Rebooting my art learing journey - feedback appreciated
1yr
Geert-Jan
So i've been practicing drawing (almost) daily for the last 2 years or so. But I lack focus and structure. After listening to the draftmen podcast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od1xbX2ESP8). I've decided to bring in more structure. The podcast mentions this Redit post (https://www.reddit.com/r/learnart/comments/dapk62/from_the_guy_who_made_the_most_comprehensive_list/) with a full curriculum. My challenge will be to follow this curriculum as close as possible.
I've created this topic mostly to keep myself accountable. But i will post created work regulary, and any feedback/ critique from you guys is greatly appreciated!
Some personal info:
-39 years old
-fulltime job outside art
-On average i have 1 hour each day to practise (a bit more in the weekends)
-Not a native English speaker, so please forgive me the grammar and spelling mistakes :)
The first unit is figure drawing. I've already followed Stan's figure drawing course before, so im revisiting the course. Here are some 2 minute and 30 second gesture drawings (drawn in Procreate). Please let me know what you think of them.
2mo
Week 51: Started with the clothing and drapery unit. I did mostly quick studies from references from different sources.
2mo
Nice job, @Geert-Jan!
Have you been using any book or a course as a study resource, or are you focusing just on the practice?
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2mo
Week 50: This week I've focused on repeating some lessons from previous unit's and the fundamental course. For the fun side, i've tried to create some stylized portraits from reference photos.
3mo
I think you have a great sense of direction and movement of the gesture, but I think you can be a bit looser and see where the "rhythm" of the drawing takes you.
3mo
Nice one! I am really impressed that you have managed to practice daily for about two years. I started a similar journey to yours about two years ago but have not been able to keep the practice consistent.
I started with the figure drawing course but got stuck at the perspective part and therefore I was so happy that Proko added this fundamentals course.
I am following your journey now - very inspiring!
3mo
Thank you for your kind words! Comments like these help me motivate. I too struggle to draw daily, but i've set the bar really low for myself: I just have to draw one line at a minimum every day. That often leads to a full drawing session and sometimes a quick 5-10 minute gesture practice session or something. How do you like the fundamentals course so far?
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3mo
week 49: I've not given any updates the last couple of weeks, because I was finishing up my commission work i've mentioned before. However I'm back in the game (I hope). So to start off again I will be repeating some exercises from various previous lessons just to repeat. I also have a project in mind to work on my own, but I will post about it later. For now some Loomis heads to start :)
4mo
Week 47 + 48: Doing the shape design lesson from the beginners course, drawing more loomis heads and did this popcorn horror movie character for fun :)
4mo
Week 46: relearning the loomis head method. I found myself struggling with this one. i'm following the method teached by Stan from the portrait drawing course. What do you guys think?
4mo
I think it's looking pretty good, @Geert-Jan! In spite of the struggle you mention to be facing, I believe your drawings are coming out solid, and I notice a sense of growing confidence throughout the sequence of drawings - numbers 17 and 19, for example, look stronger to me than the earlier ones (except maybe for number 3, which I think also looks great even though it’s among the first ones).
Here’s just a couple of things I'd recommend remaining aware of as you keep going with this exercise: a) make sure the perspective is cohesive by having parallel lines incline towards one same vanishing point; and b) when drawing cross-contour lines, consider if the form on which they’re drawn is flat or rounded. I see a few of your drawings could use adjustments regarding those issues, but others don’t, which, to me, shows that you probably know all that somehow, and it could be just a matter of having it come across more consistently as you draw. No secret for that, just practice, awareness and time.
Sending you some quick draw-overs as a visual note. Hope it helps!
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5mo
Week 45: continued with the rotating heads challenge by taking it a little step further from the rotating boxes: creating rotating Loomis heads. For fun i did some cartoon-like sketches of some people in the reddit gets drawn community.
5mo
Week 44: I missed an update last week, but that is because I'm doing a small commission right now that takes up almost all of my drawing time. However, I'm preparing right now for the rotating head challenge by practicing drawing a rotating box. It is very difficult. I've practiced by drawing from imagination and by looking at a 3d model of a box.
5mo
Hey my dude! We are attempting the same reddit curriculum from RadioRunner! I am three weeks in to the Figure Drawing Fundamentals course. It’s super inspiring to see someone so far along in the journey. Keep up the good work. Draw, draw, draw!
5mo
That is so awesome! How do you like the course? And how much time you spend daily or weekly?
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5mo
Looking good! How is your DIY Art School plan going? Have you strayed from the Reddit one or are you customizing your own?
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6mo
Week 42: I'm a little hung over at the moment, so a quick update: more hand studies and gestures. For fun i did a cartoon portrait :)
6mo
Week 41: decided to start with anatomy III: the arms which includes the 100 hands challenge. So i'm doing both realistic hands and cartoon hands. As a warm-up i do gesture drawings digitally.
6mo
Yay, we are on the same unit!
Are you drawing with all the steps recommended by Stan? I mean - gesture -> structure -> lines > details? I find it hard to establish the right proportion when I start with gesture,
TBH I was surprised to learn that I actually like drawing hands. Don't get me wrong I suck at it, but I also feel that is OK, because it is honestly hard subject to draw.
ps. I'm curious what you will think of rotating heads challenge - I found it extremely difficult.
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6mo
week 40: haven't decided on the next unit yet, but i managed to do some drawing. I mainly focussed on the new lesson in Stan drawing basics course where we drew animal portraits in simple shapes. I also drew some portraits for the reddit gets drawn and the reddit gets drawn badly community where it tried to cartoonize some people.
6mo
The first thing I notice is how good your line quality is and the cool expressions each are making! These are really cool! I like how each one has a different personality. Good job!
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6mo
Asked for help
Week 39: I deviate a bit from the drawabox lessons. I've created more structural studies from animals but i tried to apply the critique i've received from @Liandro. What do you guys think?
This was also the last week of the unit, so i have to pick another one for next week. I've never studied renderling and light/ shadows yet, so i might pick a unit about this subject.
6mo
WOW! Such contrast compared to the previous ones - I think these look great. Clarity and nice use of line weight. Cool job, @Geert-Jan!
As a quick additional observation, I’d suggest noticing the feet and seeing how you can use them to enhance a sense of weight and perspective even more. I’ve drawn over your cat sketch to show an example (it might not match the photo reference you used, but, hopefully, it gets the point across).
I believe this experience with 3D strucutre will be super helpful to you in case you do decide to study lights and shadows later on.
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6mo
Week 38: i've combined the drawabox approach of drawing animals with Stan's Structure Basics – Making Things Look 3D lesson. (the last one suggested by @Liandro ) Drawing animals with 3d shapes, but i've used a fineliner and ink to draw them. For the fun side, i did an Aaron Blaise study of this coyote.
6mo
I really like your wolf! Especially how you used more white strokes on the muzzle, in contrast to the less amount of strokes on the neck. It really reads like different types of fur/fur length. Bravo!
6mo
Cool, @Geert-Jan! Aaron is such an expert on animals, I love how he designs animals’ facial features and expressions. I think your master study shows you’re quite sharp on your observation skills! Plus, I love how beautiful the black and white strokes look on the toned paper. Nice handling of your inking materials!
About the structural studies, I think you’re being able to find some perspective on how you’re envisioning the 3D forms, so let’s try to tune it up even more. See if you can tighten your structure designs more in such a way that the sense of 3-dimensionality can be felt all through the drawing. You can start your drawing with a loose gesture, but then, on top of it, design each 3D form carefully in order to make their position in space and relationship to one another as clear as possible. It’s not a matter of cleaning up the lines more, but of clarifying the design: try to state for yourself which are the forms that you’re using (cylinder, box, sphere? Derivations or combinations of them?), how they're positioned in space (perspective, depth, overlaps, foreshortening) and how they relate to other forms around them, especially the ones to which they connect. Maybe think of your drawing as a wooden mannequin. See if you can draw through the forms, as if they were transparent. Cross-controus are helpful, definitely keep using them. Keep in mind there's no right or wrong way to design the forms in this exercise, so feel free to explore and test which solutions work best for each study. Plus, your knowledge of line weight should come in handy in order to show that clarity in the drawing.
I’m attaching a draw-over for the sake of example.
Hope this helps!
Keep up the good work!
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7mo
week 37: I've finished the 250 cylinder challenge of drawabox! Also started lesson 5: drawing animals. Included my first attempts. For fun, i've colorized one of my drawings from the inking unit and drew a sea turtle in traditional media (markers, fineliners, white colored pencil). What do you guys think?
7mo
Hey, @Geert-Jan!
I think the turtle drawing looks stunning!!
It’s nice to notice the simplified construction on the dog portraits. Have you ever tried the animal mannequin exercise from Stan’s Structure Basics – Making Things Look 3D lesson? If not, perhaps it could be a helpful complement to the “drawing animals” lesson you’re going through now, if you find it pertinent for your study schedule.
Yay on the cylinders challenge! I see there are needed adjustments on the perspective, but let’s not get picky about it here - what matters now is that you finished the challenge by drawing 250 cylinders, right? That’s something to celebrate. Just as a suggestion, perhaps you could let go some more and don’t bother trying to make all the straight lines so perfectly - simply trust your freehand natural stroke and let it “feel as human as it is”.
On the cartoony portrait, as I commented in the other post, I like it! Colors aside, let me focus on the inking part. For fun, I experimented making a few tweaks on top of your drawing and I’m attaching two images here: one where I compare the new version I did with the original one you posted (minus the colors); and another one with some written notes to clarify my thought process as I made these changes. I honestly don’t think there are right or wrong answers here though, so please don’t take my paint-over as a “correction”, but rather merely as a suggestion of other possible inking/design choices.
Hope you find this helpful.
Keep it up!
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7mo
Hi
I see that your lines in the DaB lessons improved quite a lot! I didn't see a wobble or other such things on the last few cylinders. Great job finishing the challenge!
The dogs look really cute. One thing I have to say is that your lines on the dogs look really great. I guess that you don't submit the exercises officially on the DaB webside? I've seen that you do the exercises not exactly as they are discribed in the course so please be aware of that if you do want to submit the officially some day.
I love how the turtle came out. The portrait looks nice as well. One question I have is, well is the right eye supposed to look.....a bit off?
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7mo
Week 36: i've continued the cylinder challenge of drawabox.com. 245 cylinders in, so i'm almost done! I've also continued the basics course from Stan, where we did master studies where we studied line, which was very fun.
7mo
hi
i love your study on henrich kley and aaron blaise, the lines look like they could have come direcly from them!
i do have one critique point and it is on the cylinders. but first off congrats on getting to the 250th cylinder of the challenge! don't forget to buy the recommended equipment for lesson 6, trust me you'll need or you go crazy when drawing objects.
so now for the critque points, your lines look a bit wobbly on the cylinders. it doesn't look like you go fast enough with your lines, i recommend you to try and find the right speed for you where you have smooth lines that you can control. i know it stinks giving up some control but it will pay off!
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7mo
Asked for help
week 35: Start of a new unit. I've decided to continue with the drawabox.com exercises. First i will be finishing the 250 cylinder challenge, which i've previously started. It is still a very hard challenge to draw these boxes and cylinders with a pen free hand. For the fun side i cartoonized a bunch of people from reference. I've tried to add some shadows and highlights from imagination, but it doesnt seem quite right? Maybe someone has some good tips on that?
7mo
oh my the cylinders challenge, I am not a fan, but you are doing great!
I know it is conscious style choice, but maybe you can try varying limelight in those caricatures? I remember it worked very well in your previous posts,
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7mo
To create believable lighting, just use what you have been learning while doing all those boxes. Remember, boxes have planes, and if you shine a light on a box, the planes facing the light will be light, and those facing away from the light will be shadow. Same is true of the head you drew, what faces the light will be light etc.
I did a quick paint over to show you how you could color this in a way that uses this logic, I hope it helps :)
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7mo
I am also starting the cylinder challenge 😌 I did a detour due to a nine days long trip but now I am getting back to it. You still on the Reddit DIY Art School schedule?
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