Figure drawing and portrait practice

Last month, I went to attend a life drawing session organized by local artists. I had fun sketching nude models for the first time, and I think I am going to attend similar activities in the future. I did not finish the entire event as I had to hurry home (the event was in the city and it's 7-11PM), but I'm glad to just experience the event. 

This probably is my fave of all..

One of the reasons why I really pushed with going to that event is the opportunity to see in person the Escoda brushes that one of the sponsors are selling during the event. I have been curious about trying this brand. I brought home two Versatil brushes with me, one of which a rigger size 0 that I tried using for my doll repaint projects.

Details of her face done via this Escoda Versatil Rigger size 0 round brush

Since I decided to do more doll repaints in the future, I thought I had to brush up my portrait skills. In the past I used graphite pencils and watercolor paint. Although I did learn from these mediums, I thought that for the purpose of relearning portraits, I had to use the the easiest medium for me. I picked up the watercolor pencils because I rarely use them (more than 4 years with me), and for a change - and I'm loving it! They are soft enough to glide on my rough paper, and they're, well, in fun colors!

Late night sesh. Need to revitalize those facial features thingy if I would do more doll repaints 💪💪💪 #sketch #portraitstudy

A post shared by Shasha 🌞 Ravacio (@shashadreams) on Feb 28, 2017 at 8:00am PST

This quickie before bed time 😉 Loving it that I get to use my colored pencils more this way 😂 #sketch #portraitstudy

A post shared by Shasha 🌞 Ravacio (@shashadreams) on Mar 4, 2017 at 8:33am PST

These colored pencils are super quick! #sketch #portraitstudy Night, art friends!

A post shared by Shasha 🌞 Ravacio (@shashadreams) on Mar 5, 2017 at 7:55am PST

I didn't know until now that the tiny points in my lead pencils limited me so much. But welp, that's what art is all about. You don't stop discovering new things to learn 😉 #sketch #portraitstudy

A post shared by Shasha 🌞 Ravacio (@shashadreams) on Mar 6, 2017 at 5:06pm PST

A few days ago, I also jumped back into my comics thing as I thought it would allow me quick daily drawing practice. But I'll share all of that in another post. This one's a little too much already.

See you soon!

Holidays present from Shasha: Downloadable Coloring Pages of Fashion Sketches by Shasha Ravacio

Happy Holidays, guys!

This blog has been empty for a long time as I have been busy...

 AND productive so I'm happy...

and I want to share this feeling of accomplishment with you.

If you follow my Instagram account @shashadreams, 

you probably have an idea that I draw and paint for fun.

I thought that I could make a small project out of the things I've made recently, so I complied all the fashion sketches I did on almost a daily basis for everyone to enjoy.

Here's the link to a downloadable PDF file, which is pretty much like a coloring book

that everyone can enjoy and relax the holidays away with.

I hope you like my small holidays present for you.

xoxo,

shasha

Compiled fashion sketches

Lolita - you can't really stop me

This watercolor painting of sorts reminds me of a lady named Lolita.

It really puzzled me for years why she hated me so much. 

I was just a young, carefree teenager who appreciate passion and honesty.

She once saw me drawing a lady (like I almost always do) and 

she bluntly told me to stop doing what I do. 

Out of respect and puzzlement, I did what she told me to do. 

I can never forget that moment, among all those moments 

when she enjoyed looking at me with those piercing eyes 

- she hated me so much, I don't know why.

So to you Lolita, wherever you may be, I forgive you. 

But you don't stop me from doing what I love.

Completed a whole week of daily sketching!

Day 2 of my Form before Detail practice starts with poses from Quickposes. Preferred men muscles and nude models, but put undergarments into these sketches anyways as I had been starting to post sketches everywhere. One of 'em kiddie playgrounds is Art Amino, an app where art-loving kids can open an account and upload their art ventures. Art Amino does not allow nudes so I hope half-nudes like mine below won't be blocked.

I'm proud of what I did below as I think this is the prettiest I've done men sketches so far. I did choose random gestures that are not timed, so I can really study muscle dynamics.

Form before Detail: Day 2

Day 3 sketch below is obviously hurried, with too many sketches on a spread. I think starting that day, I resolved to just sketch at most five to really study more.

Form before Detail: Day 3

On Day  4, I switched to taking Instagram photos instead for inspiration.

I then thought of The Sartorialist as I really like the natural poses of his muses.

Form before Detail: Day 4

Then I realized, I really should be staying away from details (e.g. complicated clothing) for now so I can thoroughly understand form.

Started thinking of the many beautiful minds and bodies I admired and followed on IG.

I then came up with the stunning yogi Talia Sutra.

Sigh, I could just draw her all day!

