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Dusting off the pencil and ink (now with NSFW)
SpaceMoose
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
First time posting art here so be gentle. 
Always was drawing throughout my childhood and for some reason or another stopped sometime in highschool. Over the years I've gotten the itch and have picked up pencil and pad for a couple months but it's never stuck. This time rather than lurk on boards like this I'm going to try to post regular updates to keep me honest and pressure me to keep going. I have no illusions of making it as an artist professionally (though it would be nice to help somewhat in my work as a web developer), and simply want to have fun with it. Eventually I'd like to fill up the couple of cheap canvases I've picked up over the years with something I wouldn't be afraid of putting on my wall.
TLDR: trying to get back into it and posting to keep me honest.
First couple drawings are all from the same ref image found on google. First was done with a brush pen, second with pencil, and third with a couple micron. Decided to have a little fun with the third since I was getting tired of the same image. I'm pretty happy with the pencil and micron ones but there are serious anatomy issues in all three.
Here's the first of a couple pages I'm working on of hands
Always was drawing throughout my childhood and for some reason or another stopped sometime in highschool. Over the years I've gotten the itch and have picked up pencil and pad for a couple months but it's never stuck. This time rather than lurk on boards like this I'm going to try to post regular updates to keep me honest and pressure me to keep going. I have no illusions of making it as an artist professionally (though it would be nice to help somewhat in my work as a web developer), and simply want to have fun with it. Eventually I'd like to fill up the couple of cheap canvases I've picked up over the years with something I wouldn't be afraid of putting on my wall.
TLDR: trying to get back into it and posting to keep me honest.
First couple drawings are all from the same ref image found on google. First was done with a brush pen, second with pencil, and third with a couple micron. Decided to have a little fun with the third since I was getting tired of the same image. I'm pretty happy with the pencil and micron ones but there are serious anatomy issues in all three.
Here's the first of a couple pages I'm working on of hands
SpaceMoose on
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EDIT: realized this might have been vague. Find some objects with real simple shapes, like a box or a cup, something with definite straight lines and edges, that you can draw from life.
Double EDIT: I also liked the micron one!
From the sounds of it, it looks like I would benefit from taking part in this months enrichment challenge. I'll have to borrow a few of my son's blocks and set up some still lifes.
First a couple pages of hands:
switched back to pencil so I can get some real shading practice. These are all ASL letters at various angles.
And something for the enrichment challenge (cross posting).
There's definitely some pencil control issues and some seeing issues that I'm having but on the whole I'm pleased with how they ended up.
First my second and third attempt at the enrichment thread (cross posting):
Working through some loomis bodies (third and fourth attempt below):
Getting better but proportions are still off. I think the head is too wide. I need to be more careful about my initial measurements.
Also working through some loomis heads after watching the proko videos:
Really happy with where these are going. I'm wanting to start another pencil portrait so doing these should really help me solidify the forms. I feel like the ones looking up and straight are on the right track but the ones looking down are slightly off somehow. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here.
Decided I wanted to draw a plane so I looked up some ref on google and went at it. Again proportions are off, the wings don't seem to match perspective with each other or the plane body, but at least it looks like a plane.
Lastly breaking in the new sketchbook with a little caffeine inspired drawing. Perspective is way off here but it was still fun. Trying to work with charcoal pencils now.
Also I have an old graphire tablet that might still work with my computer and I already have photoshop from work, I'm wondering if there's such a thing as starting digitally too soon. Definitely wouldn't stop real life drawing though because it's fun, convenient, and ultimately I want to do real paintings (acrylic/watercolor). Thoughts?
I like the idea of the enrichment challenges and my own personal of which I have a few going. Making tons of boxes, spheres and tubes is one of them.
Thanks again, I really appreciate all the comments from you guys. I'll get back to my practice now.
I messed up a bit on the top of the french press but by the time I had notice it was to late. I'll have to pay more attention next time.
Lately I've been playing with some watercolor. I was into it for a while in the past but never really did it for long and @ninjai posting about it spurred me on.
Some technique tests from a youtube video
A tree done only with yellow and blue, relying on blending on the paper to get green.
An abstract with masking for some mindless fun
And a simple still life, using the tea,milk,honey technique (or at least trying to) @ninjai linked to in the questions thread.
While I'm at it, this was a video that I was recommended about getting color variation in your washes. Was really helpful in understanding how to use color "charging"
This guy -
The tree technique I used above -
Also want to try some larger watercolors copying some images from one of my favorite books to read to my son. Trying out a couple small tests in a wc sketchbook before stepping into something bigger. Here's the initial sketch work to go off of on the best of them so far, all free hand but again hand copies of the images, not tracings. Inking and painting to come.
5th linear blockin w/ some crosshatching (noticed afterwards that I shaded it to look like it's wearing a yarmulke
Also started going through the drawings in Fun With A Pencil
Grabbed a non photo blue pencil at the local art store to see if I could get my stuff looking less messy. Happy with how it's turning out. Also happy with the progress from the first attempts to this page. Looking forward to more.
I worked on a few Negative space drawings. This is the last one I did (and probably the best). Its supposed to be one of my sons toys, one of those things with beads on a set of twisting wires. I see some issues with it but overall I'm pleased. These were tough. Even choosing a subject was hard.
