Post your artwork/photography...

[Zeke]

Transformer_004 by airzeke, on Flickr

Sketch for my nieces based on their daddy's 98 Jeep Cherokee. Freehand with pencil and marker. I'm never mentioning transformers around them again

[shreddaily]

www.flicker.com/shreddaily

[shreddaily]

www.flickr.com/shreddaily

[shreddaily]

My team's rides

[Jeremy]

- Royal Spoonbill



- Willie Wagtail

[LinoSphere]

since this thread is rather dead at the moment, i'm gonna try and revive it.

here's a design i did for a square in berlin (all hypothetical uni work, not going to be realized...)

click to enlarge!

[Zeke]

Shirt art for Windy City Cup 2011.

SideAxe_Jpg_001 by airzeke, on Flickr

[Pasquar]

since this thread is rather dead at the moment, i'm gonna try and revive it.

here's a design i did for a square in berlin (all hypothetical uni work, not going to be realized...)

click to enlarge!

the top of that path/bridge thing would be a sick shred spot!!

It's a shame stuff like this is mostly speculative/hypothetical

[LinoSphere]

the top of that path/bridge thing would be a sick shred spot!!

as it is, it would be too slanted to play footbag on. that's somewhat part of the concept.
with footbag in mind, i guess one section could be made even. but even then, there still is no ledge

[Jeremy]

A couple of recent images



- shy albatross



Chatham Albatross - Only the second time it's been seen in my state, and 15th in Australia. Critically endangered New Zealand vagrant.

[Jeremy]

A few photos of a family of Tawny Frogmouths that I found today

[Tsiangkun]

[akalazou]

here is my second "real" drawing ever, i tried to make my son's portrait and i think i succeded (is it a word ?) there is some things i see that i don't like that i'll fix like the shadow onthe the eye on the left and the nostril on the right.

wood pen on paper

any advice ? i'd like Zac to comment



btw, my scanner is crappy so the image isnt really like the original

[Zac Miley]

Thanks for thinking of me, here's a few thoughts:

1. By wood pen I think you mean 'pencil'? Just making sure - I understand english isn't your first language.
2. Very good for your second go at it. You've got the important proportions down pretty well before you go too far, which is smart.
3. It looks like you're using a blending stump/your finger to blend shadows rather than just using marks, which can be effective but also sucks all the life out of the drawing, in my opinion. You can use blending stumps, but try to come back in with your pencil to sharpen some things up. It looks like you tried to do that in some of the obvious areas, like in the nose and in the mouth area. I would also look into getting a kneaded eraser - it's basically a gum eraser which you can use to take up little amounts of the graphite at once instead of totally obliterating what you've drawn - it looks like you understand the eraser pretty well as evidenced by how you handled the hair, but a kneaded eraser is a totally different kind of tool. It would be especially effective in the jawline, where I think you've gotten a little too dark, in softening up the marks in the transition and then you can go back in and sharpen that edge if you need to without getting too dark. Another way to do this is to do several layers of very light tones, but I think that takes too long and doesn't allow you the freedom with your marks that my method does.
4. What kind of paper are you using? It looks like regular sketch paper to me but I can't be sure - I suggest smooth bristol paper for pencil drawing because it doesn't have the same tooth as sketch paper and lets the pencil do all of the work. Drawing and sketch paper is generally for rougher ideas, or harder marks.
5. You've done a pretty good job with the hair - it looks like you did a layer of blended graphite with some marks on top to indicate it? That seems logical to most people because that's how we understand anatomy, but visually it doesn't actually work that way - try to understand the hair as just shapes of value rather than indicating it through lines like you have.
6. Don't be afraid to go darker. Your darkest area right now is probably in the nostril, which is likely the right spot, but could still be even darker. You could also go darker in the eyes and in the mouth. Once you do that it will give you a little more freedom with how far you can push your tones in the rest of the drawing, and give it that much more depth.
7. You have an area you've erased underneath the chin and jawline area which is kind of confusing, and isn't helping your drawing. I would make all of that the same tone instead of using that white area because it feels like a line, and separates the head from the body. I think you could probably fix that by making the shadow underneath the chin a little darker.

How's that?

Check out this guy's drawings, he's one of my favorites: https://www.google.com/search?q=antonio ... 66&bih=653

[akalazou]

1. yes i meant pencil, from 2H to 8B, my best friend so far is 2B

2. thank you i made many squares to get the proportions down

3. true i used a kleenex for the the shading, i never had any class/lesson for drawing so i try some things and sometimes i works, sometimes it doesn't, i even tried a Q-Tips. I'm not sure if i understand how to make layers for shading ... do you start with i.e. 2H and then move unto a darker tone ? or do you use something like 4B and make a pale big area, make another layer smaller but still with that 4B and it goes on that way ?

