 hours a day of painting with nobody to watch me.

Great work with the charcoal drawings, tho the last torso seems a little thicker in your drawing then in the picture. We drew that torso for months at school, I'm so glad it's over. You certainly have improved a lot from where you started.

Where do you go for lifedrawing, are you situated in Helsinki? I'm trying to scout out different classes to figure where to go after school is out.

I don't think you should give up completely on the selfportraits, even if it's kinda boring doing the same subject from life over and over again, it offers you a great chance to really digest the subject. In some drawing book I read there was a suggestion to put tape in the mirror to mark where the top of your head and the side of your head are when you start, so it's easier to return to the same position while drawing. Never tried it myself, but it seems logical.

Good luck with your studies :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Thanks for the encouragement and tips Fumble. Yes I tried it way back but now I rather just draw gestures from photos because I felt the posemaniac poses were too generic. Still might go back to them one day, we'll see:)

[Josef K.]

yeah! great studies man! the blue vilppu (?) studies are cool! awesome schedule buddy - but don't you forget to do a lil art of your own or you'll forget why you learn all this stuff - characterdesigns or illustrations or whatever you'd love to do in the future! keep rockin!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Suncut, it is a constant battle. Sometimes I do 12 hour days easy, sometimes it's a battle to get 6 done. Becoming disciplined takes time but with determination and some sacrifices a lot can be achieved. Surely you can do it:)

You are dead on about the cast being a bit too wide. It's a little heavier build in my version:) ANyways a good lesson to learn in keeping more attention to the proportions. Of course I could've erased it when I noticed it but that would not have made sense really.
Next time I won make that mistake:) Like the great Nicolaides said "one must make thousands of mistakes from which to learn from " or something like that. I have quite a bit of mistakes behind and I've learned a great deal from every of them:)

I did go to Ateneum in Helsinki every other thursday but the lighting is pretty bad and they only do short poses. And since I can do the same at home with my girlfriend I ditched out from that. I am looking for a place where it would be possible to draw long poses but it seems super hard to find any as i am new to the art scene and seems like the scene for classical realism isn't that big in Finland...
I think there is some life drawing somewhere in Espoo too and someone mentioned that was it SOK's S gallery has some as well. Super hard to find any information about those for some reason.

It wasn't really about it being boring to draw myself it was more of not having a workable technique and I was kinda all over the place at the time and I wasn't able to come back to the same exact position too well.
THat is a great tip! Seriously, thanks a lot! I'll definitely put that in use in the future. Also the reason for not doing self portraits is that I will rather use a real model to draw a portrait... which I haven't done in a while. Need to do one of those:)

Josef, yes Vilppu it is. You are absolutely right about that. I've actually been afraid of doing that because the results were so horrible but now what I've learned lately has made me realize the stuff I can do already and I'm not afraid of working on it and even it still looks bad I don't care anymore:) THanks for the heads up, I need those:D

THanks for dropping by my sketchbook and giving tips, I really appreciate it!

[Suncut]

Yeah, I'm betting it will be a constant battle for me too, I just hope the results don't suck!

I've been to kanneltalo some years ago, they used to do croquis every other time, and long poses every other. It's too far out of my way now however. I also heard some of my teachers go to the tm-gallery croquis nights, but the space is really small there I hear. I'd love to try some place that had 20-30 min poses, so there would be time to get into detail, but no time to get frustrated. All places seem to do either 2 hour poses or max 5 min poses tho. If you figure out a nice place to go to let me know! I'm hoping if I find a good place I could be excused from next years figure drawing at school, cause it's going to be a real pain in the ass trying to attend those.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Suncut, you'll do great. Just start easy, don't punish yourself if you can't do long days at first and patient. It's like lifting weights. If you start with too heavy weights they'll be sure to crush you but if you start with smaller weights at first and build it slowly from there you'll get good results. Besides you're already doing school and that has been building it. Just think of having your teacher standing behind your back if nothing else doesn't work:)

Hey thanks for the tip Suncut, it has been really frustrating trying to find some life drawing even in Helsinki area and it seems the information only goes out by word of mouth. So I really appreciate the info.
Do you know any other place that did longer poses than just 15 minutes?

Yeah the ones in Ateneum are 5 to 15 minute ones. They have a good variety of fairly good models and there's fairly good amount of room if you go early but there's too much lighting coming from every direction which makes it impossible to get a realistic sense for light if you know what I mean.

I'll definitely keep you on the loop if I come up with anything else. I think I'm going to check out the Kanneltalo as it is close enough to bicycle to.

Cheers!

[Extollere]

Just returning the favor. The cast drawings are really nice. With the imaginative figures remember to imagine those gestures first, and always follow a simple flow or bend. The figure has a movement in which all the limbs want to support or succumb to, in motion it can often appear to be like an abstract organism - or like flowing pieces of cloth...for every pull, push...there is a predictable outcome that shows itself somewhere else... also remember the inactive and active sides. Where one side activates the other will be looser - when one bunches the other stretches. Try showcasing the perspective of the figure, and not just the foreshortening, like when drawn from the side there is a tilt , and vanishing points where shoulders, ribs, hips, knees ect will all align themselves. Also if you are studying Vilppu, starting a figure with the rubbery cubes (the ones that are attached?) is like the most useful thing ever for a quick and easy gesture, get that in there first, then find the supporting roles for the limbs.

Ok, sorry if that made zero sense, I'm working on my articulation skills a bit, need to find a better way to get my points across but I guess that's just a matter of writing more.

-cheers.

[bharat]

nice studdy work n sedual table......impressive.....keep walkingh.....dude....!

[Janos]

Great to see such dedication. I like the casts very much. Where do you get them from? Keep going and you'll get better in no time.

[ashess]

hi there Yuza; almost a year into this and still going strong I see. that's amazing!
I'm a little jealous. wish I had thought so far ahead as to plan my own study when I was in artschool. instead of just enjoying the ride ^^.
ok, you seem to be working on a lot of different techniques and subjects. which is good, in this stage. something you might want to give a bit more attention is architectural masses and structure; study a bit of perspective.
the other thing I'd like to point out is that your goal of becomming an independant artist is still a little vague.
its a good general goal, maybe. but set yourself a realistic goal in within a timeframe. think of ways to get to it. when you've reached the goal refine it.
(for instance, I wanted to live off my art -preferably my animation art without having to leave amsterdam.
I started with teaching art. then I decided that wasnt good enough. so I got an animation education, taught animation for a year. I decided that wasn't enough of 'my art', so I started my own company and worked independantly for a year. then I decided that running your own company was a lot of hassle on the side I didnt want, so now I'm working for a little game studio, doing their animation and art.)
You're off to a terrific start, but working on your own, without having small-step goals which you can measure will make things very hard on you in the long run. also, making some cash off you art is very motivating.
think of ways to get into that. sell some old studies you're done with. (on the internet, to people, or even to companies you're connected with) offer to draw portraits or pets. try getting into storyboards or concept art. doesnt matter how. and right now, you don't have to worry about getting payed enough by the hour yet. -though you should keep that in the back of you brain..
I know what I'm asking here is particulary hard to do, not to mention scary. especially in these times. and you don't have to get up and do it tomorrow.
don't expect success on your first try, and dont be dissuaded by failure. I've had it heard that even professional artist have 7 out of 8 of their initiated projects bounce.
but set yourself a goal, and a date. it doesnt have to be this week, but within a year at least. then make it, and feel good about it!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Extollere, thank you for extremely constructive critique. That definitely hit home for me and made all the sense in the world. Aah the perspective. I didn't even thought of that. I've been drawing mainly from one photo reference source only where the eye level is at the shoulders and I think that same came into my drawings from imagination. Definitely need to learn that as well. And the things you said about pulling and pushing and active and inactive sides sounds good. Many things to remember when drawing but with practice one day these come form my backbone:)
THanks a lot Extollere!


