I want to thank everybody for such a warm welcome - I wish that I could have responded sooner, but, alas, I am still having difficulty getting steady access to the internet.
I haven’t figured out the forums yet - if you can reply to an individual post? - so forgive my sloppiness. Can anyone tell me how to use thumbnails?
killermachine - thanks very much 
I’m looking forward to being part of a community of fellow artists.
womball - thank you! I’m sure I will have fun and learn a lot by looking at all the threads here. As for my art background, I would say I only became serious about learning when I was around 17 (shortly after I purchased my first tablet, a tiny graphire). It was the work of digital artists that really inspired me, and I’ve been at it for 6 years now. I have pretty much taught myself, through the aid of some traditional art books and online tutorials - most of what I have learned, though, I have learned by copying the work of others and drawing from photographs. A lot of trial and error! I considered getting a visual art degree, but after taking some classes at a local college, I became very discouraged. The professors glorified modern, abstract and non-representational artwork and seemed to mock my passion for realism. I bet a lot of people feel the same way. So much for art school!
ghoul - Thank you - and I will try to post bigger this time.
rebeccak - Many thanks I love your OFDWs and am looking forward to the next one!
NR43 - How nice of you to say!
razz - Thanks I have a habit of starting things and never quite finishing, so it is good to feel pressured to complete the Ribera study. My goals are to continue learning as much as possible, improve my skills, and get around to some original work. Long term, I have been thinking of enrolling in an atelier, but they are both far away and too expensive for me to consider at the moment. Your Vlippu drawings are enough to make me want those DVDs!
SpiritDreamer - Thank you I was worried that I wasn’t getting the expression right, but I’m happy that it came across! If I’m not mistaken, you have done some excellent work on the OFDW threads - so I also look forward to seeing more of your art.
Anand - Thank you! I envy your ability to render 2D figures in 3D with such accuracy and detail - it is so exciting to see the works of masters from different angles and new perspectives.
I decided I needed to work on the torso of the body, so I’ve spent some time doing studies from stock photographs. I tried not to spend too long on each one, but just get the general mass and suggestion of the few muscles I am familiar with. The color one is a copy of a medical model (I will try to dig up the website for this to share) and the faces are just because I got bored drawing chests :b
I left the linework in just in case anyone wants to see my approach to drawing from pictures. All of these were done in Painter IX. I tend to use the pen tool for sketching and digital watercolor for rendering values and colors.
Crits and comments more than welcome!
Edit: I had to move these images to a new host and have updated the links.
…I too like that Ribera study …you captured the mood of the piece nicely, right from the start…:applause:
