Works in Progress

I've been following my studies of portraiture lately, trying to develop the techniques I was working with in my last posting.  Since I commonly work on more than one project at a time, right now I have three drawings in various stages of completion.

This one is from a photograph by Edward S. Curtis of an Apache Indian named Eskadia.  Whatever his faults as an ethnographer, Curtis was a gifted photographer and many of his images lend themselves to the study of light falling across the face.  The scan was substantially darkened so it would be visible at all -- I did this with a 2H pencil.  You can see here how I'm working.  The line art comes first, followed by a light tonal wash as I lay in the primary shadow areas.

This is a drawing of the Kiowa chief Satanta, who fought against the United States on the southern plains.  This drawing is a little further along.  The shadow areas are more defined, and it's nearly ready for more delicate hatching that will better define the planes and texture of the face.  Once more, this image is a lot darker than the original.

This image, on the other hand, is about as dark as the original pencil drawing.  The hatched lines over the softer tones really help to define the image, and cautious blending (with the best blending tool ever devised, the paper towel) has kept the paper from becoming stained where I need to place the highlights.  I'm looking forward to finishing this drawing soon.

The subject of this last drawing is the great Lakota (Sioux) chief and medicine man, Sitting Bull.  I've always been impressed by his great courage and fierce dedication to preserving his people, but there's something else about him in the biographies that doesn't get as much attention.  I suspect that Sitting Bull was nearly as compassionate as he was brave.  Perhaps because he was so brave.  That's a long story for another time, however.

Thanks for stopping by!

JH

More Portrait Studies -- Abraham Lincoln

I've continued my studies from Holbein, but this isn't one of them.  I was watching an instructional DVD by David Jon Kassan, and it inspired me to try my hand at a different rendering technique.  Essentially, Kassan lays in a tonal wash and then cross hatches over it (then rinse and repeat).  As Kassan points out, this is how Prud'hon created his fantastic figure studies.

I had a pencil and a sheet of bristol in my hand, and this is what happened. 

I think the forehead's a bit high, personally, but I still feel that I learned a lot doing this one.

I have a book of portraits by John Singer Sargent here that I may start studying from in the near future.  Much of the Sargent work is in good, honest charcoal and I think it will help me further develop my use of strong values.

Thanks, as always, for dropping by!

JH

Variety Show

Lots of different projects over the past few days:

Joshua Chamberlain, a Union officer famous for service at Gettysburg.  I've been scarfing down lunch at my pesky day job and using the remaining time to do quick copies of Holbein portraits in my sketchbook.  I definitely need to keep that up -- I'm seeing real improvement in my portrait work after just a week of Holbein studies.  I don't know if I have the stamina to do this for a month, but even one more week will be fantastic practice.

Anatomy of the leg.  This is from Paul Richer, so it's less stylized than the Bridgman copies.  Less dynamic, as well, but I've never had this much success understanding the muscles of the lower leg and how they feed into the foot, so it was well worth doing.

And a little life drawing project.  I purchased a coyote skull on a visit to the Museum of Osteology (http://www.museumofosteology.org/) a while back and finally sat down to draw it.  Lots of fascinating things to learn about carnivore skulls; maybe I'll pick up a medium-sized feline like a bobcat or something next time I'm there.

Thanks for bringing your eyes this way, and good evening to you!

Anatomy Studies (In Color!)

I've been working on anatomy this week, using Bridgman as my reference.  I've also been studying works by Michelangelo and Rubens.  I hope to bring a bit more of the dynamic character of these two masters into my own work.

Also, color! (Cretacolor Pastel Pencils, to be precise)

Okay, so that last one isn't in color.  But I've really enjoyed working with the pastels.  I'd like to make time to work on some portrait studies with them -- perhaps a copy from one of the masters I've been studying.  Back to work!

Fantasy Art -- Dark Priestess

Finally something else to post!  Even if I did have to fudge the snake skeletons. . .

Got Rhythm?

It's true that technical skill is really, really cool.  But it's not knowledge of the skeletal system that makes a drawing pleasing to look at.  It's other things.  Things like rhythm. 

"To express rhythm in drawing a figure we have in the balance of masses a subordination of the passive or inactive side to the more forceful and angular side in action, keeping constantly in mind the hidden, subtle flow of symmetry throughout."  -- George Bridgman, Bridgman's Life Drawing

It's the word "subordination" that catches my eye right now.  Drawings that have life in them emerge from choices.  If an artist creates a figure standing equally balanced on both feet, standing upright, and staring straight ahead, no choice has been made.  No choice by the artist, no action in the figure, no rhythm, no life.  But when the artist makes that first decision -- this side will be stretched wide, that side will be compressed -- and that decision leads to other decisions -- this foot must be planted here, that arm must be stretched out to the side -- that's when a drawing really comes to life. 

For all his contempt for 2-dimensional art, I think Michelangelo really got this in his drawings and paintings.  The great masters of figurative art create worlds where the body, not the voice, is the means of expression.  Worlds where everyone is a dancer.  Rubens was another expert at this.  It's no coincidence that we still have several studies Rubens made of Michelangelo's work.

Of course, Rembrandt van Rijn created worlds where every line and brushstroke is a dancer.  But that's another story.

A couple of lesser efforts by your humble host are coming along on the drawing board.  I don't know how soon they'll be finished, but I may post them as works in progress later in the week.

Thanks for dropping by!  Now get back to your sketchbooks. . .