Bharat, thanks.

Janos, thank you. I got them from a local cast maker here in Finland.

ashess, A year huh! I've learned so much. Maybe it's not that visible in these pages yet but I have learned so much. It is still hard to put and remember all the information I've learned into a drawing put it'll come slowly. I feel like I'm constantly progressing and have found the right things to study for the moment.
THanks for the heads up. Actually my main concerns right now is perspective, form and value and I'm putting all my time into those.
Aah, yes about the goals. See this is exactly why I love ca.org. Whenever I'm forgetting something or loosing grip at something, some nice person reminds me about it:D THank you very much. I actually do have some more specific goals but I have totally forgotten to review my goals and make them more specific.
I was able to sell of my first cast study and hoping to sell the rest of them. THanks a lot for all this valuable information. It will definitely get me going on this end and make some more detailed plans and goals.
Off to do this stuff now:D YAY

Okay then after really generous and constructive feedback it's time for some studies.

Like I said I've been trying to learn form and gesture by drawing from photo reference(Vilppu studies). Also here's some value studies with 2 H pencil, trying to simplify the values.

[Janos]

Oh please add some contrast to your last update. I wanna see more of your nice pencils.

Please?

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Janos you mean in future you want to see more contrast in my pencils or that you wish to see better quality images?

Here's a tip I learned from my teacher at ClassicalArtOnline.com. In my last update the last picture of the shag the values are off. When you draw paint outside have your canvas in shade. Because when you take it back inside the values look much darker than in the very bright light outside.

[ashess]

wow, Yuza. congratz on the cast thing! yes I can see you're progressing nicely. the photo ref debth things are a great way of learning; if possible a life model is better ofc. and you might want to spend a little more time getting the mass planes exactly right. (wichis a lot easier in life models ofc; then you can walk around m and check.)

[Parsakoira]

Looking great :D Maybe if you added a bit more contrast to your pencilwork, by digital means, since its quite hard to see whats going on in most of them. keep posting! :D

[thinairart]

Yuza, man you are the hardest working guy I know! I'm not sure how you cram all of that study into one day. I should probably read up on your "30 days" thread on CAO for some insight. Of course the first thing I thought when I looked at your schedule was... "when does he go to work?". I'm guessing the answer is your not working right now? Your making me very jealous! :)

PS - Can I join your Sketchbook support group? Us CAO'ers have to stick together!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Ashess, thanks for the tips:)

NoodleDoodle: Need to keep that in mind and get better photos, cheers mate.

Reidaj: I have the luxury of putting all my time into this for some time after working hard for the past 10 years:)

Yes, of course and sorry for the late reply on this.

Oh here's the finished cast drawing:

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a few of the color charts I've done. Need to do 12 of these. I can't even imagine trying to paint before doing these. These are great for learning how to mix colors and which colors produce what kind of results. Great many things to learn from these. Read Richard Schmid's book Alla Prima if you are interested. These are oil paints and the charts are Cadmium Yellow, Viridian and Alizarin Crimson Permanent.

[Suncut]

You moving to painting in oils soon then? Your charts are looking mighty tidy, all we did in school before jumping to oils was a color circle, and mine looked horrible :D. Mixing sure was a pain at the start tho. I wish I could get my hands on that book, where did you order it and how much did it cost?

[kikindaface]

Hey dude, the last cast drawing is impressive ! i guess you made it with charcoal ! it looks so realistic ! I wanna see more ! keep it up !

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Suncut: No not yet. Still two still life's I think and a portrait and then hopefuly to paints:) But I'm not in hurry... I am but I'm not because I enjoy these so much already.

Walid. Yes, charcoal, thank you very much. Slow, progress so the updates come quite unregularly...

Took me 6 full 8 hour days to make this self portrait. It wa s a lot of fun and relaxing compared to the casts. It was also the first thing I've done all on my own with no teachers help. This really was a break through for me and it made me realize I will be a professional artist one day no doubt about it.

It looks pretty damn good to the ones I made a year ago;)
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1846544&postcount=2

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Quick update on the portrait as I worked on it a bit more. I noticed that I screwed the width of the face and that cause a lot of problems. Also as Earendil noted the eyes are too wide. That is a problem I've had and it seems like I look too much into the eyes and they tend to grow. Need to watch out for that one.

[Ghostbrush]

wow lovely work, so excited to see ur Atelier stuff :D I cannot wait to start (3 weeks!)

I will most definitely be back in here sir!

All the best

Alex

[Juhani Jokinen]

nice work on the portrait! You've been improving in heaps and pounds!

[Ian Miles]

Hey man.

I´m in similar possition like you... No work here (fortunately, there´s no jobs in my country at the moment, so I can put my full effort in art :D . But, been pumping shit everyday, and, yes, I have improved, but your method sounds to me, much more structured and "profitable" in a long term.

So, with your permission, I think I´m going to borrow your schedule and ajust a little bit to archieve my goals.

Thx and Luck. ;)

[GriNGo]

Hey man, kick ass work and progression! Keep it up.

[Parsakoira]

Hey jussi, badass looking portraits, and i just love the cast drawing! Keep it up mate!

[nafiseh]

Verrcy Nice Anatomy

[Earendil]

>.>
<.<

Moar! :D What's new dude?

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Very nice work here man, that cast looks incredible. Keep it up.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Thanks everyone for you kind reply's. Not fancy spending too much time online as I feel I'm mostly wasting time instead of investing it into art. So I will be brief and on point.

Much learned. Still two charcoal drawings before advancing to painting. Excited for that. Been drawing a lot of anatomy and figure drawings lately from photo reference. Trying to understand form. Still not drawing enough form imagination. Need to do more.

Here's a bunch I've been up to lately.

[JS Neo]

The still life drawing looks awesome !!! The second last drawing is also great but it will be better if the contrast can be brought to the same level as your charcoal drawing. A few daek accent really do wonders to a drawing ! :)

[Juhani Jokinen]

Those still-lifes are awesome! I admire your discipline. Your figures are improving as well. Can't wait to see what you are able to do in a few years. Keep pushing!

-Juhani

[keevy39]

I don't know what to say, the crazy improvement you have made and just the amount of work you put into it. Your an inspiration to me! keep going!

[Lakka]

big props on the improvement you've made. Really solid stuff. :)

kipitup

[Parsakoira]

Neat updates, but youve got to post more often mate! haha

[pennington]

hey thanks for the comment in my sb. DUDE! love your cast drawings lots of improvement and i can tell you're learning a lot. I need to do one of those... It's great to look through your sb and see all the notes you take. they really have some good tidbits of knowledge in them. keep posting man!

[Mikko Voipio]

it pains me to think how much a motherfucker that scale drawing must have been to draw. All those details. But the finished drawing was worth all the effort I think. It's beautiful. Go Finland.

[danlucas]

great caste drawing, great sp, and still lifes!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Mydrako, thank you for the nice words and feedback. I definitely tend to make my pencils way too light. Thanks for the reminder, it comes in handy!

Thanks Juhani, let's keep pushing it:)

Keevy39, cheers mate. If I can inspire someone, that alone will inspire me for days. I am honored. Thank you.

Lakka, Cheers!

Parsakoira, trying to study more and hang out online less:) Internet has too many temptations so I need to keep my nose on the books.

pennington, Thank you for the kind words! I will try to make my posts in the future more educative if time allows because sharing is the key.

Placeboast, hah haa it sure looks like it doesn't it. But it was actually extremely interesting and fun to figure out how to descrive the details.

danlucas, point taken:) more figurative and varied studies!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay I'm going to dump some stuff here.

I spent all January trying to learn anatomy better. I copied Bridgman, Bammes, drew skeleton and then traced the muscles on top of it, colored each muscle in one color in David K Rubins anatomy book to learn the names. At the end of the month I realized how vast the human anatomy is. Still so much to learn.

February I spent sculpting human anatomy figure at a workshop and it was truly an eye opening experience. I think sculpting is a great way to learn to understand the human anatomy, mechanics and form. Definitely suggest to everyone sculpting parts of the human body to help to understand it.

Now I've been drawing a lot of gesture drawing. At the very bottom you'll find an exercise I have found very valuable. A friend of mine introduced it to me.
The way it goes is that you draw a figure in 2 minutes from reference and you do that 8 times for example. Each time try to get more familiar with it. Here I tried a variation to that exercise by using different techniques of showing the gesture and trying to get the proportions right.

I need to do these flow exercises to get looser with my drawings.
THe stiffness is easily seen in the 2 hour figure drawing from reference.

[keevy39]

Great studies!! I always love seeing bridgman stuff!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a somewhat process of a figure study. Short five minute gestural drawings with different techniques and trying to memorize the outline gesture of the figure. When I have enough anatomy knowledge then "all" I need to do is recollect that memorized pose and apply my anatomical information to it. Basically. Lot more to it but this is teaching a lot to me right now.

Last one is purely from imagination. I need to learn the figure proportions better and apply them. Hands and legs tend to be too long. Also need to work on with perspective as well aka foreshortening.

Last one is purely from imagination.

[krel]

Good looking studies, man.

You said in an earlier post (if im not horribly mistaken) that you spend 6-12 hours drawing every day. Do you still keep that pace?

I love how finnish you look in your portrait, haha. Great work there.

[Mac Con]

It’s always good to show the progression of your work I noticed with some of your early life model studies that you were trying to fit the hole pose onto the paper this was making the body look out of proportion when it came to the legs and feet don’t worry about going off the paper to start with and looking through tougher of your work I could see you were starting to understand that achieving the hole pose on paper is a game of its own and in time this will come naturally to you keep up the good work

[JS Neo]

Nice set of anatomy studies. I have to agree anatomy is something that one can never finish learning. It need constant learning, relearning, revisiting and so on. I think the most important thing to learn at the beginning is the skeleton which is the only thing on the body that dont change in shape, and it define the proportion of the body. I see your figure have this issue of having too long legs. I can guess it is due to the fact you are drawing the limbs correctly but not connecting them correctly to the other part, eg pelvis, especially in those situation when the connection point is being obscured during which i can tell you tend to set the connection point where it is not obscured. It is all good anyway because you will get it right after you keep on drawing and analyzing, so keep the drawings coming !

[Iridyse]

The cast studies are very very nice! The anatomy studies and coming along great too. It's fantastic how disciplined you are at this! (I had a peek at your schedule :))

[aussiedeza]

Nice work, Jussi and your approach too your studies is solid, I am about to do a lot of casts studies myself so I might pop back in and ask you a question or two regarding that if that's cool with you?

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Replies first:
Krel: Cheers mate. Yes 10+ except during weekends. Okay imagine this in Italian accent "Whado ya mean?" :D

Mac Con: Very good point. Taken. Thank you:)

Mydrako: Thank you for the feedback. And you are absolutely right. Working hard learning the skeleton bone by bone and attacking with the proportions head on as well:) Thank you.

Iridyse: Thanks a lot! Yes, train that discipline because those habits will carry you over mountains!

aussiedeza: I'd be but hurt if you don't;) so you better swing back!



I am very fortunate to have been accepted to the TAD Illustration program. I know I'm at the bottom end skill wise so I have a shit load of catching up to do. But I play the underdog role well and it will keep me pushing.

This is an opportunity I could not have believed even in my wildest dreams and it was not suppose to be possible. I will make the most out of it and share my experiences. More to come on that.

I'm rocking a hella shcedule till the school starts in July and after that it's going to be even more hectic.

