I saw a Fox last night.

Fur and other studies!

Red Panda studies. I have huge issues drawing really furry animals. (I get confused on how to convey that they are furry.) I decided to start studying furry little animals in order to finally solve this problem via trail and error.

Some studies of Persian kitties. :3

Three gestures from a Starbucks trip.

Studies of my cat, Ashie.

Trip to the Museum and a new Pen!

Two sketches at the coffee shop one afternoon. Second is a rare environment sketch. Just the view of a shop on the street outside.

This past weekend, I headed to the Royal Ontario Museum to sketch. Here are some of them.

I purchased a new brush pen and decided to try it out by doing gestures in a local Tim Horton's.

I'm attempting to get more expressive gestures but it's a bit tricky in places like the coffee shop. Most people just stand in line and play on their phones. ><

Neutral Face - First Draft

Original character's neutral face. When I re-draw cleaner and a bit more accurately, this will be the baseline face for all other facial expressions this character makes. (A portfolio requirement is your original character making several facial expressions from different angles.)

There are some flaws I will be correcting, such as the ears and how they aren't totally lined up.

Full body: First draft

This is the first draft of the character I designed for the school portfolio I'm working on. Eventually, she will be in a full character rotation


The arm bugs me. It feels too ridged.

Designing an original character : Part 1

I started my first baby steps toward my chosen schools portfolio requirements.

The drawing test requires the design of an original character. After going through various ideas in my head, I came up a messy sketch of this girl.

I liked how it turned out in the sense that she looks a lot different than what I would normally draw.

After a few hours of attempting to draw her in a pose, I realized that I will need another sold week or two of anatomy study to perfect the pose.

Since I had a face, I decided to work on various expressions.

The first sketch is the very last facial attempt that day. I made her look like she was beaming. The lips look terrible in the second sketch but I like other aspects, such as the eyebrows.

First sketches where I drew the face and re-drew the same face with a different expression and in a different position. (You can also see all of my guidelines. ^_^)

Finally, a drawing update!

Two of the better pen sketches I've done lately.

Another quick painting.

Life Drawing Dump

Above is a page of gestures we did to exercise control over the size. I tend to draw large when it comes to life drawing, so this was an interesting challenge.

The first row is 15, 15 second gestures. (I couldn't fit the full 15. I ended up drawing into the previous gesture a lot in an attempt to save space.)

The second row was 10, 1 minute gestures.

The third row was 5, 3 minute gestures. These turned great, in my opinion. (Except for the second from the left. It's stiff and I did not exaggerate the pose.)

Above is a 30 minute reclining pose. As Austin put it, certain parts of my anatomy are getting better while other parts are still behind. This leaves me with a sub par product. I know it sounds very negative to say things like that, but I like to focus on flaws first so I can learn what needs more work.

This was a 20 minute pose.


I forgot to post what I did in my last class. This classes focus was chiaroscuro.

We covered paper (in this case, Kraft Paper) with willow charcoal and used knead-able erasers to shade.The first image was a model under a sheet and then with the sheet removed. The second was a portrait. I was annoyed that it was a side view but there was no room anywhere else. ><

First visit to the Toronto School of Art

I headed to the Toronto School of Art  in order to attend their "drop-in" life drawing class. This one was a variety of timed poses. This was excellent practice for me. I was also happy to see that the model happened to be male. I can't draw males as well as I can draw females and need the practice.

I was a bit off my game due to being in a new environment, so I wasn't pleased with anything I produced. I picked the better of the bunch in order to have something to show.

10 minute poses:
This one below is probably the best out of the bunch. I spent a lot of time making him look like he was actually sitting and really studied the connection of the arm to the back. (That's a huge issue for my sketches around town. I tend to not measure the shoulder/arm connection properly and it looks wrong.)

It's still touch and go with feet and hands. I get how to draw a hand/foot when it's not doing anything, but I have trouble translating different positions of the hand/feet in my brain.
(The feet in the second image are TERRIBLE. )

25 minute poses:
This first one is just a study of what I didn't like about the first draft of the drawing.  I attempted to exaggerate the curve of the leg a bit more, etc.

 This is the first attempt. I am not happy with this one bit. I had trouble with the right arm as the negative space wasn't lining up properly. (His hand was actually placed much farther away from his leg.) I really should have scrapped it and started over. *nods*

The one below is not great. I like how the hand under his chin turned out but the feet are horrid and the placement of the hand resting on his leg is pretty off. 

All-in-all, the trip was interesting, albeit boring as I went alone. Given the amount of time and money I had to spend to get there, I wont be going again until I find employment and have an entire day to myself. I'm also going to look into places around the GTA, as I can just rent a car and drive as long as it's not in the city core. (I drove through downtown Toronto twice before and refuse to do it again.)

My only complaint about this place was the room was a bit small and there wasn't a lot of ventilation.  Otherwise, everything else was great. It was exactly what I wanted; something uninstructed where I could just go to practice. To people living in Toronto, you are very lucky. It's tough to find gatherings like this out in the Suburbs.


The next time I go, I'll definitely take a buddy. It's more fun during the breaks.

Hand Studies and switching up my technique.

I enjoy seeing rapid improvements.

I've noticed that I do so much better when I do very loose gestures to flesh out where everything is first. The rigid, Burne Hogarth style that is so popular (while still very useful in certain instances) tends to make my drawings extremely rigid. I also noticed that I focus too much to the point where I actually miss details and it looks wrong.

For instance, on the first hand from the left, had I not done a gesture first, I would have missed the fact that the pinky actually points inward (I would have put it in a straight up/down position).

I've switched back to loose gestures during my daily life drawing outings. I found the way I was trying to draw too rigid.

Gestures

Gestures at Starbucks

I managed to nab a great seat at the local Starbucks. It was in the back where I could see the entire store and counter. These are the better ones. The longer I sat there drawing, the looser my lines got, which is a good thing.

I'm also working on animal studies for Orangutans, Goats, Indian Rhinos, and Elephants. I plan to draw those at the Zoo this weekend and need to make sure I have a basic understanding of the anatomy.

(PS: Apologies for the poor quality of the pictures, they were taken in low light.) 

Gots a new Tablet.

I purchased a larger tablet for myself this weekend. This was a 5 minute, extremely terrible scribble. I wanted to test it to see if I could just draw on it free-hand and so far it looks like I can. Better creations are to come as I get more confident with it.

I spent a large chunk of the day gesture drawing with the boyfriend. Outside was a bit too chilly, so we relocated to the local Starbucks.You wouldn't think it but there was a lot of movement and activity there. (My first thought was stationary people doing uninteresting things. I was very wrong.)

I also discovered a certain area of the library makes for a decent spot. It's got a view of the main street so there is a lot of activity to sketch. I will be camping out there at least 3 times a week to practice until it warms up enough to sit outside.

I will post my better gestures in the coming days.