Form before Detail: Day 5

Talia's IG page has really gorgeous poses perfect for learning form.

I love using photos of people in stretched poses, or in action as they give me so many options to explore perspective. They're mostly in 3D so you get to think harder and develop some kind of x-ray vision to see how the boxes tilt and revolve.

I am terrible at foreshortening, but I think I'm beginning to get brave at it by using the boxes technique, and these of these beautiful poses.

Form before Detail: Day 6

Also, I am so thrilled that she visited my page to see this sketch,

and commented that she liked it.

I was both excited and weary as my sketches are too raw.

This Day 6 sketch I think has the most likes my IG page has ever had since its first post!

Somebody must have kindly shared the photo elsewhere.

My deepest gratitude to you, somebody! <3 <3 <3

On Day 7 sketch (below), I chose one serene pose of Talia along with two stretchy ones.

I like that I challenged myself with perspective with the one on the top,

having the camera shoot her from an above angle.

Form before Detail: Day 7

I know I said I could draw Talia all day but why not draw something different for a change, yes?

Photographer Martin Koll of @bild17 DM'ed me and asked if I could sketch some of his beautiful photos. I chose the three passionate poses below as they are perfect for my Form before Detail practice. Thus, Day 8 below.

Form before Detail: Day 8

And last but definitely not the least for this post, I sketched the talented queen of hoops @nosleeptilbrookelynn . Most of her posts are videos and I'm finding it hard to screenshot some great poses so I only got to choose from among her few but gorgeous photos.

Form before Detail: Day 9

I'd probably won't be doing anything different next week. Maybe similar poses but from different new IG accounts.

I'm really excited that I've done #dailysketches for this long now. I like flipping through the sketchbook, and looking forward to completing it, and buying another one!

I wonder how I progressed from here =)

I'm back!! (2016 version)

Okay, so a few days ago while I was shipping some orders, I did my usual bookstore/ office supplies tour and bought myself a new cheap sketchbook. At first, I intended to have one so I can sketch some ideas that I would hope to draw or paint in the future. But since I don’t go out much, watch movies much, don’t see anything much, or in short, won't be seeing lots of inspiration from, I’m afraid it’s gonna be empty for long. So instead, I'm using it for my daily drawing.

For my first reunion with sketching this year, I started looking for photos of people to copy. I remember I did use a website of quick poses but since that was eons ago, I have already forgotten the URL. So I searched again for something similar and found Quickposes.

I think I’m gonna be using this site for a longer time. Here are some sketches I did with 60 seconds per image. Sketching muscles are still sleepy for sure.

Upon realizing that my sketches seemed to be too incomplete, I searched for Youtube videos on how to draw from form. I liked this one from Ahmed and followed his boxes technique.

Drawing Figures and Poses QUICK TIP #1

I see an improvement from my sketches. But I did increase the sketch time to 120s to accommodate more detail:

A day after, I searched for more “drawing from form” videos on Youtube and found this nice advice roundup from Illustrator Clint Cearley:

Best Art Advice I've Ever Received

His tip on “Form before Detail” was so strong that I can’t believe how stubborn I was all these years to not accept it. I know I have been really debating as to where I start and why am I so overwhelmed by everything --- and this is the answer! I just have to find the best technique to draw from form. No more details until I am wowed by my own form drawings, whatever that’s called. My watercolors, pens and pencils will have to wait before I can really draw well.

I did remember Kelly Eddington saying that in college, the students weren’t painting until after two years of learning how to draw well.

Sigh, but the lure of painting and putting in the fun details just is so irresistible. Thus, explains my non-progress in this craft I have been so wanting to be good at.

So I searched for some more ‘draw from form” videos and one from Sycra came up. I have been watching Sycra tutorials since forever but I seem to just have the wrong mentality about things that is why I have not learned a thing from him. So I skipped to the next video from Marc Leone:

Basic Drawing: Sketchbook Techniques-Basic Form Sketching of Solids in Spatial Direction

I was reminded that before form, there was flow. I kind of had an idea about this way back from an Italian illustrator but Leone’s combination of flow and volume got me hooked.

On Day 3 of my reunion with sketching, I applied what I have learned over the past few days.
First, you should recognize the flow of your subject’s mass, put in the boxes or give volume to each of the masses that comprise the body, then flesh out the muscles. The following sketches were timed at 240s or 4min each.

For now, I’m gonna pause from doing portraits or watercolors so I can practice on form. I know I should’ve done this long ago but oh well. I’m excited now to fill this sketchbook with my practice sketches.

Til the next sketchbook page!

