The Artwork Thread

[Adam Stone]

Thank you Mr. Man :-)

I've been working on some new drawings these past couple of weeks... Firstly is the one i finished today. Its manga/anime style:

A Strong Heart

The others have more emotionally evoked, digging deep into the feelings and emotions of my childhood. They are mostly quick sketches, but i like them just as much as my other drawings:

Leave me... Alone
Dream a Dream
I Watched My Tears Dry
No Comfort
Emptiness

[Adam Stone]

No one else putting pen or pencils to paper then?

I've recently finished a new animal portrait, a bloody hard one to do at that. It is of a horse and, until now, i had always avoided drawing them. I used Pencil only.



Sadly my scanner isn't brilliant but i feel it still came out quite nicely. Oh, and my brain had frozen when i wrote "28/08" - thats been corrected now of course :-p

Anyone else done anything recently?

[paperghost]

i have a bunch of random stuff from my fine art degree / school days here:

http://paperghost.org/

some good, some bad. its more a collection of stuff i've tried to preserve before it could fall to bits than any great claims to it being any good or whatever.

[Malc]

Hi fellow artists,

I've decided I want to start drawing, i've been inspired by Kareem Ettouney who you may know was an artist for Lionhead, and now works for Media Molecule. I look at his work frequently on his web site www.kareemettouney.com. He drew a picture for me on the inside cover of Fable TLC awhile ago, also telling me that you aren't born with some natural ability to draw, you have to learn how to do it. Which gives me some confidence that I can transform my very basic drawings into something special and approach levels of realism within my art.

I enjoy drawing very much (mainly buildings or environments) but frequently become angry whenever something doesn't look right or is oddly proportioned etc. Which I then resort to the old cliche: ''I can't draw''. I always come back later and attempt another picture however, and I enjoy it everytime. I prefer environments and buildings as I can create anything I want in my world. But portraits of humans I find hard because of all the complexities of the face or body, but I would like to eventually be able to draw such things though.

So, have you got any advice for a complete beginner like me in the process of learning how to draw? By the way, i've decided to begin with i'm only going to use a pencil and paper. As I don't want all this complex stuff at this stage. Just a simple pencil to learn the basics.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Oh, and your drawing's Adam are truly brilliant. They actually look like a real horse and Cat. Unlike my depictions of the animals, which would look like a 5 year olds pony picture. That's my main frustration with drawing, is that nothing I draw actually looks like what it should. I know you have to learn how to add such levels of realism over time, with shading, shapes, tone etc. but I get disheartened when my buildings doesn't really look like a real building. But that's what I hope to achieve over time though.

[funkydan]

Wow - Adam, your stuff is amazing! That Leave me...alone pic has a real Raymond Briggs feel about as do some of the others. Wonderful emotionally pictures that if I am honest did make me feel a bit sad. I guess that is perhaps the point? Well done though - excellent

[JazzFunk]

@Malc - don't be afraid of using an eraser, you're allowed to do what you want. Erasers can let you 'sweep' textures across, and they're also fantastic at erasing things.

Just scribble away and 'feel' the pencil, but on some nice, satisfying paper.

Everything that seems like crap is just making you improve.

PS: Adam is f*cking brilliant. The worst things to draw are hairy things (cats especially!) and he's abnormally talented in that way.)

[neoboy259]

[QUOTE=Malc;1404487]Hi fellow artists,

I've decided I want to start drawing

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

/QUOTE]

Best advice is to draw from real life as much as you can. Do an art class or ask people to critique your work, the best criticism is negative criticism as it'll spurr you on to improving.

[funkydan]

[QUOTE=neoboy259;1404908]

Hi fellow artists,

I've decided I want to start drawing

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

/QUOTE]

Best advice is to draw from real life as much as you can. Do an art class or ask people to critique your work, the best criticism is negative criticism as it'll spurr you on to improving.

Not true at all - do you really believe that? AFAIC, receiving negative criticism can be crushing leading to usually self-doubt. Constructive criticism is, IMO, a far better solution and much more useful!

[neoboy259]

haha you're right, I meant constructive criticism!

[Adam Stone]

Constructive criticism is definitely the way forward... I've never had any help or training or whatnot with my art sadly (haven't even for a GCSE in it!)... But its always been something i've tried hard to achieve in - just for my own stubborn satifaction. I remember when i was only five i used to literally force my mum to say what was wrong with my drawings, so then i could return to the drawing board and start over. Heh, strange little bugger that i was.

I really do have to thank everyone in here for your kind words. It's always geart to hear postive feedback, somehow it makes drawing them more worth while. So thanks again...

I have done a couple more i'd share. All done recently, age 21. These mostly started as sketchy ideas I worked a little longer on to make complete, not nearly taking as long as the animal portraits. However, personally, I love creating pieces that can tell a story, can evoke emotion... regardless of whether it is a sketch or something more. Anyhoo! Hope you like em...

