Are you an artist? Post your pics here!

[The Telcontarion]

Originally Posted by Rosie Gamgee

Hey, Telly: did you take classes for what you do?

Much of what I do is self taught but I have been taking classes and learning about art for a long time. Mostly figure drawing, still life, and recently my first anatomy class. I also did perspective and a cartooning class that I learned nothing from about 10 years ago.

The class that taught me the most techniques applicable to comicbooks supriseingly, was a drawing1 class I did 2 years ago. I came to understand truely what line weights was about and also color theory and the color wheel in drawing2.

You can see where some of my lines are thinner in certain areas than in others eg. The top of the head, the line completely disappears which gives it the effect of an extreme light source which eminates from just off that location. When I came to understood that concept...it was a good thing. Now I can create depth with just the manipulation of the line thickness (line weights). Art is so funny, so many things to learn that all work together to bring things to life.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

Well, technically, artists...

Hm, original answer.

[Rosie Gamgee]

Originally Posted by Huorn

Rosie, you will have to reload the image onto Photobucket. I just get the dumb little box that says the image has been moved or deleted.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Tam/ardale.jpg

Try that one.. I dunno why it wouldn't come up. Stupid computers.

...And now that I look at this, it seems I've cropped off her hands anyway.. hm.

[Rosie Gamgee]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Sure. Bear in mind, though, that I tend to use watercolour as ordinary paint and usually put it on rather thickly. Not at all like those beautiful, dreamy watercolour sceneries people usually link with watercolour.

I have no problem with that. Sometimes I think those transparent, washy watercolours are over-done. I've noticed that a lot of watercolour works lack warmth, because they rely so much on the white of the prop. I suppose that this is almost a given of the medium, but still.

I couldn't see the link, but drawing hands too small is a problem that I still haven't solved entirely. A lot of my older work has tiny hands, or hands hidden behind clothes, scarfs and anything else that could cover them because I didn't want to draw them.

Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. Nevertheless, I enjoy doing hands. I did one a while back of two hands meeting.... I'll see if I can't get it scanned and post it here. I really ought to make a series of drawings of hands, I think. But I really need to get myself a camera so I can get some good poses.

My penultimate work: Satyr night. Just as the Owl-faced lady was an excercise in background detail, this one was an excercise in light and shadow, another of my weak points.

Wow! I'd never guess it was your weak point. Very nice! I think the shadows and the light are done extremely well. Another thing: this work totally contradicts what I said about watercolours looking 'cold'. The fire-light, IMO, is done very nicely!

[Huorn]

Rosie, that is an awsome picture! The man reminds me of Aragorn. That is obviously a cornfield. The man is the center of focus in this work. My eyes are drawn to his face. Wonderful piece.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

He made me think of Boromir, which of course made me think of Aragorn similarly holding Boromir.

[Rosie Gamgee]

Thanks, Huron. I believe that I began the pic with the woman's face, and added the fellow in afterward. But, yes, I think his face is more magnetic. I look at it now and I see this look of suprise, almost, on his face. I was pleased with the expression on his face, if nothing else about the pic. I remember I liked the way the corn-stalks turned out. I borrowed them from a sketch in Country Living, I think it was.

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

He made me think of Boromir, which of course made me think of Aragorn similarly holding Boromir.

Yes, I used Boromir for this guy. I drew the picture for a poem I wrote, which was based on the song Wind That Shakes The Corn. I posted it here.

[The Telcontarion]

No one likes drawing hands at first, it's like a universal thing. While I donot hate drawing hands now, it still remains of one the main challenges to getting it right. But I am satisfied with my abilities there now.

...feet too...

I hope my earlier answer wasn't too long winded, I just wanted to convey ideas that I gleaned on my journey of learning art.

[Lady Marion Magdalena]

Earniel, I love the glowyness of your satyrs. Getting the glow when working with light and shadows seems to be the tricky part, but that piece has lots of it. It's incredibly shiney.

Rosie, that's really good work you did with the pose and getting it to look as if the woman really was being held up by the man. That's a difficult one to get just right.

On the topic of hands... it's important when drawing people with only one hand to keep very careful track of which hand you draw and missing. Because regenerating hands via white out is a pain and doesn't really work very well as can be seen here:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...nderstorms.jpg

I find hands easier to draw when they're holding things, like here:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...yelfladies.jpg

Those are my two most recent, this last one is a little over a year old and unfortunately the scan looks a bit washed out, probably because it's mostly pencil while the other two are pencil over marker.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...el/Faeries.jpg

[The Telcontarion]

It's seems everyone on this board can draw; I probably can't expect less from Tolkien fans...great minds think alike.

Those are pretty cool Lady Marion Magdalena, me like.

[Lady Marion Magdalena]

Thanks! They aren't really my best, but I had fun drawing them.

[Count Comfect]

Actually, the "regenerated" hand looks quite good, IMO, m'lady.

