Errol's sketchbook [images added 5/2/11]

[Badeye]

That last sketch looks great. When it comes to characters with wonky leg anatomy like this, it might be something that isn't immediately obvious unless you changed the clothing design to give him shorts or something.

I think having subtle qualities to a design that become more obvious over time is a very good thing, though, and there's no need to push things to be 'in your face'.


It's a nitpick, but perhaps the knee facing towards us needs to be turned out just a tiny bit more to be matched with the angle of the hoof/foot.
I think it's fine as is, but if you exaggerated it any more it might cause some problems.

.___. although judging by your studies you know a hell of a lot more about legs than I do.  

[Errol McGillivray]

I agree with you on the knee, actually. (I'll be honest. I got lazy there. There are multiple parts to the knee that show on the skin and I did the "bump" instead.)  

[Errol McGillivray]

1/2/09

Got Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. (I'm going to take a far more casual approach to my training. Rather than grueling over one image, I'm going to be more relaxed and casual when I draw and focus on learning concepts. I'll be doing a LOT more drawing as a result. And of course, I'll still to larger, long pieces, like live model studies, but I think for now with all the stress in my life, I just need to chill.)

Self Portrait (20-30 mins in front of a mirror and no, I don't really look like a serial rapist. I made my mouth too small.)


Draw someone you know from memory. (15-20 mins and I see that it's lopsided. I don't abuse the eraser so if it's ******** up in a sketch, it stays ******** up and I get another sheet and do it over. I didn't do this one over. For final drawings I'll use an eraser)


Draw your hand. (10-15 mins This one I did use the eraser because the fingers were even worse. I think it's funny that I got a decent feeling of mass to the palm and was like, whatever dude on the fingers.)


I feel that this casual approach really shows me where I need to improve and the concepts I do understand and those I don't. AND it was stress free.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Sketch dump. Most are just doodles. Everything took between 15minutes and 2 hours.


oc 30 min


oc 5-10 min


bic pen on the back of my business card - 2 min



1hr - pencil on the Shadowrun character sheet



original - 18x24, photocopied on a s**t copier (pencil, micron, sharpie) 2-2.5 hours  

[the Caelos]

The piece I'll be focusing on is the last one for now. Hope this is of some assistance, preferably before you're six feet under. *Grin*

Ladies first.
Pros:
-There's some dramatic shadows going on, creating an environment.
-From the collar bone down to the stomach, those shadows and lineart are slick.
-The bracelets are meticulously even and give the appearance of being reflectant due to their transparency.
-Her hand is lithe with dangerous looking fingernails, and have a professional polish in the clean lineart.
-The ears look to be of correct anatomy, and the brows have a delicate, wispy impression that does not conflict with the rest of the picture.
Cons:
-The things extending from her head. They seem to defy lighting and look unfinished (if these pieces are still unfinished, though they do appear pretty refined, apologies for overlooking that). It gets messy at that edge of the paper, and while the shadows sort of started to indicate what was coming from where, how and why.
-The face looks as if it did not receive the same amount of attention and detail as her rocking body did, although it has the potential.
i. Her nose looks like it might have been an attempt to recede inwards sort of like an orc's, but instead it looks like it's just missing its bridge entirely. If you feel your own nose, there is a piece of the cartilage that extends past the actual bone's orifice which prevents the nose from looking like it's split in two halves. If she does indeed not have that part, the holes are more triangular and close together. I'll grab some references that may help explain when I'm on a non-work computer.
ii. Her face's lines do not have the same emphasis of the rest of her body. They look a lot more sketchy, and the eye on the left might be a few pixels lower and misshaped by a slant in the upper eyelid, I'm not entirely sure which factors in more to this impression. The top lines over her eyes are smooth and look like they belong there with the shaded lines under them, but the bottom ones are not as smooth and seem to sit awkwardly on her face in response.

Should you need me to explain further or would prefer some visuals/red lines with it, I'm happy to oblige.
Edit: Will be done when I have access to a tablet again.

 

[Errol McGillivray]

Thank you!

I'm still learning faces. Right now, if can draw them with as studies, but not on my own. Hell, I haven't even done a study of a whole head. Just the parts. But yeah. I've got a ways to go with the heads. The body is more familiar to me. (I'm surprised you didn't say anything about how her sternum area is a bit too short.) As I just keep drawing, I'll get a better sense of form.

I don't really need you to point me to reference. I can find that on my own. What would be great though, would be some advise to implying/indicating the planes of the head so that everything isn't just round and flat.  

[the Caelos]

For now since I'm at work again, just going to point you towards some resources I've found very helpful for face anatomy. Not to mention her work just shakes worlds. The lips tutorial deals a lot with shaping up a face and how the highlights around an area can affect the rest, and the eye one goes into some color effects. The nose one is good for figuring out some planes, and she does have some solid shapes laid out there.  

