Loolarge at his desk - July 5th - Some nudity

[Loolarge]

Hi Everybody. I was lurking around here for two years or so, mostly browsing the sketchbooks. I am 26. About 6 months ago i started my first sketchbook (not online) and finally got it all filled up (yay!). But i feel my drawing skills are still rather lacking. So i will post the better ones from my book here and keep updating. Hopefully you will able to see that "from zero to hero" progression one day ;)

So far i got through "The structure of man" by Riven Phoenix halfway, and Recently i joined a regular life drawing session. And i just ordered the book "The new drawing with the right side of the brain". Heared mixed opinions about it.

Questions

What i do alot is doing very quick sketches of poses from photos. I am wondering if it is better for a beginner to do long and detailed drawings. Or the other way around: if i keep doing the quick and rough ones, will it hurt my development?

I normally use A4 for drawing. Is it better to use big sheets of paper, so you can put in more detail? They told me this at the life drawing session, but i felt it was actually more difficult on bigger sheets.


That's it for now. Big ups to all the great artists and my fellow beginners here :)

[Envisor]

Welcome to CA. Nice sketches. Lots of nice sketches. Quick figures wont hurt your progression at all, I suggest to do a little of both really, try long studies and quick studies. I usually try to draw from 6- 8 hrs daily if I can, ive filled up about 4 different sketchbooks in the past 4 months. All I can say is to keep sketching and youll get better in no time.

[Loolarge]

Thanks for your encouraging comment, Envisor. I won't be able to draw as long as you aim for everyday because i cannot draw at my dayjob. I am sure though that i will still progress well, since i am now putting more effort in this than i did ever before in my life :) People told me to draw from life for years, but i was too lazy to look for an opportunity. But now i found this course in my town. You pay 25 Eur. per month and you can go there 3 times a week in the evenings.

I subscribed to your thread, so keep it coming then!

[Loolarge]

Throwing in more old stuff (mostly stuff that i did about a year ago):

[Loolarge]

Todays life drawings:

[Loolarge]

Life drawings from today and yesterday, plus some sketches from photo ref:

[SgtDirtbag]

Hopefully you will able to see that "from zero to hero" progression one day

There's already some progress visible, keep it up. : )

So far i got through "The structure of man" by Riven Phoenix halfway, and Recently i joined a regular life drawing session. And i just ordered the book "The new drawing with the right side of the brain". Heared mixed opinions about it.
Get yourself some Loomis E-Books (link's in my sig), they're like the illustrators bible. ; )

Questions

What i do alot is doing very quick sketches of poses from photos. I am wondering if it is better for a beginner to do long and detailed drawings. Or the other way around: if i keep doing the quick and rough ones, will it hurt my development?

I'm just starting out too, but I think that it's better to concentrate on big shapes and the general flow, than getting caught up in details when you're starting out.
Once you've come across a shape you really like, you can still flesh it out anyway. : )


I normally use A4 for drawing. Is it better to use big sheets of paper, so you can put in more detail? They told me this at the life drawing session, but i felt it was actually more difficult on bigger sheets.

Going big gives you more space for details and it forces you to use your whole arm, instead of just your wrist, thus resulting in more smooth lines, or so I heard. (yeah, I'm also struggling with going big)

[Loolarge]

SgtDirtBag, thanks for stopping by! I got Loomis book(s), but i did not really work with it yet. I have the Bridgman book also, which i find valuable too.

During the last sessions i got more comfortable with drawing big, part of it was that i used an 6B pencil instead of HB, so i can do thicker strokes.

So here is todays update:

[SgtDirtbag]

I really like this page, (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=131254&stc=1&d=1177866946) especially the guy in the top-middle.

This one's (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=131256&stc=1&d=1177866974) also sweet, the girl with the bag and the big man are well captured.

