Monday, September 22, 2008

Chunky batman!

I now his head is a little too small, but I am proud of my hand!! =)

3 comments:

Brian Ashmore said...

Hi, Joel. I really like your drawings! I'm scrambling to finish up a project but will send you some feedback and thoughts early this next week when I've had a chance to finish up and catch my breath. Sorry to take so long.

Brian Ashmore said...

Hi, Joel,

I've spent some time on your blog and I think your work looks very good!! You definitely have a talent for drawing. As long as you enjoy it, you should keep drawing and developing your ability. Which is good advice for any artist at any age or ability.

I especially like your drawings of Jesus and Batman (really like the Mazzecchelli Batman). I'm partial to both, although Christ is the better hero (best ever!). ;) You're cartoon drawings and still life drawing you did with your Grandma are also very good.

As far as advice going forward, I have a just a couple of things to pass on. In your most recent Batman image, you mentioned that you felt his head was too small. You can definitely get away with a small head on superheroes because it makes them look even more beefy and powerful. On regular humans, it's best to really watch the proportions and make sure that all the body parts are sized correctly in comparison to each other. This can be a tough thing sometimes...even with years of experience. I just had to completely start a painting over from scratch this past Friday because I realized that I had drawn the figure's head too big. This was after a day's worth of painting. So, proportions are definitely a tough thing sometimes. I find, for me, that it's best if I sketch in all the proportions in a drawing lightly at first. If I have time, I like to move on to something else before I finish the drawing. That way, I can come back to the drawing with a "fresh eye" and, hopefully, see and mistakes that I might have made in the drawing and correct them before moving on to completing the image. At least 50% of a good drawing is seeing and understanding the proportions of what you are drawing before you even put pencil to paper. It's always a good idea to look at what you are going to draw for a few minutes and really determine what the big shapes are and how they relate to the smaller shapes.

By the way, that IS a very good hand on your recent Batman drawing. Good job! Hands are TOUGH!! I still have trouble with them from time to time. There's something about them that makes them very difficult. I had a college professor once that made us draw in a sketchbook every day. One of the things we had to sketch was our own left hand in different positions over and over and over again. Practice does help. You are doing great with hands. Keep at it!

I would also encourage you to keep drawing more things like the still life that you set up with your Grandma. It's fun to draw things from books but it's also a good idea to draw from "life," too. It's very good practice to draw objects that are actually in front of you. This will help you develop a good understanding of how lighting and shapes work together. This also will help you understand forms even better when you are drawing from a 2d picture. So, keep drawing the stuff you love whether it's Batman or cartoons out of a book but also keep drawing objects that you can place in front of you. Your Grandma seems to have a good understanding of this in having you draw things from different angles. Grandmas are smart. The more angles you draw something from, the better you can understand it's form and shape when you need to improvise something or draw from a photo or other flat image.

Keep on drawing, Joel. You are doing very well. Good advice for ANY artist, myself included: When you are feeling bored, challenge yourself and draw things that you wouldn't necessarily think to draw ( for me, it's technical objects like cars, buildings, etc). Draw things that you think you might fail at and don't worry if the drawing doesn't turn out like you'd like. Anyone who succeeds at anything has gone through many failures (learning) to get there. An ability to draw all sorts of things can eventually be a big "plus" as working artists tend to get requests to draw all sorts of things. Plus, getting good at drawing things you don't necessarily like to draw will make you EVEN BETTER at the things you DO like to draw.

Always feel free to send me an image of a new drawing or direct me to your blog and say, "What do you think?" I'm always available to lend an "eye." :)

Best Wishes,

Brian

Mike Garr said...


When you really master drawing you can produce amazing artwork. Drawing comes first! Keep at it. Learn to recognize what's important and not important to make something "come alive". You can never go wrong enjoying drawing. Try to learn to get better with every drawing, and be surprised when they are really looking good! Pay attention to light, values, and shadows. Enjoy! I like your quick drawings of people.

Check out my work on instagram mikegarrart I have been enjoying drawing since elementary school. At least 60 years by now, and it never gets old. I am still learning.