Hi
huh more skulls to my collection 
Hmmm I like to draw these fast and loose (sort of) drawings … its quite relaxing and it doesn’t take that long (15-30 minutes each) and it isn’t so boring as those crazy renderings … I think that its much better especially for practise purposes because it keeps your mind sharp.
agreed. 
i picked up another gold nugget from your thread slux! 
and those 15-30 min skulls look great! did you use reference for those? seems to me like you know the skull inside out over and under now great to see those… you’re getting better and better imho keep it up!
-Lye-
You’re right, Slux, self-criticism is a tricky thing. If you don’t do any of it you’ll be happy but never advance. Do it too much and you’ll drive yourself nuts and give up. This is why most people avoid what you are doing. It’s not pleasant. I think you have the right attitude. Just remember to focus on what you’re doing right if you start feeling bummed out. It’s easy to do. Just pull out something you drew 6 months ago and compare it to something recent and have a good laugh.
But so far my favourite old master is probably Leonardo da Vinci… He is quite interesting character and I think that we have some things in common (btw no I’am not trying to say that I’am genius or anything like that
)
That's funny. I feel the same way. In fact that's why my avatar looks the way it does. Well, except for that last part. I [i]am [/i]a genius. :twisted::D:buttrock:
Must…remove…avatar…before…head…explodes 
Most of my favourite artists are those that still work in this industry: Craig Mullins Frank Frazeta Linda Bergkvist Feng Zhu Neville Page and others
Hmm...we seem to have identical taste. Frazeta is my favorite. :)Hi
I’am glad you like them and yeah I have used references for those, its still part of my study where I really try to understand the shape - how it looks from all angles. I think that a lot of people don’t take their time to really understand the shape and just suppose they know it … you know something like check out front and side plates in anatomy book and than “Yeah I know it” … yeah sure and than give them clay or 3D program and tell them to make a detail 3D model and they are lost … they will probably discover that what they may know is front and side 2D representations of skull but not an actual 3D shape itself. Its quite a different story.
Hmmm when I think about it I guess a lot of people who work in 2D also think in 2D … but even if you work in 2D you have to think in 3D … its very important to think about objects you draw as 3D objects … thats probably also one of the reasons why so many people recommend drawing from life because it forces you to think in 3D and also because of the same reasons so many people don’t recommend practising from photographs probably because that may support 2D thinking which is pretty limited because if you would want to be successful in 2D thinking you would have to know all 2D representations of all angles of that particular object … I think its much easier just know 3D object and than just figure out in your head how it would look from angle you want to draw it.
Btw if you would like to know more about ehmm “3D drawing” than as far as I know Vilppus approach would be quite good … I think that his approach is very 3D …
Also I quess that sculpting from clay or modelling in 3D would be a good practise because that would force you to be more aware of third dimension.
Unfortunately I don’t have any real skull - that would make my job much easier but right now I have to figure it out from photographs and diagrams which I think is quite nice practise because it really forces you to think about these 2D representations as 3D objects and that may be something that quite a few people may not be used to do … I was thinking that I would get that plastic skull … hmm may be later … actually not may be thats sure thing, many successful artists recommended it (for example Mentler). Skull is base of a face and thats very important element in drawings … and just as you wouldn’t try to build a house without a strong base its probably not a good idea to try to draw a face without good understanding of its base … sure you may try it but don’t be surprised if it won’t work.
Thats the reason why I try to spent quite a lot of time studying a skull because I think its important element.
But don’t worry I will post some drawings from imagination later … because after all thats the reason why I do it … not because I would like to have a bunch of drawings of skulls but because I want to be able to draw it from my imagination.
Yup that the reason why I try to date all my drawings - its very usefull because than you know exactly how old it is and you may easily compare it with drawings you have finished recently
Hehe :) I have read some interesting articles about brain/motivation and stuff like that and as they say all people have a potentional to become a genius in one way or another its just up to as if we decide to unlock it or not ... Also latest brain research supports that theory because they say that we use like 2-5% (or someting like that I don't know exactly) of our brain capacity and its not that we couldn't use more ... but rather that we are not used to :D
hi again slux, thanks for that info, i really appreciate you sharing the helpful things you learn along the way. i’m going to check out vilppus right after this post. you’re right about using refs and getting to know whatever you’re studying all around. like loomis said, you need to understand the whole form so you can think all around the form. i’ve started working on the skull as well and i’ll do my best to keep all your tips in mind. thanks a bunch!
-Lye-
I’am glad you find it usefull
You can find some of Vilppus articles at AWN:
http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&column=vilppu
Start from the oldest one on page 3 …
Hi
More skulls I have used different references for those. Its always good to learn from more sources than just one. If you take a closer look you will discover that all skull diagrams/photos etc look different just as all human skulls are different - for example someone has a large chin someone pointy or rounded etc so I always make sure that I have enough sources to learn from
Slux,
Good to see your studies. :)
One thing I have been meaning to suggest to you is to try drawing in an alternate manner, namely, by coating paper with sanded charcoal stick dust onto reasonably good white drawing paper (large format) and using a white plastic eraser to erase out the lights.
[](http://www.dickblick.com/zz229/21/) [Example of Charcoal Stick](http://www.dickblick.com/zz229/21/)
Example of Sandpaper (You’d want Fine Sandpaper)
[img]http://www.shoplet.com/office/limages/ESTD0612.JPG[/img] White Plastic Eraser
[img]http://www.officedepot.com/pictures/sk/md/930248_sk_md.jpg[/img] Exacto Knife
[left]The exacto knife is used to occasionally cut off the blunted end of the eraser to give you a nice, sharp edge with which to erase lights from your charcoal coated paper.
[/left]
[left]I have some stuff from school that I might be able to post later to better demonstrate this technique, which I think is great for learning how to loosen up and to explore value in drawing ~ it's also a good transitional technique because it sort of bridges drawing and painting.
Pretty busy with the holidays, but will try to post some stuff sometime soon. :)
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
[/left]Okay, I’ve found an example, but it’s a bad photocopy of a really old piece that’s not figurative, so bear that in mind. 
But it shows basically what I mean:
[left]In this case, I used charcoal pencil as well to establish basic lines / etc. but for the most part this is just a tone drawing.
Basically, this method is really simple ~ you just leave the tone as your midtone / darks, and erase out your lights. It’s a really effects little drawing technique, and lends itself nicely to painting.
At any rate, just a suggestion.
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
[/left]
Hi Rebecca
Hmm not bad at all heh actually I have tried something like this some time ago but only with eraser not with knife and it turned out to be well quite a mess … but I quess its just me, I need more practise.
But anyway I was thinking that I should rather focus more on learning anatomy now and less on redering so I guess I will try to work digitaly for a while that could (or may be not) speed up my rendering a bit (I would also like to use my new tablet bit more) and than I guess I will try to focus more on line drawing … because that way I can draw very quickly and its more than enough for learning purposes … after all I don’t think that students of medicine do shade their anatomy sketches …
Here are another skulls … this time done digitaly in PS.
I kind of enjoy to paint digitaly … its quite relaxing …
Oh and btw no reference used these are done from memory
Slux,
Very cool! You ever going to try a different part of the skeleton than the skull? Kidding you, of course ~ it’s great to see this work! I can see you’re becoming quite comfortable with your tablet…doesn’t take long for the addiction to set in.
Looking forward to seeing more good stuff!
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
you don’t like my lil skulls? 
heh just kidding … no worries there will be a plenty of bones in future … and some flash too (at least I hope so )
anyway here is something different just for you
heh actually I wasn’t in mood for anything serious today so at least few scribbles
Hi
It has been a while since I have posted … hmm never mind here I’am again
Ok I have thought I will take a break from all these skulls (but not for a long of course I’am planing some interesting projects hehe)
So here is some horse anatomy study … I use Atlas of Animals Anatomy for artists for these.
I guess that I will try to post more diverse stuff because doing just one thing may be quite boring after a while and result is that I slow down … doing more diverse stuff keeps me going and thats good
First picture is just a little warm up for more detailed picture below
Slux,
Great to see you back!
Your technique is beautiful, and I particularly admire the drawing of the horse’s body. I think perhaps the head / neck is too large ~ in a way, like 2 separate animals? But overall I think this is a really great piece.
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
To Rebecca:
Hi I’am glad you like it and I know its not perfect oooh but anyway I have changed my opinion about technical mistakes a bit … I try to not to be concerned with them that much because you will make them anyway heh … just draw and they will disappear with time.
Purpose was to get familiar with horse body little more and I think that in these terms it was not bad … I will work on details later … I guess you will see quite a few horse studies from me in future
One think a was thinking about quite a lot lately is that I really really really need to balance what I do. What I’am talking about is
Practise vs Theory
Drawing from references vs Drawing from imagination
I strongly believe that you need to balance it in right proportion in order to be successful.
I spent to much time on theory and not enough time on practise so I need work on my practise little more but not abandon theory of course … just find right balance
Same its with my Drawing from references vs Drawing from imagination
I draw from references too much and not enough from imagination and that not good … again I have to balance it.
Because if you draw only from references than you will be probably surprised how bad your works would be without it and you will be doomed to work only with references and you will lack that freedom when you can draw whatever you want and don’t need bunch of references and its also much more fun to draw from imagination.
But in other hand if you draw only from imagination you will be walking in your own footsteps and you will forever walk in circles.
So best way is to balance it because I believe this way you will progress much faster than if you use only whatever of these two and we all want to progress quickly don’t we?
Ok so here are some pictures from my imagination - some medicine-mans
Heya Slux,
I understand your thoughts, definitely! But before you turn your back to Master Copies take a look at Erich / El Chief’s thread:
Anatomy Thread of Erich Schreiner
He’s done about 100 Master Copies (and still going) and I think has improved a lot because of them.
And, by the way, of course everything I say is only suggestions. Forgive me if I get pesky!
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
Hey I didn’t say I won’t use references or that I won’t do any master copies I just said that I need to balance it that means do both. Aaah don’t worry I experiment quite a lot and there is so many things I wan’t to do …
Hmm here is another picture. I have tried some painting in PS too … Ohh well I have to work on it more I guess … colors don’t look good to me … hmmmmm