Two more sets of drawings from Loomis's Fun With a Pencil. I feel like I'm getting better at these, I think these are my best yet.
Continuing on with the Loomis and setting up a few still lifes next. Also picked up a tablet for my birthday a couple weeks ago so mixing in some learning of it as well.
But it looks like you're taking the right approach, learning the basics, which is always important.
I am really liking the Loomis drawings. I like what lines you've picked out from the original blue sketches. Line choice is important! To me its all about the fucking line! If your line is good, you can really fuck off with all the other stuff. but i mean if its REALLLY good.
In some of them you've gotten some of the shapes wrong, but they have sort of a simplistic look to them that endures me to them. They remind me of pixely animal crossing characters. Or strange eastern european comics. There is a strong line between simply look bad childish and an informed childishness that is playful and fun. I think its the latter in some of these. Tintinesque too, which makes me a little biased because fuck everything but tintin.
From that deduction, I'm just gonna leave this link here. I posted it over in graphic violence, I dunno how other people feel about it, maybe you'll get something out of it. Roy Crane is an old cartoonist who practically invented the adventure comic strip. A lot of greats have praised him. He is sort of like an American Herge.
I think whats interesting about him is the way he "cartoonifies" a lot of things. His horses, elephants and other animals are either bug eyed or wall eyed and they usually have their tongues sticking out in a silly way, there proportions aren't exactly correct but they are balanced and as animals they work with his larger than life environments. I thought about your elephant, I don't know if I really like it that much, the hatching is pretty bad, very loose and messy (whether you intend that or not, with time you'll get better control over your hand and with technical study you'll understand shade and shape better.) But the elephant was cartoony and you didn't just copy a photograph. You started some early drawing in blue, creating the form and then you went over it with a finer line. This is a good process. I like to make the comparison to sculpture, in that you are whittling away all the unnecessary bits of stone as you bring out the form from within.
Keep it up.
tumblrrr
deviantart
You're right about it being hard to judge. I'm only now just taking art seriously and with family and job I'm lucky if I get an hour to draw a night so progress is slow. Thanks to the advice of Iruka I've been focussing on the basics on the hope that it will help me down the line.
I'm enjoying the Loomis studies. He seems to start off real easy and cartoony (though as you say very old school cartoony) and gradually shifts towards more realistic. Ultimately I'd like to be able to pull off realistic portraits like Proko does in his videos. And I'm definitely way better at the duplicating ones in the book vs ones from imagination. I haven't posted any of the imagination ones yet.
The Roy Crane link looks interesting. I don't think it's the style I'm going for eventually but it looks like theres some good stuff in there.
Ya, I agree on the hatching on the elephant. The exercise was a linear block in drawing but I figured what the hell and threw some hatching on it. For some reason when I use it it doesn't seem to look right. I'll have to keep trying it out for practice.
Thanks for the comments. I really appreciate it.
Something I learned doing the bargue drawing I'm in the middle of, to get an even tone use even pressure, do slow hatching in opposite directions making sure to keep the pencil nice and sharp to get the tone, and to really smooth it out you can then take the same pencil (remember, SHARP!
I agree with Mr Rice on most points. Keep it up man!
For funsies doing some studies of Dr. Seuss to maybe make some art for my son's room.
If I had to do it again I would not do the lettering with the chisel tip and use something more like a micron.
WIP
ref link: http://www.oaklandbjj.com/wp-content/uploads/helio_gracie.jpg
I did this last night. Googled up a picture and started to rough it out with a non photo blue pencil. My intent was to go over this with a marker and end up with a black and white picture. I'm really happy with where its going but I see some issues that I'm not sure how to correct. First is the hands, they are the part I'm most unhappy with. I've tried drawing them now a couple times and no luck. I feel like there's something I'm missing here which is why they keep coming out bad. Maybe it's just practice though. Second thing I'm noticing is that the head is too big and maybe the neck is too long. To fix that I'm thinking my best bet is to either redraw it completely
Sorry for the image being hard to see, not really sure how to adjust the levels correctly to make it easier to see what I've done so far.
the ones you have there are a little on the small side, and they don't really reflect the complex group of shapes that compose a hand. Iruka and the gang put together some really great references for the Hands and Feet thread last month: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/178203/may-monthly-enrichment-hands-and-feet#latest
Just as an example, the hands in the photo reference, the fingers are tucked underneath the belt, and you can see the back of the hand is actually quite broad. One of my drawing teachers used to always point out that both hands with the fingers outspread, if pressed over one's face, should roughly cover the surface area of (most of) the face, within say, half inch of the hairline. It's helpful if you break up fingers into series of cylinders as well, rather than just as divisions in a plane, so that the volume of the fingers is more apparent in the design. This can help to prevent some of the apparent flatness.
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
First I finally buckled down and did a simple still life (trying to concentrate on linework instead of shadow and volume)
Then inspired by a couple people here who did some silhouette work I did some sci-fi buildings
Now some updates on my work from above. I tried inking it in photoshop but wasn't happy with it
Then went into illustrator and tried it there, I think I'm happier with the result
Then went on to try to color it in illustrator, though it's difficult so I may take the linework back to ps