Perspective: round 2

Currently Studying
Title: Figure Drawing for all it's worth
Author: Andrew Loomis
Page: N/A
Subject: Perspective




More Perspective studies. Kind of getting more confident with this as you maybe able to tell. Really it does not take that much effort just a bit of time and concentration. I think soon I will be able to apply what I have learnt to figures. I may try that out next actually.

Some areas are still slightly off but the important thing is the blocks look like they are in perspective. Foreshortening is occurring and what is more it is getting realistic. I was able to create basic buildings and structures. Still I can't afford to get complacent. I still have a very long way to go and in a relative short time. I wonder would it be possible to get really good in one month? Never the less my goal of becoming competent by June looks like it maybe a distinct possibility. That is not to blow my own trumpet but more to remind myself when things get tough that you can improve your art work with a little time and effort.

Note to self:
Whilst I am improving I must still strive to master this subject. Any weakness in perspective could cause me emense hassle later on when I get to doing finished coloured illustrations. I do fee I am on the right path at the moment. Perhaps it is time to also do some urban environment studies? I still need to apply this to more organic shapes.

Drawing Perspective part 1

Source Material
Title: Figure Drawing for all it's worth
Author: Andrew Loomis
Page: N/A
Subject: Perspective




So I found the part where I am struggleing and that is perspective. This is such a basic area. I need to focus on that for a while befor I proceed any further. I think some of the problems I have at the moment is with 2 point perspective. It just does not feel comforatble to me. This lack of confidence is made worse when the vanishing point is off the page.

I need to really cement this into my head and the only way of doing it is through repartition. My lack of cinfidence in this area is not only frustrating me but it makes some of the Loomis studies daunting when they need not be. This creates a psycological barrier and makes me want to skip certain parts of the Loomis book.

Here are the perspective drawings. They may not look bad but they don't feel right. I am begining to judge what is wrong better so my next batch should be an improvement.

Note to self:
Must not give up on these. Continue till it feels natural. Get these studies into your head and the next areas should be alot easier.

Drawing the torso (and failing)

Source Material
Title: Figure Drawing for all it's worth
Author: Andrew Loomis
Page: 38
Subject: Manikins




Sorry for my lack of posts yesterday. I seem to have caught someones cold. So I have been racking my brains about why my torsos dont look ring when drawn at an angle. I dedicated a sick day to learning where I was going wrong but I had no real luck. THat was untill just before I went to bed. I decided to take a look further on in The book and just 10 pages later I cam across a section on drawing the human form at any angle. Gave it a quick go and even with my half focus there was improvement. I will post last nights image up in my next post (it was done in my sketchpad so I need to take a picture of it then do the whole upload thing (I hate scanning grr). Anyway I want this to be a somewhat honest sketchbook (or atleast as honest as possible) so I will upload some of my failures.

Note to self: 
The next port of call is to study perspective. This should make my figures look more realistic plus save some sanity as the torsos are driveing me insane grr. I will have the next batch of images up later today providing my health holds up.
I HATE COLDS/FLU!!!

Loomis Manikins

Source Material
Title: Figure Drawing for all it's worth
Author: Andrew Loomis
Page: 38
Subject: Manikins




Truth be told I am having a bit of problems translating human form into the manikins. The main area I struggle with is when the top section of the torso is on display. Giving the illusion of perspective is difficult. I think I ran before I could walk with the loomis manikins. Also on a side note I could not get posemaniacs to work today, instead I ended up watching Martial arts on youtube and free running on google images.

Tomorrow I will be able to focus soley on getting these manikins right. I guess I am not as comfortable as I thought.

Note to self:
Tomorrow try to focus on drawing solid lines. I have developed a bad habit of petting the line. Also try to be more confident with brush strokes. The middle images came out well and I seemed more confident there. More figures need to be done. Perhaps I should do some timed exercises?

Loomis manikins

Source Material
Title: Figure Drawing for all it's worth
Author: Andrew Loomis
Page: 38
Subject: Manikins




Well I think I have gotten to grips with the main proportions so I figured to prevent this blog getting boring or stale I would try 2 new things. First was the introduction of colour. A blue study on a red background being as the are on opposite ends of the colour wheel. The next new thing was moving to manikins. This is ideal for gesture drawing and getting to grips with balancing the figure. Expect allot of these figures for the next update.

Personal Notes:
being as I am using photoshop and a wacom tablet to do these I must use a brush at 100% opacity. This will avid the weak lines and also improve my drawing co-ordination. I must also focus on balancing the figures properly (this can be done using a straight line as reference.

Considering I have stopped using the guidelines the proportions are not that far off. I think I need to focus on drawing a neck as some how the neck seems too short.

Finally, being as I am posting regularly I will start uploading the manikins in batch. Maybe 3 or 4 sheets. I will be combining my studies with the models from posemaniacs but more on that with my next post.

Loomis Studies

Source Material
Title: Figure Drawing for all it's worth
Author: Andrew Loomis
Page: 28
Subject: Proportions




Yesterday I spoke about my struggle drawing legs. I dedicated a drawing session to getting the proportions of the leg correct. This is more a confidence building exercise and this drawing took longer than I would have liked. I am going to need to repeat this several times to cement the shape in my head.
I am using the idealistic proportions for the time being as everything is rounded off to a nice 8 heads height.

I will be doing this study again along with arms and also the Loomis manikin.

Personal note:
I find this exercise useful as I do fee I am getting to grips with the general shape of the leg. It should be interesting to see if I will be able to apply what I have learnt when I tackle muscle structure. 

On a side note I hope you like the redesign. There will be a load of new features added soon such as a link to my latest article over at artfreck.com

Loomis Studies: Proportions

So today I have been focusing on my proportions. I have found several weak areas which I need to work on. These are mainly in drawing limbs and drawing symetrically. Perhaps I need to draw more guidelines. Things to note: Each line = one head. the human body is roughly 8 heads tall.

As always here is the source material. Click the image to purchase so you can follow me on my studies.
 


Anyway on with the sketchbook studies

I do feel everything is roughly in the right position just some of the limbs are the wrong shape. The important thing now is to get comfortable with the shape of each limb. I think along with studying the shape of the limbs I will also continue to the loomis maniquines.

In other news I have updated my comunity blog. We now have a brand new interview to show off

interview with Jon Hodgosn. artfreck.com

The interview is with Jon Hodgson who has a client base that would make any illustrator envious (like wizards of the coast and the BBC) Click the image or click here to go to artfreck.com and read the article.
Catch you all tomorrow