More Hands!

     Last week I said I'd draw some more hands and post them, so here they are:

Since last time I drew my hand, I figured it was a good idea to try a more manly hand. (Male hands are generally stockier than female hands, and I thought it was important to practice those as well.)

Next I decided to draw a more complex hand (as well as an arm). I included the bracelets and microphone from the picture. (As a side note, this is actually the hand of one of the band members I plan on drawing for my final product.)

     I tried to do different sizes of hands this week. Last week, I did both of the hands life-sized, which is much easier. This week, however, I made both smaller. The first drawing is about three inches from the tip of the pencil to the base of the thumb, which is about 60 or 75 percent of life size. The second hand is about a half of an inch across -- about 12.5% of life size. Drawing the hands smaller was a challenge because I had to make sure I kept the proportions the same. I'm glad I practiced this, though, because I'll have to draw the hands smaller in my final product.

     I also found another source to help me in drawing hands: Draw Real Hands! (see citation below). It had separate chapters for male and female hands, which discussed the differences (for example, male hands are more angular and female hands are more slender and delicate). The book also a section about incorporating props into drawings (how the hand holds them, for example), which was helpful for the drawings I did this week.

     One of the most helpful points in Draw Real Hands! was about identifying the light source. Since shading is what makes the hand seem realistic, having correctly placed shadows is essential to the drawing. It helped me to shade the hands better, since before I sometimes guessed at where to place shadows. By identifying the light source first, I knew where to darken or lighten the shadows -- areas opposite from the light would be darker than areas closer to the light.

     Of course, this week is drawing clothes, so that blog post will be up soon. This was just a supplemental post form last week. Stay tuned!

Citation:

Hammond, Lee. Draw Real Hands! Cincinnati, OH: North Light, 1997. Print.

Hands are Quite a Handful

     This week was hands-drawing week! One of my resources stated, "A hand that looks somewhat realistic is one of the most complex body parts to draw" ("How to Draw Realistic Hands" 1). After reading this quote, I was a little worried as to what I was getting myself into.

     I found two different resources (both video tutorials) on how to draw hands. They each approached the task in a different way, and I thought it would be good to try both and see which I liked better.

     The first video (found within the second citation below; direct link in first citation) suggested drawing reference lines (such as a rectangle for the palm, a triangle for the bottom of the thumb, etc.) before beginning any details. I used my left hand as a model. This is the result:

     The tutorial then suggested adding in lines on the fingers and palm as well as rounding out any sharp edges.

     Lastly, I added in shading to make the hand look realistic. Shading was pretty tough, considering the amount of lines in hands. The tutorial mentioned that you don't need to include every single line -- just the main ones, like at your knuckles or around the large muscle below your thumb.

     Altogether, I really liked this method. By breaking everything down into basic shapes, it made beginning the drawing seem like a less daunting task. However, it took more time than I would've liked.

     The second video (the third citation below) took a more difficult approach. The artist in the video suggested using your other hand for reference, and drawing only what you saw. She said numerous times throughout her drawing, "I'm not making anything up." The technique was the first do a simple line drawing of the hand without any shading.

     This was quite a bit harder than I thought it would be. Since I was using my own hand (and in a specific position), I had to make sure not to move too much, or my perspective would be off.

     Next, I was told to add in rough shading (without any smudging). The artist paid special attention to the darkest areas, so I made sure to shade those in a lot.

     Finally, I smudged the pencil marks to create a more natural shading.

     I found this technique to be quite a bit harder than the other one. Since I had to go straight off of what I was seeing rather than drawing reference lines first, there was more trial and error, and more erasing. However, the reference lines and getting everything in proportion from the first method took longer than this method.

     Overall, I think I liked the second, more free-hand technique better. I plan to try a couple more hands with that method, and I will upload those picture when I've finished.

Citations:
Crilley, Mark. "How to Draw a Hand (With Spoken Explanation)." Video blog post. YouTube. 01 Oct. 2007. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NQy-a3rvQs>.

"How to Draw Realistic Hands." Web blog post. Squidoo. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-draw-realistic-hands>.

Roberts, Di. "How to Draw Professional Looking Hands." Video blog post. Videojug. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://m.videojug.com/film/how-to-draw-professional-looking-hands>.

