Captain JW

[Amaris]

Well, I've picked up the pencil again after several months of it lying dormant in the pencil holder. For those who keep track I started drawing about 3 months ago. Anyhoo, I felt the itch to draw something, so I sketched a picture of me, (as I look based on ego ) as a Captain in Starfleet. Flight of fancy? Yes. Nerd? Oh yes. Anyhoo, here it is:

Larger Image Here



J.

 

[Wingsley]

Goatee, eh?

Kinda like another starship captain in cyberspace...

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

First off, congrats on starting to draw. Especially considering you've been doing serious drawings for three months, you did pretty well with determining the placement of the features. If you're interested, I can give you links to the tutorials and references I use to help me with my own drawing...and trust me, sometimes I need a lot of help.

And also glad to see someone focusing on the "people" drawing aspect...I love the technical drawings I see here, but the variety is nice.

 

[Amaris]

Goatee, eh?

Kinda like another starship captain in cyberspace...

You know, he does, doesn't he?

First off, congrats on starting to draw. Especially considering you've been doing serious drawings for three months, you did pretty well with determining the placement of the features. If you're interested, I can give you links to the tutorials and references I use to help me with my own drawing...and trust me, sometimes I need a lot of help.

And also glad to see someone focusing on the "people" drawing aspect...I love the technical drawings I see here, but the variety is nice.

Thank you, yes the tutorials would be nice!
I have sketched for a cumulative total of 6 hours in that three months. Right now I'm a "see it, sketch it" type of person. I just look at what I want to sketch and do it. It will take time for my hands to properly show on paper what I can see. I love to draw. There's a freedom in it, and Star Trek being a favorite of mine, I couldn't resist.

I did a Spock drawing about a month ago that looked like this:

While I was tickled to see that I could get even a faint resemblance to Spock, I realized that I had a huge load of work ahead of me.
Spock was my first humanoid/person drawing. The Captain JW is my second.


J.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I knew who it was right away, so definitely you're making a pretty decent start.

Here's the stuff I use to help with my drawings...

Big Guide to Body Drawing
http://cedarseed.deviantart.com/art...?q=by:cedarseed+sort:time+-in:scraps+tutorial

Facial Expressions and Emotion
http://cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/Emotions-and-Facial-Expression-47118559

Part I of a guide to movement (other parts not yet created)
http://cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/Guide-to-Movement1-Flexibility-66104159

Guide to Human Types (in four parts).

http://cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/Guide-to-Human-Types-part-1-32046017
http://cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/Guide-to-Human-Types-part-2-33220929
http://cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/Guide-to-Human-Types-part-3-34877428
http://cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/Guide-to-Human-Types-Addendum-33097648

This one provides some basic guidelines on how to properly depict people from different parts of the world, complete with tips on various cultures' histories and beauty standards. This one is good for period-specific drawings or other cases where you have something very specific in mind...bear in mind, though, that especially in a nation with very diverse ancestries like the US, people are not going to be perfect matches. Still, it can help you understand the features you're trying to capture so that the drawing reflects the individual you're referencing, or imagining. (I'd better not see inflammatory bullcrap by anybody about this tutorial set. DON'T go there.)

The nose (because it's one of the HARDEST parts of a face to draw!)
http://www.portrait-artist.org/face/nose.html

Also, a good reference for poses:
http://posemaniacs.com/

 

[Amaris]

^ Ah, that nose tutorial's a godsend.

Thank you! I will study these to help improve my method.


J.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

You're very welcome! Believe me, I needed (and still need) that nose one very badly!

 

[Amaris]

I always have trouble with noses. I don't know what to do with them. That nose there, on the sketch, took 5 revisions before I settled on that one.

J.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I always have trouble with noses. I don't know what to do with them. That nose there, on the sketch, took 5 revisions before I settled on that one.

J.

The thing with noses is they have to be treated less as lines and more as shadows and light. It's hard to explain, but that's what helped me a lot. Same mindset helped me with lips.

 

[Amaris]

I always have trouble with noses. I don't know what to do with them. That nose there, on the sketch, took 5 revisions before I settled on that one.

J.

The thing with noses is they have to be treated less as lines and more as shadows and light. It's hard to explain, but that's what helped me a lot. Same mindset helped me with lips.

So I'm going to have to treat them like an episode of DS9.
Hmm.


J.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

You know...I didn't even see that when I wrote it!

 

[Amaris]

You know...I didn't even see that when I wrote it!

Well, me being a Niner, I'd have noticed anyway.


J.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I am too...I just didn't notice it because I was thinking more of the person who described it to me and how they did it, than of anything else.

 

[Amaris]

I will probably try to sketch something tonight. Night time is when I have more uninterrupted time.
I also wonder if I should slow down. I don't know how long it takes for someone to sketch, but I
average anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. This particular sketch took 35 minutes.

J.

 

[Amaris]

Alrighty, now my scanner is working poorly, so I took this with a digital camera and did the best I could. It will show up darker around the image than it should, but until I get my scanner fixed this will have to do. *sigh*

Now, this isn't an image of me. I thought this up in my head and put it down to paper without looking at any pictures. I wanted to see if my mind's eye could come up with something, and here it is:

J.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Basic shape of the head is good, as is the hairstyle.

I'd say the one element I'd concentrate on first if I were you would be the alignment of the features on the face; they seem vertically compressed.

As you keep going, you'll eventually get to where you experiment more with the shading, with stronger contrasts...but I think for now, just focusing on the placement and basic lineart of the features is more than enough.

I must say, though--you definitely did apply the advice about the lips as "shadow and light," and it served you well. You certainly evolved there. Keep heading in that direction and you'll do well.

 

[Amaris]

Thank you! I worked very hard on the mouth. 16 revisions before I found something that worked.

By the way, I wish you could see the shading on the nose in this picture, it doesn't do the actual nose justice. My digital camera didn't pick up more of the subtle shading, and while it's still much work to do, it looks more realistic than the pic above gives indication.

I love drawing.

J.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

You're welcome!

I understand totally about the camera. My scanner plays hell on my drawings every time.

 

[Amaris]

Well, my niece (she's 2), decided Uncle John needed more paper for his printer, so she took it and jammed it up inside the printer casing. It's been clicking all week.


J.

 

[Venardhi]

A few quick edits to show how close you really are:

1. Moved features down the face a bit, including ear(which also shrank about 15%, they should run about even with the length of the nose)

2. You drew the hair like it was all laying flat against the head, and the skull was a little shallow. A little body to the hair solves that problem nice and quick.