The Art Thread - Where did everyone go?

[Zhukov]

Ta-dah!

[WallyWorld]

Very nice, is that working from a photo? The subject is quite interesting.

I may have imagined seeing it in the first place, but does anyone know where I can read a brief sum up of the layers/method Aubrey uses for the concept art shown in the time lapse videos? Or maybe it can just be posted here?

I've been looking at some different ways people seem to do similar work, but they all seem a little different. I'm messing around with GIMP and a Wacom tablet my mom bought a year ago and never used but haven't quite figured out what layers are good to use when, especially when it comes to adding color.

Thanks in advance to anyone with any info. I'm just getting into this whole digital painting thing and look forward to sharing whatever terribly misshapen characters I can make as I get used to the whole process.

Edit: I'm a tard. It was in the blog.... duh.

[Cosec]

@moscowconnections: Nope, no secret, you just gotta do it every day. I don't find it that fun either but I know it's something I have to do to get better. It's also good if you can put them up somewhere on the internet once you're finished (ConceptArt.org is a good place for this I find, since I don't want to clutter my dA gallery with them).

Also, check out the book The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I'm reading it now, and find it invaluable.

[Endoperez]

Also, check out the book The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I'm reading it now, and find it invaluable.

Could you shortly describe what's good in Way of Art and Constructive anatomy?

Which do you think is more important in the beginning, studying the small features like details of noses and hands, or the proportions and poses of the whole body?

I found a preview that let me read the first few pages of Constructive Anatomy, and it had some interesting ideas and I studied poses based on some things I read. I'm not sure if I did them how the writer of the book intended me to do... I'll post pictures once I get some batteries for my camera. I'll have to buy some rechargeable ones - it sometimes drains batteries like crazy.

[moscowconnections]

@cosec: thanks for the advice. I am glad I am not the only one. Will check out the book. Will go back to the book of skinned people by Albinus and do some studies

[Cosec]

@Endoperez: Well, they are two completely different books. Constructive Anatomy is just a great anatomy book to read and study - he doesn't really describe to you how to draw, but you can learn a lot just by copying his drawings. I also like how he focuses on the important muscle groups, since most anatomy books will try to describe every single muscle to a point where it just becomes confusing.

The War of Art is a book about how to overcome Resistance and how to stay motivated. It's hard to explain, but you should just read it.
Edit: Here is a quotation from his website, which sums it up nicely: "My writing philosophy is a kind of warrior code—internal rather than external—in which the enemy is identified as those forms of self-sabotage that I call "Resistance" with a capital R (in The War of Art). The technique for combating these foes can be described as 'turning pro.'"


As for what to study first, I don't think it really matters, as long as you do both. Anyway, hope that helps.

[Andrige]

Really sounds like I could use The War of Art. Thanks for the tip.

[Endoperez]

@Endoperez: Well, they are two completely different books. Constructive Anatomy is just a great anatomy book to read and study - he doesn't really describe to you how to draw, but you can learn a lot just by copying his drawings. I also like how he focuses on the important muscle groups, since most anatomy books will try to describe every single muscle to a point where it just becomes confusing.

I got a different impression from the first few pages. He talks about "masses" instead of muscle groups, and I started looking for how the chest is turned and how the head, in relation to each other. "[The body is t]hought of first as one thinks of the body of a wasp, with only one line connecting them" - that's what I started drawing after reading the first part.





However, I didn't realize that the shape of the masses shown in Bridgman's drawings are as important as their place and position. I think he's not drawing muscles, but simplified shapes ("masses") that are based on his knowledge of muscles and bones. I'll have to try again and pay more attention to how he shaped the masses.

Also, how can you say he doesn't teach how to draw? It's ALL there in the introduction.

The drawings that are presented here show the conceptions that have proved simplest and most effective in constructing the human figure.
The eye in drawing must follow a line or a plane or a mass. In the process of drawing, this may become a moving line, or a moving plane, or a moving mass. The line, in actual construction, must come first; but as mental construction must precede physical, so the concept of mass must come first, that of plane second, that of line last.
Think in masses, define them in lines.

That's one of the best definitions of drawing I've yet to come across.

The War of Art is a book about how to overcome Resistance and how to stay motivated. ... The technique for combating these foes can be described as 'turning pro.'"

That sounds like an awesome book!

[Cosec]

Yeah, The War of Art is awesome.

I actually forgot about that intro part in Constructive Anatomy. That's about as much advice as he gives you though. The rest of the book is just descriptions of different body parts and pictures to illustrate. It's still a great book to read and study though, for all the reasons you mentioned. I guess when I said "muscle groups" I really meant masses.

[Endoperez]

I've been very busy in school in the last few days (8 to 11 hour days), and I'm going to go back home for the new few weekends, but I just got some awesome stuff on loan for the summer. By "awesome" I mean three Gnomon DVDs on drawing and concept art. And by "some", I mean I and several other people in my class who I'll be seeing throughout the summer all got few DVDs on various subjects, plus some 3D-related books. Any way, I'll post stuff once I have time to go through some of those materials.

[Zhukov]

Once upon a time, Zhukov was sad. So he drew a picture of a raven and then he was happy.

The end.

[Endoperez]

Once upon a time, Zhukov was sad. So he drew a picture of a raven and then he was happy - NEVERMORE.

Fixed.

Seriously speaking, that's a beautiful image. Is the paper actually yellowish, or is that just from the image? And is it done in pencils? It looks like it is, but I don't get dark tones looking that dark...

[Zhukov]

Seriously speaking, that's a beautiful image. Is the paper actually yellowish, or is that just from the image? And is it done in pencils? It looks like it is, but I don't get dark tones looking that dark...

Thank you.

The picture is just pencil on white paper. I can't remember how I got the dark tones. Probably just from heavy use of a 9B pencil.

The yellow (technically sepia) is a photoshop filter effect... thing. My scanner makes graphite look horrible. The filter softens it out. Plus, I just like sepia.

[Endoperez]

The picture is just pencil on white paper. I can't remember how I got the dark tones. Probably just from heavy use of a 9B pencil.

The yellow (technically sepia) is a photoshop filter effect... thing. My scanner makes graphite look horrible. The filter softens it out. Plus, I just like sepia.

Ooh, 9B, I didn't know the range exceeded past 6B. Nice... The sepia filter might also increase the contrast, but I don't know about that.

[Zhukov]

The sepia filter might also increase the contrast, but I don't know about that.

Other way around. It lowers the contrast. The white areas become light brown while the dark areas remain dark.