No.4636
I really like your art.
No.4638
You have a good grasping of shading but you could do more focus on shapes. You've probably noticed it yourself though.
No.4639
>>4638I'm not quite that self-aware. How could my shapes be improved?
No.4641
>>4639Oh sorry, it was late and I should've expanded on that. The thing I see more easily is some odd proportions, I can't help but notice there's something odd that doesn't quite fit (it may be just me though). Are you drawing purely by eye or do you use some sketch?
No.4642
>>4641That depends on how you define sketch. First I sketch the outline of any object and the, "shading areas", by eye, and then I fill the in rest by eye. It's a two step process. Maybe that's not the most effective method? The third picture got the proportions between base and top wrong. The top should be much smaller proportional to the base.
No.4643
>>4635I'm not really an expert on light and shadow construction or anything, so I could be 100% wrong here, but I feel as if the shadow's shape on the paper should pass below the top of the candle. They way you've drawn it, it looks as if the shadow was drawn from a top-down point of view while looking at the candle itself from a straight-ahead kind of horizontal one. Pic related attempts to give a (shitty) visual explanation. Stuff like this happens from moving your head even slightly, giving you different perspectives of an object that's near enough.
Unless whatever light source you were using was in an unconventional spot, leaving longer shadows or something, though I can't really picture it without the perspective being all messed up. Or perhaps you levitated and rotated the candle to the position.
It should also be kept in mind that photographing pictures like this skews and deforms them a little, which might be the reason why to some they look so weird without being actually able to place why.
No.4646
As you can see, none of the things I have drawn have a complex texture, they're all smooth. I've got no clue how to draw texture. That's probably what i'm going to try to improve on tomorrow.
No.4652
You draw as if you're painting. You are putting texture and shadow before the object itsself. For the next one, first sharpen your pencil, then just draw the vital lines for the objects 3d shape, making sure that the lines you can't see line up correctly too. Do this using as few strokes as possible. This will make it so you have to think about line quality (non-scratchy, flowing lines) and '3d-ness', because you won't be able to obscure the drawing behind a heavy mess of shading. Taking this to the extreme, you could try doing this as a wireframe. These exersises should help get rid of the problems you're having with keeping things paralell and producing forms that make sense. As an exercise in line quality and controll, get a pen and draw a long-ish curve on the paper. Then draw an identical curve as close as you can to the other one without intersecting it, and keep doing more.
No.4653
>>4652Doesn't look like you're spending enough time on these. You won't learn how to make drawings that require hours to make if you never practice that way. Draw and erase until you get it right. Pro artists can and very very often spend longer than one single day on a drawing.
No.4654
>>4653I replied to the wrong post. Too bad I guess.
No.4655
>>4654But yeah it looks like you made these in one or two minutes because you're too depressed to do anything else.
No.4656
Day 9:Pot from blue pen(closest thing at hand)
>>4652I never thought about the actual number of lines use to make an outline, but i'll using less next time. I also don't know whether I would call the shading a heavy mess. Every drawing has been from life and I try to make the darker areas like they are in reality. Days 2, 3 and 5 were also done in at least three hours. The other ones were just pumped out for the sake of this thread because I didn't have any energy. I'll try out that exercise.
>>4655If I can't even draw at least one thing a day, I've got no hope. Something is better than nothing at least in terms of keeping up some momentum for me.
No.4657
>>4656I would suggest you go to therapy. You're writing things that suggest to me that therapy would be helpful for you.
I mean, so is almost everyone on this board, but still.
No.4659
File: 1521327838216.jpeg (Spoiler Image, 58.25 KB, 800x686, 28e8dd31fc87feb442bfd396b….jpeg)
>>4657Look, at the beginning of the this thread I said that I was open to and welcoming of all criticism of my art. I'm really glad that anybody has anything to say about it. However, I am not looking for vanity soaked insults masked as concern from some faggot. Please leave this board already.
