Spartan Camp #116 - 50 gestures + Optional "Master Study"

[Anthis]

Spartan Camp #116 - 50 gestures + Optional "Master Study"
The aim is to produce 50 gestures by Sunday the 6th of December.

- The gestures can be of anything, human, animal, cavorting capybaras.... You can draw full figures, but you can also go for heads, arms, eyes, or anything specific. All media can be used, both digital or traditional. Coloured or black/white. Quick scribbles or long studies. Imagination or referenced. Clothed or nude. Specifics are up to you!

- In addition to this, participants can choose to do an Optional "Master Study", in any medium.
Additional notes on this weeks’ Optional Study: Broad topic this time, since I posted this thread quite late. Find a suitable piece of art of a master of your choice. Then see if you can learn something from it by doing a study. For example media handling, composition, mark making, lineart, use of colour/value/space. This does not necessarily refer to the classic 'old masters', feel free to choose your own master! Colour, medium, time frame, any specifics are also up to you! Have fun!

50 poses is a challenge, but don't hurry or stress yourself reaching it! Focus on drawing, as practising is the main goal of this exercise.

Critting each other is highly encouraged!! Share constructive criticism, reference and resources!! Let's help each other get better!

:muscle: Come on soldiers! Flex those muscles!! :muscle:

[B]HALL OF FAME - SPARTAN CAMP #115

BlackDelphin:star:
shiNIN:star:
bakadoodle
ggnastist
Anthis:star:
JBurrough

[AndreRuben]

Hi all!

here are my 50

[JBurrough]

ten tonight, little more detailed:

[bakadoodle]

AndreRuben - Your method amazes me. All one line, that is to say you never go back over the same line. They might not all be "correct" but for simple gestures there's a lot to be gained from this type of sketching. Tons of variety and expressiveness. I'd like to see more of your refined work.

JBurrough - I went and checked out your sketchbook. I saw your 'process' one and had a thought. Maybe trying to add a new type of stick figure base, or taking yours further, might help. I did these real quick as examples. They aren't great or anything, but I find this method of connecting ellipses gives a better sense of volume, shape and direction. Just a thought. Oh and one other thing, my doodles are pretty 'messy' too because of my shaky hands, what I usually do is get to where yours are now, then create a new layer and reduce the opacity of the original layer to say 10%, then draw over with less strokes. It's much easier to pick out your lines the second time over.

Second image was just messing around, started to do gestures and got side tracked I guess. I'll work on more, I promised Anthis some reffed sketches.

[JBurrough]

Bakadoodle - Appreciate you taking the time! To be honest, I don't really use skeletons anymore unless there's some awkward pose I'm going for, and from time to time I try different kinds, plain sticks or adding regions like you mentioned. I think it's 'cause I try to rush into the finished product too often, which I really need to stop doing, lol.

I appreciate the examples though - you do build them a little differently than I do (the volume skeletons) so I'll try a few of yours and see if they take better than my normal fare. I'll try to clean up my next batch of sketches too... I really overwork my lines - again, I think, because I'm always pushing to end product and fudging to exactness - if that makes sense. I need to do more process work, build up as it were.

Any rate, appreciate the thoughts mate. Digging that girl's expression! Cheers.

edit: added to my sketchbook, cleaned up a couple gestures - you were right, much better!

[bakadoodle]

hehe, Yeah I'm the exact same, I either over work the lineart or rush into the render. Some artists can compensate for whatever mistakes they might have made in planning during the coloring, I'm not one of them. Keep it going!

[shiNIN]

I do that overdrawing method and wish I would be better than that... continuous refining, drawing over the top of the previous strokes, that would be cool... maybe I will try doing that ;) but not for poses with lines. well lines aren't exist in real world, maybe I should forget about them :D

hmmm some stuff. I'm kinda pleased with the second bunch of piglets... I used cute reference pictures. [and was sooo lazy so I didn't do decent studies about adult pigs, skulls and stuff]

my life is a bit chaotic and sleepy now, but I still had my fun doing these... I don't always use the same approach (not always 'dark lines over the light very basic sketch') but I never jump into drawing details in the beginning anymore, just to realize after much work I hopefully messed it up. yay.

and I rushed the girls too much.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh287/shiNIN666/copywork/sc116.jpg

I dunno if including some silly more or less quick and stylized faces of my Tegaki nymph would be a good idea...
and I plan to make the optional. I won't leave my safety zone with the topic, nude girl...
[later]
and I thought the optional will be some copy like the others except that I take it more seriously... how silly I was... it requires a way different approach. or just I take it very seriously. so many things I should be careful with. but it's fun :)

[Anthis]

Thanks to you all for sharing knowledge and criticism!

AndreRuben; Hey there, I remember you've been here before! It took some searching but it was almost exactly one year ago.
I enjoy those (subway, metro?)sketches - very playful. Keep doing those, they're great practice. See if you can capture those shapes/marks that define a certain face or person. If you're drawing on the bus or anything, try and draw some standing figures too. People tend to stand very stable, its a nice way to practice balance and solid poses. Using markers for quick value/shadow studies can be nice too.
Great going! Lots of character in those.

JBurrough; Welcome again ;). Nice ones. It seems to be a mixture of reference and imagination, but I'm not sure about all of them. Either way you're doing great on picking some tough poses with foreshortened elements. Make sure you don't always leave out the face. It may end up being your weak point! You seem to have some good knowledge on anatomy. I think bakadoodle made a useful comment there. I'd add that some shape-related studies, like value studies and Bridgman, will really help. Being 2d artists, we need to be able to translate or mimic 3d objects on a flat plane. A good sense of form and shape really helps there. That's also why many people use blocks, ovals, columns, etc to sketch figures.
Keep it up! good stuff.

bakadoodle; Nice! those seem somewhat like the Loomis figures. Things become much easier all of the sudden... One thing I like about the female figure is that there is a little sense of purpose to it. She's kneeling down, balancing with the hand, holding something up. Adding a sense of purpose to a figure can guide you and make creating poses easier. A problem with this pose is that some parts seem too flexible. Remember there are long, solid bones in those legs. Try and incorporate those stick figures. Solid basis first - details later! Even so, I can see good things happening there - still wondering how you achieve this without ref or books!

shiNIN; I'd agree that second batch of piglets is stronger - must be the practice! Also - great job on those values. A good sense of those is invaluable (no pun intended). Notice the bottom left piglet of the second batch (the foreshortened one). Both the snout and back of his body have less contrast and sharpness than the eye/ears area. Not sure if you did that intentionally but it results in a good sense of depth with the focus on its eye. Also notice the bottom left figure of the girls. Even when simplified, you can clearly see the anatomy and structure of the left (her right) leg. Very distinct adductor muscle group, and a the femur clearly moving inward from the thigh. Great sketch.


Some Bridgman first
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/Anthis_/spartan%20trainings/bridgmanxa1.jpghttp://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/Anthis_/spartan%20trainings/bridgmana2.jpg

Hands referenced from http://www.posemaniacs.com/tools/handviewer/
Actually I stopped here early on because I noticed the hands from this site are somewhat flawed. Especially the wrist area is lacking. This could be because although there are some actual CT scans here, most of the 3d is constructed by someone. I haven't looked into the feet yet, but I won't be using the hands again!
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/Anthis_/spartan%20trainings/116-1.jpg

Trying my own hand.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/Anthis_/spartan%20trainings/116-2.jpghttp://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/Anthis_/studies/hands.jpg

And David by Michelangelo.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/Anthis_/studies/davidstudyx.jpg

[shiNIN]

Anthis: thanks!!! I just feel I somehow feel more about bodies than before. I didn't do much intentionally (well I have some knowledge about muscles), but I don't only scan, I 'feel' something now. I'm way more playful and easy than before.

my optional....
I'm not very pleased... I knew it was a crazy idea to do it in Tegaki. those bunch of colors in the right, those are the light/skin colors and there aren't really more... a darker color with 10% opacity is too harsh... so I had great difficulties with the shadowed skin area.
but I had to try it :D
I couldn't draw the stone wall with the only round brush and without any skill in that.
I found the clipped version first and it was tiny enough this way... I had no time to add the rest afterwards.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh287/shiNIN666/copywork/sc116_bouguereau.jpg

[ggnastist]

Anthis: I love those hand studies. hands are always difficult to draw. it's just the amount of detail in them that overwhelms me. I need to study bridgman too.

Shinin: That master Study is wonderful. Apart from hand, i think you did a very good job. Those hands could use some attention ;)

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab256/ggnastist/SpartanCampDecI.jpg

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab256/ggnastist/Scan20004.jpg

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab256/ggnastist/Scan10001.jpg

Photo references from deviantart this time.

A Study from Master: Frank Frazetta

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab256/ggnastist/Scan20005.jpg

[shiNIN]

ggnastist: yeah, you are completely and obviously right with the hands. I did them and the head in the end and I lost my patience. the face is important and my favourite subject so I spent some effort on it (not similar enough...) but such a tiny and difficult hand had no chance... I only draw simple handposes and I'm not good at them either. next time I will draw hands!

Anthis: very fine hands and your usual graceful lines... (my lines are the clumsiest when I try to draw hands. tough subject...)

I will move to a new home this week, I hope I will have Net access and a more peaceful life/state of mind very soon...

