Hi Johan,
Great bone studies. I’m really envious that you have a chance to do bone studes from life. Never got that pleasure myself. And pelvis has this hard shape. Ah, it’ll be useful, these studies. The hand looks a little stiff though. Do look at Rebecca’s updates if you haven’t already, her drawings are ALIVE! Lines and everything, amazing.
Oh, did you always cross-hatch or did I miss something?
hey
great bone studies 
and from life…hmm could you send me some i’ll pay for shipping lol
Mark
Hey Anand I’m fine although I had a tough time since my last post. Not only did I break my digital camera (I fixed it half and half… I’m able to make pictures again but the quality is even worse than before… oh well, better than before, when my cam crashed and froze upon turning on the power), but I was also sick like a dog and I had a really bad drawing week (more of that later)
Bart
Thanks… doing my best but learning slowly (my colliflower isn’t working that well, so it seems)
vaaken
heh thanks, glad my posts are of any use to you!
piccolabella
thanks, I try to get some variation in my shading yes… mostly it’s experimenting…
razz
well Oscar (our plastic skeleton in our class) is in a really poor condition, but he’s very useful if it comes to understanding how the human body works… I find some systems like the shoulders and hips quite hard to learn to be honest. I’m such a person that understands something better when actually seeing it happen.
Serena
thanks for everything big hug
Mark,
hi! ok I’ll take Oscar for a drink and when he’s all drunk I’ll knock him out with his own leg and put him on the ferry 
ForzaInter
Thanks! There will always be more… sooner or later 
What follows is a series of 7 minute sketches.
As you will see the first ones are really aweful but things got better after a while…
As I look to that torso now I feel it could have been a bit more elongated… oh well… maybe next time
And a couple of “longer studies”
30min
And I think 50 min or so, while talking to some classmates:
This, particulary, was a nice exercise:
We got a A4 sheet with the contours of a leg drawn on it.
Then we had to fill in the bones as they would be positioned.
Afterwards, we would look at the ref from an anatomy book and correct ourselves in ballpen
Some quick hand studies after my own hand:
And some imaginational work:
Basically I’m trying to get some personal pieces together.
But I need your input: every time I start a personal piece I end up being totally blocked. I know one of the main reasons is that I still lack a lot of knowledge to be able to draw well from imagination, but there must be some ways to avoid the blocked feeling…
HELP??
just because its from your imagination doesn’t mean that you can’t use reference. you can concept out your idea in a rough sketch and then gather a ton of supporting reference.
Great studies! It looks like you were very accurate with the filling in bones task.
I second piccolabella - use ref for imaginational projects. Though I understand what you mean, either - reference or not I get stuck when I’m nearly done because I don’t know what way to make something.
It’s great to see you working on personal pieces too.
At the moment I think you are very good with torso and in general the body, but I think you should have a little bit of “hand - refitnessing” with the human head. About dragons…I’ve noticed that you got a great line-control but you flat a little down the subject when you add value over its body. I think this is caused mostly by a “mental-lock” cause everyone can see right here in your thread how much good you are in shading.
So, relax and mostly ENJOY with personal pieces, in this way - I think - you’ll obtain 2 pigeons with 1 seed :bounce:
Hi!
Yes, I use reference for personal “projects” too. This usually starts after I am satisfied with poses, composition, etc. Honesty obliges me to say that in that phase I often loose interest in my concept and I end up trashing it.
But…
your answers have made me realize something important:
I should stop expecting that the ideal composition, pose or any other important element, comes right away and more importantly I MUST NOT FEEL DISAPPOINTED OR DOWN when this happens but just CARRY ON SEARCHING/SKETCHING until I come up with something I am satisfied with.
Thanks piccolabella and sirielle!!
hugs
Hi Serena, apparantly our posts crossed eachother
Thanks for the good advise, will try to work up to it!
Hi Johan,
on your problem:
I had this problem for a while also, I could not motivate myself for a personal piece … I think a point that really helps is to choose a material you like or would like to expire with. This helped me a lot. I was doing some of my selfpotraits and experementing with any medium I could find. You should think of the material you would like to use.
Another thing which might be good for you is to start with something you are familiar with, your dragon’s are looking to flat but your torsos are looking a lot better. So maybe you should think of a piece where you can work with your torso … don’t forget this is to find the fun at doing personal work and not to get the best piece ever. So I think starting with something you know better is the best way.
Another thing: Start with doing some idea finding sketches, you can see them also in my thread, where I have a few pages with brushes and than things where I worked with this brushes. Also the pages where I put stuff on people’s head. This is a way to find interresting ideas, compositions and designs. This quick sketches are not planned to be superrealistic but to help you to get some ideas on paper. You also train to work from imagination This is also a way to challange yourself … “How can I make this believable” it is not important to make it realistic but to make it look as if it would work.
