Great work.
Keep thinking about what I said in post nr 9.
It’s something one has to keep in mind when drawing (always).
When adding shadows (shading), go darker.
Mark the terminator, which is usually your darkest area, of each form.
This will increase the illusion of depth tremendously.
Johan,
I usually remind myself at the beginning of a drawing to be purposeful about my lines, but within 5 minutes I’m energy and no thinking. I’m definitely doing less searching, but I just don’t have the confidence in my line to leave it alone once I’ve put it down.
Ok, these are from various life sessions over the last month (the photo quality sucks, sorry):
4/10
3/27
3/13
3/6
Other
These are all from photos:
These last two were pretty quick…there are a ton of errant lines and sketchy marks
Well, that catches up all my stuff over the last few weeks. Hopefully I’ll start posting more often and in smaller chunks.
I think you’re progressing nicely. Your sense of overlap has been fairly strong from the beginning, and therefore an understanding of depth follows.
I think though one of the things that stands out in many of the drawings is that that they feel somewhat static. One of the things I can tell is that it seems that there aren’t many lines which show exploration across the model (that departs away from the silhouette) and the ones that do seem to be done as secondary thoughts. What has helped me is forcing myself to get away from the edge and following the contour across the figure, going back and forth from edge to interior space and back again.
Michael Matessi has a couple of books on Amazon which helped in this regard (moreso than the figure drawing class I took, though it too was a boost). Of all the drawing and reference books I’ve picked up over the years, those two have been the ones I keep going back to over and over again. The techniques add ‘life’, and I pick up something new each time re-visit them.
Jerseycajun,
Thanks for that insight. I saw it when you posted, and I’ve been using the idea in my recent (last 6 weeks or so) drawings. It made a huge difference.
It’s been a crazy couple of months. My drawing hasn’t been interrupted, just my ability to scan or photograph my work and upload it. The bonus is that you only have to see the good stuff.
Some gestures from class:
Charcoal with white highlights from a life session a while back
Some 3-5 min sketches from photos
A 15-min charcoal sketch. It was the first day of class, and I was SUUUPER self-conscious. Working slow was good for me, though.
Photo reffed…trying to indicate planes…or shadow…or something
And last, but not least…
My teacher convinced me to try some charcoal pastels. I’m hate dirty fingers, but he told me it would be worth it. These are my first tries, and it looks like he was right. Damn him…
This is the closest I’ve gotten to a finished drawing in a long time. I was only planning to sketch the structure, but I just kept adding things until I found this!
These are all recent drawings from photos, done in Photoshop or Painter
Digital painting is pretty fun. I still prefer paper, but this is way more convenient right now.
Any feedback is appreciated!
Thanks guys! I’m actually off to a life session right now, and the encouragement is, well, encouraging!
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