Fantasy Art - Forest Guardian

The point of the pencil is for line; the side of the pencil is for tone.  Except when they aren't, naturally.  I'm seeing improvement in how I handle values while rendering the figure.  I should probably go back and review Bridgman's thoughts on the subject.  Every time I go back to his books I understand just a little more about what he's getting at.  I think I'll really have a handle on it in another decade or two.

After generations of using magic to shape and protect the woodlands, many of those who dwell within the Heartwood are no longer entirely human.  While they are less monstrous than most who have been altered by magic, they are no less dangerous, and even in the most peaceful of circumstances outsiders find their mannerisms and abilities quite unsettling.

Fantasy Art - Feren Warrior

Instead of spending the time to render this one in pencil, and then playing with it in Photoshop, I thought I'd stop at the line art on the physical version and then work on rendering in Photoshop instead.  As best as I can tell, learning to paint in Photoshop isn't any different from learning to paint with traditional media, just less messy.  I'm going to focus on rendering in grayscale for now -- one good value decision is worth ten good color choices.  One bad value decision can ruin ten good color choices, too.

Those who live on the edge of the wild lands must be on constant guard, for the Feren live by plunder.  However, the Feren have no interest in gold or silver coins.  They raid for food, for tools and weapons of metal, and for captives.  Yet no expedition against the Feren has ever secured the release of a single prisoner, nor is there evidence that the Feren eat those they take (although this is a popular theory among the ill-informed).  Those taken alive by the Feren are simply. . . gone.

Fantasy Art - Swordmistress

If nothing else, blogging my art has made me concentrate more on completion.  It's like an informal deadline -- time without a blog post is like dead air on the radio.  And since I can't really post without drawing something, the time I spend with pencil and pad is more results oriented than it used to be.  I'm certainly not giving up my sketchbook, though.  That's where finished work begins, and where a lot of learning gets done.

The Uldairi tribes of the eastern lands are unique in that women wield the political power.  Even on the battlefield, the women are the equal of the men in defending their camps from bandits, raiders, and the many strange creatures that roam the empty lands.  The only exception is the highly ritualized warfare that takes place between different tribes.  These conflicts are the province of the Uldairi men alone, when they don grotesque masks and engage in a deadly game subject to rules and taboos that no outsider can truly understand.

Fantasy Art - Luminary Priest

I may go back in Photoshop and add a touch of color to this drawing.  Layers and glazes with a limited palette, maybe a highlight if I think I can make it work.  And if I can't, well, CTRL-Z is as good as any eraser.

Over three centuries have passed since the Great Crusade against the Undying King, but the Hierarchy of the Radiant Alliance endures as a major political force in the west.  The Luminaries and their Acolytes are both the pinnacle and the foundation of the Hierarchy.  The pinnacle because their knowledge of the Sacred Speech gives them great power, and the foundation because without their power the unliving enemies of humanity could not be contained. 

At least, that's the sermon as the Hierarchy preaches it. . .

No pictures to post, but. . .

I'm polishing several drawings and should have one or more of them ready soon.  In the meantime, a parable:

A young man came to Sarnath where the Buddha was staying.  In the evening, he sought the Blessed One and asked this question:  "Master, what three things may I do to be a better figure artist?" 

The Buddha's reply:

Do not abuse, misplace, or otherwise violate the centerline.

Do not abuse, misplace, or otherwise violate the centerline.

Do not abuse, misplace, or otherwise violate the centerline.

The greatest source for dynamism and movement in a figure is that twisty, bendy spine that runs through us all.  But twist or bend it as you will, there is still a single line from the top of the head to the symphysis pubis (known among the unitiatied as a "crotch").  Hang a string of chakras on it if you like, but do not jerk it around in such a way that your figure's neck sprouts from the left shoulder or the lumbar vertebrae get jammed unceremoniously into one hip or the other.

I admit that the Buddha didn't actually say that last part.  He was pretty busy, and didn't have time to explain every little thing.  But we would all do well to consider his advice about the centerline.  He was the freaking Buddha, after all.

Fantasy Art - The Nomad

I spent quite a bit of time looking at pictures of the arm guards worn by Roman murmillos to try and come up with a solution for the one this fellow is wearing.

This was drawn on 9' x 12' paper, which always feels a touch cramped to me.  Drawing the figure at that scale is fine for a study or a doodle, but for something that I intend to polish, it usually makes me a touch claustrophobic.  Still, I'm relatively pleased with the outcome.

More Bones

What can I say?  They have the organic beauty of trees and flowers but, for most of us, aren't as familiar.  Robert Beverly Hale repeatedly exhorts art students to acquire a collection of bones.  I have opted for quality replicas from the good people at www.skullsunlimited.com.

Familiars

A long time ago all of the wizards and witches went away, leaving not a hint of where they had gone or why.  The familiars that had faithfully served them were left alone to find their way in a world where there was too little magic and too much despair.

Watch out for Myrl.  He will bite.

Roll the bones

Taken alone, which looks more like a tree:  the trunk and branches, or the leaves?  The same holds true of the figure.  Without a solid understanding of the skeleton, the figure won't work right.  This is especially apparent in portraiture -- a good drawing of the face is also a good drawing of the skull beneath it. 

I don't have any portraits, or even skull drawings, handy.  But I do have a hand.

First Marks

No drawing is ever better than the first three marks on the page.  A good start doesn't promise a good finish, but a bad start guarantees a bad one. 

My intent here is to post my own drawings and talk, if only to myself, about what I'm doing as an artist.  The human figure is my main focus, thus the title.  Although the figure I'm posting to begin isn't really human.

This is Charlie.  He is a Fish Monster.  He is accompanied by his mysterious isopod, John.

Charlie and John wish you a cold, damp welcome to Mythic Figures.