Dragon Rose Art Sketchbook (going for pen mileage. . .)

[illustrateth]

So. . . Amazing work on this site. I stumbled across it looking for articles on video game art.

At first, I thought. . there's no way I can post here, the level is so good, but I was encouraged by the attitude that people that want to improve are welcome here.

After finishing college (but not finishing the illustration program), and going to corporate job, I'm finally eager to do some more meaningful work, but I don't think my skill level is really professional yet. (I'd also like to be able to earn some extra income while still being a full time mom!) However, I want to improve and keep myself accountable by getting that pen mileage. . . mostly during the baby's nap time (finally! a regular time!!!) these days so. .

Here goes. My goal is to populate this thread with pen mileage, mileage, mileage.
:lifedrawing:

Initial goal is to post something from my sketchbook at least once per week.

C&A welcome.

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[illustrateth]

Some gesture drawings of the baby done this week.
Was happiest with the two with arrows pointing to them.
(She was playing with cloth cube with a bell in it: throwing it up in the air and letting it fall and roll on the ground.)


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[Put contrast a little higher in Photoshop so it would be easier to see]
[Dark line across one of the two drawings was done by my daughter :teeth:]

[PxelSlayer]

Well, hello! Welcome to CA!:yayca:

It takes a lot of time, effort and practice to push one`s skills and max them out, ESPECIALLY if you`re a full time mom (I`m in awe, btw. ;) ), so here`s hoping you`ll stick to it, enjoy it and reach all your goals! Keep practicing, posting and having fun while doing it! :hatsoff:

[illustrateth]

Thanks for the encouragement. :)

[illustrateth]

Couldn't decide whether I should just post my best stuff. . but since the goal is pen mileage (and I didn't feel like there was much "best" this week), I guess I'll just post it all to keep myself accountable to the pen mileage goal. (And hopefully maybe show improvement later. . :P )


So. . after the gesture drawings of the baby. . . studies of horse skull drawing from, "The Art of Animal Drawing" by Ken Hughes

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[illustrateth]

So. . husband watched the baby and sent me off to a life drawing class. That was great. But I was very unhappy with the drawings today.. :(

I keep freaking out during 10 minute poses and thinking, "OH NO! This pose is going to end in 10 minutes!" instead of actually enjoying the process of drawing. I did start blocking the out the figure a couple times, but kept getting frustrated and practicing gestures instead. . . and then getting more frustrated.

They did have two models, which was great. . but then you've got to get them right in relation to each other besides just getting the figure right. AAAHHH!

(At least it's more pen mileage. . . )
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[illustrateth]

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[illustrateth]

Not sure what happened on the first one. . I just lost it. . . .
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[illustrateth]

(finally!. . . I need to make smaller drawings so more fit on one piece of paper as it's a pain to scan all these. . .the drawings just keep coming out the same size!)

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[zenichi]

your speed lines seems to work better and somehow read better than your fine lines sketches.
i'm not sure here, but i think you might have a good grasp of things in general but missing in skills or practice to capture it in a more refined manner. just need to work on the "missing link" which will help you to pen the image that you have in your mind/ perceived to the finish work, that equate lots of hard work, and studies. since you're starting on the human figure, suggest loads of human anatomy! btw, there's a section in the board that has free reference materials for downloads when it comes to human anatomy!

good luck!

[PxelSlayer]

First of all - kudos to your husband ;)
Second - May I suggest http://posemaniacs.com/ ? A great application for drawing figures in a limited time (from 10 to 90 seconds), which should help you getting rid of that time pressure you`re having. Me thinks :)

Btw. Thank you for dropping by at my SB thread, your advices are greatly appreciated.

Now go and rock out!:geekg:

[illustrateth]

zenichi. . you are right on. . I learned a lot in school but didn't practice enough.

pxlslayer. . No, I didn't know about that site. Thanks!!!

