Chisa's Happy Place - updated 25 June

[Chisa]

Hookay, I'm another one of those people who have been lurking around here a bit, a little too timid and intimidated to post. After taking a look through people's sketchbooks and seeing how supportive everyone is and how much people have improved here, I'm going to take a shot at this sketchbook thing.

Little bit about me
I'm a 20 year old Australian computer science graduate, currently working as a web/graphic designer. I started attempting more than simple doodles about 8 years ago, but unfortunately began by looking at anime tutorials and developed the bad attitude and habits characteristic of noob anime artists. Since then I've realised my limitations with my poor understanding of anatomy, but never had the time to do much about it. I still don't really, but I'm willing to sacrifice a little sleep for it. I don't think I'll pursue fine art as a career since I'm happy with what I'm doing, but I enjoy it and it would definitely be useful and complement my current work.

I haven't studied any art formally and can't at this point... so I'd be grateful for any advice you can give me on learning on my own.

Currently working on:

• figure drawing, from Loomis' "Figure Drawing for What It's Worth"
• shading... damn shading...
• drawing people from references
• not accidentally stylising things
• facial anatomy

So, on with the show!

Some quick tiny studies done while on the bus, without reference and still fairly anime~ish:


Started reading 'Figure Drawing For All It's Worth' since it seems to be recommended and mentioned a lot around here. I like Loomis' writing style, and he seems to really know his stuff.


Further on in the Loomis book, doing some quick sketches... are they called gestures?


Tried to do a self potrait based on an old photo... I can seem my anime influences in places, need a lot of work here.


Finished work from a few months ago. Had help from a few artists who were kind enough to do some red line drawovers on this one, so I think the anatomy is a little better than what I'd usually come up with.


I guess I'll keep reading this book and do some more gestures(?) and post more soon!

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[dCepT]

Welcome to the SB-section!

Good start! I like the gestures... Keep 'em up, and when you get there, build on 'em.. heh... I like the colors in your digi.

Keep posting!

d-C

[Chisa]

Thanks! I guess for the moment I should just be doing a ton of them. Took a break for a bit and did some scribbling though.

[Recursive_End]

Good start.
You've already learned the ideal proportions, so i think you can start going a bit further in anatomy.
But anyway, i like that tree (?) in the top right corner of the last pic
Keep going!!

[T-Raktor]

The gestures are really good. And do more of those Loomis stuff, they are good. I am doing that too now

[gmags]

Good start there Chisa. Like that anime piece you did. I'm also having a hard time with anatomy. Keep em coming beautiful.

[Nizza_waaarg]

Gestures save lives Keep at it, the proportions are lookin good on that second picture. I also just got a proper copy of that loomis book and can't wait to start workin on it . My only advice would be to study anatomy, other than that, things lookin good.

[tensai]

like the colours and background on this one
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...chi/chisa4.jpg
especially the erotic splatter behind here are doing it for me.

keep it up

[Chisa]

Erotic splatter?

Thanks guys, I'm still going with the gestures and will post them when I get home from work. I'm feeling that I haven't completely got weight and balance down properly yet, so I'll probably be doing these until I can get more comfortable with it. Thanks for the support!

[Chisa]

Hokay, here's todays work:


Done entirely on the bus. Hooray for buses! I tried sketching people at the bus stop but they kept moving and looking at me strangely... I need to get faster at sketching or learn to look at them more subtly...

[LoTekK]

learn to look at them more subtly...

Don't worry, that'll come with practise. I usually let my gaze wander around when I'm sketching a stranger. My eyes will go from a random object, pass over the subject to another thing, but all I'm really taking in is my subject. You'll get the hang of it.

Nice pose studies. Love the spidey one. Nice expression studies as well. I like the stylized look of the color piece you did. Nice color choices and rendering. Awesome t-shirt.

