Drawing

[ferret]

So like. I've never taken drawing classes or anything other than your basic required electives art class in high school. I've never practiced, and until two nights ago had attempted a serious sketch or drawing maybe 10 times in my life. But whenever I have tried to sketch, I basicly draw anime/manga style, because its what I like. I'd love to be able to draw my own manga one day.

So. As I so randomly do, I decided to start sketch #11. I've been on and off toying with the idea this past year of seriously starting to try to draw and learn. I got a new sketch pad, a pencil set, etc. I didn't really use them though.

On and off I doodle in class, but nothing serious or refined. Two sketches I half put effort into while bored on a slow day at work are here:

http://ferretbox.com/drawings/sketch001.jpg

So I did that. Showed a few people, got told to practice and maybe I could get somewhere. So as typical, I didn't do anything. I sketched a few times in class, turning up the horribly jumbled scratch pad scans below (You'll note on the first on where I was designing a reorg of the front page of GH, and the second one has the pages and #s for some homework)

http://ferretbox.com/drawings/scratch001.jpg
http://ferretbox.com/drawings/scratch002.jpg

So yeah, there I am. Two nights ago like I said, sketch #11 time, a serious effort to make something half-decent. I can't do freehand very well, just working purely from imagination (See scratch images, they're all freehand). What I LIKE to do though, for practice, is to find an image I like, a character from a webcomic for example, and try to reproduce it on paper. Kinda mentally tracing it by glancing at my monitor and the image for reference. The above sketch was based off the webcomic Errant Story.

So lastnight I started on the character Laura from www.alpha-shade.com ... The original sketch was done in maybe 15 minutes, if not quicker. Its really just scratchy, and I didn't clean up lines. After I scanned and looked at it, I spent 5 minutes revising some things and fixing some torso detail..

Original: http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/laura.jpg
Revision: http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/laura-a.jpg

Got some positive remarks, and made a decision. Every night I'm going to work on a sketch. The next night I did three sketches of Rose, another character from alpha-shade. The middle image I did first, followed by the one of the right. I messed up there.. I started at the neck, but once I had finished the head I adjusted the chin line up without adjusting the partial body/neck below it, so it looks odd. The hands as well were out of proportion and I didn't finish that. Then I did the sketch on the left, which came out really well

http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/rose.jpg

These were much better than the Laura sketch, I cleaned up my lines and did some basic shading. I also put more effort into it, about an hour and 15 minutes into the entire page, So 25 minutes each.

So tonight I started on a second page of Rose. This time I wanted to do a little more of the body, arms, etc, and hands, specificly. I spent an entire hour on the one sketch this time. There's heavier shading and a totally new feature of "black areas"

Original: http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/rose2.jpg
Revision: http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/rose2-a.jpg

The revision fixes some issues on the hands, smears some of the shading on the right arm (Not how I wanted it, still, but better), and adds some other minor shadings and cleaning of lines.

So yeah. I'm gonna try to keep sketching out a page a day, moving from character and character and trying harder and harder sketches. Tomorrow I plan to do a sketch incorporating two characters. Not just two sketches of two characters, but one sketch with two characters, drawn in proportion to each other, etc.

Yeah so. That's what I did the pass three nights.

-----
Sketches since original posting:
-----

Rose and Alexis from Alpha-shade:
http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/rosealexis.jpg

Rose (Dead), Alexis (Being shot but I didn't draw it), and Laura from Alpha-Shade:
Finished - http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/sniperattack.jpg
Progressive checkpoints - http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/sniperattack/

[Talon Karrde]

that's awesome you draw better then me so GG! lol everyone loves Anime and manga. Do you read manga ferret?

[Kamie]

He is very good at drawing :)

[WangChung]

yes! you took the advice about the hand. hehe, i see the erase marks! =D
good stuff ferret, you'll definitely be getting somewhere. when you need more help, you know where to find me [aim/irc]. soon, i'll have a semi-portfolio up along with my friend's portfolio, then i'll start posting up some of my own works..