[Ink Fish]

i really like your guesture studies, but when you try and do something more sustained, it seems to lose some of the flexibility. try and keep it loose. don't be nervous about screwing up or running out of time - nervousness is gonna kill any chance you have of getting it right. also, you might wanna try different mediums - charcoal's good for lifedrawing, though it's messy. It helps you think about the body in a different way when you're forced to use different techniques.

if you want to be an illustrator, then you're definitely heading in the right direction. Just keep drawing drawing drawing, and you'll get there :)

[teroteki]

your gesture lines have a wonderful rhythm to them. i really like the baby study, i can see the motions :)
looking forward to seeing you progress through the life drawing studies!

[illustrateth]

d-funct Thanks! This is actually the 2nd time I've been able to go to the life drawing studio. Last time I did do charcoal, so I'll post that up when I get a chance. I was still only happy with one drawing that time though. My eye is trained somewhat, but my hand isn't doing what I want which is incredibly frustrating. The lack of flexibility is exactly what I'm totally unhappy with. :(


This time I was sort of thinking I should try pen (partly since I need to buy newsprint, and partly as I thought a just a pen and sketchbook might be easier to carry on the subway, and partly to force me not to erase), but I think maybe that was a little too advanced for me for a life session as I haven't truly sketched with a pen in 5 yrs and then only really did perspective drawings. . never really successful life drawings.

Ugh. . you are totally right about the nervousness. Part of it is my 10 mo old is still nursing and won't take a bottle, so four hours away to draw is so precious I keep freaking out about wasting it. Just need to let go and get involved in the process. :P

Actually, I'm getting such helpful advice, I may post some old stuff too so I can get even more helpful advice. This site is awesome!
:D

[illustrateth]

Here's the last four figures (in order) I did after Sheldon Borenstein's class at SJSU--probably the last ones I did till two months ago. I think I used the virtual pose book as reference (don't remember exactly). He (Sheldon) said they were too cartoony. I showed them to somebody else and they said the same thing.

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and two old drawings I liked. The figure was from life class, I think.
Think (can't remember) squirrel one of very few drawings from my head (have a horrible time with that.) Just did it as a study for painting a friend's nursery.

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[illustrateth]

Only "sustained" drawing I was somewhat happy with. I couldn't get the head right at all and finally just photoshopped it out. :P
. . . (it's carbothello pastel pencil on newsprint)

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. . .this one is vine charcoal. .. one of the only charcoal ones I was happy with. . s'pose i should take a picture of the others too, but already had this one scanned.)

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[illustrateth]

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[illustrateth]

Done a couple months ago from photo reference of a friend's baby

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[illustrateth]

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[illustrateth]

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[*ViRuS*]

great stuff in here, good start.
when using something that can be erased, don't be afraid to do so. if you can draw something once, you can do it again, even better.

when using pen, start with very little pressure, get your lines right, and increase the value from there. check out steven assaels drawings in pen, they're awesome.
keep rocking. =)

[illustrateth]

Thanks for stopping by! Hmm, i thought i was drawing light first, but I must be getting too dark too early.

Um, you wouldn't happen to have a link for those drawings, would you?

Thanks!

[*ViRuS*]

http://www.stevenassael.com/drawings.html

hard to tell which ones are using what, he does mixed media, graphite, pen, even some silverpoint stuff.
i know one of the baby portraits is in pen and ink.

[illustrateth]

Wow, his stuff is amazing. (Sorry. .i guess I should've googled it. I assumed you meant that it was sketchbook on conceptart so I searched for it here and couldn't find it. Doh!) Yikes, I honestly can't tell it's pen. . I would've guessed pastel pencil.

[illustrateth]

Study from Bridgman
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[illustrateth]

(first time, with a mouse, so wasn't expecting much and didn't get much in the way of a picture, but the experience was very helpful.)

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[illustrateth]

All I had time to do before my family got hit with the flu
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(people at the P.O - while we were waiting in line)

[illustrateth]

Found this in a different old sketchbook. . I think this was actually the last figure sketch from school. (from a pose book i think - don't remember)
I think her body is too big for her legs

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[illustrateth]

Had some time now that we're all recovering. . . and thanks to this site discovered Andrew Loomis. (bought figure drawing and was able to download the rest. . )

Something finally clicked with me for this. . I know I"ve seen the same cartoon construction in other books. . and I know that I tell myself, "quit forgetting to use construction!," but it just made a lot of sense the way he explains it so simply.

Maybe I also always had this feeling that I shouldn't let myself draw cartoons till I was better at more, "serious," drawing. But his approach to teach you cartoons to learn serious drawing. I actually ended up having FUN drawing this page, which, after that, I realized I hadn't really been ENJOYING drawing for a long time. Maybe school had something to do with it. Maybe I just needed, "permission," to draw cartoons too. I don't know, but I'm feeling like, "Fun with Drawing," lived up to it's title. :)

(only negative is some unintentionally racist stereotypes of the era. . ., which I guess were normal at the time it was published.)

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Noticed on the last page most my horizontal lines go up towards the right :P

[illustrateth]

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[illustrateth]

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[Nisshoku]

locing the gesture drawings and the figures! Keep it up! Also, I would LOVE to see a refined drawing of your little baby :).

[PxelSlayer]

Hey, finally caught a breather to post back at you (damn exams :davi: ) I was wondering what exactly would you like to know about textile patterns? How they are designed in general, or how to create a pattern on clothing in photoshop?

Btw, those Loomis studies look really good! I so wish I had your determination and power of focus...sigh...

[illustrateth]

Nisshoku Thanks! I'll try to get on that

Pxelslayer Thanks for stopping by! I would love to know how they're designed in general (know how to do photoshop already). I've looked up tutorials, but they often start expaining multiple things about textiles and I'm more interested in just how to make the patterns. Is there some theory behind it? Or do you just start doodling?

. . . and thanks for the compliment. . I wish I had the determination and power of focus you think I have too. ;) But seriously, after having a baby, time (and sleep) becomes so precious, you realize if you don't take advantage of the time she is sleeping, you will pay for it later. So I'm learning not to procrastinate out of necessity - and wishing I had learned that lesson when I did have time (though at the time I thought I didn't have time, hah :)

[illustrateth]

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[illustrateth]

A quick sketch of a friend's toddler (2 yr's old), and my daughter (at 9 mo.)
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[*ViRuS*]

those last two drawings are fun, keep it up =)

[illustrateth]

Value Study from school. . .
We had to pick a famous photograph, then render it with char-kole (NOT charcoal) and erasers by blacking the whole page first and then drawing with erasers. . .

Of course I forgot to write down the name of the photo. . .

Anyway. . it's about 22" by 22" and i think from 2001?

I did have some trouble with the camera graying out the photo. . . so I did darken it a little in PS so it's closer to the real life image.
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[illustrateth]

another drawing from the same class (intro to illustration at SJSU)
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[illustrateth]

ViRuS: Thanks! Can always use the encouragement. :)

[illustrateth]

well. . . while going through old stuff I found some self portraits from school and thought it would be fun to post them in order to show the progress. :)

last one is from 2002 though :(

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[*ViRuS*]

that red chalk drawing is great. (already commented on your self portraits in the other sub-forum) =)

[illustrateth]

So, have been a bit sidetracked the last two weeks with my husband getting let go. But we did manage to make a family trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I ended up with a ton of photo reference - so have lots of things to practice sketching!

Here's the first one.
I think the bottom of the legs are a bit problematic, so I 'll probably do it over sometime, but it's more pen (well, mechanical pencil) mileage.
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[illustrateth]

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[illustrateth]

Haven't forgotten about this, but in the middle of morning sickness, packing for a long distance move and taking care of a one year old, and working on some other projects, so had to take a little break for awhile. Hope to start again in a few weeks.

[illustrateth]

Found an apt in the east bay CA and still trying to pack up the Brooklyn apartment. . .finding it to be a little more complicated w/ a one year old trying to help. Hopefully there'll be some sketches in January if we're blessed with things going smoothly enough.

[illustrateth]

Have pretty much moved over to CGHub. Under the same name there.

Had the baby in July. . .

Finally got working on learning to use a tablet

[insanelight]

Nice sb!
The statue studies are amazing.