Post your daily speed sketch

[Dan Epstein]

I have a confession, I’m not just good for the pencil, I’m also okay with the Japanese knife, and I dream of making a good paper cut one day.

 

[Dan Epstein]

Pencils and Charcoals for the beard effect. This one is cheater, because I used a photo for a reference.

 

[Hey_foxy]

I'm sketching sometimes wanna do it more often then i do
Sorry for the yellow light

 

[Dan Epstein]

Took your advice @zippypinhead . This is rendered from a photo of a student actress I dated 8 years and 20 pounds ago. I might begin to finally understand foreshortening and horizons, just maybe.

 

[zippypinhead]

You're making some great progress, Dan. Don't be afraid to try a go at hands.

 

[zippypinhead]

I took a bit of a hiatus from drawing for a while, due to burnout, but now I'm getting back to work. I don't want this thread to get buried and die, so here's some sketchbook work, getting a handle on how to draw the main character of my current comic project.

 

[Dan Epstein]

If you have any recommended resource on how to draw facial expressions, I'd love to know.

 

[Esther_Fae]

So I’m still reworking the composition of the sketch but yeah this took about 20 mins..... most of which was trying to get things positioned right and trying to figure out anatomy

 

[zippypinhead]

So I’m still reworking the composition of the sketch but yeah this took about 20 mins..... most of which was trying to get things positioned right and trying to figure out anatomy
View attachment 80099

Cute!

If you have any recommended resource on how to draw facial expressions, I'd love to know.

I have to admit that I haven't really sought out instructional resources for this kind of stuff for a long time (which is pretty evident in the sketches I posted) so I don't have anything specific I can recommend offhand. I will say, as with a lot of drawing technique, cartoonists do it best. If you want to understand how expressions are broken down into a recognizable abstract shorthand, then a quick search for a term like "cartooning facial expressions" yields an absolute bounty of references with different approaches and styles.

More than that, it's just a matter of observation. How do different cartoonists handle similar expressions? How can you apply that to your own practice? How can you interpret expressions you see out in the world? Where do you find good expressions out in the world?

Lately, I've been trying to get a handle on a few specific "looks" that I want to gravitate toward in my own work, and that has meant studying the work of artists I want to take influence from. For example, lately I've been staring at a lot of Jamie Hewlett's work (of Gorillaz and Tank Girl fame) and I realized the other day that he gets a great caricature effect by simply moving a character's mouth off-center on the face, sliding it around and tilting it to get some great expressions without actually contorting the shape of a character's head. Like the skull is static, and the skin can just slide around it. You can see the same effect with this famous C&H sequence:



Also, if you want good reference to draw from, use video or film, instead of still photos. Find a good expression, pause it, take a screenshot, and draw from that. An expression in motion is far more naturalistic than an expression that's being held for the benefit of a still photo. If you want to understand how expressions can be amplified, then find clips of actors really chewing the scenery. That's what I did above. Most of those expressions are video reference from one of my favorite scream queens just plain overacting.

 

[Esther_Fae]

Okay this is what that sketch turned into

 

[Dan Epstein]

I found out that Andrew Loomis and Burne Hogarth are extremely helpful names to google.

 

[Dan Epstein]

I’m practicing some perspective

 

[Dan Epstein]

This is not my work,it’s by one of my bar regulars from way back in Jerusalem. Water colors on paper. I think he’s amazing .

 

[Dan Epstein]

I was trying to sketch Ian McShane, but I turned him into Boris Karlof

 

[zippypinhead]

Here's a thing.

 

[Dan Epstein]

Doing some study lines while commuting

 

[Dan Epstein]

Some Commuting impressions 2

 

[Dan Epstein]

@zippypinhead I took another shot at a human figure. It turns out there are at least 12 nude figure drawing studios in my neighborhood

 

[Bearcat]

Trying to improve on my sketches

 

[Rai]

I am a little worn out of work related threads, so this one is about pure fun. Post your speed sketch that took you up to 20 minutes to make (no photo-shop please). You can add about type of paper/surface and pencil but it's not necessary. I'll start with the first one (don't laugh about it too hard please):View attachment 70735

This is beautiful

 

[zippypinhead]

I need to keep this thread from the dreaded lock.

I spent my day off fixing up a hideous drawing I'd previously posted. Great way to relax. I should do it more often. I'll be giving this one a digital paint job. It's a good candidate for messing around animating it in Live2D.

 

[zippypinhead]

A little bit of animation.

 

[Dan Epstein]

Notes from the evening commute

 

[zippypinhead]

View attachment 83198Notes from the evening commute

A lovely profile, Dan.

 

[Dan Epstein]

Took Zippy’s advice and tried to stick to gesture and expression over proportion in a quickie, gonna have some nudes from a studio session within a few weeks

 

[zippypinhead]

Warm-up shape studies. I'm really working to push caricature.

 

[Bearcat]

I'm sure you can tell I miss my gf, due to this quarantine

 

[Dan Epstein]

Took @zippypinhead ’s advice and started working on photo references too. Primary action line practice, 5 minutes, oil pastel on paper.

 

[zippypinhead]

That's some great gesture @Dan Epstein.

 

[zippypinhead]

High fantasy sketchiness, with some fanart of my Oblivion player character from her scrub days in Morrowind (the Morroblivion mod is the best thing ever.)