EBrown: Life through Lines

[EBrown]

Hello Concept Art community,

I figured it was time I started some form of sketchbook on here to document myself and my pursuit of artistry. Up until about a year ago now, I was on the fast track to becoming an Engineer. Instead, like many of us do, I ended up turning around entirely in my wants and went the artistic route. Don't get me wrong, I was an excellent Engineer, but you have to be happy in what you do. I can't sit in a cubicle all day crunching numbers...so I guess I would rather sit in a cubicle all day and sketch/color.

Right now I'm an artist at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. Some may groan, others may clap, but it is what it is.

I have to say, alot of these sketchbooks are remarkably intimidating. The skill and training that many of you have...its breath-taking. I aspire to your levels...which is why I would love as much input as I can get. I want to learn and grow, and really master the abilities to mimmic life on a canvas.

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First post won't be all that impressive. Here are some of my fledgling figure studies and life sketches, some were using a model and others were done with the assistance of Virtual Pose 3. Nice little piece of software.

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And here's some of the more 'finished' pieces I worked on as part of the first few assignments in Life Drawing. It's amazing to see how quickly you progress in a few short weeks with some practice and guidance.

[Arbinn]

Hi! Welcome (meh, you should welcome me!) to the CA. :)

We're soulmates Brownie (can I call you Brownie?). :P I was planning to become a geneticist but had a complete turn around during my last year at high school. I started my own sketchbook about a month ago from a scratch but I'm doing fine and even having some progress thus far.

Nice start for a sb. The poses look really good. You've managed to capture the gestures and the form of the body well. Though I'm wondering those 15 and 30min sketches. I can't find any significant difference in the quality. ;o The 30min sketches look better ofc but still. The last guy looks good but he could rest much more on his right leg and be more relaxed.

Keep it up!

[EBrown]

Delving into the anatomy of the human body, here are some studies I've completed. Arms and legs...though I'm certain I need to go into a huge amount of depth to understand them completely.

[Caffeine_stream]

good anatomy studies, Nice detail. keep it up!

[EBrown]

Been busy!

Today's updates are with our (maybe most dreaded) pieces of anatomy...the hands and feet.

Thanks for the words of encouragement Caffeine and Arbinn

[P]

Yes,nice start, nice studies man and those from life even better. Only thing I noticed bad in latest post that in the last pic the hand is too big for that guy.
Well, cheers, keep loading.

[EBrown]

Some Daily Sketch Group entries I've posted over the months.

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Update:

Some studies I've been working on/have done concerning the Upper and Lower Torso. Some life drawing as well.

[EBrown]

Getting a little disheartening that I don't get many responses...

Ah well, if you post it, they will come. Right?

Did alot of portrait and head studies yesterday and today. Ended up doing some self portraits at the end. Here is a summary of my work.

As always, input is appreciated. Especially tips on anatomy.

[Oxy]

holy crappers dude. nice work. i really like ur sketches. keep this up!!

[EBrown]

Some proportions studies as well as some anatomical layout sketches.

Just really trying to master the human figure right now...

[darkenuf]

u have a great grasp of form and structure work on fat folds not evryone
is amazingly toned some part of us jiggles

[tayete]

Hey, those frontal studies of yesterday are really nice! I see how you are struggling with the same problems I do about anatomy.

[EBrown]

Thanks guys.

Very true, not everyone is 'ideal' (I'm certainly not). Maybe this weekend I can sit down and work with the less ideal for some more anatomy study.

Slow work for the past day or so.

Some of this work is based on famous artists (Degas, Donatello, Goltzius, and Michelangelo). I did it based on recommendations that studying the work of the masters helps improve your own approach.

I also did some Life studies working more with foreshortening.

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Well, haven't gotten to address everything I would have liked today.

Nevertheless, some more pose studies, some finished studies, and finally getting to sit down and experiment with some color!

Thanks for looking!

[thrilafrommanila]

it's good to see that you have started off your sb with your anatomy drawings! i know i should have, but i don't have mine from 1st year anymore.

i'd love to see more fullbody sketches, as i can see small improvements here and there with each one you post.

keep up the great work :D

[EBrown]

Thank you, Thrila. I've been putting alot of effort into improving over the past few months.

Before I head off to bed, 2 more color tries...

Apples and enormous sentient aerial jellyfish

[BadGeometry]

Hey man, thanks for commenting on my sketchbook.

Some of the digital work you've got there is pretty nice. You definitely have a good grasp of value.

You gotta work a little bit on your line though. Your contours are a bit hairy. If you're not already, try drawing with your elbow rather than your wrist.

Keep practicing man!

[EBrown]

Its true, I have very little confidence in the lines I draw, so I tend to go over them to try to fine tune what I want to happen...

Trouble is that I do more fine tuning than one should.

Thanks BadGeometry, I'll definitely really start working on that.

[ruuhkis]

a promising start! drawing becomes easier when you think of forms in their most simplified shapes, for example you could think of the rib cage as an egg shape and the pelvis as a box. you should always start with basic shapes if you want to easily and accurately achieve good results! as I'm beginning to get a better grasp of anatomy and proportions I'm nowadays more interested in how to make a good flat design (composition, flow, line work..) on paper rather than nailing anatomy and such...if that makes any sense. right now just keep it simple!
in line drawing, you should aim to get the lines work for you. be careful with what you're going to depict. feathery lines go well with drawing birds, but they won't do much good when drawing humans, do they? a human's skin is tight and well-defined. if you want to depict skin, your lines should be the same - tight and well-defined. if you're drawing fur or hair you've got to think how they feel like...hard? spiky? smooth? you choose the type of line that makes the viewer 'get' the feeling of it. for example, if you're drawing long hair then you choose to use long lines as well. whatever method works, use it!
also, there's a post by our beloved Elwell that goes through all types of edge variations and how to depict them (width of line, etc.). very useful for line drawing: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51913
alright, that's enough for now...hope you'll keep this thing going!

[EBrown]

Smaller update this evening.

Did a character portrait: the Bone Caster.

Abstract that I call "The Musi"

Tried my hand at a landscape with digital painting using an image for reference.

Color is still killing me. Plus, on top of it, I really didn't sit down and work on my linework! Gah!

[Dilated]

your improvement on anatomy studys is great, but what i think you should be doing with your paintings is use a larger brush, it seems that your using quite a small brush on everything not just fine details

[EBrown]

Classes...work...where can one find the time to just sit down and practice? eh?

I placed digital painting on the back burner because it was beginning to annoy. Not much work has really gotten accomplished this weekend save for some life drawing. I've been focusing on improving my linework as suggested.

[JailHouseRock]

Hi Evan, thanks for stopping by my sb,

really cool stuff here, really dig those last ones,
keep it up mate,

matt.

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Once again, just sticking with the life studies for this sketchbook until I really have it all down pat. Faces, mouths, and figure drawing.

Still working with line...I think I'm showing improvement but then again, I would say my view is heavily biased.

Thanks guys.

[batang-gala]

All the sketches are wonderful! I especially love the poses at the beginning.
Lovely sketchbook!

--------------------
My sketchbook:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=136427

[alisamir sayed]

Good sketches...specially the last ones with faces..keep on good work

[Mitze]

Even do you don't have that many pics posted i can tell you have a good eye. I can tell from the faces. Good stuff keep them coming.

[EBrown]

My god...has it been this long? I need to be more diligent with my practice and I have to say that the Concept.org community has been the most helpful ever since I started art 2 years ago! Still, no excuses... I need to post stuff!

Silly as it is, I'm still struggling with anatomy, especially the face. I just can't get those planes right in my head. Anyone have any tips or secrets that can unlock the 'Aha' moment for me?

I've also been doing some 'concept art' recently as well. Its good to be back.

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[raminafshari]

WELL DONE .

[EBrown]

Alright...wait I'm confused here. Why can't I see the most recent posts on this thing?

[EBrown]

Okay there we go. For some reason I couldn't see the second page here.

