Self-critique 1

Alright, for what it's worth, here is a critique of what I have done so far. This one is easy; I spotted these flaws early on and have learned a lot about muscle placement in the last month. The proportions of these constructions are all out of whack, but my focus for these was muscle placement. Below are my first (left) and eighth (right) constructions. The muscles are in the right place, but since I hadn't studied their exact origin and insertions along the skeleton, continuing the exercise was a bit of a waste. Part of this was due to Hampton's process. Memorizing origins and insertions is essential, and Hampton (to his credit) devoted a lot of energy to identifying them. I hastily skipped over them, thinking the forms and volumes of the muscles were enough to complete the picture. But they are not. I decided to step back and memorize origins and insertions for each of the muscle groups Hampton defined.

So far, I can honestly admit improvement. While I have not re-attempted an exercise like this one (yet), I can recall every important bone and muscle in the body from memory (and by "important," I mean necessary to construct a human figure). I will continue to study muscles in the problem areas (shoulder and pelvis) and leave the muscles of the forearm and shin for later (flexor and extensor groups are accurate enough for now). Unfortunately, an accurate construction of every muscle will require a more precise model of the human skeleton than I employed in this exercise. For now, I have a choice between three foci: proportions, insertions, or pelvis. I think I'll start with the pelvis. It's a bitch, but I have to get to it sometime. And on top of all this, I have to learn to hold the pencil Vilppu's way. Joy.

Global Muscle Construction Exercise in April

Okay, this is where it gets a little complicated. I set out at the end of March to sketch fifty gestures using http://www.quickposes.com/. The gestures were completed in a day and scanned on 3/31. Then, I added skeletal landmarks as defined by Michael Hampton in gel pen. I scanned the landmarks on 4/06. Step 3 was to add muscle groups with colored pencils (color key listed below), scanned on 4/18. The last step was to define the form of these muscle groups with a needle nose pen.

Defining the groups led me to a snag. In order to define the muscles, I had to know their exact origin and insertion points along the human skeleton. I don't! I don't know them! Not exactly. Not at the time, anyway. I decided to stop at #18, scanned the first ten figures on 5/15, and scrapped the rest. This is enough to show the idea. Rather than upload each image individually, I decided to put the first ten together and hope the resolution worked. It works well enough.

I don't know which is best: color first, then outline or vice versa. Mistakes with the pencils are easier to cover up, so I'll continue with this strategy. What needs to happen now is a repeat of this exercise from Step 1, but with much greater detail. Over the past month, I have studied bones and muscles. I feel confident about insertions and origins, and have now come back around to proportions (where I began). The form of the pelvis is proving a pain in the ass, but with time even I shall master it. The real challenge now is learning how to hold the pencil as Proko and Vilppu hold it. Perhaps I'll write about that at a later time.

KEY

Step 1: Construct skeleton of the figure with 2H drafting pencil

Step 2:   Mark torso landmarks with gel pens

Red:                 Spine

Black:              Cranial Notch

Red:                 Clavicles

Green:              Sternum

Blue:                Manubrium

Blue:                Scapulae

Red:                 Iliac Crest

Blue:                10th Rib

Black:              Belly Button

Green:              7th Cervical Vertebra

                       

    Mark limb landmarks with gel pens

Orange:           Head of humerus and femur

Blue:                Ends of Ulna

Green:             Ends of Tibia

Step 3: Draw muscles with colored pencils

                       

    7 Torso Muscles

Light Blue:       Sternocleidomastoid

Dark Green:    Trapezius

Red:                 Latissimus

Yellow:            Pectoralis

Dark Blue:       Serratus

Orange:           Oblique

Light Green:     Rectus Abdominus

           

    7 Arm Muscles

Light Green:    Deltoid

Orange:           Bicep

Dark Blue:       Medial Tricep

Light Blue:       Lateral Tricep

Red:                Pronator Teres

Dark Green:    Brachioradialis

Yellow:            Carpi Ulnaris

    8 Leg Muscles

Light Blue:       Gluteus Medius

Dark Green:    Gluteus Maximus

Red:                 Iliotibial Band

Yellow:            Abductor

Dark Blue:       Sartorius

Orange:           Vastus

Light Green:     Hamstrings

Light Blue:       Calves

           

Step 4: Finish contours of construction with needle nose pen

 ____________________________________________________________________

*Some of the muscles have the wrong color, before I manipulated the original key.

100 Brush Pen Gestures

I set out to ink a hundred figures with the brush pen. I used http://www.characterdesigns.com/ and Louis' blog as a stylistic reference <http://louislearnstodraw.blogspot.com>. He, in turn, learned from Michael Hampton. I won't pick up the brush pen again until I'm ready to practice shading.

The point of gestures is economy of line. It becomes a balancing act: too few lines and it becomes difficult to intuit what the figure is doing, too many lines and it becomes a tangled, impractical mess. Develop a technique whereby, with as few lines a possible, you can record a gesture to dig up years later and know how to fully articulate.

 

  

  

 

 

  

  

  

  

New Kuretake Brush Pen

My first experiments with the Kuretake No. 8 brush pen (set with a Platinum ink converter-- yes, it's a tight fit). Unwieldy little sucker. I don't look forward to the time I pick it up again.

 

 

Sketches in January 2014

Here's when I started to get serious about learning. Starting this year, I date all of the sheets I plan to publish. David Finch recommended I practice object rotation, so I started with the thorax. I then set out to copy every image in Bridgman's guide (got as far as I ought to with that technique). I forget which of these is done with 0.7 and 0.5 mm mechanical. This was the point I discovered the latter is better for sketching. Until then, my clumsy hands could only write with 0.7 lead without breaking it. Artists learn a gentler touch, I guess.

Sketches in January 2013

These are from January of 2013. Done with 0.7 mm mechanical pencil.

First Post

This is where I started in the summer of 2007. If I ever become a success, I will still think this is a short story worth telling.

It was the summer after freshmen year of high school, when I found myself maintaining contact with one friend and only one friend. This circumstance has repeated itself throughout my life. As in marriage, when two people become so familiar and bored with one another, the tendency is to argue and compete over one thing and the next. That summer, my friend sent pictures he drew of some game he planned on modding. I thought they were so juvenile that I immediately drew this on a nearby sheet of paper. It was the first time I had freehanded anything in years, and I was so impressed that I decided to stay with the practice.

That's right: my life in creative art began with a vitriolic act worthy only of a snubnosed highschooler. And while now I hate everything I was, that vicious soul remains part of the motivation behind everything I hope to accomplish. Seven years later, I no longer know the "friend" at whom this was aimed, and my progress in the practice of sketching can charitably be described as lagging. Throughout high school and until now-- my final year of college-- I have crafted works using a Cintiq tablet. They take too long and end up flat, because I never had the patience to learn proper technique. Until now.

Here's a list of the artists from whom I have learned and am learning:

Michael Hampton
Glenn Vilppu
The Gnomon Workshop
Scott Eaton
David Finch
George Bridgman
Eliot Goldfinger