elsleepysketchbook[looking for guidance]

[elsleepycrab]

This is my first sketchbook on this most awesome site filled with some of the most amazing living artists that i have ever seen. I am hoping that you can guide me on my path to become a better artist.

So i've decided to start up again, this time from the ground up, i am begining with a number of anatomy studies focusing on the bone structure to begin with.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2903/skull10kd.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
the front view is distorted and needs to be done again
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8871/shldr18mw.jpg
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2919/plvs17xo.jpg
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7470/hnd17bj.jpg
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9236/frm19ll.jpg

[EmmDoubleEw]

I already told you all my crits in person, so...

I luv you :) (In a jesus way, not in a village people way). You will see what this amazing community can do for you. Just make sure to update regularely and keep on drawing, especially keep a positive attitude towards art.

[peterhurman]

nice studies. i find after doing anatomy studies it helps to draw some stuff from imagination thats related to what you were drawing. for example draw some heads after doing skull studies.

[Magic Man]

Welcome to CA, study hard an be persistent and it will pay off.

First off I notice that a lot of your anataomy studies - which i comment by the way - have proportion issues, the first thing you will want to do is to work out how long/wide/thick something should be in relation to other things before you start fleshing out the details.

The biggest mistake of most beginners is to start trying to detail off the bat, because they look at a lot of more experienced illustrators and see only the end product. 99% of the time, these end results only look as good as they do because of the initial underlying set up - that is, points are measured out and guidelines are put down before any work is even put into the details, without this underlying grid of reference on top of which to hang the details, more often than not it will come out looking wonky and wrong.

My advice would be to skip over to www.saveloomis.org and go to his "Figure drawing for all its worth" book, an start there - I started studing figure work seriously maybe about a month or so ago, and it has helped me alot.

m

[Magic Man]

nice studies. i find after doing anatomy studies it helps to draw some stuff from imagination thats related to what you were drawing. for example draw some heads after doing skull studies.

Totally agree with this, immediately after your referenced studies, do some from the top of your head without references, complete it, refer it back to a reference, note the mistakes and go again, each time you do it, you will improve and improve.

[elsleepycrab]

I have been hard pressed to find time to do any real kind of drawing, junior year is harder than i expected and having six academic classes doesnt help.

Oven- thats really good advice, i will begin to redraw anatomy studies from memory so i can really learn the parts and pieces

Magic-you are totaly right, i need to look at the entire piece as a whole rather than focusing on only the details

I havent had the time to really do any anatomy studies but here are some doodles of my favorite kind done with a unibal pen.

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5797/bird12pf.jpg
Bird on some sort of tree

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3828/bird26by.jpg
Bird II

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7430/robot19dh.jpg
Robot

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3049/robot29dh.jpg
Robot II

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8647/concert2pb.jpg
i dont know exactly what this one is, but it is one of my favorites, perhaps a guy on stage at a concert?

[antquin]

i'm just not buying this work from the skeleton--> out approach to drawing people. i think it's fine for refining your 2D obsevational skills, but i woouldn't expect it to directly inform my figure drawing. way too many other layers on top of bones. if you want to learn how to draw people, draw people of all shapes and sizes, nude and clothed, in a variety of activities. unless you're working from bones, you're just copying books, probably illustrated where the hard work of translating form has already been done for you. fine exercise, but, too far removed from your goal. draw from life. go to a life drawing session. work from photo reference, but draw from life. the 3D->2D tranlation is very critical. learn techniques from books, if you must, but drawing bones from books is hardly foundational. just my opinion.

[Magic Man]

i'm just not buying this work from the skeleton--> out approach to drawing people. i think it's fine for refining your 2D obsevational skills, but i woouldn't expect it to directly inform my figure drawing. way too many other layers on top of bones. if you want to learn how to draw people, draw people of all shapes and sizes, nude and clothed, in a variety of activities. unless you're working from bones, you're just copying books, probably illustrated where the hard work of translating form has already been done for you. fine exercise, but, too far removed from your goal. draw from life. go to a life drawing session. work from photo reference, but draw from life. the 3D->2D tranlation is very critical. learn techniques from books, if you must, but drawing bones from books is hardly foundational. just my opinion.

I'd have to disagree, bones give you the proportion you need to understand the length of each limb and major body part, knowing the bones intimately lets you understand where each muscle connects precisely, knowing where muscles connect precisely allows you to know where bones show and do not show on the surface.

There's a reason why people study it in suck depth, without this depth, your work will never transcend the mere caricature of human realisation.

[Barts]

I'd have to disagree, bones give you the proportion you need to understand the length of each limb and major body part, knowing the bones intimately lets you understand where each muscle connects precisely, knowing where muscles connect precisely allows you to know where bones show and do not show on the surface.

No one coulda said it better
BOOYAH!

[antquin]

I'd have to disagree, bones give you the proportion you need to understand the length of each limb and major body part, knowing the bones intimately lets you understand where each muscle connects precisely, knowing where muscles connect precisely allows you to know where bones show and do not show on the surface.

There's a reason why people study it in suck depth, without this depth, your work will never transcend the mere caricature of human realisation.

i doubt the less than analytical approach taken when copying bone/muscle figures in books. da vinci did bone/muscle studies but from the real thing. how many artists here have a skeleton in their studios? books are 2d, and the translation of form via rendering has already been done by the original artist. i can't see where doing bone and muscle studies from a book are superior to analytically approaching the human form, especially in a live model setting. don't get me wrong, i think copying/drawing anything is a great exercise in duplicating what the eye sees, but that's it...right? :blahblah:

[elsleepycrab]

i'm quite enjoying this conversation, and i must say that both your arguments have merits but i am sideing with magic on this one, it is true that i'm copying from an artists copy of the human bones, i do not have a skeleton in my room, or studio but i will say that if the original artist did a good job simply recreating these sorts of things is very helpful and secondly i also have another book which is several hundred pages of pictures of the human skeleton, i am saving this until i become more aquainted with recreating three dimensional form on a plane.

In adition i have learned a lot on how to represent form through recreating another artist's forms

-sleepy

[elsleepycrab]

so another post after another long week of school, and to think its only my second week....
I know i should be focusing on bone and muscle structure but i just picked up the Bridgman book, Life Drawings, so ive been working with that and practicing line quality, again any crit. or suggestion would be greatly apreciated
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5476/bridg14fd.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5200/bridg29si.jpg

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/3861/bridg30no.jpg

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/9159/bridg48bi.jpg

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/4019/bridgnose17zb.jpg
for all of these, except the one of the woman, i tried to create slightly diffrent forms than those presented, and to use the book as a refrence.
-sleepy

[EmmDoubleEw]

Yes! this is great! Keep on practicing figures and feaetures until you drop, but remember to always see them in context. What I mean is two things: That a face is not made of only features, and what magic man said a bout doing studies then applying them.

[elsleepycrab]

my response to you emm, done on the fly from the imagination
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5628/fly14kp.jpg
still no head....no rendering....but i believe mostly anatomicly correct

[bumskee]

Well so long as you know where you want to go.. bone studies are good, and it's important in building fundamentals, but don't over do it.. :) like remember the name of little black spots on bones and stuff.. you know what I mean right? :) Also check out mentler's signature, he's got some good resources, as you probably know already.

I think if you draw only from those anatomy books your figures tend to look a bit stiff, so compliment your studies with some life drawings, but those studies are important. meh.. as long as you are drawing, it's better than not drawing so.

I really wouldn't get too attached to technical skills, those will follow with practice, again just gotta know what you want it to look..

yeap defintely what magic man said, apply what you study.. hard and annoying but it's worthwhile. :) good going dude