Figure Drawing - 1.16.2015

I thought that drawing a model in costume wouldn't be too much trouble since I usually go to cafes to get my life drawing fixes. I was wrong this time around, I found myself constantly struggling to get the model's skirt drawn correctly on paper. 

I did my best to make sure to understand the position of her legs and how they affected the shape of the skirt. Anytime I moved into drawing more details in the fluffy skirt, I just got lost and found myself not being able to communicate the skirt clearly on paper. 

I wasn't having fun. Without having fun, I was just churning out terrible drawings after terrible drawings. Towards the end was when I started to relax by exploring more with ink and the two tone pencils. I did some skirt studies in pen since the last pose was over 30 minutes, which started to make me realize what mistakes I was making earlier. I was just making every tier of the skirt the same size and shape, or drawing them on a linear plane. Unfortunately the session ended and none of the drawings I made reflected what I learned last minute, so some drapery studies are due this week!

Next week will be a nude long pose, I'm debating on if I want to try watercolor or if I can bring some kind of digital set up. 

Figure Drawing - 1.9.2015

I am very excited to get back into figure drawing! I don't think I attended any figure drawing sessions last year, mostly have resorted to getting my life drawing fix at cafes. Definitely need to change that!

I learned A LOT in those three hours, mostly spent fumbling around and making mistakes. 

I learned that I've become really impatient and lazy with sketching, so the first short poses were in ballpoint and are just unreadable. It wasn't until I switched to pencil that I started to slow myself down and really begin to get wrapped up in observational drawing. Towards the end I started to have fun with my materials which made me much more relaxed.

Next week is going to be a costumed model! 

Sketchy Saturday - 1.19.13

Happy New Year my friends!

And wow, hard to believe this first month is almost over. Last Saturday I hauled myself out of bed to attend life drawing, and the last time I went was back in August! I always feel like a broken record when I say I'm always relearning the basics again and again, but they usually come back the quickest after a long break, hah.

Also, I was in a bad spot, so there isn't enough full body drawings. Next week though, I will be there at 9AM on the dot!

Sketchy Saturday: Mo' Monsters

Ahh, I'm still addicted to sketching out monster heads. I'm going to start taking some of these guys further, both 2D and 3D mediums!

Here's the start of a collaboration between myself and Juan "Amaakir" Alvarado! 

 Already started sketching out body designs. Juan will 3D model one of these guys and I'll texture him. The other two I'll save for when I get better at 3D modeling!

 In the meantime, here are some life drawing sketches I did at the airport or on the airplane last week.

Sketchy Saturday: Shut up and DRAW!

I'm in a little disbelief how much I've fallen out of the swing of things. A little update on my hand is that I have some nerve irritation in my arm and shoulder that causes pain. While it's not as severe as the tendinitis, it still hurts and I will admit that I'm a little over cautious to not draw when I'm in pain. This struggle between my need to draw and my need to rest has gotten me a little down, but I'll continue to do my best to draw while I can.

One of the ways to get back on the horse is to start attending life drawing again. Oh my lands, how out of practice I am. I felt like there was a rock tied onto my hand when drawing, struggling to capture both the pose and the likeness of the model. I could hear the inner-dialogue in my head constantly commenting on either how I need to look more, how I need to redraw something, telling myself I can do - and have done - better, and the occasional off topic thought. I had to tell myself several times "SHUT UP AND DRAW!" instead of constantly berating myself.

Even though I've drawn this model several times before, I can never master her face. Gah!

It's my goal in May to attend life drawing once a week again, along with starting another study schedule to get back into drawing.

As an added offering for not updating my blog as often, here are some monster and demon exploration going on in my sketchbook.

Sketchy Saturday: Slow Down

When this post goes up, I will be wondering the premises of Monsterpalooza! In the meantime, have a quick ramble about my life drawing from the last week.

I've been recovering quite well, mostly by going slow while I'm drawing and learning quite a lot by doing so. Mainly, it's important to do something right instead of doing something fast, which helped me begin to master the ways of the pen. As you should know, pens don't come with an eraser and trying to cover up mistakes will only lead to bigger mistakes. Drawing in pen helps me to select what I feel is important in a pose, and also slows down my mind to really think about what I'm seeing and how I choose to translate it. 

These life drawings are some of my favorites, I can't wait to do more sessions in pen! 

Also as an added bonus, two new trolls! Both are birthday gifts to some wonderful friends. I'm really sad how attached I am to these but am quite glad to see them go to happy owners. I need to draw some for myself next time, hehe.

Sketchy Saturday: Watercolor Pencil

Due to my wrist pains, I've been using a watercolor pencil to draw with and use a brush pen that has a capsule for water on it to darken my lines when I need to. It's training me to not draw so dark thus reliving tension in my wrist.
I also got a new sketchbook that I plan on doing looser drawings in. Moleskines are difficult sometimes because I'm scared to ruin the nice paper with bad drawings, but I plan on getting on to do more refined drawings once my wrist is better.

 

 

And today's life drawing session, I didn't get a chance to continue reading Michael Hampton's book but it's interesting to see last week's lesson merge into my current habits.

Sketchy Saturday: Breakthroughs

I somehow slipped into an impromptu hiatus, quite possibly to mentally recharge for some upcoming challenges. Regardless of the reason or excuse, I am back to drawing!

I finally cracked open Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing: Design and Invention last night to read the first chapter on gestures. How can something so simple such as only using curved lines instead of straight never occur to me, I do not know. Today ended up being the happiest with life drawing I have been in a while because of something so simple!

I'm quite excited to see what other aspects from his book I will pick up. What's great about drawing is that regardless of who you study with or what books you read, the mixture of the multiple sources combine along with your own individual taste to create something fantastic - something yours.

30 Day Challenge: Day 5

Dear reader, you will have to forgive me on two accounts. The first is the fact that I've been hiding my life drawing sketches because I've just been unsatisfied with them this month. The second is the lull of the next couple posts, as I have to rest my wrist for the time being. 

Life drawing has always been a favorite of mine, as some of my drawings reveal. There was a two week break for the holidays and ever since returning, I feel as though I haven't been up to par to what I've been drawing before. Especially when having a male model in what feels like months, I could just feel myself struggle and slow down greatly when at life drawing. I could feel my frustration but have not been able to target the source. 

After today's session, I discussed my predicament with Daniel and the only reasonable (and optimistic) solution is the fact that now that I study regularly, I'm starting to see more and more of my mistakes and bad habits. Plus, anytime an art block or anytime life gets difficult overall, it just means I'm leveling up. 

So for Day 5, I present this month's life drawing sketches. There are some small victories, but still a long way to go to being pleased with them like before. 

1/7/12

1/14/12

1/28/12

Sketchy Saturday: Marathon

I once heard an interview where Anthony Jones compared drawing to running. One could run daily and be considered a runner, but to be an Olympian - one must train and run for hours on end. He applied that same concept to drawing - one could draw all day and be considered a drawer, but to be a master artist, one must train and study for hours on end.

If this concept were to be applied to Paul Richards, I'm sure he would have ran to and from the moon at least eight times now. For those who don't know Paul, 87.67% of his time is spent drawing. I tried my best to keep up with him today. Even after I was tuckered out and exhausted, Paul was still drawing. What an Olympian.

Today's life drawing session went great. The model was beautiful but had a super skinny waist yet thick thighs. I'm trying my best to draw accurately, but sometimes I could see myself slipping in some extra fat for her. Also below are some sketchbook pages from today.

Sketchy Saturday: Relearning

One thing I am starting to do when studying from life is having something to focus on, it helps me from feeling too overwhelmed (especially since the last time I went to life drawing was over a month ago). My focuses today was line and proportion, something I continually struggle with in my own works. Both can only be accomplished with a lot of patience and understanding.

While in pursuit of these goals, I've started to uncover some of the things I've already learned, yet forgotten. The torso is a key foundation and once that's drawn perfectly, everything else should be compared to it. Note where overlapping happens, don't just guess. Compare the torso to the legs and arms (I have a bad habit of drawing both of them too long). And always, always, always block in the head. 

Other notes I've made are in regards to the model herself. Most figure models have either a slender look to them or some extra weight. This model had a little bit of both: her back, arms, and legs were slender, but her abdomen was quite round. Plus, she did something I haven't seen a model do before, she would do the same pose but just change the direction she was facing. I've always wanted this and was excited when she started to do this. But after a while, it just became rather redundant. 

Overall, I felt it was a somewhat successful session today.

As a bonus, here's one of my favorite sketchbook pages as of late.

Sketchy Saturday: Return to Figure Drawing

Today, I had the chance to attend a figure drawing session, where I learned that I am extremely rusty with my charcoal handling and model drawing. I could feel myself being pulled in different directions, but regardless, I had a great time. Towards the end, more of my knowledge started to return.

The session started off with two minute poses and time was increased to 5, 10, and a single 15 minute pose.