Graphite To Paper, Dust To Dust (Golgari's Sketch Dump)

[golgari]

Hello...
...and welcome to another rookie-sketch-dump ;)
I've been browsing these forums randomly from time to time for quite a while now, but i only recently discovered the threads from beginners (most noteably mindcandyman) who were happily welcomed here, got great comments and consequently evolved a great deal in drawing...
So that's what made me try to open up a thread for myself.
Please let me know your thoughts about my sketches...


this is from yesterday, a sketch of my puppet:

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-21-01.jpg


this is the stuff i finished today...my hand, a little scene from our garden (a chair, the stick for one of those big sun umbrellas...and yeah, you could guess that table in front of them, too)...and my parents - drawn while watching the tv... (not me - them!) i think something's wrong with my father's chin ...but i can't seem to really find out what it is...hrmm...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-22-01.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-22-02.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-22-03.jpg

[golgari]

Today I drew a little bit during a free hour in school...managed to sketch a girl who was doing her homework nearby... plus, i tried to sketch my anatomy puppet once again when i came home. Lastly, i also did some quick sketches of my mother's legs, while she was working...comments?

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-23-01.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-23-02.jpg

[jester]

golgari, good start and: welcome aboard! :)

Generally I'd say: watch out for your hatching, which mostly looks too rushed and placed randomly (for example in the drawing of your hand, which has also proportion and foreshortening problems). I like the hatching on your drawing of the manikin. The drawing of the legs shows that generally you've got a good grasp of shapes and forms and volume. I don't know your parents but I got the impression that you managed to achieve some likeness. Carry on!

:p

Jester

[I.was.ink]

I like your drawings as well. But be aware of that hairy line. make big long strokes, and always think of form and shape. welcome aboard, and keep up the practice.

:)

[golgari]

This is what I did today...tried to sketch my hand once again and then tried to sketch down a corner of my room...got a little demotivated while doing it, though...i originally wanted to sketch down the shirts that were hanging above the clothing-box, too, but stopped it then. i'm not sooo happy about the blanket and the folded tracksuit on top of the box, but oh well...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-24-01.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-24-02.jpg

jester: thank you :)
yeah, you're right...when i'm sketching my hand, i'm often too hasty. i think it makes me a little bit uncomfortable that i can only work with one hand and not move the other and such.

i.was.ink: thanks. yeah, i know that hairy line is a problem. i'll try to improve a little bit here, but i mostly hope that with practice, i'll manage to get my lines clearer

[golgari]

didn't have much time on my hands today. tomorrow i've got my theoretical test for getting my driver's license... (don't know how this is handled in all the other countries, but in germany getting your driver's license is consuming lots of time and money, and you've got to make a theoretical and a practical test...so...yeah ;))
anyways, i at least did another sketch of my hand today. tried to listen to what jester said and did not do this so hasty - i took a lot of time to do it and tried to hatch everything controlledly. also, i tried to put a little bit attention on not making so hairy lines, but i realized that i haven't got enough practice yet to directly transfer shapes from my eye to the paper, i always have to compare what i've got down on the paper and what i see...so i have to draw small lines to see if i'm going into the right direction, then continue...but i'm giving my best to shut that down.

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-25-01.jpg

[MindCandyMan]

Great job golgari keep it up. Be sure to keep the reflected light in mind while doing things like your hand, etc... Great job man I see improvement just in these posts.

[golgari]

here we go again.
after reading a bit about gesture drawing, i tried to do some rough sketches of people's poses...
then i tried to draw a little tree that's standing on our veranda...had some problems with simplifying the leaves though - didn't know really how to do it...first i just drew the contour line of the tree, but this wasn't the real deal, so i overdrew it with hatches to imply where the darker and where the lighter areas of that little tree are. it turned out okay, but it didn't really look like the tree in the end, since it didn't have that fizzy, chaotic little-leave feeling to it. anyone have any advices on how to draw that kind of stuff without sitting there for days and copying leaf by leaf?
finally, i drew my own face today. turned out not too bad, i think, although something bothers me about the nose. can't really tell what it is though. i think the nose was also about the hardest part to draw...the shadows there just merge in each other so fluently...hrmm.
what do you say? any advices? especially anything about that gesture drawing would be really helpful, since i'm just starting out there...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-26-01.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-26-02.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-26-03.jpg

[jester]

golgari - much improvement with the drawing of your hand. Now try to remember to do only light lines where the light comes from and dark/more pronounced lines where the shadows are. How was the theoretical driving test?

The gestures look rather like scribbles to me. Gestures are way more reduced and can consist of as few as three lines or so (you can browse my sketchbook, I did loads in a threatre in March).

The Bonsai looks quite good, perhaps you should have centered the tree more.

As for noses: less is more, usually. Go to the self portrait of the day thread and just study what is done there. Good idea to drop a spod there daily. I did some 70 or so from September for January and only gave up for lack of time.

Jester

[MindCandyMan]

Also with noses...if the light is coming from above...the darkest dark should be in the nostrils...no other values should come close to the darkness there because it is very difficult for light to get in there.

[golgari]

thanks for the comments, jester and mindcandyman.
i passed my theoretical driving test successfully, which is quite a relievement. i still have to learn a lot practically, though ;)
jester... i browsed your sketchbook for those gesture drawings - yours are veery reduced, but i think i get the point.

i tried to draw my face again today, this time from a different angle...was a little bit more difficult this way since just keeping the head straight is much easier than keeping it always in the same angle. i think it's not too bad, though. i'm more satisfied with the nose this time.

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-27-01.jpg

[Cashmere]

golgari, your portrait is good but next time try to contrast more the shapes. Looks your drawing of the closed hand. It is volumetric, it has energy and power.

[golgari]

thanks cashmere...yeah, i'll definately try to be working in a range of contrasts. have to remind myself of that all the time, though ;)

ah, finally weekend. time's always rushing away so fast...the weekends offer at least a little bit of a rest... today i did another portrait - on which i worked really a long long time today. then i did some sketches of my mother. she was reading a book and unconsciously changing her position about every 2 minutes, so that was a good exercise to set up some quick sketches :)
lastly, i tried again to do a little bit gesture drawing (i also read some advices in the internet on how to do gesture drawing today). i think they're still a little bit too stiff, but they're going in the right direction, don't you think?

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-28-01.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-28-02.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-28-03.jpg


(edit: whoops, totally forgot to post the pics ;) )

[Cashmere]

Yes, golgari, you are in the right direction, now your portrait is more plastic. Next step: more details on the hair. ;)

[behemot5]

perhaps will you find interesting things here... http://www.fineart.sk/
I didn't look in all this one, but it seems there are usefull pics....

[golgari]

thanks behemot...i already knew that they have some loomis-books online over there, but i wasn't aware that they have anatomy references, too...

cashmere: yeah, you're right, i tend to lessen the details on the "outer rims" (hair, ears, neck)...that's just because i think it's of lesser importance in this case. but yeah, probably the logical next step would be to get the hair more detailled...

today, though, i wanted to do something else.
i was a little bit unsatisfied with the amount of time i spent on my last portrait, and today i wanted to try to do everything a little more loose. today my portrait took a lot less time, and i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. of course the linework and stuff is not as detailled, but i think i get the impression of my face across pretty well.
i also did another portrait later, which was even faster, very quick. therefore it was possible for me to draw myself in a pose which i normally don't, since it's not very comfortable to keep in that pose for a long time...
and i did some sketches...particularly my father happily munching away some cassis-ice-liquor-mix, out of a bowl =)
comments?

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-29-01.jpg



http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-29-02.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-29-03.jpg

[MindCandyMan]

The expression on that second self portrait is really great.

[golgari]

thanks mindcandyman...i'm pretty happy with how it turned out, too, especially since i created it in a pretty impulsive act, too ;)

today i drew another selfportrait, using the same approach as i did on the last two (instead of slowly advancing from one shape to the next, i first roughly drew all the shapes, then roughly sketched in the darkest areas and then slowly started to go over them again, making them more detailled and accurate. i think i like it better this way, you're not hangling yourself from one shape to the next, you have a rough basis underneath...i think i'll stick to this for now :) ), but this time i worked for a longer time on it, making it more detailled.
strangely i unconsciously took the same pose as for my last portrait. i hadn't looked at that last one since yesterday and when i scanned in the one i did today, i was quite baffled. anyways, seems like i prefer certain poses over others.
i also need to improve my drawing from imagination, i'm really bad concerning that, so i started drawing some mannequins, loomis-style (i read the first few pages of loomis' "figure drawing for all it's worth") on the weekend. i'm trying to get comfortable with the proportions and to bend the legs and stuff. it's all still pretty hard work, though.
what do you think of it?