Also the top-right males on this page (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=131261&stc=1&d=1177867026) and this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=131262&stc=1&d=1177867037) look really good.
They got flow, clean lines, sweet shading and really show some anatomy knowledge on your side. : )

[Number_6]

Well, if you want to learn figure drawing, I'd say you're well on your way. Two things I noticed looking through your stuff: Your faces aren't as good as the rest of the figures. You might want to focus on them a bit. The other thing is that I'd suggest is for you to look for 'landmarks' on the figures you're drawing. When you're doing a picture, compare the locations of body parts with each other. Already drawn the torso but don't know where to put the elbows? Figure out where they are in relation to the navel. I'm not sure if I'm getting my point across here, so look up as much stuff on life drawing as you can, there's a lot of little tricks you can use to keep figures (and anything else) in proportion.

[Loolarge]

SgtDirtbag: Thanks for caring and stopping by again :)

Number_6: I am thankful for your critique, i will work on those faces. For the
landmarks thing i am trying to do that!

I was visiting a convention named FMX in Stuttgart during the week and did not draw at all :/ The idea was to do something in the hotel, i even had my bridgman book with me. But i felt sick, had a little cold. I did attend the life drawing on thursday. I think i have done better before, but i guess i was too distracted of the amazingly beatiful model that i could not draw straight :)
134323
134324

Yesterday i started doing the first few exercises from "drawing on the right side of the brain". Here are the upside down drawings. The second one is the front cover from a book of Christopher Hart. I was very pleased with the result (although you can spot many differences when compared closeley. But at first glance it is an exact copy of the drawing.)

134325
134326

Some rubbish i did to my sketchbook:
134327

I think these drawings below from photo ref turned out pretty nicely: I am guessing that this boost was a result from doing the exercises. I approached these drawings based on this quote from the upside down exercise in the book:

I recommend that you not try to draw the entire outline of the from and then "fill in" the parts. The reason is that if you make any small error in the outline, the parts inside won't fit. One of the great joys of drawing is the discovery of how the parts fit together. Therefore, I recommend that you move from line to adjacent line, space to adjacent space, working your way through the drawing, fitting the parts together as you go.

Not that i will take this as a golden rule, but i will try working like this some more and see if it works a few more times.

134328

[SgtDirtbag]

SgtDirtbag: Thanks for caring and stopping by again :)
Aww, no biggie. : )
It's encouraging to see somebody else who's just getting started on this beautiful journey. *fg*

I did attend the life drawing on thursday.
I think i have done better before, but i guess i was too distracted
of the amazingly beatiful model that i could not draw straight :)
If a beautiful girl doesn't make you draw "straight", I wonder what will. ;)
(haha, that one was lame I know... xD)

Yesterday i started doing the first few exercises
from "drawing on the right side of the brain".
Here are the upside down drawings.
That exercise really fucked with my head when I did it the first time. xD
You did the second one upside down, too? That's looking mighty fine.

Some rubbish i did to my sketchbook:
Bullshit, it's a learning experience, embrace it, keep plowing through and don't put yourself down.

I think these drawings below
from photo ref turned out pretty nicely:
Yep, they're coming along nicely. : )

[Loolarge]

Ok, here is some more life drawing stuff:

136326

136327

136328

136329

136330

136331

136332

136333

136334

136335

136336

136337

136338

136339

From the sketchbook:

136340

136341

136342

136343

[BryanYoung]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook. You're definitely improving. Keep working on the anatomy and proportion of your figures. Doing some face studies might help as well. Keep it up!

[SgtDirtbag]

Hey, sweet life drawings. : )

The lower drawing on this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=136338&stc=1&d=1178744657) and the top and left on this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=136327&stc=1&d=1178744556) are especially nice.
They look less hatched than the other ones and thus have a more natural look.

[Loolarge]

I keep thinking to myself that i should do more studies of individual bodyparts and stuff, but drawing entire poses from photo is so much fun :)

@SgtDirtbag: thanks for pointing me to the photography section on deviantart, i found some really nice references there!

@Brian: Thanks for stopping by. Face studies are on my list:)

Some recent stuff:

[Peter Berkovski]

wow i see here a lot kind of good stuff, keep that tempo, i see too every post from you are full with sketches - that's great :)
Cheers

[funfetus]

Man, you're profilic! It's awesome that you're doing so many drawings from life. I know they're hard, and not really as fun as the crazy monsters and superheroes and stuff, but they're so important. Are you doing any "sniping" -- drawing people in public places? It teaches you a lot, because you have to be quick. :) You said something about studying specific body parts. YES, definitely do this, as well. Your anatomy does seem to be lacking. Get a good anatomy book, and just copy everything out of it.

