Monday, January 31, 2011

sketch 39

My friends kid, I want to do a full digital painting of this in the near future.

I actually was having a really hard time getting the likeness, my wife said I was close but I didn't believe her. So I tried twice then got out the tracing paper(no, not to trace the photo) to use my handy tracing paper method. I assume I was getting closer but the next day I couldn't tell which was the most recent drawing. Anyway, once I got in there and darkened the eyes, which I typically wait to do because it is hard to erase if you miss, it looked good. I think I wasn't feeling the likeness because this little girl has big pretty dark eyes and it didn't feel right until they were there.

13 comments:

Aaron Ludwig said...

Beautiful sketch!

Sadami said...

Dear David,
I know your feeling very well! But please be kind to yourself.
Kind regards, Sadami

Mario said...

Just a suggestion: I'm not sure the "wide angle" effect is good for a painting, it looks too photographic (my idea is that a painting should always mix what we see with what we know/imagine/dream, our brain doesn't work like a lens).
Apart from that, the drawing is really good (as usual).

Anonymous said...

Very good my friend!!!Showww!!

lirios bou said...

I can only say: AMAZING

Tim Bye said...

This is great David - I love your technique! :o)

Lisa said...

I just love your drawing style! I tend to over-shade, and I love the freshness and simplicity of your work. Really inspriring.

egcellent said...

great work , I have been following your page for over a year and have some questions on yor sketching that I'm trying to work out for my own poor attempts, if you can answer any fo them it would be fantastic.
what is your basic drawing technique from photos?
do yo work from a printed photo or ever from a computer screen?
do you stand at an easel?
do you do a lot of measuring first? how do you scale up?
how do you ensure accuracy? and if you are painting on top of a drawing how do you not loose your original lines? I have looked at your take on tracing paper and will try it.
thanks.

David Malan said...

Thanks all,
egcellent:
-My method is very much general to specific. Lots of measuring in my head, start with a circle then just cut things into shapes.
-From life is preferred but rare, beyond that I don't care what I am drawing from.
-Never draw from an easel I'm usually sitting on the couch.
-I scale things by scanning and printing then using charcoal or transfer paper.
-Accuracy is just based on how I feel about it.
-Yeah you lose your lines when painting but an important lesson in art is to be willing to loose/erase your lines and be confident that you did it once so should be able to do it again.
I've been getting a lot of questions about the drawing method, I'll probably try to write up a post about it soonish.

Marycel said...

Your work is absolutely fantastic, has lots of character. It's the kind of art that I like, take a dip in the gesture of someone is a fabulous trip. Sorry for my English, is that I use the google translator. Greetings from Argentina!

david benzal said...

brilliant drawing, I love your stroke!

Congratulations,
See you!

Vicki Holdwick said...

I really like the freshness of this sketch and the life in the eyes,

xoxo

Rupesh Talaskar said...

Hi,
I absolutely love your art! It's amazing!!!!!!!!!
Kind regards, Rupesh