Sketchbook Thread of kristykate

[Rebeccak]

Welcome! :)

[kristykate]

Thanks Rebeccak. :)

To start off, here's a few figure drawings I completed in February - I'm not sure how long the first one took, but I did restrict myself to 2hrs for the blue, purple and yellow ones. Photographic references were from the book Illustrator's Reference Manual Nudes (Bloomsbury Publishing).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/3508291679_4ba7b62aa6.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3594/3508291683_c4dd14d97a.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3547/3508291685_1f5d77a672.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3655/3508291687_c75f92e28d.jpg

[vicmonty]

nice work. how long have you been painting with the tablet? what brush settings best work for you? i'm just now starting and i haven't really found a solid setting yet? i'm still learning. you anatomy is nice. if anything i'll say spend a little more time on the faces of the subjects. again, nice work.

[kristykate]

Thanks vicmonty! I've been drawing with a tablet for at least 3 years now. I find I like working (in Photoshop) with the default hard round / airbrush pen opacity flow brushes, with the hardness at 80-100%, and changing the opacity + flow depending on what I'm focusing on at the time. Other than that, I haven't really spent the time fully experimenting with the brushes and such ...that's something I'll need to work on! ;)
I agree with your point on the faces.. they look a bit wacky! I think I was too focused on getting the rest of the body right.


Some more recent anatomy studies - using the books Human Anatomy for Artists (Konemann) and Anatomy and Figure Drawing (by Louise Gordon) for reference:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3415/3508291693_674d795532.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3398/3508291695_cc5b081a91.jpg

And head studies following Loomis' approach:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3358/3508404161_143e4591b4.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3558/3508404167_413b054aaa.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3584/3508404169_e58894ff6a.jpg

Lastly, some studies (completed over the past 2 days) using photos in the newspaper as ref:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3579/3508404177_5f4d8e4d25.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3561/3509516094_d842be9e36.jpg

[Gord-MacDonald]

Nice work!

[batte812]

Hi Kristy, great start for your sketchbook! Keep going!

[killermachine]

hey welcome..looking good already..keep up the good work

[NR43]

That's a really nice way to start a sketchbook here :)

When you do the colored digital figure studies, why not experiment with adding highlights? It would be a nice way to learn about warm vs cool colors...
Looking forward to see more!

[Mu]

Hey!

I like the purple woman. I can't help but wonder what it would do as an underpainting for an oil painting.

[kristykate]

Thanks everyone for your support + encouragement so far. :)

@ NR43 - And here I was thinking they did have highlights! I think I'm afraid of high contrast; I find my coloured work tends to be pretty dull. I'll have another go at colour again shortly. :)

@ Mu - that would be interesting - only one way to find out (Pity I've only tried oil painting once or twice ..and that was almost 10 years ago!)


I've been playing catch-up on the workshops - started the Anatomy Lesson Series - The Head. Here's the first one, the face came out a bit too long ...I seem to be having that problem a lot (either too narrow or wide or short or long). Should I start using a grid (or another measurement system) to help make things more accurate, or is it better to trust my eyes (and that they'll improve on their own)?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3516405735_6c0a0e283a.jpg
Ref:
ADAM, Lambert-Sigisbert
Head of 'Water'
1737
Terracotta
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
(http://www.wga.hu/)


The next head study will be digital, yay!

[kristykate]

Head study #02

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/3517671026_c190804f07.jpg

Ref:
ALGARDI, Alessandro
Bust of Monsignor Antonio Cerri
c. 1637
Marble, height 85,5 cm
City Art Gallery, Manchester
(http://www.wga.hu/)

[ganeshghale]

good work there.
I think the workshops here are alot of help. I'm going to follow them myself too.

happy drawing!!!

*crit* The digital master drawing of the head could use some highlight.
I think the whole drawing is kind of mid tone without much contrast. hope that helps

[vicmonty]

loving your sketchbook. not sure if you know of this, but try squinting your eyes while looking at both pics. it helps when deciding on proper contrast. try using the grid method. I used it once to draw from a photo of my little girl. before I knew it I was done and it was all in proportion. How long did the second bust drawing take you? any reason you went digital versus pencil like the first one?