Keep it up!

[SgtDirtbag]

Man, you're machine... that's a big load of sketches. :x

My favourites this time are (1) (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=140822&stc=1&d=1179585649) (2) (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=140823&stc=1&d=1179585664) (3) (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=140824&stc=1&d=1179585677)

They show very confident lines and good anatomy.

[Bhrazz]

Wow, really nice looking poses you got! One thing you should do is try and paint some of it, it will practice your color as well!

I can't say much on anatomy except it look very nice. The only crits I have is to put more color in your SB! I need to do that as well!:D

[Loolarge]

Guys, thanks alot for your comments! Funfetus, actually only the pictures with the greyish background are drawn from life. My thread title was a little misleading, i hope you are not too disappointed. Most other stuff is from photo ref. Sniping around - i don't really do that alot, but i will try!

So here comes the new stuff from the last two weeks.

So here i tried to do some studies from Bridgman and Loomis heads:
147916
147917
147918
147919

These are some very quick sketches from the zoo:
147920
147921
147922
147923

And today i decided to use some bigger paper and draw some heads from photo ref (busts):
147924
147925
147926

[Loolarge]

Hi all! I bought a few new books:
154356154357154358

So here are my most recent life drawings, followed by some sketchbook pages.

At the moment there is a little discouragement going on. I feel like i am not really improving. I found some old sketches that i drew from ref years ago. And i found they were as good or bad as my recent stuff. My goal is being able to draw from imagination, but it does not seem to come easily. I was hoping drawing nudes from photographs would get me closer to that. Gotta do more constructed and analyzed drawings instead of reffed stuff i think. What do you think, any advice?

[Mr-Joe]

Hey mate,

I think theres a big show of improvement with the figure studies you have been doing, keep up the pace.

I see you did an exercise from Drawing on the right side of the brain, read the whole book and try to do some more of the exercises from it, its a great book.

Keep working like your working at it now and I'm sure you will see yourself your improvements.

When your doing the life drawings, try to look at the figure and see it as basic shapes, then take your time and place fewer lines on your paper to try and build a believable figure with less lines.

Keep it up.

Joe.

[SgtDirtbag]

When your doing the life drawings, try to look at the figure and see it as basic shapes, then take your time and place fewer lines on your paper to try and build a believable figure with less lines.

Keep it up.

Joe.
I totally agree with that. : )

I can't remember where I read it yesterday, but there was this great quote:

"Drawing is 3 parts looking, 2 parts thinking and 1 part drawing."

Meaning you have to extensively analyse your subject optically.

- Where are big shapes and masses?
- Try to see shapes in negative and positive space.
- How are their proportions relative to each other?
- Which planes define the surface of my object and how would they affect the flow of my lines?
- At which angles are lines and shapes positioned to each other?

Then, to really cement it, you have to analyse why it looks like that.
You have to know for example why an arm in a specific positions has a bulge here and a dent there and not the other way around.
After you've done that, think how you would transform your knowledge into as few lines as possible.

Holding a pencil NOT with a writing, but with a sketching grip really helped me because
it forces you to draw with your entire arm which makes many small, fuzzy lines less likely.
I prefer the Overhand Grip (http://drawsketch.about.com/od/learntodraw/ss/howtoholdpencil_5.htm), but take a look at the others too.

-----------

Another thought that crosses my mind is, do you make your anatomy studies by looking back and forth between your drawing and the reference in the book?

I did the same for a while and it didn't help me as much as I hoped it would.

I also noticed that I'm getting a little more fluent in drawing from anatomy references,
but this creates a false sense of understanding because as soon as I try to draw, lets say,
a skull from memory I feel it's not as present in my memory as I would like it to be.

