A resurrected sketchboooook.

[octopus_interphone]

Here be a sketchbook, yay.

My drawing skills are lacking so here is an attempt at not being lazy and doing everything else instead.

must have... thumbnail... picture.

[octopus_interphone]

so slow at drawing...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/66aaf3f1.jpg



self portrait sans glasses, trying to use more organized shading insted of the scribbling I usually do
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/helo.jpg

noses, nose-owl and lions mane jellyfish
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/scrun.jpg

....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/ap15.jpg

...and attention span gone.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/rrrgsgs.jpg

please excuse the scan quaility, it dosen't know any better.

spent toooo much time on this, hence why it is better than everything else here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/88a0ad6e.jpg

[ammoburger]

Hey welcome to CA! Great start here, keep on posting.

~ammoburger

[octopus_interphone]

Finals are now over so now for some more really boring sketches woo! go left hand go!

I reallly need to get into the habit of drawing moooore. prehaps in the future I shall look back at these measly begginings and chortle....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/b7df8503.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/c15be537.jpg

this is a random idea drawn on the bus, I will eventually expand on it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/496e066a.jpg

big birdie
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/april064812.jpg

must start working on figures, it's a real weak point. Any information anyone wants to throw at me would be very welcome.

[hinky doodle]

I love the guy on the second picture in the second post! Funkay hair! and that birds killer cool!
With figures i'm not the best placed for giving advice but the ladys head on the second to last piece is slightly too big for the body i think and your hand work is great! keep at it! It makes me want to do my hand drawing practise! :D

[octopus_interphone]

hinky doodle - thanks, and you know you want to do hand studies, all the cool kids are doing it.

some sketches for the teen thunderdrome. I probably will not get to finish (or start) it before deadline but the idea was this zombie cowboy realized that the common folk ran away from him because he was quite obviously a zombie, he decided to try to trick them by looking like a normal person. He did this by chopping off a live person's head and pretending it was his own. For some strange reason this was not enough to fool the common person. He still wanders around looking for spare brains.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/5aff1d89.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/346457.jpg

quick sketches of a bird skeleton, same bird from the work up above in the other post

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/f759ec42.jpg

and two random stiffly posed human-like man creatures.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/1cba775f.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/9927f37c.jpg

going to try to develop my drawings more..

[Shamagim]

Hey, welcome man, i see you joined recently :).

This is a good start, one thing though, try to spend some more time in your sketches, sometimes forcing yourself to leave them as complete as possible can be much more rewarding, regardless on how good it looks ;).

[blanquish]

keep practicing and youll get better. period
Dont rush it, you look like you get a bit bored and try to finish it too soon.
anyway here is the place to post

[Idiot Apathy]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/66aaf3f1.jpg

:^^: :^^: :^^: :^^: :^^: :^^: :^^: :^^: :^^:

[AndreasM]

Yo.
The best advise i can give you right now (if you whish to progress), is to expand upon your knowledge base. That basically means: Study study study. Go here (http://acid.noobgrinder.com/Loomis/), download all the books, read them, study and try out different aproaches. Theese are the basics and they are fundamental for sucsessful drawing.

[AvatarJimmy]

Hey, nice start. Your paintings reveal a good intuition about composition and tone. Your drawings are revealing that you have a lesser understanding of volume and form. The Loomis books posted by n0fish are highly recommended. BTW, what are you hoping to improve your drawing skills for? Is there a particular field you're interested in? That would help us to give meaningful critiques. Keep posting. :)

[Tigermilk]

Hey Ocotpus! You've got a nice sketchbook going on here, Make sure to keep it updated!
Listen to n0fish, he's got some great advice right there for ya. But most importantly keep the pencil burning. Bring it all over, where ever you are, and draw!

all the best,
t

[TheGnoll]

yeah, what is your objective? anyway I agree with n0fish, just get the books and don't end up like me, i'm just a lazy bastard.Sit in front of a sketch and finish it.I'll be back, now go and draw :D

ciao

[smuli]

