Smuckers or even smuckler if you prefer

[smuckers]

After a shameful 6 months of not touching a pad.. and a horrid curse of tendonitis taking away music time.. my love for the pencil is back and stronger than ever

My progress a month in so far..

humble beginnings - a whole buncha photo references
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_01.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_02.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_03.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_04.jpg

Legs from life

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_05.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_06.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_07.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_08.jpg

yea lots of gestural quick photo refs we get the idea smuckers wheres the meat

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_09.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_10.jpg

Some cariacture-like portraits of friends

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_43.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_48.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_49.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_32.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_50.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_51.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_52.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_53.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_54.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_55.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_56.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_57.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_58.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_59.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_60.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_61.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_62.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_63.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_64.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_65.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_66.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_67.jpg

uh oh its this ol fella..

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_68.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_70.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_71.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_72.jpg

lots of motion refs for these manq frames

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_73.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_74.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_75.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_76.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_77.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_79.jpg

some pretty awful faces from imagination and that jerk is back again

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_78.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_80.jpg

at this point i decided to cut down on chicken scratching and be more honest and definite with my lines, shapes seemed to turn out better shortly after

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_81.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_82.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_83.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_84.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_85.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_86.jpg

feet and faces from life

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_87.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_88.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_89.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_90.jpg

this is where i decided to do some major head-study, with loomis's ghostly spirit by my side i ventured forth

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_91.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_92.jpg

i quickly learned i was having trouble drawing the sphere shape correctly, now remembering to visualise orbiting a centre point

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_93.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_94.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_95.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_96.jpg

taking vippus excercises under my belt i consider this point to be a major breakthrough in thinking and practicing with more volume.. look at all them blobs

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_97.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_98.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_99.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_100.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_101.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_102.jpg

my lines and shapes seemed to be improving, after the study and excercises

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_103.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_104.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_105.jpg

this was a good point too, these face references were done with all i had learned in mind, a noticebly easier and more natural placement of features

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_106.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_107.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_108.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_109.jpg

plenty of stuff from imagination being attempted now

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_110.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_111.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_112.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_113.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_114.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_115.jpg

decided my eye shapes needed work, face ref and one punk from imagination down left

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_116.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_117.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_118.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_119.jpg

some imagination working a little better than before

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_120.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_121.jpg

aaand who loves posemaniacs

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_122.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_123.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_124.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_125.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_126.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_127.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_128.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_129.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_130.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_132.jpg

[smuckers]

alright... onto the ol studies

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_133.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_11.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_12.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_13.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_14.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_15.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_16.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_17.jpg

bits and peices from numerous studies

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_18.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_20.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_22.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_23.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_24.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_25.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_26.jpg

these were useful

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_27.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_28.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_29.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_30.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_31.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_33.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_34.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_35.jpg

workin on a3 paper now - some baaad heads

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_01.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_02.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_03.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_04.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_05.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_06.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_07.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_08.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_09.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_10.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_11.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_12.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_13.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_14.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_15.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_16.jpg

and some doodles in lectures

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_42.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_44.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_45.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_46.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_47.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_36.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_37.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_38.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_39.jpghttp://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA4_41.jpg

phew! Sorry if the amount of book studies i bothered to uploaded are unneccesary.

so im fairly pleased with my rekindled love for drawing again, and im eager to sketch and post as often as possible to improve... CA has been a big inspiration so i thank everyone here - particularly lilnebos sketchbook and her great progress from humble beginnings- being 19 myself i am trying to make up for lost time.

I've found so far to be such a great journey so far, its very exciting and i have found so much fascination and interest in studying drawing again.. even mundane day to day observation has become an analysis from an artists perspective..

all kinds of comments and crits are welcome and encouraged.. cheers

[americanheadcharge]

Good sketches, Smuckler. ^^

[smuckers]

Thanks for stoppin by americanheadchargeler

Some doodles yesterday when my van broke down, maybe some good out of such an troublesome event..

I have a free day to spend drawing today, so more to come soon.

[Radio24]

Nice organic form studies, where did that idea come up?. These drawings are coming along, improving.Keep up the bridgman stuff, you should really push the form to make your characters pop a bit more

[IanE]

Bridgman and Loomis are good dudes. Keep hanging out with them, but remember to hang out with your immediate environment and draw from life!!! Keep putting in this amount of work on a constant stream and you'll be heinous in no time!

[iheartmyself]

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/smuckersaart/SmuckersA3_14.jpg
haha, is that a drawing of my bird?..or a creepy creepy coincidence...either that or you know me :|
good stuff so far, jesus a hell of a lot to scroll through XD

[smuckers]

Radio24- If you mean the vippu blob things they're quite enjoyable to bang out whenever, especially if you're in a bad drawin mood i find - form yes you've reminded me to focus more of that in again
IanE - more life would be nice yes mmm

and heartmyself - haha yes i must have doodled him down one night while browsing, tis a fine bird

thanks all

heres todays turnout - some photo refs, recap on some head construction, blobs and some experimentation with blocking forms with cubes and construction with those techniques.. any tips on that subject?

[iheartmyself]

awesomehaha XD i made him out of sculpy too
so you do all this in a day... *mutters*dfghdfjg*/mutters*
i love all the studies, im currently doing this whole "how the fuck do you draw a face" thing
have you tried some without the refs?