I think what helps to build a visual library is to look at the reference image for a while, then close the book and try to draw it from memory.
After you're done, compare, analyse where you went wrong and repeat the process until you know it by heart.
Just like you would learn vocabulary.

-------------

And what's most important: DONT GET DISCOURAGED!
I'll track you down and make you draw if you quit, I swear!
;)

No really, you're well on your way mate, just stick with it. : )

[Loolarge]

Mr Joe - Thanks alot for stepping by and the encouraging words. For the next exercises in the book i need to build this picture frame, i was too lazy to look for the materials yet. I guess i should simpy go and buy a common glass frame today. And i will try describing the figures with less lines, thanks for the hints!

SgtDirtbag - Thank you for putting so much effort in helping me. You are quite a pal! I agree with all of your points. Doing studies the way you learn vocabularies might be more efficient indeed. I was steering into that direction allready, last weekend i tried to construct some poses without ref and just kept erasing and adjusting stuff until it looked decent. Somehow this made me feel better. I realized that i need to study the lower arm more though. About negative spaces: i use them all the time, couldnt think of not doing so :) The overhand grip - gotta try that as well. Riven Phoenix did suggest that in the structure of man allready, but i did not make it a habit for some reason.

So here are the drawings from this week:

[Loolarge]

This weekend i tried constructing or remembering poses without looking at reference.

[grenappels]

without a ref... that's tough, i usually just stare at my page intimidated by the blankness D: great job on them, your experience with figure drawing really paid off

[DeJakhalz]

Nice work, but maybe you should work with more helplines. Your proportions are a bit off and anatomy could use some more work.
Defenitly see improvents, keep up the good work.

[Loolarge]

Some more life drawings

[Mr-Joe]

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=162025&stc=1&d=1183289018

Wow!!! huge improvement! How many life drawing sessions have you been to?


look at the reference image for a while, then close the book and try to draw it from memory. (sgtdirtbag)
Thats some real good advice, I'll have to do some of that myself because I know exactly what you mean about not having it in your memory, I tend to "copy" the reference too exactly and end up not learning what I wanted to learn when I started practicing.

Keep at it your really showing improvement.

Joe.

[Loolarge]

Thank you very much for saying so Mr. Joe! I am doing life drawing about two times a week, for 2 1/2 months now. At the moment i am trying to do exactly what SgtDirtbag was suggesting (stare for a while, then draw from memory). Turns out being difficult as hell!

By the way, during the last session i tried putting in fewer lines like you said. Dunno if i really accomplished that though. One other guy told me something similar. He does not like how i am loosely repeating/fiddling around with the lines, i should use fewer strokes and care less about the accuracy. If find that tough to do, but i will try...

Grenappels, Dejakhalz - Thanks alot for stepping by!

[Shobunkin]

wow- those bridgman studies definitely helped you improve a lot. I would only say that maybe you should add some color to some of your sketches =)

[Loolarge]

These are some sketches from the last few days. Once again i made a collage out of it, leaving out the real crappy stuff. I think it is nicer to look at this way. I was practicing heads and faces, its very difficult for me to get the proportions and everything look right. At least i discovered a way to draw lips better. Crits and hints are welcome!

[ped454]

i really like your bridgeman stuff. i think you have improved a lot and it shows especially in your last few posts

I do think that your lines lack in value at times. Its just a suggestion but i started using a pencil crayon when attending lifedrawing classes....it honestly works magic. give it a try if you get a chance

[Taiylz]

Hey dude.

The Girl in the car is awesome, her eyes look weird though, Photo-ref yeah? I see ye hammering down on the studies haha.

www.characterdesigns.com has got alot of good poses on and stuff. Can be fun to draw =).

[Loolarge]

So here is the new stuff from this week. First life drawings, then sketches.

Shobunkin - I am afraid of color. I actually have a red/green color defiance, but i will try to paint at some point anyways. But atm i am more after anatomy and structure.

Ped454 - I tried using a thick wax pencil now. It was fun!

Tayilz - Yepp, shes from photo ref :)

[Loolarge]

Just dumping more stuff here :) First the life drawings:
169530

Some drawings of my wooden hand:
169531

Some fun i had with http://www.posemaniacs.com/blog, set to 60 seconds.
169532

And stuff from my sketchbooks:
169533

[SgtDirtbag]

You are a machine man. :jawdrop:
Keep it up. : )

[Loolarge]

This weeks life drawings. Not too many solid pieces in here, i find.

[Bhrazz]

Jesus man, did your fingers fell off yet? You draw a tons and I can see quite some nice improvement into the poses you give to your toons. I gotta do more of these anatomy stuff my self. Keep it going man is going great. And do some environment!!!!!

[Loolarge]

Thanks for the encouragement Bhrazz! Cannot see the improvement myself, i feel like developing backwards actually. I guess thats normal though.

Here is the latest stuff. I think the life drawings are a tad better than last week, but the doodles stink :) Except for the knight. I wanted to draw a non-nude character but it is so hard to come up with a costume or theme, so i looked at other ppls sketches for ref. That was kinda fun.

[HunterKiller_]

Wow dude. I'm amazed at the amount of drawing you've done in a short amount of time. The results are obvious, huge improvements already. Keep this up and you'll go far.

[Bhrazz]

Hey Loo, is nice that you can draw that much but I think you should try to ''polish'' some of them also. Instead of doing 200 sketches make 20 but try to give them a render, maybe even scan them and put some colors on it.

If I take my self for example, color and light study helped me a lot for sketching.
I'm not so sure if you have a graphic tablet but try to sketch from masses. What I mean is this:
http://members.shaw.ca/dmandryk/Assets/Images/process_sleepwalker.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/dmandryk/Assets/Images/tutorial_page_warrior_chick.jpg

I think you will improve faster and more effienciently by playing like this. This way you can learn from all the aspect of drawing:). I'm looking foward for some colors in here!

[Loolarge]

Hey Bhrazz, i tried starting a more polished character yesterday in painter. Kinda like Lara Croft on a camping trip. Oh what a struggle! I think i spend about 7 hours or so all together. I find it extremely difficult to come up with lighting and colors. And the details (not that the result has many)! But i guess it's like Bobby Chiu says in his blog - when you feel the struggle it means that you are actually making progression. So thanks to you Bhrazz :)

One thing i need to mention: i have a red/green color sight defiance, so sometimes i cannot distunguish between brown and green tones, they ofen look alike to me.

Had to shift around many of her features. I think she turned out cute somehow. But if you mirror her, the pose looks odd still. Overal i wanted her to be more sexy actually. Any ideas/hints?

[Bhrazz]

Hey man is not bad, even with a color problem. Think if you wanted to make her sexier, I would shrink her horizontally. As for the color, I think is pretty good, the only thing I can say might be more contrast. Well, I'm not an expert and I'm learning just like you but I think more contrast will not hurt. Keep going man, I know you'll get better and better

[Loolarge]

Just another weekly dump:

On wednesday i kinda felt i was drawing with bliss, i thought most of the girl drawings came out pretty nice :)

[Cederix]

I envy you for being able to draw that much, I wish I could persuade myself to draw more often, but seeing other people do it is always a motivation.
Keep up the pace and you'll keep improving!

[Loolarge]

Did this photo reffed sketch with painter today, and i am proud of myself, feel like i am getting the hang of it finally :)

[Bhrazz]

Ahhh Loo! Nice to see your learning painter! I am as well!:D I think we are most likely on the same level both:)

That girl is pro!

We should share each other tips and trick on painter. Keep it up mate!

[slooie]

love the life drawings and the girl head from painter.. i see improvement ur lines are getting much cleaner

[SgtDirtbag]

That painter sketch looks awesome! :jawdrop:

[Farin]

Agree with SgtDirtbag .. like the painter girl and the life-drawings-- I bet you did em as fast as you sketch in the museum ;)

so where r the landscapes and enviroments you said you r going to do?

Grüße '

[Loolarge]

Bhrazz - I am a painter fan! Don't have too much time to paint though. And i got the german version, which sometimes make it difficult to find brushes and menus when following tutorials etc.
For the girl i only used 3 brushes: Z-Basic Round (from Zhuzhu), Just add water and a fur brush from Don Seegmillers book (DIgital Character design and painting). I figured that one can create nice "griadients" by just creating dots and using different pressures, then use the "just add water" to smear and make it smoother.