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-30-01.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-30-02.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-06-30-03.jpg

[golgari]

oh well. today wasn't the best day for drawing, since i had a lot to do. i want more time for myself. damn school and driving lessons...anyway, i at least had my art course in school today, so i was able to draw there :D
my teacher had carried a copy of a roman bust with her ("apollon"), and we could draw it. i chose a sideview-drawing, since i really have very little experience in drawing heads like that and i cannot draw myself in that pose (since i cannot see myself in the mirror when i don't look into it ;) )
so here it is...please tell me what you think about it...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-01-01.jpg

by the way...i'm still struggling a lot with concept-drawings of the human figure - it's so hard to make a transition of that mannequin figure into 3-dimensional movement right out of my head. if you have any advices on that...pleeease let me know ;)

[golgari]

hm. this is strange. i drew yesterday, and i was sure i posted it...but somehow it doesn't show up...so i guess i'll have to repost it - here it is, some sketches with that loomis-mannequin, and another self-portrait.
after having done portraits half-profile and now also a full-profile drawing of that apollon-head, i decided to go back to an en-face-portrait once again...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-02-01.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-02-02.jpg

[golgari]

and here is what i drew today.
some sketches and gestures today at school, plus another selfportrait, this time with a stronger emphasizing on the neck. you can imagine that that pose was quite strange to keep while drawing ;)
comments?

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-03-01.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-03-02.jpg

[jester]

golgari, when doing your self portraits you tend to draw the back of your head too high and pronounced. Also, mostly your eyes look much too large. Try to draw a basic egg shape first, then the middle line and the lines where the eyes align. The middle of your eyes align with the ends of your mouth (vertically). The lower part of your ear should be app. where the tip of your nose is. Try to measure all this constantly and see how the guidelines have to move when you are turning your head.

Good job on your figure studies!

Jester

[golgari]

thanks for the comment, jester
i just started wondering if anyone is reading this anymore at all... ;)
you're right, i wonder everytime i look at my pictures if the back of my head is really that high, too...the strange thing is, i "measure" it (using my pencil to make comparisions...) and it is really like that. i assume, though, that i measure the back of the head at a different angle than at what i draw the rest of my face or something like that. can't think of any other reasonable explanation for it...
the eyes, yeah, you're totally right. it was the main-flaw that i noticed in that last portrait of mine, i drew them way too big...
when drawing, i tend to look in the mirror in a way in which my lips are pretty...uhhm...stiff? anyway, they're not the biggest then. but they do indeed look a little too small in some pictures. i'll have to watch out for this a little more.
i think i'll have to get a little more into putting down construction lines while lifedrawing, in order a better feel for all the relations and proportions...i'll try to :)

[behemot5]

this one explain proportions of a headhttp://www.anticz.com/heads2.htm
and here kchen put some very good pics for head construction
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1432
i think his pictures are very usefull.
The most important is to know proportions and volumes in my opinion.

[buffaloe]

The gestural sketches are looking nice :) I also like the guy reading... the only thing that looks a little odd is that it looks like you're wanting him to be leaning his elbows on his knees, and he looks a bit too stiff to be in that pose. I could be wrong, he might not be leaning at all, but then I think he might be very uncomfortable holding the book like that ;) (i hope that made sense!)

[golgari]

thanks for the comments, guys...
yeah, buffaloe, you're right, i messed that up a bit. actually, he's not wanting to put his elbows on his knees, but instead sitting there much more relaxed...i drew his lower back and his legs wrong, they are too close to the arms...oh well ;)

i was away over the weekend, that's why i didn't post anything. i drew, anyway, though, and here are the results...
first, some sketches from friday

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-04-01.jpg

[golgari]

these are from saturday...worked a lot with the mannequin... i'm quite happy with these, i think i'm sloooooowly starting to get a feeling for handling these

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-05-01.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-05-02.jpg

[golgari]

and this one's from today, another selfportrait...
rather roughly drawn, didn't pay much attention to my way of stroking this time

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-06-01.jpg

[sone_one]

you need to understand every "body/piece/mass/shape/whatever" of your subject as a 3D volume.

try to imagine its volume and not only to draw its outlines.... i dont know if this advise will be helpfull to you.... it would have saved me from a long time of frustrating drawings :)

[MindCandyMan]

I am noticing a trend in all your mannequins...the lower body is very short compared to the upper body...remember that pelvic bone is the halfway point on the body so the lower half will be just as long as the upper body. That new self portrait is much much better...great work.

[golgari]

thanks guys,
sone_one: hmm, i don't really know what you're aiming at. i do understand that it's important to get the volume down, and i think i do try to do so, but in the end, it's only lines, shapes and values that you can put down... i don't know, maybe you have a little bit more concrete tips on how to create the volume-feeling? ;)

MCM: hmm, you're right, i tend to shorten the legs a bit, but i think i paid attention not to do so in my sketches. take a look at the lying ones, or those standing straight...i think they are quite right. my main problem is the foreshortening, i think. those mannequins that are in foreshortened pose all have that too-short-legs-syndrome...

does anyone know where i can maybe find more about foreshortening when constructing? (i got a little bit the hang on drawing foreshortened things from life, but constructing them out of mind is TOTALLY different - doesn't work for me at all)

again, some sketches, and another selfportrait. this time i laid down the shadows really lightly in big shapes first and then started to fill in the details, trying to pay more attention to the volume that way...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-07-01.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-07-02.jpg

[sone_one]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1432

that is what i mean :) its not that important how good you are able to draw, knowing the shapes is.

[golgari]

hmm. still can't _quite_ follow you...sorry ;)
however, i do agree with you that knowing the shapes - or rather, being able to imagine everything broken down to simple shapes - might be a huge advantage. maybe i should try to get more of a feeling for that...

another bunch of sketches today, plus another selfportrait. i think i should do the next one from another perspective again....or maybe i should sketch something else than myself ;)

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-08-01.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-08-02.jpg

[Cashmere]

Your last two portraits are really good. You have used well light and shade.
The eyes: put more light in your eyes and try to draw a 3/4 portrait.

[sone_one]

i know its hard to get and hard to explain.... i got the point what s important for my drawing when i started to modell in 3d apps....

id love to have the opportunity again, to draw the whole day, with the insight i got now.... my advise would be... dont try to draw neat lookin pieces... try to analyse the structure.... try to get a feeling bout the bodyshapes.... things like that.... id had saved a lot of time if someone would have been able to explain that for me :)

[sic1]

Originally posted by sone_one
i know its hard to get and hard to explain.... i got the point what s important for my drawing when i started to modell in 3d apps....

id love to have the opportunity again, to draw the whole day, with the insight i got now.... my advise would be... dont try to draw neat lookin pieces... try to analyse the structure.... try to get a feeling bout the bodyshapes.... things like that.... id had saved a lot of time if someone would have been able to explain that for me :)

It's definitely hard to explain, and even harder to understand (unless you know yourself, i think). I am going through a phase like that now. I was sketching some rocks/stones, and I am just scratching the surface of understanding form. Some look better, others still suffer from no form/shape. I am trying to visualize shade/light as planes, and analyze them in 3d space.

I don't know if you're doing that golgari, but hopefully that will help. Maybe some_one can verify if that's correct, or if I'm heading on the wrong direction.

Your last self-portrait has improved upon some proportion issues. As Cashmere said, try to do a 3/4 view, or some odd angle. Maybe that will help visualizing the form in 3d?

[golgari]

wheee, i've got holidays! FINALLY! :D

thanks for those advices, guys... i think i figured out what you mean now...and i have to say, it's confusing and frustrating for me to try myself on this - it's a very different approach to drawing, and it's not easy at all.
i think it's pushing me forward, though, so thanks a lot for pointing that out!

here are my tries...

some sketches, trying to get more of a feel for gesture and foreshortening

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-09-01.jpg


tried to sketch a face using more 3-dimensional forms...used a picture from a magazine as reference. it hasn't got much likeness to the reference photo, but the point was getting down 3dimensional shapes...so...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-09-02.jpg




practicising different basic shapes since i recognized that i have a major drawback of not _really_ understanding 3-dimensional objects...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-09-03.jpg




sketches. used magazine photos as references, again.
the "gesture line" - tip kchen gave in his thread (sone_one linked to it earlier) was really quite useful here.

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-09-04.jpg


and another portrait, this time 3/4...not stroked as detailled, though. (keeping your head that way isn't that much fun. gnar...)

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-09-05.jpg

please keep telling me if you see where...or much more importantly, HOW i can improve...thanks so much...

[Jeff Gran]

your self portraits are getting better each time. I think your figures are improving too. Maybe next time you try some poses draw them as block shapes - spheres and cylinders. and don't only draw what you would see, draw all the way through the shape to get a sense of volume. Kind of like the page you did of volumetric shapes...that showed an inkling of progress. do more like that. Also for your portraits it might help if you turned all the lights off and only use one strong light source, because it's easier to see the forms as being made of light. When I do SPs at odd angles I usually work from photos, I'm not sure if it's the best way, but then you don't move your head around and draw some features at different angles than others.

[sone_one]

well, for me, starting modelling in 3d, has been a milestone ... no shading.... no tricks.... just knowledge of form. and that led to "aha! analyzing is the key!"

i found out that my way to manage drawing is.... watch... analyze... know.... draw.

use the opportunity of lifedrawing sessions to observe the shapes.... the function of every mass... try to analyze it... instead of trying to draw a photorealistic picture of what you see.

damn its really hard to express what im thinking bout the approach.... i guess so thought my teacher too.... he told me nothing worth enough to remember :/.

to break things down... try to get the knowledge.... not the pics ;)

(id be interessted in what KChen's statement would be on that topic :))

[golgari]

thanks guys...this new approach is really hard, but i think i'll have to go through this, since my work did indeed lack 3-dimensionality...

took jeff's advice and tried to construct something human-like via box shapes...
this one took much too long. i can't believe how difficult it all suddenly is when you always have to consider the full shape. but you're right, that's probably what you should do when drawing, otherwise it's kind of pretentious - thanks for getting me on that track, sone_one...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-10-01.jpg

trying to feel the form - the poses are loosely inspired by an anatomy book of mine.

