Sasha - Art School Journey

_Sasha_ 2022-01-02 14:10:43 UTC #1

Hi, just going to start with an intro post, and will follow with assignments.

So to start with, I'll post some of my fairly recent artworks. Looking forwards to learning with you all.

Going to be starting on term 1, and though some of the content seems like things I already understand, I want to make a conscious effort to pick up and absorb as much information as possible.

_Sasha_ 2022-01-02 18:31:14 UTC #2

Started with the cylinder/shape exercise. Although it's not something I've done specifically before when figure drawing, I think the exercise to think about the shapes more will be good to keep in mind.

Tracing ref

Using ref, without tracing

LesleyCarol 2022-01-02 23:14:23 UTC #3

You have a really cute style! Looking forward to seeing how you evolve

_Sasha_ 2022-01-02 23:55:29 UTC #4

Thanks! I really hope I can make a meaningful improvement over the next year as I don't feel I've ever pushed myself enough in the past

_Sasha_ 2022-01-03 00:00:27 UTC #5

Just finished off a personal artwork, my partner's character in our DnD campaign (halfling barbarian).

I started this one before starting this course, and know there's a lot to be improved. I think a big area I struggle in is conveying emotions, though I do struggle reading them in real life too, so that'll be something I know I'm going to have to focus on at some point.

I would put more time into it but it's already clocked in around 12 hours total and I need to draw the line somewhere

leeireo 2022-01-03 00:51:51 UTC #6

Love your artworks! That battleaxe is drawn very well I think. Can't wait to see how much you'll progress over the next month or so!

_Sasha_ 2022-01-03 00:53:55 UTC #7

Thanks! I actually used a bounding box in perspective for the battleaxe, so I guess that little trick works quite well haha. And me too, let's both get in as much improvement as possible!

_Sasha_ 2022-01-03 17:58:34 UTC #8

Finished off the Nude figure Drawing 1 video today. Here's the results of today's work ^-^

I'm not super fond of the 8 head grid but then again, I don't think I've ever measured properly before so I'm fighting against my instincts.

Not the best gesture drawings I've ever done but I clearly need to work on them a bit, only 30 second ones today as I'm quite tired.

Any feedback is appreciated as always

Kosmonaut 2022-01-03 18:31:24 UTC #9

Great stuff and for the grid thing I would use it more to think about the relationships between each part of the body measurement-wise because it isn't much help when it comes to doing more dynamic poses or poses that aren't static up and down. The figure you did on the first image I think its fine to exaggerate the pose a little as long as it still looks believable in the end, but that is unless you're going for an exact copy of the pose which I would still try to exaggerate it if that was the case. The first figure study looks fine to me though

_Sasha_ 2022-01-03 18:37:59 UTC #10

Thanks for the feedback! And yeah, I do tend to exaggerate poses when I do figure drawing, And I supose the finished piece doesn't feel too off. Although, I also feel like it's a good idea to get the angles and twisting right, that way I think I'll be able to express the poses I have in my head better.

Kosmonaut 2022-01-03 22:23:06 UTC #11

I would agree with that as well it just depends on what your overall goal is when you go into a figure study. I am trying to exaggerate more so I am more for exaggerating a pose than trying to get it perfectly accurate it just depends on what you want to get out of it. keep up the good work/practice!

leeireo 2022-01-04 00:04:34 UTC #12

Doing good so far!

On the first figure I think it's fine and actually could look even more dynamic with a bit more exaggeration.
Also, if you look at the reference, she's leaning back quite a lot and putting almost all of her weight on her right leg. On your sketch she is putting a lot of her weight on her right leg as well, but there is a considerable amount put on her left.
Correct weight distribution can help make your poses feel more grounded and natural. Drawing a straight line from the head to the ground can help with that.

I recommend watching "Dynamic Figures: Why Your Poses Are Stiff" by David Finch on YouTube. He will explain gesture like Marc did, but he will also go more in-depth about the importance of weight.

I'm not that good at giving feedback, so please take what I said with a grain of salt. Some things may be correct, some may not be. Keep on improving!

_Sasha_ 2022-01-04 10:45:59 UTC #13

Thanks! I'll check out that video today. I suppose I haven't been that focused on the actual weight of the pose which is why my gesture drawings have never been great.

Very useful, will give it a try later.

_Sasha_ 2022-01-04 16:16:31 UTC #14

Okay, here's today's studies. Warm up with 8x 30 second, and 8x 1 minute gesture drawings. Then a few cylinder studies (traced)

Then after watching the video recommended by @leeireo (thanks). Took a bit of time to exaggerate some gestures and focus more on the gravity of the poses. I think they definitely look a lot more dynamic and I'm happy with the result, but it's definitely something I need to practise more.

leeireo 2022-01-05 00:19:51 UTC #15

I'm glad it has been of help! These are looking very good! I especially like these two, the ones I circled. I can really feel that gesture and weight going into the ground.

One thing you may want to consider though is putting an emphasis on getting that gesture of the whole pose first before putting in details like the one sketch there with the fairly detailed arm.

Or maybe your photo reference was just cropped that way from the beginning? If that's the case I recommend doing fullbody poses only for gesture drawings.

_Sasha_ 2022-01-05 14:12:54 UTC #16

That makes sense, I like the second one you circled most. And yeah I think focusing on the full body gesture is an important step to take, I guess I've done figure & gesture drawing for years and have gotten into some bad habits.

Will definitely focus more on that next time. Thanks for the feedback

_Sasha_ 2022-01-05 22:17:48 UTC #17

Sleepy day today and I don't want to overwork myself on this. So just a big set of 45 second gesture drawings (more relaxed than 30 seconds but still fast)

I did 4 pages more than this, but here's a the best page from the bunch. Definitely feeling like focusing more on rough shape and less detail is helping, and also trying to keep in mind the gravity and weight bearing leg. I'm happy with my progress on this already! Although, trying to get the legs and gravity right doesn't leave enough time to do arms hahaha

_Sasha_ 2022-01-08 22:15:42 UTC #18

Been a slow few days for me, got my booster vaccine and taking it easy.
Would love some feedback on a clean(ish) sketch I've been working on for a while. It's another character from the DnD campaign I'm in, A warforged that looks like an art mannequin. Any insight on how to really push the pose & composition considering the character in question?

I have been struggling to get him to feel right, I feel like it might be the fact the shapes need to be perfect otherwise it just feels off.

Anyway, I'll be back to giving other people feedback too in a couple days when I'm feeling a bit better!

Kosmonaut 2022-01-08 22:59:21 UTC #19

While I don't have anything composition-wise you could try to push the pose by exaggerating the line of action of your character and building the body based off of that right now the line of action is a straight line from neck to feet so curving that line of action and making the body follow while still being believable is a great way to push a pose like tilting the torso slightly left or right or something along those lines

LesleyCarol 2022-01-09 00:08:33 UTC #20

One thing I notice is the legs are disproportionately bigger that the torso and the arm reaching towards us. Also, turning the farthest arm in so it's holding the magic in front of it and then trimming the image from the right might help the composition.