[kristykate]

@ ganeshghale - thanks for the crit, I've gone back and added some highlights - it's made a big difference. :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/3523933783_9688195abb.jpg

@ vicmonty - squinting does definitely help.. I'm thinking though, it comes down to my selection of colour. Time to put effort into studying colour theory some more! I'll have a go using the grid in my next head study (#04). I'm interested to see if it'll actually help me learn faster than by drawing everything by eye. Unfortunately I didn't record exactly how many hours #02 took.. but I'm guessing around 5hrs. As for why I went digital..I felt as though it'd work better for these studies as it's a lot easier to rework the image and keep copies of my progress. Also, I want to be a better digital artist.


I'm now working on head study #03. Below is a WIP.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3384/3524760220_87f568e747.jpg
Reference:
ALLORI, Cristofano
Judith with the Head of Holofernes
1613
Oil on canvas, 120,4 x 100,3 cm
Royal Collection, Windsor

I've had a lot of trouble with getting the proportions right -- it's a bit closer after moving the facial features around.. but there are still errors (ie. eyes + angle of head). C&C will be much appreciated before I continue with the study. :)

[Maladie]

Hi kristykate,

cool work here! I love your serious and studious (if that's a word:)) approach, something I don't have the patience for but see working spot on for others.

In your last portrait of the lady, the head is a bit too round and the neck too thick. Try stretching the whole to the upper left corner - this actually sounds twisted, but you know what I mean...

Good luck and keep drawing, it looks very nice!

[ganeshghale]

glad to be of some help. :D

the progress on the new head study is okay so far. I think as you work on it, you'll be able to match the proportions.

and yeah, the angle of head definitely needs some adjustment.

[kristykate]

Getting back into the figurative studies after some inactivity (I've been working on other projects).

I've made some more alterations to the mastercopy of "Judith". There's still more that I could do, but I think I'll leave it as is now, and move onto a new image.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3378/3565817824_63e9b163a9.jpg

And here's some quick head studies using photos from the newspaper as ref:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2470/3565017345_ef97724ec4.jpg

[Eklectique]

Impressive stuff you have here.

[Gisaiagami]

nice
i like the master copy. colors and light
the face are gorgeous too

[Maladie]

Great improvement on that one! Also love the 'brush strokes'. I assume this was done in Painter?

[kristykate]

Eklectique, Gisaiagami, Maladie - thanks for your encouragement!

oh, and Maladie, all my digital work is done in Photoshop. ;)

Update- (photo ref from a newspaper again)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/3615378495_da48ac6d52.jpg

[Calc]

I really like the mastercopy of Judith :)
I unfortunately do not have any constructive criticism.
Keep them coming!

[Aviva]

Hi kristykate, nice work on the Judith mastercopy! I like the way you did the coloured figure studies on the previous page. I look forward to seeing more. :)

[kristykate]

Thanks Calc and Aviva. :)

Quick update-
mastercopy #04 :
ANDREA DEL SARTO
Head of a Young Man
1520
Sanguine
Musée du Louvre, Paris
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3547/3643081588_8e7605e61f.jpg

I started off with a grid this time to get the right head shape/placement.. but somehow I ended up deviating with the facial features. :/
Image took approx 3-4hrs.

[kristykate]

mastercopy #05-

ANTONELLO da Messina
Portrait of a Man
1474
Oil on wood, 32 x 26 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3648199653_5bab775d91.jpg

Took roughly 7 hours in total. Most of the time was spent trying to get the face looking decent. Overall I'm pretty happy with the result. :)
WIP shots below-

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3648199651_a011c8a7b1.jpg

[kristykate]

mastercopy (heads) #06

BELLINI, Giovanni
Head of the Baptist
1464-68
Tempera 0n wood, diameter 28 cm
Musei Civici, Pesaro

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/3688507795_f39c51593c.jpg

No grids.. this time I had a go at drawing the image flipping between upside-down and the right way up. Approx 2hrs 25mins. (unfinished, but I won't be continuing with it)

[Maladie]

Love the da Messina copy! Very clear cut, beautiful colours. The last one's forehead seems to be a little dented/flat? Keep going:).

[kristykate]

An update after so long--yay!

Decided to quickly finish up mastercopy (heads) #07. The piece took roughly 3hrs total.

BELLINI, Giovanni
Sacred Conversation (detail)
c. 1490
Oil on wood
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3882285721_0ac3cd0529.jpg

A couple of days ago I completed my first self-portrait :) (approx <3hrs)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3419/3882285723_43831dab06.jpg

And here's a quick <15min portrait
img ref- http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/20491.html
I plan on doing these daily now. :)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/3882285725_4950073203.jpg

Also, Maladie, thanks for your comment. It's funny what you don't see until someone points it out. :)

[kristykate]

3x 15min portrait studies-
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/3883367551_47d3b3a34b.jpg
img ref- www.portrait-photos.org/photo/3221.html (http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/3221.html)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3433/3884189214_f940cacd6f.jpg
img ref- www.portrait-photos.org/photo/15589.html (http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/15589.html)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3883427379_9bf1475a81.jpg
img ref- www.portrait-photos.org/photo/19499.html (http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/19499.html)

[xsiyou]

good work,but the angle of head definitely needs some adjustment.Do not care about time.

Looking forward to updates :thumbsup:

[kristykate]

Too right xsiyou, I need to work on angles more. I don't appear to be interpreting them very well at the moment. Gotta keep practicing. ;)

[Eklectique]

I like all your studies, but yeah, angles seem to be troubling you.

[kristykate]

Since my last post I've started studying perspective - I realised the last time I 'studied' it was back in highschool and even then it wasn't much... I think that explains the problems I'm having with angles now.

Here's my first portrait since starting perspective studies-

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3961043966_509d5e3345.jpg

photo ref-
"Smoke" by Pavel Krukov
http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/8244.html

[kristykate]

Trying out some colour portraits~ this took 80mins to complete.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3552/3961046031_30cc9a1eb7.jpg

photo ref-
"Open" by Ilya LiS
www.portrait-photos.org/photo/2399.html (http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/2399.html)

[kristykate]

Another colour portrait study. ~210mins.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3466/3964337695_6b195ac71b.jpg

photo ref-
"At the field" by Denis Belikov
http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/17966.html

[maozao]

good job on the portraits :)

keep it up, you are getting better

[NR43]

Yeah, defenitely making progress!
Keep going :D

[longhi]

Ow, really nice....I loved this last speed painting.
awesome work!

[kristykate]

Thanks guys! :D

mastercopy (heads) #08~

BERNINI, Gian Lorenzo
Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius
1618-19
Marble, height: 220 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2558/3982102015_9305f9592a.jpg

Not 100% happy with this one.. a lot of things just weren't working for me today. I guess you win some, you lose some!

[kristykate]

Some sketchbook work from late September - early October.

I've noticed that my line + pencil shading quality is pretty weak (little form / tonal range)... any recommendations of experiments,etc. I can do to improve these techniques?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3432/4043617379_3a7ca7c9d9.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2590/4043617383_b003367b2d.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/4043617385_5b660eb1b8.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/4043617389_d75d0de656.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2557/4043617395_4cc0dcd687.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/4043617397_e2c172a78b.jpg

[kristykate]

Update ~ started working through the exercises in Loomis' "Fun With A Pencil", here's the results thus far:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2699/4152891502_021da094b1.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2635/4152891504_5c77e12c82.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2716/4152891506_7f3bc849aa.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2629/4152891510_f4c8cf7d1c.jpg

[kristykate]

Getting back into figure studies again.. so these will be a little rough. Sketches are drawn with photo ref.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2488/4209194023_6cfef841b5.jpghttp://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4209194025_4a3ceb80f4.jpg

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