[Chisa]

Hrmm I'll try that... I think I need to work on my memory skills too, the image just slips from my mind so quickly and I realise I'm working from anime style heads again.

Thanks! I have a tshirt like that.

More sketching on the bus and at bustops yesterday:


I also got some proper pencils... this is probably obvious, but its very hard to shade with a mechanical pencil. Not sure what kind of pencils are good to get, but they only had 2B and HB at the newsagent I went to... I can't actually tell the difference in darkness between them!

[Erilaz]

Hey, I have that T-shirt!

Great series of studies. I like the cute coy pose you've captured in the girl for your most recent update. Lovely.

[Mullet]

cute girl, sweet studies but if I were you I'd get some books out on anatomy. Once you've got you're anatomy sorted you're halfway there. cheers!

[comixnut]

Those are some great gestures. Love the colours and the girl of course. I have a hard time sketching when i can because those are the only times i can read (and i loooove reading). Hmmm more sketches!!*S*

[~Faust~]

Just stopping by and leaving a comment .

I'm not an artist myself and following a whole different education, so I know where you come from. That's why I'll give you some critique. Remember, I'm just trying to help you and if it's too much for you, I'll calm down in the future .

First of all, you have a sense for style already, your lines are (mostly) confident and This shows me that you already have a great deal of sense for gestures and poses. That's not whereyour flaws are if you ask me.

What bothers me first are your portraits. You said you came from anime, that may explain some things. The part you are lacking are first of all your eyes and mouths. They make the portraits look unrealistic. The eyes you draw show that you are more drawing your ideas on how eyes look like than you draw what you see. In the end, you're right, when it comes to drawing without reference, you only have your ideas. But it's a long way till then. The shape of the eye is a 3 dimensional one and it has to be treated that way. You can learn much more about it, if you draw it in different angles, like all §D-forms actually. So don't just make front-view portraits, make 3/4, upside down, a bit from above, till you get the idea.

The mouths you draw are the most stylised and thus most unrealistic one you draw unfortunately. You should look at how other people draw mouths. They don't have such the outlines you give them. Actually sometimes yes, but only if the person uses a pencil to trace lines on their own faces what some women do. Whatever. If you look at the anime-mouths, you'll see a line under the mouth-line. The question you should ask yourself is, why? It's not the underlips, it's actually a rough idea of the skull-structure!

That said, it's obvious that you need practice and a lot better understanding of how the skull is formed. The side-view from the bus-scetches shows that, too.

I forget what else I wanted to post, but study more hands. It's always good to study hands! And draw more! MOOOOOOOREEEEEE I tell you!

[Denysiuk]

Hey! The portrait in a middle and a graphic on right is preaty good... http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...bles6mar06.jpg

hmmm I won't write as much as Faust, but I must say, that you should play with those circle form as in this portrait in other sketches (for example portraits or animals in nature) It is great way to draw more realistic and nicer for the eye of viewer

[Chisa]

Oh wow, now this is the kind of stuff I really need!

Faust: Definitely not too much; I got past the ego thing a while ago and I'm pretty sure these days I can take a pretty good ass whooping and say I like it ^_^

I disagree on my confident lines actually... I'm okay when inking, but while sketching I tend to draw many small feathery strokes instead of a clean confident line. It's a habit I'm trying really hard to get out of =S I think I'm getting the hang of gestures, although I guess how well I'll be able to translate the more complex ones into complete pieces remains to be seen.

Facial features are the part that's most stylized in anime, so I've noticed the old habits come back, even when I have a reference. I guess I'll have to do more reference portraits until I can retrain my memory. I think mouths and noses are the parts I have the most trouble with. Yup, got a lot of work to do on facial anatomy, but I was planning on working on the body first. Or would starting with the head be better?

Denysiuk: Thankyou! I always start with a circle for the head , but tend to lose it sometimes while altering the jawline.

