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awesome work on building a solid foundation, Christopher
i always enjoy going back to the basics
Thank you 😁👍
Day 42
Filled the rest of the page from yesterday with more skulls and by the way if they look somewhat decent that’s because these are not my design’s or solutions.
This are studies out of Michael Hampton’s figure drawing book.
Day 43
Some Skulls from photo reference and a 3D model. I still couldn’t really shade it if I wanted so if someone has some tips or tricks on how to work out the structure and planes on your own if you don’t have access to a physical skull model to study from I would really appreciate that.
At least for me it’s not that easy to see how those bones turn (even while using a 3D model) which makes it difficult to translate the seen into your own structure & plane interpretation.
Or does that come from time if I have drawn more skulls?
These are awesome, Christopher. You’ve inspired me to look into doing some drawing exercises as well…
Great work in this thread. Have you done the skull lesson in the Russian Course?
Thank you Joshua and no I haven’t but I started it today 😅
Day 47
Earlier today I did some simple form shading from observation to try out the ink wash technique. It turned out kind of ugly but I intend to do that more often anyway so at least some mileage.
I’m working on the skull right now that’s why there are just two wip pictures (sorry for the foto quality, it’s getting night here).
I have to admit that I’m not doing the whole measuring with pencil/needle thing. But even if I’m just eyeballing it I do still measure via comparing angles, shapes, distances and abstract rhythms I see by looking closely. I don’t expect it to be 100 % accurate but that’s ok for now at least I enjoy it more that way. Edit: For example I just noticed that the top of the right eye socket (our view) needs to be lower 😅
Actual stage of the Skull. I’m not sure but the eye sockets maybe should have been wider. But I’m assuming at this stage you wouldn’t do a change that big so I should have checked more often and noticed it earlier …
But since that’s more about getting a exact copy of the actual reference I don’t care that much as long as it looks kind of correct and good.
Now the part there I’ll probably ruin it … shading 😅😁
Hey Christopher… I admire your disciplined approach here.
Regarding the washes, I find that I have to dump the ink pretty generously and apply water quickly to get the most effective result. I recommend a medium-size round watercolor brush because other brush types such as hog bristle will not carry water nearly as effectively.
A decent quality tube of Paynes Gray watercolor might be a great economical way to practice washes if you don’t want to fully invest in watercolor paints right now. Better yet, add Quin Rose/Hookers green to warm up your neutrals.
Thank you Ian and yes I quite enjoy reflecting on how I approach learning and I’m constantly trying to identify what to change to be able to improve faster.
Also thank you for your suggestions I’ll definitely try to keep them in mind.
Day 48
More simple forms, this time focusing more on how all those different materials apply on to the paper and how easy I can achieve darker values.
If time allows it I’ll continue working on the skull later today.
Only a tiny bit of progress on the skull. Before you ask, as I’m not really experienced in shading I’m more focused on following my thought of process so if the values look not dark enough or the edges to similar that’s intentional right now.
I first wanted to identify and separate the shadow areas while also think of the darker areas on the back of the skull and the cast shadows. I’m not quite sure if the rest of the shadows is lighter in comparison because of reflective light or other reasons but at least I wanted to think of them as two values. Additionally I intentionally made the negative spaces lighter in value just like Ilya suggested in his demonstration.
So to prevent or at least be able to react to mistakes I shaded everything a bit lighter in general. My plan is to first finish establishing the shadow areas, then differentiate between form and cast shadows for the edges and lastly slowly go darker in value.
I often read what the teachers suggest in other threads so I just want to try avoiding uneven/unclear value grouping.
Sorry for the long text 😅
Awesome. I ask because the skull is so important that you need to be careful what kind of simplifications you use. The best is to reference the real thing where possible.
That makes sense. I assume you are referring to the two plane simplifications in profile from day 44. After a few days I already agree 😅
As I said earlier I found it difficult to get a sense for the structure even while using a 3D model because it’s sometimes hard to see how or in which direction the bones and their planes are turning so I was looking for simplifications to work from.
Now I assume even if it takes longer it’s better to get a sense for that on your own through repitition and understanding instead of relying on someone else’s solution.
So I hope that Ilya’s lectures will help improve that understanding. I also find that since I learned “different value = different plane” if you don’t understand the form it’s better to look for the values explaining it instead of randomly trying to simplify it.
Oh and by the way thank you for taking the time to comment from time to time even if it’s just to tell me that I’m on the right track 👍
Day 49
Current stage of the skull. Except of some cast shadows in the light side of the teeth area I think I established the overall shadow. I know the Values aren’t even yet I want to to establish and fix the teeth first and then work on the edges before I further develop the values.
Oh and sorry again for the poor lighting (it’s night here).
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