hello everyone,this is one that i started last night,im a HUGE borris vallejo fan,so this is the start of my 1st fantasy drawing,..but i wanted to do more then just show where im at on it,in my last post i picked on lee hammonds book ,and as always i stuck my foot in my mouth and i shouldnt have,cause i noticed a new member likes her book.
but i have a copy of her book because ive seen so much talk about it around the web,and i thought it would have detailed information on shading,and also one review said it showed how to take a profile of a face and draw it looking straight at you,....he fibbed who ever said that.
im not going for a likeness cause the girl in my drawing is going to be so tiny,and i like the pose she is standing in..its a full body ,and she is sexy in an exorcist kind of way.,
i put a penny beside one scan just to give you an idea of how small she is.
i have no doubt that mrs hammond is very nice,but she mainly just says to practice a lot.and i wanted to show how i attack a picture from start to finish,and what i look for..wich also there is as many different ways to draw as there are people..so here goes,...1st is the photo,..in wich i would graph,...then (VERY IMPORTANT!!!)i use a hard pencil that wont leave outlines,and draw the shapes as lightly as i can..to where i can just barely see them,doesnt mater if its hair even,..i just look for shapes 1st,.i work in areas about as small as 4 square centimeters,at a time,..wich is what my squares are in this one...the blue line scan is about what i would start with just a general outline but as close as i can get to the shape of the object,...then i outlined in red the smaller shapes i'd look for(i used photo shop my mouse sticks so i done the best i could)). even as small as the shapes are there is still lights and darks in them,.most of the highlights in the hair are not white,they are shaded with a 4h,they just look white cause they are next to darker shapes, if im not sure how dark something should be,i hold a scrap peice white paper up to the photo,and judge it from there.
also keep in mind that some shapes are so light its easier to shade them with a peice of scrap paper that is just BARELY DIRTY..or use a very hard pencil..any style of shading will work,applying directly with pencil..or by using scrap paper folded with points.,before i write a whole book..ill bring in the stuff i made,,....and if i think of more info from time to time ill keep adding it under this topic,..and also anyone with other info that would be helpfull to me and others ..please feel free to post here,...i more then welcome all the help i can get......one final thing....KNEADED ERASERS are priceless and is the one thing i value most ..even more then my pencils.
it was a long day today so i dont think im going to draw tonight,..im just going to take my dog over and let him play with the neghbors dog,..see ya guys later

John

I was thinking how fast you are without it affecting the quality too.

I think this will be a thread worth watching.

Phil