"Spiffie's Sketch Pad"... yeah, I suck, but everyone's got to start somewhere right?

[Space Cadet Spiff]

Hey... Spiff here.. I've been browsing around the site for a while now... but just now decided to sign up. I thought perhaps putting up a sketch pad would help me to try to draw every day and also get me some help and advise. :bashful:

Here is some of my stuff... well, just about all of my stuff... as you might notice by the dates, I don't draw on a regular basis... um, yeah. I try, but it is hard to stay focused and actually sit down and do it, even though I very much want to.

Anyways... here we go. I do have some more (a couple fruit, that actually kind of look like fruit, and perhaps a mermaid)... but I can't find my sketch book (my place is an absolute mess). Now how pathetic is that?!
Sorry for the crappy quality... the image compressions really killed some of the fine detail lines on a few of the drawings.

----FROM MOST RECENT TO OLDEST----

http://img140.exs.cx/img140/6321/edoran2we.jpg
Image refs for Edoran... my current 3d model project.. thing. A lot of things are off in this pic.. I don’t much like the front view... the eye in particular.
Drawn probably around a month or so ago... it's not dated. This is my first dude head. I hope he actually looks like a guy. I avoided drawing him for a while because I was afraid he would turn out really... hhmm, girly, and just ruin my idea of the character. -scratches head-

http://img134.exs.cx/img134/9315/maggie3xj.jpg
Maggie the cat. My first cat drawing.. ever. I did it kinds quick from a ref pic for 3d class... didn't do anything with it though. Side view shows muscles.
Draw sometime over the last few months.

http://img109.exs.cx/img109/7687/amihead6ct.jpg
Amelinda, my role play character. I can't find the front view right now. The scanner really killed the little details I did around her eyes.
Draw sometime over the last few months.

http://www.riddles-in-the-dark.com/skull.jpg
(4/5/04) A kind of realistic looking skull I drew from a book. Once again, the lines look a bit screwed up here.

http://img102.exs.cx/img102/562/kira6et.jpg
(3/21/04) This is Kira, my Star Trek role play character. I used a ref pic... don't know where it went. Anyways, I started painting her, but decided that I was not experienced enough and stopped.
This was sketched with my Wacom tablet.

http://img8.exs.cx/img8/5542/amelinda3zk.jpg
(3/15/04) Amelinda. Used ref pic. Got pissed off.. or something, and never finished it. Also sketched with my Wacom tablet.

http://img156.exs.cx/img156/3918/atticus8mz.jpg
(Late 2003) Atticus!! My computer's identity. :) A smooth, southern gentleman wolfie. He he. Cartoon-ey in purpose. More Wacom stuff. I actually like this one.

http://img105.exs.cx/img105/319/firstpainteyekeda6do.jpg
(Mid-Late 2003) One of my first attempts at painting with my Wacom... or painting with anything. Eef. First eye that doesn't look like a circle with a dot in it, as well. I don't like it... at all. It is not shaped right.. and crap.

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/1041/firsthumansketchkedarough7wj.jpg
(Mid 2003) First serious human drawing.. Nikeda ("Keda") "The Reaper"... evil character on an old site. There is a LOT wrong with her that I can spot now... plus, she looks like she has rigor mortis... eef. Done partially on paper, then scanned and some work with the Wacom.

This is pretty much it for the drawings. Before this, I didn't really do anything at all... aside from a white wolf (used my real dog as a live ref :) ), I think, which placed in a school contest.

Ok! I will do some work tonight, and try -- no, I WILL get a post in tomorrow. -nods furiously-

Sorry for the long post! Thank you for helping me out. :)

Live long and prosper,
Spiff

[IanE]

Spiff, I hate to burst your back to sketching bubble... but none of these images show up... =\

But on the bright side, a daily sketchbook combined with the geniuses here will help you improve a lot. Best of luck to you, I'll check back for the images.

[Space Cadet Spiff]

Alright.. I think I had some sort of hotlink protection enabled on my domain.. eef. Anyways, I uploaded them somewhere else.. Image.. something. -shrugs-

Ian - Thanks for letting me know about the images!
You like 3d animation too (I checked out your sketch pad -- you've got some great stuff!!)? Nifty shit! Are you doing any work on your own now? Have you done any work with Maya?
I'm a computer geek too -- I got out of highschool 2 years early (that place sucked... I tried to aviod it for a while.. and the vice principal actually came and to my house and hunted me down, then suspended me, and that just got me more home-computer time anyways.. what an idiot.). Aannyways - I'm into my second semester at the city college here.. I have two years before I can really go anywhere, so this is like art pratice time, right?
I did take one 3d animation class so far (before that I worked on my own a lot, from books, tutorials, etc.). It was fun.. aside the fact that I was one of the only girls in the class... and this freaky dude that sat next to be kept staring at me. -shudders-

Ok, enough rambling.

Spiff

[Space Cadet Spiff]

Not much, but better than nothing. I drew a few scribble doggies (only a couple of minutes for each one), my dog used as the ref. She kept moving, so it was hard to get anything.
Ok, here is one that I chose to show:

http://img132.exs.cx/img132/2199/snickers5rf.jpg

(I like her cute little Buddha belly, he he.)

Well, lots of things are off.. I have a question about the back leg area (she does have metal knees, so they sit stiff and funky... but not THAT funky). Her leg and tail were actually lying there really nice, slightly tilted and at a rather odd angle (only part of the paw showing, tail king of curled up), though. I couldn't seem to get them right.. perhaps because of the perspective and tilt of the object??
To fix this, should I draw the body part or subject alone or in very simple poses, then progress to the odd angles once I have more experience?
Does anyone know of good tutorials for help with this?

Thankyou!
Spiff

[IanE]

Thanks for checking out my sketchbook! I haven't done anything with Maya, but I'm about to get my hands on 3Ds Max 7. Currently I use a really basic program called Anim8or. One of the engineers for nVidia designed it. It does a lot, kind of like Bryce 5. Right now I'm a senior in high school and I plan on going to the Art Institute in Houston and get a BFA in Media Arts & Animation.

There I go rambling!

Anyway, now to your updates and images that show up!

These are real good! I especially like your Kira character. That eye looks great! Keep the updates coming!

As for the whole leg thing, more complex poses need more complex understanding of the planes and figure. I'm just learning that too, but a great way to learn the figures and stuff is in George B. Bridgman's book Constructive Anatomy. It's my second day with it and it's helped SOOO much! I guess the best advice I have is to use blocks to get the figure first, then use landmarks to add the details for important parts, and everything should fall into place a lot more easilly. That's helped me at least.

Good luck!

Ian