[Zantas]

i can draw without thinking, but if i think, i can't draw. the problem lies is that i'm almost always thinking. i do have sketches uploaded online, but i don't feel like linking them (nor am i inclined to) and listen to everyone say "did you REALLY draw that?".

[Talon Karrde]

He is very good at drawing :) he draws you nude doesn't he?

[acme420]

i can draw a little. but for the most part i suck. its like i have multiple personalities or something. sometimes i can draw really good, like when im havng fun with it i zone out and its good, but im like my worst critic so ill draw somethign and i think it looks good at first but when im done ill see it again and think how crap it is and trash it. im good at tracing, i can eye trace most anything, and im good at drawing...abstract i think it is? you know when you draw a picture of something but you only draw like the shadow parts or whatever and it looks like a bunch of crap on paper till you look at it for a while and see that its really a picture of something cept i only drew the parts that would stand out.

anyway heres some examples of my crap.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/acme420/bootcopy.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/acme420/doom3-foshizzle.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/acme420/layercake.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/acme420/me2.jpg

<---- and of course on the weekends i pretend im a grafitti artist.

[acme420]

i like the rose pic. and you make me jealous and i had a flashback to high school i knew this asian guy named phu, he made me jealous too cuz he was like super awesome at drawing anime and i sucked. so thanks for the flashback.

[Dark Knight Zer0]

Acctuly its quite easy to learn to draw, its all about style and being familiar with what it is your drawing. I have a bunch of ideas I wanna sketch out for diffrent charaters but my particular drawing talent is a little sub-par unless I can really get into what Im doing and have time for it.

Im currently starting up at a techincal college near by and im gonna get a BA for Game are and Design. Its great cause even if your not good at hand drawing they give you basic classes to take at first so you can get your ability up. Later Im gonna be able to take some 3D rendering and animation classes. They even give you some basic programing skills so you can acctuly MAKE your own (although increadibly simple) game from scratch. Think of like an astroids or brick blaster clone. Starts late this month and after 3 years I'll be all set to go. Mean time im gonna buy up a bunch of Learn to draw "insert something here" books.

[WangChung]

my preference of style is reality/realism based/still life/etc. i can get into the cartoony areas of drawing, but depending on if im just screwin around or not, my abilities in diff fields changes a lot..[screwin around = good, cartoony | serious but relaxed = semi-realism with touches of cartoon/comic art]..

good books are realistic human anatomy/figures.. i got this one book by a guy named Giovanni something.. really beautiful pencil drawings of anatomica/realistic [VERY] representations of human figures. i need to touch up on my landscape/vista pics too.. so im thinking of investing in a book of scenery or an actual "learn-to-draw landscape" type books
.. >_< decisions decisions

[pop-up-target]

looks great ferret... especially for someone with no formal training. if i were you i would definitely explore it more and maybe try to develop some charcters of your own... who knows where that might lead...

[SavaThePriest]

hehe... I'm in an art class, and you draw better than me :D

photography ftw

[ferret]

New sketch done, characters Rose and Alexis from alpha-shade:

http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/rosealexis.jpg

[Scorpion]

my artistry comes from my food, people who use pencils and paper are just noobs who can't cook.

[Talon Karrde]

oooh pointy breasts!! wooo!

[WangChung]

it was cold, alright. =b

[@gent-Orange]

I like airbrush and black ink renderings.
Some of my earlier stuff.


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/Ag3ntOrange/woman.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/Ag3ntOrange/man.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/Ag3ntOrange/bike.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/Ag3ntOrange/house.jpg

[Zantas]

i hate you

[GtsXracer]

what grade are you in Ferret?

[ferret]

what grade are you in Ferret?

Not sure what that has to do with this thread, but I'm a college senior.

[@gent-Orange]

i hate you

That's what I usually say when I see someone else's work. I like looking at other peoples styles and wish that I could be "looser" when it comes to illustrating. I'de really like to see some of your stuff.