No.4660
>>4656>I also don't know whether I would call the shading a heavy mess. Every drawing has been from life and I try to make the darker areas like they are in realityI worded that badly. I didn't mean to imply that the shading was bad, it's probably the strongest part of your drawings, I just meant that it obscures the form to a degree that can fool you into thinking it's realistic when it isn't.
>Every drawing has been from life and I try to make the darker areas like they are in realityThe goal of drawing for practice purposes should not always be to emulate reality, but to do things that will improve your skill as an artist. Your shading is very good, so instead of wasting time on that, focus solely on things you struggle with.
I'm not sure if you are doing this already, but if you're not, I would really reccomend that you start drawings with simple geometric shapes. For example, if you had just started the binocular one with two cylinders next to each other and built on that it would have been radically improved.
>>4653>Draw and erase until you get it rightI disagree. When practicing drawing it is usually far more beneficial to draw the same thing quickly a few times then to keep refining one for a long time. When you've done one, look at things you like and dislike and do it again while exhaggerating good points, changing bad points, and adding in random mutations every now and then. That way you leave the session with more knowledge then before and you can see your progress on the page.
>>4655>>4657Honestly, this is the most pathetic attempt at trolling I have seen in a long time. Did you find this site through facebook?
No.4661
>>4660Yeah, I have to say that's a massive weak point. Ever since I was a kid, the most natural way to draw something to me seemed like apeishly putting every little detail I could see onto a piece of paper, and every time I would get disappointed when it didn't look the same as in real life. Tomorrow i'm going to attempt this wooden crane. I already made an outline(I know the legs are too short), but this time the object was too complicated for me to not use basic shapes. I'm not sure how exactly i'll build off of that, probably through layers of increasing complexity.
Thanks for your comments.
No.4662
>>4656You draw like i did back in high school (and to be honest i'm still shit)
I couldn't draw good looking lines most of the time so i drew light lines, so that way i could stack multiple lines on top of them and shape it on what i wanted to do instead of erasing repeatedly.
Add the chicken scratch style to some really abusive shading i did and you had some shit that looked straight out of a PARENTAL ADVISORY album.
I mean that rugged style might be what you're going for but it is better to practice the "base" form of what you're trying to do and then deviate away from that if you are struggling.
No.4663
>>4661I did the first couple of stages for drawing this to illustrate a few points. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not actually very good, but I think you could learn from my process.
First, I did the gesture of the bird, which is a few lines to illustrate the motion and curvature. Your outline looks very rigid, there are a lot of right angles where they shouldn't be. It doesn't flow. This is what drawing the gesture first will help to remedy.
I then constructed the bird geometrically. My proportions are completely off, but you can still tell what it's meant to be. this is because I used simple forms that characterse the bird. Your one still relies on contours and treats it as a single object. It makes sense that you would treat it this way since it IS a single object, but it makes it seem 2 dimensional and will make it harder for you later on when you need to define boundries.
Then I tried detailing, but failed 'cuz I'm shit. I made this bit much harder for myself when I didn't correct te proportions early on, but mostly it's because I haven't practiced it much. I only uploaded it to show you how to go from basic shapes to detail.
There are some tutorials which I think could help you a lot.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtG4P3lq8RHFRfdirLJKk822fwOxR6Zn6https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtG4P3lq8RHGuMuprDarMz_Y9Fbw_d2ws(I know you're not doing figure drawing, but the techniques here apply everywhere)
No.4664
Day 10:
I've nearly finished the crane. The only thing left is the shading.
No.4671
>>4668Congratulations on keeping at it for more than a week already. It’s quite inspiring.
The crane looks really good, better than the other works. Seems like you’ve put a lot more effort and attention on it.
I’m not very good at giving feedback but I’ll say two things that helped me a lot before, ignore them if they don't apply to you: worry about having a good pencil to draw with, and try to draw bigger than what you’re comfortable with. Good luck, I’ll keep checking this thread every day.
No.4672
>>4671Thanks. I've always struggled with making things not too small. I almost made day three much smaller than it would be possible to put nearly as much detail. I don't really know what constitutes a good pencil. I just use a standard, sharpened number 2. I think gesture and outlining with basic shapes helped out a lot. I never would have thought to do that on my own.
No.4676
>>4668Woah, thats a massive improvement. Looks great, though it did take you three times as long as the others. Approximately how long did you spend on it each day?
No.4677
Day twelve:Knight piece
The snout was the hardest part by far.
>>4676I wouldn't say the wood crane took thrice as long. The outline in
>>4661only took 5-10 minutes, and I ended up completely erasing it. On the first day I spent around 3-4 hours, and on the second is was like 5-7. The binoculars took 4-5 hours for comparison.
No.4684
>>4680I want to buy a figurine like that now
No.4685
>>4684I got it in China's jade factory store around Beijing. There's a superstitious element to it. The large stomach and mouth represents making a lot of money. The massive ass naturally coincides with eating a lot. The thing is though, this type of creature can keep eating without ever need to shit. If you put a figurine of one in your house, it's supposed to make you earn a lot of money without losing any.
No.4686
Day 15:I'm working on something pretty complicated.
No.4687
>>4686That's ok, take your time.
No.4691
>>4690Oh wow, looks super cool
No.4697
>>4695By, "actual wolf", I meant a wolf instead of another animal.
No.4699
Day 19:I'm at the midpoint of something.
No.4705
Day 21:Half-way done.
No.4711
>>4710This looks super cool!
No.4715
>>4701I actually like the monkey’s face in your drawing more than the figurine’s.
No.4716
>>4715Really? That's nice to hear.
No.4719
>>4718Made the neck shorter.
No.4725
>>4721Your cat seems younger, but still looks cute. You’re really getting the hang of this. They now look so much better than at the beginning.
No.4726
>>4725Thanks for your encouragement. There's still miles of improvement that can be made, but i'll try to keep chugging along.
No.4729
>>4728I probably should have spent more time on the fur.
No.4732
That's quite good. Keep going at it.
No.4738
>>4737>>4732Thanks. Since I started this thread, time seems to be going a lot slower for some reason.
No.4745
>>4744The proportions were also very difficult to figure out, so there's probably a lot of inaccuracies.
No.4748
Day 30
Half-way
No.4750
Day 31
I had a lot to do today and this is taking longer than I thought it would. All that's left is the shading.
No.4752
Day 33
I started a drawing, but I want to catch up on some sleep.
No.4753
>>4752Sweet dreams, sleep well.
No.4754
Day 34
It's coming along, but there are some difficulties.
No.4757
Day 36
I started something. Tomorrow's Saturday, so I will get it done.
No.4759
Day 37
I underestimated it. Maybe i'll do two things tomorrow.
No.4762
Day 39
The form is pretty complicated, but I think I nailed it. The hardest part is over.
No.4763
Day 40
I worked a bit on it, but I had a busy day. I'm getting some real drawing pencils for the shading.
No.4765
Day 42
I started something pretty unusual, but I had a hectic day.
No.4766
Day 43
The form is much more complex than I thought it would be, but I made good progress today.
No.4767
Day 44
This drawing is actually hellish. Every single part is a struggle, but I've gotten through the hardest part. I'll definitely have to do more stuff like this.
No.4770
Day 45
I'm on the final stretch ofthe shading. It's too late to finish it.
No.4772
>>4770I can do it man!
This one
>>4751 looks pretty cool. I now want the snail figurine in
>>4736 No.4774
>>4772*You can do it man!
Sorry about that.
No.4780
Day 47
I've started another ending. Hopefully it wont take as long.
No.4784
Day 48
I have a lot on my plate right now, but I got something done.
No.4786
Day 49
It's coming along.
No.4787
Day 50
It's gonna take one more day. I've been swamped lately.
No.4788
Day 52
I'm sick again and feel lost like shit. Hopefully i'll get back on track during May.
No.4789
52
sick looking forward to summer
damn
No.4790
53
It's the end of the year which means crunch time. Need sleep.
No.4791
54
No.4792
55
No.4794
56
No.4795
57
No.4796
58
No.4799
59
No.4800
60
No.4801
61
No.4802
63
No.4803
64
No.4804
>>4791>>4792>>4794>>4795>>4796>>4799>>4800>>4801>>4802>>4803Seriously just wait until you've actually made something like just look at all these posts made of absolutely nothing
No.4805
>>4804Just trying to keep up the momentum. If I keep posting the day number every day, it'll be a bit easier to get back into it when I get more time. Besides, I always sage.
No.4806
>>4804This whole thread is really a psychological experiment in motivation and time management.
No.4810
hey your drawings are really nice and it is really cool to see a record of your improvement! looking forward to seeing more in the future.
I know it might be hard to pick up a pencil sometimes, but here is a thing I heard somewhere - think of drawing not as making a finished product, but as a record of a series of thoughtful decisions, like an exercise, it’s a pursued skill. always carry a sketchbook with you and draw everything.
Also the end of the semester can be a hectic time. You got this. but no matter what keep drawing!
No.4835
How's your drawing going? You haven't made an update in a while.
No.4855
>>4854I tried looking that up online, but I couldn't find anything. Could you be more specific?
No.4912
>>4848These jade statues are tough choices for reference, because the material has a smooth surface, requiring a lot of gradients, while they also have these fine ink shadings, influencing tones and perception of shape.
I would recommend to use different materials, like charcoal or pencil for the actual statue and ink or a fine pen for the details, as if you would carve the object out of the blank sheet and then paint it, just like the original artist. This way you can reduce the thickness of your outlines, setting the darkest tones with shading and clean up the borders of strong contrast. This will make the object almost pop out of the picture.
Another thing I want to advice is the colorization of the background. In drawings it's just normal for the object to end up darker than the reference, as you continue to add shading. With a very dark background however you can enhance the foreground without removing anything well-done. Again charcoal or a soft pencil like 4B and up is ideal for that. Ink and pen can be used, but can even be too dark for the object in the foreground, creating an unsettling impression of undertow.
>>4911With charcoal better double the size of your picture and avoid smudging for gradients unless you are really experienced or choose to use it like paint and smudge the whole picture. See these bright dots in the center? They remain in every part when you draw with charcoal on paper or canvas, but disappear in the areas you smudged. One can utilize this to create blurry backgrounds or contrasts of roughness for example, but otherwise it distorts the impression of the surface on a single object.
No.4913
>>4912So what you're saying is I should use a fine pen for the inner lines and make the background darker?
Also, I didn't intentionally smudge the 2nd picture, I put charcoal over a layer of of white charcoal and then went back and forth between black and white charcoal.
No.4914
>>4913Use a fine pen for details you want a focus on and to smooth out borders of high contrast. Pencil and charcoal apply color like a very dense spray. The higher the pressure, the more material sticks to the ground. Since the tip of either tool is usually rounded from use in differing angles, you end up with a tight double sided gradient with the darkest part in the middle instead of a line, making it hard to create strong contrasts. Borders look soft or dirty.
You can make nice and clean edges just with shading by holding the pencil in a very low angle with the tip pointing right at the border of the bright part. If you add outlines with a pen or ink, make sure the dark part next to it is just as pitch-black as the outline, otherwise you get that comic effect.
I edited pic 1 digitally, but you can do this just as well by hand.
ball1 = original
ball2 = fat black outline
ball3 = added shading of background
ball4 = increased background shading, so the outline vanishes and removed outline from bright part
ball5 = all changes
No.4916
>>4914The original artist already did, what I meant with coloring the background. The brighter and more outstanding the object in the foreground is, the darker should be the background behind it. I just wanted to highlight the outline problem. ball2 looks kinda awkward, but by approximating the shading behind one gets this clean shape. If you do this by hand, the effect will be even stronger, because you don't lose the texture of the paper, yet the outlined border will be dense enough to break the naturally underlying pattern.
