More drawing practice as the missus recovers

 With the missus still recovering from surgery, all miniature and scale model kit projects are still in a state of suspended animation i.e. lying dormant. Any tasks that require a prolonged period of focus without break is being put into the back burner while I attend to the missus's post-surgery needs. But that doesn't mean I won't be able to do anything remotely hobby-related in my free time. Compared to the time consuming process of painting a scale model kit/miniature, drawing still allows me the flexibility to instantly stop and start my hobby activities an attend to the missus.

A realistic looking iris was my main goal for this digital practice piece

 Because my long term goal is to be able to draw (and eventually paint) portraits, I decided to practice drawing facial features like the eye, nose, and mouth. It helps that I'm drawing digitally because it means I can just stop what I'm doing instantly sans any cleanups, and return to real world concerns. Below are some pieces I managed to finish using the Procreate app on the iPad Pro.

Portrait facial features practice piece: digital drawing of an eye

Portrait facial features practice piece: digital drawing of a nose

Portrait facial features practice piece: digital drawing of a mouth

 Soon though, a semblance of normality should return to my hobby activities as the missus recovers that little bit more from her surgery. At the very least, I should be able to resume work on my Gundam scale model kit projects soon. Maybe no major airbrushing sessions yet, but I have enough on my plate as it is in assembly and prep work to avoid being too disappointed with the slow restart.

After surgery, the missus now has titanium plating and screws in her foot ...

... as seen here from another angle (i.e. top down view).

 While I don't want to jinx it, the wave of awful luck that is crashing upon the family seems to have abated somewhat. Apart from breaking a glass plate and getting pretty deep cuts on my hands, no other mishap has befallen the family. Long may that continue. So as I get ready to kick start my scale model kit/miniature projects for real - nearly two months into 2023 - I'm hoping lady luck deigns to finally smile on my family and I. And on you and yours too. Until my next post, be well and be happy!

Portrait Practice #15 on Rey (Star Wars Force Awakens)

A year is a long time without drawing; for me it is anyway. Drawing is akin to riding a bike i.e. a skill you aren't likely to forget just because you haven't been doing it regularly. That being said, realistic portrait drawing is something you get good at only with regular practice. My drawing skills are rusty and it shows. Natural born artists are geniuses and as rare as they come. For the rest of us mere mortals, regular practice is the only thing that can result in better art. And practice I must.  

First graphite portrait in a year ... just glad to be drawing again

But strangely enough, for a piece that's one year too late I'm actually still quite happy with it. Despite over 365 days of neither acquiring any new skills nor honing any existing ones, I didn't wholly lose what I had previously learned. Some mistakes were repeated, some avoided. Inconsistencies abound but thankfully any skill regression was kept to a minimum. That's not saying much since I wasn't starting from a high base but a relief nonetheless for someone looking to progressively improve.  

Portrait Practice #15 on Star Wars The Force Awakens Rey as played by Daisy Ridley

Drawing an accurate and recognisable portrait is said to be one of the hardest things to do. Any little thing can make a portrait drawing look nothing like the subject matter in question. Even knowing that, I had for some unfathomable reason decided to shift the position of Rey's irises to show her gazing directly ahead instead of off into the distance like in the original reference image.  

Adjustments to the portrait meant Rey's eyes now stared directly ahead versus off into the distance 

This was a genuinely idiotic thing to do as it heaped more pressure on me to get the graphite blending/shading of the lights and shadows accurate enough to depict a face/neck that is tilted upwards and off to the side. Specifically to the image in question, the new location of the irises implies that Rey's facial plane was directly parallel to the drawing paper which isn't the case at all. These are some of the little things that make you go ... D'oh! ... Homer Simpson style. 

Portrait was completed with both traditional as well as mechanical pencils

In a way, I'm starting to feel constrained by the student grade papers I draw on. That could mean two things. The good - I'm improving. The bad - it's not the paper its me. A lot of top artists use smooth Bristol paper to draw realistic graphite portraits. Unfortunately, it's still too expensive for me to buy such drawing papers online due to prohibitive shipping costs. Instead, what I could do was source a possible equivalent - the Daler Rowney Smooth Cartridge Pad - locally. Going forward I will use both the existing Daler Rowney Graduate Pad as well as the new drawing pad to draw the portraits.   

Reference image/photo of Rey that was used for this practice session

In addition to my graphite drawing and miniature painting hobbies, I've also been bitten by the colored pencil bug. You heard right ... colored pencils. But not your low pigment school variety. It's the highly pigmented Sanford Prismacolor Premier (wax based), Faber Castell Polychromos (oil based) as well as Derwent Coloursoft (wax based) fine art pencils I'm talking about. There will be the usual bedding in period with a new art medium but it's going be a fun journey to complement what I already enjoy doing now. Life's all about the journey and I can't wait to get started on this one, with continuing progress on my other two hobbies of course. Hopefully, you'll join me for the ride!

