After careful analysis, draw as many skulls without reference as you can on one page. (Around 8-10)
Then check the reference to compare what you were missing. (Is the cranium in the right place compared to the jaw position? Is the nasal cavity too high? Too low? Is the mouth coming out too far, or not far enough?)
Then do one more page again without reference.
Then check the reference again to look for inconsistencies (it's OKAY to miss a lot of things!).
Repeat this until you have 10 pages of skulls. Your final page will very much look better than your first.
HARD MODE:
Draw 10 skulls, but STYLIZE the proportions. See if you can stretch and squish the proportions; elongated skull, big cranium, small mandible, so many combinations are possible!
EPIC MODE:
Paint those 10 skulls with a different angled light source for each.
Here, I focused on practicing and repeating the drawing of skulls. To keep the practice interesting, I added some skulls of other animals for variation.
I don't want to see another skull again lol
Looking back, I think the biggest improvement I made was the cranium and jaw proportion and positioning. I was also finding it easier to visualize the skull in more extreme angles. Still making mistakes (particularly with the face features), but I think I've gradually improved
To check against reference I used 3d skull (thanks Nio@): https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/male-skull-1e54622b84ab46fd9f4518c47fa60929
For anyone interested in seeing my notes and comparison to reference: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BP-_OFwXHfBikhXLyK_b-HNfNM8_WqYm?usp=sharing (google drive cause this site compresses images quite heavily and it might not be readable)
Back after watching the week 2 critiques, I'm not doing new revisions cause the exercise itself involved self critiques and iteratively drawing. Its a bit tedious but this method is super useful self improvement
I feel I really leveled up this time around by taking my time, really processing all the information, and deciding each stroke. Spent 11.5 hours.
My favorite is #63
Started for two pages then I went on vacation only to come back and shake the rust off lol Overally I believe I finally have a handle on making skulls without references. There was alot of progression and regression cuz I was experimenting with my egg shape and guidelines.
Been busy with school, but I've still been practcing skulls whenever I get the time. I definitely feel like I've become a lot better at skulls. There are still plenty of areas where I can improve, but I think I'll move on now.
Broke the monotony with some stylized stuff. Still looks rough but I didn't expect to master the anatomy with just this. This is a great exercise to manipulate the forms of the skull. I only feel like I have a basic understanding of it obviously so I will study from reference in the future.
At least when I look at my first few pages I can see a TON of mistakes. That's a good sign that you've improved.. being able to spot mistakes and what not. This is tough so goodluck everyone (also should've blurred the shadow on the cranium in the last one.. completely forgot that tool existed whoops)
Art is the conveyance of fundamental human truth, regardless of barriers attempting to conceal it.
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HARD MODE:
Draw 10 skulls, but STYLIZE the proportions. See if you can stretch and squish the proportions; elongated skull, big cranium, small mandible, so many combinations are possible!
EPIC MODE:
Paint those 10 skulls with a different angled light source for each.
GOOD LUCK