Doodle stuffery

[Bubs]

Hello everyone. I'm not really a regular here or anything, and i'm completely horrified that i'm actually posting this, but I can't hide forever and be on the outside looking in.

Little backstory first: I started drawing about the time Hurricane Rita knocked out the power to my house (beginning of my junior year in High school, so almost two years ago). I was really bored and had nothing else to do, so I started drawing. Although what I produced was the equivalent of a shit sandwich, I was proud of it and kept at it. So much, in fact, that it's what I want to do with my life. Although I was a slow (and arrogant) learner, I somehow slapped the stupid out of me and started drawing from life.

Long story short, i've only really been drawing for a good year and a half, mainly during my free time. This isn't a cheap way of saying "take pity on me, i've only just begun!" If my work needs to be torn apart, i'll just shut up and listen on how to improve; I didn't come here to whine. That being said, i've got a few brainstorm doodles for the fine people here at Conceptart, and i'd like a little feedback if you'd be so kind. These are all works in progress, so bear with me.

Anyways, here goes:



http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/better_sandwich/Hydeprofileshot.jpg


This is my own personal character. Every artist has one, so I thought this guy would be it. It's my adaptation of Mr. Hyde from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I just call him Hyde.

Here are some older doodles of him:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/better_sandwich/Gameface.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/better_sandwich/Hydefaceshotroughsketch.jpg

That last one was slapped together at the last minute, so my apologies.

Anyways, I was just sick and tired of watching Mr. Hyde get butchered throughout the years, whether it's in comics, movies, you name it. I wanted to focus on the insanity and chaotic nature of the character and make something new. This Hyde is not evil, but extremely unstable. As a result, I tried toying around with different features to fully illustrate what I was going for. Personally I still have a ways to go, but i'm starting to get to the point to where i'm grasping a good sense of my initial goal.

This next picture is just an old drawing that I quite recently decided to finish off. It didn't take very long, so i'm not gonna be hurt if it gets torn apart:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/better_sandwich/Trainsurfer-1.jpg


I saw a video on YouTube called Extreme Trainsurfing and was practically blown away. A year before his death, this German guy found out he had been diagnosed with Leukemia. As a result, he put himself into a mindset that he had nothing to loose, and spent the rest of the year riding bullet trains using nothing but a cruddy electric air pump he would stick to the windshield of the back car. Very inspiring, so I decided to make a tribute of some sort.


Moving on:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/better_sandwich/Reannaconfrontation.jpg

This was just something I wanted to do at this Battle Tourney, but in all honesty so far it's come out better than expected. I did another sketch of the same place and time but at a different angle, but it's extremely half-assed and doesn't look nearly as good:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/better_sandwich/Anotherangle.jpg



That previously mentioned Tourney that i'm currently in has taught me a crapton. It's not only forced me to draw out of my comfort zone, but consistently AND quickly thanks to the deadlines. It was an extreme pain in the ass, but the payoff has been immense (at least in my opinion). One of the things that mushroom-slapped me in the face was that I have a horrible, horrible understanding of anatomy. It's just embarassing guys.

The only reason why I haven't actually studied it yet was because I didn't have a live model to work with. When I go to school this won't be a problem, but for a Senior in high school it's not readily avalible. Although I didn't like it very much, I cracked down and did a quick anatomy study using an anatomy book I bought from a bookstore:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/better_sandwich/ABSOFFANCINESS.jpg


It really felt like I was cheating or something, but thems the breaks until I hit college I guess.

I've decided to get extremely serious about fixing this problem. Since I usually tend to overdo things sometimes, I figured "Hey, why not?" So starting next week, i'm going to try and fit in seven hours of drawing every day, just to see if I can do it. It'll be divided up during the course of the day, but since I really want to get serious about this I figured, hey, there's no better time than now to do something crazy relating to art while Senior year is in cooldown mode. Finding the time isn't really a problem for me; you just have to know how to take advantage of the day. Means waking up early for no Goddamn reason other than to get out and draw.