One year is a long time not to draw ... that ends now

Just recently I was asked to share a memory of something I posted one year ago on my Facebook. It was a graphite portrait drawing of Emily Browning as Babydoll in the movie Sucker Punch. Point being I had not drawn anything in an extremely long period. Any skill improvements I had made will likely have atrophied somewhat over the course of 12 months. It could very well be a case of one step forward two steps back though I'm hoping I can just pick up where I left off i.e like riding a bike.  

My last graphite portrait drawing was over a year ago

For my first graphite portrait drawing in aeons, I decided on Rey whom Daisy Ridley plays in Star Wars The Force Awakens. I chose a fairly low resolution photo of Rey which depicted her facial features in more of a no-frills variety akin to a photoshopped image with smooth skin tones. This should make it easier for someone like me who is resuming graphite portrait drawing after such a long time. Higher resolution images would've displayed details such as freckles and skin texture.

Rey (Daisy Ridley) is my first subject matter in my return to portrait drawing

Based on my experience so far, the most important step of the graphite portrait process is the initial faint line drawings. Bungle the line drawing and no amount of shading and blending will be able to create an accurate depiction of the portrait subject matter. And for portrait drawings, the only thing that really matters is the likeness to the subject matter that you're drawing. As such, I tried spending a longer than usual amount of time on the line drawing of Rey. I'm quite happy with it, to be honest.

Progress so far ... faint line drawing of Rey

There is a subtle difference between Rey in the reference photo and Rey in my line drawing. The latter has her centred irises looking straight at the viewer. But in the former, Rey is staring off into the distance (towards the top right corner of the paper). Perhaps in hindsight this wasn't such a smart thing to do as the rest of her facial features are angled upwards to the side. Changing her irises to stare straight ahead may distort proportions and make everything seem off. I'll have to be extra careful at the graphite shading/blending stage. Without the cue of off-centred irises, highlights and shadows on her face will take on greater importance in the portrayal of the tilt in Rey's head.   

Reference photo of Rey in a scene from The Force Awakens

Unfortunately, the JPEG image I used was smaller than I realised. A smaller file size (or lower resolution) equals less facial details. While doing the line drawing I noticed the shadows and highlights on Rey's face weren't clearly defined as I would've liked. This means I'll have to try and find a higher resolution image as reference for the graphite blending/shading process. But I'll be pushing ahead regardless as I aim to finish the portrait before the month is out. A three day stretch of free time coming up means plenty of drawing opportunities for me. Let's hope I put it to good use.

Portrait Practice #14 on Babydoll (Sucker Punch)

Making time to draw more regularly can be a big ask especially when there is so much to do in the limited amount of hobby time available to me in any given week. In the one and three quarter years since I started drawing seriously again, I have only completed a measly 14 portrait practice pieces. Constant practice is essential not only to improve but also to retain/remember any aha moments learned along the way. So an immediate challenge for me will be figuring out how to be more productive - ideally one portrait per month. Achieving that will up my productivity by nearly 100%.

Portrait Practice #14 on Sucker Punch's Babydoll as played by Emily Browning

On my 14th try at portrait drawing, I made a conscious attempt to prevent any stark lines from showing up by blending out smoother tonal transitions. In addition, I tried to accurately mimic the textures on Babydoll's face namely her lower eyelids (or eye bags), light blonde hair and lips. Each practice piece has thankfully brought a better understanding on how graphite behaves on paper. 

I can't say it enough ... use of an inclined drawing table has improved the proportions in my portraits

To see whether I had actually made any progress, I compared my two attempts at drawing Babydoll's portrait - both about twelve practice pieces apart. The difference in quality is painfully obvious but more of an eye opener is the fact I was pretty pleased with my first try ... then. This is what makes self teaching highly ineffective at times; an inability to gauge ones own work objectively. What looks perfectly fine today will look terrible later as one's understanding of a particular art from develops.

Twelve practice pieces later and there are (thankfully) clear signs of improvement in my drawing skills

Also for this practice session, I took some photographs of the portrait at various stages of completion. Without the benefit of a scanner, there exists some discrepancies between the photos due to the angle of the shots. However, the series of shots below still manage to convey a sense of evolution of Babydoll's portrait drawing all the way from initial rough outlines to the final completed piece.