A general note on the proportions: many of your characters look like they'd been stretched vertically so you could draw the shoulders and hips broader. As others have said, you should read Loomis. Filling A4s with tiny figures has also helped me to learn the proportions. Looking forward to see you develope. :)

[davidefabrizzi]

Hi octopus. I'm liking some of your gesture drawing ( thread of may 7th), they seems to be natural and not bad proportions. I don't know how much time u practice everyday, but If you are the first to say that you need the habit to draw more, then draw more! Anyway, I'm lazy as well, and I give u this suggestion. I realized that I got to be in the right concentration to start drawing. But when I get this concentration, I could keep on drawing for a week without sleeping. The point is : don't frustate yourself thinking " I have to draw for 2 hours today!" ...Just sit in and start scribbling when u have some free time, and see if you get the right mood after a while.
Keep working mate, see u

[octopus_interphone]

still alive, much craziness has been hapening lately so I havent been doing much updateing. or spelling correctly. more tommarow and responces to all those awesome comments. this is all tonight because I am le tired. (that lady type torso is not finished along with the lower leg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/123414.jpg

goodnight.

[smuli]

Great job with the woman torso - nice proportions and rhythm. Can't think of anything to criticize for now. Keep them coming! :)

[Shamagim]

Lovelly outfits, but your studies could be more effective if you use a mirror to correct your sketches when they need to be simetric, also your work would look much better if you get a smudger :).

Keep it up and good luck. ;)

[TheGnoll]

good, these look like serious studies.Polish 'em a bit more tho, I agree with Shamagim about the mirror thing, looking at your stuff from a different perspective can help you judje and correct them better.Keep e' m coming ;)

ciao

[AndreasM]

Hey, nice studies. I think you could loosen up a bit, though. Commit to the shape. Often, it's hard to get a nice line - mostly due to the fact that you are too concerned with the line - but once you understand the shapes, your drawing rythm will flow much better. That's why construction exersises are so important. It's hard to get there and it's worth it.

[octopus_interphone]

thank you everyone for the great advice, oh so helpful :)

the thing I certainly need to work on are actually completing drawings instead of leaving the chicken scratches as they are. I have been looking at the Loomis books for a while and finally starting to do studies from them instead of ... well just looking at them.

only two little things today, nice and grey-washed by my scanner. For this one I drew an odd pose and tried to add muscles to it, instead of just copying an arm and a leg from the book.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/144444.jpg

and a study of a rey bustos drawing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/14454.jpg

and now to get into the habit of posting daily.

edit -Shamagim - what is a smudger? do you mean a blending stump or somthing else?

[smuli]

I think it's a good idea to study the muscles in your own poses. I just copied Loomis' drawings so many times that I memorized them and had later problems understanding which muscles in the different views were same. I think the guy's right leg looks weird though. To the top right from sartoris, there's too many of those little muscles visible and on the shin, the tibia bone, not tibialis anticus should define the right contour. Also, The external obliques should probably spread more to the sides on their lower edges.

Keep up the studies. They're sure to pay off. :)

[TheGnoll]

wow, smuli beat me on time again.He sure knows best about muscles n stuff, i dunno the names for sure...but keep on doing this stuff, it will indeed pay off ;)

ciao

[AvatarJimmy]

The studies are looking nice and showing improvement. I think I'll just leave it at that for now and say, "lets see some more".

[octopus_interphone]

oh yes, I forgot to answer, what the hell is my objective? I am a fine arts student, just finished first year, and I want to be able to draw with the confidence I have in other mediums and be able to draw the ideas in my head without being so very limited by my lacking ability.

smuli - I know what you mean, it's hard to figure out how the muscles move and work when just looking at the static front, back, and side views. Thanks for pointing out what was funky with the leg, I knew something was wrong but couldn’t fix without finding a better reference. I did the second one to help me figure that part of the leg out

TheGnoll and avatar jimmy (and everybody else) - Thanks very much for the encouragement :)

Look for a much bigger update tomorrow, and yes I know, I suck for not posting any sketches tonight. Don’t worry, you’ll forgive me ;)

[AndreasM]