I felt like cheating when doing the portrait sketch though. I had the ref picture right aside and even used the color picker on it (hides...)

Farin - I hope you had a decent ride home on sunday. I think your last sketch at the cafe with the people playing cards was really cool! Fast? No, i spend hours on that sketch :) As for enviroments - for some reason i am kinda scared of doing such. Maybe later :)

SgtDirtbag, Slooie, Cederix, HunterKiller_ - Thanks a milliondfor your comments! :)


So here are the latest drawings. First the life drawings from two weeks ago:
188845

Then, i had a sketching session together with Farin (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102663) in a Museum in Hannover:
188849188850188852
188851188853

Some random stuff:
188854188855

And some drawings from screenshots i made of the movie "Blood diamonds"
188857188858188859
188860188861188862

[Loolarge]

Started copying stuff from Keith Parkinson and did some hand studies. This week i will do some life drawing again, so i can bore you some more :)

[ped454]

Wow man, just wow. You mustve dumped over a 100 drawings here since last time I checked. It's cool cause it looks like you're understanding the fundamentals now and are actually beginning to do it naturally. I love love love the reffed image in painter and I definitely think you got a future using that program (it never worked out for me cause I couldnt make painter my bitch haha).

Anyways man. I'm jealous of your mad number of drawings and you definitely got my respect (for what its worth) till next time. lats

[BryanYoung]

You're making good progress man. That painter piece is really nice. Shame on you for using the color picker! :P Keep it up!

[Farin]

I agree with bryan... you re really making progress
nice studies after bridgman ... keep it up

[Loolarge]

Shoot! Wasnt updating for a whole month. I am moving to a new appartment and i had to organize lots of stuff. Anyway i took some of my colleagues to the life drawing place this week, which was quite nice. So here comes a tiny update at last. I will be absent for a little though, waiting for my dsl connection to be transferred to the new place.

Farin - Some ppl here mentioned they want to do zoo sketching as well, so we should keep it on the radar :)

[Farin]

The last standing nudes r great .. dunno why but it seems to be, that you achieved an other level on these

p.s.: you got mail

[Loolarge]

Finally some new life drawing stuff. Trying to get into the habit again :)

[Farin]

Nice stuff but where are the zoo-sketches?! :D you should have done tons of 'em in the last few weeks.. I mean you got free entrance a whole year ;)

I would like to see some other personal stuff except off the life drawings

anyway... how r you? stil woking on "urmel aus dem eis"?

[Loolarge]

Hi!

haven't been doing a lot of drawings in the meantime which of course sucks. But starting by the end of next week i will have much much more time for that, i am SO looking forward to it. I will go to lifedrawing thrice a week and go to the zoo more often. Farin, sorry i dont have lots of personal drawings to post, most of them are really crappy, it is pretty obvious that i wasnt practicing :)

So here is the stuff from the last few weeks

285075

285077285078285080
285081285082285083
285084285085285086
285087285088285089
285090

[beastathon]

Wow. I've looked through your sketchbook and there is a very large improvement in your drawings.

Studies are looking wonderful and I would love to see some more of your digital work.

[Loolarge]

My girlfriend Marieke convinced me to do some still life drawings. I think i like em.
I also did some excessive hours of drawing from Pose Maniacs during the last days. They are too crappy to show them, but i the twist for me was trying to use fewer and cleaner lines and also try to not look at the drawing as much but at the subject. I will practice that for a while, having high hopes

I have much more time to draw now, so i got the luxury of having a daily routine from now on. I want to invite you to be more harsh with critics from now. And if you have suggestions for exercises for areas where to improve go ahead :)

The last two pics are character sketches that i copied from other artist's SB's on conceptart.org. Unfortunately i could not figure out their names because i have all the pics in a folder mixed up. I am sorry for that.

290324290325

290326290327

290328290329

[Loolarge]

Some more copies and some life.