Second week of new habit

hey!

happy to say i sketched for the most part of the week. i skipped three days because i was physically exhausted for yes, those three days. day 1, i was cooking all day. day 2, i was hosting a party. day 3, regular chores day (laundry and grocery).

by the way, i decided to start using reference photos this week, and take at least 30 minutes to do more details. i also started using mostly HB pencils as I noticed the bold ones stain the sketch themselves. i'll probably find a way to seal sketches if I need to use those dusty bold pencils in the future.

okay, so let's start with sept 13 sketch.

i like what I did here. she pretty much resembled the tiny reference photo i clipped from a magazine ad. i think she's a teenager who is a bit chubby on the cheeks.

in this sketch, i liked two things, her eyes and the delicate teeth. but generally, she looks pleasing to my senses.

her hair is made up of lazy strokes.
her brows could have been more aligned.
her nose, just okay.
her mouth needs proper shading.
her dimples, total mess.

but I like this one a lot, really.

i enjoyed using only HB here, but was too lazy to sharpen when necessary.






next up, sept. 14 sketch.

the reference photo was a chubby-cheek girl from a fitness magazine - thus her determined gesture. she was lifting weights.

again, I was lazy with the hair. brows and eyes, I'm not too crazy about. in the photo, she was wearing makeup and her eyes were lined, i didn't like it.
i love the nose and her mouth, too. so happy to not put too much shading on her mouth. it looks way better than yesterday's.
i kinda hate the ears. waaaay too dark.
i love how I loosely shaded the neck muscles.

generally, i felt happy when I finished this.

sept 15 sketch. ahhh, the sole man this week.

he was from a travel magazine cover, albeit, in the background. i find him more interesting than the main model.

he's a dark skinned man who looks like he's coming from Central Asia, However, i couldn't just bring it on paper. Also, since I'm too chicken to darken him up with my lousy shading skills, he looks like a more of brown asian man in this sketch.

things I love about this sketch - hi nose and mouth and ears. his hair is done lazily, eyes are platypus-y and his jawline not too balanced. I hate his eyebrows. i wasn't able to render light on the right side enough to justify the shortened brow (to our view) . the shirt collar is just okay.

still, I am proud of what I did here. I usually don't sketch non-models, but here I am braving it. i guess that's the reason why I'm happy despite it all.

Up next is my sept 16 sketch, from a perfume ad.

i just thought i'd need it to be bigger here haha!

i love her brows, her eyes looked as if they really belong to one person, i like how i did the nose - minimalist and elegant, and then i enjoyed putting in hairs!

the mouth could have looked more put together if i paid attention to it after adding details. it looked like she smeared something on the lower lip LOL!

the hair needs more darkening on the areas near the scalp.

and the neck, totally shows that i was in a hurry.

haha! look what i tried with putting hair highlights on the left side. i know i should have given enough shadows on them after.

but still i love this sketch. for something i did in around 30min, i think i would like to feel proud about it.

awww, i like this sep 17 sketch a lot.. the reference photo was a little girl in a japanese DIY hairstyling book. i made her into a young woman because i realized i liked drawing non-existent things. it's okay to be inspired from a reference photo, but i think it makes me happier to change course, as i always do.
i know it sounds like i'm trying to avoid failing to perfectly copy the reference photo but it's really not.. i know i can make a replica of a photo, if given the ample time but it wouldn't be a result that i will be happy about. yes, i'll be proud because it's a display of skill but, i'd be happier if i could display a vision, an image of something that didn't exist but only in my mind. if you know what i mean.. i'm just babbling here while it's raining on a September afternoon, LOL!

i like everything about this photo, maybe because i gave myself the freedom to dream up some features, invent strokes that i felt suits the intention, i gave enough time for the hair, which i think is the best looking hair i've ever sketched so far, LOL! Love it!

so on sept 18, 19 and 20th - i didn't produce any sketch, but i am planning to make up for it. we'll see what fancies me then, no? for now, i'm gonna go cut up some potatoes and soak 'em in water and salt, ready for frying 10 minutes before my son comes home from school.

alrytie!

Yay for a new habit...

starting with small goals really is effective when building something new.

i had seen that in my sewing, in being a good tutor to my son, in my fitness and diet (they lasted well enough that i did see great results, but right now i'm back to loser-ville again), and in probably other aspects of my life that i don't give focus at the moment.

okay, so on to the habit i was talking about.

i resolved last tuesday to sketch everyday to improve my sketching and drawing. i have done one each day since and it felt so good. 

i gave them less than 5 min each, of which most were very quick three-minute or so ones.. however, among these five i'd sketched from tuesday to saturday, i used photo references for two, which took about almost 5min each with more erasures than the three quick ones.

