[Nathan]

I second this. I’m really interested in jumping into watercolours 🙂

[Nathan]

Yeah, portrait drawings are definitely a challenging subject. You definitely need a system of measuring and remeasuring, but I find once you have the likeness it can get really fun as you render. I’m still new to it all. I’m mainly doing it because I love capturing emotions or the personality in a person. The face is the most obvious way to capture that.

The model I’m using is Rajif from the image gallery. I had a lot of fun scanning through his expressions gallery. There are so many awesome portrait shots and his facial expression are hilarious. I couldn’t help but laugh at some of them. It was really hard to choose just one…for now 😉

I’m looking at this portrait as a composition as a whole. Not just getting the likeness – I haven’t done that before. I wanted to choose a pose of his that elicited a response from me and something I could tell a story with 🙂

I ended up choosing this image as my reference. I couldn’t help but smile at this picture. It looks like a ton of fun to draw, and there is definitely a story behind his expression.

It should be fun. I’ll post up progress shots.

[Nathan]

Hey mate,

Yeah still here. And yes still been working. I’ve just completed Portrait Drawing For Beginners by Chris Legaspi. I’m starting a charcoal portrait this weekend. It will be the second time I’ve ever used charcoal, so I’m a little nervous and excited to use it 🙂 I’ll post up my progress over the coming weeks 🙂

[Nathan]

Boom! Final finished. Really happy with this 🙂

[Nathan]

Here some practices of noses. Also did some ears but I didn’t get to take photos.

However, I’m really happy with how this is progressing. I decided to use everything I learnt and start a full rendering. Here is where I’m at:

I’ve still got a bit to go. This dude is a lot more wrinkled and has some tufts of hair, however, I wasn’t confident enough.

I’m currently going through the hair and aging tutorials in the more advanced classes. I’ll be finishing it this weekend. I’m really happy with how its progressing. It’s definitely one of the best renders I’ve done 😀 😀

[Nathan]

Hey mate,

I just checked out your instagram. Great stuff. I love your recent work on the skulls!

Regarding figure drawing, don’t be so harsh on using references. Everybody (even the best artists) use references, even when detailing a character concept.

If you wish to draw the figure from memory, it will come in time and with practice. I recommend going through the some of the figure drawing classes here.

The way I learned to do the figure from memory is to start with simple shapes. Like the basic lines and cylinders for the body and then refine your shapes as you go. Much like a sculpture would refine his shapes as he carves his marble.

So in short answer, do both. Use references and put aside time to build a pose from memory. You will learn either way and both with impact your overall figure drawing.

[Nathan]

Been having some fun making my way through Beginning Head Drawing with Steve Huston. Learning heaps. Here are my sketches so far.

^^^ For some reason I added an extra plane below the eyes. haha oops.

Trying to visualize the placement of the eyeball.

[Nathan]

Looking good man, keep it up. The beginners’ course is great and a lot of fun as you progress 😀

[Nathan]

Thanks, Alec,

I’m not sure how long exactly the full render took. It took me a week to do, stealing 20 – 40 minutes sessions when I could. (It was a busy week for me last week). If I added up the time spent, I would say it took me about 3 hours or so.

[Nathan]

Finally done. I’m really happy with this. I learned a lot. I’m looking forward to landscapes

[Nathan]

3 images from the Lay-In Exercises from chapter 7 of the beginners’ course. I did some others, but they were rushed and I wasn’t happy with them. These are the top 3.

This week I’ll be doing the full rendering. I’m excited and intimated. But you got to be in it to win it.

[Nathan]

Thanks Robert,

The skull drawing as you see it above, took me about an hour. That not including the thumbnail sketches beforehand (add another 20 minutes). I ended up spending another hour later redoing some bits and refining others.

[Nathan]

Hey mate, I’m loving the progression you have made in these portraits. Your line work is getting strong and I love your growing confidence with shadow shapes. Definitely some great improvements over the last month or so! Keep it up.

[Nathan]

Ok, latest work over the last couple of weeks. I’ve been slowly working through the beginners course. I’m loving it.

The skull is still a work in progress. There are some things I want to tidy up and also go into more detail with. Loving the process 😀

[Nathan]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the feedback! I don’t mind the critique.

I went back and checked my drawing, the ‘warping’ of the cup is definitely a result of the photo. I went and checked it and it looked fine. But I’ll definitely take on your feedback for next time (as well as improve my photo taking skills haha).

I’m long overdue to post some stuff up. I’ll do that tonight.

Cheers

[Author]

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