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-10-02.jpg

[golgari]

oh my...this day went by much too fast. well, i did another selfportrait. i also tried around a little bit with setting up perspective and drawing cubes in different positions, but it's not really worth showing...

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-11-01.jpg

[adien]

browsed my way through your entire thread today. pretty good stuff, you're improving rapidly, much faster than i am. :)
you seem to make the time to draw more than i do too.
great stuff. :)

heh, i just got an email saying that you had replied to my thread, while i'm replying to yours. :D

[amphex]

Very nice SP..you seem to be improving a great deal. keep it up =)
Was that sp from photo or from life?
because if it was from photo, then you really should concentrate on doing em from life...if not, then good work =)

[golgari]

thanks, adien and amphex...

amphex: it was "from life" - or rather, from a mirror, since i can hardly look at my own face without it ;)

more tries to construct a body while thinking of the 3-dimensionality. this is really quite hard for me...

the lying guy on the first sheet is from my anatomy book.
the others are out of my head or have simple gesture sketches as a basis. for the last sheet, i went in front of a mirror, made a quick gesture of my own pose and then tried to construct a body...


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-12-01.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-12-02.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-12-03.jpg

[Cashmere]

Golgari, with these human body sketches you induce me to study more the body structure ;) that is a very important work and difficult. isn't it ?

[golgari]

yeah, cashmere, personally i think it's difficult as hell, and can be pretty frustrating. however, i guess without drawing the masses i'll never get a deeper understanding of how to set up bodies - or how to set up anything at all, when i don't have it in front of me.

today was a bad day. i'm a little ill, i think, i've got a cold and my head occasionally starts to ache now and then. and i'm a little frustrated by trying to draw these masses. i can't seem to make any progress...hrmp :(

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-13-01.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

It's working, even if you don't think so. These latest ones look very volumetric. I especially like the ones where you drew everything back to the horizon. That makes so much difference in placing a figure in real space. The figure with his head in his hands and elbows on the table looks really good to me. A problem I see now is that most of your poses lack a sense of balance. Maybe try to concentrate on that. Keep going.

[golgari]

thanks, jeff.
yeah, you're right...maybe i should do some more gesture sketches...i like doing that anyway, so that would be a welcome change from constructing...

anyway, today i made some sketches for the serra angel from the "magic card redesign"-thread (you can find the thread in the sketches section if you're further interested in it). i don't know if i'll continue this, but at least doing the sketch was fun (although i had a very hard time with the serra angel's right hand, which is supposed to just have thrown the spear...)



http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-14-01.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-14-02.jpg

[sone_one]

Originally posted by golgari
yeah, cashmere, personally i think it's difficult as hell, and can be pretty frustrating.

youre right.... and youre not the only one "enjoyin" this pain in the neck....

but the effort pays someday.... be sure of that. its a very hard time, but youll be rewarded, believe me :)

just keep practising, even if its hard

[edit] and mix lifedrawings with anatomy reference from books. my advise would be to try to explore the subjects youre drawing instead of just picturing them.

welcome to my (and many others) struggling path ;)

[jester]

golgari, your improvement really shows, just carry on! My only advice is: try to draw lighter and with a harder pencil first. Then it's easier to apply shades and emphasize certain areas. I know how difficult this is for a beginner, I found that the more uncertain/insecure I am the harder I press the pencil... :rolleyes:

Jester

[golgari]

thanks a lot guys.
i tried to do some gestures today, and then to overdraw them with volumetric shapes...
i also first took a lighter pencil for the basis in most of the cases ;)

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-15-01.jpg

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-15-02.jpg

[golgari]

i'm currently reading a book called "perspective without pain", by phil metzger, in order to make sure that i really know the basic stuff about perspective...
these are some exercises from the book
and i did another volumetric drawing from a reference picture... some kind of medieval-style-drawing with a devil playing a fiddle while sitting on an old man's bed...if anyone happens to know this, i'd be really interested who's the artist who drew that...
oh, and i'm running out of webspace :(
any ideas where i could store my images?

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-16-01.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-16-02.jpg


http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-16-03.jpg

[golgari]

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-17-01.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

Keep going, man. I think what jester was saying was that you should use a light pencil to do the rough shape, all the volumetric stuff, just to get it all on the page. Then take the darker pencil and go over only the areas you want to stand out. Try using line weight to bring the forms out more...try to emulate simple light and shadow over your box forms.

[jester]

golgari, Jeff says it better than I do. Try to get away from that heavy hand - it's easier to correct mistakes and when varying your line weight your drawings will look twice better at least!

Jester

[golgari]

thanks, to both of you.
you're right. i think i'll really have to get away from that heavy hand. i don't really care for it in those sketches, since i just wanted to get a feeling for those volumetrics, but i think i should pay a little more attention to this, so i don't get used to drawing like that. yeah...

anyway, today i did another self-portrait (i'm not sure if these are getting me anywhere, but i did it anyway, just for fun). it's pretty rough, and i didn't care much for the way of stroking, just wanted to get down the things i saw

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-18-01.jpg

and another drawing, for fun and because i wanted to try some kind of environment for a change...got de-motivated halfway through it somehow, though. it's very loosely inspired by a song ("samsas traum - stromausfall im herzspital")

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-18-02.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

I think the environment could have been better if you moved your vanishing points way out to the sides in stead of so close together. That would make it a much less "severe" perspective, as my teacher used to say. Kudos for doing something new, though. :)

[Iiori]

I feel your pain with the heavy hand part, though you have a lot more freedom in strokeyness than me which I find great. :D I am also trying to do figure sketches like you are, haha its so hard.:O Your comming a long very nicely I think.

Do those wood things help alot?

[golgari]

thanks, jeff and iiori...
jeff, actually i wanted to go for a little bit of an extreme, distorted view. wanted to get that "standing at the foot of that huge building and looking up"-feeling. i even added a third vanishing point in order to get that. you're right, anyway, though, i shouldn't have moved the two horizon vanishing points so close and instead have paid more attention to putting the third vanishing point higher.

iiori...if those wood things help alot? what wood things do you mean exactly? :)

today's my 18th birthday! :D
didn't come round to drawing very much today, though ;)

[golgari]

i really need to work on building the head out of imagination.

http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//drawings/2003-07-19-01.jpg

[golgari]

damnit. i just can't construct heads. i can't construct anything at all out of imagination!
hmm, are there any books specifically about that subject?


http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-20-01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-20-02.jpg

[Cashmere]

Try this link : http://www.portrait-artist.org

[golgari]

thanks cashmere...
do you have any more specific tips, maybe? because the author of that site advices a lot of books, but i'm absolutely not sure which one could help me out on drawing things from imagination (the betty edwards book, for example, as great as it may be, does surely NOT help for that...)

TODAY I GOT MY DRIVING LICENSE! HELL YEAH!
you can't imagine what a relievement that is for me. finally...

i drew some heads, as well as a concept for the dsg (ship captain). had some kind of bone ship captain in mind. didn't come very far, though ;)

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-21-01.jpg

[jester]

Hey golgari, there's a great and inspiring book by Ron Tiner, Figure Drawing Without a Model. But though I like it very much I must admit that he breaks it all down to excessive life drawing. So continue that. Daily! Observe closely even when you are not drawing. The eye-line of your head seems to be lower than at the half of the egg shape that forms the head - thus they all look like cone-heads. Copy heads from magazines and photos, this helps, too! And continue your self portraits, you learn a lot from that.

I re-started drawing 3 years ago (almost exactly to the date!) and it took me about 2 years to draw something which I still think sucks but was recognizable as a decent head. I hope that by next year this time I will have mastered most noobs' mistakes and produce something that is a bit above mediocre.

So keep going, it's all just working hard and practise!

:chug:

Jester

[MindCandyMan]

One thing I have noticed about your heads golgari is that the foreheads are too big...I commit this sin often as well but when the eyes are measured as the middle of the head...you have to remember that the forehead is placed, in general, is inbetween the eyes and the highest point of the head. Because the head slopes back it sort of gives the appearance that the eyes are higher than the middle but they aren't. Not sure if that made sense...if you need more explanation lemme know.

[golgari]

thanks for the comments, jester and mindcandyman, you're really helping me out...

jester, i cannot really seem to make a connection between life drawing and doing things out of imagination, there seems to be no link for me, it's like i'm doing two totally different things. so i thought maybe there is none. on the other hand, it might also be that i just didn't do it enough yet, and the link hasn't started to show up yet. so i will follow your advice and keep on doing lifedrawings! i saw that book on amazon, too, but i was not too sure about it - the reviewers praised it alot, but there were critical voices, too (like, he doesn't teach you much, he's just motivating you to draw). and one can't look into it. so maybe i'll have to try to get this in a library
(can one in germany also get english books via "fernausleihe"?). do you own it?

mindcandyman, to be honest...no i didn't really get it ;)
if you could try to explain it a little bit more in-depth or something like that, i'd be really grateful. i think you're right, i'm doing something wrong with the upper part of the head, but i cannot really find out what it is...
by the way, i think i remember you doing a lot of selfportraits. what do you think, did that help you in doing faces out of imagination?


back to drawing from life... ;)
http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-22-01.jpg

[sone_one]

nothing would be better for drawing from imagination than life drawing and life/theoretical observation.

keep at it

[edit] wie ich deiner frage entnommen hab sprichst du deutsch, oder täusch ich mich? :)

es fällt mir wesentlich leichter zu erklären was ich denke wenn ich nicht erst in englisch denken muss ^^...

aber bevor ich hier nen aufsatz schreibe will ich sicher gehen dass du mich auch verstehst ;) ne kurze antwort reicht

[jester]

golgari, the connection builds slowly, sooooooo slowly. I'm struggling this battle myself. But it makes sense: Once you have built up a sort of internal library you can rely on you can also draw convincingly from your mind. But - although I feel this is true - I also know that my strength is rather on drawing from life or photographs. I'll probably never be a gifted drawer from mind - but I'm sure that once day I'll produce at least decent results.

As for that Ron Tiner book: yes, I own it and I treasure it (it's a soft paperback). From my time at university I know that you can get English books via Fernausleihe (even from libraries in the UK) but that it costs quite a lot of money and that often you are neither allowed to copy them nor take them home.

sone_one, nobody minds when you write PMs or e-mails in German but you should leave that out of the posts here since it is impolite to all those people who don't speak German. So, if you want the forum to participate, take the pain and write in English (which, by the way, you also improve that way!) - or send golgari a PM. No offense meant - but how would you react people writing here in French (or, in case you speak that) in Swedish, or Romanian?

Jester

[antihero]

hey golgari!

finally i checked out your thread now and im impressed!

In my own thread amphex posted the link to a loomis Book which is all about heads. As allways the Loomis method is easy to understand and starts in a point where everyone can join the lesson. Have a look at it:
http://www.gameartworks.com/LoomisBooks/heads/page_01.htm

I hope this helps. So... nothing more to say except for:
keep going!

antihero

[sone_one]

@ jester .... yes my fault havent been thinkin of pm. maybe i havent seen a problem cause i dont feel bothered if someone posts in his native language, but i respect the fact that you do.... thats ok.

enough chitchat... on to business ;)

[golgari]

thanks to all of you for the comments!

sone_one: yeah, i'm german. oh, and jester aswell, i think... but she's right nonetheless, it's not that polite to post in native language. anyway, if you'd like to send me a PM in order to better express yourself, that'd be great! :)

jester: yeah, that "internal library"-stuff is clear to me - and in case of faces, it makes great sense, you're right. but generally...if you're aiming at drawing concepts, it's not enough to draw what you once have "put in your internal library", you have to make things up - i guess by juxtaposing "basic elements". so learning how to do that was what i was aiming at with my questions...
i understand that i put life drawing away to drastically, though. probably you just get a "feeling" for drawing out of mind when you've done drawing from life long enough?

antihero: thanks, yeah, i guess i'd read a bit more of that loomis stuff, he's indeed pretty good. don't know why i always am a little bit shy in reading loomis. probably it's because i don't like reading on the computer. (i love real books ;) )

i was in the bath today. didn't swim though, no, i drew some gestures instead :)
back home, i did another selfportrait...

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-23-01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-23-02.jpg

[golgari]

some sketches from television (i really like the guy in the top right, although it doesn't look like the guy from the tv at all ;) )
and another portrait
a rather quick one today...

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-24-01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-24-02.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

cool man way to fill up your page. I tried sketching from TV before but I got distracted and didn't draw much, it changes too fast.

Your SPs are getting better all the time. I think on this one you suffered a bit from changing position while you drew it...the nose doesn't seem like the same angle as the rest of the face and the chin is not in the right place.

[golgari]

this is really strange. i replied to this thread yesterday, but now i see that it didn't show up. hrrm.
oh well...

jeff: thanks for the comment. yeah, i suffer from that all the time when doing a selfportrait...but oh well ;)
concerning tv-sketching, i think it's more an exercise to remember stuff. it's not so much about sketching what you actually see on the screen (for that, it's MUCH too fast), but rather about trying to remember what you saw....and making stuff up that seems realistic ;)
i'm not that succesful with it, but it's better than doing nothing while watching tv ;)

i was away over the weekend...
anyway, here are the drawings i did during the time.
another selfportrait (yeah, i know, the eyes are too big...damn...), a first try with the coal i got for my birthday (hmm, it's pretty hard drawing with coal. you can hardly correct any mistakes, and you can't draw with a pencil first to get the basic shapes down, either, since if you draw with a pencil, the coal won't attach itself to the paper properly afterwards because of the graphite. so every stroke has to be "perfect"...anyone knows any help for this? ). sorry for the bad quality of the coal pic, i couldn't scan it because of the coal, i had to make a photograph...
plus, some gestures and some imaginative stuff


http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-25-01.jpg


http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-25-02.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-26-01.jpg

[golgari]

this sketchpage was fun
although the person on the upper right is _totally_ off...

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-07-28-01.jpg

[sone_one]

Originally posted by golgari
(hmm, it's pretty hard drawing with coal. you can hardly correct any mistakes, and you can't draw with a pencil first to get the basic shapes down, either, since if you draw with a pencil, the coal won't attach itself to the paper properly afterwards because of the graphite. so every stroke has to be "perfect"...anyone knows any help for this?)

ive to say that i dont like those coal pencils (coal mine instead of graphite.... hrm bad explenation...hope it works ;))... i like those pure coal pieces a lot more. if you are working with those, try to draw in a very flat angle. the edge is a lot harder, which will enable you to draw very thin lines that are not that dark. ive been drawing alot with coal in school's figuredrawing lessons. after a few hard hours i got pretty used to it.... coal is fun ;)

[Iiori]

These last ones look like you had fun. You really seem to be getting better, and I can tell I think what you mean about perspective with drawing. Your people have shoulders that look like shoulders! *Jealous*:p

I especially like the self portaits, they keep getting better. :D

Sorry I don't have much crit, maybe the legs are a tad short?

[golgari]

i was away for a while, visited my brother in berlin, so that's why it was so silent around here :)
i also sketched a little bit in my sketchbook (in the train, and in the museums), but since i don't have a flatbed-scanner i can't post that (i can only post "loose" pages, not ones that are in a book :/ )...

oh, i understand, sone_one...i actually have one of those dreaded "coal pencils". i thought they were quite handy (since you're not smudging your hands or anything), but now that you mention it i see the disadvantage of not being able to draw with the flat side. hmm. maybe some time have to get a real coal piece.

thanks for the comment, iiori - yeah, i know the problem with the legs, i have to concentrate a little more on that.

[golgari]

a sketch for something i'm working on currently. took longer than it probably looks like, since figuring out the pose was hell. it's undetailled on purpose. do you think the pose is right?

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-08-03.jpg

[metaphysiks]

get a book called drawing from the right side of the brain. read it carefully and do what it says. it should help with a lot of things. or you could try drugs, hey it works for some people.
meta

[Jeff Gran]

the pose looks pretty good, but I think the proportions are a little off. The legs look too long to me. And the head too tall and thin. But it looks pretty good other than that. Good weight. Maybe the shoulder on the right side would sag a little more since it's not carrying weight like the left side is.

[golgari]

thanks for your comments, guys...

metaphysiks: actually, i read that book from beginning to end and was quite enchanted by it back then. now, i'm a little bit more critic about it, though - betty edwards is pretty good in awakening your direct-life-drawing-skills...but if you want to do concepts, it doesn't help you at all. not in the slightest way.
hm. any good experiences concerning your second method? :P

jeff: yeah, you're probably right. the leg might be a bit too long this time. usually i draw them too short, so maybe i did exaggerate it too much this time ;)
and yeah, i guess you're right about the shoulder, too. but i had to change the position of the right arm anyway, so that's no big problem. thanks alot for your analyzation :)

(by the way, here's the more-or-less final product of my sketch: clickety-click to see (http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//stuff/samsastraum.gif) )

drawing is very frustrating at the moment. i just don't know how to advance in my drawings....how to get stuff out of my mind more realistically...argh. maybe i should get an art course somewhere - but there's none around here, as far as i know :(

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-08-04.jpg

[Iiori]

I like the ideas in this last one. I really do. The head studies are working as well:D


I totally understand how it frustrating it can be. What worked for me is I stopped drawing for a couple days, just relaxed and studied up on things. Then after a while I couldn't wait to get drawing again. Thats just me, so I don't know if its good advice for you or not. :o I bet theres online courses?

[endregan]

heads are coming alone nicely :)

[Jeff Gran]

maybe try some more perspective stuff. I've been doing a bit of that lately and it has really helped me think in 3 dimensions.

[golgari]

thanks alot guys - you're really motivating ;)
i read a short article about poses in a magazine i bought recently today, so i decided to do some poses afterwards...

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-08-05-01.jpg

[OrangeCatNinja]

wow man, i'm seeing a shit-ton of improvement!

keep at it =D i'll keep watching!

