Drapery and figures

Not a terribly exciting post tonight.  Just a couple sketches from tonight and yesterday.  The drapery is done after Bridgman, and the figures are after Sargent.  A lot of people think of him only as a painter (a damn good one at that) and forget he was also fantastic at drawing.  My copies don’t do him justice.

Getting Back into the Groove of Things

So I haven’t done much drawing lately.  I didn’t do any drawing at all for several days straight.  I think it was good to get a bit of a break to clear my head and get the rest of life in check.  Anyways, now that that is over with, I want to get back to my studies– I will be tackling the vastly complicated world of drapery. To start off, here are two Bridgman studies, and some photostudies done with a fineliner (done over now-erased pencil lines).

Alien Anatomy and Challenge Entry

So I am not too happy with the last little while in my art.  I feel I am stagnating, not producing enough, and not studying enough.  I need to change that.

Anyhow, all I have to show are an entry for last week’s Teen Challenge (topic: Heaven) at conceptart.org.  It came second last in the poll, beating only an unfinished piece.  I didn’t really like my piece, but it was still a bit of a slap-in-the-face wakeup that I need to improve (especially on drapery).

Also, I discovered this guy who made up a whole planet’s worth of aliens, and approached it really well.  It is done very scientifically, and thoroughly.  Read the page on their anatomy–it really shows how much he thinks through it and helps understand his designs better.  For instance, they have a hydraulic muscular system that is really interesting.  http://www.nemoramjet.com/sndallclades.html

I was really impressed with his work, and started to think of what would make for an interesting alien starting point.  I came up with the idea of bones that are stiff, but flexible and can be used as springs or to simply temporarily change the shape of the animal if it desires.  I fleshed out a lame skull and leg design using the spring bones.  Not the best use of it, but I think it has potential for some interesting designs, and I need to try out more things in the future.  I can see some interesting hand/claw designs, or shells that absorb impacts or something.

Characters

Here are a few characters that one of my friends and I came up with, and then I painted.  I tried for a more stylized/comic-y look than I usually go for.   I won’t go into details, but they all have superpowers.  And the first guy is Glowman.

Finished Dragon

So I spent a good deal of today finishing up that dragon I posted in the previous post.  I changed the background to something I felt was more suitable, and rendered everything out.  It was pretty mind-numbing by the end, as I didn’t really take many breaks.  I am fairly pleased with the result though.

Plein-air Sketches and a Dragon

Some sketches from life.   It is the first time I have ever sketched in a forest, and the first time in over a year I have used watercolours.  Forgive their lameness.  Also, a WIP dragon from my imagination.  It’s colours are like being stabbed in the eye with cotton candy, but I kind of like them.

Self-Portrait and studies

Alright, here are some head studies after Hogarth, some feet studies after Bridgman, and a self-portrait.  I really tried experimenting with the values in the self-portrait.  I made up a fair bit of lighting, exaggerated things, and downplayed other things.  I also tried some soft edges and a more painterly approach.  The likeness is okay, it looks a bit skinnier or maybe more elongated than my face, but still looks somewhat like me in my opinion.

Some sketches

I am tired and cranky now, so I’ll just throw some sketches at you and leave.  Bridgman hand studies, Achadobu studies, and a figure from my imagination (heavily Achadobu inspired).  Oh, and I finished up my sketchbook and now am starting a new one, which is a) too large and b) spiral bound so does not lie flat on my scanner.  It leaves this huge area near the edges dark and blurry.  I tried very quickly to put some white over it, but it turned out worse I think.