Jesus. Up on the Oliphant. Cuttin down muffuggahz

ninjai

I have been around as a lurker for a while, posted a few things in doodle thread, and figured I start one of these things. Took to heart a lot of the advice around here (draw from life etc) so here I go.

I guess my whole point for posting up here is to improve. I would like to go to school for sequential or concept art. I've doodled my whole life, margin art on homework, drawing funny pictures about coworkers, never really tried to get better. So here I am


Inspirations (in no particular order):
Shaun Healey
Genndy Tartakovsky
Tsutomu Nihei
Dan Paladin
ALSO Bill Watterson
Giannis Milono?

You can't really tell but theres a lot of graphite all over these. I tend to get a rough shape and go around the picture lightly erasing the image as I go and refine it. crits welcome

Kawasaki ZX6R WIP


Reference

My M4 WIP


My Backpack

I started this one, went off to the latrine, and someone had moved my bag, and I never quite got it back to a position I was satisfied with, so I called it quits.


EDIT: what can I do to keep the paper from being so light? You can't see some of the lines very well after scanning them

Aumni

If you have photoshop or a similar program you can adjust the image's contrast to make the lines darker.

ninjai

Progress

All I have left are the wheel areas and the liscence plate holder on the back. At this point I got so much graphite on the paper that Its hard to do any type of shading or w/e... it just makes a mess

Grifter

While it's technically not bad at all, it's a pretty dull perspective.

ninjai

While appreciate the feedback, a "dull perspective" is a pretty generic term. What do you mean specifically?

And to be fair, it is the perspective of the photograph that I'm going off of

DeeLock

Grifter means that it is a very boring composition. I understand that you're doing this from a reference photo but you could go a long way in finding a better one. The one you're working from is flat and doesn't do anything to describe the forms and shapes as they move in space. The lack of overlapping makes it look like a paper cut out and gives us no sense of dimension.

Here's a couple of examples of you should look for in a reference photo:

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs7/i/2005/162/7/2/Motorcycle_by_PavSys.jpg
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/photogallerys/Honda_CB350_4_5.jpg
http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/userimages/2007/08/triumph-motorcycles.jpg

Grifter

That's exactly what I meant, DeeLock. Thanks for the follow up.

ninjai

Thanks for the feedback. The other photos are definitely more dynamic, never really thought of that. I just thought "Sweet bike," and got to work.


Here's a WIP from last night, a stack of broken bunks outside my room. Took like 45 minutes before it got dark and I couldn't see anymore. Sorry for the crazy high contrast, the scan makes the graphite so light, its so much darker on paper.


Hands




I suck at shading and blending. Suggestions?

m3nace

Looks like you lack line consistency.
Try drawing your lines in longer strokes, instead of sitting making one long line out of several small nudgy lines. Try drawing longer, thinner and lighter lines and vary the thickness in them too. Use your whole hand too, then you'll make some lovely curved forms.

ninjai

Wow, how did you know Yeah, I definitely have a problem with that.




IDK If I did a very good job of using longer lines. Sketches from today.

m3nace

ninjai wrote: »

Wow, how did you know

I should probably tell you I'm a psychic.

NightDragon

Your lines are still very hard to see. Maybe try making your pencil lines darker as you draw, or figure out how to make your scanner not make everything so bright (sometimes scanners do this automatically, and you have to look through the settings to get them to stop...it might automatically blow the contrast up - see if there's any setting that might change that).

Stplmstr

What Night says, making them hard to see is a pain. The hands are looking pretty good so I would like to have seen them with more contrastyness to them

ninjai

m3nace wrote: »

ninjai wrote: »

Wow, how did you know

I should probably tell you I'm a psychic.

OMG! No wae!!!


I played around with the scanning software for a bit and found where to darken the image and uploaded moar contrasty versions for your viewing pleasure.
Also moar sketches

ninjai

was having an off day yesterday. About half an hour in I gave up and started doodling.


moar dewdles

NightDragon

Are you using computer paper? I find that it tends to smudge a lot. Maybe try to find a paper - a drawing paper/sketchbook, not computer paper - with a little more texture/tooth to it?

ninjai

NightDragon wrote: »

Are you using computer paper? I find that it tends to smudge a lot. Maybe try to find a paper - a drawing paper/sketchbook, not computer paper - with a little more texture/tooth to it?

Definitely not using computer paper. Though I think I'll stay away from it now that you've put that out there.

blehh.... I'm bored

The_Glad_Hatter

ninjai wrote: »

moar dewdles

the doodle on the left looks like way more fun than the drawing on the right. Had it been refined a bit more i think id would've been a better drawing. The linework is way more interesting on that one.

ninjai

The_Glad_Hatter wrote: »

the doodle on the left looks like way more fun than the drawing on the right. Had it been refined a bit more i think id would've been a better drawing. The linework is way more interesting on that one.

You know, I thought so too, but the one on the left I whipped out in seconds, and I have no idea what I did differently Suggestions?


Last night ...



Edit: So i did some sketches this morning in pen and dry erase marker. I have a different (line variation, confident lines) when Im not using pencil. I'm not really grasping the concept of line variation with pencil...


Please help

ninjai

some crappy dewdles

all of these faces have structure issues, especially top center.

I always hear about people who draw well that drawing is "like writing" to them, that form and structure is like spelling a word.

I have a long way to go

The_Glad_Hatter

ninjai wrote: »

The_Glad_Hatter wrote: »

the doodle on the left looks like way more fun than the drawing on the right. Had it been refined a bit more i think id would've been a better drawing. The linework is way more interesting on that one.