[OrangeCatNinja]

a small bit of advice i can give you, that i'm actually going to take now that i've identified it.

you and i both have VERY sketchy *duh* lines, and it gets kinda messy. if you're going to go the route of using shapes to get the basic form down, maybe just filling up a page with cylinders, blocks, other things. focus on making them really clear and easy to read, in which case everything will hopefully take on more depth as those other lines won't be killing the illusion of 3d...?

i dunno. just thought of it =)

[Iiori]

Those poses look good.:D I like how some of them are nice and curvy. ^^


I agree with OrangeCatNinja. Maybe trying shapes would be a good next step.:D

Another thing that might help is if you don't press so hard with your pencil. Just do it lightly until you like what you see and only get darker lines for the lines you want to show? Erm I think that made sense. Oo Then you could possibly work on more inner details. ^^

[golgari]

thanks for the comments, orangecat and iiori...
i'm not really sure with what you mean with trying out shapes...do you mean i should try to really properly get down the basic solids in different perspectives?
iiori...yeah, you're right. i know i definately have to pay more attention to that.

today i tried to do a painting for the first time, just for fun. i think for the first time it didn't turn out all too bad...

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/sketchbook_2003-08-06-01.jpg

[endregan]

hey man nice painting. your figures coming along nice too. keep at it.

the painting is good. really good for your first. I am also playing around with painting now and just hope I can play around more than I have now, not a lot of time lately.

:) GJ!

[antihero]

looks "not bad"?
man that's great, as a first try and as a Selfportrait. It may have some faults in it but it really looks like... it could be you... ;)

Keep at it! (if that makes sense, you know what i mean ;) )

antihero

[golgari]

thanks for the comments guys, nice to see that you seem to like it. i think i'll have to try some more paintings in the future. they're pretty hard, but fun :)

i was away for the weekend because i was on a festival (the "m'era luna"), but now i'm back...

http://images.deviantart.com/i/f/a/7/sketchbook_2003_08_12_01.jpg

[golgari]

did a drawing of my hand today. plus, i tried myself on some fast expressions, using myself as reference...


http://images.deviantart.com/i/c/8/0/sketchbook_2003_08_13_01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/a/0/3/sketchbook_2003_08_13_02.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

nice, man. I really like that hand. your figures are getting a lot better too. seems like you're able to 'feel' the body better. nice work on the expressions. Very loose drawings, but I can tell what face you were making!

[golgari]

thanks alot, man. you're keeping me going.
today was a bad day for drawing.
first i had no time and then nothing seemed to work out well :(

http://images.deviantart.com/i/c/4/b/sketchbook_2003_08_14_01.jpg

[antihero]

Your figures are getting better!

Though the poses look pretty good, i suggest that you try to work a bit on proportions. Most of your figures are bit too slim (especially in the waist area)... well it's not all too bad, but for me it helped a lot, also to get a better "feeling" for the figure.

And i agree on OrangeCatNinja, he gave you the advice to work a bit on yer lines. As i looked again on your stuff, it seems to me, that maybe you should just do some of the figures bigger size. The shading and lines in your bigger pictures look pretty good and are not too messy, but if you're drawing in smaller scale it gets a bit confusing... Know what i mean?

concerning the angel (about two posts before) i suggest to draw the wings esser volumetrical. Your finished version of the angel leaning on "samsas traum" and that last one look both good, but it looks like his wings are filled with air, like a balloon... :)

Well, that's all for now... :) You're figures are really getting better (you too, by the way) just keep at it!

antihero

[golgari]

thanks alot for that comment, antihero!
you're totally right about the proportions! i think i should do some studies there. oh well. i ordered my bridgman book two days before, so i hope that will be quite handy ;)
yeah, i understand what you're pointing at with the lines. actually, i didn't really consider the line quality that important and only paid attention to getting down the poses and shapes, but i see what you mean. i really have to work on that.
lesser volumetrical? you mean not so big? hm, i wanted him to have pretty big wings, in order to create a nice outline-shape for the whole picture. i know what you mean, though, it DOES look too empty. i though about maybe putting feathers in there or something. but then again, that would break the simplicity of it....

today i did some life drawing. rather fast & loose...

http://images.deviantart.com/i/3/8/0/sketchbook_2003_08_15_01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/5/6/0/sketchbook_2003_08_15_02.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/6/1/9/sketchbook_2003_08_15_03.jpg

[golgari]

went back to some stuff by loomis again today. the first page is from reference (->loomis). also, i tried to get my stroke quality a bit better. was not _that_ succesful, though....

http://images.deviantart.com/i/b/4/6/sketchbook_2003_08_16_01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/b/2/d/sketchbook_2003_08_16_02.jpg

[antihero]

lesser volumetrical? you mean not so big? hm, i wanted him to have pretty big wings, in order to create a nice outline-shape for the whole picture. i know what you mean, though, it DOES look too empty. i though about maybe putting feathers in there or something. but then again, that would break the simplicity of it....

nono, The _shape_ that you drew feels volumetrical to me. On that very simple one, it is maybe just me, but on your last angel-sketch, the wings look not like being as thin as a feather. Especially because you drew horizontal rounded lines, the wings seem to be round as balloon... argh... I'm havin a hard time to explain what i mean... :) At the end it is not that important, if you don't get the point, forget about it..: :)

The lifedrawings look pretty good! Just the legs (especially on the second one) are probably a bit too short.

Your lines look allready a bit better, well at least to me... :)

Keep it up!

antihero

[golgari]

antihero:
ahhh-haaaah, now i get what you mean! yeah, you're probably right about that. i'll check that next time i'm working on it & try to fiddle around a bit with that - thanks :)

well, some more sketches. and i did a sketch of the bone structure, from loomis' figure drawing book.


http://images.deviantart.com/i/3/1/0/sketchbook_2003_08_17_01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/e/1/f/sketchbook_2003_08_17_3.jpg

[Iiori]

Wow, Just being away for a little bit, I notice a lot of improvement in your body structure. Great! :D

You should do more with the Ax guy. ^^

[Jeff Gran]

Nice stuff, man. I see lot's of imagination in this post. I also like the axe guy, looks volumetric even though hes facing straght on, that's hard to do. the loomis mannikin studies you did look good, but I think they all look like ones you copied...remember to try some of your own poses with his setup, I think it may help with proportion and visualization and stuff. Keep it up bro.

[golgari]

thanks to you two for replying...
yeah, i like that axe guy as well =)
concerning the loomis sketches...i noticed that i still had some flaws in using my mannikin figure, so i figured it would just be a good idea to go back a bit and do more studies in order to memorize the stuff better. i hope those studies actually will help me ;)

so i did some more studies today, loomis & barcsay...
plus, i did some exercise in order to work a little bit on my linework


http://images.deviantart.com/i/4/2/8/sketchbook_2003_08_18_01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/8/b/e/sketchbook_2003_08_18_3.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/8/f/1/sketchbook_2003_08_18_03.jpg

[Iiori]

Wow:O Loomis is really working for you. You are really starting to put things together well.

Great line art page. I like it a lot.:D

[jester]

Great Loomis studies, it's really working for you.

May I ask a question? Are you left handed? Or have you mirrored that line practise page?

Jester

[endregan]

wow man. these sketches are great. i should check out loomis!! :) your anatomy studies are coming along strong and that is good. Keep at it brother

[Jeff Gran]

nice stuff, these new mannikins look great. I like the muscle studies also. I think you're getting your proportions down really well.

[golgari]

thanks for the kind comments, everyone...

jester: yeah, sure, i love questions =)
no, actually i'm right-handed...and as far as i know i didn't mirror the page - although i'm not really sure what you mean with "mirroring".
why are you asking? :)

here's my latest effort, studies of barcsay (anatomy for the artist)...i like his stuff

http://images.deviantart.com/i/c/2/7/sketchbook_2003_08_19_01.jpg

[jester]

I asked because the spirals are going the wrong way round. At least mine are turning the other way round... :D

Jester

[MindCandyMan]

Keep it up bro...those studies are showing definite progress. Keep pushing and keep doing those studies from loomis and others...and from life. You have improved a lot since you started keep it up man.

[golgari]

thanks, mindcandyman...yeah, i'll keep it up. i'll see where those studies take me =)

jester - well i tried to let them go round in both ways - practice, you know ;)

i did some stuff out of mind (still struggling with getting a feeling for poses and stuff...working with that mannekin. *sigh*) and again some studies out of barcsay's book. this time i took a closer look at the legs :)

http://images.deviantart.com/i/5/9/2/sketchbook_2003_08_20_01.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/a/3/f/sketchbook_2003_08_19_02.jpg

[antihero]

Nice Stuff golgari!
The leg looks pretty good though complicated. Nice work, i know it takes a lot of patience! The head sketch, by the way, a post ago, looks also pretty good! Keep this up, your practice with the manikin frame is improving as well.

nice work!

antihero

PS: has "golgari" a special meaning?

