Short cuts make long journeys - Updated 3rd/March.

[Helioth]

Thought it was about time I made a sketchbook here.
Sort of shy and hyper-critical (in an unproductive way). More "for the record" and a forum for feedback than anything.
I guess I'd also love to go the ca atelier some day.

The title of my sketchbook is a quote from M. John Angel of the Angel Academy in Florence.
I went to a workshop of his last summer and was exposed to another world practically.., and visually.

I had supposedly been studying art and art history for 2 years (a low point) in Berlin prior to this (ca.org/angel academy),
eye opening experience, after which I decided to teach myself (outside of an institution) what I wanted to learn, on my own.
It seems to be that most universities turn you into an art theoretician, even if you want to paint...
(perhaps this is because they, for the most part, don't have any idea about how to teach you to paint?).
So, I decided, I'm going to do it; I'm going to become an artist!


To start my SB off, from oldest to newest:

[~Faust~]

Finally man! Took you long enough. Shit's looking tight, you're at last making some systematic studies to increase your perception, structure and sensitivity instead of pondering on theosophical bullshit :P

Hope you keep at it! :D

[Helioth]

I guess I should explain that my aim is to understand and acquire a feeling for the things I'm drawing, not as an excuse for sloppiness... ...I just don't mean to make perfectly mechanically accurate drawings, I think that will progress with time and practice anyway, I fear that forcing it will put brakes on me, as I'll be worrying about "how i say it" instead of "what i say" all too much.

If anyone's interested, the writing (the parts I'm not ashamed to have written) on the a3 sheets reads:
-Life goes so much deeper than a pencil can ever follow.
-Go at it with an emotion.
-Hold the pencil steadily when shading, try not to rely on pressure when cross hatching, or try it like this.
-Stop stabbing into the paper! Shouting something doesn't make it any more true. Only when it is actually true, will it have any more impact if you scream it (volume being the focus/ line weight)
-Stop EYEBALLING when you can measure!
(i eyeballed the Bargues after planning the first stage out, I guess this is how NOT to do them)

Also, here's a pic of me, inspired from the mb book photo of j.manley and j.kaufmann below (which alone makes their book worth buying imo).

---

Faust: Yes, it did, Thanks for replying though :}
I'll try not to brain-fart too much!
Looking forward to seeing you back in Börlin.

[NothingbutZack]

Hey man, thanks for checking out my book.. Yours is looking real nice. I'm in love with those face studies.. keep it up and don't stop posting!

[a la bapsi]

finally! a sketchbook from you!
nice master copies.

[paperX]

some sweet ideas and solid studies...keep pushing it both areas！ :)

[G@m]

Hey helioth, nice bargues, have you tried doing more complex plates aswell?
Anyway, waiting for the next updates :D

[Helioth]

So here's an update And some snippets I thought I'd share from the thoughts I compulsively scribble (Scroll down if you want pictures), been drawing around 8hours the past few days:

-The edge of the mouth and eyes are important in defining character, mood i.e expression and likeness.
-When people smile their eyes usually tighten or even wince.
-Use softer materials to nurture sensitivity. Stroke.
-A circle can be simplified to make a square and an egg a triangle.
Triangles are strong structures...
-Water is just like a bending, moving mirror!
-A skilled artists every stroke reinforces his understanding and knowledge of the subjects form (extrapolated from Vanderpoel's book).
-It is important to find names for things to help you remember them by.
(some ear and eye diagram inspired this, ears are HARD!).

More General thoughts:

-Closeness necessitates careful consideration (observation/ perception in art) because you want to get things right! Detachment should not be, not caring, but often it is (or just distance???).
-When you are engaged to a thought you seek to make everything relevant to it.


--

NothingbutZack: My pleasure & Thank you for the encouragement.

a la bapsi: iknowrite, finulleeeeee. I'm sure Bargues (master studies) would be excellent for you to do. you should try one at any rate, there's a thread by EmilyG explaining how to approach them here; http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=121170

Paperx: Thank you, I will!

G@m: I just started the book, so, no :p
I will be attempting Plate 1, 49 "Agrippa" (or perhaps an arm) soon though!

After I finish my Michelangelo Satyr's head study and the Da Vinci drapery...
Noticing just how much "tighter" I Need to make my studies, I'm learning a ton though,
I guess I should measure (with rulers) more but somehow I just end up 'eyeballing' everything

--

on the hussar study: I hope he'll forgive me!

[Graunfeldt]

woah dude! impressive progress ! Go on ! Ur on the right way xD I really like it :)

[paperX]

good stuff! try to watch out for your line quality a bit more perhaps, loose yet in control is the way to go :)

[voxmortem]

anyone seen my jaw?!

[deadhead16mb]

very cool surreal stuff man

[Abrodos]

Those are some really cool studies! keep working on them, as well as in the other ones!

Really awesome work!

[Helioth]

Had a nasty flu this week and didn't feel like doing much :/
here's a minor update of the stuff (mostly self portraits, and 1 'imagined' face) I did anyway, my moleskin.

I do actually have more, it's just, stuff I churn out when I "work" (read: draw) 10 hours a day, sucks.
Plans for colour: This week, Ahoy!

--

Graunfeldt: Thanks! I'll toddle on... till I can run :)

Paperx: hah, right back at you ;D Thanks though, you're right.

Voxmortem: Nope, but mine's lost in your sketchbook somewhere too, so I guess we can trade or something? My teeth are fine anyway.

Matt Buck: Thanks, although I can't tell if you're just pulling my leg here judging by the quality of your stuff... kekeke.

Abrodos: I will, cheerio!

[paperX]

good update man, watch out for proportions though, some of the faces look a bit stretched...keep it up!

[Helioth]

Paperx: Yeah, proportions, I need to get my eye back in and be less hasty with making those all-important first marks,
you're so "on the money" as they say in the country you live in, amirite?
Thanks for sticking with the book! :)

--

Having never really experienced a properly wretched flu or cold, until now,
I was unaware of why people whinged about them so much.
R-r-r-really fed up with it now though, at least 16 days of swimming,
pulsing headaches, waterfalls-of-runny noses, all around blockage
and aches and pains X|.
Not really an excuse for not updating my sketchbook, as I realised, so I tried to draw, it's sort of like trying to drive, drunk, not that I would know anything about that.

I finished my 3rd moleskin!
I write too much... Luckily there's no pseudo-aphorisms from me this week.
And started a new A4 sketchbook, much nicer to work on bigger, heavier paper.

Also, Callops sent me his I<3Umbrella zombie picture, because I <3 it.
And he's just too kind hearted not to it seems.

[Call0ps]

Glad you liked man ^^ i can feel a little proud of myself thinking that, someone have actually one of my drawings framed and hanged on the wall :) keep drawing wanna see pics i want proofs to support my faith :P

[paperX]

values looking better man...keep thinking about planes! :)

[snootchy]

your studies are excellent, really makes me want to pick up a pencil and start drawing; plus you have really good loose style of sketching which excellent for opening up to any ideas that may pop up

only crit here is what paperX mentioned about planes and proportions, since it can be difficult for many including myself to draw perfect ellipses it might help to draw lightly, almost like an underpainting but with pencil and then going back in once u've got a solid idea of what that shape or proportion is, kind of like in constructive anatomy

keep the coming!

SSG 69 :heart: ARTGASMIC FORCE
Mission: To push our skills to evolve to the point of giving you visual orgasm.
Eon (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=107005) l grenappels (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=99577) l snootchy (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112991) l Peetaer (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111899) l bleupencil ( http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=134180)[COLOR="White"]

[Helioth]

Just a quick update, haven't actually done that much
(or nothing technically good really) the past week ;o

Also 'Callops': here's your proof :)

Paperx: Paper Planes! :)

Snootchy: Thank you, I thought about what you said and tried that on the Vanderpoel, I think I'll try incorporating that more into my approach from now on.

Getting over my cold and '~Faust~' visited Berlin so I spent 2 days with him, here's a Collaboration,
took around 4-5 hours, 30 minute turns each. Great fun. Learned a lot.
Though I felt like I was the weak link, a little. Around 6000x7000 pixels.

[Call0ps]

holy shit! thats a huuge frame for the sketch xD thanks man, still cant believe that my drawings is actually framed and hanged in someones wall ;_; love the last one ( with the skull ), really nice colors. post more plz

[paperX]

still life looks great! dunno whether its because of the lighting...think it work better if you pushed the shadows areas back even more :) lemon looks delicious!

[~Faust~]

Yeah that Lemon is awesome! :D Hehe, I'll write ya later, buddy!

[Helioth]

Callops: Of course, what did you expect when I said "Frame it" on vent?! :)

paperx: thank you man, I agree, I'll keep that in mind on the next study, I think it's better to start lighter with the shadows in general. Faust and I sort of rushed it in some parts, I think doing 2 weeks of solid collabs would be a good learning experience :D
you know what they say about 4 eyes etc.

Faust: Thanks man, yeah, sorry about the wall of text, I was just suffering from a bit of the old 'angst'
Don't quite know where it all came from, didn't mean to direct a jet of verbal diahrrhea your way. Hoh well! :p

Updates, study study study...
I can't get my ideas into the paper, the way I want, so I'm trying to 'kick my ass', but some days it seems a little like my dog knows more than me: at least it doesn't still chase its own tail all the time.
It's like, no matter how much cleverer you get, if you think the wrong way, all the use that will be put to is in deceiving yourself and coming up with plausible reasons for complacency.

ARRGH!:

[Jushra]

Hey Sam,

Hope all is well since Reverie. You are making progress here, keep at it. My suggestion is to go slow, as slow as you possibly can, and really take in what it is you are studying. You also go dark with your lines quickly, and that can in turn cause you to lose sight of what you were trying to initially accomplish. Build your structures and planes lightly and go from there. Looking forward to updates.

Cheers

[DazDaryl]

Good start here, you dont seem to be having any trouble using referance or shading.

I would suggest that when you draw characters from your imagination that you use some referance from google or a website such as http://www.characterdesigns.com/ , lets say you want to draw a soldier, find a picture of a soldier and draw him from a your own custom angle.

Also keep some notes on proportions and anatomy handy and measure out your proportions and head heights with a ruler.
I'm sure you can find a tutorial explaining proportions through google in haven't already got them.

[TASmith]

Holy Shit, that painting is fantastic!!!!!! Way beyond what you've drawn so far. I bet if you went back and drew that still life in charcoal now it'd turn out much better than your other pencils because you already have that intimate link to the objects. With so many of these drawings you're only using one or two kinds of line - you're getting the light and dark lines, but they all have the same texture. Sit down with a pencil and think up thirty different kinds of line. Then see where you can use them in your observational work.

[Trashy]

Helioth I had no clue you had a account here on Ca, I remember you on da. I gotta say that skull painting put a big smile on my face. Nice going with that and I see you got some real studies going on here. Just take your time, and really study what you see and keep pushing yourself. Take care man.

[~Faust~]

Hey Sam! How's it going these days? I'd say great updates but you've been slacking lately, lol!