Okay here's a bunch of stuff again. Been drawing a ton of scapulas. I'm finding it invaluable to do at least 6 two minute copies of one view. That applies to EVERYTHING. You can bet there's a dozen at least of each of these in the drawer. It's all about the mileage as well as making it count.

Some life figure drawings too in this batch. And my simplified schedule which is working terrific and I'm learning to not be too strained by it. Just keeps me working the hours.

I'm going through Michael Hamptons terrific figure drawing book. Drawing every page at least 6 times or until I understand to some degree.

It's all about the foundations at this point.

[LumoGraphite]

hey jussi! it's Zac from CAO. Glad to see you got into TAD! I'll be right behind you soon enough! I'll drop in here more, i need to update..and wheres your money still life? post it upp!!!

[RedWarrior]

Hi!! I have seen your work and I liked too much your statue paintings :D they are great!!
I see you work very hard with the figure, I need to work like you :). See ya and thanks for visiting my sketchbook!!!
Keep posting!
My Sketchbook (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=181813&highlight=redwarrior)

[UrbanHermit]

You are pushing your self hard Jussi. I wish I had the time you have to devote to drawing like you but I have to work full time. There is not much to say really except keep doing what you are doing and maybe do some finished works to put all this hard work to use. I would also be interested to hear where you are up to in your studies with the CAO training you are doing.

[JS Neo]

Congrats on getting in TAD !!... It sound like a dream come true. Good studies... I think u have to be both careful and loose with your lines. Sound contradicting ? I think art is full of such contradicting ideas. i suggest u draw slower in the sense you dont try to draw many strokes to get yourself to the right one. Draw one and that one u draw with sureness and freedom. And always go from dark to light to dark. Everything organic are curved in someway, and that result in dark contours going into light portion going back to dark portion. Thats how our line should be. some of your lines are abit too uniform at the moment. Hope this help :)

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Zack awesome! Yeah drop me a line when you update, I want to see where you at! Oh it's somewhere here:)

RedWarrior, thank you.

UrbanHermit, it's all about your self. What I mean is use your energy into what you got, not into what you don't have or what others have. I didn't have what I have now before. I worked hard to get it. So use your time wisely, draw where ever you can because the time adds up at the end.
I feel ya on that one, I'd need to do some finished work. Will think about it:)
Thanks and the best of luck buddy!

Mydrako, thanks mate. I'm right there with ya. Ze Perfect Practice, comes with knowledge and practice, working hard on it and your reminder come at a perfect time! That Dark and light thing is eye opening, need to post it on my wall. Really, thanks a lot for seeing the effort and writing more than an encouragement.

In a week or two you'll see my latest cast drawing.

Here's another small update. Some of the morning exercises at the bottom. These are way fun. And trying to figure out a balance to the figure and some other figure stuff.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Here's a bunch of stuff done this week. Been drawing tons of these pages. Simplified anatomy from Bammes which has been eye opening for me but not until I've drawn at least 6-10 drawings of each view. And of course a few from memory to check if I have internalized what I've been drawing "read" recorded it into my memory.

Also did the front, back and side view muscles for the torso in layers with colored pencil. 4 to 6 drawings per view till I understood what I needed to. Here's just the back though. Used the David Rubins book as reference. Great book for color coding the muscles and that way learning the names and copying to learn anatomy. Need to do Bridgman for implementing form.

Next week I need to do some more drawing from life and stop neglecting that area. I'm almost finished with my latest cast exercise so that'll come soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Okay still more anatomy. Especially pelvis. Starting to get the idea. Need to start doing more organic stuff. Life drawing, personal figure studies for fun, some more anatomy etc. Also finished my latest cast drawing which was an edge exercise. Will post that soon.