[golgari]

thanks for the comment, antihero :)
yeah, i hope those anatomy studies will get me somewhere. the leg is indeed very complicated, since it has so many different muscles! argh ;)

and yeah, golgari actually has a meaning... i don't know if you're familiar with "das schwarze auge", a german pen & paper-rpg... it's kind of the "german dungeons & dragons". in the mythology of that game, golgari is the bird who carries the souls of those who have died over a deep magical ocean (das "nirgendmeer"), to bring them to the realm of the dead... that's where the name originates from ;)

well, some random scribbling today - school started again :/


http://images.deviantart.com/i/2/b/0/sketchbook_2003_08_21_01.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

the face and leg studies look really good. I know it takes a lot of patience to get all that detail in there. your figures are improving...I think that mannikin definitely helps with working out poses. maybe figure out a pose using that and then draw it again trying to lay the muscles over it. just a suggestion. the guy in the top left, his legs are too short, gotta watch out for that. ;)

[antihero]

Nice studies, though i'd say, the complex ones look a bit messy, maybe try to clean up your lines a bit.

thanks for explaining the name, sounds great... :eek: ;)

Keep it all up!

antihero

[golgari]

thanks guys :)

jeff: yeah, trying to lay the muscles over the mannequins is what i'm heading to. will try that in the future, definately.

antihero: *sigh* yes, i have to improve my linework...

my lines are too short and fuzzy, i go over the same small areas all to fast instead of making long strokes.
if anyone has any suggestions on what to do to work against this, i'd greatly appreciate that! ;)

i did an anatomy study for the head in an en-face-facon today - since the barczay-book doesn't have it in that position, i had to get it from somewhere else. but the sample from the "anatomy for the artist"-book by sarah kimblet had something very similar to the style of barczy, so that's what i used :)

plus, i did some more poses...

http://images.deviantart.com/i/9/8/1/sketchbook_2003_08_22_01.jpg


http://images.deviantart.com/i/b/2/3/sketchbook_2003_08_22_02.jpg

[antihero]

I really don't know what exactly you need to do, to improve linework, but i'd say, if you think that short strokes are your problem, try to draw a sheet full of things that you only draw in veeeeery big strokes. Go crazy, maybe even try to draw a figure/head/whatever in just one large stroke. Don't concentrate on the things that you draw, concentrate on the fact that you only use long lines to give a shape to your drawing. Maybe in a first approach you can even forget about shading and work on that in a second step. I don't know, that's just an idea.

However, too me copying some pencil drawings (all the knee studies) also helped because you see how the masters of pencils used linework. However, my linework needs improvement as well so maybe in a few days one of us knows more about this problem and the solution... :)

However, the head-page looks good! Especially the big one has a pretty good shape! I'd say the upper part (forehead) of the head looks a bit strange. the big white area with the strong black lines around it makes it look like this guy had two bumps on his head... ;)

Your figure-drawing is also doin nice... Just keep at it!

antihero

[golgari]

thanks for the comment & the tips, antihero - i tried what you said for some time today and i think it seems to help. i'll keep trying :)
concerning those "bumps" - now that you say it i see it too. maybe i exaggerated it a bit. however, i think it actually also looked like that. see here... (http://www.fineart.sk/anatomy4artist46.jpg)

today i made another selfportrait. it looks a bit strange - but then again, i haven't done a selfportrait for some time now...

http://images.deviantart.com/i/d/6/c/sketchbook_2003_08_23_01.jpg

[endregan]

AHHH your sps man the eyes just freak me out! your showing good progress keep with it... :)

[Jeff Gran]

nice work golgari. the eyes on your SP do look really good. I think the nose is probably still your weakest of the features, maybe try to get it more accurate next time (the tip looks too circular).

to add to what antihero said about line quality, maybe try this: find a picture or set an object that you want to draw. draw it only with outlines, and keep an eraser handy. draw SLOWLY, and look about 75 percent of the time at the object and the other 25 at your paper, constantly comparing the two. when you notice that you went wrong, just erase back up the line until you get to where it was right, then continue. the purpose is to try to be able to see the line on your paper before you draw it...burn the image of the object into your eye (well, not literally) and just reproduce it on the paper... that's kinda what i've been trying to do in my life drawing sessions lately, and i think it's helped.

[golgari]

thanks endregan and jeff...

jeff: thanks alot! i think i heard of that method before, but i never really got the clue what the exercise is about. i'll try this!

well, like i already said, my bridgman book has arrived and i started to do some studies. the first two pages are nearly solely bridgman studies, the other two is mostly my own stuff...

http://images.deviantart.com/i/6/4/e/sketchbook_2003_08_24_01.jpg


http://images.deviantart.com/i/f/9/1/sketchbook_2003_08_24_02.jpg


http://images.deviantart.com/i/7/b/b/sketchbook_2003_08_24_03.jpg

http://images.deviantart.com/i/3/3/e/sketchbook_2003_08_24_04.jpg

[endregan]

hehe great golgari. reminds me when i just started bridgman...and im like halfway almost through the book!!

its a great book I should review the body proportions I definitly need it. just keep with it. from what I learnt - do a lot of studies from this book and then do a heck of a lot more out of your memory and keep studying then do it again the next day until you have it ingrained in.

That is what I should of done before moving on... :)

[StephenC]

dont know if u realize it, but you've got a lot of work in here for just one month since u started. It's a good thing.

[StephenC]

dont know if u realize it, but you've got a lot of work in here for just one month since u started. It's a good thing.

[golgari]

thanks for the comments and the encouragement, endregan and stephen...

i tried the method jeff talked about today, and i think it's really a great exercise. it was one of the hardest things to do since quite some time, but i think it really makes sense to do this more often. i'll try. (thanks again, jeff!)

http://images.deviantart.com/i/8/f/0/sketchbook_2003_08_25_01.jpg

[golgari]

these are mostly from reference.
some more bridgman studies on the first two pages, and some random stuff on the last one...

http://images.deviantart.com/i/3/7/7/sketchbook_2003_08_26_01.jpg


http://images.deviantart.com/i/a/7/1/sketchbook_2003_08_26_02.jpg


http://images.deviantart.com/i/9/5/c/sketchbook_2003_08_26_03.jpg

[endregan]

golgari nice studies.

keep it up, and what i learnt that was most valuable is to not do too many sketchy lines when doing references, or clean it up a bit as you go along. each line has a place to go for a reason.

:)

[golgari]

thanks endregan...yeah, i'm trying my best not to make it so fuzzly, but...it just happens ;)

here's another page of bridgman studies (rather frustrating this time, the body from the side is somehow not really me thing), plus some drawings from life...

http://images.deviantart.com/i/b/1/9/sketchbook_2003_08_27_01.jpg


http://images.deviantart.com/i/3/4/c/sketchbook_2003_08_27_02.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

nice work lately, golgari. I'm glad I could help. The mannikin drawing you did with my method looks really good to me, and the line quality is excellent. Same with the bridgman studies, you're really improving your line. I know just what you mean that fuzzy lines just "happen" sometimes. But keep concentrating on this and you will improve. And keep your eraser handy, that's what I always forget...I used to think it was cheating. Keep it up man.

[golgari]

thanks jeff. i'm always having an eraser with me, but i'm a little bit lazy there...i do erase enough, though, i think.
yeah, i'll be working on that line quality. or rather, on the ability to foresee the lines on the paper. somehow i have the feeling that you that way also contribute to your visualizing skills. so it's really a good exercise.

today i did a self portrait once again. i'm not too unhappy about this one, i have to say...

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-08-27-02.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

wow, nice SP, I like it. Only crit is, too much white. I had a life drawing teacher that used to rant about how no part of any skin is white, so fill it all in with tone, even if its' all just really light tone. But that will also help you look for the more subtle shifts in tone, resulting in a more accurate portrait.

[golgari]

thanks for the comment, jeff...
i used to leave areas white because i did not want to fall in the scheme of the common fault of "greying it all out" and not having enough contrast in it, but what you're saying seems to make sense to me. i'm probably "whiting" it out too much ;)

today i did another self portrait (grml, my scanner smudged the shading on the neck...), this time in plain daylight. plus, i did a kind of nose study aswell as a drawing of my hand, where i tried to keep the lines really clear and arranged in order...

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-08-29-01.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-08-29-02.jpg

[golgari]

here we go again.
another kind of selfportrait... it started out by just doodling around, but i kind of liked the strange appearance of it, so i finished it up. i realize now that it looks like an awfully old person...oh well ;)
and i went out today with my bike and tried to get some landscape sketches done....

edit: hmm, what the hell is up with my pictures...they don't seem to show up... can you see them?
strange. i can see the picture when i post the URL in the address bar, and it works fine posting it on other boards (just tried, for test purposes)...just here at conceptart, there seems to be something wrong? :(

edit II: new hosting service, new try...

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-08-30-01.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-08-30-02.jpg

[chudzta]

Woo im back from hypersleep. And no your images arent showing. Its likely temporary but whatever it is hope it gets figured out. I'll keep an eye out the next two days to see when it all comes back to ya
-Chudds

[endregan]

ah youre using devart for that...not a good idea.

they likely dont allow linking externally so you have to find a new host!

[golgari]

oh well. damn it. devart always was such a nice host, and now it's just leaving me.
anyway, i signed up on another free host. i hope this is more stable. i fixed the last days, maybe i'll try to fix the older ones, too...later ;)

and here is what i drew yesterday and today, two selfportraits.
the first one was a quick one, the other was at first intended to be a quick one, too, but then i went over it again and worked on it quite a while...
plus, i worked on a little tree study for the middle class thread. simplifying the leaves of the trees kills me all the time. i just can't to figure out how to do this properly! when i try to, they always get a totally different structure on paper, and it doesn't look like the tree it was supposed to be at all. it looks like a tree, alright, but not like the one i tried to draw! arhgh.