[AndreRuben]

bakadoodle: its a method that i learned 4 years ago called contour drawing, in wich we have to try only see the contours of the subjects and translate them to paper. actually to train these its better never go back in a stroke and do the strokes a bit slow. but i prefer doing them fast for the most of situations. and usually i dont have time because the people are allways on the move. thanks for apreciaton. also want to keep seing you here

Anthis: yes i'v been around a while back =) thanks for the comments ill try to go for the marker sketches form now on great idea!
that posemaniacs hand site is known to me, i'v drawn some hands from it a few times a while ago and i didnt liked it either... not so interesting hands actualy.
I've been drawing lots of hands lately (actualy i was thinking of making 50 hands for next spartan camp) and the best way i'v come up with to draw hands is to put a mirror in your desk and draw the hand you see in the mirror. (i've never had done that before) and the results are great! (I think i say this because i've allways drew my own hand in the same old positions lol this mirror thing was quite an incentive! NEW PRESPECTIVES OF MY OWN HAND xD )

[Anthis]

shiNIN; True enough! Keep that going, I think it’s a big step forward. Wonderful study by the way. Must be really tough to get those colors right. Those legs are standing out – great shapes. I haven’t used tegaki myself, it seems nice for sketching but somewhat cumbersome for this type of study. Impressed with your result!

ggnastist; Yea I’d advice Bridgman to anyone. Think it’s a great resource for learning how to translate basic anatomy knowledge into shape and form.
Nice Frazetta study! Always a favourite, because of those nice shapes and composition. You should try a color study of one of his works someday. Nice job on those arms – tough one. Think the leg area is lacking a little, it seems you’ve lost some of the proportions. I can’t pinpoint what media you’re using on those studies, sometimes it looks just like charcoal. And is that watercolor paper? Nice folds by the way!

AndreRuben; I still need to try markers myself, but I imagine its very useful. Using pens for that now. I’d like to get my hands on some of those grayscale markers but I’m not quite sure where to look. Completely agreed on the posemaniacs hands. Using a mirror for hand studies is a surprisingly good and simple idea. Somehow it just didn’t cross my mind.

[bakadoodle]

shiNIN - I agree with Anthis about that bottom right female. It reads extremely well. Outstanding use of value, it shows remarkable improvement. I have to say ... DAMN! I made a half-hearted attempt at a Bouguereau study "a calling" and failed miserably. I think you should ditch pencils and digital media and just go with paint and canvas, I have a feeling you would be outstanding at it! :) On top of the difficulty of the subject, you did it that well in a poor applet.. again DAMN! You are my hero this week!

Anthis - Great hands, some of these are better than I have seen in medical diagrams. The David is awesome as well.

ggnastist - I'm going to make an observation that might be completely wrong. When I look at your sketches I see lots of latent talent and imagination, you seem to be creating the images in your head before drawing them, but they always look rushed, like you are trying to draw as quickly as possible to get it on paper. Maybe slow down some. I think there's a method of guide marks that would suit your style really well. Where you make quick indications, small, as references and kinda work it like a dot-to-dot. I dunno.. just a suggestion, like I said I could be way off base.

On an unrelated note... I noticed a few of us Spartans have signed up for Team CHOW III. I did, but have no team. Thought maybe we could make a spartan camp team or something if anyone was interested. I know I don't have near enough talent/skill to win against the likes of Sentinel and Trevor and the rest of the amazing artists here, but it would be fun to work together on something.
I can do basic figures and concepts. I suck at environments and composition, but given decent line art I color fairly well and I should have plenty of free time.

[Anthis]

bakadoodle - some great crits in there, very much appreciated. Not only is it a great help to others, its a good exercise for yourself too. So don't hesitate! I learn something new in here every week.
Also, I'm afraid my pc has passed away, so I'll pass on the team Chow for now.. hehe

[ggnastist]

bakadoodle You maybe just right. I don't know. I do try to get it done nicely but I think I loose patience and loose my lines, proportions and all, like those legs in the frazetta study. I do need to slow down and study anatomy taking some time I just dont seem to be able to do that. Thanks.

Anthis, I'd try and get a colored study next time. I use a variety of material. it's either pencil, charcoal or marker pen. I'm working on a Daler Rowney Sketchbook. ;)

[shiNIN]

nothing important, just some blurb...

I think you should ditch pencils and digital media and just go with paint and canvas, I have a feeling you would be outstanding at it! :)
oh maybe I would never dare to try that... wasting paint with my tiny skills... :D I might try watercolor, but Real Painting... that's something Real Artists do...
but who knows what future will bring? I'm a programmer and I like when I can modify my stuff afterwards, digital is good in it... but I like the idea of never erasing only overpainting (I think I've read about it on www.furiae.com and it struck me. it solved one of my biggest problems elegantly)...

oh and digital has very important advantages. if I used to the medium and know what to do, I work quickly. I feel I barely drew till now, but I had to move to my new place with about 25 sketchbooks (never ever should see the first ones :D they're awful)... storage is easier with digital. I just have to keep my stuff...

bakadoodle: good luck for the Team Chow... my old dream is to participate in some Chow when I will be better and teamwork is fun I guess...
at the moment, I'm not good at anything and I lack even the basics. I have only some enthusiasm and all the time...