Hi, As you can see I have done a pencil drawing of someone and I just woundered if anyone can see who it is so that I know its a good or bad likeness. You will have to forgive the white patches as its the way the light hit it because I used a different black pencil for some of it. Thanks, James
Not bad for a shadow and light study. It's a bit stark though and some places you lose detail altogether. Most times when working with illustrations for fine arts classes and for commercial illustration classes - they'll ask that you break an image down into three tones: 1) highlights 2) mid tones 3) shadows There is a whole science behind how light renders and how abscence of light becomes a shadow. The majority of the shadows that we see are not actually truly black. There is something called a countershadow that is a technique that most professional illustrators use when rendering. Glen Vilpu who is pretty much considered the man for rendering the human figure has several DVD's that go over it in depth. In terms of anatomy I'd say your drawing is skewed. It looks as if you just plunged in with little thought to structural anatomy. Bruce Lee has a rather symetrical face... your rendering shows it somewhat asymetrically. The drawing comes off as flat because you haven't dug deep enough to render the planes of the face. If you understand what is going on with the structure of the face and the facial tissues then you can render the face more accurately. None of this is a slam on your drawing... as we say in the creative world... keep drawing.. there are still hundreds if not thousands of bad drawings you have to get out of your system before you can get to the good ones. One more point... don't frame it... don't idolize it... put it away and keep drawing, keep observing...keep learning... don't do like so many people who start out with drawing... they do a drawing that for them is the best they've done... and then spend time patting themselves on the back for the next six weeks. A better way to spend your time is to work continuously to better your skills of observation and rendering. I've worked with dozens of professional illustrators who still spend the majority of their time working to get better. Good luck and keep at it. Check out the following books if you're serious about learning to render humans: Burne Hogarth - (Dyanmic Head and Hands - or any of them) Glen Vilpu - (look him up online) Andrew Loomis - (there are some places on the net with free e-books) You can spend a lifetime just learning from these guys alone.
Thanks for that slip. This is the first time I have done a drawing of a person. I haven't done a pencil drawing since I was 16 (now 19) and have never been taugh anything by anyone (school art teacher and I didn't like each other). I will check out those books.
Yeah man if you enjoy drawing then keep at it. I've been drawing since I was old enough to pick up a pencil. Don't let one crappy teacher get in your way for something that can give you a lifetimes worth of enjoyment. At some point you will probably want to take some classes. There are good teachers out there... sometimes it takes wading through the bad ones to get to the good ones. They probably feel the same about students. These days there are more books on drawing the human form than you can imagine.. but the books I've pointed out are by far the best. The absolute best. I own in hardcover everything by each of those authors and it's some of the best investment of money I've ever done. You can always go back and refer to them - and if you spend a lot of time drawing you will. Be smart... nurture the talent you have and turn it into a reliable skill. You many never work in a job that requires it... but it can be just nice to do as a passtime as well.
I like it! It's stylish - slightly abstract and almost photorealistic in places. A bit like Dave McKean's stuff. Keep it up dude!
Will def look into those books you pointed out. If you got any photos of the pictures you have drawn I would like to see them. Thanks moosey!
That is certainly alot better then i can do. I figure some people either can draw or they can't. I simply can't.
I think slip offers some good advice. In particular I think you've fallen into the trap of merely "copying" a flat image of Bruce without understanding how a head (for example) works as a "form", how eyes sit within that head etc. Any flat image if the result of light falling across a three dimensional form with a structure. Understanding that structure is very important to make the drawing "hang together".
lets see 'em Slip gave some good advice. is good to just keep drawing and keep drawing. You eventually find youre own 'style'. you might find that photorealism isnt your thing or landscapes might not be...etc. take time to draw only certain body parts, understand mechanical dimensions (elbow-fist = torso length etc). No light no shadow, no shadow no perspective. At dusk/night, have a lamp switched on and draw an object, then draw the same object with the lamp at a different place. Shadows would have moved and you will get better understanding of perspective and 'shading' Still.. a good pic.might smudge a bit tho
