Skeleton Study

Skeleton studies sketched with pure graphite.

The sketch below did not turn out very good. I was attempting to be extremely precise and found on a skeleton that is very difficult to achieve. I decided to keep this sketch however so I could show improvement on the following two.

Nose Study

Part of my human study, I am trying to learn how to draw individual body parts and how to structure them realistically before drawing a full sized body or portrait.

Drawing noses came relatively easy, I use three circles for the nostrils and end of the nose then draw a triangle with two points at each nostril to get the structure of the bridge of the nose.

Golden Eagle

Created by sketching from reference and then adding values with a 2b and 8b pure graphite sticks.

Rock Giant

This is a homework piece. The focus was to create a rock creature but to use very desaturated colours and one main colour to draw the viewers eye.

I decided to create a rock giant. By posing in the mirror I started a very loose painting.

From here I continued posing and improving on my painting.

I was not very happy with the head design so I decided to refine it and make it more like a statue than a dumb giant.

I spent a lot of time just improving the my values as I went, continually trying new things on different layers.

Once I was at this stage I knew I had to leave the painting as it was and start adding in a rock texture.

This instantly improved my painting and gave it a realistic look. I was however behind on time and fell back on the smoke effect to cover areas that I could not quite get right.

However I believe the smoke lends itself to the painting quite well.

Keeping in mind of using very desaturated colours I added a simple green to give the giantan old mossy look while using a bright blue glow for the eyes which draws the viewer towards the face.

As I was painting this I kept in mind of what parts I wanted the viewer to focus on. This was the hand and the face, this is why these are the most detailed parts. 

Lava Knight

This piece was to create a convincing lava creature. I decided to create a knight made entirely of lava inside a suit of armour.

I started by sketching out an idea using the 8 heads method for scale.

I found this useful for proportions of the body.

Next I refined my design into a more interesting pose.

Keeping my sketch outline I painted in some simple values using a set of white to black swatches.

I then created a new values layer to give the armour detail. I kept in mind that the lava glow would be coming from any gaps in the armour so I highlighted each overlapping piece of plate armour so when I paint in my glows they will stand out.

At this stage the knight as looking very soft so I added a rock texture in give the armour a worn rocky look/

Now I could start painting in my glows. Using an colour dodge layer I took an orange colour and painted with a soft edged brush. As it went over the highlights the colour turned to yellow and anything darker moved it to orange and red which worked perfectly for a lava glow.

Finnaly I used a smoke effect to mask areas of the painting I was not satisfied with to save time in touching them up and added a levels layer to make the knight pop from the background.

Using an orange photofilter I made the knight and the background blend together while adding a slight orange glow to the smoke behing the knight for effect.

I am very happy with how this turned out but should try and not rely on the smoke effect to cover up lazy work.

Female nude pure graphite

A sketch from reference.

I used a pencil to draw a quick outline sketch and then used 2b, 4b, 6b and 8b pure graphite sticks for shading.

This is the first time I have used pure graphite and enjoyed them. They give the depth of charcoal but the fine lines that you get from pencil. The next time I use them I will try and get more depth into the picture since this one lacks it.

Torso Study

Male and female comparison torso sketches.

The focus of these sketches was on the muscles. I did not put much depth into them because they are quick sketches that I can use for reference on other more detailed drawings.

I am pleased with how they turned out apart from the back view of the females torso, however I feel that I will be able to use them all for future drawings.