And ferret, nice work. I knew someone who was at the same level as you and I was floored when I saw his stuff a year later. Keep up the good work.

[ThriKreen]

I should draw something today and take scans of it in various stages of progression from sketch, ink, and coloured.

[ferret]

For tonights drawing, instead of just a character or two, I tried to reproduce an entire pane from Alpha-Shade. Yes yes, just reproducing, I should learn to free hand. I'm having fun so poo ;P

I took 8 "checkpoint" scans if anyone is interested. I don't do anything "by the books" or use primitives, the best I do is grid off my paper for reference points and I barely draw straight lines.

The finished (Well not really, I left some details out, character on the right should be getting shot) scan:
http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/sniperattack.jpg

The progress check points:
http://ferretbox.com/drawings/alphashade/sniperattack/

[Talon Karrde]

Very Nice work Ferret the improvement has started already! If you really want to learn more just read comic books or look at pictures or image boards for some inspiration. www.4chan.org is a huge image board but there is random obscene pictures but if you saty in one area it is usually clean and they ahve a ton of Anime pictures on 4chan. So if you need ispiration justr keep observing more art.

[Doc Wattson]

I drew this when I was in college. Well Photoshop, not hand drawn. Sorry, deleted image. Blocked by work firewall and I don't want to get tagged when viewing this thread

-Gary-

[Zantas]

Very Nice work Ferret the improvement has started already! If you really want to learn more just read comic books or look at pictures or image boards for some inspiration. www.4chan.org is a huge image board but there is random obscene pictures but if you saty in one area it is usually clean and they ahve a ton of Anime pictures on 4chan. So if you need ispiration justr keep observing more art.
if you go to 4chan, stay VERY FAR AWAY from /b/ and one other board. just nasty nasty stuff in there.

[ThriKreen]

Indeed - /b/ sucks... Stick with /3/, /a/, /c/, /p/, /r/, /s/, /v/

And actually, if you want references of nude people (women), /s/ comes in handy - look at pic and draw woman - note positioning of body parts and all that.

and /e/ and /h/ if you're a perv like most of us. =)

[WangChung]

i might check that out later, i need good references cuz im working on anatomy/figures. >_< my personal goal / artistic development. ^_^

[Zantas]

www.4chan.org

remember, stay FAR away from /b/ and i think /d/

[Princess]

Wow ferret! That's really cool to see how you've progressed! It's amazing that you really haven't drawn much in the past. Keep it up, you could really have something there!

And @gent, wow! That's a great picture!

For a long time I really wanted to learn to draw Anime stuff, but I gave it up at least 6 years ago and moved into drawing more realistic pictures. But even then I wasn't satisfied and started graphic designing. Now that I'm getting back into watching Anime and manga, I'm starting to draw again myself.

Here's an old picture I drew that I really liked. I don't know where I saw this character (ignore the super lame signature, I was like 13):

http://sfprincess.com/albums/artwork/japan1.sized.jpg

I recently got back into drawing when my b/f wanted a bulletin board for his resident advising with Kenshin on it: http://sfprincess.com/albums/artwork/DSC00128.jpg

[WangChung]

oOo Himura Battousai! :D nicee.

[ferret]

I think I might draw something this week. Stay tuned.

[OreoCookieSP]

It's cool to see the progress in your work ferret. However, (you're all going to hate me after this) draw something other than anime style stuff. There are a billion other people out there drawing it, and most of them are 13 year old girls. But, if you say "I enjoy it, so **** you Oreo" that's totally cool and I agree with you. Keep enjoying art! I know I do. But keep an open mind and branch out by drawing other styles. I <3 you all, don't hate me for this post.

[ferret]

I enjoy it, so **** you Oreo :P

I hate most american styles of cartoons and comics. Anime/manga is all I have the interest to teach MYSELF. I'd really need a class to motivate me to take drawing really seriously.

