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SulaMoon In reply to TomOfTheWode [2014-05-17 17:42:02 +0000 UTC]

Hey Tom!
Well, there is the whole "thing a day" idea, but that doesn't usually work out as well. So I was focusing on doing as much as possible - from start to finish, even if the result wasn't polished enough. I was trying to apply 4 concepts I was struggling with, and at least for me, going through the process over and over again instead of focusing in one piece and trying to make it perfect tends to give better results. I've found that usually the problems with drawings/paintings happened in the initial stages, in the plotting and blocking. Polishing it up is a bit mechanical after a while.

So, I was

1) Learning charcoal. Not having total control of the media I was working on, due to the lack of experience in the media itself made me aware of the results I was aiming for. It's very easy to lose track where you're going if you're too familiar with the tool - you just let your hand do what it is used doing.

2) I was trying to make them really feel 3d. It is easier to understand the shifts in planes and directions and see the general axis in the skull that it is on the face - since the face is so smooth and round and curves are usually misleading when representing volumes. It gives you a different feel of what a head should feel like when drawn; Again, doing lots of this helps more than doing only one.

3) Value grouping. For me it is very easy to just render things out, a habit I picked from working with advertising. So I am trying to simplify values and shapes. In this last skulls case, I was trying to make everything into 4 big values groups - Dark shadows (shadow in shadow area), Shadow, Dark light (shadows in the light area), and light. That didn't leave me any space to do highlights, but...

4) I was also trying to do artful elimination of detail. Giving the impression is had teeth, or that the surface wasn't plain or super smooth without spelling it all out. This last one is very tricky, but It was also very fun - when I started feeling charcoal felt more like painting than drawing. It was nice because it had direct application to painting right after that too, so it helped.

I need time to back to this studies!

Hope this helped

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TomOfTheWode In reply to SulaMoon [2014-05-18 14:12:37 +0000 UTC]

Totally, all of that makes sense, good idea too. Considering taking it up for myself now because of this. Thank you for the in depth response!

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SulaMoon In reply to FindingWhatsLost [2014-04-23 00:08:46 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!
I started with really light sketching - 30 min per day, and it evolved naturally from there. It can be quite fun <3 This studies don't take me more than 1h30 each

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FindingWhatsLost In reply to SulaMoon [2014-04-23 00:14:22 +0000 UTC]

Your welcome  
and I might just have to start trying something like that! 

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SulaMoon In reply to Ryivhnn [2014-04-23 00:07:58 +0000 UTC]

Haha yeah, It's his now BFF Twilight Sparkle, in all nerdy glory <3
I am not really keeping them hehe. Since it's just studies, I'll throw them away once I am done with the pad

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Ryivhnn In reply to SulaMoon [2014-04-23 00:42:12 +0000 UTC]

Aww you throw them out, mine usually live in a drawer never seeing the light of day unless I need to prove to myself that my drawing has actually gotten better

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