Hellboy

A Hellboy pose / expression sheet in the style of Sean Galloway I did a little while a go, as part of a fun little facebook challenge. Not much to say about this one.

More Books: Art of Drawing Anatomy

It's been a while since I've given a brief review of any of my art books. As I'm sure many of you are just dying to know which books are on my shelves, I thought I would appease you by doing a quick lil' blurb about a book I've had for a year or so, but only read yesterday. Be excited!

Title: Art of Drawing Anatomy (David Sanmiguel)

Who should read it: New artists

Why is it awesome?:

Okay, "awesome" is not actually how I would describe this book. On my shelf I have books that I love, and books that didn't quite live up to my expectations. This would be one of the latter. My reason for picking up this book in the first place was to once and for all figure out the placement of the upper arm muscles, as well as to get tips and tricks on drawing anatomy in general. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a more useful analysis, such as multiple arm views with muscles flexed and relaxed, explanations of the muscle structure, or a close look at how they connect. You do get some views, but I didn't really find it helpful. After I read the entire book, I think my overall impression was that I could have used a few less "Step-by-step" drawing tutorials for drawing the human form (though useful, it took up a large portion of the book) and more discussion of the actual anatomy (as per the book's title).

However, I am not saying that this book is useless. Far from it! It just wasn't what I was looking for in an anatomy book. In the hands of a new artist, this book would probably be extremely helpful. Though titled an anatomy book, it's really more of a general how-to-draw for the human form. Art of Drawing Anatomy has sections on drawing tools (as well as how to use them), several methods for breaking down the human form (such as using body axes to construct the basic pose), anatomy of bones and muscles, how to get the feel of movement, and, as mentioned before, step-by-step drawings of the human form. It covers quite a bit, and I did find the proportion diagram at the bottom of page 15, the skeleton and muscle drawing shortcuts, and the sections on movement helpful. (There is a section on facial construction, but I would recommend going elsewhere if you want to learn the intricacies of the human face, as this was one of the weaker sections, in my opinion.) This book also has quite a few photos and drawings of the human body, so you won't lack for reference. If you happen to be an artist just beginning to draw anatomy, Art of Drawing Anatomy might just be the book for you. Just keep in mind that it might not be for everybody.

:D

Some Timed Sketches

Just a quick update before Thanksgiving gets fully underway. Some more face sketches (I like drawing faces, in case you haven’t noticed) and some animals.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Scorpio

Alrighty, it's about time I got some newer stuff uploaded. I've been spending a lot of time getting my web pages updated, synced up, and good to go, so I've mostly been ignoring my sketch blog. Enough of that business, I say! Here's a Doodle United sketch (theme: Star Sign) from a little while ago. Which is, shockingly enough, a pencil sketch. You won't see many of those due to my epic lack of motivation for using my scanner.

A personified Scorpio:

Scribblet

A doodle that showed up in the corner of my sketchbook while I was watching videos. I thought it looked a little odd, but I still kind of like it. I think she's a satyr or something? Either way, she gets her own little blog post, because it took me FAR to long to get the scanner working to not upload her somewhere.

You got "Color Wheel"!

My ongoing journey to learn color, as summed up in a five minute-ish nonsensical doodle:

Color: my eternal foe.

Dance Time

I don't have too much to say about this. I was watching some dancing on Youtube, and at some point started to do a quick sheet of gestures from part of a Bharatanatyam dance:

Darius II

Spurred by my continuing fascination with the Achaemenid Empire, a quick design sketch of Darius II. I'm not sure how accurate his outfit is, but I think it more or less reflects the fashion of the time. If not, any site recommendations for historic Persian garb are welcome. :)

Gestures

Also known as: The Digital Ones That Required No Scanning. Just timed hand/feet sketches, and some shadow gesture sketches (from which I learned that a) my drawings tend to have weak lines of action and b) drawing Kung Fu masters is a lot more fun than gestures have a right to be).

ES21 Scribbles

This is just a quick upload of a few of the Eyeshield 21 sketches I did a few days ago. I was rereading the manga, during which I started doodling some expressions and poses. None of these are mine (minus the random Kell scribblet) as this was just a little study on Yusuke Murata's fantastic artwork.

At the moment I am being entertained by some of the abandoned WIP images I'm finding on my computer. I may have to upload a few, just for kicks and giggles.

Sketches

Look, some sketches of hands and facial expressions! You know it's exciting! :D