the daily sketch

smkie

pointer/labrador/terrier
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Hair is tricky. Most make the mistake of trying to do too much hair, squint your eyes and draw only the shadows.Less is more i think is the best way to say it. Also try a thinner lead, i like an 03 soft lead for my mechanical...shudders at a regular pencil...Looks like your off to a good start.
 

RD

Are you dead yet?
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Gah, Smkie it is SO hard for me to envision where shadows should be, probably because I don't often draw with a photo reference and don't know anatomy well at all... I'd be so much better at shading if I could guess where the curves and bumps should be.

I don't have a good mechanical pencil with thin lead, which is probably very obvious from looking at the width of the strokes on that fur. lol. I need to get one though.. I'm just using regular wood pencils right now and they're a pain.
 

smkie

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got an idea..put away the pencils and get a bamboo brush, some newsprint and some ink. just do practice hair. First put in your darkest darks,gradiate your shadows, leave your lightest alone, let the paper represent that. AFter you find what you like go back to the pencil I think you might find a change in your perception. You are drawing what you know to be there, not what really is. SAme with grass.
 

smkie

pointer/labrador/terrier
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dont' matter...just approach it as an experiment..not to do anything permanent. SO india ink..any that waters down. IT's cheap. I had a teacher at the tute tell me that she was going to make me paint 10 foot paintings with this ink and a 3 inch brush if i didn't break my detail habit. She ended up doing it too. I had to tape it up on the fridge and across the cabinets in the kitchen. IT didn't break me of detail:rolleyes: but doing ink washes in figure drawing did help me greatly in the hair dept. ANd if you have trouble..do squint your eyes a little..it will help break it up to see your darkest darks. STart there.
 

RedHotDobe

aka RedHotBabe
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I had to do fifteen hands and fifteen feet for my 2-D design class. I got tired of staring at my own feet and decided to do Rumor's feet, lol. A boring, yet helpful project.
 

Laurelin

I'm All Ears
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Mmm fun...



Nanaki! Had fun with this one. Pity the scan doesn't do it justice though.

And a cartoon commish that I rushed to get done for the holidays

 

noludoru

Bored Now.
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I made these for five of the people I'm giving presents to..

Emma, for my mom. I suck at tabbies.


Chessie for Diane and Ray. This one isn't very stellar in real life, either but does look good from a distance.


Tiz for Cornelia.. she was shocked that he played with feather toys. It'll crack her up. This one's my favorite, and the picture doesn't do it justice.



Middie in the "Dog House" for my dad. The present is a calendar of outhouses (I know it sounds weird, but he'll LOVE it) and the doghouse is modeled after a nice-looking barn he insisted I take pictures of when we drove by it, because he liked the weathering and wants to imitate it on some scale buildings for his train layout. He'll love it, and get the many jokes in the picture.. in some ways I think the drawing itself is a better present, even though I know the calendar is perfect.
 

Brandyb

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Love the commissions Laurelin!!!!
And those tags are just lovely Noludru!!!! They add such a nice touch to the Christmas gifts - great job!!! I used to do all my own, and all my own cards, but I just don't have time right now. Your famiily and friends will love those. :)
 

noludoru

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Thanks, Julie! :) I got the idea when I was digging around in my mom's closets for one of her shoes... and saw she'd saved all the Christmas cards I made for her when I was little. Since I haven't done it in years, I figured I needed to add something decent to the collection! :D
 

smkie

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I use to do my own cards too..hopefully one day i can get back to that. Way to go!
 

RedHotDobe

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Hey now, I did not! I cheated anyway. I got tired of staring at my feet, so some are Rumor paws. :)

I'd rather show you my linoleum block print than drawings of my feet, lol.
 

RedHotDobe

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I know you like I know the back of my hand. Which probably isn't very well actually. :D

I took pictures earlier, but someone seems to have misplaced my camera cable. It's proving to be quite a problem.
 

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