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-08-31-01.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-01-01.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-08-31-02.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

big improvements, man. I like how you're really starting to experiment with these SPs. People say that's always good and helps keep you doing new things. Ya, just start doodling around, draw whatever pops out to you, after all your art is a reflection of yourself (no pun intended). I like the latest one. the random strokes work pretty well and give it a lot of personality. And those tree studies are awesome. Trees are very difficult for me too. The top left one looses the depth because all the leaves are drawn with the same weight and same tone. the rest look good though. The middle left shows a great attention to detail, you really got the shape of the tree down, and the top left texture is great. Very well done. The landscapes from the other day look good too, glad you're getting out into nature as well. :)

[jester]

Your tree studies look very good! Really!. Just hold them away a few feet and squint your eyes!

Jester

[golgari]

thanks for the comments...
jeff: yeah, i think from time to time you really should do some kind of experimental selfportrait...it's somehow liberating :)
jester: oh well, i only wished they would look more like the trees i actually drew, and not only like some trees...uhm ;)

today i went to a lifedrawing class, which was just GREAT. really, it was fun. it got pretty late now, though, so i'm not posting all of my drawings. this is roughly the half of it,
the first page being 4 minute poses, the others being 10 minute poses...

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-01.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-02.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-03.jpg

[Iiori]

Im glad you got into a figure drawing class, your studies look great. Alot more flowy and clean. Still think the legs are a tad short on some of them, but you are getting better with that. :)

Your sps are getting better as well. I really like the line varity in the second one.

[golgari]

thanks, iiori. i'll try to make it to that figure drawing class again in the future

i still seem to suffer from a little serverproblem (seems like the pics are off now and then?) but for most of the time it should be working. i hope so, at least...

here's the other half of the bunch of lifedrawings, and some other random sketch pages...one's from school, i drew it during the break, the other's from doodling around in the train after the figure drawing class and the last two are 2 tries on doing some loose self portraits today - one with a baffled view and the other drawn with a fineliner...

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-04.jpg
http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-05.jpg
http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-06.jpg
http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-07.jpg
http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-08.jpg
http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-03-01.jpg
http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-03-02.jpg

[Hunger_Artist]

try some more color stuff. Have you seen crayon over pen? its a trip....the sketch of the school break is pretty nice.

[jester]

You are definitely improving. However, try to think about what your lines imply (direction, form etc.)!

Jester

[golgari]

thanks for the comments!
hunger: hm, yeah, i'm working a lot just with b/w since i think the groundwork is pretty damn important. but maybe i should do some colour stuff too, and if it's just for the sake of loosening up. i just wish i had more time :/

jester: hmm, i think you told me something like this some time before (which is perfectly okay - if you tell me something you think i'm doing wrong and i'm continuing to do it although i don't have any opposes to your comment, please please tell me again, so that i'll see when i'm doing something wrong!) when talking about what the lines imply, do you only mean things like hatching in direction of the form and keeping the lines clear (because that's something i disregard from time to time out of laziness or because i want to get down some impression as fast as possible down to paper without paying much attention to the lines) or is there something else?

i had some hassle with webspace and such again the last days. and yesterday evening conceptart seemed to be down for some reason? anyway, here are some more portraits...



http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-04-01.jpg


http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-05-01.jpg


http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-05-02.jpg

[endregan]

nice gg..


your form and linework coming along nicely as well as your life.

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-02-07.jpg this and your last self portrait are amazing improvement... mark my words.

keep it up

[golgari]

thanks, endregan...

today was a good day - i drew all day, and i'm mostly pretty satisfied with the outcome.
i did another selfportrait, some tree studies from life (for the middle class thread - i started these the day before yesterday), some bridgman studies and some willow sketches, since i have to draw a willow for school... the second page of willows (the one with the three different willowparts on it) is from reference, all the others are from imagination...


http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-01.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-02.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-03.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-04.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-05.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-06.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-07.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-08.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-06-09.jpg

[endregan]

awesome the trees and studies look great!!!

:) i like this

[Cashmere]

Hey Golgari, those studies are great, I like the trees you are made for the middle class specially the work on the simplified leaves. Good work!

[golgari]

thanks to the both of you.
here are my latest sketches... another two selfportraits, and some sketches from the schoolbreak again

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-07-01.jpg

http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-07-02.jpg


http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-09-01.jpg


http://users.domaindlx.com/golgari/2003-09-09-02.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

damn, man you've been busy! (I wish I still got my email notifications...) You're getting better by the day. I especially like your drawings from the school breaks. I know how tough it can be to capture someone when they keep moving around. the willows look awesome too, especially the ones from imagination, very cool shapes you've got going there. keep it up as always. I'm not sure if I said this before but you should try a self portrait in charcoal, you can smudge it and blend the tones much easier and faster than pencil, and it's pretty fun to get your fingers all dirty. :)

[golgari]

Thanks guys.
mlessard: hmm, actually i'm a little bit in the thinking scheme of contrast=good, too much grey = bad. but maybe i've overdone it a bit partially...

jeff: yeah, those capturing someone in motion is extremely hard, and it takes a long time of sitting there until a sketch works. plus they don't really look like the person i'm drawing - but to hell with it, it's practice! =)
yeah, maybe i'll try coal...when i have some time *sigh*

i had some trouble around here... my cousin died, and we had to drive quite a while down to where the funeral was, so i didn't have that much time on my hands on this weekend.
managed to do some self portraits and some more willow sketches, though...
the first willow sketch is from imagination, the other from a photo reference



http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-10-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-12-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-14-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-14-02.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

wow sorry to hear about your cousin. good SPs here, good trees also. Keep it up.

[jester]

Sorry about your cousin, hope you feel a bit better now.

Very good eyes in your SPs but you still have to work on the hair. Try not to fill that area with random stokes but group them according to light and dark spatches - very similiar to what you did with the tree studies.

Jester

[golgari]

thanks...
yeah, i'm alright.

thanks for the comment jester, you're right - the hair is always the last thing i do and i tend to get lazy there. have to work on that.

one portrait i did yesterday evening and one i did today

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-14-03.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-15-01.jpg

[antihero]

Nice Improvement you got in here!

Your Selfportraits are really interesting in their progression! Maybe try different poses/expressions from time to time, like you did some posts ago, it makes it more interesting to draw (at least for me).

The trees do also look great, they seem to fit your drawing style very well.

Maybe try drawing less with... erhm... lines and more with colored areas from time to time. You still have got a lot of visible lines, especially in your sp's. Know what i mean? Sort of a more... "painting-like" drawing. Maybe that's just me, but i think it is interesting to try to vary ones own "style". Also it may improve your linework (sounds dumb i know) if youre trying to once concentrate on drawing in areas, not lines... excuse my ramblin... Got the point?

Anyways, keep it up!

antihero

[Jeff Gran]

awesome SP the last one! kickass, I can tell you spent time and thought on it. You're really getting the hang of indicating form with shade. Now the next step: think about your range of values, and concentrate on where you put the darkest and lightest tones. on the last one, the white on the forehead, tip of the nose, and chin really stick out, and I wonder if those were really the brightest parts of your face. also, I'm sure I said it before but try shining a strong light from one side (or above or whatever), you will see the values more clearly. it's hard to tell where your light source is in these.

[jester]

Great improvement from yesterday's to today's portrait!

Just like you reached the next level in a computer game.

:blue:

Jester

[golgari]

thanks a lot for the comments
i tried to pay attention to some of the things you said, like using more shapes instead of lines (although i haven't got the faintest idea how this should improve my LINEwork?! ;) ) and emphasizing the different values more. i also took a more defined lightsource this time...


http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-16-01.jpg

[golgari]

another bunch of selfportraits, and another sketchpage i did while at school. hum, school's pretty demanding at the moment :/
oh well, at least i've got my art lessons :)

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-17-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-17-02.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-18-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-19-01.jpg

[endregan]

keep it up man your getting better all the time.

what sort of art lessons are you taking?

[adien]

wow Golgari, I put my computer away for a month and a half and come back to see that you've improved immensely! You should go back and take a look at your first self portraits and then look what you're doing now. Amazing difference. :)

Your self portraits now have so much more form and 3 dimensional shape than they did then. You've come along way in a short time my friend. If I had that kind of dedication maybe I would be advancing this fast. :)

Keep it up, this is great stuff. :)

[golgari]

thanks guys...
endregan: just normal school art lessons. it is, together with english, my "leistungskurs" (roughly translated maybe "high performance class") now, though. which means i'm having it 5 hours per week of art and english lessons, in contrast to the normal 3 hours per week of all the other subjects. :)

here's another selfportrait, a sketch for something i have to do for school (we had to find a poem about a tree, then picture this tree in some sketches - the willow sketches you saw before, and now i have to draw this tree only by using the poem itself as lines. this was an experiment on what kind of writing gives the nicest texture for my tree. i chose to use a mixture of the first and the second for the final one...)
and another selfportrait, this time trying to only sketch down the shadows, using the negative space on the light side. my art teacher (in school) gave me that idea. plus, some loose sketches of my parents



http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-20-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-20-02.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-21-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-21-02.jpg

[behemot5]

i think your last self portrait is better for the reasons that your eyes are better dimensionned as before...perhaps that your mouth is a little bit too little...but now it's better

[golgari]

thanks behemoth - i know, i tend to draw the eyes too big all the time. don't know why exactly...i guess i have to approach them by using their negative forms stronger.

some more selfportraits, different expressions/ viewpoints

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-23-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-24-01.jpg

[jester]

golgari, your progress is great. I esp. like the self portrait named 2003-09-21-01.jpg. You managed to get a Kunst-Leistungskurs at your school? Wow! We didn't have that at the time I was preparing for my Abitur (A-level or GCSE for UK native speakers, don't know the equivalent in the US) - and we were almost a hundred people in that class / Jahrgangsstufe! (BTW I also had English LK... what a coincidence ;) )

Jester

[Jeff Gran]

amazing progress man! self portriats are showing more and more life in them all the time. keep experimenting!

