Painting and Practicing- dancers 1/20

Tam

Ah you're using recycled paper. I have no idea how to get the graphite to lay better onto textured paper, to be honest. I think you'd be better off using smoother paper while you're making these studies.

shanemabus

for texture drawings you can take a very sharp 6 or 4b and very lightly fill in the spots

however i like the texture it gives work of that nature a more natural look

Bomb_Shell#1

you have really great talent! hands are the hardest thing to draw, and these look great.
i love the animals too! very cute

lyrium

Thanks for the feedback, folks

Getting bored of staring at individual features, I'll probably up the ante to some full faces next.



Also a doodle, because I think MSPaint needs some love every now and then.

Visti

Are you reffing Loomis for those features? There's a distinct style there, but I can't quite put my finger on it at the moment.

MSPaint, yay! Anybody remember Deluxe Paint for the Amiga, though? That was, like, the best drawing app ever. They tried to remake it some time ago, but they didn't get it quite right.

lyrium

I actually have yet to look at anything by Loomis. :oops: When I did the first page there I was reading something by a portrait artist that talked about the important shapes of the different features. I took it from there and just tried to pay attention to the forms (they are all referenced from photos of faces I found on the internet). I'm pretty sure I've read long explanations by AoB on several occasions emphasizing the importance of laying out the planes of an object to understand the lighting better, so that's what I've been trying to do on them before I really go to town. Good to know that at least they are looking consistent with each other!

Visti

Well, even more impressive, then!

lyrium

doodzle for tonight while listening to Boy with a Coin

lyrium

Sketch for a painting I want to do. I'm glad I made this first because now I know how I want it to look and it's pretty much totally different.



So who has a good trick for taking a picture of/scanning a painting? I have always failed so hard at it.

lyrium

some duder



Quick thing from last night that a friend wanted
9x12 acrylic



I'll just go ahead and get back to the studies now.

lyrium

Went to the park to draw, as suggested. I went and sat up in the announcer's nest to get a nice view.







This one was just drawn from a bench.




I tried drawing the two halves of the Asaro head as their own entire heads. I failed miserably but I feel like I learned a lot so I will keep trying this.

rts

These are great, and it's awesome to see you studying the Asaro head... I think it will help you a lot.

lyrium

Thanks Cake
Yeah, I could tell as I was drawing it that it's something that will be very helpful for me to keep trying to do. Drawing a whole face is still an intimidating task for me.

Went to the park again today.



I'd like to try sitting down and doing one of these location-drawings for a long period and really take my time on it. Though my arm feels kind of, I don't know, awkward and restricted trying to draw with my sketchbook in my lap. Maybe I just need to find a better way to hold it.

Oh, and something I was working on for a buddy.

lyrium

Painted something for my friend, well actually two things:



Here are the two halves, a little bigger (they each actually measure 10 x 20 inches) :

Tam

wow

only thing I have gripes with is the top right corner of the blue one- too busy I think

lyrium

Well I haven't given it away yet so I could try to tone down that corner a little. Are you referring more to the blue swirly parts or the dark strokes in that corner? Because the dark strokes stand out a lot less in the real painting but the blue swirly parts stand out about that much.

Tam

As I see it, all those elements meeting there makes it a unclear exactly what's going on. I suggest bringing out the face just a bit more.

I realize that the moods of the two are different, but there is far less contrast in the blue one- I might just bump it up a bit more, maybe use a greener blue in there somewhere.

lyrium

Okay cool, I think I will tone down the blue swirly bits in that corner then because the aren't really important and I don't want them to make it confusing. I'll try bringing out the face more, and bump up the contrast on the figure at the bottom too. Some greeny-blue might help out with the vertical stuff to make it match it's corresponding vertical stuff in the green one a little better, just so there is more variation in the color/contrast.

Thanks Tam.

Edit:

I made the changes, but the photo was taken under different light now because I didn't have any sun. I think it at least looks better now in real life though.

better?

lyrium

I also painted a mang today.



Man, I really need to figure out either how to take better photos of paintings or how to screw around with them in photoshop, because it looks nicer in real life
This was the sketch for him.

lyrium

I painted a present for my friend.
I've realized that quite a few of the things I make are for other people.



inspired by the song the Owls Go by Architecture in Helsinki

Mustang

I love that lyrium, I think it's one of the best things you've done.

lyrium

Thanks Mustang.

This is another thing to give to someone.



I got a new sketchbook with smooth paper so my studies should look better now once I do more.

shanemabus

the only thing that you should consider when working with the owl composition is that everything is directly in the center. if you run some of the objects off the page it will increase the space in your composition.

also im sorry for seeing this late but with the blue painting and swirls, the darkness of the top right was fine but you could probably blend the lines in the face into the dark background because it looks like the face is actually a mask suspended in space.

if that is what your going for then ignore me completely. also since i posted so late i understand if you dont want to touch that one again.

lyrium

Hey wow, thanks for checking in on this old thread Shane
Yeah, with the blue painting I wanted the face to just be suspended there. I couldn't exactly touch it up anyway because it's hanging in someone's room over an hour away but thanks for the input anyway!

I suppose I could post some things I've done since I last posted:

These are all figures done for Cake's threads:









And this was just for fun one morning, also given to a friend.



woops, forgot to use imageshack for the nekkid ladies

earthwormadam

hah nice

shanemabus

the figures are really nice, are you taking a figure drawing class?

the fish composition is really well done. you have a good eye for colors, im a little jelous considering the fact that im colorblind, so i have a hard time picking a good color scheme when painting. not to mention mixing.

lyrium

I wish I were in a figure drawing class. Those were done for Cakemikz's figure drawing threads, which you should really check out. If he does another one you should participate too.

I'm glad you like the fish; I painted him because my friend and I painted this together:

and I wanted him to be able to have one too
I made him paint in a crab on it when I gave it to him so it would be complete.

shanemabus

thats cool

Tam

that's a fancy fish

winter_combat_knight

great studies. love the acrylic work

lyrium

No real studies, just some doodles to keep me sane. School be crazy.

Mustang

Pretty cool Lyrium, the second bird is my favourite.

Tam

This last fox's face seems a bit squished

shanemabus

some good stuff. i know what you mean about school, i stress levels are at an all time high in my life.

lyrium

Thanks folks. I think your right about that fox, Tam. I should get in the habit of holding drawings up to a mirror while I do them.
I can not figure out what settings on the school scanner will cause it to take an unshitty scan of my sketchbook

more animals:



Tell me some studies to do please?

Tam

Lyrium, are you developing an idea for what sort of things you want to draw? Style, subject, that sort of thing? I think we can give you more directed critique and advice if you know that. Other than that, value studies seem to be a staple of advice, though I don't do many myself (lazy, disintereted, rather than informed choice), and anatomy and gesture is always worth revisiting.

lyrium

Aw golly, I have TONS of ideas that I want to draw. Unfortunately, all of the images I think of are way beyond my skill level to create, and span a wide range of styles
I guess I just need to try drawing some of these things and see how it works out. I end up with a lot of these animal sketches just because they are pleasant to do and quick, so I can manage to draw them even though I'm really busy. I'll try putting up some more creative stuff in the near future so that it is easier to give advice.

lyrium

I wouldn't exactly say this is representative of 'what I want to draw', but I enjoyed it. I kind of like trying different things.
Acrylic 12" x 16"

lyrium

Kind of a doodle thing. Painting on wood was a little different. There is sort of this prominent groove in the wood on this one, and I think if I paint on wood again and there is a groove like that I will try to work it into the image somehow.

Tam

lyrium

lyrium

that is really really awesome