I go to school with a former Ringling chap. Hope you get in. this kid I go to school with is a bitchin' animator.
I like your eyes A LOT and the models are okay. I'm always taught to be sparing with smudging drawings if at all. It can look cool, but don't over do it. I don't like the laser sword and wife drawings. Did you apply yet? If not, take those two out. Good luck in any event:)
No haven't applied yet. These aren't really what I am going to put in my portfolio, just some stuff that was scannable. (Although I like the eyes a lot too) thanks for being honest about it though. I really don't get offended at all so you can tear these to shreds. now that i look at these I notice that all of the figures seem very..edgey like there aren't enough curves. They were only ten minute drawings, but they could be much better. I am going to draw something right now. Hope you don't mind if I use an internet reference pic for the figure. I don't exactly have any naked people around at the moment.
—
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
it's allright, but you didn't listen!
don't smudge the shit out of everything. The shadows are so prevalent that it flattens the drawing.
Also,
contours are DEATH in good figure drawing. Everyone, even me does them because I like to have trappings. In life, we don't see sharp outlines to people so if anything, have the dense shadows lead into the darkest of the outlines.
sorry to be a bitch. I'm no expert myself, I just know what I likes:)
try limiting the darkness to say 3 prevalent parts of the person you're drawing. I guarantee it'll be a better drawing if you limit the darkness by about 80 percent:)
Hey madaman90 sorry I started drawing before I saw your post. That is good info to know. I will forget the shadows and smudging next time. For the last 45 minute one I did I tried using a charcoal pencil to get a dark line and experiment a little. The contour line is very dark all over because the charcoal tip was pretty dull. I am going to do some pencil ones again and I will try to stick with your advice. (I checked out your site and I realize that you really know what you are talking about when it comes to anatomy. Gret stuff!)
So I'll find some free time at work tonight to draw a little. Thanks for the responses madaman90. They are helpful.
—
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
I have to disagree with Madman on this. I like the shading a lot. I find that it helps to solidify the drawings and DOES give them volume. It is your choice Hett... Do what YOU feel most comfortable with.
I haev to agree though that the wife and star wars stuff is not as nice. Good for a sketchbook maybe, but I would not show them to anyone else. Is your wife's hairline REALLY that high up on her head??? ;)
I really like the eyes as well, but in them, I see you have the same problem as I do. When you sraw realism, you tend to get a cartoony "twinge" in your drawings. I do the exact same thing, and it is VERY hard to break away from. One thing that does help to make it seem more realistic is not to use such a heavy pencil line to outline everything.
If I had to tell you what you needed to work on, Greg, I would say to work on portraits more. I see you have a bit of a hard time with your models' faces. Hell... One of them actually looks like the "Moai" statues on Easter Island, off the coast of Chile. Again, I used to share this exact same problem, as faces are not th easiest things in the world to draw.
Anyways... Hope this helps.
Cheers
Wade
—
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
Hey thanks Wade. I have been drawing some hands and other stuff while trying to use thinner lines and I am avoiding shading too much. My cartoony "twinge" does surface when I draw things without reference I know. It is just a habit that I am trying to break free of. I know what you mean about the faces. Honestly I haven't given the faces much effort. I ussually do those last because I am working on getting better at the anatomy of the body. I'll post a face I did and some hands. I also am giving a master copy a shot. I'll post them later today. Thanks so much for the advice, and remember I don't care if all of you completely trash the drawings in your critiques because it can only make me better.
I guess I shouldn't have posted the Star Wars thingy and the wife pic because if you read above that post you can see that I didn't have any intentionof putting those in my portfolio. I was just posting some stuff I did that day.
—
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
I don't really know what type of art school Ringling is, but most art schools aren't exactly thrilled with Star Wars and fantasy and cartoony stuff. I would get rid of all that type of stuff, and keep the life drawing work. The hand drawings are nice. Hands are hard, and they will make you draw tons of them. Also draw more male's. You are going to be drawing naked women AND men in school, so you might as well get over that shyness now, and draw them.
I'd also pay less attention to the shading and spend more time on getting form and proprotion right. People, novices and pros, tend to use shading to cover up a weak drawing. Heck look at Rob Liefield, he puts a TON of extra chicken scratch to cover up his awful drawings.