[Canon]

Draw what you like, Ferret. Oreo, in a not-so-eloquent way, is trying to tell you that every artist must expand beyond his chosen medium in order to gain scope.

[WangChung]

i like drawing everything that comes into my head. i just dont like it sometimes because then it becomes SHIT.

anyone else get that? its like, you know you're a good artist, but that idea in your head .. came out looking like a 3rd grader could have done better. lol

[Canon]

It happens.

[ferret]

rofl wang. welcome to everything i do free hand.

[WangChung]

lol, stop putting yourself down. ive seen your wips. they are sexy.

[OreoCookieSP]

yeah wang, same here. Sometimes it works, sometimes it just doesn't.

[Zantas]

i'm a half decent artist (i think), but like, unless i have someone standing over my shoulder commenting on things as i go, i'll end up with something that i'm not happy with and end up throwing it out.

[NewBreed]

I enjoy drawing, but my fav stuff to do is metal sculpture (off topic?). My undergrad degree was in Art. It was fun.

[WangChung]

whoa. metal sculptures. any pictures of recent/old works?

[NewBreed]

Yeah, lemme pull them up

[NewBreed]

Here is a joint project I did with someone else. Dimensions 3 1/2 ft. by 5 1/2 ft. Its a mirror. Linky (http://www.gamehavoc.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=382)

::EDIT:: Oh and its made of copper, steel. Steel and copper are braised together. Then used rivets and white plexi to attach it to a wood frame.

::EDIT TIDE:: It weighs close to 45 lbs, requires special hangers to hang it from the wall.

[ferret]

Current work in progress:
http://ferretbox.com/drawings/eve/

Reference material still. I liked Dave Lister's guest comic for Applegeeks with their character Eve. So I'm using it for reference.

[ferret]

And done.

http://ferretbox.com/drawings/eve/Snapshot%20-%2004.jpg

[Moderately O.K.]

nice

[Dark Knight Zer0]

i wish I was good at drawing antaomy/biological stuff

[SavaThePriest]

i wish I was good at drawing

Aside: I can do kickass photography, but I just can't draw.

[Dark Knight Zer0]

acctuly im pretty decent at some 3D stuff, texturing needs work though.

Thats what I really want to get into. But with out even basic drawin skills like proportions and distance...im kinda screwed....

[ferret]

Started another one a week or two back that stalled. I'll pick it up again soon. Melfina and Gene from Outlaw Star:

http://ferretbox.com/drawings/outlaw%20star/HPIM1014.JPG

http://ferretbox.com/drawings/outlaw%20star/HPIM1015.JPG

http://ferretbox.com/drawings/outlaw%20star/HPIM1016.JPG

It's mostly stalled because I wasn't happy with her hand in the front, the proportions are wrong even considering Outlaw Star's slightly weird style. I haven't felt like putting the eraser to it yet.

[Zantas]

It's looking good but IMO the shoulders are a bit wide.

[CranialFluids]

I think you mentioned the proportions being off, but yeah. Looks good.

Get some human anatomy books, those'll help you with drawing the hard parts like hands and faces.

[Dark Knight Zer0]

I miss outlaw star :(

[cr0nick]

bigger boobs

[Doc Wattson]

It's a good drawing but to be honest I find it rather disturbing. As I've said many places I just don't get this type of art, seems rather wrong to me.

Does Kamie have any problems with you drawing vulurable women all wet in nothing but a T-shirt that cna bearaly cover them?

-Gary-

[kael]

i know i am horny

[Athena]

i wish I was good at drawing antaomy/biological stuff

If you can do this well you can make excellant money in the medical book industry. I know I've seen how much some of those pieces go for. Amazing to be honest with you. ;)

ferret, nice job in your ark work. I'm with Doc in the on this style of drawnings. It seems everyone is doing the same style.

Athena

[ferret]

Eh, anime style? Its simply what I like. As for the Eve drawing in the t-shirt, it was just an image I saw and decided to sketch. The outlaw star sketch that follows its regular clothing.. baggy even.