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Sinéad Erin
Sinéad Erin
Earth
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julien Gaumet
Asked for help
Here are some of my attempts ! I am quite happy with the result because my proportions used to be all over the place on this kind of drawing and I feel quite an improvement ! What do you guys think ? I have also tried to find a balance between gestural curves and structure with straights. It did not work on every pose I think. Please let me know your feedbacks on these topics :)
Sinéad Erin
Hey! These sketches look great, I especially like sketch #2 and #5! In first sketch, the arms look a bit too relaxed compared to the reference. I would keep the curve of the back of the arm but show tension through the forearm. Also adding the point of the elbow to show the perspective of the arm could help as well. I hope this is helpful and keep it up! :)
VAGABOND
Asked for help
I think my what I am struggling with the most with this project is keeping things in proportion while also still trying to obtain that rhythm that Stan talked about. I would say the legs/arms in particular where the hardest part of the body to draw so feedback on how to draw better legs/arms would be GREAT. I was also wondering if would be a good idea to practice just doing leg/arm rhythms by themselves or should I just keep doing the whole body???
Sinéad Erin
Hey! I found getting the proportions right tricky too, but i think did a good job with the proportions for this exercise! I think practising both ways would be beneficial but drawing the limbs with the rest of the body would be more so because the rhythms of the arms and legs move into the torso for example the connection between the pecs with the deltoids. For the limbs, I think you have done a good job for sketch #3. For sketch #4 I think you could add tapered strokes to the forearms as the lines are quite parallel instead of getting thinner towards the wrist. Also, for that pose, in the reference she has most of her weight bearing down on her left leg, your sketch shows her torso to be moving in the opposite direction, making it look like she hasn’t got that weight traveling down that leg. I think using center lines and a line for the angle of the shoulders can help when drawing the torso to support the pose. I hope this is helpful! :)
Sinéad Erin
Asked for help
I used the overhand grip with a charcoal pencil on newsprint for all my sketches. This was very challenging; I have re drawn them so many times! Some have turned out better than others, I did more but feel that they looked too scruffy. Critique is welcome. :)
Sinéad Erin
I limited myself to 3 minutes for these sketches.
VAGABOND
Did a few more seals try to get some more weight but I still feel like I can still work on the contrast between the straights and curves more with these guys but let me know what your guys thoughts are :)
Sinéad Erin
Hey @VAGABOND The fifth seal and the last ones are my favourite! The last seal in particular has good flow, I think you have improved. I think the waving flipper of the seal (on the second page) could have a simple curved line on one side contrasted with some straights that show the more complex bending form. Keep it up! :)
VAGABOND
Here are my NAVY SEALS (a little late to the party but better late then never). Going to try doing more in the next couple of days as warmups so stay tuned I guess lol. Also any feedback would be awesome.
Sinéad Erin
Hey @VAGABOND  I like your seals faces and the seals on the second page look even more 3 dimensional than the first page! I think adding some overlapping features such as fat folds can help to show more depth and compression in areas that are being squashed. The second seal on the first page could have a flatter belly as it is resting on the rocks (but still showing the weight bulging out from the neck with a curved line) this would contrast against the curves on the top of the seals back and tail. I think the seal on the second page (top right) could have the flipper lowered so it is more diagonal to the bending of the neck on the other side. I know this is stretching the reference a bit, but I think this could make the sketch more dynamic instead of these two points sticking out symmetrically. I hope these points are helpful! 😊
@uzumaki
This was fun, really enjoyed being more fluid and free. Had to catch myself a couple of times not to copy the contours of the silhouette. All feedback is welcome.
Sinéad Erin
I really like the seal sketch at the top right corner! (on the first page) I also like a lot of your sketches on the last page, I think you have done well overlapping and showing the weight of the seals! I think the seal in the middle of the second page (#22) could have a simpler chest but still showing the outward direction at its peak and then the swooping down to its belly. This can give contrast against the bend in the seals back and could help to support the gesture of the tail which I think has been done really well. 
julien Gaumet
Here are few of my attempts, some are better than other. I found this exercise way more difficult than expected ! Even if a seal is quite "simple" to draw, it is so relaxed that I found it difficult to find gesture and energy in poses. Please let me know what you think ! Any advice to improve is welcome ! 🙏
Sinéad Erin
Hey! These sketches look great, I found this exercise more difficult than I expected too! I like the seals faces! (Especially in the first and eighth) For the 1st drawing, I think you could try to use one curved line to capture the gesture of the belly, and then lighten the line that goes through the flipper with a kneadable eraser. This might be a bit challenging though if the line is too dark, but I think it could have a better flow than two curved lines. For the 7th drawing, I like how you have pushed the seals flipper to go more towards the body to help with the flow of the drawing. I think the seal could have straighter lines for the top of the seals back to contrast against the curve of its belly. I hope this is helpful! :)
Sinéad Erin
Hey everyone! Here is my level one submission. I found this challenging so I sketched them a few times, any feedback is appreciated! :)
Sinéad Erin
another seal I forgot to add!
julien Gaumet
Here is a second attempt for this project. This time I have tried with a picture of my girl friend. It is incredibly difficult with a face you know that much, it always looks off ! I was quite happy with the line drawing and then I wanted to add some values to give her a more final look but I feel it breaks appart 😅 And this curly hair 🤯🤯😅 Don’t hesitate to let me know your feedback !
Sinéad Erin
Hey! @julien Gaumet You’ve done really well when approaching a portrait with added difficulty! (The tilt of the head making the eyes appear closer to the nose as well as drawing curly hair.) For the curly hair, I think it’s great that you have simplified it to one shape around the head. I think you could break the outline a bit by adding one or two curls on the left-hand side to make it more interesting and to show that the hair is curly. I feel that the shading is definitely difficult but sectioning the hair into slightly smaller shapes that show the form of the curls before adding the darker values would help. Overall, I think this is a great portrait, keep it up! 😊
VAGABOND
Did another one of the Musketeer guy and I think I did better then my first attempt then I tried to do one of a different portrait all together and well I defiantly need more practice. This is easily the hardest project so far for me lol but any feedback would be great
Sinéad Erin
Hey @VAGABOND You’ve done a great job with the angle of the eyes! I think for the first portrait the mouth could be moved to the right more. By using plumb lines, the corner of the mouth should be below the eye. I also think the straight line for the jaw could be broken down into two lines. For the second portrait, I notice that the head is tilted very slightly upwards in the reference, compared to your sketch. This project is definitely a challenging one! Great work and keep it up! :)
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