Nice studies. Don't forget the bones, though. They are the framework and main reference for all the proportions. Looking foward to that update :)

[octopus_interphone]

n0fish - strange you should say that, I was just thinking why did I start with the mucles insted of the bones?

wow, I have been slacking, much too much. still not dedicating the time I need to be so here are some chicken scratches...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/c6d2e9b0.jpg

waiting for bus
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/f6ae463c.jpg

attempting to draw on bus, proving to be difficult.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/c2714b22.jpg

this is from a little while ago, certianly not realistic but meh.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/2e7cacbb.jpg

super bland!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/bf095524.jpg

[TheGnoll]

whoa, these are messy even for my standards :D
not much to crit.The anatomy on the first one looks quite good though, maybe the legs is too stiff.
Actually i would suggest you not to focuss too much on the actual single muscle positioning, but on the overall shapes, feel and dynamics of the human body (check out Loomis stuff).Remember, do as many doodles as you like, but if you really wanna larn, you gotta practice and practice.ANd you'd better start from the basics ;)

ciao

[octopus_interphone]

just noticed the tiny tiny hands...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/3433336767.jpg
scanner don't like pencil.

[smuli]

On the last one, great-looking woman proportions though the shin looks weirdly thick. You seem to put the same features to all your faces though. You could try copying different kinds of heads from photos or something. Nice branch and hand on the third picture yesterday.

[AndreasM]

Yo, listen to The gnoll. If you want to improve, move to the basics. I would add a horizon line on that last pic. There isn't much sense of weight displayed in that pose and you might as well give her some ground to stand on. Pherhaps I'll attempt a paintover later this week.

[Shamagim]

Great advices so far :), I have nothing else to add untill the next update :P.

[eazym]

I can't really explain why but I like your very first one a lot. Maybe the color, maybe the natural watercolor texture. Keep at it.

[AvatarJimmy]

Agree with n0fish about the sense of weight on the latest one. Do an underdrawing and push the hip up on the side that the leg is standing. Also, it looks bent right now, so probably straighten out that knee. Also a good way to make her feel more balanced is to draw a vertical line from the heal with the weight on it and there should be a fairly even amount of mass on both side (from the front anyway). Keep doing drawings like the latest one, I think we can give you the most advice onworks like this one.

[blanquish]

i think i agree with all the crits given so far, you really have to give your stuff a more finished look. My personal favourite is the first one

[octopus_interphone]

guess who's schooling during the summer semester. thats right. wheeeee... I shall have a actual update soon...ish. (unless of course anyone is incredibly interesed in seeing magnified sketches of onions cells, soil water and/or algea :dur: ) Thanks for all the crits guys and I'm going to try harder to pick up the pace (and quaility) here.

thegnoll - knowing where the lumpy mucles go helps me understand the form, but dynamics are very important of course. I've go much, much to learn.

smuil - about the faces, true that my friend, true that. I've been lazy and just been putting a few dashes here and there. tsk tsk.

n0fish - no more people floating in the white abyss, promise ;)

Shamagim, eazym, blanquish - thanks for the comments, and who could not love the jellyfish ? :)

avatarjimmy - I will try that line thing, I wasn't paying attention to that in the last drawing. I have been horrible at finishing drawings, not much can be said about chicken scratches.

[blanquish]

come on man, update- its meant to be daily or at least very regular.

[octopus_interphone]

you guys have been so helpful and I'm being such a flake. took a drawing break for essay writing time. nothing really worth critique at this time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/ohsigh.jpg

[octopus_interphone]

very quick sketches done on the bus (with much difficulty keeping a stedy hand) I hope to have some substantial drawings done by this weekend.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/a1b7579f.jpg

and goodnight.

[smuli]

The character on the last page looks pretty good. Nice construction and proportions. Looking forward to seeing something more finished.

[AvatarJimmy]

Nice updates, lets see some more finished works and more drawings from life. looking forward to seeing the drawings this weekend.

[octopus_interphone]

In four days all I have to show is this.. very anti-climatic. forgot a friend's birthday and got nothing awesome finished.