291038291039
291040291041
291042291043
291044291045
291046291047

[Sedig]

You are a figure drawin' freak. Holy crap.

Your work ethic is great, and it is already paying off in leaps and bounds. Most of all, though, I like the still lifes. I'm a sucker for still lifes. They are a great opportunity to sit down and really concentrate on the shapes and contours. Good deal.

One crit for you: I think that you would benefit from working with a little more contrast. Some of your drawings seem almost grayed out, because they lack solid darks and definite lights. The gorillas from page two are a prime example. Don't be afraid to go really freakin' dark. I think that it will make a big difference. Give it a shot, or don't if you don't wanna. Nice job.

[Loolarge]

@Sedig: Thanks for stopping by! I think you have a good point about the contrast. I remembered what you said while i was at the life drawing yesterday, not sure if it is visible enough.

Yesterday i used a thick graphite pencil and tried to be more "brave" and curvy:

292099292100

292101292102

292103292104

292105292106

[Loolarge]

I am a copycat:

292898292899

292900292901

292902292903

292904

292905
The original from serj can be found here: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114204

[Sedig]

Okay, so "brave and curvy" is a good thing. Going outside of our comfort zones is a great way to improve fast. The human figure is full of curves, and you captured some of them very well. Also, there is nothing wrong with being a copycat. It can be a good way to learn, as long as you give credit where credit is due (which you did).

One suggestion: When you are being a "copycat," try to reproduce the work as exactly as possible, unless you are trying to add your own flavor, or capture the essence with gesture or something. Really try to nail the lines and values that you see. It is a great way to train the eyes to see what is really there. I'm sure that you have seen Bargue copies floating around this site. From what I can tell this training the eye is the whole idea behind the exact reproduction. It can also teach a lot about line quality and rendering. The masters are masters for a reason.

[Loolarge]

@Sedig: Maybe i should join the bargue copying workshop on cgatlk. I see what you mean about being exact and hitting the values. I have to practice more.

I did not go to life drawing last week. I was a bit sick. Still am. However today i will go to the zoo again.

299576

299577

299578

299579

299581299582

299583299584

299585299586

299587299588

299589299590

299591299592

299593299594

299595

[Sedig]

Boy, it would be fun to go to a zoo and draw. I really like your animals.

Also: Joining a bargue copying group might be a really good idea. I know that a lot of learning takes place.

[Loolarge]

A few more from the zoo:

300225300226

300227300228

300229300230

300231300232

[algenpfleger]

Wow, you practice so much, and it really shows! And I totally love the idea of Zoo sketching :D

[Loolarge]

So i started a Bargue copy for the Open Figure drawing workshop at CGTalk. The other stuff are subway sketches, some cats from a book and loomis stuff.

301904

301905301906
301907301908
301909301910
301911301912

301913

[Sedig]

The digi looks nice, but I like the woman on the laptop more. She definitely seems to be sitting on something, even though it isn't drawn. It's great to get such a clear sense of weight.

Definitely keep the gestures going. Good things are happening

[Loolarge]

Man, i feel my drawing skills suck ass. Will i ever improve beyond this level?Yesterday i found these video tutorials on youtube: (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sheldonsartacademy)
I decided to practice more construction and structure. It is funny how easy it looks in the videos and how difficult it is to me.

Here are some... "life drawings" from yesterday:

302669302670

302671302672

302673302674

302675302676

302677

[Sedig]

What are you using for reference? Or are these from imagination? (That would be amazing) If they aren't from imagination, maybe try a few. See what you know/remember.

[Loolarge]

They are from a life model. I go to a local life drawing session. Yesterday something interesting happened though: an old guy showed up, he is an art teacher. He is giving drawing courses, not even so expensive and he said he can help me improve and that the 5-10 min poses we are doing are too short for beginners and all sorts of stuff. He said that he finds it dilletantic to just draw from a model without guidance or and critique. I saw only one of his drawings yet, so i cannot judge how good he really is. Next monday i am going to his school and get introduced to his teaching! I am a little excited now.

Sedig - i was looking at my old doodles and thinking the same. Should draw more figures from memory

These are some more drawings from yesterday.