Everyone here is so darn talented. Geez.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Rosie Gamgee

Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. Nevertheless, I enjoy doing hands. I did one a while back of two hands meeting.... I'll see if I can't get it scanned and post it here. I really ought to make a series of drawings of hands, I think. But I really need to get myself a camera so I can get some good poses.

I'd love to see it. As for hands, this link may be useful, then. There are a large number of hand photos. I've got them all printed and they've helped me out in a few drawings. For the rest I tend to put my left hand in the required position and draw from there. Or take pictures with my digital camera and draw the hands from the computer. My drawn hands usually need some visual aid to look decent.

Originally Posted by Rosie Gamgee

Wow! I'd never guess it was your weak point. Very nice! I think the shadows and the light are done extremely well. Another thing: this work totally contradicts what I said about watercolours looking 'cold'. The fire-light, IMO, is done very nicely!

Shadow I can do, it's just light I can't get my head around at times. If I think of a dress, I will think of a uniform colour and I usually paint it like that. Shadow can then be added afterwards. But to have light patches, or places where the fabric is almost like white from the light, I just don't see them. It's just a mental click I have yet to make but I think I'm finally making progress.

Originally Posted by The Telcontarion

...feet too...

I'm getting better at feet, although at some angles, they just don't look right. Thank god for drawing long dresses that cover the feet!

Originally Posted by Lady Marion Magdalena

Earniel, I love the glowyness of your satyrs. Getting the glow when working with light and shadows seems to be the tricky part, but that piece has lots of it. It's incredibly shiney.

Thanks. The glow wasn't the hardest part, as you can work with yellow, which I somehow find a lot easier to work with than white for light effects. I used reference pictures for the fire, though, couldn't do that from my head.

Which brings me to a question for all the artists here: do you sometimes work with reference pictures for folds, poses, hands, lighting, or anything? I find myself doing so more and more and I was wondering if other people do it too? And where do you get them, then? Do you keep clippings or print-outs, just search the 'net for something you need or take the pictures yourself?

[Lady Marion Magdalena]

I'll occaisionally do an image search, if I'm drawing something and I haven't the slightest idea of how it should look, or if I do and want confirmation. And I have a reference book for drawing hands. But I never really have the reference in front of me when doing the actual drawing. It distracts me having to constantly look back and forth.

Landscapes or cityscapes are the exception. But that's mainly because I still need to get the hang of perspective and if I don't use a reference it ends up looking somewhat tilted. Not to mention gray and blurry if it's for a background. I'm super-lazy with backgrounds so a lot of my drawings end up having a person done in color standing in a black and white background, which would be a neat effect if I did it totally on purpose, but really it's just because once I finish the character in the drawing I get bored.

Anyway... I'm rambling. And I should be getting ready for work. Whee!!!

[Huorn]

Note the hands on this Huorness (Oak Leaf in Autumn Phase). I purposefully made her hands rather branchlike and large.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5.../DelphiOak.jpg


I used to have the problem of making hands too small. Like Telcontarion says, trouble with drawing hands is a universal problem. The hand is an elaborate part of the anatomy.

[Butterbeer]

Some good stuff here, most of which i shall singuarly fail to mention on this ere' post.

But, Eärniel i absolutely love the Satyrs - it's wild and beautiful.
Chagall meeets the (just can't remember the name ..it's been bugging me on my tip of the tongue moe fer a couple of minutes) meets Eärniel.


(how did you do the stars btw?)

I goota run get some food ... will have another butchers in a bit and try and remember!

Wonderful!

BBx

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Butterbeer

But, Eärniel i absolutely love the Satyrs - it's wild and beautiful. Chagall meets the (just can't remember the name ..it's been bugging me on my tip of the tongue moe fer a couple of minutes) meets Eärniel.

how did you do the stars btw?

Once your background is painted, you pick a pig-haired paint brush and dip it into white, slightly watery paint. Then you pick a bit of carboard and rub it quickly across the brush so that the paint is splattered on your paper. (Best to cover the rest of the painting you don't want 'stars' on first, though.)

(I had to look up Chagall. )

[Lotesse]

After having just read BB over at PiL mentioning something about some art of yours here, Earniel, of course I had to come by here and check it out. That Satyr painting of yours blows me away. That is a damn beautiful painting, Earniel. I mean, just beautiful. I could keep gazing at it for ages. It has its own spirit. That's the indicator of a truly special work of art, when it comes alive on its own.

Yes, I really, really love your Satyrs. I'd love to be able to view it in real life. That's the kind of picture you can just drift into simply by looking at it for a while, in real life. Like magic. The owl lady was very crisp and detailed, nicely crafted, very pretty but your Satyrs is something else. The Owl lady is craft, but Satyrs is art. Bravissima, bella! Just gorgeous.

[Earniel]

Wow, thanks Lotesse! That's very high praise.

All these nice words from everyone make me blush.

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by Huorn

Note the hands on this Huorness (Oak Leaf in Autumn Phase). I purposefully made her hands rather branchlike and large.

This picture is awesome! I love the details.