Going painting in the park tomarrow though, unless attacked by rain in which case it shall be done in the great indoors.

Is there any trick to scanning pencils in well? or do I just need to make super dark lines?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/7888.jpg

[AvatarJimmy]

Good to see you're studying hands. The one without any fingers is really hard to watch though:$ I see a few things wrong here and there, but mostly I think you just need to do more. Try and schedule out an hour for yourself in a park or a mall or something and bring a stopwatch and draw people and don't ever let it go over 2 minutes each. You'll be amazed at how quickly your sketchbook will fill up that way. :) So yeah, looks like you're on the right track, now just draw 3x this much (if only we had the time for that huh? ;) ) And so far as scanning in pencils goes... draw a darker line, or play with the brightness/contrast in photoshop (the auto one usually works ok if you're just doing line drawings) I know somebody who actually puts a desk lamp and shines it through the paper on the other side to get it nice and bright.... but that seems a little over the top to me and I've never actually tried it myself. Well, keep posting, see you next time.

[octopus_interphone]

the internet is givin' me sass so I'll try to comment on everyone's sketchbook tomarrow. yes I know, I suck.

avatar - yeah I know my biggest problem is putting in the hours in my work. I know I can do better but somehow I don't put the time into drawing that I put into everything else. stopwatch is a good idea, might help me draw faster too.

no purdy landscapes but I spent a few hours on this - first try starting and finshing a painting in one go, the pointy finger looks odd and the knuckle is off. I love painting so much more than drawing hehe.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/notmyuch058.jpg

[octopus_interphone]

figure studies next update... probably.

random sketches of carrier snails (xenophora), they are very very awesome. they glue other shells and bits of rock and coral to themselves.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/5b456eb0.jpg

and.... yeah.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/46e29524.jpg

[octopus_interphone]

what a horrible scan, trust me it's say 13.4% better in person... in good lighting... with beer goggles... anyways I'll finishe this tomarrow, half of it is all smudgy, the rest not developed, and mr. big nose has a few other problems...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/28188a7d.jpg

[AndreasM]

Hey. Nice to see you getting started on the hands. Don't worry if they look bad right now, it's drawing them that matters and if you keep it up, they will improve. Just like everything else.

[TheGnoll]

good job, nice to ee you started some studies.Thepainted hand looks good.Keep practicing as soon as you have time ;)

ciao

[octopus_interphone]

did a little more on this though probably will do some more, it is refrenced from a sargent drawing. any horrible mistakes on mr big nose?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/00notmyuch073.jpg

and apperently when you're tired fingers become incredibly fat. my scanner is a murderer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/bee10606.jpg

sleeeeeepy so goodnight. crits as usual are welcome with open arms.

[smuli]

Really like the new version of the big nosed guy, especially the defined eye, nose and mouth. The neck seems a bit odd tapering like that though. Most of the hands look pretty correct too. Keep up the good progress. :)

[blanquish]

coming along
for a while I thought we had lost you, keep practicing

[TheGnoll]

good.Trya and practice on two things, full figure proportions, muscle masses and pose (using mannequins) and, try to practice some details too, trying to understand the shapes contained in individual elemens like ears, nose, n mouth.Don't worry if it looks messy, as long as it looks right.

ciao

[Shamagim]

That´s a really nice portrait!!!

[octopus_interphone]

went to the aquarium and even though I picked the most secluded and boring tank (rocks and plants... nothing else) people assume it is so very awesome because someone is drawing it so it got awfully crowded...

did some gestures and such too - shall do another update tonight if I finish my homework.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/aacb71f4.jpg

[octopus_interphone]

thanks for the advise and encourgement folks, will try to put some of them into action.

blanquish - haha nope you guys haven't lost me yet

do I get a gold star for being so very slow? I really haven't been putting much effort into drawing latley which sucks, for me. Next week is midterms so prepare for very little updates or a strange surge of work due to procratination in other subjects.

some meek little gestures from... a week ago. sadly the best page of them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/270eecaf.jpg

and no ref except for the arm-ish type thing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/162aa989.jpg

once again scanner is a murderer...