Also listen to Wade, your heads need some work. Just draw lots of them. You don't have to finish them and add shadding, just draw a quick rough head with everything on it in like 5 minutes. Then stop and draw another one, or even the same head. Just get pencil mileage. The more drawings you do, the better you'll get. But they'll teach you all this stuff in school. Best of luck to you Hett. All of us here at the zoo are pulling for you. :D
The Ape
—
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
not bad. The eyes are my personal fav. the figures are a little sharp. i have a backround in fine art, so i know a few exercises u can improve with. Clay sculpture really gives u a feel for the curves. u have good 2d design, which is most imporotant for 2d animation, but the figures could use more depth. drawing figures using only loop-da-loops helps. sketching curvy 3d objects will help too. About the time it takes you to draw... im not really sure what most people consider standard time to sketch a shaded figure but a sketch by me of the same type would take around 3 minutes. (sorry i gotta brag) but then again im really good at fast sketches. 10 minutes on a portfolio figure is, not too shabby either. For improvement with speed time urself. Use live figures without telling them to pose (like cats or people on buses) trace the lines of motion wihtout tracing the form. This not only improves drawing speed but also helps animation.
nice stuff hett, I have seen some of the portfolios that people use to apply to school programs and yours would be one of the top ones. Their big on life drawings, your own character design\posing and your use of imagination for required projects.
You're just a life drawing MONKEY this week, hett:)
Your hands totally rock!
The only thing I'd say about your life drawings, and I know it's hard, but DON'T DODGE doing faces. Everything else that you're doing is kickass and makes me jealous already. But since you don't do faces much, I feel a little better. If you drew faces, then I'd be 100 percent jealous again:)
Keep up the great work. Can't wait to see what's next.
There will be more to come as soon as I draw some more on computer paper
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
deleted pictures to save website space
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
I go to school with a former Ringling chap. Hope you get in. this kid I go to school with is a bitchin' animator.
I like your eyes A LOT and the models are okay. I'm always taught to be sparing with smudging drawings if at all. It can look cool, but don't over do it. I don't like the laser sword and wife drawings. Did you apply yet? If not, take those two out. Good luck in any event:)
Adam
Atomcloud Animation
No haven't applied yet. These aren't really what I am going to put in my portfolio, just some stuff that was scannable. (Although I like the eyes a lot too) thanks for being honest about it though. I really don't get offended at all so you can tear these to shreds. now that i look at these I notice that all of the figures seem very..edgey like there aren't enough curves. They were only ten minute drawings, but they could be much better. I am going to draw something right now. Hope you don't mind if I use an internet reference pic for the figure. I don't exactly have any naked people around at the moment.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
ever hear the expression: "less is more"
think about that before you do your next drawing:)
Adam
Atomcloud Animation
deleted pictures to save website space
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
it's allright, but you didn't listen!
don't smudge the shit out of everything. The shadows are so prevalent that it flattens the drawing.
Also,
contours are DEATH in good figure drawing. Everyone, even me does them because I like to have trappings. In life, we don't see sharp outlines to people so if anything, have the dense shadows lead into the darkest of the outlines.
sorry to be a bitch. I'm no expert myself, I just know what I likes:)
try limiting the darkness to say 3 prevalent parts of the person you're drawing. I guarantee it'll be a better drawing if you limit the darkness by about 80 percent:)
L8r,
Adam
Atomcloud Animation
Hey madaman90 sorry I started drawing before I saw your post. That is good info to know. I will forget the shadows and smudging next time. For the last 45 minute one I did I tried using a charcoal pencil to get a dark line and experiment a little. The contour line is very dark all over because the charcoal tip was pretty dull. I am going to do some pencil ones again and I will try to stick with your advice. (I checked out your site and I realize that you really know what you are talking about when it comes to anatomy. Gret stuff!)
So I'll find some free time at work tonight to draw a little. Thanks for the responses madaman90. They are helpful.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
I have to disagree with Madman on this. I like the shading a lot. I find that it helps to solidify the drawings and DOES give them volume. It is your choice Hett... Do what YOU feel most comfortable with.
I haev to agree though that the wife and star wars stuff is not as nice. Good for a sketchbook maybe, but I would not show them to anyone else. Is your wife's hairline REALLY that high up on her head??? ;)
I really like the eyes as well, but in them, I see you have the same problem as I do. When you sraw realism, you tend to get a cartoony "twinge" in your drawings. I do the exact same thing, and it is VERY hard to break away from. One thing that does help to make it seem more realistic is not to use such a heavy pencil line to outline everything.
