Spartan Camp #190 - 50 gestures + Optional "Pen gestures study"

[Anthis]

Spartan Camp #190 - 50 gestures + Optional "Pen gestures study"

The aim is to produce 50 gestures by Sunday the 17th of July.

- 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 "Pen gestures study", in any medium.
Additional notes on this weeks’ Optional Study:


This week, the optional study is part of the usual 50 gestures. Part of the gestures (or, if you feel enthusiastic, all of them) should be done using pens, ink, markers or any medium that is not easily erased or corrected.
The use of pens is a great way to force you to plan your strokes more carefully and to mind your line economy. It can teach you to draw more confidently. Using pens can be refreshing experience. Of course, gestures don't necessarily have to be 100% clean figure drawings, they can still be loose. You can also do this digitally, just treat the stylus as if you would treat the pen and stay away from the eraser! Good luck!

As always- reference advised, not obligatory. Colour, medium, time frame, any specifics are up to you! Good luck and have fun! And feel free to ask questions!


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.

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

Come on soldiers! Flex those muscles!!

HALL OF FAME - SPARTAN CAMP #189

Anthis:star:
Deadlyhamster

[intruderz]

Using a pen was a great and refreshing idea. Thanks!

P.S. This attachment manager is such a pain when it comes to uploading a bunch of images :(

[jenny7332]

http://i.cubeupload.com/uLXotK.png
Here are the pen studies I've done.
http://i.cubeupload.com/CEnTDu.jpg

[shiNIN]

Hi people, I'm back, I hope... I had an extremely inactive period, I barely visited Critique Center and it's a very serious sign.

I like the optional, I never erase my pencil drawings by the way (I'm too lazy for that the begin with). I rarely use pen but it's refreshing indeed, I will do some pen drawings tomorrow.

Messy pencil part, some of these are from the end of last week, sorry.
Various references (I still love Tom Richmond's caricatures a lot), some heads and bodies are unreferenced.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh287/shiNIN666/gfx/sb0716tradbodies.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh287/shiNIN666/gfx/sb0716tradheads.jpg

[LordLouis]

whew... got up this morning at 4am, and managed to pull off all the gestures for this week. Thank god for the time zones. Drawing with pen is very useful for me as I get extremely scribbly and smudgy with my pencils. This time I also did portraits, and tried to render and use 6B, 7B ranges as well.
I feel quite unsure about my figure drawing process, some looks really crap, other things flow very well. Why is that? :s

Thank you for providing the Spartan Camp! :)

@shiNiN: WOW where d'you get those cushions from?? Imagination? I totally love it! :D

[0xym0ron]

Good work so far everyone! Digging Jenny's shaded figures, very lifelike. shiNiN's pillows are full of life considering they're, well, pillows. I could almost see them leaping off the page.

Finally got around to doing this myself.

Things I've learned:

● MyPaint is the way of the future for people who've lost their scanners, and it's also free.

● Something about foreshortening. When I try to put it in words it makes my brain hurt, but it certainly makes this one better than my last try (as far as I can remember). (Edit) Yeah, shiNiN, I think that's it. I can finally put it into words now. Curved lines on the torso to give it a general sense of foreshortening. I like to think of it as a cylinder with lines around it that may or may not bend at the middle, and find it extremely helpful on quickly drawn gestures of this nature.

● Drawing a few imagined figures beforehand are helpful, at least for me, in that they can help you decide on which technique you want to use in referenced ones.


These are from reference, about 30? Fairly large even though the sketches are scaled down.

http://i.imgur.com/RDwkx.png

These are from imagination/memory, about 20.

http://i.imgur.com/ziGdy.png


Time limit: 30 seconds or less ("when I'm done with it")

Source: Pixelovely Gesture Tool (http://www.pixelovely.com/gesture/figuredrawing.php)

Brush used: Tone (http://forum.intilinux.com/mypaint-general-discussion/tone's-brush-set-v2-124-brushes-and-settings-conf-file-for-nokia-n900) brush-pack for MyPaint, "Whirl Ink". Was fun to use, but not very realistic; not sure if that's okay. I swear I didn't touch the eraser on any of them.

Chances are I'll join in the next one, and look forward to it.

P.S.: Sorry for all the white, I'll try to fix it somehow.

[shiNIN]

*sigh* Apart from a few crappy ballpoint pen sketches (I didn't find my favourite thin marker. I tend to use a ballpoint pen like a pencil, one can make lighter strokes with it, after all, but it's a strange feeling), I did nothing. I tried to change the way I hold the pencil because I saw a link about it in CC (LordLouis: thanks for it!) and the default grip that suits writing and drawing in tiny, well that's definitely a bad, troublesome way to do other things. But right now, I draw crappier than usual (I drew mylittleponies because everyone talked about them and they are simple).

LordLouis: I already wrote I don't know where the floursacks are from :( Only a few is my own.
Nice sketches, by the way... The faces are weaker, they lack the nice feel that is visible in your figures and animals. Faces need a very different approach (I can't explain what I mean now), that's true and it's always strange to see someone is better with bodies. They are zillion times harder to me.

