Decided to come over and play in Rebecca’s sandbox <> will start participating and posting here as well as the other forums I post in <> Rebecca has and excellent forum thread going here and you are all very fortunate
The Bone Zone
Michael,
Welcome to the Forum! I am excited that you will be joining us here on the Anatomy Forum…I think everyone here will greatly benefit from your generosity and expertise.
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
Thanks for the warm welcome
I am going to post this little project here <> I am calling it my daily dozen <> these are little structural thumbnails that I do mosty from memory but sometimes from life as well.
I am going to try to do a dozen or so of these on a daily basis for as long as can keep it going <> I am working on a lot of poses that I need work on as well as my usually demo doodles
Here are the first few days efforts <> just getting warmed up
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/mentler/ElGreco/hang101605a.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/mentler/ElGreco/dd102505.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/mentler/ElGreco/dd102705.jpg[/img]

Michael,
Awesome! Great to see your work here.
This work is quite refreshing to see…looking forward to much more!
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
Thanks Rebecca and NOOB no DVD not done yet reshooting some stuff
Daily dose of thumbnails and short poses <> mixing them up <> life, ref, and imagination
Also doing a lot larger will post when I get them shot <> will try to make the rounds and give some crits when I get some time <> this seems to be a pretty interesting forum and group of artists
Hello
Ahhh mr. Mentler nice to see you here when I have seen the title of this thread I have immediately though its you
. Nice sketches you have here well as usual … and btw thanks for your wise advices on the tsofa site …
I still study it …
- Slux
Michael,
Nice to see more work! ~ Sort of furtively looking here as I’m at work.
I’ve yet to post on TSOFA, but will try to do so soon! Thank you for the invite!
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
RK thanks for taking the time to take a look
Slux trying to get Rebecca to share her knowledge at SoFA as well
Moving forward and discovering that working from life has the disadvantage of limited movement <> this is something that I have always known but now I am accepting the challenge of creating the life or emotion in poses that do not seem to have it.
Michael,
Hey there, I noticed that you went to Washington Univ. in St. Louis for a while ~ heh, so did I. It’s where I started college ~ stayed there for about 1 1/2 years. We had the worst models, but I made some great friends there.
Nothing like Midwestern friendliness.
I know what you mean, then, about having to really push to get things out of certain poses. Luckily, at Art Center, where I finished my undergrad degree, there were some terrific models ~ I don’t remember having any bad ones there ~ but top notch models are indeed hard to come by.
What is your more finished work like? I think I’ve only come across a few pieces on the web. Would definitely be interested in seeing some of your finished work as well as your sketches.
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
Two of the most famous figure masters in one thread… this is dangerous. hehe… not that we are complaining.
[b]I just posted this critique on another thread <> I think it is important stuff (at least in my book)
so I am posting it here as well <> incidently this is what all the little studies are all about.
You have to seize the moment so to speak <> models move unless you are working with cadavers <> try to work the whole pose as much as possible, particularly in the beginning stages <> establish the construction and position of things <> in the Atelier sense this would be called the lay-in <> however this is where I differ considerably <> block in the aspect (rotation) of the head and decide where you want the features to be (I often have the model hold a pose a minute or two longer until I get the area I am concerned with established <> then I live with this position when the model comes back from her bread.
I know I say this a great deal, but since it is a very key issue it bares repeating, in t long pose do not start right into you main efforts, do a few thumbnails, move around the model and view the pose from all angles, do thumbnails or small compositional sketches from different angles.
In a 10 minute pose do this for a couple of minutes a 20 minute pose for 4 or 5 minutes and so on
When the pose is going to be for and hour I recommend 15 or 20 minutes of understanding to pose exercises.
If the pose is going to last for several hours I try not to nail down any aspects of the pose during the first 20 or 30 minute set.
There are 2 main reasons for doing this
-
The better you understand the pose the better you will draw it
-
It gives the model a chance to settle into a pose poses change a great deal during the first several minutes and a great deal more between the first setting and the second.
Models depending on their level of experience all start off a little ambitious then they sink into the pose the second setting they are far less ambitious and pretty get into a different pose it will change a little each set and each day if it is a multi day event.
Never start on the head or features early in a pose because the head is balance on the top of the body and as the body moves so does the head I other words the head moves the most.
Once the model gets relaxed into a pose nail the aspect (rotation) and weight of the torso. Then the legs and feet <> the weight baring leg first in a standing pose <> then the arms and hands <> you are mainly interested in the placement of the feet and the placement and gesture of the hands at this point <> then it is time to deal with the head and features.
Once you have determined the aspects of the pose they become the pose the pose in front of you will change the pose on the page is what you should be concerned with now.
Draw what you see, but know what you see, then draw what you know you see.
Do not chase the pose i. e. Once you have established the head position and the placement of the features stay with it <> once you have laid in the hands stay with that position <> use the model as a reference not a reality <> the reality of course is that the model in going to move.
Movement is good by the way <> it is the essence of life and in my book movement equates with emotion <> I feel it is the artist job to find the movement not eliminate it.
On Portrait studies the same considerations apply do a few sketches to determine the tilt and rotation of the head, how you want to position it on the page, note the unique structural factors i.e. broad forehead, high cheekbones, weak chin, heavy brow, deep set eye sockets, the general shape of the head and hair.
These are the main features and not the eyes, mouth, nose and ears in that order.
We recognize someone we know from a distance long before we see their eyes.
So deal with the structural features before you worry about the sensory features.
Again do not chase the pose <> once you have established the shape and aspect of the head and have your construction lines in place draw the features to fit that position and construction.
I often change parts of the pose or the whole pose during this process so it really helps to learn to draw from memory.
Bumskee and RK thanks again[/b]
Michael,
Thanks for these thoughts! Definitely insightful…look forward to more of your posts and comments. :wavey:
Cheers,
~Rebeccak
Excellent point to remember. Thanks for posting them.
" I often change parts of the pose or the whole pose during this process so it really helps to learn to draw from memory."
That reminds of when in my life drawing for trad. animation class, the model would pose, we would draw that pose and then we would be required to do 360 turnaround sketches of that initial sketch. It was a good exercise. I’ll see if I can find one and post it so you can see what I’m talking about.
Thanks again.