aeothesiel's Sketchbook of Creatures

[Aeothesiel]

Hey all,
So, I have been lurking here for awhile. Finally got the courage to join and start a sketchbook! : D I'll try to update this as often as I can, and hopefully improve my art. I have a loong way to go. So please feel free to leave whatever crits or comments you would like. Anything and everything would really help me out!

I don't have access to a scanner yet, so I'll start with some digital art for now... The horse head is several months old, everything else is no more than a few days old.

[Black Sun]

That horses head is really nice. I like the last one too. Not so keen on the pixelated look there, what program are you using?

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

Stylizing will not do you any good at this point, lay of the dragons and get some studies in. Do some lifedrawings, and study animal anatomy and muscular structure, so that you can go back and make dragons that look SO much better:D

-E

[Aeothesiel]

Fetid: Thank you!^^ Currently, all my digital stuff is done on oekaki... I know I know, bad choice. I'm working on finding a better(real) art program, but I don't really know what's good, and some of those pricetags are killer ><

Mischeviouslittleelf: Thanks for the suggestion! I agree, I need to do a lot more studies. I'll be working on it!

So, here's an update. I'm a little embarrassed to post this, I know i have a long way to go with anatomy ^^; The skulls were referenced, everything else was doodled between classes. The last horse was something I started awhile back, but recently started messing with again. Boring pose and colors I know, I just wanted to see what I could do from memory.

[Aeothesiel]

So here are some studies! I tried to put some basic shading down just to see how shadows fall around different structures. Polo ponies, cows and pigs from the farm, wild buffalo, the odd zoo animal...

[Mr.Juicy]

Nice studies, keep them coming, and mix it up with your creatures i think results will be visible very very soon.

[Aeothesiel]

Mr.Juicy: Thanks! I'll definitely add a little variety to these.

More studies, these were from various internet references. Pumas, a takin, tamanduas, tapirs, bongos, giraffes, some tree kangaroos...

[Aeothesiel]

A few more from today... the first two pages were all referenced, the last one, i was drawing some of the animals I've been practicing without any reference. I don't know if these are helping me much. I haven't done too many I know, but I feel like I'm not really learning anything new from them. And they are awfully boring to do... Perhaps I just need a break for a bit.

[Aeothesiel]

I've been really busy the past two months and haven't had much time to draw or update this until recently. ): I kind of stopped doing studies for the time being.... but I'll get back to those eventually, I definitely need to.

Here are lots of ballpoint pen creatures I've been doing between classes. I tried to cover up places where i messed up, but some things just can't be fixed.... hahaha. anyway, feel free to offer your insights!

[syms]

hi, thanks for stopping by in my sketchbook, you have some nice animal studies in here, keep up the work don't give up...draw draw draw draw ;]

[Aeothesiel]

just got open canvas, yaaaay. so here are some creatures.

[Aeothesiel]

The horse animation i did one night when i was bored. not really sure how i feel about it yet... I want to do more with it first i think. I decided to mess around with one of the silhouettes for a bit too, it's pretty rough but it's the only other thing i've done within the last week.

[Aeothesiel]

more doodles. um. the first few are a few weeks or so old. the running horse i drew tonight... his leg looks a bit off. actually a lot of things look off. but he was fun to color at the least, haha :) crits are appreciated, as always!

[Aeothesiel]

I have a few quick studies, one to five minutes each, i wasn't extremely precise with the timing. and an update on the horse. i'll probably be leaving him like this for awhile, i have been looking at him far too long.

[Aeothesiel]

one more study and some character doodles : D

[Aeothesiel]

eee, it's been a while. Here's some random stuff from the last several months. I just finish a mammalian anatomy course, so I also included a few of my 'notes' from it at the end.... hundreds of sketches of bones, organs and muscles. Best class ever :)

[Aeothesiel]

a few doodles, before i start doing some more studies.

