Forum posts by Iokken

The drawings are actually quite good, the only thing I can say about it is the same as you - they lack some movement : )

I totally get the light/shadow thing, and I am not saying you should do the other thing forever, just try it out. It helps with the speed too, without it I never could do a 60 second pose! : ) I do think you need to master both worlds before you merge them though, but when you do, I am sure it will be great : )

My only other advice would be to have fun, that kind of stuff shows up in a drawing too : D

oh good: ) sometimes it is really easy to get into cat fights on the internet : )

with line quality I am talking about the general line (outline etc.) it would appear that you draw your lines in small segments, but if you try (and it is hard, I know, I still work at it!) to make long, sweeping lines, preferably tapering a little at the end. an example could be an outline of a leg - if you draw a long S-curve instead of a lot of little lines it most times appear a lot more dynamic and in motion. Line quality also sometimes appear better if you make thick lines where there is shadow and very thin lines were there is light.

A good method is to draw with your whole underarm (not just the wrist, as most people do) and before you put down a line, you "ghost" it (at school we called it to "play golf" because golf players practice their swing before they actually do it) over the paper and then put down the line in a quick motion.

I think my drawing improved more than I could ever had imagined when I learned to make dynamic lines, so that is definitely what I would work on first - it think will give your drawings more motion : )

@ und3c1ph3red

I am sorry if this comes off snotty, it is not in any way my intention! I just really want to give you my advice - if you don't want it, please don't shout at me, it is with the best intention possible.

soo....I am almost done with my second 100 project and I always feel that what gives the best results is to work on the basics. This could be line quality, overall motion of a figure, anatomy, shape etc.
I say this because I think you might be better off working on your lines go get the motion you're after rather than to study the different parts of a human: a gesture drawing is almost never very accurate, often times it is just the essence of the pose, not a complete representation of the whole figure, like the ones you've drawn (even though they are very nice - especially the first one :). To get motion you could work on line of action, the bean (search for "Proko" on youtube) pushing forms/ twisting them or maybe you could set yourself the goal of only drawing 5 - 10 lines per figure, to enhance line quality (they must be done in one sweep, not many) and to observe better.

you will of course get better with any type of practice, this is just what I would have done if I was in your shoes - please don't hate me : )

This is a really good beginning : )!

I am sort of at this stage my self, and I am working on pushing and twisting forms to get a feeling of motion : ) it is ok if you sketch is more dynamic than the image it is done from : )

I also do "100 projects" - I don't know if it will work for you, but as Thesavage says you need to do a lot of practice, and personally I need to give myself homework and goals in order to get stuff done : )

good luck : D

1) go to youtube
2) search for "Jazza" (or draw with Jazza) and "face"

he has a lot of really easy to fallow videos. It is all very graphic (not that realistic) but I am sure it will, as Chrisbreen says, be easiest if you start by exaggerating.

There are also other helpful videos on youtube, just search for it - people are going crazy with what they want to share on there : )

sorry for posting the last one twice, I cant figure out how to remove it (admin: help!)

I am going to attempt uploading photos again:

ok? i hope xD

Thanks! me too xD

ok, I am going to try (sorry if it doesn't work)

if not, I might have to host the pictures differently : )

I would love to! its all on my blog: http://iokken-design.blogspot.dk/ which I update almost every day, but I don't know how to upload to this forum - is it just using html?

: D

hihi thanks : D I get caught up when I am doing stuff I really enjoy : )

You are absolutely right! To start off, I looked at what I thought was the easiest for me, because I really want to focus on getting something right and not just do 101 struggling paintings (if I choose light on glass for example, I would have to start by learning how to paint glass, and it would take the same amount of time/paintings) so I want to start with 100 compositions of landscapes, as I find this somewhat easier to handle at my skill level.

so...

1) overall goal
learn how to paint simple landscapes/backgrounds in Photoshop

2) milestones

- master painting small compositions in Photoshop - just making the setup look something from a far. focus on the read.
- fix perspective etc. in earlier paintings
- Bring some pieces to a higher level of completion, but without getting weight down by the fact that they are not going to be any where near perfect.

3) time
I can't wait to get started, so it won't be necessary with a time goal : )

whew... but it does sound like a lot of work!

if anyone have something to add (or something they would like to take away from the list) you are very welcome to comment : )

Have a great day!

Hello : )

I finished my first 100 project in 8 days (summer vacation ;) and I (obviously) loved it! so much that I am now thinking of what the next is going to be. I initially wanted to do male poses, but I pretty much covered that in the first 100, and when I do draw those things now, it is more along the lines of people interacting with stuff, so I think I am just going to continue with that.

What I really want, is to get better at photoshop, but I don't know what to do first - maybe 100 landscapes? characters? buildings? square boxes in different perspectives? no matter what, I need to start with:

1) compositions
2) Light and materials
3) general rendering (painting techniques)

is it too broad? it feels way too broad... I would love to hear your thoughts, good and bad :) ! (also on my 100 male figures, the link to my blog is above this post, in my previous post)

Have a good day!

Hi there again!

I hope your 100 drawings are coming along : )

I will post mine here: http://iokken-design.blogspot.dk/

the first two days are here: http://iokken-design.blogspot.dk/2013/07/100-drawings.html

oh and its iokken... with an i... I really should get a new screen name xD

Hello : )

I know it is a little late, but I really want to participate in this! My subject is going to be drawing males, cause that has always been something I have put off. I know it is a little broad, but my main goal will be to make something read as masculine.

here are my goals:

1) male stick figures (and how they differ from female stick figures)
2) low vs. high muscle mass - not just slapping on a beard and pecks to make something/ one look masculine.
3) male facial features.

next project, if I succeed in this one: male poses/ gesture drawing.

as I draw every day anyways I wont set a time limit for myself, but try to at least draw one thing everyday that I find hard, starting with goal no. 1 : )

have a great day!

to help illustrate my point go to: http://iokken-design.blogspot.dk/2013/07/croquis.html.

These are some quick drawings, how long I spend is written with each drawing. my big AHA-moment arose because I noticed very little difference between the shorter and the longer sessions - and sometimes the shorter ones were a little better - a little less over worked.

my big point is this (and many of you know it, but there could be a noob like me among you who could benefit from hearing it): it is the overall image that matters, not the details! don't draw fingers and lips if you've haven't finished the big lines yet!

I always detested the long sessions - the 10 minute ones - because it served little purpose (to me). I started improving my drawings as soon as I realized that it wasn't about doing a completed, fully rendered, smooth detailed drawing, it was about capturing a pose in a very short amount of time. This details can then be perfected in a longer session, but it is the first 30 - 2 minutes that count. No amount of extra time should make the anatomy or overall pose better, and if it does, more work should be put into capturing the overall pose than into the details.

Therefore I limit myself to 30 seconds - 2 minutes sessions and try to put down as few lines as possible (not just sketching wild) so instead of drawing faster, I look and think faster, and consequently draw sharper but less.

In August, when croquis starts up again in my area, I hope to better enjoy the longer sessions because I should no longer be prone to fall into the habit of drawing a foot, a toe, a shadow etc. but do exactly the same as in the shorter sessions, but then have time to study important details on top of a finished gesture-sketch.

Sorry for rambling on xD