Erilaz: Thanks! The 1-UP tshirt rocks =D

Mullet: I have the Loomis books but haven't gotten very far yet. I need to find some time to actually read through them!

comixnut: Heheh yeah, its a bit hard to balance everything huh? I guess we need to find some time to practice though.

Didn't have time for much today - I wanted to read through a bit more of the Loomis book, but had to do some last minute shopping instead. Soo all I to show for now is another bus sketch, no ref.


The legs bother me... her left leg is much more bent than I'd intended.

[LoTekK]

The two busstop sketches of the back of the woman's head are probably the strongest ones so far, since you're able to look and concentrate without her looking at you funny, and draw what you're seeing, instead of what you think you see. Careful with the one on the top left: you've chopped off the top of the guy's head (I think it may be a little short, front-back, as well). As Faust suggested, study up on the structure of the human head/skull. The girl on the bottom right is nice; cute, coy pose, though the face definitely betrays your anime roots.

Keep practising with strangers. Pretty soon you'll learn how to look without being seen.

edit: Oops, took so long to post I missed your most recent one. :p The figure is looking great. Good proportions, nice, posture. Her breasts might be connecting a tad high, though. The face is an improvement, though still betrays those anime roots.

[kesavaraman]

It is userful for unline discussion and tell their conclusion in online and clear their doubts, what u think about that pld: pld: pld: pld:

[Chisa]

It is userful for unline discussion and tell their conclusion in online and clear their doubts, what u think about that pld: pld: pld: pld:

It confuses me completely Wrong thread perhaps?

LoTekK: Thanks for coming by again! They are actually two different women, I just chose people with ponytails so I could see more of their face and neck. I'm planning to sit in the cafe at my university and see if I can get some better angles there. It's so much easier when the person is concentrating on something.

If I say that was intended to be stylised, is that a good enough excuse? I know a lot of anime artists use that, so I guess maybe my question should be: was it stylised in a way that is believable and looks good?

Hrmm, you're right on the breasts... and damn, I wasn't intending for this one to be stylised, I just don't have enough knowledge of the real human face to do anything else

Hrm, I've had a few people mention studying faces more - so should I concentrate on that first, or keep going with the body and come back to it?

[comixnut]

I reckon if it's faces that you want to practice, buy yourself a mirror. mine cost me something like $30 and sits on my desk and i can put it at any angle i want, it is even x2 on the flipside. you will notice things about your eyes, ears, mouth, eyelashes etc. etc., that you can then apply to other people.

As for when you are out of the house to the gestures and poses. Get the best of both worlds i reckon.

That last gesture and anatomy is very cool.*S*

[LoTekK]

I'm planning to sit in the cafe at my university and see if I can get some better angles there. It's so much easier when the person is concentrating on something.

Good plan, you're definitely right about that. Plus, they tend to sit still for a longer period of time.

was it stylised in a way that is believable and looks good?

Don't get me wrong, the girl looks attractive, very cute. Proportions are there. It's just very anime, is all (especially the big eyes).

damn, I wasn't intending for this one to be stylised, I just don't have enough knowledge of the real human face to do anything else

Don't get yourself down, familiarity will come with practise. Just as you're currently familiar with anime/manga features, with some practise you'll be intimately familiar with realistic facial features of all types.

Hrm, I've had a few people mention studying faces more - so should I concentrate on that first, or keep going with the body and come back to it?

Do both! Do some faces, then do some bodies when you get tired of those, and vice versa. Mix it up a little so you don't go stir crazy.

[~Faust~]

I agree with lotekk, her face is very anime'ish. makes the skull go like a deformed newborn... you should some more dynamic poses, too. Right now, she just stands there in a kind of boring pose.

About the stylisation: I may be alone with this, but I think trying to force a style on one's drawings is wrong, especially if the fundamentals aren't totally internalized yet. If you keep on drawing only anime over and over, you'll always get those creepy foreheads. Do some serious stdying from ref or applying what you learnt from earlier anatomy-studies.

