conte' practice

[Chaser226]

Comments appreciated
http://www.timtconcepts.com/images/standinggal.gif

[thomasaurus]

beautiful highlights on the pants!

[Chaser226]

more...
http://www.timtconcepts.com/images/dualmodel.gif

[Nicodemus]

hi :) these are pretty nice renderings with illustrative style

few suggestions i might have is loosen up a bit and explore the form alittle more before locking into key areas.. use conte for the benefits it enables .. really dynamic range of value , more easy to do with conte than other media, the hardness of conte can produce some really strong thin marks and a transition to the edge of the entire stick.. , and draw bigger ( i cant tell you big these are right off ) but conte isnt a pencil , and try to develop the form a bit more and not outline quite as much to begin with find a form and then lock in a bit ... just be true to the medium you are using and you will find good results.


anyway nice job on these keep drawing :) hope this is an ok comments :)

[Chaser226]

Hmm... I see.. so work on stronger contrast in value, I don't get the part about the lines. Sorry i'm kinda slow, if you could be a little more descriptive i would appreciate it a lot.
Thank you.:p .. Oh and the second one is quite large actually, a little bit larger than 18'x24' i would say...

[Nicodemus]

sure :)

i will talk about the lower picture with the 2 figures.

well i wouldnt say "just stronger contrast" i mean more ranges of value.. the man is really approaching this cause he is not just black or white.. but there are multiple stages of black across his body which is good.. and the use of the colored paper makes a nice middle value range too


about the marks and lines.. lets see
youre conte is a rectangle stick right? well try not to think of an outline/contour drawing that you shade and define.. but think of the 2 processes as a give and take and work on them at the same time
examples :
his right leg (our left) where it is just under his arm , an outline is noticeable but there is a shadow there as well.. both are different values here... instead of first drawing the outside and then laying in the shadow... use the side of our conte and define both loosely at the same time.. and use the sharp edge to finally define the edge of the leg just a a bit more.. this will cause a much more cohesive shadow and leg shape to be formed... it will beging to look alot more like the armpit of his left arm (our right) you see the difference?
another example
on the left arm (the right side of the drawing) you see a strong black outline of the figure and strong highlights on the shoulder and upper arm.. these highlights work really well to define the form but the black outline snaps it back and makes it more flat and 2d... you have to ask why is it that you draw the outline... because you are trying to define the point where the arm and back ground meet... well instead of doing that with a line... you must realize it is because the arm is brighter than the background... so use the side of your conte to lightly build up the back ground.. and allow the highlights to pull the arm frward for you :) and then if necessary make thin lines allong the edge of joints or other important areas along the figure.. to solidify the form and define shape if it becomes hard to distinguish

i hope this is easier to understand.. if you have more questions just post , i can try and help more :)

keep drawing you have a good eye for form and light

[MindCandyMan]

It looks like you are letting your brain filter too much of what you are seeing. What I mean is that you aren't really drawing what you see...you are using what you see as a reference to how you would normally draw the figure from your imagination. The man on the stool is definitely heading in the right direction. Measure measure measure...and also squint your eyes to see the shadow and the light areas. Don't create a full black outline all the way around your figure...use the thickness of the line to emphasize the shadow areas.

Don't let your brain trick you into interpreting incorrectly what you see. Keep at it...don't give up.

[Chaser226]

Thanks Nico and Mind. Excellent points, its like i'm enlightened now after realizing some things you guys pointed out. My instructor doesn't seem to like to tell me these stuff, she just likes to grade them and hand it back. I'll work on this some more and repost it to see if you guys think it improved. Thanks again.