*Emptiness*



*"Glancing up at the stars I feel comforted by the enchanting tapestry; a beautiful contrast of sparkling silvers attached to a black sky. It is darkness tantalized with mystery, and shares the emptiness I feel in my heart."*"*

*Through Thy Veins*



*Little Things Matter*



*Through the shadows HE watches*



*Rooted Silence*



**With a rooted silence,
I watch you weep

I absorb your tears
My roots grow deep

You come for solitude,
To comprehend

Yet you comfort me
My only friend*
*

*Plar - Pick-a-Shroom*



Most of these were either intially drawn in blue biro pen, or pencil... and then enhanced digitally. I've recently started to experiment with photoshop and whatnot and like the impact it has... However, for me personally, the traditional pencil, pen and brush will always be my primary tool... Digital art is fantastic, but, for me, i'll always have a traditional basis to work with :-)

Thanks again and keep up with sharing your own stuff. We need more!

[jimmbob]

That's very very good.
Those Plar things remind me of the pictures you get on fridge magnets and greetings cards in little Welsh gift shops. There could be a market for them.

[Malc]

They're fantastic Adam! My favourite one's are Emptiness and Little Things Matter.

[Adam Stone]

That's very very good.
Those Plar things remind me of the pictures you get on fridge magnets and greetings cards in little Welsh gift shops. There could be a market for them.

Thank you buddy,

My Plar characters are definitely my most personal. I've actually got a number of hopeful things in the lurks at the moment... Here's hoping!

And, Malc, thanks again Mr. Man. My favourite is Emptiness too, was certainly a difficult one to do, brings back a lot of stuff those types of drawings, but I feel it was worth it in the end. The little boy is who I call my 'lost boy' - I'm hoping to use these sorts of images in another book i'm writing. Here's hoping!

[Adam Stone]

Hi fellow artists,

I've decided I want to start drawing, i've been inspired by Kareem Ettouney who you may know was an artist for Lionhead, and now works for Media Molecule. I look at his work frequently on his web site www.kareemettouney.com. He drew a picture for me on the inside cover of Fable TLC awhile ago, also telling me that you aren't born with some natural ability to draw, you have to learn how to do it. Which gives me some confidence that I can transform my very basic drawings into something special and approach levels of realism within my art.

I enjoy drawing very much (mainly buildings or environments) but frequently become angry whenever something doesn't look right or is oddly proportioned etc. Which I then resort to the old cliche: ''I can't draw''. I always come back later and attempt another picture however, and I enjoy it everytime. I prefer environments and buildings as I can create anything I want in my world. But portraits of humans I find hard because of all the complexities of the face or body, but I would like to eventually be able to draw such things though.

So, have you got any advice for a complete beginner like me in the process of learning how to draw? By the way, i've decided to begin with i'm only going to use a pencil and paper. As I don't want all this complex stuff at this stage. Just a simple pencil to learn the basics.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

It's really good to see you enjoy art matey and i can honestly relate to your frustrations. I always go through mixed emotions when drawings... and there is usually always at least one stage where I almost stop and throw the damn thing away... But if I manage to get past that stage I find i'm happy(ish) again.

I agree that skills and whatnot are learnt over time and no one is born with the innate ability to draw... however I do feel that sometimes people are born with an underlying advantage that ultimately makes learning to draw easier. For example, i've never had any training, no help, no guidance or anything... but yet even when i was only five years old I (and i say this with no sense of ego) that could draw better (as in proportions) then many people double my age... I think this is because, even at a young age, I had an eye for detail and for proportions.

For example, when I was only four or five I could see if my drawing of a man looked like a man, with his head, neck, legs, shoulders and arms and whatnot in all the right places. In contrast, my partner's daughter is 6 and will happily show me a drawing of a man that has no neck, ears and maybe an extra finger or two...

Its a very common thing, but sometimes people just cant 'see' what is there. People can certainly learn how to use a pencil, but learning how to see details and proportions and apply that to paper is something very different... Maybe then, if proportions is something you struggle with, then practising on anything and everything you see will be a great way to help. Maybe keep a little sketch pad on ya. Look at a picture you like and try to copy it exactly... Or maybe true something a little more ordinary like a chair or table, or a gravestone. Just something you can look at and then try to recreate exactly... focusing on all the little details. There's nothing wrong with making mistakes or rubbing out... but, personally, i honestly feel it is important to train your eye as well as training your hand.

Anyhoo... Just a little food for thought. Keep it up mate and please show some of your sketches at some point! Would love to help.

[Malc]

Thanks for the advice Adam, if I ever draw something of an acceptable standard then i'll post it up.

By the way, when you're drawing using pencils what type do you use, or do you have multiple types for shading, outlining etc?