It's not going to be completely life/anatomy study however; probably four of the seven hours are for that. The rest will be for my own stuffery I guess. Actually, any input on how I can best organize my time during these sessions would be extremely beneficial.

Another thing you guys might like to know is that I really don't use anything other than pencils. Not that i'm against it or anything, I just really haven't been taught how to tackle other mediums yet, so i'm working with what I have available to me. If i'm only going to be doing one thing, I might as well make it polished, right? Also, I tend to just leave my pencils as mere linework, only because 1) not that great at shading currently, and 2) I want the lines to stand on their own. This way, I can worry about the other elements of art without stumbling over my lines. If someone could give me some handy shading tips i'd be more than willing to give it a shot; I wanna take a Bruce Lee approach to these things.

So yeah, i'm still pretty new at this, but i'm trying my very hardest to get better. I'll pretty much take any advice you guys give me, i'm all ears.



I am completely horrified for posting this.

[Brendan N]

Right, I'm a lazy fluckface some I'm just copying what I wrote eariler in another thread and pasting it here, mostly the same counts:

Some points on sketching:
- Avoid shading with the side of your pencil, make clear hatchings and build up if necessary. You want to describe the from with the direction of your hatching, otherwise what you have on your flat piece of paper will stay flat.

- Do NOT surround your subject with one fat flat black line, unless your are going for a comic/cartoon style. For realistic renderings if want to allow your figures especially to breath. You also want to vary your line to give more dimension to the drawing and not keep it flat and sticker-like. Don't underestimate line, it's the most powerful element of composition.

- Do NOT go over the same line more than once. Once it's drawn it's done, do not pet your line and build it up as you would shading. When you draw your next line, it should convey something different and give new information to the viewer, not make corrections to the previous line. Pen is a good exercise for line quality, as is trying to draw something using a single line only (don't pick up your pen once you've put it down).

- Work from the inside out. Decide on a focal point and whatever you do keep your focal point in mind and what it would do to your focal point. Once you have your proportions and that jazz down, start defining the focal point and work you way out.

- Colour; just because you are working in monochrome doesn't mean you don't have to consider colour or local values. Some things like clothing or armour or even limbs will have a different value range. It's like the shadow on a polystyrene ball will still be much lighter than the highlight on a lump of coal.
This isn't just being quirky, it helps to distinguish various elements of the drawing and makes it more readable. Very helpful when your not doing something straight forward.

I also strongly suggest you get yourself some good anatomy books and study and copy drawings on a daily basis.

As for your time schedule - sounds good so far, I personally learn best when I force myself to apply what I learned rather than just studying it without end.

Regarding media - get into additional media as soon as possible! You want to try out as many things as possible as soon as possible, and soak up everything and not get stuck in a certain way of doing things. On the same note, don't get stuck on line only. If you're serious about art you'll be exploring everything.

Michael Mentler, a very respected artist and teacher on this site, said that once we refuse to continue learning and continue exploring, we cease to be artists. Don't ever refuse to explore and investigate my friend, an open mind is crucial to artistic success :).

Hope all that crap help you out some man, keep drawing my friend.

[Bubs]

Oh dear, it seems I have not fit the requirements of posting complete works. I'm extremely sorry about this, and I should have known better to have read all of the rules before posting this crap.

Please do whatever is necessary to ensure that this thread is in the right place.


Ninja edit: Oh thanks alot for the crits; means the world to me. The good thing about that tourney thing is that because I did so much for two days time, my drawing teacher at the local community college (I'm taking a basic drawing class there you see) was so impressed that he GAVE me a couple of really expensive anatomy books for FREE! It's funny how that worked out; I mean, I wasn't really doing those pages for anything other than to get better.

I'll be sure to apply all that you told me.

[Piranha Clan]

That Hyde looks pretty wicked, I like. You have some skill, keep it up, keep posting!

CHECK ME OUT!!
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=93105&highlight=sketch+buffet

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=92920&highlight=80%27s+cartoon+gods

[Seedling]

You're doing great, Bubs! Now go put these images in a sketchbook and quit worrying so. :-) And come join us in Concept Art 101. (The link is in my sig.)