You know, I thought so too, but the one on the left I whipped out in seconds, and I have no idea what I did differently Suggestions?

This is a problem i seriously struggled with for a long time. The difference between what i sketched and what i considered to be a finished drawing was too big. My sketches had more fun and energy than my "real drawings".

What helped me was realising that there shouldn't be a big difference between sketches and drawing. That it wasn't necessary to sketch, pencil and ink like some kind of marvel comics factory to have your stuff look good. I now try to refine drawings instead of copying them for the sake of it.

Only copy your drawings when you want to improve them since trying to transfer/ copy them usually just makes them worse (for me, at least).

Another thing that really helped me loosen up my drawings is switching to bigger paper (i now only sketch on A3 -> The freedom!!) and a regular 2b / 4b pencil instead of a scratchy 0.2 hb2 mechanical pencil. DOn't know if this works for everyone, but i know it helped me improve.

edit: and about the line variation with pencil: i found i was happier with my regular wooden pencils (2B or 4B) and sharpening them with a knife instead of a sharpener to get some character in there. Again, this may not neccessarily be universal advice, but it was a big step for me and i had a comparable problem.

ninjai

Thanks hatter. I don't really sketch out what I'm going to draw, normally I just doodle and when an Idea hits I start from scratch. What I have a problem with is sketching what I think instead of just making random shapes until a picture forms (Which is why I can't recreate anything. ever.)

Stplmstr

"Which is why I can't recreate anything. ever." Or until now since obviously as you already recognize it as something you don't do well so you can make it a priority "to be worked on". In that vein you may want to grab yourself some sculpy or something like that and use it to recreate simple objects it is a great way to learn to feel out the dimensionality of an object that can help when your trying to think 3d on the 2d page.

ninjai

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately where I am, all I have is a pencil and paper.

ninjai

So i've been drawing today, and yesterday, nothing I feel like uploading though. I'd love to work on some of the figure stuff you guys have in the tutorials thread, but most of it is NSFW and the only internet I have is at work

ninjai

Last few days, I've been a little too embarrassed to upload any of my trash. I did this last night.



and this is some of the trash I was talking about. Was doing studies of the loomis head bizness. Also, I think figured out where the design of Slave One came from.





(that kid is WAY too excited about baseball...)

Arden Canelo

I would call that kid pretty happy about baseball. You could make him go over the edge and be extremely fanatical about baseball and like, foam at the mouth - eyes go back into head when looking at a baseball he holds in his hand. You could call him "Insane Sports Loving Child" then. Or combine that idea with your robot head dude to the right and have a robo-child be crazy about a human activity like baseball. Something like its his goal to collect bits of sports memorabilia in a once human populated mega sized city. You figure out why he does this and you've got yourself a story. Or something else entirely. I just started thinking about it after seeing your last image of doodles, don't ask me how I got the rest out of my mind.

ninjai

@^^^^WTF

Having fun sketching from film noir references.

Arden Canelo

ninjai wrote: »

@^^^^WTF

Well soreeee for being a strange guy. Try darkening the contrast on the drawing above this post.

ninjai

Arden Canelo wrote: »

Well soreeee for being a strange guy. Try darkening the contrast on the drawing above this post.

Nice quote.
Success.

Also why?

Arden Canelo

The contrast? I dunno, it looks too light right now?

ninjai

Some moar stuff. Haven't drawn in over a week. Need to find some inspiration.

Visti

I would totally up the contrast in photoshop or GIMP or whatever you have to actually have some real darks in there. They all have a kind of washed out look right now.

ninjai

Its the color of the paper I'm using thats giving it that look. And I have neither gimp nor PS, I don't have my pc where I'm at, and am fortunate enough that my boss is letting me use the scanner. The contrast is as high as the HP program allows. I suppose I could REadjust the contrast in power point or something...

ninjai

doodles

Nanaki

I LOVE that noseman! Reminds me of Professor Layton.

Pukio

More studies, more studies, more studies. Everyone can afford to do these and I love to see that you're already been working on them, but it's something that needs to be done constantly. I like that you're experimenting with imaginative lighting and different shapes, but make sure you're doing a lot of gesture and figures between that.

ninjai

Thanks pukio. I often lose direction when I'm drawing, need to refocus on the basics

ninjai

I remember a guy saying that making perfect spheres will help with the construction of the head, so I did this.



So I did these last night, and after about an hour, looked back at what I did and realized I don't know shit. I can't shade, I have no line variation, and I can't draw a goddamn circle

Need feedback pluz, and help

MuddyParasol

Need feedback pluz, and help

That sphere in the middle looks pretty good to me. I'm afraid my feedback would be pretty useless since I'm at about the same skill level if not less so, but my best advice is to keep at it. I think the quality that is most useful to an artist is not creativity, rock-steady-hands or 20/20 vision, but rather perseverance... good 'ole fashioned stick-to-it'veness. It's not an easy quality to develop, but it is essential.

What helps me sometimes when I'm feeling down is to browse MindCandyMan's Journey of an Absolute Rookie it's inspiring to watch him go from an absolute rookie to an absolute master.

Also sometimes I'll browse Deviant Art to look up people's improvement memes and see that even great artists have to start somewhere.

Then after you're done browsing...

Draw. Keep drawing. And never stop drawing!

ninjai

holy bawls thats awesome. Thanks for the link, talk about bamf

Thats the mindset I had when I left the states, one drawing AT LEAST a day. I've been keeping up with that (other than a few busy days) I guess I just need to keep doing that. It sucks so hard when you want to make some big elaborate illustration and youre stuck making goddamn circles and cubes ((