[octopus_interphone]

drawn at the bus stop in my tiny little sketchbook today. took picture of it because scanner made half the things dissapear...

[AvatarJimmy]

I think your gestures (like the bike) are looking pretty good, as is the aquarium drawing. Figures are still suffering from the same problems. I think full body studies from Loomis and drawing from life are the best solution, so lets see that in the next post. Good luck with midterms and keep drawing.

[TheGnoll]

nothing to crit actually this s the phase were you just have to keep that bloody pencil sharp and DRAW DRAW DRAW.

ciao

[this1]

nice eye studies, solid anatomy studies, but my favorite is your first post. complete some of your stuff man, you learn much more if you go through all the motions...

[octopus_interphone]

woo I will get a weekend somewhat free, time to spend more time on drawings.

avatarjimmy - thanks, I shall have some better figures next update :)
thegnoll - I know, sigh. At present I'm drawing more than I used to so it's definitly a start... though a slow start. :P
this1 - I'm not a man but I agree, need more finsihed things.

ignore the sausage man on the upper left. some ref and some memory. With this attachment thingy you can't put comment by each image.. hmmmm

[octopus_interphone]

loomy head, random desk with drawers, and trying to figure out how ps works.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/loomy.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/drawer.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/cloudstudy.jpg

edit: problems... back to photbucket!

[smuli]

Nice anatomy sketches... It shows that you're keeping in mind the construction. The proportions (mainly thickness of the limbs, form of the ribcage and that kind of things) are still a bit shaky so keep at it, but you're learning fast. :) The hands look pretty correct too. I like the speedpaints too, especially the latter one. Great sense of light!

Maybe you could pick up a softer pencil and try putting a bit of shadings on some of your figure sketches too since you've done some work on the muscles already.

[TheGnoll]

keep this stuff coming.About the head, try and focus on the basic shapes indifferent positions, THEN move on to the muscles n stuff.Those PS speedies are the only way too learn PS, so keep working on them, and do more ;)

keep this up ;)

ciao

[octopus_interphone]

wow I fell off the sketching wagon. Ouch. It was a nice wagon too with pencils and gelato and such.

smuli - scanner kills most pencil rendering but regardless I'll do things darker so you know, it is visable...

thegnoll - definately more basic studies... and more as always.

a whole week and all I've got to show is... this. gah.

[smuli]

smuli - scanner kills most pencil rendering but regardless I'll do things darker so you know, it is visable...

Nah, the scans look good enough to me. Ignore the soft pencil part if you want, you just don't seem to have done any shaded anatomy sketches, that's all. :)

Try to get some routine going again. :) Waiting eagerly for the next update.

[Mag-Neo]

-there is too many interesting stuff here. keep going. GOODLUCK MAN... :yayca:

[octopus_interphone]

just this today - first outdoor landscape attempt, oil from life 6 x 8 (annoyingly small) Started when it was cloudy and sun directly above and ended with bright sunlight comming from the right... so there's some inconsistancies and the left part of the background is really out of place. bleh. A random stoner who walked by was extraordanaily impressed with this though.

...must take better photo...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/a9673211.jpg

[Recursive_End]

yes you have to :)
The colors in the last painting are great. Especially the green. Good work :)
Did you use a ruler for that one http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v26/nifty_octopi/ca%20sketchbook/drawer.jpg
The lines are really clean. Looks like some industrial work :)
Keep it up!!

[smuli]

Heh, gotta love those random stoners :D (I have similar experiences of them myself). Remembering the yellowish highlights and blueish shadows could add a nice touch of vividness though. Not that I'd suggest you to turn it into impressionistic but the trees seem a bit monotonous (ok, the cloudiness at the start could explain that). But great job, keep at it.

[octopus_interphone]

Recursive_End - thanks and the desk is rulerized, and simple two point perspective.

smuli - :) I had trouble with bringing in contrast because it was an extremely overcast day.

ca is being really strange lately, especially when trying to look are all the sketchbooks so I'll try again tonight or tomorrow and hopefully have some more work to show.

