Sam Reeves
Oklahoma, USA
I paint and read a lot. Doing so before age 50, you're thought of as weird. After 50, it's mandatory.
Siddharth Gupta
added comment inDrawabox AMA - "I'm already Uncomfortable, so you may as well Ask Me Anything"
3yr
Asked for help
Please critic my drawings
Sam Reeves
3yr
I see a lot of good things in the gesture and shading. There is some stiffness here and there in the poses and issues with proportion, specifically foreshortening--which is hardest for any artist by far. I would suggest finding ways to loosen up. Try scribbling. Allow the wild lines to wander wherever and slowly tighten them as you find the form. Change the way you hold the pencil. Do not hold it the same way as you do when writing. Try holding it with an overhand style.
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Another series of practice sketches I did during the week. No reference used. Comments and Critiques welcome as always.
3yr
It is admirable that you would attempt figure drawing without reference, as it takes courage to do so. However, I suggest embracing reference. There is nothing wrong with using it. Many artists do so throughout their careers. If drawing purely from your imagination is a goal, wait until you have drawn from reference enough times that gesture, proportion, and anatomy come to you as easily as reciting the alphabet. It should be muscle memory. Something you do without conscious effort. Yes, occasionally for grins, try a drawing from imagination. This will help you mark your progress. But don't focus on it. A great exercise is to draw from reference 10 or 20 or 100 times the same figure or object, then try to draw it from memory.
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Hi Jeremy, welcome to the new Proko site!
I've been a long time fan of fantasy IPs and its definitely a goal of mine to do card illustration for Magic the Gathering, or do concept work for either Dungeons and Dragons or for Magic. I've been working over the past several years to try to polish my painting technique, and get my work to a style and level of finish that would match what you would find in those previously mentioned IPs. I'm curious if you think my work would fall in line with what WoTC is looking for.
Additionally, what do you think is the best way to actually get your portfolio considered for a company that big? I imagine that they get hundreds of portfolios coming in every day, and my work would just get lost by going through the regular application on their site.
Thanks for doing this!
3yr
Hi, Luigi. I have the same goal as you. 👍 I think you have a nice character set here. I like the angles, the lighting, and the concepts. And as far as getting your portfolio reviewed, I am just as curious as you. Clint Cearley said he simply sent them his portfolio.
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3yr
What career opportunities are available for an artist who is 50 years old and works mainly with Photoshop? And in the same vein, is it possible to make a career as a fine artist or a portrait artist if you work digitally? ... By the way, thank you Marshal for helping me sort out writing vs painting.
3yr
@Anfissa Pruitt Did you see the Draftsmen episode where Stan talked about using a Zettlekasten? I read the book he mentioned HOW TO TAKE SMART NOTES by Sönke Ahrens and it helped me.
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Thank you! Always looking for reference.
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wow this was harder that what I thought. This is my first time doing a portrait of this kind but it was really fun. I had problems in the mouth and I have problems with the eyes. I couldnt get the right proportion. Thank you Steven and all the Proko team!
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Here is my attempt. I'm okay about it. Comments welcome.
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Went back and worked on this some more. I still feel like the left eye is too high. Going to rewatch the video and start a new one.
3yr
Focusing on individual parts of the face--the eye, the nose--they are all really well done. The shading is smooth. The forms have nice contours. As for advice, like where you feel that the left eye is too high, you might look at some of Andrew Loomis' books. FIGURE DRAWING FOR ALL IT'S WORTH is an excellent one.
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I came in a bit too late for the live stream so I rewatched it today. Used the block in method, to help me get the correct proportions for the shadow forms. (Hope I am doing this right.)
3yr
This is a good idea to group the shadow shapes in your reference, as you did. That's something I should do more of.
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Great model! Here’s my portrait study. This was done in about 3 hours on toned paper with just a hb 0.7mm graphite mechanical pencil. Any feedback is appreciated.
3yr
Hi, Adam. Excellent likeness. You might take a second look at the values. In the reference, the back of the hair is pretty dark, so is her shirt. Her cheek will have a core shadow, and I think there might be a little bit more of a transition as the form turns from the light to the dark side. But, honestly, I had to really stretch to find anything to criticize.
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My attempt to this class, i've absorved so much knowledge into these 3 hours! thank you soo much Proko and Sthephen for providing this awesome content for free!
I tryed my best in the drawing, i havent done a "long" drawing like this for quite a while. I struglled a lot with the eyes and mouth, and i think i added so much saturation into some areas, but happy with the learning i've got from it.
I'm really excited about the proko 2.0!!! so happy to be part of this beggining!!
3yr
This is super good. The eyes gave me a lot of problem too. Your shading is buttery smooth. Great job!
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Hello there! Here's my attempt to this assignment, i think i had a hard time mostly with the kraft paper that i used, and then i tried to make the highligths more noticeable with a white pencil (and ended up disliking a little bit the end result, but, oh well).. so there you go, my first post on the platform!
3yr
Hi, Lineu. Glad to virtually meet you.
Personally, I like the addition of white highlights to your portrait. It helps gives it life. And yes, textured paper can be difficult to work with, especially if the texturing is very uniform.
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I am ridiculously late posting this, but after the stream, I noodled and noodled some more. Anyway, this was a lot of fun. I love portraiture. Thank you Stephen and Proko!
I didn’t go for super realistic color. Pretty much just whipped around a soft round brush on a multiply layer, to see what would happen.
Please feel free to offer any advice or comments. I don't think the likeness is quite there. And looking back, I would probably have tried to do something a little more creative with the color and brush strokes.
Have a good one everybody. Looking forward to the next stream.
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Trying to get used to coloring
3yr
The hue and saturation are very close. If you use a pressure-sensitive tablet, you might experiment with using flow to create a nice variety of edges.
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Joined a little late, so I started to get greedy. Think I'm gona take a crack at this reference a second time so I can spend some time with the block-in. Think my value unification started to disband the moment I made a hard line >.<
Think I also may have aged the model with some of my line quality. Definitely doesn't feel as young as the reference.
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Wat do u think of ma drawing? I was goin for foto realism.
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What do you feel about strictly studying from books? I wish to blend both, my observations, as well as the teachings of great artists like Burne Hogarth and so, but oftentimes I can't really pay equal attention to both sides! What are your thoughts on this?
3yr
I am a book lover, and I have several art books. However, I have always been cautious about learning solely from them. Art after, all is an action. Seeing a master perform an action is far deeper and more immediate than reading a description.
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What is a good way to train your eye to see simplified shadow shapes? Or conversely, when should you avoid merging shadows?
