Took the Day Off

[beemerdons]

Bounce, which image? The one of the human skull by Hans or his sketch of FJRBluesman as a *****?

As a ***** or as a ****?

JB, wouldn't it have to be a *****? Bluesy's real name is Simon you know. If his middle name is Richard, then go ahead and draw him as a ****!

 

[Bounce]

image moved or deleted.

bummer.

Bounce, which image? The one of the human skull by Hans or his sketch of FJRBluesman as a *****?

the image in the OP. there's only 1. it says it's moved or deleted.

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

image moved or deleted.

bummer.

<_<

 

[James Burleigh]

Using 18 percent gray toned paper is an excellent choice for illustrating the human skull. Also using both white conte' crayon for the application of lights, and charcoal for darks is often the best method. I see you have also tried a tan colored toned paper, we used to make use of brown paper grocery bags until they began to water proof them with varnish.

I always try to imagine that basic form of the skull is a box, that way it is easier to model it in tonality after establishing the light source. Remember that shadows are the darkest darks while shade is a much wider spectrum of tonality. Save the brightest white for highlight and don't disregard adding a full range of tones to the background to sharpen contours.

In detail it is interesting to note that the skull has only one moving part, the jaw. It's hinge point is just below and inside the ear. Pay particular attention to the zygomatic arch as its proportions vary from specimen to specimen depending on the original models genetic characteristics.

Lastly, practice, practice, practice. Oh, and get a real skull to draw, not a plastic one. An anthropology department should have tons of them lying around in a closet somewhere? Is Dr. Herbert Phillips still teaching in the Anthropology Department at CAL?

...just some of my CO2

Hi, George. And here I thought you were just a glass blower. I didn't know you dabbled in representational drawing and portraits. Let's have a look at some of them.

However, you may want to bear in mind that a lot of folks new to modeling the head use a box as a starting point, but like the egg shape, it does not adequately lay the foundation for a likeness because the head is completely unlike a box. Of course the box approach does help with keeping the perspective of the features true, but it requires too much cutting away to get at the true shape, and can lead to a lot of distortion of the features.

It's most important to be mindful of the shape and form of the skull, so you may want to try getting your hands on one. For what we're interested in, plastic is as good as real (and of less concern in losing or breaking) because the fundamentals are all there. When comparing the two in the biology dept., I saw no important differences from a portrait perspective.

Here's a very good primer you may find helpful in taking your portrait drawings to the next level. The older books are really the best because they were written at a time when the folks writing them were very good at what they were teaching. And that's my standard: if the person giving the advice cannot demonstrate that he / she can draw or paint him / herself, then I won't bother with them.

JB

P.S. Not sure about Dr. Phillips, but their profs are probably all listed on their web page.

 

[Khunajawdge]

Hi, George. And here I thought you were just a glass blower. I didn't know you dabbled in representational drawing and portraits. Let's have a look at some of them.

Oh yes, I have dabbled extensively. I taught Drawing Art 101 at least 12 times over the past 20 years and often taught it overseas, especially in South East Asia.

Here are a few of my Students projects from the past Here

The text I used was/is Here

I have 150 or more(?) 35mm slide images drawings of Skulls etc. if you want to see them :blink: , but to convert them to digital with a Wolverine F2D300 slide digitizer would be a bit tedious.

I worked with Dr. Herbert K. Phillips from Cal back in the 90's when we were both simultaneously studying South East Asian Art/Culture.

...just more of my CO2