0xym0r0n: Thanks. Now I feel the need to draw those floursacks WELL. maybe even colored little pictures, who knows?
Interesting sketches... The torsos often has just horizontal lines... I never see such sketches or just I don't remember...

Too much blurb again, sorry folks. I feel obligated to show this lil crap at least. I touched digital after a long time, I used a new grip and I wasn't very motivated anyway (they are all fatal in my case) so it's a little wonder it turned out like this. I know the eyes are messed up, lighting is one thing I have little idea... the other is neck.
The colors are just to make me feel better, I don't always wish to look at grays.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh287/shiNIN666/gfx/lilcrap.jpg

[LordLouis]

Hey Shinin, thanks for your comment!
Yeah I know what you mean, faces are a lot more subte in their muscles and thus any line that normally depicts a muscle shadow becomes a face-eldering wrinkle. That face no.10 is actually a child. I try to draw faces on larger scale and with some rendering next time, see what that will do. Also I am going to get a book on ink. I also tried my first rendering today, so I can start appreciating how much work it takes to draw a face like you attached. very good; I think the eye issue isn't that bad.

@Oxymoron: wow those look really dynamic. 30seconds, impressive. do you have some special brush, or does the program itself allow you to create those brush illusions? very nice.

[shiNIN]

LordLouis: I always considered drawing somewhat realistic faces with lines quite hard, though it's totally possible, I saw very simple and good pen faces drawn by pros :D (My line faces aren't that alive but if it's an older person, it's not that hard. Younger ones are harder, I don't want to end up with a head shape with features floating in it)
To me, seeing Tom Richmond's caricatures was an enlightenment though I still prefer faces without lines and with pretty shadowed areas (chiaroscuro has a special place in my heart even though I still have problems with the spelling of the word).
Thanks but no one in the word can persuade me if I'm unpleased with my stuff :) I want to draw lively, interesting, nearly perfect faces. (And great bodies but it doesn't seem possible.)

intruderz: Watch your perspective. The feet often suggest a much more elevated view than the upper body.

[Anthis]

Amazing round, ashamed not to have joined in myself.

Let me get back to you guys tomorrow, new topic will be up as well! Unfortunately I didn't get any gestures done this week, had to catch a deadline.

[Anthis]

Accidentally deleted these earlier -.- But here they are.

Also - Nice critique guys/girls!

intruderz - Yep, attachment manager can be a pain. You can choose to link the images directly though. I believe CA 4.0 comes with a new attachment manager though (with batch uploader!). Great job on these gestures. You went with tough poses but pulled it off; I can see you put effort in those lines. I think using pen really teaches you to put value in those lines. Take a look into neck anatomy to improve placement of those heads!

Jenny7332 - Very good gestures. Dynamic, organic, expressive. I think one of the strongest points is the diversity though, both in reference used and approach. Overall you seem very deliberate in your drawing; you rarely use too many lines or get sloppy. Careful with skipping those feet though. You don't want to end up with feet being a weak spot! They can be tough, but are also important.

shiNIN - Great job Shinin. As gestures, I think the pillows are very successful. They are quick and clean, and also very expressive. The portraits are improving a lot lately, especially now that there are some from imagination mixed in as well. Judging from your SB, you're doing a lot of studies. Don't underestimate drawing from imagination though!

LordLouis - Great effort! I think opting for a variety of sketches and media is a good choice. Interesting to hear about the 6b and 7b pencil. I have only gone as far as 2b so far, I should start experimenting. I believe your strongest figures are the ones without too much foreshortening. Some of these (8,9,10) are very demanding on foreshortening. Keep in mind that the image you convey is 3d. Also, sometimes foreshortened anatomy does look strange and can be unrecognizable. Especially when you zoom in or focus on just that area. It's often the context and proportions that make it work.

0zym0ron - You have some good points there. I think mixing up from reference/imaginary studies helps either way. Also, I haven't seen many people using your approach for those torsos, but it makes sense. Approaches like those in books on figure drawing (loomis, bridgman) often consider the head, pelvis and torso as cylindrical or cubic objects that connect and interact with one another but otherwise have specific (and set) shapes by themselves. Hope that still makes sense.
Thanks for the extensive info on the software - I gotta give that a try! Your gestures are very dynamic and organic as a result of your aproach. They can get a little stocky in some cases, and occasinally seem to be missing a pelvis. They are otherwise very nice. You really pushed yourself with the perspective on the imagination ones; nice job!

[shiNIN]

Anthis: thanks for your kind words, though these can't change the fact I'm very not pleased with myself. Imagination... I don't feel much in me. I have ideas but I badly lack skills to pull them off :( I should try it though, I know.
You gave me an undeserved star so here are my late little pen drawings from last week. I dislike ballpoint pens and thick markers aren't good either but I've found my favourite thinner one and will some more sketches this week too. Pen is good because it forces me to work quickly.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh287/shiNIN666/gfx/sc190pen.jpg