303299303300

303301303302

303303303304

303305303306

303307303308

303309

[Loolarge]

What to say... i tried constructing some figures and fix some proportion issues that i had inhabited (too wide hips and too long legs).

303761303762

303763303764

303765303766

303767303768

303769303770

[Sedig]

Hey, don't get down on yourself. Your drawings do not suck. I promise. ( I am answering the question you asked in the left page of the third image in post #79) The fact that you are able to even construct a whole figure from your mind (regardless of technical errors) is great. Fixing things like leg length is only a matter of more practice.

Also- Take what you can from this teacher, but use your judgement too.

[Exquisite Beast]

Hey thanks for the helpful point in my SB. You've improved dramatically since your first post. It's really encouraging to see!

[Farin]

I like the life drawings and the bargue thing the most.
you show some great progress and ability to see things right. keep it coming.

we should sketch toegether again. I m going to write my last test this week and get a lot of sparetime in the next month.
what about another visit at the museum?

[Loolarge]

So. It is never too late! Here is a new dump after some idleness:

[Sedig]

Glad to see that you're still fighting the good fight. Gestures are juicy lookin'.

Don't disappear on us again!

[Loolarge]

Another dump:

[Loolarge]

From life:

[Loolarge]

latest

[Loolarge]

From life:

[Loolarge]

Some new stuff. I am currently working with the character design book from tom bancroft.

[Loolarge]

Trying to establish a future western setting for a possible project idea...

[Loolarge]

This is everything i did during the last two months. Using a blue pencil to do a first underdrawing feels very liberating, why did i not start doing that earlier. Many people told me i was applying too much pressure but i could not help it.

I did copy lots of drawings from reference. Tried to memorize some characters from the Ben Caldwell books, like the barbarian, the knight, the asian peasant etc. The ones you see repetitively. I like his 'animated' looking cartoon style. Check out his blog: http://purgetheory.blogspot.com/ and his website: http://www.actioncartooning.com/. I also thought this could help me drawing hands better, because these simplified ones are easy to remember and i could reuse them as tools from my mind.

Some other references are "Astraban: The guild" from Oscar Martin and the animal drawing book from Ken Hultgren, as some other disney stuff and the Fung Fu Panda Artbook, which i find insanely inspiring. Nicolas Marlet is so great! There was a paragraph in the book where he says that he likes start blocking the form first and then apply details inside. I bought some copic markers and tried it out a little bit (Look at the alien character). It is indeed fun.

I am still only on page 3 of my sketchbook and i did not update for ages. I need to be punished :lifedrawing: I think about 70% of these drawings are just copies, but doing copies is better than doing nothing i believe. Nevertheless i think i should start getting more into doing compositions and storytelling at some point. I am a bit afraid of it though. We will see.

[Loolarge]

Small update. Copied a background from an old Donald Duck Cartoon that i found on Hans Bacher's Blog.

[Loolarge]

New stuff :) I bought this new animation desk! A small step for the world, but a big leap to manifesting my desire to draw. It makes me draw more, in a more comfortable position, with a longer durance. And i will do some animation experiments later too! I got it from this new (?) cartoon-supply shop in germany, they have all sorts of nice utilities. Check it out! (http://www.toonbase.eu/)

So. The first pic shows the desk.

Second shows a collection of 45 second gesture drawings. I did hundreds of them recently, most of them suck but it is for training anyways. I use the slideshow feature and set it to show a new pic every 45 seconds ond the screen.

The third picture shows some life drawings from the last two sessions in Hannover.

The last one shows some characters from other CA forum members that i copied, done in the same way as the gestures but with 3 minutes each. I am not sure if it is okay to show these as people might think these are my designs. They are not! I am way too lame to come up with such great designs yet. If any moderator wants me to remove them i will do so.

So. Good luck to myself, i think i need to become much much better. I hope doing the gestures on a daily basis will help.

[jatherip]

wow, cool amount of studies, i like your cartoons :)
keep goin, maaan!!

[Loolarge]

Chiwuawua! . It has been two years!