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Simon White
•
2yr
added comment inProject - Learning to Sketch from Imagination
Asked for help
Thought I'd like to draw some kind of Seahorse and figured it might be interesting to draw a SeaCalf instead. So had a look at some photos of Seahorses (and Sea Dragons which apparently are different) and decided to make a few sketches of the different types to get an idea of which features I liked and what I could use. Also found some refs for calves and did a bit of a study, also looking for poses that I thought could be good to use as inspiration for the imaginative sketch. The final sketch to be fair doesn't look much different from a Seahorse, lol, so gonna give it another go and try to make it more Cow like. Was fun to do anyways
Gracie Clark
2yr
Awesome!!!
Luke Ng
2yr
Very cool!
Tuija Kuismin
2yr
That final sketch is so cool! Love the octopus tentacle effect on the body, it's a great "ugly" contrast to the beautiful head and overall shape. Exploring sketches are also great, nice energy in them.
Simon White
•
2yr
Asked for help
Bit late to the party this week so have just completed the Level 1 assignment so far - Level 2 imagination drawings to follow... Tried to stick to CSI lines and keep them loose. The hand was the most difficult so it's a bit more clunky and less loose I guess. The Penguin was fun to draw and the curves helped with the looseness of the sketch, even though the overall proportion was a bit 'all over the oche"
Just watched the demo video- I think I got too much into the detail - again - D'oh!
Simon White
•
2yr
Asked for help
Here’s my crack at this week’s assignment.
It was pretty fun.
I thought it was cool, how each reference kinda of had me figure out different ways to approach the ‘problem solving’.
The first image of the snail had me drawing mostly in C and S lines as the shapes were very rounded and the drawing was quite fluid.
Wow. These ones look great. How do you start? Block in or construction or just start it?
Simon White
•
2yr
Asked for help
The shot of the camel was more of a complex structure so I found myself firstly roughing in the big shapes and gesture lines for the legs etc. The head itself, I decided to try and draw a box to help me figure out how to break the shape down, noticing the planes of the head that I could see, a bit of the front plane, the side plane and the under plane. This turned out to be really helpful in helping me to place the features.
Interesting that you used boxes. I used two circles -one for the skull area and one for the nose/mouth volume. Either way, I guess it helps visualized the volumes of those features. Nice job.
Simon White
•
2yr
Asked for help
With the first two images, I think I realised that I have a habit of making these bold, heavy, thick outlines which make the sketches look kinda cartoony and I wanted to try and knock that back a bit in the next drawing of the boot.
Again I started out with a light gesture drawing of the main shape and the rhythems that I could see to help give me a structure which which I could build upon and add more detail.
Love the way you shared the step-by-steps. Made it really interesting seeing how you progressed
Simon White
•
2yr
Asked for help
I think this exercise help me realise that I tend to focus on contour lines and have a tendency to go in for detail very early on. So with the next reference image of the skull I wanted to try and keep with the most basic of shapes as possible (I still slipped into adding detail - meep…)
With the Skull drawing, ultimately, although this isn’t as ‘finished’ as the other drawings, I’m happiest with this as an initial lay in and think the shapes look clear and still communicate what it was that I was referencing.
Awesome job -- you got a nice pose there, with clean interesting shapes, and it looks like you made some really good creative choices around where to present the shadows. You captured the essence of the portrait while sticking to the assignment. Even, distinct (and only 5!) tones. Good stuff!
Simon White
•
2yr
Second pass with simplified shadow shape. This is kinda painful to look at. Looks clunky. Maybe there’s too much similarity between midtone and dark tone that distorts the reading of this. Tried squinting to really get the basic shadow shape but felt like I was cutting out a lot of the design and shape. Stan, how do you learn what to include and what not to include in the block shadow?
Maybe you're a little too harsh on yourself Simon, but I understand what it is that makes you frustrated. Squinting indeed is helpful but as Stan said in the video try imagining the pear as a chisseled rock in its shape. Try imagining where the girth is wider and or less wide, where the pear is turning and then where the light hits on these blocks. Its like if you were a sculptor, ask yourself "how would i sculpt the forms?" . Even though you feel like the shape simplification you did is wrong, its not like that, its just a little more detailed one can say. The lines are great and the value simplification is just wonderful. Hope this helps!
Simon White
•
2yr
Asked for help
I think I went in on the detail waaaaaaaaayyyy too early. Need to SIMPLIFY shadow shapes much more. Was a good exercise learning to stick with just using five (four) values. Had fun.
•
2yr
I agree, some of the shapes you put in initially are too small. Should be simplified to convey the major form of the pear, rather than the minor bumps. Also, try not to outline all your shapes with dark line. Try to make a sharp edge with just the value of the shape itself. Your value organization is great though.
Definitely love that you posted your whole process, from beginning to end. The values seem really clear. The only thing is I'm not sure where the lighter shadow is on the pear itself (if it's there at all), though I can see it on the outer ring of the cast shadow.
So this doesn't look overly detailed to me. I think you did a good job, especially in avoiding overly soft smeary edges on the interior of the pear. If you are looking for critique, here are the couple of things I notice on a very good project:
The shading on the stem is overly dark relative to it's position to the light source. This is a tricky thing to get right because the stem is brown. Brown is not the value of the stem though, it's the color. We should be trying to capture how light is hitting the stem, not the color of the stem. Don't worry I struggle with the same thing.
Second, you seem to be a little nervous to get hard edges and strong line weight on the silhouette of the pear. I understand drawing in lightly initially, but the boundary between the pear and the background is a strong one, so it's ok to back over it with a thicker line.
On one hand, you went waaayyyy too far in your details! On the other hand, your pencil work is amazing, those are some really cool shadows!
