Google
 

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Some Critters

Well I had a big first tonight. I actually wanted to stay at work past closing time! There wasn't even any debauchery involved! We were pretty slow tonight & I was able to get some sketching done, I had just read a tutorial on drawing anthropomorphic animal faces, so around midnight I sat outside & challenged myself to fill a sketchbook page in 30 min (I lock up at 12:30). Well, as you'll see, I didn't quite finish the page, but I'm extremely happy with what I got on it. And for the first time I ever remember I was actually bummed when it was time to close up shop! I wanted to fill that page & a few more!

Animal faces are something I've really struggled with, not that I'm very good in any department, but my animals have been particularly bad to the point that I've never posted any of them before,... and we all know I've posted some crappy attempts at art. Anyway, I got some good pointers from the tut I read at Draw Furry, and I feel like I really took a step forward tonight, even if it was a small one. I genuninely like a handful of these & will definitely develop a couple of them further. I'm also pleased with some of the better pairs of eyes. I think I can actually see a bit of personality in a couple of these.



I'd really like some crits & advice on this one if you have any. I will post more as I tighten a few of these up.

2 comments:

Jerry Keslensky said...

You are heading in the right direction, Pat. The secret is all in the use of perspective, so keep trying to focus on that. A circle and a sphere look similar when drawn on paper but there is a slight difference in the sphere do to the effect of its curvature and that is part of the use of perspective. Also the facial features need to be drawn to show that they wrap around the spherical surface of the head.
One thing that may help you is to change the angle of your drawing surface when you draw. It is amazing how different a persons drawings change when they use different angles for their drawing surface. It my have to do with freeing up the arm movement but it also has to do with visual perception. So give it a try. 40 to 45 degrees is very different from flat on a table top.

Pat the Pirate said...

Thanks for the comment. I try to draw on a slant when possible. I like the angle of my table at home, but when I'm just sketching at work it's a bit harder to find anything but a flat table. But I am focusing more on construction & trying to start very simple and I find it's helping.