Apropos of Nothing: I present to you “Judge Turner and Uncle Matt.” This is the point in a sketch where potential still runs high. It’s also the point where I screw things up. I’m going for a rough sketch, but the 4H I’ve used so far is acting more as guide lines. Do I work out more with the 4H, or maybe even an HB? Do I pull out my fine liner to lay out sweeping CSI lines with occasional cross hatching? Or perhaps I should grab a white pencil and some Prismacolors. Your opinions and suggestions are appreciated.

I’ve always been interested in drawing, since the childhood, but unfortunately never really pursued it. Now it’s the time:) i have three graphite pencils — 2H, B, 8B, and also a bunch of simple colored ones of unknown hardness. I kind of like the 8B pencil the most, at least for now.

I used fountain pen without line variation, but Beatrix Potter def. used dip pens with varying lines and tapered stroke too. I had good time doing these and I will do more, even though they are super hard. Study is the first image, invidual images - I took from the great book "The complete Tales" by B. Potter.

Linear Drawings from Observation, Imagination, and a few warm-ups. Time to turn the page.

Cactus in charcoal. Trying bigger formats. In this case, A3.

Straight Taper, Trace the Ruler, Connect the Dots, and Mario Mushrooms. I promise to keep future warm-ups to myself.

Linear Drawings from Life

Light Medium Dark: HB on Newsprint

Page Skating

I've noticed something about drawing from imagination. I very occasionally draw comics, but really rough sketchy comics. Some times I just know what to draw and the lines just go on the page and I am happy with that sketchy nature. Other times I can't draw these sketchy comics at all because I feel I am missing the spark. Then I can't even force myself to draw comics even if I sit down to try. That's for this very rough style of comics though, so not sure if this is applicable in this context. For this task here I was definitely not ready. I think it is two separate things, and those are 1, to imagine something and 2 to make those into 3D shapes and fit them together in a convincing manner...

*HOT TAKES ONLY* Do you draw on the front and back of your sketchbook pages or just the right side?

Mushroom warm ups! I loved this exercise, I was definitely able to have fun with it as well as practice a lot of ellipses

I chose to do the level 2 drawings first because I wanted to gauge my ability to pull lines. I'm pretty happy with these, but I'm hoping for some critiques so that I can improve and try these again as well as attempt the level 1 drawings

Hey Marshall, Stan, I watched out for the eyes.training app from your studen, Marshall. Man it's AMAZING. I start now using it to practice! Thank you for the pointer. Man your student must geek (in the postive way) and I love it! Regards and big THANKS to him, Marshall. Kevin

Class Notes

Class Notes

attempt at the snail . I think I spent too much time when I did the boot, so I tried to stick with simplifying the snail without worrying if it’s perfect. Hopefully it wasn’t an over correction

heres my attempt at the boots. I was okay until the laces, which felt overwhelming . I found it helped me to block the laces with straights then lay the curves on top. Going to tackle the snail now!

Books! Love Books! And Loomis books are the best. I have them all in one form or another. The problem with Loomis is he’s very advanced. Except for my favorite Loomis book: Fun With A Pencil. While his other books are deceptively difficult, Fun With A Pencil is deceptively wonderful! It is an intro to heads (loose, gestural strokes and building forms), bodies (gesture & manikin forms), and then perspective, light & shadows! And it’s really great Fun! My second favorite Loomis book is Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth. But in the beginning, you’ll want this mostly as a reference book. It’s… a lot. I bought Steve Huston’s book. I read the entire thing. I found it a total waste of money and time. Proko likes it, so maybe I missed something. I’ve already given my copy away. Vilppu’s Drawing Manual is also considered genius among some. Maybe it’s a good workbook if Vilppu is your instructor. I found Proko’s lesson on The Bean more useful. This is another book I’ve given away. You’re probably going to hear about Bridgman’s Life Drawing. I love looking at his work and have drawn along with his book a whole bunch. I’m not sure how instructional it was, to be honest, but it was darn good fun. Oh, and Burne Hogarth’s Dynamic Figure Drawing. Yeah, like Bridgman, it’s good fun. The thing I learned from this book is, “I will never draw like Burne Hogarth.” So, the best book for figure drawing? Brace yourself. It’s not what you think. Ready? Ok. “How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way,” by Stan Lee & John Buscema. John Buscema! Master comic book artist and a great teacher! This book has it all (and a whole bunch of traditional comic stuff you won’t need). There’s heads, gesture, manikin forms, composition, perspective, basic forms, and on and on. I’ve had my copy forever and still use it today. In fact, if you can find Buscema comics (his Conan is killer!) then you’ve got a manual right there. Come to think of it, comics are a great source of gestural figure drawing. They used to be a cheap way to learn (I was upset when the price went up to 25¢). Um… so… yeah. You got me all excited. I'm going somewhere to rest now.