As you know it helped me a lot to do some creative self-potraits. The great thing about self-potraits is that you always have a reference, and you can choose the reference as you want it. As you know it is harder to work from life then to work from fotos. The mirror is somewhere in between. So another advice would be to attempt on a creative sp.
All in all, I think it is important to learn to work from imagination again and to use what you have learned by doing studies in your work … don’t forget what you have learned about light and shadow. When you start rendering, think of your light … make an arrow on your piece to ALWAYS remember yourself from where the light comes. Start with one light source, not two or more. Think where the light hits the object, always think first then draw!
What I always tried to say, start simpel and don’t force yourself with hard things at the beginning but start to have fun doing it. Think of what makes fun when you are doing your studies and try to use this doing personal work
I hope this could help a little.
Thomas
Hi…Johan…
Did you ever lay on your back in the grass when you were a child, and watch the clouds roll by,…while you layed there and saw what was hidden deep in your imagination being formed by those drifting and everchanging clouds.
Or did you ever lay in the dark of night in bed when you were a child, and see shadows, and shapes within those shadows on the walls, that brought forth hidden fears that created images buried deep within your imagination.
Did you ever notice that as you grow older, you see less when you look at those same clouds, and also that the shadows on those walls when you lay in the dark are much less frightening.
I think the key to creating from the imagination, is to get back in touch with your inner child,…the part of yourself that everyone tends to outgrow, and leave behind as they age.
If you can, and are able to, refind that child within you, and you will also refind your own imagination…You might have to dig deep to find that child within you, but as soon as you find him,I think you will find him still imagining all sorts of things that are really not there,…or are they…
IT’S ALL ABOUT …MAKEBELIEVE, and…PRETEND
Abilities that are lost over time by most, but cherished for life by the best of artist.
DaVinci used to make use of stains on walls to spark his imagination.
Michaelangelo used clouds to spark his imagination.
You might try the same thing when you work on your paintings and drawings…Get some stains, or some atompheric effects/AIR/CLOUDS onto the canvas first,…then just stare at those effects for awhile, and watch what happens as that child within you comes to life once more, and starts to SEE ONCE AGAIN…Just record with your adult hands and gained knowlage of art, what that child is seeing…
It may take a lifetime to re-reach that state of innocense…just like it took PICCASO…
Hope that helps some…
TAKE CARE
Glenn
hey
LOL now that’s an idea and would maybe make for a few comical drawings hmm…
…all great ideas and here’s some others
buy a cheap dictiphone to put your thoughts in words , leaves you wide open don’t have to worry about the hows,skills or technique.think about that stuff later. don’t want to put limits on your imagination. I usually start with little and build on it, but you must start! weather you think it’s great or not doesn’t matter. if you loose inspiration just save it for later never now when it could be helpfull.
some i borrowed from a music writing book and altered for art
a famous painting you like…
-what happens after that scene
-what happen before that scene
-what was the artist trying to express and how could i express the same idea
-setting from the past, make it modern or future
Draw a scene from a book you like
Draw a scene from a song you like
Draw a scene from something you injoy doing or watching
well you get the idea, hope this helps
Mark
Johan, You have an inspiring thread. I see your anatomy studies and know that it is time to dive back in. I’d like to match your discipline.
I often run into a creative block. I think what Glenn said is sound advice. I think the key is to stop putting pressure on the particular outcome. Like a child, doodle (concept) and enjoy the process without judgements. It’s hard for me to move forward sometimes. But, I’ve also experienced moments of creative freedom where things just flow, usually when I take the focus off of the end product.
something else i find that helps me is sometimes i close my eyes and draw some squiggly lines, and then when i open them, i try to make something out of it. its not always what i’m hoping to make, but helps the creative flow and i end up creating creatures and characters that i could never have created consciously.
man Johan,
sorry for having neglected your thread for so long.
To be totally honest, I think I sometimes downright avoid your thread, because I see you continuously working hard and then get a bad conscience. I feel like I should be doing some of the studies you did instead of following my pleasure driven goals of copying paintings I like or other stuff.
anyway…
here’s a link that might help you take control of your photo reference so it does not take control of you and your creative process…:
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2007/11/photo-reference.html
cya
Mu
:wavey:
Ah big thanks to all of you for your massive support!
hugs
Basically it all comes down to me being still very green behind my ears and needing a lot more experience. Ups and downs are part of the trip… a straight line towards the final destination would be too boring anywayz
So I’m kind of abandoning my personal projects since the pleasure is gone with those.
I am able to get rid of all expectations when it comes to studies, but not just yet for personal pieces… a nice goal to set.
Not to worry, this was an extremely useful experience once again. One day, I will be able to finish a personal piece:bounce:
Not much to show yet
Thanks again ALL! I owe the lot of you BIGTIME!