carly801:

Hey Vol, good to see you again. We've missed you. You're Renoir is coming along quite well.

Right....keep going but I've been pondering this and while we all work on more complicated pieces I want to go back and review some solid basics but with a twist.

I'd like everyone to develop line confidence with different mediums. Chalk, Charcoal, Watercolor pencils, Colored pencils, plain pencils, digital media, and if you can post it here. And I will do the same. Oh yes Markers. I worked one summer as a caricature artist for Sea World and I learned by using a pointed black marker on white paper, one can almost imitate color in a bizarre way. By using light strokes on top of your figure/face/ body/object you imply a light source...and then by a harder darker stroke under neath your subject you imply shadows. The trick is to do it with confidence and with one confident stroke. By twisting your pencil, marker (a preferred medium) or paintbrush you can do the same thing. This by far is more important than most artists are taught and are aware of. The strength and confidence in your line or paint stroke will come across to the viewer.

If you all don't know what I'm talking about exactly, I'll show you on here soon. Hopefully in the next few days. Just in a bit of pain lately.

So let me recap:

1. Pick a few different mediums to use
2. illustrate and show different line strengths without trying to pick up your pen, marker, paintbrush, etc.
3. Hopefully you have a scanner to show this
4. Try different ways to hold your intrument...there are a few ways then the traditional way we think and just twist and swirl it to show and display differnent widths and shades, tones, and strengths.
5. If you can, go ahead and do a light abstract subject...i.e. the back of a model, something organic like a tree, try to show some type of action in your piece but keep it simple.
6. I'll show you mine soon.
7. Keep doing what you're currently doing too...it  shouldn't be hard to squeeze this in between your real pieces.

Never can get too much of the basics. I actually tried to think about being bolder than usual when sketching this elephant yesterday. Tried to draw more confident (same feeling as in the morning warm-ups) and "analyzing" the overall form and its textures instead of painstakingly copying every detail. Here's the result (drawn from photo ref):

Really like this sketch MB. The physicality and loseness of your marks come together really nicely, creating an almost tangible sense of movement and presence.

lovely

right.....quiet echos

 Never quiet echoes around here Carly!  :)

I have been having problems drawing lately wether it be pencil, pen, or on the computer with the mouse.  For some reason I have lost the ability to draw freehand these days.  Or if I can get things to work out I do not know what to do with it.  I guess with the stress; the will to create has decided to go on vacation.  :(  I hate having the responsability to look after my father's affairs and being the oldest.

Does anyone have any suggestions about which forground I should go with my weird forest painting????  I can't decide wether to go with winter scene or the dark ground.

Anyway will try to do your suggestions on the line drawing using different media.  See what happens.  I actually came across my dad's old oil paints and the watercolour set I sent him to try and get him painting again.  He actually was pretty good at the oils.  He never did anything with his talent.  But he is definitely the one I got my drawing abilities from.  Mom could only draw stick figures.  Dad never had any education in art; he was self taught.

Anyway I had better go.

Take care guys

Voluspa welcome back even if I am coming back from a ridiculous time away.  :)

I was looking at your sketch and painting and I think the problem with the woman's head is the jawline.  In the sketch it is more forward facing and in the greyscale it is more on a slant.  Sometimes if the drawing looked right in the sketch and not in the painting then a slight difference in the line can throw a painting off,  I have the same problem with faces that are slanted or tilted slightly.  I will draw the features at one angle and the face shape in another.  It all depends on how I hold the sketch book.  (I draw on paper and scan it in to paint on computer.)  :)

From what I can tell it is only a little bit out. but that may make the difference.  Also in the sketch her neck is non existant and in the painting she has a longer and slimmer neck.  I think the proportions are right.  I don't know if this helps but......

I think it will be a nice painting study when done.

I like the line work MB!  You have captured the majesty of the elephant.  One of the things I have noticed is that you are starting to have a simular style a some of Frazetta's line work sketches.  These kind of drawings do not need a lot of detail to state the facts.  I really like it.

Your sketch from ???? of the nude man was also well done.  When I started out drawing I used to copy drawings that I liked but did not study how the artist managed to get the effect he/she was aiming for.  With drawing with you guys and girls I have started looking a paintings and drawings in a new way.  Even though I had indepth classes in High School as I said before,  I ended up learning what I know on my own through trial and error (lots and lots of errors).

 Thank you Carly for helping us with our drawings and giving us assignments to try and do when we get the chance.

Hey Guys, I'm coming back here soon with a vengenance...I've been having to "kiss some demons" lately.

Please forgive me for being a bit quiet these last few days.

Life is good....sometimes. Icecream is better though.

Hey Guys, I'm coming back here soon with a vengenance...I've been having to "kiss some demons" lately.

Please forgive me for being a bit quiet these last few days.

Life is good....sometimes. Icecream is better though.

Hey Guys, I'm coming back here soon with a vengenance...I've been having to "kiss some demons" lately.

Please forgive me for being a bit quiet these last few days.

Life is good....sometimes. Icecream is better though.

Hey Guys, I'm coming back here soon with a vengenance...I've been having to "kiss some demons" lately.

Please forgive me for being a bit quiet these last few days.

Life is good....sometimes. Icecream is better though.

I think I have come as far as I can with the greyscale for now. Unless someone shouts out and tells me I've done something terribly wrong, I'll start on colours next. (And it not being a perfect copy don't count. So there.)

Sorry I don't have time for all the different exercises at once... I have to pick and choose...

Well, I didn't hear any hollering so I went along and started colouring. Now, I have no idea what professional artists' colour layers look like but mine's so ugly it's funny. Which is why I included it below... I used a soft light layer setting so it was kinda hard finding the right colours but it was fun. And it's interesting to see how "forgiving" the piece suddenly is when you've paid attention to the greyscale... I did use one more layer to add a few details that were too hard to get right in the soft light layer. This was mainly for the grown womans lips and cheeks plus the red on the couch she's sitting on (still not as bright as the original, though). I also adjusted the greyscale layer a bit: I used the sharpen filter over the flowery bits because they turned out way too blurry the way I'd done them... (Sorry about the image width, btw - I figured it'd be too small to show anything if I reduced it to 500 pixels wide...)

Today I found another distraction (a contest on Meadowheaven.net) so uhm... I might be distracted for quite some time... just so you know.

Raining today so I have been messing with art rage, I quite like it :D

Vol .... Looks Awesome....keep going

Frostman....hmm....add some soft elements to juxtapose the strong harsh strokes you've got going there

Me.... I've decided to paint an original Carly Mason

All of us....  try when you can to do those brush practice strokes I've asked for....this ESPECIALLY is great when you hit a road block mentally.

I have to do a Black and white pencil sketch, then a watercolor study then finally a full color poster size oil piece.

Then I'm going to put on my tight leather yet stretchy pants and black shirt...buttoned way down low with some gold necklaces....and do my very best impression of Neil Diamond singing "Sweet Caroline" as I paint.

 I trust everyone had a good Halloween.

Hey ...really quick. Any good recipes out there you all know of for a good serving of Brownies? Not the fantasy kind....lest little hats and shoes get caught in my teeth...no no..the chocolately kind. I know this will be especially hard for you Frost .... since you are half Ogre and half Troll with a wee bit of Ki-Rin bones ground in for a nice balance .... Lord knows how you came across that in your family history. If you don't know what  a Ki-Rin is Peoples....Just ask Frosty....he'll tell you.