Various stages of the Babydoll portrait drawing

Being able to see tangible signs of improvement in my drawing skills, no matter how small, is always a huge confidence booster. It gives me hope I'm moving in the right direction. Steve Jobs once said the only way to do great work is to love what you do. At least I'm already halfway there.

Babydoll Eyes and Hair [WIP on Portrait Practice #14, drawing blonde hair and eyes with heavy eyelashes]

Babydoll is the protagonist in Sucker Punch, a movie that I like very much despite it being almost universally panned by critics. While it may not have been the director's intention, the story theme that resonated with me most was the fact reality is to a certain extent determined by our own mind. Also Emily Browning played an unforgettably sad character that I have always wanted to portray in drawing. As an added bonus, this piece allowed me to try my hand at drawing light blonde hair.

Baby Doll Portrait Drawing, work-in-progress on blonde hair and eyes

An inclined table is helping me get better proportions when drawing

To source a suitable photo reference of Babydoll, I used the art book of Sucker Punch which had photos of scenes from the movie as well as some concept art. Babydoll's most iconic look is that of her in a sexified Japanese school girl costume. Hence I'm using that look for her portrait drawing.

Sucker Punch film art book

Reference photo of Baby Doll used in Portrait Practice #14

Proper makeup be it eyeliners or mascara coupled with a pair of heavy fake eyelashes (or eyelash extensions) is one way to make one's eyes look bigger. This is evident in Emily's makeup which transforms her into the Babydoll character. To draw heavy lashes and not make it look too fake, I also used other photos (not shown) to view how they interacted with her eyes from different angles e.g. three quarter view, side view, etc. It gave me a better idea how to blend the lashes into her eyelids.

Heavy eyelashes maketh the eyes ... at least in the case of Baby Doll

Emily Browning, before a pair of heavy fake eyelashes/eyelash extensions (left) and after (right)

Another new challenge in this latest Portrait Practice piece was drawing light blonde hair. It's much easier to draw dark as opposed to light hair. To achieve the texture of light blonde hair, I used a higher ratio of hard graphite pencils (2H, H, HB, 2B) as well as a combination of a do-it-yourself (DIY) template containing cutouts of hair-like strands and an electrical eraser to lift graphite out via the template. The latter process simulates strands of blonde hair as can be seen in the photo below.

Drawing the texture of blond hair using graphite pencils, a DIY template and erasers

Cutting out templates of hair strands on a blank transparency

Drawing always comes as a welcome relief in between painting projects. It helps me avoid burnout from painting. But drawing is something I love doing anyway so it's a fun hobby regardless. There are still a few things I need to tackle before Babydoll's portrait is complete. Chief among them is her trademark big pouting lips. Other items my to-do-list include shading of her skin, parts of her dress (the collars in particular) and the rest of her blonde hair. One mistake I constantly make is to increase the pace of my drawing as I near the end. Not anymore. This time I plan to finish at the same pace as I started. If it results in a better end product, progress will be made. That's good enough for me.

Portrait Practice #13 on Park Joo-Mi

On my thirteenth try at portrait drawing I imposed two arbitrary conditions on my subject matter i.e. she must be oriental and be born on the same year as me. With a portrait of the missus still a long way off until my skills are up to par, that meant looking at some Chinese, Korean and Japanese celebrities for inspiration. In the end I settled on 43-year old South Korean actress Park Joo-Mi.    

Portrait Practice #13 on Park Joo-Mi

Yet another self imposed albeit non-arbitrary condition I attach to every practice piece is to, whenever possible, incorporate new techniques or approaches to portrait drawing. In this case, the number of things I did differently from before were threefold:
(a) Using an inclined drawing table - for better facial proportions when drawing;
(b) Using sharpened pencils when shading skin - for better control of tonal transitions; and
(c) Using a combination of camel hair brush, paper stump and soft tissue - for smoother blending.  

Reference photo of Park Joo-Mi

Trying these new approaches has brought me closer to realising my goal of drawing realistic portraits. A small step granted but a step forward nonetheless. Using the inclined drafting table has definitely improved my sense of facial proportions. However, I haven't quite got a handle on getting an accurate likeness. For instance, the margin for error seems awfully small to me. Even slight differences in tonal value - sometimes deviations of just a few millimetres of graphite shading - can cause the portrait to look noticeably distinct from the subject matter that I want to portray through graphite.       

