Week 3 - Figure Drawing - Male

and so this week, i sketched some men. some rather looking dandy, others Thor-ish, others regular (er, regular models, that is). in my first page below, i have sketched a female figure to kind of place a reference to, and voila - my first attempt (next to the girl) looked like a 14-year old, effeminate boy, or little teenage tan Powder. i just love that powder movie; i'd probably watch it one of these days... oh, well...

looking at my first page, it became very clear that i need to research more on drawing the knees, among others. those-too-large-for-their-legs knees are just too prominent from this angle.

and then i think i did improve on this next page...

.. a lot of Powder guys, there...

my third page consists of heads. a relief from all those big bad men..

then more practice on whole bodies again..

and i found my favorite in that fourth page, and then some..

and another favorite... i like his tan.

for this week, i used my good old winsor and newton cotmans for the skintone and clothing base, faber castell watercolor pencils for skin midtones and clothing, my pilot g-tec 0.4 fine pens for the facial features, some gel pens, and my good old staedler pencils of which some had been sitting patiently in my art box for at least 5 years. my watercolor pad is a berkeley 180gsm 24-sheet one. it is cheap and perfect for my practice. i've kept my canson one for the coming collections.

that's it. next week will be FACES and HAIR. hmmm, i ought to edit my collected vogue pages already.
bye for now!

Week 2: Female Figure --- What I have done so far...

so, here are the things i did to more or less complete my Week 1 task:

* brought my watercolor pad everywhere i go so that i can sketch/practice when my hands are idle (lunchtime at work, kitchen table while cooking, couch while watching tv, bedroom before my son sleeps, at waiting areas while running errands/paying bills, etc)

* revisited my favorite youtube channels Fsketcher (teaches you how to structure your line drawings) and Elidada84 (makes use of watercolors for fashion illustration well)

* revisited my old books - Illustrating Fashion: Concept to Creation by Steven Stipelman, The Fundamentals of Figure Drawing by Barrington Barber, Fashion Designing by Chic Francisco, my old watercolor book - Watercolor for the Fun of It - Painting People by Michael Otis, etc...

*  sketched in the weekdays, colored during the weekend

*  focused on form drawing - dismissed my downloaded files and magazine clippings (saved them for later, though)

* photographed some of the sketches

* post them here...

okay, here are the sketches for Week 1. Enjoy...

Week 1: Collect images (end of week)

and so, i have collected the images i will be using as inspiration for the coming weeks. i got Vogue pages, men's magazine pages and downloaded photos. yes, i did include some downloaded photos. in fact, for the figure drawings, i'm probably gonna be using mostly the ones i downloaded since i needed images of people with really toned muscles that i needed shown in my drawings.
i did want the printed pages as my inspiration images but my hubby suggested that i move one from traditional to what's in the now. what he meant was, if i can have access to the best photos from the web, why not tap the opportunity? i gave it a thought, and a try, and boy, am i glad i did!

inspiration images for figure drawing (female)

but i'll get most of my fabrics, shoes, bags, jewelry and anything fashion drawings from my Vogue pages, still. i also started collecting magazine images for men, but just the same, i had collected the fashion model types. this coming week, i will also be downloading more athletic photos of men, for next week's figure drawing exercises, men's edition.

okay, i'm off now to drawing. i'll be posting early this week or mid-week to show you what i have started for week 2 exercises (figure drawing - women).

ta-tah!

shasha

Week 1: Collect images (start of week)

today is Sunday, and i've committed to making this day the "start of the week" for all my 53-week journey here. but before i talk about my Week 1 task, i have listed some things i'd like to achieve out of this endeavor. yeah, just so you have an idea what the 53 weeks are for. by the end of the journey, i should be able to call myself an illustrator. yup, short and sweet. i know my first post was kind of vague. but yeah, this is what it's all about... and i can't probably call myself one without doing the following :
- completed 3 personal collections
- completed 3 gigs/projects (paid or not, as long as i have worked with someone outside my own world)
- pitched (with super thick skin) at least 1 of my collections to a company
- filled my gallery of works with at least 53 drawings
- developed my own style
- sold 5 originals in my etsy shop (which i am to setup when i have done my first collection)
- sold 15 prints in my etsy shop

- financially prepared myself for the bliss (because emotionally, i am so at it already!)

i know it's not so glamorous of a list, but i guess i can start with that. i am hopeful that once i'm in the state of bliss, i will be able to do and give more :)

okay, so let's get down to business - my task for Week 1. i have assigned myself to choose and collect the images i will then store in my inspiration/reference database. these images will be my "practice" images, the ones i will use during Week 1 to 10. i see these images to be partly my guiding light in the learning process. i am thankful i still kept my old Vogue magazines as the photograph-like finish of the pages seem to be the best option i can find. i don't want to spend a lot printing photos i like from the web. i don't want them printed from a computer printer, either. yes, as inexpensive as it can get! i have to get through the 53 weeks not spending a fortune. as if i have any!

i have drafted my 53-week schedule and here's what i've come up with:

Week 1 - collect images for reference/inspiration (source: Vogue and some other magazine pages)
Week 2 - figure drawing - female
Week 3 - figure drawing - male
Week 4 - figure drawing - face and hair
Week 5 - figure drawing - hands and legs
Week 6 - fabrics (part 1. i had to start with simple ones, i guess)
Week 7 - fabrics (part 2, i will try rendering the luxurious ones here...)
Week 8 - bags
Week 9 - shoes
Week 10 - jewelry and other accessories
Week 11 - iconic photos
Week 12 - illustrations from imagination (part 1)
Week 13 - illustrations from imagination (part 2)
Week 14 to 25 - collection # 1 (during this 12-week period, i will create the collection then scan and archive them, upload to behance and probably list on etsy. 8 weeks will be dedicated to creating artwork, remaining 4 weeks, to admin/business stuff. theme in mind, is my favorite - the fashionista tropicana, a stylish girl who loves the tropics.)
Week 26 to 37 - collection # 2 (i'm planning on concocting a collection of awkward composition. i've always liked to photograph awkward moments so i think i like to make it an entire collection of artworks this time... hmmm, that's for a start though, i might change my mind before week 26 starts...)
Week 38 to 49 - collection # 3 (Ugly Pretty. i want to draw "ugly" girls in haute couture creations. i don't know where to start yet but, yeah, it's still in the awkward theme... i'll think about it..)
Week 50 - Learn Art Licensing
Week 51 - Prepare Pitching one of my collections
Week 52 - Pitch to a chosen company

so there you go, my uber long post exposing the ultimate dreamer in me. this probably will be the longest post i'll ever have here as i am hoping that this blog be full of actual learning, not just dreaming. i will be sharing my adventures and misadventures, my ups and downs and everything in between... so yup, i'm off now to my first task!

till next week,
shasha