Jenna's Face

     For my first week, I decided to focus on faces. I've drawn faces numerous times before (see below), but it's been a while, so I decided to focus on them again for a week.

     I had no idea who to draw, so I consulted my friends (Ally Dworetsky and Jenna Rollins), and naturally they wanted me to draw them. Originally, I was reluctant, but when I couldn't think of anything else, I decided I would draw Jenna.

     However, before actually drawing a face, I wanted to focus on mouths. I've struggled in the past with drawing mouths, so I found an instructional blog online (see citation at bottom) and practiced. These are the results:

     The first one I did (on the left) wasn't that great, but I felt like I improved more during the second drawing. Then I felt ready to take on the task of drawing one Jenna Rollins.

     It took me about two and a half hours to draw Jenna, and I video-taped the entire thing. I then cut out the most boring parts (such as sketching the outline) and (somehow) got the video down to about seventy minutes. The song that I picked to play in the background is about 3:05, so I had to speed up the video a lot (2300%, actually). (This involved using three different video-editing programs, which made it surprisingly difficult just to speed up video... But this blog is about drawing, not my struggles with frustrating video programs.)

Jenna Drawing Time Lapse from Annie G. on Vimeo.

     And here is the finished product:

     I can't really describe my techniques for drawing other than that I sketch the general shape and then started shading and adding detail. Generally, I start with the eyes, since they give life to the drawing. From there I usually spread from the center out, by working on the nose, then the hair, etc. Hopefully the video sufficiently shows the process.

     I did a little practice on clothing when drawing Jenna's shirt, but I will definitely do much more intensive practice in two weeks (during my clothing-focused week). Next week I will focus on hands.

Citation:

Prokopenko, Stanislav. "How to Draw Lips." Web blog post. Stanislave Prokopenko (Fine Art Painter). July 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.

<http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/07/draw-lips/>.

Goals and More

  I've loved drawing my entire life. However, when I was younger, I drew mostly animals, and I had never tried to draw humans until recently. About a year ago, I had to draw a self-portrait for art class, and I found that I really enjoyed drawing humans. I spent time in art class and art club meetings refining this skill, and over the past summer I finally produced a drawing that I was very proud of.

(Nate Ruess)

  However, while I've spent quite a bit of time practicing drawing faces, I've never even tried to draw a realistic full-body person. I believe this is the next step in mastering realistic drawing, and the genius project is a good place for me to work on this.

     For the first week (the week of February 25), I'll focus on drawing human faces. My goal for this week is to draw at least one full face, and also spend some time concentrating on specific facial elements (noses, eyes, and mouths are the most challenging). I plan to visit the library this weekend to find a few books on this subject. I will look online for blogs if I can't find any sufficient books.

     During the second week (the week of March 4), I'll focus on hands. My goal is to perfect hands, and I will do so by drawing various types and sizes of hands. I plan to ultilize drawing books that focus specifically on hands to help me improve at drawing them.

     For the third week (the week of March 11), I will work on clothes. Clothes are (from what I've heard) the most challenging element to draw. They will also probably take a considerable amount of time, since there's such a large range of textures and types of clothing. I plan to use drawing books to try out various styles. I don't have a specific quantitative goal yet, but I want to try drawing at least four different styles of clothing (ex. jeans, t-shirts, etc.).

     My last two weeks (March 18 and March 25) will be spent on my final product. Since my overall goal for this project is to be able to draw a realistic full-body human, I want my end result to show that I have achieved that. I plan to draw a realistic, full-body picture of one of my favorite bands, Walk the Moon. I'll have to combine and apply the techniques I will have worked on for the previous month to create my final drawing. Since there are four members, I'll be able to experiment with different faces, body shapes, and clothing textures. Hopefully through the genius project, I'll be able to refine and perfect my realistic drawing skills.

     So far, I've found one general drawing book, though I plan to find more specific ones when I go to the library this weekend.

     I was able to get Sketching People & Places In All Mediums by Jose M. Parramon. This book covers the basics of the human body as well as tips on sketching, shading, etc. It should provide a good basis for beginning my genius project.