[the Caelos]

Aaah, first time I've gotten the chance to sit in this chair long enough to draw this week. The torso made me wonder, but she looks of a different species so it could have also snuck by as a metavariation or cyberware alterations. Anywho, hopefully this will be of some help:


Red-lined key areas about the face. The upper lip tends to catch less highlights than the lower lip, while the lower one tends to blend at some points into the flesh around it. A shadow below the lip helps to show its protruding, but too much around the outside of it makes it look pasted on. As well, the highlights along the outside of the lip which make it look separate are often forgotten/replaced with too solid a dark line.

The example there is my impression of what you may have been aiming for with the face, so if that's drastically different than what you had in mind, whoops! ninja

 

[The One and Only Kal]

Okay... I think I might have something to help you with the structural aspect of drawing faces. KChen's demos [artistic nudity] on conceptart.org break things down into shapes. My life-drawing instructor had me copy... maybe half of these? They're incredible.

Another really great construction resource is anything by Bridgeman. He's been out of print forever. Dover publishes his books, but I'm sure you can find them on the internet. Fun with Pencil by Andrew Loomis is also pretty awesome. If you can get a hold of it, go through all the exercises, no matter how silly or juvenile they might seem. It's so much more natural to draw faces afterward. I think it took me sixteen hours to get through it, total.

I don't know whether posemaniacs has been mentioned to you before, but that's where you test your knowledge of Bridgeman and Kevin Chen's demos. Also, one of Bridgeman's books is about drawing from life, and has pretty much everything from how to measure with your pencil (preferably your charcoal pencil) to the posture you should have while you draw. Bridgeman was a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme, one of the master Victorian painters.

Somebody's already mentioned this, but something that will help a lot is striving to make clean, long strokes. Look at dangerousllama's gestures [more nudity] and note how close, neat and organized the marks are. This can add a terrific amount of needed structure, and will improve any drawing.

Your gestures/sketches have great energy/fluidity, to the point where it wouldn't hurt you to try constructing with boxes or cubes (some people draw like typewriters, which isn't your problem.)

That's all I can think of. Hope that helps.

EDIT: Bridgeman's Constructive Anatomy  

[Errol McGillivray]

Sorry for the MIA. Thank you guys. I can't go over the image, but I will be sitting with a model (hopefully) this week and I'm going to put my focus on the face. I'll read through the resources first and try my best to keep these things in mind as I work on that. Wish me luck!  

[Errol McGillivray]

New crap.





 

[Danaidae]

Couple of things that seem off on the first piece:

-How the figure manages to balance in that pose seems mind boggling. The angle the face is looking toward, the upper torso, and the positioning of the thighs make the direction that he/she/it is facing ambiguous enough that I had to do a double-take [and I admit, I still am unsure >>;; so this may be just me].
-The cloth lifted by the backmost leg looks weighed down, especially in comparison to the flowing long side that is lifted.
-Foreshadowing on the legs look a little awkward. Also, with the way the feet are positioned, the hooves to appear capable of supporting the weight of the body.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Danaidae

Couple of things that seem off on the first piece:

-How the figure manages to balance in that pose seems mind boggling. The angle the face is looking toward, the upper torso, and the positioning of the thighs make the direction that he/she/it is facing ambiguous enough that I had to do a double-take [and I admit, I still am unsure >>;; so this may be just me].
-The cloth lifted by the backmost leg looks weighed down, especially in comparison to the flowing long side that is lifted.
-Foreshadowing on the legs look a little awkward. Also, with the way the feet are positioned, the hooves to appear capable of supporting the weight of the body.

The first one was something I was kind of just doodling around with. I didn't like how it ended up as far as the legs and neck are concerned. You're very right about the perspective issues. The balance I'm pretty happy about. This isn't static. It's in motion and fluid balance isn't the same as most of dancing is throwing off balance and catching yourself.  

[Errol McGillivray]

New stuff:

 

[Morrosseth]

Uhhh.... Awesome possum stuff first. Your fabric and folds look so freakin' natural. ANATOMYYYY... <3 and I really like how you shade things. M'fond of being able to see the strokes.

The striped scarf potion around her neck isn't coloured--I wonder if it is intentional. I also really expect more shadow on the corset right under the breasts, considering the lighting. Especially over her right ribs (our left side). Her right breast would also cast more of a shadow onto her arm.

Also, on the purple blind fold bit, that last segment where it's the widest, the right-most fold/bulge/whatever should have the highlight-hatching on the other side (up-right) instead of where it is now (bottom left, towards the girl). If I'm reading the light source correctly. biggrin

SHE LOOKS SO SQUISHY. <3