Anyways, here comes another splurge of anatomy sketches/studies/explorations.
I really need to work on my confidence and comfort with my line work but I think I'm getting there. I suppose it comes with pages upon pages upon pages of practice right?

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[EBrown]

Just some quick studies today. Trying to really nail down the pelvis and its relationship to supporting the body. It seems like it is the key to any relaxed standing pose and infinitely important for sketching women correctly.

I've been hunting for some good Figure Study workshops/groups in the Pittsburgh area. I think studying anatomy and pictures can only take you so far when it comes to improving.

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[EBrown]

Just some more studies of the torso and the pelvis and some quick life sketches.

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DSG Submission

[Sean McClain]

wow it's good to see your studies! your really doing the hard work, the landscape study
on page one was nice I would like to see more of those in with your anatomy studies.
Chears:)

[EBrown]

Chugging along with just some quick poses and studies today.

I still can't imagine this stuff becoming 'second nature' to me but I guess when you start out it always feels that way. When there's a will, there's a way.

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Been toying with some thumbs of a new armored character too. I'm thinking something like a cross between a knight and a riot cop.

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[EBrown]

Been busy working on other things and FINALLY located some actual life drawing workshops in the Pittsburgh area...wasn't easy to find one that was reasonably priced.

Just some little digital work here. Trying out speed painting but I'm wondering what the trick is with it. People seem to be able to get a lot of visual complexity in their work that I can't seem to achieve without more time commitment...

Onward and hopefully not sideways!

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[EBrown]

Tough to get any responses or feedback from the community! Come on, I need helpful feedback and paint-overs to show me what I'm not (or am) getting. Anything is much much much appreciated.

Got into a life drawing studio this week but it turned into a bust since it was so crowded. Ended up focusing on facial studies with a little posing, etc. I'm feeling a bit more free and I've started to dig out a really terrible ingrained habit of flattening the face. I just have to work harder on making facial features more volumetric.

The only part that confuses me is the eye and the brow ridge. I can never seem to land these elements right!

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[EBrown]

Gah! Still nothing! I blame it on the ridiculous amount of constantly updating Sketchbooks...that and the critically awesome skills of said updates.

Anywho...recent characters and I'm getting started on the CHOW

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[Andre Loftis]

Thanks for the first reply on my thread. I think were in the same place artistically. . . no actually, I think you are ahead of me. I'm going to have to solve that problem XD. I look forward to drawing/learning with you. Cool character designs btw, I know how tough it is to get what's in your head onto the page.

[EBrown]

Just another quick upload of some more sketches and studies

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[AWSullivan]

Hey EBrown, Thanks for checking out my SB. You've got some great anatomy sketches here. Your character drawings are very nice as well. Keep it up!

~Anthony

[EBrown]

Thanks AWSullivan.

I guess I should stop farting around with the studies and whatnot. Time to get off the crapper and start rendering things out fully.

But I'll save that for tomorrow...

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[vices]

the shading on that girl in your last one is very nice

[Moriah]

Wow you are improving fast! I dunno man, it looks like your starting to get the hang of the figure in my opinion.

I really like your thumbnails for the armored character. There are some really nice poses in that bunch. I can really see the weight and movement of the character.

Hm. I'd suggest working more with angled faces.

[EBrown]

Well December was a rough month. On to 2011 though! Time to start practicing again...

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[EBrown]

Some recent updates to the sketchbook. Kinda ran the gambit here.

Can't claim all of this to be totally original. Alot of the portraits and face sketches were based heavily off of an amazing artist by the name of Paul Richards. I loved his style so much I jut had to sit down and doodle from his work to get an idea of how he depicts features, lays out proportions and whatnot. For all those not in the know, he also has a great blog called Babe Lab that delves into the nitty gritty details of how to make that super sexified femme fatale. Great for doing some little anatomy studies (and learning to apply physics to chesticles ;) )

I'm starting to notice an increase to my figure drawing speed. I feel so much more comfortable laying down a line and sometimes I forget to check a proportion only to discover that I did it right the first time. Hurray for progress!

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[EBrown]

And some more quick sketches from reference. Trying to keep it gestural

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