[golgari]

thanks to the both of you :)

jester: yeah, it is a combinated class (we've got 3 hours per week together with the "grundkurs" [basic class] and an additional 2 hours only for us, the "leistungskurs") but anyway, it's great :)
hehe...english lk is great, too. we just read the catcher in the rye. fabulous book...

another 2 selfportraits, some sketches from school, plus some random stuff inspired by some of the last DSG topics...

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-25-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-25-02.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-26-01.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-09-26-02.jpg

[golgari]

huh. it's been some time, hm?
well, i've been pretty busy - oh, and i kept drawing! it was just too big of a hassle to keep uploading all my pictures with that horrible scanner which takes about 15 minutes to scan my picture...oh well, now i bought a new one ;)
i don't know if i'll be able to be terribly active on the boards in the future (school starts again in some days), but i'll try. we'll see.
anyway, here is some of my better recent stuff...

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-12-19.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-12-23.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2003-12-26.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-01.jpg


http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-05.jpg

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-05-02.jpg

[antihero]

GEEEEEEEZ!

Hey golgari, i was wondering were you've been, long time no post from you!
The selfportrait defintely shows improvement, the figure/puppet/whatever (last picture in your post) looks really cool. And the reading pose looks mighty fine as well. Nice! You're drawing with good contrast i'd say.

Best luck from me, i'm as well trying to get to more regular updates... :)

best wishes from me!

antihero

[endregan]

your latest update shows a lot of improvement, was wondering where you were

drop by when u can!

[golgari]

another one
i somehow screwed up the proportions in the lower right drawing....

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-06.jpg

[golgari]

argh.
this is just not true...i don't want to move the server ONCE AGAIN...ARRGHHH

edit: well, i figured that i just don't have a choice *sigh*
anybody knows of some good webspace where hotlinking is definately allowed?

[golgari]

oh well, i moved to another webserver (once again...) and fixed some of the last pictures (once again... ;) ).

so here's some of the stuff that i drew in the last days...
critique's very much appreciated...

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-08.jpg

a selfportrait. this one took quite a long time...



http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-11.jpg

some head studies from photos, and the door of our kitchen



http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-06-02.jpg

the start of quite a different self portrait, for a certain project.
i'm still working on this

[antihero]

Hey golgari!
The last selfportrait looks awesome!
Have you noticed that in this last one you're (probably for the first time) showing sort of a different head-shape? More complex than before and definitely looking believable. The neck turned out beautiful as well!
Crit is, that your ears seem too small and something about the nose bothers me a bit though i can't really name it.
And was allways, you did a good job on the contrast. You have pretty dark areas as well as whight space.

That's what they call improvement. Go on.

antihero

[chudzta]

Wow. keep doing what youve been chewing on. You must laugh when you look back at page one of this thing. But very nice progression. Guess u still got that mannequin. Hehe. keep up the hard work. peace - chudds

[jester]

Hey golgari, very nice progress! I read in another post that you still have your sketchbook lying around unused - my advice is to buy a second one so you don't feel uncomfortable to ruin this nice clean book (this was how I felt and I loosened once I had a spare one). Make a habit of carrying it around with you and you'll be also drawing more!

Keep going, you're definitely on the right road!

[el_kyrre]

Howdy!

Woah... did not go through all of your stuff, but I see some mighty progress between the first stuff and that on the last side here...
Thats pretty good!

But why are you allways looking sad in your selfportraits?
That makes me wanna cry out loud!

C´mon dude!!! gimme a smile!

el_kyrre

[MindCandyMan]

critique's very much appreciated...

First off I will start off saying there is much improvement in this new batch that's for sure!!! Having said that I wanted to give you some critiques on your drawing. The lighting is getting better you are starting to understand how to control value and that is good but your values are still too choppy...it breaks up the value when stray lines or misplaced dark areas exist. Also you picked a really hard perspective so bravo...but I noticed some things. The ears are very small...I know the perspective would affect them but they are too small in my opinion. Also the nose looks a little off to me I think it is the placement of that "thing" (don't know what it's called hehe) between the nostrils. It is connecting to the face at the same place as the nostrils when it should be a bit below them...also the size of the nose doesn't seem right and the size of the lips don't seem to be quite right either...unless you have your lips pursed but it doesn't look like you do. Also there are some problems with the eyes...they look too "almond" in shape and they don't line up quite right as well. They look straight on but the head is tilted if that makes sense. Those are the things I noticed looking at it...hope that helps.

[Fifthace]

I'm liking your self portraits more and more as you progress. Oddly, some of your older ones stood out to me as being great, just in that they were interesting. The new stuff looks much more detailed and technical, though. Good show.

[golgari]

thanks for all the comments, guys!

antihero: actually, i tilted my head like that some time before, too, but yeah, it's a pose which one doesn't do too often...i think i should do things like that more often, it makes you observe more closely.

jester: actually i've got a very small one which fits into the inner pocket of my jacket and which i'm using to scribble a bit while travelling with the train, but my "normal" sketches, at home, will probably still be realized in A4-sheets. don't want to waste the good paper of my sketchbook ;)

el_kyrre: that's probably because i focus my concentration so much on drawing that my face goes into a completely relaxed status, if i don't force it to do anything else. i can try to do a smiling one for you next time, though. i have to practice to draw smiling lips and / or teeth anyway ;)

mindcandyman: thanks!! after all, critique's exactly what i want, especially if it's more generalized (like the comment about the value). yeah, there are still some stray lines and such...i don't know what exactly you mean with "breaking up the value", though?
concerning the other stuff...yeah, the ears are too small and the lips aswell - didn't really notice that.
i agree that the nose looks a bit strange, but i think it's got more to do with the direction of the tip. i worked this over and over again, but i didn't really seem to get it right, so i left it. the "bridge" between the nostrils should be right, though - in that perspective it's actually higher than the nostrils. tilt your head and look in a mirror, and you'll see ;)

fifthace: thanks. yeah, i spent some more time with rendering and such in the last ones, but that was just too force me a bit to really concentrate once again on my drawing, since i felt i had been getting a bit too loose and messy before. but i think my observational skills also got better, and i guess this really is what matters.

here is another bunch of drawings...



http://home.t-online.de/home/stephanblome//stuff/theselfportraitproject.jpg
this is the completed "different kind of selfportrait", for which i posted my first sketch some weeks ago. it was done for a friend's project, on a different board.


http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-21.jpg
another selfportrait. not so happy with this one, the left and the right side don't align to each other that well. i guess i tilted the head a bit while drawing it :/

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-22.jpg
and another one. although it somehow frustrated me while drawing it and i left it unfinished, i somehow like it now.

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-24.jpg
wanted to do something else than selfportraits, and i noticed that if i just draw one feature, i draw it much more detailled than in my usual selfportraits. so here are some eyes. while drawing them, i recognized once more how their structure affects the look, so i made a sketch of the structure right next to it.

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-25.jpg
nose and lips


http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-26.jpg
my head in different positions, just the basic structure

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-01-27.jpg
some sketches. ideas for a picture i maybe one day might want to make, inspired by an idea of a friend of mine...plus some playing with composition (the boxed thingy) and a sketch of an eye, this time out of imagination. since i normally completely suck at drawing out of imagination, i'm somehow proud of that eye ;)

[golgari]

so here we go again, with a big load of stuff

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-01.jpg
studies for a rose


http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-02.jpg
colour study, with water colours


http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-03.jpg
you want a smile? you get a smile! i look pretty idiotic that way, though...

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-04.jpg
i started doing fast master studies, taking approximately 10 minutes for one drawing (which means this page took approx. 30 minutes)

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-05.jpg
tried to hammer that face structure into my head. argh.

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-06.jpg
master studies

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-07.jpg
an idea for the future samurai-dsg...arggh, i suck at drawing from imagination

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-08.jpg
a somewhat stylized selfportrait

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-09.jpg
i like this one :)

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-10.jpg
OPEN YOUR HEARTS TO THE SPIRIT!
no, seriously, i was just listening to some crazy music. does any of you folks know "apoptygma berzerk"?
the thing at the very top of the page was a small sketch for the "future noir"-dsg...didn't really implement any futuristic elements, though...

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-11.jpg
late night doodling. have to do stuff like that more often.

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-12.jpg
master studies

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-13.jpg
rough self portrait, without any shading...

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/2004-02-16-14.jpg
master study

http://img3.photobucket.com/albums/v32/golgari/mysterium.jpg
my last effort. tried to do a painted selfportrait this time. i'm somehow proud of this one


comments & critiques highly appreciated, like always...

[Mag-Neo]

-nice sketch. your pencils are quite good. Keep posting. GOODLUCK... :yayca: