Rebecca Kimmel's Anatomy Review 002: OPPOSING CURVES

#101

ashrumm…oooh, thats good. Loving it! It’s like Turner meets Frans Hals. Very cool.Desp. Nice hand. I appreciate the forshortening.

This is a follow up to rebeccas post about finding curves in a master’s drawing. This piece is apollo by Raphael.

#102

Great, great posts, everyone.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOING WHAT [color=paleturquoise]stipick_S DID IN HIS MOST RECENT POST: TRACE OVER A MASTER DRAWING / S TO FIND THE OPPOSING CURVES.[/color]

NOTHING WILL IMPROVE YOUR DRAWING SKILLS LIKE LOOKING AT AND COPYING FROM THE WORKS OF THE OLD MASTERS ~ EVEN IF YOU BEGIN BY TRACING THEM.

Desp#2/Rog, nice hand drawing ~ but we’ll get to those later :wink: ~ for the time being, I think it’s better to concentrate on the whole figure. BIG PICTURE first, details later…:).

Darktwin, thanks for submitting these ~ they are lovely drawings, but more ANATOMICAL STUDIES than Drawings which focus on Opposing Curves ~ so I look forward to seeing your new posts once your scanner is back online ;).

ayaegi, thank you for posting :slight_smile: ~ I agree, the work is very inspiring, and that is the true purpose behind this thread ~ to inspire and be inspired! I hope you continue to post your work :slight_smile: ~ bear in mind that you can post 5-8 pieces MAXIMUM, so feel free to post new work as it is created :).

ashrumm, nice, nice, nice drawing. I love to see work with this kind of emotional quality to it ~ and by emotional quality, I am not speaking of an angst-ridden drawing with dark black lines and scribbles, but exactly what you have here ~ a sensitively rendered piece which clearly shows your attention to both detail and emotional pitch…great to see!

Everyone,
Inspiring to see so much good work going on…keep it up, and keep posting your new results :slight_smile:

~Rebeccak

#103

Rebeccak your linked post that got pluged in the main fourm page has a bad link. It does not go to this thread but some random thread.

Edit: Ill get into people again on the next post :slight_smile:

#104

well, I’ve been playing with some gestures to losen up a little, and trying to keep some life in this lessons line work. Here is my third atempt at “David”, by Bernini Gian Lorenzo.

reference:
http://www.thais.it/scultura/image/sch00006.htm

I’ve been playing a lot trying to get some decent brushes in painter. All I need now is a better graphics tablet! :slight_smile:

  • Somhairle
#105

Desp#2/Rog,

THANK YOU. The front page link is being fixed as we speak.

Somhairle: :applause:

Beauty shot. Nice. Please post more like these. I’ve seen that statue in person, and am a HUGE fan of Bernini. Congrats on an excellent piece.

One crit: HIS left leg is a little funny. Want to SAVE this version, and give HIS left leg another shot? Just a suggestion :slight_smile:

~Rebeccak

#106

The offending link has been fixed, and the guilty party has been taken outside and shot.

-R

#107

Hi!
Thanks so much for your lessons! Rebecca, you don’t happen to know a guy named Steven Gaffney who teaches illustration at SVA in New York? He has a very similar style of teaching to you, as in opposing lines etc. Taught me a whole lot - not just how to draw a little, but also how to see the lines and shapes in the subject. Thanks for sharing. I’ll contribute soon!

#108

Here’s my first of (hopefully) more :slight_smile:
50% size.

I already noticed some incorrect things, but oh well, feel free to crit all you want.

Heres the full size ref: http://www.abcgallery.com/M/michelangelo/michelangelo37.html

#109

hi …itz realy very good stuf for those who are realy wanted to understand the anatomy…thanks

#110

great work everyone!

Here is my curve study: (used someone’s ref image)

Also - BTW: Rebecca, remember when you recommended that book “Albinus on Anatomy”? Well i check my local bookstore and they had a book by that title, but by different authors.
The ones you wrote were Robert Beverly Hale & Terence Coyle, but the one they had was by Bernhard Siegfried Albinus. Is it the same thing? I checked amazon, seems to be similar, i think the only difference is the paper/hardback according to amazon? But why different authors?

Anyway… keep up all the great work all.

#111 

 Source #1: [http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a35/rebeccak4/CG_Talk_Anatomy_Workshop_II_OPPOSING%20CURVES/torso_demo_300dpi_small_FUL.jpg](http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a35/rebeccak4/CG_Talk_Anatomy_Workshop_II_OPPOSING%20CURVES/torso_demo_300dpi_small_FUL.jpg)
 
 Source #2: [http://figuredrawings.com/figure02.jpg](http://figuredrawings.com/figure02.jpg)

Trying to focus more on the curves…try to ignore the poor line quality…should I pay more attention to the larger curves, and less to the curves within the form?

'Nother question Rebecca…any thoughts on the technique I’m kinda sorta using, doing a rough pass in colored pencil and then a finer dark pass? (Actually, none of the drawings I’ve posted really show how I’d normally use this technique…on the first two the underlying pass is too dark, and the above drawings are just…unusual.) Is this more suited to design, or do you think it’s fine for life drawing? (Of course anything’s really fine in the long run…but I mean, is it putting me at a disadvantage in learning figure drawing/anatomy)?

EDIT: the technique appeals to me, and I’ve used it a lot…but I guess it’s safer and less raw than other mediums/methods. I think I’ll do the next ones in charcoal or graphite stick, but I’d still like to know what your opinion of it is.

#112

First of all a huge thanks to Rebecca, you’re an amazing teacher. I think maybe some donations should be in order for all the time you’ve put in:D. I’ve never had any lessons before but the lessons here so far have been a huge help. The talent here is very inspiring

#113

can ay one tell me how to upload my drawings …plzzz

#114

stipick_S ~

Thank you for posting your work! ~ I am extremely confident that you are on the right track. That being said, here is my review of your work :slight_smile:

Do not be alarmed at all of these little nutty comments. I think that your drawings are extremely carefully ~ and for the most part, accurately ~ drawn, and for this I greatly commend you. These comments of mine are merely recommendations, and are meant to point out some minor flaws which hold these otherwise really good drawings back a bit. So take these comments with a grain of salt, and please let me know what you think.

Thank you for posting these, and I look forward to more of your great posts!

~Rebeccak

#115

CiaranM,

Thanks for your post! I hope to see your work soon :slight_smile: I do not know of any Steven Gaffney, but this opposing curve style has its origins in a teacher from SVA whose name I forget, but who was a teacher of mine’s mentor…

scorpion007,

Great post! Did you do any tracing? If so, fine, just curious :slight_smile:
Make sure to get the “Albinus on Anatomy” by Robert Beverly Hale & Terence Coyle.
On your second post of the Greco/Roman statue, I think this is good ~ however, I would look for a more dynamic statue or drawing to trace ~ I highly recommend Michelangelo and Rubens for Opposing Curves :slight_smile:

naresh,

You are welcome! Look forward to your posts :slight_smile:

FromanylanD wrote:

>Trying to focus more on the curves…try to ignore the poor line quality…should I pay more attention to the larger curves, and less to the curves within the form?

Yes, pay attention to the LARGE CURVES FIRST which define the outside form. I think this is a really good effort ~ I like that you tackled the whole statue without tracing. I would, however, recommend TRACING (THE REFERENCE OF THE) STATUE ALSO. This is not cheating, but learning how the Masters created THEIR forms through Opposing Curves.
After tracing, I would recommend going back to the same REFERENCE to draw freehand a second drawing. Your second drawing will show TREMENDOUS improvement :slight_smile:

>'Nother question Rebecca…any thoughts on the technique I’m kinda sorta using, doing a rough pass in colored pencil and then a finer dark pass? (Actually, none of the drawings I’ve posted really show how I’d normally use this technique…on the first two the underlying pass is too dark, and the above drawings are just…unusual.) Is this more suited to design, or do you think it’s fine for life drawing? (Of course anything’s really fine in the long run…but I mean, is it putting me at a disadvantage in learning figure drawing/anatomy)?

When you are learning to break down form, there is really NO WRONG WAY in which to do so.
That being said, I would make a few recommendations with reference to your technique: Firstly, I would not use colored pencil as if it were charcoal ~ it is not. Colored pencil is waxy and a bit resistant to the surface of paper, and I highly dislike this because it means I have to go over strokes which I did not wish to reinforce. If you wish to work in traditional media, I would HIGHLY recommend using charcoal, particularly on good paper, which it looks as though you may be using. I use General’s 6B pencils because they have a solid black mark which forces me to be sensitive to line weight and to pay attention to what I am doing for fear of making “mistakes”. If you must use colored pencil, use it as a PENCIL and constantly sharpen it so as to leave clean marks. DARK 6B Charcoal Pencils will give you a range of expressiveness which a colored pencil will not.

eggsrgood,

Thank you :slight_smile:

EDIT: Woo! Your drawing just showed up in my browser! Nice! :slight_smile:

naresh,

I use www.photobucket.com to host my images. It’s free up to a certain capacity.

Thanks all for your Awesome posts! I can REALLY see the effort here, so Thank You!

~Rebeccak

#116

'Night all. Thanks for your posts! :slight_smile:

~Rebeccak

#117

after_michelangelo.jpg614x679 

   [img]http://www.animation-fromanyland.com/imgshow/after_michelangeloEdit.jpg[/img]
   
 
  Photoshop tracing of a Michelangelo drawing. I'm trying to indicate some strong opposing curves with those orange fans :rolleyes:.

When you are learning to break down form, there is really NO WRONG WAY in which to do so.
That being said, I would make a few recommendations with reference to your technique: Firstly, I would not use colored pencil as if it were charcoal ~ it is not. Colored pencil is waxy and a bit resistant to the surface of paper, and I highly dislike this because it means I have to go over strokes which I did not wish to reinforce. If you wish to work in traditional media, I would HIGHLY recommend using charcoal, particularly on good paper, which it looks as though you may be using. I use General’s 6B pencils because they have a solid black mark which forces me to be sensitive to line weight and to pay attention to what I am doing for fear of making “mistakes”. If you must use colored pencil, use it as a PENCIL and constantly sharpen it so as to leave clean marks. DARK 6B Charcoal Pencils will give you a range of expressiveness which a colored pencil will not.

[color=white]Great…I know you already strongly suggested charcoal, but I chickened out. I’ll try to acquire some of those pencils…right now I’ve got a Pro Art Sepia Dark, General’s Charcoal White, a lot of Faber-Castell natural charcoal (the twigs), and some unidentified soft square sticks. The majority of what I post from now on will be…charcoal.
[/color]

#118

Rebecca, thanks for your comments, to answer your question, no. I didn’t trace at all. I had the reference side by side with my picture though, that’s fine right?
Though i did trace over my own drawing on another layer to refine it, as you can see from the pic.

FromanylanD, cool stuff!

#119

The Michelangelo draw-over, or my stuff? :scream:

#120

naresh, you need to host your images somewhere, such as www.imageshack.us
Then you can use them in your post.

Here’s another study i made. First with HB pencil, (tried 6B progresso but the drawing was pretty bad hehe :P, so I tried again with HB on a slightly easier reference.) then scanned into PS and refined in a new layer. Its not perfect, but let me know your thoughts :slight_smile:

Here is the reference URL: http://www.abcgallery.com/M/michelangelo/michelangelo18.html

A side note: [b]I give EVERYONE permission to paintover/analyze ALL of my works posted here.[/b] Just in case that wasn't obvious :P

EDIT:
FromanylanD, both :slight_smile: