Sketchbook Thread of Slux

#101

Ok few more drawings for today …
Same as the one before :
compressed charcoal
20 minutes each
Size … about the size of hand :slight_smile:

  • Slux
#102

hi sLux! it’s reaLLy inspiring to see how hard you work, and how much you’re improving! i’m compLeteLy sure you’LL be making masterpieces in no time, if you keep your enthusiasm up. i’m just starting out myseLf, so i don’t have much crits to offer you, so i’LL just offer some encouragement :slight_smile:

now this is what i caLL passion, and i reaLLy think that passion is so much more important than “taLent” in any fieLd. i encourage you to keep posting! i’LL be watching your thread and i’LL drop by once in awhiLe :thumbsup:

btw, thanks for the tut on shading, never thought of using a brush to smear! must try that! thanks a bunch!!

#103

Hi thanks for kind words :slight_smile: ohh and btw I don’t work very hard … unfortunately but I would like to … actually thats another thing what I’am trying to learn - to work efficiently … you know to much distractions, time killers like TV or just doing nothing … but I work on it … I can say that I work much more efficiently now than I used to … but its still far from perfect

And good luck with your drawing … and don’t forget its all just hard work there are no real
shortcuts only more and less efficient ways how to learn. More you will work sooner you will achieve your goals :slight_smile: and one another thing … life is about preferences … its up to you if you decide to watch some stupid tv show or rather practise drawing … so think about it next time :slight_smile: life is short …

  • Slux
#104

Slux,

Sorry I didn’t get a chance to reply earlier ~ these are really beautiful works! :thumbsup: I think both sets of drawings are strong, and I like the fact that you did not completely labor over them with a drawing pencil, but used charcoal instead. I think any medium you use, however, will give you good results. :wink:

Definitely stick with a combination of Anatomy, and, if possible, Life Studies ~ even if they aren’t nude Life Studies ~ you can go to a park and draw people. Since people move fast, you have to draw fast as well! This should help with loosening up, and establishing only the gesture. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#105

Very nice work Slux. Keep that pencil moving! :smiley:

#106

erilaz: Thanks … don’t worry I will :smiley:

Rebbeca: Thanks … ohh yeah life studies I should start to draw from life … hmm dunno we will see … at least I will try to draw Dave thats for sure :smiley: ehmm I guess my problem is that I don’t feel very comfortable to draw folks … you know I’am afraid it won’t look good and so … I know its stupid :slight_smile:

Anyway here is my another drawing … ehmm skull as usual
Charcoal - and btw this one is pretty big - bigger than life size
and I have drawn about 30 fast sketches too (skulls) but thats not very interesting so I won’t post it I post only more interesting pieces … but these fast sketches are very good if you want to memorize something and if you want to get your proportions right.

  • Slux
#107

Nice, Slux! :slight_smile:

The lower half of the Skull is a bit long ~ the distance between the base of the nasal opening and where the teeth begin is quite far ~ but it’s cool that you’ve done this, particularly as you’ve done it larger than life size ~ that’s great practice!

Did you draw the skull lightly in first with pencil / charcoal, or did you just start rendering? You may want to block in your basic proportions first on your next piece, as then you will have a template to follow before you start to render. Nice job with the shading in the upper half of the Skull in particular! It’s also good to see you experimenting with a looser style. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#108

Rebbeca
Yeah I know that area below the nose is quite long but I have noticed that too late :slight_smile:
And no I haven’t used pencil at all … just a very rough sketch with charcoal and than rendering … hmm charcoal is good for looser style because its quite hard to draw details with it so I don’t waste time trying it :scream: but its ok at least I can render it quite fast

  • Slux
#109

Heh, hey, whatever works! :slight_smile: These pieces are practice pieces ~ you’ll notice lots of mistakes now and in the future, but of course it’s better than to make them now, vs. in final pieces. :slight_smile:

And yes, doing tight renderings all the time can make you insane…I try to avoid it ~ I think it’s good to do at first for practice, but you will definitely find that you will want to move on to explore other territory, as you are doing now. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#110

Keep up the good work, Slux. You’re turning into an unstopable drawing machine. :bowdown: I’m also impressed that this was in charcoal. I usually just make a mess with charcoal. :smiley:

#111

Thanks
Hahaha yeah I know its really messy :arteest:… but the trick is to draw big and smear it
I usually draw only darkest areas and that I just smear it around with my fingers … and I use also paper smearing stick for details … its really good for details because it creates hard edges … fingers are good if you want soft edges … :slight_smile:

well but I have hardly any experience with charcoal so I’am just trying what I can do with it :smiley:

  • Slux
#112

Thanks for the tips. Hmmm… I think it might be time for me to make another mess. :twisted:

#113

Hi guys
Uff I was little busy (lazy?) lately :slight_smile: Hmm I’am working on some webdesign now I have to finish it asap but than some interesting things are going to happen … I have decided that I don’t like my work attitude and time management … and besides that I have read/heard a lot of very interesting things lately that made me thinking and I have decided to change a lot of things in my life … you know there is a really a lot of things in your life that you can change even if you don’t think so (if you want) but the problem is that most people don’t want … well they wish they could but thats where it ends … you have to do something for it because otherwise your goal is just a daydream …

Ok so I have drawn yet another skull but don’t worry there will be much more of them :scream:
Charcoal on A3 so its pretty big … bigger than life size :slight_smile:

Actually I have used three charcoals

  • Natural charcoal - its very soft, its difficult to draw dark values with it so I use it only for bright areas, its very easy to erase
  • Compressed charcoal - it produces much more darker values than natural charcoal and its more difficult to erase
  • Charcoal in wood - it produces very dark values and actually its hard to achieve light values with it … its also more difficult to erase so I use it only for dark shadows

Ok here it is

  • Slux
#114

Slux,

Wow, sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of thinking! :slight_smile: Well, I don’t know that I could call you a ‘slacker’ :scream: as you seem to think you are, but if you believe that you need to change some things in your life, I wish you the most luck! :slight_smile:

Very nice skull! The contrast between the soft areas of charcoal / more crisp / dark areas is really quite beautiful. For some reason, you like to draw long mandibles ~ :slight_smile: but it’s something you can easily correct in future works. It’s best to just be aware of the tendency ~ we all have our funny drawing tendencies…I’ve got a whole list of them! :scream:

Looking forward to seeing your future works. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#115

More than you think! :scream: Actually thats what I do very often I always think about what I’am doing and how could I improve it and whats wrong and why and what should I do to change it but recently I have read/heart a lot of interesting things how to motivate yourself and how to improve a lot of things in your life and I have thought about it quite a lot … and now I’am going to make a big plan … its not really about force yourself to work harder but rather to change your perspective.

Hmm I will keep my eye on these mandibles :slight_smile:

  • Slux
#116

Slux,

Just make sure that you don’t work so hard, you keel over! :slight_smile: You’re a hard worker already, but of course you know yourself and your own weaknesses best. :slight_smile: I think it’s great you’ve got the ability to recognize things in your life which need changing ~ not everyone is capable of this. :wink:

Hmm, will the Slux Self~Improvement Method be patented? :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#117

Hahaha no it won’t :scream: … its free for everyone who want to listen :slight_smile: as I have said I’am going to do a “research” I have already started with very interesting results I mean there is a lot of things that can be done if you want … the problem is that it requires a person with right mindset to understand it and to appreciate it … ok very simple example

Someone asks you what to do to be great at drawing
Simple answer: “You have to practise it over and over”
Yet most people will still look for something else, for some triks for something what will somehow made them great artists … and it may take them years and years to realize something so simple as that you have to practise it … yeah they will tell you they know that practising is important but subconsciously they won’t believe it and they will still search for that magical thing that will somehow made them great …

First its important to change your mindset … example
I have to do someting I don’t want to do and I have olny a few hours of free time to do it and than I have to do someting else.
My first reaction may be:
“No I don’t have enough time I will do it later”
But than I start to think and ask myself:
“Really? You don’t have a time? Or you just don’t want to do it because you are lazy?”
And often the case is that I try to lie to myself … and a lot of people are so good at it that they believe it without any doubt … its not that important to work hard but for a start you should stop to lie to yourself … you may choose to don’t do it anyway but you should know that you have decided so and no that you “didn’t have a time” …

Well I have said that because if you have some great ways how to motivate yourself and how to improve a lot of things in your life it still may be useless for a lot of people because they are not ready for it … if you know what I mean … this all isn’t about work harder but to understand what you do and why … and it really helps me to work more efficiently because I still look for ways how to improve my work/skills whatever … so some people may work very hard but very inefficientlly and may done less work than you even if you spent on it less time.

Ok just some thoughts :slight_smile: … I will probably have more to say about it when I will be finished with my little research … hmm and it may take a while … I’am quite interested in things like psychology and so … dunno if its interesting or usefull to anyone

  • Slux
#118

Looking good. I can see improvements already. But definitely watch the proportions. That’s the same problem I’m having. I think it’s caused by my eagerness to start shading. Oh, and the fact that I’m a noob. :scream: Simple line art for me is a little boring, which is why I’ve gone on a temporary shading diet. :smiley: I’m producing lots and lots of crappy line art right now. :scream:

And don’t call yourself lazy. If you are lazy then that would make most of the people around here more than lazy. And I don’t think they will appreciate that. :smiley:

#119

Hi yeah proportions … hmmm you are right I’am planing to focus on lineart and reduce these very time consuming shadings … as I have said earlier … its just thats the way I’am used to work haha so I always end up doing it :smiley: but I’am working on it …

Well it depends … they may not have that much of free time I have. :slight_smile:

  • Slux
#120

Slux,

I know how hard it can be to organize / structure your life when you have too much free time on your hands ~ it’s why I don’t freelance. If left to my own devices, I will sleep 20 out of 24 hours a day ~ you think I’m kidding! :scream: So I know myself well enough to know that I would not do well in an unstructured environment. :wink:

However, there are of course people who are far better at time management than am I. :slight_smile: I think it’s really admirable that you choose to spend your free time working hard to improve your art. :slight_smile: Whether you think you are or not, you’re a good example for others. :slight_smile:

Well, let’s see what comes out of this regimented Slux regime! :thumbsup: I highly anticipate seeing what your work will look like when you are “working hard”. :scream: :eek: :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak