Workshop participation thread for Cbits

Hello, here are some of the first assignments as I try to catch up:

10-28 assignment



This is a sketch I did for a class project, used a book for reference.

As for my art knowledge I would say I'm fairly knowledgeable. I've taken classes in high school and college, although they havent been too technical. In my experience, high school art classes are very exploratory and college classes are very conceptual, neither type focused very much on actual techniques. I'm mainly self taught, just doodling on my own. I look forward to using the workshop to get motivated into praticing on a regular basis and also for some good feedback. I think regardless of your ability, constant pratice and feedback will always make you better.


10-29 assignment

Reference picture:


SketcH:

Not bad at all! [smile]

One thing you'll want to keep in mind for future drawings is that not every stroke you make on the paper ends up in the drawing. You can put down what are called construction lines, to help you with situations where objects overlap, then erase them afterwards - or, if they don't detract from the drawing, or even add to it, leave them in!

In the handle of your scissors, the body of the phone is slightly out of alignment. Using construction lines would have solved that problem. When I do compositions that involve multiple objects, I do very light construction/composition sketch lines and later choose which ones to darken and refine.

Excellent start.

Thanks for the good comments. In regards to the first assignment, the marks I made were rather dark, but I did do some lighter construction lines that you cant really see in the picture. However, I am guilty of rushing through the sketch which is what led to the distortion mentioned. I think I have a fault of getting the essence of the objects in the picture, (getting them properly aligned, shape, etc.) but then I rush through the smaller details. That said, onto the next assignments (where I am probably guilty of the same thing):

10-29

Original:


Sketch:


I am not exactly pleased with this sketch, the alignment of the women behind the man aren't the same as the original and some things look a little wonky, but I thought I got the general proportions done alright. I tried to keep it basic with no shading because of what was said in other people's assignments. However, with a small reference picture with and emphasis on shadow I think it was best to do a sketch not with outlines, but with more tone. Not necessarily shading, but more like blocks of shadow.

So, it may be outside the scope of the assignment but I gave it shot anyways...

Original:


Sketch:


So instead of outlining the dark shadows I basically just blocked them in and added some shading to differentiate colors and also to provide a little bit of volume, like in the arms. I'm a little disappointed in the hands, but I couldn't exactly see how they were in the original. Even though there was more detail, I think this sketch went a little faster than the previous one just because I could block in more areas.


11-2:

This project I think was a little difficult, not only because its hard to take a picture of yourself in just the right way, but also to get something in the background worth drawing. I just grabbed a yahoo news picture instead, hopefully I did it correctly.

Source:


Sketch:

good job on your first assignment, I especially like the second magazine cover.

On the sillouette youv'e done the first step well. Now, go ahead and draw his neck tie and jacket, add some of the detailed wrinkles in his neck and chin for an extra challenge.

Project for 1-29:

You rushed the drawing, and it's pretty obvious that you did, too. Sketching is a valid drawing style that prioritizes fluidity and speed over absolute fidelity, but if you want to become a portrait quality artist (a useful foundation, even if you only plan to draw web comics), you'll have to learn to slow down a bit.

Yes, it's tedious. But if you think taking 15 minutes to note every nuance of a line and reproduce it, albeit reversed, is too much, how would you survive a 4- or 8-hour studio! (Bathroom breaks and stretching every 15 to 30 minutes.)

In fact, this is the most fundamental aspect of the workshop, and of the assignment where I asked people to describe a plain scene: slowing down enough to notice the details is key to being able to reproduce them.

It's a very good sketch. It has expressivity, and the proportions are excellent. It's, unfortunately, only a mediocre drawing, in the studio sense.

(If you want to stick to sketch style throughout, though, let me know. I'll evaluate your assignments on a different basis.)

Here's my upside down drawing, (turned right side up)




I think its a little stretched/elongated and I tried to figure out why that might be. I realize it may be because I was sketching at an angle on my desk, which makes the lines a little more elongated when you actually view the paper head on. I took a picture of my point of view to sort of give you an example of what I'm talking about.



Thanks for the good comments so far.

This is good! Very, very, very good!

(Pre-GDC has me slammed. Sorry about the short comments.)