Blending graphite using soft tissue, paper stumps and camel hair

Using an inclined drafting table to obtain better proportions when drawing

Among the things I am happy with are successfully replicating the shirt's chequered texture as well as achieving much smoother skin tone transitions. For the former, I'm glad I didn't chicken out and draw a plain white shirt which was what I initially planned to do. Completing the chequered shirt was a real confidence booster because before the attempt I honestly believed there was no way I could do it. For the latter, I'm slowly approaching a level of smoothness in skin tone that I believe will be the best I can achieve using a 160 g/m² student grade paper. Ideally, I would love to work with Bristol paper. From what I understand, certain Bristol papers are good for achieving smooth blends with graphite. 

Portrait Practice #13 (Park Joo Mi) - comparison between reference photo and graphite drawing

Each new drawing I finish always results in cringe-worthy reactions to my previous drawings. But this is a good thing as it means I'm able to spot my previous mistakes; some of them anyway. Hopefully a day will come when I can look at my drawings and be genuinely satisfied with what I put on paper. Chasing the rainbow for the proverbial pot of gold ... who knows, I might just find it. 

A drawing table, early attempt at gesture drawings and the force finally awakens

Working under a tight budget necessitates hunting for deals in places where you wouldn't think to look. Initially, my search took me to obvious locations such as the local malls as well as various Home/Decor/Furniture exhibitions. Results were disheartening as most drafting/drawing tables ranged from a high price of RM1,500 to an even higher RM3,550 (about USD400 to USD950). Then, the missus chanced upon an old stationery shop located almost right smack in the middle of Kuala Lumpur's Golden Triangle. With its heydays sadly long behind it, this shop stocked old-fashioned draughthing instruments that predated the digital revolution. And on the window display was an inclined table on sale for RM500 (roughly USD135). Just like that, my long search was over.  

A drawing table at last ... and a value budget buy to boot

Putting the table to use for the first time ... hopefully this will help me solve proportion issues when drawing portraits

One problem I persistently face is a skewed perspective which results from having to draw on a flat table. Using an inclined table should theoretically negate this issue. Having the paper positioned nearly perpendicular to my line of vision means I get to see and draw things as they are. But this also means I can no longer blame the table if any of my portrait drawings are wrongly proportioned. Oh well, I guess I could always point the finger at global warming. (That's tongue in cheek ... as a huge fan of Sir David Attenborough's work I despair at the ignorance abound on this topic.)

A selection of figure drawing books collected over the years

Early attempts at gesture drawing
In addition, I have started to self teach myself how to draw dynamic figures. Luckily, I have accumulated quite a stack of 'How-To' books on this topic over the years. Some of which include:
(a) Figure Drawing for All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis (e-book)
(b) Figure Drawing - Design and Invention by Michael Hampton (e-book)
(c) Drawing the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm
(d) The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy by Imagine FX
(e) Incredible Comic Book Women by Tom Nguyen
(f) Drawing Beautiful Women - The Frank Cho Method by Frank Cho
(g) Drawing People - How to Portray the Clothed Figure by Barbara Bradley
(h) Drawing Manga - People and Poses by Ryo Hirata
(i) Colossal Collection of Action Poses by Buddy Scalera

For now, a lot of time is being spent on simple gesture drawings with inspiration drawn mainly from books (b) through (g). My approach is basically to learn the different techniques used to draw figures and assimilate them before breaking out from the existing rules to find my own style or voice.

Currently I find gesture drawing easier if I combine the Industrial Design Method with Michael Hampton's technique

Keeping in mind those S-curves which are essential for a dynamic figure

Trying to capture dynamic gestures of a figure in repose

And the force finally awakens
Meanwhile, after 12 years of trying (although I am guessing that flying toy Tie-fighters over a baby crib and going pew pew pew doesn't really count) I have finally gotten my son to watch the original Star Wars trilogy. And I think he finally gets it. Really gets it ... the Star Wars universe that is. Now he is itching to see the seventh installment of the movie franchise i.e. Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son

My son's exposure to Star Wars is helped by sarcastic force gestures (accompanied by the humming of a Star Wars theme synonymous with Luke Skywalker) from his mom and I whenever he asks us to get him objects that he could very well reach himself. Character building the Tatooine way. With a shared interest in console gaming, my son and I are also excited over the upcoming EA online multiplayer release on the PS4. Thankfully, we have five months to save up for this console game.

Upcoming release of Dice's Star Wars Battlefront has gotten my son and I excited

An onset of the flu has seen my hobby activities seriously curtailed these past week. I can't wait to shake this illness off and resume painting and drawing. Being prevented from doing what you love makes you appreciate it that little bit more. And I will be glad to start doing what I love once again.