[SkyTheArtist]

Wow! That is a lot of studies. They're all pretty good though! I noticed that some of them were deleted cause photobucket said they were bad. O.o; Nudity? Well anyway, keep up the great work! :heart:

[smuckers]

Some of them scattered about are from imagination during studies.. you can probably tell by some shaky cheekbones or whack perspective on them.. but gettin there hopefully

I think photobucket pulled the plug on the nudes that had vauge vagina-like lines gone astray near the crotch.. oh well no big loss

thanks friends lookin forward to squeezin more out tomorrow

[SaiVix]

I like your box studies. It makes me want to start practicing planes in relation to the body. Perspectives doesn't really like me... :(

[Toffeeliz]

I think you should stop concentrating on the pencil anatomy studies for the time being and get yourself some pastels, charcoal or even a stick of plain graphite. You've got all this line but nothing that shows shape, shadow, light or colour! :D use the wide edge of the pastel/charcoal whichever you choose to get really quick shadows.
Buy yourself an A3 (or A2 if you can manage it!) drawing pad as well and stick your pencil/pastel on the end of a long stick and see how the drawing works out from there. Go outside with the old DIY brushes and some of the pages stuck together to make a big sheet and go wild with old decorating paint!

The anatomy stuff is wonderful and your concentration level must be that of a buddhist monks! now go crazy and loose and just make a mess! >:D and then post it up! I know what I've said might not be what you exactly want to hear or do, and it's only a suggestion, but you've been working so hard on the anatomy drawings and getting everything perfectly done, theres a lot more fun to drawing!!!! *sticks your head in the paint can*

[smuckers]

Cheers Toffeeliz i must say i do enjoy a good peice of charcoal.. so i decided to throw a bit of it round today on some A2..
unreffed apart from the hands

[smuckers]

Speaking of which.. i dug up these old life drawing class sheets i did coupla years ago.. good fun i would love to go again

last one was stuck in a cupboard..photo skewed at an angle there

but people aren't gunna read this and think i did these today though... hey now cmon

[smuckers]

Quick photo refs

[smuckers]

---

Thanks SaiVix you'll probably enjoy this post then..

I had been sensing some serious problems with my faces in terms of visualizing them in 3d space, so i decided to go back to the basic block forms and investigate constructing them as precisely as possible using boxes.

I think it helped clear up some inconsistencies, but you be the judge.

---

[smuckers]

..haven't done much creative guff lately, a mess of organic shapes pulled out of my head.

[Cohen]

hey, thanks for stopping by my sketchbook. i found your advice inspiring and i thought i would share a similar one with you in return:

We all have at least 100000 bad drawings inside of us. The sooner we get them out and onto paper, the sooner we'll get to the good ones buried deep within.

now, i would just like to say that i love your sketchbook because, better than any other on this site, i can trace your steps of improvement just by scrolling through and looking. you have made major progress. keep up the good work.

[smuckers]

Stuff from yesterday..

Some well needed first studies of the trunk, more of those to come soon..

[smuckers]

and tried to do some less-regular looking faces from imagination

[smuckers]

Dump for the past coupla' days, doodles and some enjoyable trunk studies.

[MONGOSMASH!]

this is a lot of fun! you have a lot of confidance and enthusiasm and you're showing rapid improvement

[iheartmyself]

theyre from the bridgman book - constructive anatomy
its on this list 100s of free art books (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131117)

and this is the one im on about Constructive Anatomy (http://www.archive.org/details/constructiveanat00briduoft)

looking good!, i admire the amount of work your putting in, and the charcoal, delving into areas you may not have been comfortable with
keep it up

[smuckers]

posemaniacs trunks from a couple days ago.. trying to focus on shaping in the form

[smuckers]

Yesterday dump

Doodles on the road... messin with boxes and perspective placement

a poor drawing day... tired eyes and mostly failed faces made me call it day quite early on

Hopefully today will yield a better turnout.

[IanE]

All these anatomy studies are coming along very well! Good to see you got loose and played around with some blocky figure drawing. That's always a great experience.

[smuckers]

Dump for the 17th..

usual refs.. and back to basics with the head again.. some investigation with perspective too

and some figures from imagination that turned out better than usual

[smuckers]

Memories from a lucid dream..


i hope in the future i can capture the atmosphere much better.. they are filled with such captivating and inspirational scenes and characters.

[smuckers]

Update..

After a great load of studies from bridgeman's complete guide which i wont bother posting.. i feel something has clicked with my troubles with the head in 3d space and its planes.

Letting go of too much brain fueled construction and line placement in my head to make way for more 'feeling out' shapes and sensing planes and forms as bridgeman has spoke about in his guide.

these photo refs felt more natural and so much less stressful than usual, i see some light at the end of the tunnel after a period of doubt with my head study.

thanks to all who have commented and helped so far.. i will press on..

[smuckers]

Some of the studies i have been indulging in..

i find the block and box conceptions to be particularly useful

--
Trying to get my head around the deltoid and that curazy pelvis

[smuckers]

okkk been a bit busy but heres a dump for a bunch of days..

1. Doodles from imagination... playing with the basic planed head etcc

--

2. manniquins from imagination..

--

3. more imagination face doodles and quick plane study copy down bottom

[smuckers]

and we have

more doodles while out and around.. a few refs on face and legs... the body on #2 was a unreffed doodle that turned out better than usual

lots of them boxes what a hoot huh

[smuckers]

and plenty of book studies and daily posemaniacs studies such as this.. i will refrain from posting them all the time

[smuckers]

Uni is heating up a little so doodles while I'm out are all i offer here..nothing too exciting.. but i am doing plenty of anatomy studies too i assure you..

playing with some hatch-like shading that follows contours of the shapes.. not so much to represent the light and shadow - more to analyse and get a better idea of the forms i am drawing ... hopefully its helpful?