so here are the sketches, with each i will be noting some important points:

okay, so first one is the tuesday gal who started it all. i like how i made her face heart-shaped, and the hair formed to a bun, albeit messy. i like that i put some straying baby hairs on the hairline and nape. i always loved either hair is gathered to the back, or running through the sides of the face.. i like her facial bone structure, fierce yet still feminine, i guess. among her facial features, i love the nose most. i liked the jawline and cheekbone. i think i'm okay with her brows.

i'm not so crazy about her ears which i placed at the wrong quarter. i didn't have a reference for this sketch so i invented the ears, and just quickly sketched it. 

second that i think needs help is the eyes, which probably are horrific to look at in real life. since the camera is angled such that it is looking down on her, her lids should have covered at least a quarter of it horizontally. i also think her right eye, which was shown in partial due to angle, needs the covering eyelid as well. 

the lips are way too pouty and overworked. I love pouty lips because they express so much, but this one was just too much.

happiness rate to this quick sketch (from 1 to 10): 5

next up is the wednesday sketch.

since i liked the bun, and the strong facial frame, i applied these features again to this new gal. i added the actual bun, and made more hair strands, i loved how her do turned out. i love her nose, and again i'm okay with her brows. i like her jaws and cheekbone and her chin a lot. 

i was the hard-headed one at not looking for an ear reference so i messed that up again (wrong placement). i kind of tilted her head up so the need for covering eyelids wasn't there, but still her eyes were like really open it needs some bit of covering up for sure. so again her lips were pouting, but i like this one more than the tuesday gal. needs some polishing still. 

happiness rate to this quick sketch (from 1 to 10): 7

for thursday, i did something different. i know i shouldn't have left the issues in tuesday unattended. but, oh well, i guess, i can go back to the problem some other time. 

this time it's a dude, or something i have hoped for it to be:

i intended to draw a filipino guy and i think i kind of succeeded in that aspect. =P I like his lips the most, which didn't look overworked but i did gave it my focus and longest sketch time. i like his nose next, which i know is quite feminine haha! i love his eyes, they resemble those of a teenage dude. the brows to me are still okay.. i don't mind the neck much..

now to the problematic parts, to me at least. the ears! me and my stubbornness - i still didn't have photo reference here. maybe because i almost always sketch when i just remembered it. i just quickly grab my sketchbook, my 5B pencil and an eraser. i just draw away and run my timer to 5min. despite all those excuses i made, i think these ears look better compared to my previous two.

i'm not really feeling too bad with his forehead.because i enjoyed too much putting some hair, i almost forgot about the hairline. the angle we see in the left side was way too indented.  if you know what i mean. his hair has some really long strands that don't fit with the bunch, rightmost part..

lastly, his jawlines were too feminine.. i should've dropped the angle deeper to make his face more square-ish.

happiness rate to this quick sketch (from 1 to 10): 7.5

on to the friday dude.. yes, dude again as i wanted to correct some things but... i instead took out my 2009 or something vogue copy and looked for male models. i found one in a michael kors ad and he was wearing sunglasses! 

so i invented some eyes.. maybe because i wanted to correct those lid-lacking ones in the previous sketches. i think i'm liking what i did... i like his face angle because it's very mascular despite it being quite lanky. i like his hair because despite not receiving enough work, it looked suggestive enough. the lips look okay to me as it was not forced, thanks to my utmost, now developed, control LOL. 

one of those that are not too problematic for me here are his nose, which turned out fine despite looking overworked. i guess the eyebrows, especially the right one (to our view), need to follow some angular bone structure, should not look this round-y or something. 

on to things i should've been more careful with: ears, again. i did try to follow the reference but it instead looked overworked. i should be sketching more ears, just ears next week. also, i'm not so crazy about the facial hairs. i liked how it helped shape his face but i felt that i betrayed the entire sketch with giving it a cross-hatching effect. if i only gave it some light twirls to match that of his hair, it probably will look cohesive and given enough care.

but my happiness rate to this quick sketch (from 1 to 10): 8

then on to saturday's sketch.. another one with a reference.

what i love about this sketch:

firstly, her eyebrows - minimalist and just the way i want them to be. i also like her mouth, although i did spend longer time on this. the eyes are not too awesome, but i'm happy that they looked half-closed and almost perfect for the tilt of her head. the nose gives the entire picture a little something to think about, whether it's right or not, and i like it like that. i like her facial frame too - a relief from my strong-boned ladies in the previous sketches. despite the hair looking under-worked, i wouldn't want it any other way. i also like how it was parted.

what i don't like about what i did here? none... this sketch really just makes me super happy! and thus, a 10! Yay!

but i think what's really getting a 10 is my being able to give time for each daily sketch.. i'll continue doing so, and hopefully, make weekly ones to kind of try to apply what i have learned from the quick sketches of the week. 

'til next time!