[GregSauce]

Hey Folks,

Ive been lurking in the shadows here for a few weeks, drooling over the amazing art that I have seen on the site. I LOVE the subway sketches!!!

I have been trying to learn to draw for the past few months, and am utterly dissapointed with my progress, but I'm hoping I can get some pointers from you guys on what I should be focusing on, and what I'm doing wrong. I am NOT interested in realism. (i'm useless with shading)

anyways, please comment. i was thinking about buying that loomis drawing book, and just practicing every day...

[faeklone]

The key to getting better for the most part is alot of practice, and feedback. By submitting to this forum you are now getting some feedback.

The ones that catch my eye the most are the first one due to a good use of line weight and shading to frame the face and draw attention.

I like the third one for it's rendering of a 3/4 profile, and the interesting line play happening at the left hand side of the page. I like how the line just dances around the page. Kinda reminds me of some of the stuff that Alphonse Maria Mucha did with his Art Neuveau work.

The cartoon that looks like he's eitehr swearing at us or asking us a question is good as well, but the shading really doesn't make any sence espescially for a cartoon character.

The girl with the flowing hair is where I was expecting to see some more of that line work I was admiring , just due to the fact that mucha did insane things in the line work of his pictures hair. Look up Mucha, I"m sure you'd enjoy him.

The last one is interesting, except out of proportion. The head is much too big for the body. and on the body, even if he is wearing clothing, it is a good idea to figure out where skin will fild to form lines when drawing limbs folded in some way across other parts of the body with which it is still attached. In this case it would be the shoulder, which is nearly there, and the elbow joint. The thing that really stands out about this picture though is that you have established some kind of background to place the figure in, and I think that is bringing the picture together alot more than some of the other drawings.

If this is your sketchbook, as long as it's for quick sketches I don't see a problem with it, but for soem things it seems as if the size of the sketchbook is becoming a problem to you and is one you might want to look into. Also linedd media can bias you and your drawing in ways that make it not the best to work on.

From the pencil point of view, I assume you're using the normal number 2 pencil, and getting darker lines by pressing harder or making the lines bigger. Although a number 2 pencil is fine to begin learning on, it really sux in terms of it's ability to help you render a drawing. Personally when I draw with graphite (pencil) I usually draw using a 6B pencil. This allows me to get the deep blacks I want while still allowing me to get nice light values depending on how hard you apply the media to the page.

Last word, on pencils, mostly dealing with the line weight thing I was mentioning. Get a couple of different sized pencils. Prefferably at least one mechanicial pencil so you can get some fine line work done, and others for heavier lines. At the moment you have good line making skills, however the lines lack the confidence in placement and production that would allow them to become more apart of a larger successful project. However this isn't a bad thing. It' just means that you need to get some more practice in and get truely confortable with the media and making marks on the page confidatly.

Hope this is somewhat of help to you.
_________________
"It's not the tools you use but how you use them that counts."

[GregSauce]

wow, that is ALOT of help. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond like that. I didnt expect that.

This weekend, I went out and purchased an unlined sketchbook, a bit larger then this lined one. I also bought a leadholder, and a few softer leaded pencils.

I was also given a book called "Drawing from the right side of your brain" aswell as a workbook to go along with it. I'm going to really enjoy refining my 'skills' if you can even call it that at this point.

regardless, im having a blast already, and hopefully i'll be able to post some drawings with a bit better technique by the end of the month!

thanks again for the reply faeklone!

cheers.