[JS Neo]

u are going on a very good path. I am also going back to the basics and trying to learn the construction of the human body in a similar way as u. Learning the planes, the basic geometric shapes of the body. Your practice will pay off in the future. Dont forget to do some fun drawings too to keep ur spirit up ! :)

[andres333]

great to see that you're disciplined with your studies. Man that quote on your signature is perfect

[phizpietl]

Hey man, those studies are very good to see. Keep doing those! I need to get some of those in as well, thanks for the reminder :]

Phil Lietz
www.phillietz.com
www.phillietz.blogspot.com

[Incinerated]

it seems your line is cleaner than it was before and your grasp on construction is getting better also you're progressing nicely, continue! :)

[Mikko Voipio]

Maaaan you've been working hard. Sorry for the lack of crits or suggestions. Nothing really going on in my head right now. Just following your art journey. Keep working hard. Ok? Btw. Vilppu is the man. If you can get your hands on some of his anatomy videos you'll be a happy man.

[LumoGraphite]

JUSSSSSSI! Keep pushing hard, don't forget to do life drawing of yourself for anatomy. Arms, hands, legs. I think it will help you a lot and things will start to click together. Oh i updated today aslo :]

[Kan Muftić]

Pelvis is the Penis of anatomy:)
Good work.

[surus]

You are drawing every Michael Hampton page 6 times? And I thought I am insane, if I am drawing the whole book to practice once! :donk:

Do you draw every book so many times? (Maybe Bridgman, Loomis, Hogarth or another typical "I should draw the whole book author".)

Keep on working so hard... I'll watch your SB again.

[Mikko Voipio]

Slacker!!!

[Jeremy Swan]

flip art school looks hard mmm, amazing show of dedication and a very nice set of anatomy dumps. I'm gonna come back latter and have a longer look. keep up the hard work!

[kojot]

really nice study dude

keep it up :)

[kidult]

Awesome amount of work keep it up!

[Ninjac]

Great anatomy studies Jussi! I look forward to seeing/ meeting you in TAD

[dana brancucci]

Hey Jussi- Thanks for your comment in my SB. I just spent a bit of time looking through your work here, great stuff! Really nice to see how committed you are to improving. I'm really into the still lives/ cast drawings in your earlier posts, very nice.

It will be interesting to see how you start incorporating your life and anatomy studies into your drawings from imagination. It will be interesting to see where you go, keep werkin' hard dude and post again soon!

Dana

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Hey guys, thanks for the kind words.

Those of who don't know I started studying at TAD the online and version two weeks ago and been hard at work. I blog about what I am learning at TAD and you can check out my experiences at http://jussi-tarvainen.blogspot.com

JS NEO: Keep up the hard work as well my friend! Yeah I need to learn how to do fun sutff heh hee:)

andres333: cool mate!

phizpietl: you bet, thanks for dropping by! See you at the class.

Incinerated: Haven't noticed that myself so the note is very welcome. I am actually just now starting to understand how I have no idea about line:) Fechin is the man to look at for a sensitive line.

Placeboast: Vilppu is the man and he's our homie too;) I will keep working hard and you do the same right!

LumoGraphite: That is a terrific reminder. I need to do that. THank you very much my friend!

Kan: What an unexpected and warm welcome to have you drop by. I am starting to realize that :D heh hee cheers!

surus: Yes I was, figured I draw it enough times I'll imprint it in my memory. Hampton's book is now set aside for other studies but I'll continue it at some point. Good stuff. I don't necessarily draw a whole book. Stuff that feels interesting and needed for my study and level I am at this point. Trying to understand why they drew what they drew and the form seems to be very important and analyzing it by drawing.

Jeremy Swan: Cheers!

kojot: Will do!

kidult: cool!

Ninjac: Good times hey! See you at the class!

dana: You da man. THanks. As it seems I am lacking imagination big time so that is one of my main concerns. I'll see you in class, home work awaits:)


Here's a bunch of stuff I've done at school.

[Nettle_Mountain]

morjensta, laiton päivityksen ja kuvia ketjuuni, here i see definitely in life drawing, nice! places to scourge pictures to draw is: 1: DA photography section and characterdesign.com photosets
keep on trucking :) bähdään faceböökissa