If I had to tell you what you needed to work on, Greg, I would say to work on portraits more. I see you have a bit of a hard time with your models' faces. Hell... One of them actually looks like the "Moai" statues on Easter Island, off the coast of Chile. Again, I used to share this exact same problem, as faces are not th easiest things in the world to draw.
Anyways... Hope this helps.
Cheers
Wade
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
Hey thanks Wade. I have been drawing some hands and other stuff while trying to use thinner lines and I am avoiding shading too much. My cartoony "twinge" does surface when I draw things without reference I know. It is just a habit that I am trying to break free of. I know what you mean about the faces. Honestly I haven't given the faces much effort. I ussually do those last because I am working on getting better at the anatomy of the body. I'll post a face I did and some hands. I also am giving a master copy a shot. I'll post them later today. Thanks so much for the advice, and remember I don't care if all of you completely trash the drawings in your critiques because it can only make me better.
I guess I shouldn't have posted the Star Wars thingy and the wife pic because if you read above that post you can see that I didn't have any intentionof putting those in my portfolio. I was just posting some stuff I did that day.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
deleted pictures to save website space
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
NOW we're talking Grade A portfolio material:)
See?
light on the lasagna, don't get any on ya:)
Your hands do precisely that and that's why they kick ass:)
Put these in your book for sure
L8r,
Adam
Atomcloud Animation
deleted pictures to save website space
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
I don't really know what type of art school Ringling is, but most art schools aren't exactly thrilled with Star Wars and fantasy and cartoony stuff. I would get rid of all that type of stuff, and keep the life drawing work. The hand drawings are nice. Hands are hard, and they will make you draw tons of them. Also draw more male's. You are going to be drawing naked women AND men in school, so you might as well get over that shyness now, and draw them.
I'd also pay less attention to the shading and spend more time on getting form and proprotion right. People, novices and pros, tend to use shading to cover up a weak drawing. Heck look at Rob Liefield, he puts a TON of extra chicken scratch to cover up his awful drawings.
Also listen to Wade, your heads need some work. Just draw lots of them. You don't have to finish them and add shadding, just draw a quick rough head with everything on it in like 5 minutes. Then stop and draw another one, or even the same head. Just get pencil mileage. The more drawings you do, the better you'll get. But they'll teach you all this stuff in school. Best of luck to you Hett. All of us here at the zoo are pulling for you. :D
The Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Will do. Thanks for your thoughts. Naked men are on the way. (to Wade's delight I'm sure :D ha ha ha jk) Hands, feet, and other fun appendages too!
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
not bad. The eyes are my personal fav. the figures are a little sharp. i have a backround in fine art, so i know a few exercises u can improve with. Clay sculpture really gives u a feel for the curves. u have good 2d design, which is most imporotant for 2d animation, but the figures could use more depth. drawing figures using only loop-da-loops helps. sketching curvy 3d objects will help too. About the time it takes you to draw... im not really sure what most people consider standard time to sketch a shaded figure but a sketch by me of the same type would take around 3 minutes. (sorry i gotta brag) but then again im really good at fast sketches. 10 minutes on a portfolio figure is, not too shabby either. For improvement with speed time urself. Use live figures without telling them to pose (like cats or people on buses) trace the lines of motion wihtout tracing the form. This not only improves drawing speed but also helps animation.
nice stuff hett, I have seen some of the portfolios that people use to apply to school programs and yours would be one of the top ones. Their big on life drawings, your own character design\posing and your use of imagination for required projects.
Hey I like what I see but make sure to develope your own style along the way, it's what seperates you from the rest.
Keep the Faith!!
deleted pictures to save website space
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
Did you try to scan it in a good color setting and adjust the threshold settings in the scan software?? :confused:
deleted pictures to save website space
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us." ---Gandalf
You're just a life drawing MONKEY this week, hett:)
Your hands totally rock!
The only thing I'd say about your life drawings, and I know it's hard, but DON'T DODGE doing faces. Everything else that you're doing is kickass and makes me jealous already. But since you don't do faces much, I feel a little better. If you drew faces, then I'd be 100 percent jealous again:)
Keep up the great work. Can't wait to see what's next.
L8r,
Adam
Atomcloud Animation