I changed some things and took a better picture, it is now shown actual size.

[blanquish]

I think you should spend some more time on the painting.
Bring in some more colours on the trees and make the grass textured, its all very flat.
update more often man

[AvatarJimmy]

Pretty nice little painting. Agree with blanquish, some texture could really pop things out, it does feel a bit flat right now. The perspective and loomis studies were looking good, lets see some more of those too. Keep drawing. :)

[Listing]

That's a nice landscape. I think you're on the right track overall. Produce more and be mindful of line and brush quality that you'll be able to extract from more expressive and focused attention to your subjects.

[bhanu]

Great sketches man,
Like the last update.But When you are drawing or painting keep in mind that you are defining a 3d object.Try to show form in your work .Not just contours.
I like your all round approach studying. Anatomy , rendering, sketching, painting.Keep up the studies.Try doing some master studies too.
Take care

[octopus_interphone]

thanks for the comments and advice guys. although there is much I could do to make the tiny painting so much better I'm going to move on and try to do better with my next one. It has been way too hot lately for painting outside (also - high tempratures = lazy me )

in a week or so I should be able to update more regularily insted of.. well.. not at all :)

I've been doing stuff lately I can't really post like blind contures and making lanterns and pants... and to make this not bumping without some work... prepare to be amazed? maybe not. but feel free to be. I wont stop you.

Saddest lamp post in the entire world, random blind contour, horrible half-invisable bike configurations. hey at least it's something....

[jcaffoe]

"I'm a slow drawer" - hahaha, I used to be the same way

quick (well not really) fix -- I did an entire sketchbook in ballpoint pen. You still get a great value range like with pencil, but you're not allowed to erase. It builds speed and confidence in your lines because you're not second guessing.

also keep doing blind contours and studies. Work really quickly, doesn't matter if they look bad, you'll learn by looking and translating to paper more than you will having a great drawing that took you a year.

keep it up, good things happening!

[smuli]

I really like the updated painting. With the new contrast between foreground and background it actually doesn't look too flat to me but grass texture indeed would've been a way to make the extreme foreground pop out too if necessary. Does 'blind contours' mean you're only looking at the model when drawing?

Try to keep them coming. :)

[octopus_interphone]

easy tiger - I started in pencil because all the cool kids were doing it.. pen is an excellent idea.

smuli - yeah blind contours is looking at the subject only and not looking at your paper at all.

these are roses, I swear. drawn blindly. and a self-portrait with questionable resemblence to me. something looks wrong but I can't figure it out. overwokred and snooty looking. sentence fragment.

[smuli]

If you drew a center line along the forms on the self portrait, I think you'd notice that the eyebrow level should extrude more. Less light sources could've been good for the shadings (some of them look conflicting like on the upper lip and the jaw). Good work otherwise... The area of the nose, mouth and jaw seems great in construction. The lower right rose looks awesome too. :)

[octopus_interphone]

thanks smuli, I'll keep that in mind next ime

finals are sooo very close to being over so I will soon be able to post things more frequently than....never. and also sorry for lack of crits ssg peoples.

[smuli]

Nice looking hands! The foreshortening on the top-left one looks pretty convincing though some circles could've made the construction even better. I like the flowy lines in the middle one. :)

Good luck to the rest of the finals if you still have those!

[octopus_interphone]

thanks smuli.

Finals are now over and just got my wisdom teeth out so I'm not feeling so... drawingtastic. Going to try to get in more updates before I leave on friday.

[octopus_interphone]

last bit before I leave, not that it really will be noticed but unless my ferry sinks or I get eaten by a large and angry bear I shall have many drawn things when I come back. Or that is a complete lie. only time will tell.

the rest of the page from previous post, with a slight bit more spiralgraph15093

annnd a quick bit from my chalkboard wall. life size.
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[TheGnoll]

I'd love to draw on my wall, cool idea...the hands are looking good, and i like the eye/hand a lot.Don't give up, keep the sketches comin' ;)

ciao

[octopus_interphone]

back with only a few things to show. Firstly life drawings, gestures and two 15 or 20min poses.
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from life-ish
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and a WIP in oils of an otter skull. Had to stop for the night because it was becoming more and more muddy. Many things to fix but crits, as usual, are very welcome.