About the figure-first thing: You have quite captured overall gestures and figures already, congratulations. But I think that's not something new to you. Looking at you figures though shows me no deeper understanding of muscels,bones and such. That makes your characters uninteresting in my eyes. I like people with personality and if you want to have a body look more realistic you should step away from the thin barbie-puppet thing. Draw some males with fleshy muscles, girls with big butts and do some more shading on them. Before you can fully obtain a full figure, you have to know where the muscles and the fats are, in order to play with them. It's something I'm realising myself now.

[Chisa]

comixnut: The mirror thing sounds like a good idea, especially as the character I keep drawing is supposed to be loosely based on me, and I'd like to make her have more similarities to me in features. I'll definitely give it a shot!

LoTekK: Hrmmm yeah, I guess I should mix it up a little... and the body is quite large, so if I wait until after to look at the face properly it won't be for ages >.<

Faust: Hrmm, you've mentioned that I'm alright with gestures and poses a couple of times - but I really don't think that I am. I have a huge amount of difficulty just with a simple pose, so I really don't think I'm up to anything more complicated just yet.

I do agree with what you said about stylisation, but I have no plan to draw anime over and over again or try to 'force' a style. I like to think of it like chocolate - its not exactly too bad for me in small doses, although its not exactly good for me either. But I like it, it makes me happy sometimes to draw in a stylised way, or doodle strange tatto designs. It's nice to have a little chocolate every now and then

My figures show no understanding of bones or muscles because... I have none. Still working on that. Same thing with shading. I should really finish up gestures before trying to flesh them out like in my lastest post, but it gets tempting to take things further sometimes.

-

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I probably won't be able to post anything for the next few days - I found this awesome web design contest just a few days before the due date, and really really want to pull together at least one entry for it. I'll keep going through Loomis and try to do some more ref work after the contest is over!

[Bloodsbane]

Hey, that colour piece your avatar comes from is lovely!
I would definately like to see you do more stuff completely copied from life, with no simplifications and abstractions. That way you can see where your style choices comes from, and control it instead of being a slave to it.

[Rolo]

(1)You are a good artist! Keep up the good work! Which Loomis book do you have?
(I am impressed in your talent!!!) (2)I love your style!

-Rolo

[Chichigo]

i haven't commented yet since you joined up. I like it, its very refreshing, from the colours to the spontaenity of the faces you drew in blue. But as everyone else said, begin moving away from drawing the same old same old. that's all for now.

Chisa, are you doing any big projects for graphics right now??? I'd love to hear about it.

[Chisa]

Dile: Thanks very much You keep going too!

Bloodsbane: Thanks! Yes yes, you're right, I know... I really need to start sketching people at uni, since I don't have any willing models.

Rolo: I downloaded all of them here, although I'm going through 'Figure Drawing for What It's Worth' at the moment. I wanna try get hold of at least one hardcopy anatomy book though. And thanks! Do you have a sketchbook? If so you should link it in your sig so I can check it out!

Chichigo: Thanks! And yeah, I really should be doing more proper studies instead of messing around with anime. I'll try harder from now on

The contest I was working on last weekend was for the Mix06 convention, redesigning their webpage. I didn't find out about it until a few days before the due date though, and didn't have much time to work on it, so I'm kinda disappointed with my entry It's here if anyone is curious (or wants to give me a nice vote). Apart from that I just have normal work stuff doing websites and postcards and posters and things, nothing really big right now.

-

Here's my work for today!

Copying gestures straight from Loomis, trying to concentrate on more confident lines... its kinda hard to see here, but I think that at least is getting a lot better.


Portrait, referenced from a photo in a fashion magazine. The lock of hair over her face made her interesting to me It's good getting back into trying to do things realistically, although now I compare them there are a lot of mistakes. I'm also not really sure about shading techniques since with anime stuff I've done in the past I just lineart>cg. Any tips in that area?