I decided to make a thread to throw my work into as I felt bad pushing down other people's more polished ( better ) works in the doodle thread. I'll just put my latest stuff in here from now on.
Any criticism, tips, or constructive opinions would be greatly appreciated. Seriously. I don't give a shit about a pat on the back, I just want to get better.
Some personal background; I'm 40 years old and I abandoned art altogether for the last 20 years. Why? ...I don't really know. I could blame a severe case of lack of self confidence, coupled with depression, anxiety, pressure to get a real job and pay bills, etc. But honestly, excuses are all just so much self-serving bullshit; I was a lazy chickenshit who didn't think he was good enough and didn't put in the daily work to get better. This past March I had a moment of crisis/clarity and I started back up again. I sit down to draw now, every day, regardless of how I feel. I gave myself a goal of 2 years to get significantly better. I'm hoping to track my progress with this thread.
About the style; I'm not in love with realism, nor do I have anything against drawing from imagination. It's just that I've always believed that you have to start by trying to get as close to what you see around you before you can evolve into your own unique style. I feel like I still have a lot of work to do before I make that leap.
I'll start the thread with the most recent work completed, all with the last 3 to 4 weeks. I'll also start dating them from this point forward.
Color pencil and ink
Self portrait - Pencil
Self portrait - Ink
Ink
Color pencil
Still life - color pencil ( latest, completed 10/1/13 )
Posts
Sometimes your hatching feels a bit rushed, and flattens the form. You don't always need it either. The one dated 9/2 (of you i assume?) is really great looking.
That last one though....i keep going back to it. Its really a beautiful execution!!
Thanks for the kind words.
You're right about the cross-hatching; I'm actually in the process of trying to teach myself how to do it. I found some Youtube videos that help, but it's still tricky; seems really easy to smother the drawing by doing too much. I need more practice.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Thank you! This is an excellent reference.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Broken Toys - the Rocking Horse
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
If your goal is to improve in a sort of self disciplined manor, mixing in master studies will help you with some things that just doing a still life cant (Composition/design/color theory). I think your stuff already shows a ton of good sensibilities, particularly for form and depth. I would suggest really increasing the amount you look at art too, if you don't have a habit of just seeking out some art to look at daily, its a habit that is more important than people think.
Thanks Iruka. I've been looking through Noah's site for a couple of weeks now.
In terms of Master Studies, I've never tried that before; is there any particular artist that you think I would benefit most from, as concerns (Composition/design/color theory)?
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Albert Bierstadt - John Singer Sargent - Thomas Moran - Frederic Church - George Inness - bouguereau - Howard Pyle - NC Wyeth - Frank E Schoonover - Harvey Dunn - Mead Schaeffer
I liked studying Sargent, Degas, Lautrec because they appeal to me, personally. I suggest spending some time at a museum, If there are none where you are, at least thumb through the selection of art history books at whatever book store. Just figuring out what you like is a big step. Art History tends to be fairly undervalued by art students as a sort of forced part of their education, but just figuring out what your aesthetics are is an important part of the art making process. The more you see, the more varied and more knowledgeable your taste becomes.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
*( I realize there are several facial muscles missing, I did it this way on purpose in order to create a starker image as a contrast to the portrait. )
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Yeah, I really liked the way the bottom portion of the house came out, the top...not so much. Couldn't put my finger on what was bothering me about it though; I think the symmetry of the flames might be why.
( sorry to hear about your house, that must have been traumatic ). I have two more pictures planned that include fire, so I'll give it another crack.
On another note, I really like sketching with the white chalk on colored paper...
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
They know who's been naughty or nice.
THEY KNOW.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
I decided to try re-drawing a portrait of myself and my girlfriend; getting better...
Let's hope this year is better for all of us...
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Thanks. I'll try something more organic ( more of a motion-blur ) next time I do movement and see how that comes out.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
When it comes to traditional media, there is a lot to be said for getting the media to work for you. I'll try and find some tutorials for you that aren't super crappy, but you should consider mixing in some ink/watercolor to your workflow, and trying papers of varying textures to try and see how it effects your drawing.
Prismacolor pencils, 80lb press 9x12 drawing paper.
Color pencil is my comfort zone, obviously. I actually got a Surface 2 for Christmas, thinking about starting to move over into digital work. The learning curve just looks mighty steep from where I'm standing ( which is basically at zero ), so I haven't sat down and started working on that. That might be my next step.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Fair enough.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Individual panels.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Thanks, Iruka. Trying to get the right perspective for the middle panel ( the long shot of the train car interior ) almost made me go cross-eyed.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
Individual panels in order.
You know what I really dislike in comics? Talking heads. No, not the band; it's when the comic artist slaps a characters head in a box and a bunch of dialogue in the word balloon and calls it a day. Very boring. And damned if I only realized I did that on this page when I had already finished drawing it. :-/ Well, despite that, this is fun. I'm going to have to slow the pace down as I have a bunch of things that I need to get to and limited time to do them ( getting married in August ), but I am definitely coming back to this. Hopefully, working on the comic in a purely digital format ( getting the hang of drawing on my Surface, finally ) will speed the process up somewhat.
Situation excellent. I am attacking.
- General Ferdinand Foch
facebook.com/LauraCatherwoodArt
Only crit I have is that in the last page, in panel 3 he is holding the bible really awkwardly. It seems too high up and his hands aren't quite right. I know it's high so you can do the face reveal but maybe try and work out a way to make it look more natural. Glad you'll be keeping it up I'm looking forward to seeing more.