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[smuli]

Awesome oil painting! The yellow adds a heap of vibrancy to the skull and it really pops out. If there's something that confuses me, maybe you could've given the skull a clearer impression of resting on the table and added a background but I really like it, makes me want to try out oils. :) The life studies have slight staggering with proportions but the lines look nicely confident. You should just do more of those. :)

[octopus_interphone]

thanks smuli,

a small update, still have to fix the confusion of the shape of the skull. The shiney white parts are sunshine.

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[smuli]

Quite a change of mood... When I watch it normally, the green looks pretty extreme and I don't know where it comes from but when I squint, it somehow looks good. Are you going to add green surroundings? Even if it's just on white surface, I think it could have some yellow as well.

[bbwolf]

Heya Octopus

These Hand studies are coming along nicley. I like how loose your stuff sometimes gets. No need to constrain yourself too hard. The disfigured lower body transfroming into a ruler is hilarious.


Whoops- seems I commented on stuff from page one. But great leg studies there. And where in the world did you get an Otter Skull??? ( Wanna one TOOOO )


Wolf

[Miro]

Hi
i like the sketches :}
keep sketching and posting!

cheers

[octopus_interphone]

wow, I kinda let this die. I look at the other work on this page and it is sooooo old - 8 months.... Going to change that.

a few hands, I love me hands.

[octopus_interphone]

need to do some serious documentation of work from the past bit, here are some prints, first a screen print and an aqua tint etching (on an old map)

and to answer a seriously old question, I found the otter skull in a shallow lake while canoing

[octopus_interphone]

and some works in progress.

The funny looking b&w one is a study of a huge piece of driftwood and the drawing is also huge, it's over six feet tall. Still working on it.

[AlexC]

hey octo'
its blanquish:P
Latest stuff looks extremely promising, especially the paintings and that massive driftwood painting.
The graphic works with the octopie looks really awesome, perhaps a possible starter to a graphic design career?
:)

[octopus_interphone]

hey thanks alexquish, I've learned a lot since I stopped posting here and those are jellyfish, not octopuses :)

self portrait from picture, average page in my sketchbook (I do little actual drawing, bleh,) and a high unfinished tree sketch on really big paper.


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[octopus_interphone]

and some recent mostly finished paintings, oil on hardboard about 25" across.

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and now to go do some drawing...

[NicoRaven]

It's your sketchbook sweetie you should post whatever art (related) stuff you do. There are all kinds here. I'm glad you came back. I did not see your stuff the first time through but I reviewed the stuff from a A year ago to today and it looks like your paints are where all your passion is.

Its like Bruce Lee says " Take what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is essentially your own.

I dont care if you every sketch graphite on paper again but post your paints that's where your heart had been the whole time. Not that you still cant learn from sketching.

Ok, I must be getting old because I'll trying to depart wisdom but you are out your wisdom teeth so maybe your abit lacking. Zing! *ugh cough* Well dont ever leave us again K.

Later, sweetie

[octopus_interphone]

thanks for the kind words nicoraven. I am going to try to draw more because it's what I'm lacking and could use some motivation to do more. Strangely enough I do a lot of work in ceramics but I don't think that has a place here.

umm lets see, I got a silver foil marker, it's shiny. silver innards for all. yeah. no scanner so mediocre photos will have to do.

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[octopus_interphone]

B is for brush pen.

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[smuli]

I think you've come to a point where it's hard to give any critique - I think you've sort of found your own way of seeing stuff and I have to say I really like where you're going. :) I'm especially in awe by everything in post 93. Though I can't figure out anything concrete (except for the excellent portrait of course) from that post or the newer oil paintings, I like them as pictures because of the lightings and composition which is rare for me with abstract pieces. I like the way you've done the graphic elements to the animal drawings too.

Well, I wish I had something useful to say but keep up the good work! :)