Portrait Practice #12 on Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia

Drawn to the accompaniment of John Williams' superb film score - my favourites being Binary Sunset and Princess Leia's Theme from A New Hope, and The Imperial March from Empire Strikes Back (songs of the son, daughter and father) - this latest portrait practice piece took roughly five days of intermittent work to complete. Similar to miniature painting, the more time you spent slowly building up layers the better your end result will be. So in this regard I'm still a ways off from putting in the requisite hours in order to get smooth graphite blends (or tonal gradations) on paper.

Portrait Practice #12 on Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa

For my 12th attempt at drawing a portrait with graphite pencils, I was most pleased with how the mouth and hair turned out. In addition, I managed to get closer to the correct facial proportions of my subject matter than I've ever managed before in past drawings. These positives I gladly take as any improvement, however small, that I achieve serves as a huge inspiration to continue drawing.  

Portrait drawing of Princess Leia using graphite pencils

Reference photo used for my 12th attempt at portrait drawing

Nonetheless, I had some misgivings about how her eyebrows and skin tone turned out. The former's shape was slightly off and also could have been a bit thicker while the latter turned out somewhat blotchy. Contrary to her hair in which I carefully build up volume by slowly and patiently applying increasingly darker tapered strokes, I had instead sped up work on her skin tone by blending with tissue before a sufficiently gradual gradient in tonal values was put down. Inconsistencies in time spent on different areas of the portrait remains a weakness which is easier to diagnose than cure.   

Side by side comparison between Princess Leia's reference photo and drawing

If an appropriate photo reference can be sourced, next up will be a portrait of a South Korean actress that was born in the same year as me. It will nice to draw someone my age for a change although she looks better in her 40s than I did in my 20s. Meanwhile, the number of ready-to-paint miniatures in my project pipeline is rapidly dwindling; more so with the recent completion of The Hulk (Knight Models), Zombie Hunter (Ax Faction) and Hexcast Sorceress (Super Dungeon Explore). That means a lot of miniature prep work is in store for me. Hopefully I can still get some drawing done on the side.

Feeling like a kid again in more ways than one

Recently, two simple occurrences made me feel like a kid again. Firstly, was the ending of the latest Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens teaser trailer. I don't care what the fan boys (and girls) say but episodes I through III sucked big time. Seeing Han Solo with Chewie again brought back all those long forgotten memories of me as a five-year old totally enraptured with the Sci-Fi world that George Lucas created. I have high hopes for what director J.J.Abrams will bring to the Star Wars franchise. Notwithstanding his lame 'Vulcan is destroyed timeline' in the last two Trek movies, he actually made Star Trek cool again. I am hoping he can do the same to the Star Wars franchise.   

Line drawing - initial rough outline of Princess Leia Organa

Drawing is approximately 1.1X enlargement of the black and white photo printout

On my12th attempt at portrait drawing using graphite pencils, I was moved to draw the most famous royalty in space i.e. none other than Princess Leia Organa. At this stage of the drawing, I have managed to draw a rough outline of her portrait, followed by extensive work on her hair. The drawing is approximately 1.1-times larger than the black and white photo reference I am using. Next up is the shading of her skin tone which will give me an idea if I need to further darken the shade of her hair.

Drawing of Leia's famous buns, roughly 80% completed

To get a more detailed view of the hair, I used an iPad display of Leia's colour photo

Secondly, the missus got me a brand new set of artist grade coloured pencils - Derwent Coloursoft 72. Why should a set of coloured pencils make me feel like a kid again, you may ask? Well, as a very young kid (a long time ago, in a galaxy where you live) a lot of my 'toys' comprised stationery (as well as second hand books and bootleg music but that's a story for another day). Stationery!!?! Yes, stationery as in paper and writing instruments. That may seem sad but I was actually very happy as back then I drew almost every single day. After all these years, one gift that stuck to my mind was a Staedtler 36 coloured pencil set from my mum. So this new set made me feel like that kid again, one who was in love with art before the public school system wrenched ... nay, beat it out of me.    

A brand new set of artist grade coloured pencils courtesy of the missus

I guess my attempts at drawing again is an unconscious bid at recapturing my youth (Freud eat your heart out!). But this time around, I am setting a very high target of achieving a quality work that is sellable. No, no really, please stop laughing. I am a firm believer of the idiom If Anything Is Worth Doing, It's Worth Doing Well. While producing such a high quality work may (or may not) be beyond me, I am sure as hell going to enjoy every moment of my journey trying to get there. Now excuse me while I go draw ... and paint, that too. We mustn't forget about the miniatures now, must we my precious? FourEyedMonster was last seen scrambling towards Mount Doom with a light sabre and a tricoder. He will return upon successful completion of his latest quest to paint the Hexcast Sorceress.