4. my paper is Canson, Acrylic/Watercolor/Pen and Pencil, 9"x12", 98 lb. should i change ??

5. i didnt know whow to make blond air, so i tried to make different tones of skin, then erase some and then go back and trace some lines over the erased parts. So it make like 3 tones some the hair. i also put some grey/shadow all around the head so we could see the blond hair over his head. i don't know how else i could of manage to do that.

6. i'll try it, my darker spots are at 7B. is there any pencil darker than 8B ??

7. i know about that area but when i look at the picture, there is a lighter line (light reflected from the body) so i erased ... the tone is moslty the same and i'm "scared" to make it the same and lose the jaw line.

I really like to draw and i hope one day i'll be able to do things like Paul Cadden¸ i try to make my drawing like pictures but it just a start for now

http://www.dailyartfixx.com/wp-content/ ... Cadden.jpg


Thx a lot for the comments, it really helps. i'll try to get more good equipment too because right now i only have my pencils, paper and a "pen eraser" like that: http://www.deserres.ca/fr-ca/recherche/ ... ble/85461/

[C-Fan]

Pretty awesome Julien! Also enjoyed Zac's comments.

[Zac Miley]

1. yes i meant pencil, from 2H to 8B, my best friend so far is 2B

Sounds good to me. I use mechanical pencils, but use 'B' lead only. And an HB one of these guys: http://www.artistsupplysource.com/produ ... MgodRyQAKA

3. true i used a kleenex for the the shading, i never had any class/lesson for drawing so i try some things and sometimes i works, sometimes it doesn't, i even tried a Q-Tips. I'm not sure if i understand how to make layers for shading ... do you start with i.e. 2H and then move unto a darker tone ? or do you use something like 4B and make a pale big area, make another layer smaller but still with that 4B and it goes on that way ?

The pencil hardness really only has a small amount to do with how dark the tone is - 2b can make a mark just as dark as an 8b (and I think makes them much cleaner), it just takes a little more effort. 2b can also be just as soft as a 2h, but you have to be gentle. What I meant was figuring out where your lightest tones are and doing a very soft layer, almost indiscernible from white, in those areas. Then, figure out the next darkest area and go over that with another layer. An easier way that I mentioned was to do a darker layer, then using a kneaded eraser to erase them instead of painstakingly making these lighter areas.

4. my paper is Canson, Acrylic/Watercolor/Pen and Pencil, 9"x12", 98 lb. should i change ??

You don't need to change, but I would suggest some bristol paper. It's what I use for smaller pencil drawings. If you're interested in doing bigger drawings or want some really good paper, Arches 240lb hot press is probably the best paper in the world, and then Stonehenge is pretty good as well. http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discount- ... MgodTTcAnQ

5. i didnt know whow to make blond air, so i tried to make different tones of skin, then erase some and then go back and trace some lines over the erased parts. So it make like 3 tones some the hair. i also put some grey/shadow all around the head so we could see the blond hair over his head. i don't know how else i could of manage to do that.

This may sound a bit theatrical/dramatic/impossible, but everything in any image is giving you the same information, but with very small nuances. Just because something exists in a certain way physically, does not mean that it is represented that way visually. What you did is logical, but it is not the result you're looking for. Even in that drawing you posted by Paul Cadden, you can see the difference between his hair and yours - every value is in relation to another value, and the hair is not described by line.

6. i'll try it, my darker spots are at 7B. is there any pencil darker than 8B ??

I believe there is 9b, but you don't need it. More layers of graphite to smooth out the surface of the darkest areas is what you need, I think.

7. i know about that area but when i look at the picture, there is a lighter line (light reflected from the body) so i erased ... the tone is moslty the same and i'm "scared" to make it the same and lose the jaw line.

I would suggest making the line blend more into the shadow underneath the chin in that case, but I also think the whole area underneath the head could get darker. Photographs can do things that drawings can't, but it works the opposite way as well - you don't always have to trust the photograph. If the drawing doesn't look right, but looks like the photograph, then that may mean there is an easier or better way to do it than what the photograph is doing.

[akalazou]

Thx Ken




i'll make touch ups on this drawing but for the moment, i'm very pleased with it (since it's only my second )




for the bristol paper, what is the difference between smooth and vellum ?

i'm still exploring many ways to draw. i'll try not to use a kleenex on my next one. i'll post it here as well soon. both drawings are gonna be christmas gifts


thx again

[Zac Miley]

Vellum has a little bit rougher texture - I prefer smooth, but both are pretty good.

Also, I would take everything I say with a little bit of skepticism - I have pretty strong opinions on drawing but that doesn't mean I'm right.

I will say that the dark area behind the head in the photograph would make your drawing exponentially better if you included it, though.

And yeah, very good job. I hope you keep drawing.

[akalazou]

final work



once again, thx for the tips Zac