From Life

If you're trying to draw realistically, you need an endless supply of new information - you can't just learn the academic stuff, then ignore life around you. You have to draw from life, even if it seems like you aren't getting anything out of it. I didn't keep a sketchbook for ten very busy years while I was buried in work and I regret it - my work showed it as I plateaued. Now I'm back to it, and my work is slowly improving, but most importantly, I've got the drawing bug again! Keep drawing folks...


Kids are (for me) the hardest of all to draw - they include gesture, story, likeness, proportion, anatomy, drapery - this is the only page in any sketchbook of mine where I think I got the gesture in every pose!

Life drawing class - I photoshoped two of my more finished drawings together here. I can only find time to go 3 hours a week, but it has helped my drawing a lot. I make lots and lots of very poor, humbling drawings every week of great poses by beautiful models, and it has forced me to work on my figures after years of thinking that I was done with all that. Also, it is great to talk art with whoever shows up - so refreshing after listening to people at work discuss the opening numbers for the latest superhero crap!


Trying to get a likeness...

You can get a kid to hold still for a long time if you take home your Cintiq and set the whole thing up - it's like they're frozen!


Trying out new pencils - I like trying new ones, but lately I keep going back to wax based pencils because I'm tired of my fingers smearing delicate drawings as I flip through my sketchbook.