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

[Wispered]

Haha, yes, this one is certainly not a lass  

[Errol McGillivray]

My coworker has this unhealthy obsession with Betty Boop. Tomorrwo is her birthday and since I'm broke, I made her a wallpaper for her desktop. (This isn't full resolution.)

My attempt at photoshop. neutral  

[Wispered]

Hi Errol ^_^
I love this idea, its incredibly cute.
I would have liked to have seen cleaner, more confident lines in this to match the background a bit better. Also, throwing down a shadow or something to make it clear she's on a flat surface would add a lot to this.
Otherwise, I think it's great. You captured the spirit of Betty Boop amazingly well. I -love- those hips.  

[Errol McGillivray]

I tried to add a shadow, but I basically said to hell with it because I was tired and have no idea what I'm doing. xd

I never draw in photoshop, but I don't know how to paint without lines wither. *feels like an art n00b*  

[Errol McGillivray]

 

[Wispered]

Beautiful eye studies Errol, the profil one's iris is bulging out a touch too much I think but its not really a big deal.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Eejbeej

Beautiful eye studies Errol, the profil one's iris is bulging out a touch too much I think but its not really a big deal.

Maybe he has a thyroid problem? xd

Now that I look at it, you're right. It is a bit more than one would normally see. I'll be careful to watch for things like that in the future. Thanks Eej  

[Errol McGillivray]

I used charcoal pencil and white charcoal to try and work this one as well as the pencil. Is it any improvement?  

[Wispered]

I'm glad to see you doing so many studies and they look awesome, they really do. No crits this time around.  

[Errol McGillivray]

I actually find the studies fun. I still need to do ears and mouths. I think I'll do them now.  

[Yukiko Gemini]

Lovely studies, the proportions and whatnot [if such is possible in piece by piece studies rather than a complete face] look right, and the shading is good.

The very last nose, however, looks a bit...stiff? Almost cartoonish--though it's more to do with the shading, I think, and the fact that you didn't actually outline the nose.
Another thing on that one--with the nostrils, I find it looks better to do a more...gradient effect [darker in the place that's "deeper" in the nostril, lighter as it moves outwards towards the upper lip] instead of filling it all in in one shade. This gives it a bit more of a realistic look than a hole, I suppose?
I'm bad at explaining.

With the eye, the only thing that strikes me as odd is that the lower lid is so horizontal. It doesn't seem to have a curve to it at all to hint at the orb beneath it, though the shading beneath it and the upper lid do.
The lashes are also a little coarse, but eh. That's just being nitpicky, I suppose.

 

[Errol McGillivray]

Nitpicky is good when it comes to studies. The aim of studies is technical perfection.

That's how I interpreted the lower lid, but I won't say that that's what I really saw. I find that going from drawing only iconic representations of things all my life (cartoonist) to attempting to render what is ACTUALLY there is not an immediate switch at all. I'm working on it thought.

Fortunately, my previous experience in 2d texturing for 3d applications helps me switch from 2d to 3d and back very quickly in my mind. My hand however isn't so swift just yet. xd

I'm not going to lie. I did the noses while playing chess with my cousin at a family get together. I would have much rather been having fun than doing homework. I just figured I'd do more noses. I'm thinking that after 10 pages of each feature, I should have it down. (Of course, I need to do full faces too, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I know. I'm a bad boy.)

The lashes suck. Do you think drawing larger would help me get the details right before starting to scale down?  

[Wispered]

Oh, drawing large is -marvelous- Seriously, go try and get one of those eisel size books and draw on those, after you get used to it, its so freeing. Heh, sorry, I know you weren't asking me, but I really enjoyed my studio classes when we used the massive sketchpads.  

[Yukiko Gemini]

xD
I've never tried drawing at a really huge scale before, honestly.
Or even moderately large.

I usually draw my eye studies at an actual real-life size [IE, hold it up to a person's face and it ought to fit], but drawing larger might help you.
What really strikes me as the problem you seem to be having [and I noticed it in your eyebrows, as well, looking back through your thread] is that you draw hair very coarsly...Probably from your cartooning experience.

I'd recommend doing a few fun little studies of "hair".
Practice doing curved lines that go from broad at the start to very fine at the tip, and then keep sizing down smaller and smaller.
Mechanical pencils are wonderful for this, especially if the lead is thin.
Drawing the lower lashes lighter also helps.

The other thing that's wrong/bothersome about them is a direct effect from the "straight" lower lid.
The lashes will be slightly longer towards the outer corner of the eye, and will get finer and shorter as they near the inner corner of the eye.
They pretty much disappear, actually.
Not only this, but if you carefully brush your finger over your lower lid you ought to notice that they stand away, just barely, and so should be curved rather than little dashes--they shouldn't all be going in the same direction, either.

Not sure if that was any help--it's highly possible you already knew all this.
Knowing something and using it, as I've found, can be two different stages in art.
If you'd like, I could do a sketch to illustrate what I'm talking about, since I'm rather bad with words when it comes to explaining things like this.
Or I could do a draw over on your eye [though some people don't like that, thus].