[witcrack]

Nice! Very interesting stuffs you put in here. much of your real animals proportions are still off. And i see you have a tendency to make your imaginary creatures feet so pointy. I see variations though but i like to see some more.
I also see you're focused on studying quadrupedal mammals right now, with good results, but again, i like to see more variations, where are the birds and reptiles, there's insect and arachnas too. Study them and you will likely build yourself a good library to be applied later in your creature designs.
Cheers :)

[Aeothesiel]

Witcrack - Thanks for stopping in, your critiques are very much appreciated!! :) You mentioned the proportions being off, do you mean overall, or are there specific things I'm consistently getting wrong? As for feet, I agree. I try to avoid drawing them as much as possible, but from now on I'll start practicing! I find mammals to be the most entertaining to draw which is why i stick with them, but you're absolutely right, I should be drawing more than just that. Thanks again!

I tried to draw a human head, and failed. Followed by some referenced studies. my poor excuse for lack of lower legs: in my references, they were covered by tall grass.

[Aeothesiel]

birds. next to do, reptiles facing the other direction.

[witcrack]

The proportions are off a little bit in overall, especially when foreshortening involved. But nothing so serious though, they can be fixed by further studies in no time :) So just keep at it.

[ColorExcursion]

wow, some really nice work in here
keep postin! :D

[Aeothesiel]

Witcrack, Thankyou!
Colorexcursion, Thanks!!

Reptile studies and a hippo.

[Kamber Parrk]

Some nice animal studies here!

Get yourself some toy animals-- really helpful!
Draw the toys from all angles and compare them with your anatomy books. Try to relate surface structure on the toy with deep structure from the books.

And, shoot lots of good reference pictures of any pets, zoo animals, and wildlife you can encounter. Shooting your own refs is yet another aid to studying structure.

[Aeothesiel]

Kamber Parrk - Thanks! Drawing actual figures sounds like a great idea, especially for drawing animals at unusual angles. I have a few around, so I'll definitely do some practice with them. Also did some cattle from my own photos, per your advice. :) I've taken tons of photos of wild animals, so I'll have to sift through those sometime as well!

here are some unreferenced toads inspired by my last set of studies, followed by some very quick referenced sketches of my steer. the two steer faces on the right look especially wacky, hahaha. He was much much prettier in person.

[Aeothesiel]

I haven't had much chance to draw over the summer, so not much to see.... there are a few moths but mostly moth dragons. still thinking about them. i apologize that it all kind of sucks a lot, hahaha.

[Aeothesiel]

those are headphones, not hamburgers.

[Aeothesiel]

a few sixty second sketches, and... physics notes....

[Aquaticdog]

I absolutely love your horses! I also love how you draw such a variety. Remember, when studying different animals there is no good in drawing the outline. Draw from inside out- the bones to the muscles to the skin. Think why the bump is there... where the bony landmarks are... how that affects shadowing... okay i'm blabbing now. More art more more more! :D

[Aeothesiel]

Aquaticdog- Thank you! I've actually done a lot of muscle/bone studies in the past, i might do a few more sometime soon though :)

some quick sketches of yearlings and such....

[Aeothesiel]

I haven't had much time to draw recently, so all i have to share are some sketches of the same dragon thing, and assorted ugly animals doodled in class....

[Aeothesiel]

These were done using "Scribbler Too".

[mirem]

Love, love, love the animal studies!
And your dragons are looking a lot nicer now too!

[Aeothesiel]

mirem- Thank you!

below, some human faces. I don't really like drawing people, but sometimes it happens. obviously, i don't have much practice... I'm terrible with symmetry!

[Aeothesiel]

So, bats are cool.

[Aeothesiel]

between-class doodles...

[Aeothesiel]

a year later annd..... bat-things are still cool.
The first picture was inspired by something i found on google, but i completely forgot to save the url. it was some gothic-y, gargoyle-y drawing... very cool. and of course i cannot seem to find it again! ah, well.