Gunther's Gallery [mild nudity] Update: 4-8-07

[Gunther409]

EDIT: Okay, I removed my progress marking picture because...well I didn't want what was essentially my crappiest drawing to show up first on my sketchbook.

Well, I figure it's about time I start a sketchbook. I've been drawing long enough to know that you need to practice often if you're going to get anywhere, so what better place than my own sketchbook thread?

A few things about my art. It will likely all be done in pencil until I can get Photoshop or something of the like. I haven't been drawing very long, so feel free to rip apart my drawings with tips and critiques. I did the first drawing intentionally before I started looking for information about art to gauge how far I've progressed. Any subsequent drawings will be newer stuff where you can see I learned things like "Shadows" should appear in pictures. lol

All jokes aside, I'll be adding more and more as I (hopefully) get better, but no guarantees on how often I post (I'm doing full time college at the moment.) But I hope to get a few pictures done every couple of weeks.

Okay, I've talked enough. Here's what I got:

[Gunther409]

So I did this one for about two hours today, don't look quite right.

Well, I'm off for now, I'll try to post some more soon.

I'll also try to return any comments or crits, so feel free to shred it.

[Maerrick]

sup gunther,

the only advice i can give you at the moment is:

-keep up the spirit up, you've got a long ways to go the least you can do is have fun and never ever compare your stuff to another artist.

-don't rub or smudge

-love what you do and love the process...meaning take your time observing slow down to the point where you can control most of your "lines" and draw with care

-study anatomy goto ebay and invest in andrew loomis books and study it like a bible

i hope this helped you out good luck!

[Nephthys]

I agree with Maerrick. Also you should study perspective and proportions more.Looking at your drawings, your perspective and proportions are a bit off. And keep drawing!

[Gunther409]

Okay people, I have a couple more. Some new some old(ish) and one made today. My apologies some of these were done on a notebook so the lines are annoying, I don't usually draw on notebooks. Generally I use standard printer paper, it's cheap and I happen to have a whole lot of it.

Thank you Maerrick and Nephthys for your comments. I'm curious though, why shouldn't I smudge? Just for more control over the pencil perhaps? Oh and don't worry Maerrick, I wouldn't be drawing if it wasn't what I wanted to do ^_^ Anyway here's what I got:

[dan liimatta]

can only agree with the people above, keep drawing - and keep practising.

anyway draw from life, and practice perspective.

GG & GL

[Gunther409]

Alrighty, as suggested I'm doing a piece from real life. This is also the first "assignment" from the Conceptart101 thread posted by Seedling. I'm trying to get better perspective, but I realized one huge thing I was doing wrong: I was drawing on a fold out table with one of those cushiony vinyl tops. So no matter how hard I pressed I could never get a flat black. So I've started drawing on hard-covered books and I think I'm getting better results. I dunno, you tell me.

[Gunther409]

Alright, I'm working trying to get proportion down. So I've been using photo refs from websites around the net. This has been a GREAT learning experience for me, I'm figuring out all of this stuff and having a blast while I'm at it!

Though I admit I cheated a little bit. I'd do the outlines as best as I could by eye then I'd put my little piece of paper over the screen to see how close I came. Then I'd take the paper back off and make corrections until I was satisfied, their not carbon copies by any means(nor were they supposed to be) just close. Just out of curiosity, would this be considered tracing? I'd hate to shame myself like that.

Anyway, they still took about an hour each to do so it isn't like it's instant art.

WARNING: Photo refs show nudity so if you're offended or under age [/insert anti-sex speech here]:
http://features.cgsociety.org/galleryimages/68732/female_anatomical_study.jpg
http://girls.twistys.net/preview/new/zafira/images/modelpic/02.jpg

[Gunther409]

Okay, I'm playing with my control over the pencil now, trying to get shading down. I found a book called "The Encyclopedia of Mammals" Which is great because it's a huge book with little diagrams of bone structure and tons of reference pictures. This is my attempt at a gorilla, there is also a hamster on the back that you might see through the scan, I didn't want to erase him to get a perfect scan, so oh well. I couldn't seem to get his face right no matter how hard I tried. This took about 2 1\2 hours to do and again, it's all pencil and printer paper. Tell me what ya' think!

[Gunther409]

Alrighty, it's me again and I'm just posting what I've made over the last two days and I've just got my first sign that I really like drawing, that's to say I've completely ran out of paper. Well, hopefully it was all worth it. These two pieces took me 2 hours for the shaded one and a half hour for the not shaded one. I've discovered a new way of drawing called the point to point method. So I've been using that and because I think it's worth listening to if you're new to drawing here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=moatddtutorials

So if you've noticed a change, that's why. I'm up to part 6 of his 10 minute "lessons" their quite informative. Oh and both these are from photo references if you're wondering. Anyway, I've gabbed enough here's what I got C&C always welcome:

[Gunther409]

Yep, me again. A couple more to add to the pile, I've done a few these past couple days but these are the best of them. Just a proportional study and a pic from photoshop, I just found out I had the program so I've been playing with the hundreds of features it has to offer. Anyway that's all for now, more later I'm sure.

