Self Portraits 2013

Alright, so here are some self portraits for the start of the new year.  These are actually posted in the reverse order that they were completed.  The bottom portrait was my first attempt, it turned out to be more caricature than portrait.  The back of the cranium is too shallow, the mouth is too big, and a couple of other things. 
The second one is OK, but I clipped of a bit too much mass on my right, frontal cranium.  The treatment of the beard is a bit botched on the bottom, but I am really happy with the overall rendering and believability of the drawing.  The top picture is probably most proportionately/academically accurate. 
Overall, I would have to say that the middle one feels most like me, and if it weren't for those two mistakes, I'd be totally content with it.  This was a fun exercise, and I am glad that I continued after my first failure.  There are still some things, like the angularity of my designs that are slightly overstated, and my eyelashes too.  But I do like to allow an element of caricature in my portraits to a slight degree less than my first attempt. 
Nathan Fowkes explains this common problem of caricature artists that I demonstrated in my first attempt in this short demo (at around the 9:40 mark).  This is only a problem if it is undesirable, but it is good to know so you can either avoid or utilize it, but most importantly to be aware of it.  Be sure to watch the whole video...and all his videos for that matter.

Failure is alright, because the road to success is paved in it; and if that's true, I must have made a wrong turn at Albuquerque.  Enjoy!

Art Grinding

These are just studies.  The top page is full of Erik Gist studies (and one Ron Lemen); the arrows, text, and linear drawings are my own addition based on things I have pieced together throughout the years of learning the craft of figure drawing/art.  The second page are studies after a phenomenal artist by the name of Riccardo Mannelli.  The third page is either labeled with the artist I studied from, or not (because it is my own creation).  The fourth one is me playing.  And the last one is from various photos.  Enjoy!

Humming Bird

Here is a belated Christmas gift I made for my grandma.  Things became too busy with projects for me to finish something in time, so I settled on this.  Hopefully she likes it.  I just grabbed a random photo I found from the internet.  I cannot remember where I found it, but if I can find the source, I will be sure to credit the link (if you find it, please tell me).

Artistically speaking, I have been feeling a bit stifled as of late.  I wish I could recapture that feeling of excitement and adventure I used to have while drawing.  I think I am concentrating too much on creating something finished that I am not taking enough risks to explore other paths.  I guess I have just been feeling that I need to create some solid, portfolio pieces to showcase.  However, I still feel that sketching is the funnest thing for me, and I learn the most doing it, and that's what it's all about...personal growth.  Now if I could only figure out how to turn that into a career...