Depth?

[Asphyxiated]

First of all, hello everyone. I think this is my first post. Since I registered I've been mainly checking some of the works around here. Anyway, in few words about me - I'm 19 years old, I live in Latvia, I like drawing (have liked it all my life), I am lazy, I rarely finish anything, I have a pretty bad visual memory and even worse memory (didn't learn poems at school), and my most troublesome 'thing' at the moment is trying to quit smoking.

About my drawings: I have not yet upgraded to painting as I am unoccupied and have to eat and pay my bills. Oh yeah, our country is in major crisis right now, so that's a grave stone on me, for now. I am drawing portraits mostly, for now, as I want to take things one by one. I was drawing when I was little, all sorts of things. Then, after time, I stopped. Can't really remember why. Then, after I finished middle school, I went to study to an art school as a fashion designer. It involved a lot of drawing, sketching and so on. Teachers told me I was great and have a bright future, blah blah. But after a couple of months I quit because I couldn't take it anymore (my course was full of girls and their attention was unbearable (hence - fashion design). So, I moved to study further and quit again, as I finally understood that academic education is just not My thing.

Now I'm just planning to make a business to have a passive income and while I'm earning my capital (I hope that's right. Capital is meant to be the starting money with which you start your business.) I decided that I want to start drawing again and move to painting, later. Anyway, I've met one talented artist who smokes dope a lot and also is 'teaching himself' and he suggested Loomis's books and told me that I have to draw, draw and draw. So far so good, I think. But still, I'm drawing too little and not putting enough effort to it.

Now, the REAL problem, that I want to get help with: I understand that a drawing is all about light and proportions, composition, perspective and so on. But HOW do you add depth to your drawings? Meaning - how do you make them look 'real'?
Also, I want to add that I don't want to work specifically with realism, but that's a thing I want to learn just to know I can do it. Later on I plan to do more abstract, surreal works and a bit of fantasy.

Here's my blog, so you can see my current works that are done or have been forgotten of: http://myartistfactory.blogspot.com/
Hope you can, at least, point me in the right direction.

P.S. - I know my english is not complete trash but still - please pardon my mistakes)).

P.S.S. - Sorry for the long text.

Cheers,
Renuar.

[arenhaus]

In brief: to make things "look" real you need: Perspective (linear and atmospheric), solid drawing construction, believable lighting, and deep knowledge of how the depicted things work - like anatomy for humans.

If you don't know where to start, I'd suggest to go to fineart.sk and look at the book "Creative Illustration" by, indeed, Andrew Loomis. This particular book would give you a lot to think about and help you get started in to how make it "look" real.

[Zazerzs]

Stop drawing from photos and start drawing more from life and book studies.

You need to learn anatomy and proportions of the body and face if you want to do convincing portraits. Drawing what you see in a photo won't get you there.

The candle you did in your blog is the right direction but you need more practice at rendering objects.

you add depth to a drawing by using all the elements you mentioned, light and shadow, perspective, ariel perspective, think and thin lines, overlapping composition, color ect.

Making something look real is just being able to trick the eye and knowing where to put your shadows , highlights and all that information.

oh and stop being lazy and start finish things, art demands a ton of time and dedication if are arn't willing to give it all you got than art might not be the right path.

Goodluck!

[Téa_Passer]

First of all, hello everyone. I think this is my first post. Since I registered I've been mainly checking some of the works around here. Anyway, in few words about me - I'm 19 years old, I live in Latvia, I like drawing (have liked it all my life), I am lazy, I rarely finish anything, I have a pretty bad visual memory and even worse memory (didn't learn poems at school), and my most troublesome 'thing' at the moment is trying to quit smoking.

About my drawings: I have not yet upgraded to painting as I am unoccupied and have to eat and pay my bills. Oh yeah, our country is in major crisis right now, so that's a grave stone on me, for now. I am drawing portraits mostly, for now, as I want to take things one by one. I was drawing when I was little, all sorts of things. Then, after time, I stopped. Can't really remember why. Then, after I finished middle school, I went to study to an art school as a fashion designer. It involved a lot of drawing, sketching and so on. Teachers told me I was great and have a bright future, blah blah. But after a couple of months I quit because I couldn't take it anymore (my course was full of girls and their attention was unbearable (hence - fashion design). So, I moved to study further and quit again, as I finally understood that academic education is just not My thing.

Now I'm just planning to make a business to have a passive income and while I'm earning my capital (I hope that's right. Capital is meant to be the starting money with which you start your business.) I decided that I want to start drawing again and move to painting, later. Anyway, I've met one talented artist who smokes dope a lot and also is 'teaching himself' and he suggested Loomis's books and told me that I have to draw, draw and draw. So far so good, I think. But still, I'm drawing too little and not putting enough effort to it.

Laziness is a big problem for artists. Funny that you didn't use the common euphemism "art block". Well, if you don't find the process of drawing too rewarding that you can't pick up the pencil, then maybe you'd be better off pursuing another hobby. Becoming good at drawing, and becoming a good artist (well, anything, really) requires a lot of work, and sometimes it's not very enjoyable. However, the results are worth the sweat.

Now, the REAL problem, that I want to get help with: I understand that a drawing is all about light and proportions, composition, perspective and so on. But HOW do you add depth to your drawings? Meaning - how do you make them look 'real'?
Also, I want to add that I don't want to work specifically with realism, but that's a thing I want to learn just to know I can do it. Later on I plan to do more abstract, surreal works and a bit of fantasy.

My mentor laughs at current art "legends" that they can't even paint a glass of wine, but their "abstract" paintings are worth millions. You gotta start with realism, and only when you've perfected that, you can go into other specializations. It's like doctors: first you finish Med School where you learn general science and rules, and then you branch off to your specific field.

So, on to your specific problem. Looking over your drawings, I see that you draw what you perceive and not what's really there. Our eyes see the world in exaggerated way: the eyes and face attract our attention. So when we draw, we unintentionally make them bigger than the rest of the body/face. We also tend to look at things in parts rather than as a whole. This is what's happening in your pictures. If you distance yourself and look at human face as a shape with lights, shadows and edges, then it will make your life easier. This is called "artist's vision" :D

In order to make your drawings look "real" they have to be true to the original. They have to look exactly as the original or very close to it. That's why it's a good idea to learn very basic laws of proportions of human face. For example, the eyes have to be on one line. Draw a line that goes through the pupils of the eyes of your portraits, or even the one that your friend did. You'll notice that the line that you draw does not always agree with the direction the head is drawn. Then your proportions of nose to eyes to lips to overall head are wrong. And lastly your eyes can be drawn a bit more realistically or with more detail. These type of minor mistakes overall make the portrait look unrealistic. If you continue drawing more and more true to the original, keeping in mind these mistakes, you're bound to get better.

[Asphyxiated]

Thanks to all for answers.))