[nilaffle]

Hey man! Your shaded pieces are definitely the stronger ones here. The top piece has pretty good lighting and contrast. What sort of pencils do you use?

I see your use of the point-to-point technique in the last piece, but what I think would really help your accuracy is to lay down the foundation of your drawing with shapes. Invest in one or two anatomy books. For animals, try Drawing Animals by Joe Singer or the Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals by Joe Weatherly.

Keep drawing and keep posting! Can't wait to see more.

[Gunther409]

Yep, it's me again. Thanks for the comments there Nilaffle, btw for the top one I just used a plain 0.7 mechanical pencil. Almost all of these are done with either a dulled #2 wood pencil or a .07 mechanical or sometimes a combination of the two! (If I'm feeling daring that is lol)

and yes, plans are under way to get some anatomy books. As it stands for the moment, I'm tapped out financially, but I'm due to get some money in a few weeks, so hopefully I'll get those soon enough. Drawing with shapes is certainly an interesting idea and also one I've heard of before. I'm just not sure how or what shapes ^_^ could pose a problem.

One more thing for these new ones, I'm playing with a new style, it's a bit easier to animate since it makes the nose and mouth more simplistic. I guess it's kind of anime looking. I dunno, it's kinda growing on me. Anyway as usual I've yakked for long enough, I did a bunch of doodles and sketches today. Mostly the 20 minute types, so here's the best of what I've done:

EDIT: Oh yeah, 100 posts! :yayca:

[Kroevyn]

Hey, great stuff, just a bit of advice on shading.. you might want to try shading in layers, ie less layers in lighter areas & building up several layers of shading for shadows. It's easier to blend that way, & it also teaches you to look at the whole picture/object/whatever at once, instead of focusing on one area. :)

[Gunther409]

Kroevyn: Thx for the tip on shading, I'll play around with that later and see where it takes me.

Anyway, for now I'm still playing with the anime stylings because it's just so much easier for me to draw! That and I'm getting to like the style. I just have a really tough time with the hair. If anyone has tips for that, I'd be grateful. Anyway, here is what I've been working on in between studying for college and finals:

[Coen]

Hey Gunther, I lolled so bad at the hammer time guy :D

Keep up the anatomy studies, soon you will kick ass with that stuff!

[Gunther409]

Yay, finals are over and I've got a week to goof around! Not entirely true, I'm still going to be busy as hell and my dog got some of that recalled dog food and now won't stop throwing up....yeah I hate ultra dog food....bastards.

Anyway I did manage to do some doodling in between my classes these last two weeks. So here's the best of what I've got.

[Gunther409]

Okay, just a couple of updates. Spent ~45 minutes on the penciled ones. I was just goofing off with the colored piece. As you can tell I found the exclusion tool for Photoshop. Here is my reference picture for the pencil pieces: http://www.animeperu.net/full%20metal%20alchemist%203.jpg

EDIT: whoops my .psd piece is too big to post, I'll see if I can make the file smaller.

[Gunther409]

Well, I decided to go through and edit one of my pencil workings in Photoshop. It took me maybe an hour and a half. Anyway, here's the finished product. I really need to figure out how to compress a .psd file, any tips on that would be great. I just gave up and switched it to a JPG.

[Gunther409]

Okay, had to add something to my collection of egotistical ramblings to bring myself back to earth with the realization that.....I'm still not that good. So feel free to join me in the spirit crushing exercises that I enjoy so much, which include telling me how I screwed up.

if that made no sense (it wasn't intended to in the first place), allow me to translate "I've made this picture, please tell me what you think".

Here's the basic info.

3 hours
Pen & pencil
skull pic
and yes, that is an extra tooth on the bottom.
Reference: http://www.purezenergy.com/bryan_brandenburg/3d_skull_model.jpg

[Shortydiva]

You seem to work better when using references than without. And even though you're a cookie-cutter anime artist, I must say I'm glad to know that you're one of the few who like receiving harsh crits instead of crying over one. Study more, and try and find your style! Try not to overuse the DBZ style.

Have you tried the 'number of heads' method? Usually males are 8 head-lengths tall and females are 7.5.

Here's a really good tutorial that can help you: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/11939496/

Don't give up! You may be a cookie-cutter artist right now, but I see ou have motivation to get better. Keep striving, and you'll definitely see yourself making progress. Kudos to you!

[Piranha Clan]

Thanks for visiting my SB.

I can't add much to what's been said...lots of life/anatomy studies. Lots of practice, use plenty of references for now. Don't lose heart or give up. Draw, draw, draw, draw, draw.

Here's one thing though- I look at your drawings and it looks like you're trying to draw things as a whole. For example, you tried to draw a skull or a gorilla. What you need to learn to do if you aren't already is to train your eye and mind to break things down into simple shapes. See the circular and geometric shapes that the skull is constructed of. Start with simple, basic shapes and build the drawing up from there.

Try a book titled "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" for many good exercises in observing, perspective, etc. Study those Loomis anatomy books too. He shows exactly what I'm talking about with the basic shapes to build up the human form.

"Spiral out...keep...going..."