Sketchbook

[Smitty]

:thewave:

Well, I've been too busy to produce any finished or polished work. So, you get pages from my sketchbook! ^^

I've been kind of experimenting with different ethnicities in the people I draw. Young artists like myself tend to get stuck in a rut, drawing only one racial "look" and not knowing how to break out of the box. Thus, critique is encouraged! I prefer much softer features in my drawings, and the men I draw never look any more masculine than bishounen, which is why these sketches are all women :p. (But I'm sure the fanboys won't mind.)

Sort of a flamenco-inspired Latina (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/latina.jpg). I love the whole sultry, tropical look to death. I think I made her nose too small, she looks like a Barbie.
Mixed race, (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/mixedrace.jpg) inspired by the gorgeous Naima from America's Next Top Model!
Scandinavian (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/northerneurope.jpg)...I was kind of going for a high-fashion look
Southern European (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/southerneurope.jpg), from France, Spain or Italy...this is my personal favorite.

And, just because I love this picture (it's from prom):
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/promcraigme.jpg
P.S. Never fear, fanboys, he's gay, I'm not dating him ;).

[animanic_critic]

Wonderful dress...:cute BTW, the last pic (Southern France)'s the best among them. Pretty nice in overall...

[Lil Slugger]

I like mixed race the best :)

[Smitty]

I like mixed race the best :)
Thanks! :)

Wonderful dress...:cute BTW, the last pic (Southern France)'s the best among them. Pretty nice in overall...
Haha, thanks - it was kind of a last-minute buy too :p. And I'm glad you liked the pics!

---

Could I get some critique please? Someone? Anyone? ^^;

[Barrelhaven]

Wow, very impressive! I like the Southern European one the best, as well.

I like the amount of detail you put into the eyes...very realistic and engaging. The overall proportions of the head and features look perfect. The rest of the face could stand some more detail and shading though, particularly the lips (and the rose in the first sketch). Again, very nice work.

[Javer]

The first one is very good, but . . . mm. Something about the side of her mouth bothers me. Perhaps the lips need more detail.

I wouldn't know if the second one looks like Naima, but . . . ^^;; The nose, I think, is a smidge too wide. Though maybe that's just what Naima looks like.

Scandinavian is great. You got a little arrogance in there, even. Sometimes artists try to etch in the high cheekbones to accomplish that, but it's pretty difficult, so I'm glad you captured the attitude without it.

I agree on Southern European. That's easily the best of the bunch.

It might help if you established somewhere (to yourself or to your viewers) what the person's mood and expression is supposed to be, even if it's subtle. It might help you hone in on those tiny imperfections.

[Smitty]

Praise the Lawd! Thank you for finally giving me some actual critique.

Barrelhunter - thanks so much. I will definitely make a point of pumping up the shading in the drawings. I especially see what you mean in the last one, it just needs more definition.

Javer - Naima actually doesn't really look like that :p She has a mohawk. It's pretty hardcore. It was just inspired by her, because mixed-race women are almost always drop-dead gorgeous. As for the arrogance factor, it's the liddy eyes. I did that on purpose :) so I'm so glad you noticed it! I will definitely try to up the expression factor. Again, thank you so flippin' much for actually giving me some critique. I hate it when people are just like "nice job;" it gives me nothing to improve upon!

Much love, and keep the critique coming!

[AqueousMessage]

:rubs hands together getting ready to put his two cents in:

Latina- Her far left eye to me seems to be a lil' tilted down. Her hair flows almost life like as if you took a picture.
Mixed Race- Left eye needs to be pushed in, and the hair seems to be almost placed on. The hair doesn't look like it's attatched to the scalp.
Scandinavian- A nice sketch. The face anatomy seems right. The hair seems to be a lil' puffed up but its graceful flow counter acts that.
Southern Europe- Ugh! Why didn't you finish the top of the head?! It looks too good NOT to finish.

Prom- Well, THANK GOD HE'S GAY! x3

Keep it up, Smitty!~

[Ghostmaster]

Smitt you're really good at drawing faces and they look very realistic. Great work!

[Javer]

You know, I've never seen a male character drawn by you. o_o

EDIT: *silenced*

[Smitty]

Aqueous - I'm finishing that last one just for you :)

Ghostmaster - Thanks!

Javer - Well, we shall have to remedy that! I dug up some old stuff for you. This is a favorite, from late 2003:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/jack.jpg

Or this doodly business:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/guitardude.jpg

Or the loveable Harry Potter (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/harrypotter.jpg).

And while digging through my old stuff, I found tons of old drawings I thought would be fun to share! :)

She's just got that mad flapper style. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/flapper.jpg)
I just like drawing eyes. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/lilyseyes.jpg)
Messing around with facial expressions! (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/funnyfaceupdo.jpg)
She should be in a Pantene ad. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/shinyhair.jpg)
A page of random doodles...I'm kind of entertained by how ridiculous all the captions are. (What was I smoking? lol) (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/9904.jpg)
Studio class, Freshman year. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/CraneInTheReeds.jpg)
Dryad inspired by the amazing Puimun at devArt. She's so fantastic. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/dryad.jpg)
Kind of cool if you like Chinese acrobats! (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/Fly.jpg)
Doodling during the Greek mythology unit, Freshman year English class. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/hera.jpg)
Supermodel with a martini! (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/supermodel.jpg)
Freshman year art class. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/Simone.jpg)
This was when I was supposed to be writing a term paper. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/smexyfrancie.jpg)
Pretty sure this was for a history class. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/siva.jpg)
Manga-style-meets-Smitty-style (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/Rosaleigh.jpg)
Mermaid (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/Mermaid_color.jpg)
And Madame Noir fanart for Linuts! (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/expressespresso/madamenoirfanart.jpg)

[animanic_critic]

Johnny Depp's pic as Captain Jack Sparrow is great, but it could use a lil' dark tone to it to suit the overall slightly gloomy feel the movie had. It kinda looks like a lamp was shone right onto his face. Nice drawing though...

P.S. Who's that fetching stud jammin' the Explorer? Nice sig BTW :sly2:

[Smitty]

Johnny Depp's pic as Captain Jack Sparrow is great, but it could use a lil' dark tone to it to suit the overall slightly gloomy feel the movie had. It kinda looks like a lamp was shone right onto his face. Nice drawing though...

P.S. Who's that fetching stud jammin' the Explorer? Nice sig BTW :sly2:
I did the Jack Sparrow in the one art class I ever took - freshman year art 101 :rawr:. It was done in colored pencil on white, yes, white paper - so I had to draw in ALL the black. Needless to say, once that was done, I had little time to darken anything else before the deadline :p.

P.S. My friend David. I didn't know the guitar actually looked like a real one though lol, I just made it up. :cool:

[Neo-Hunter]

Smitty Nice Job on some of these drawings but I might have to agree with Aqoues message on the last dRAWING it lacked the depth and for the fact that the head wasn't quite done. but all in all great job.

[Mana]

I'm sorry, but drawing Captain Jack does not count as drawing a male figure.

[AqueousMessage]

I'm sorry, but drawing Captain Jack does not count as drawing a male figure.

ZING!

I personally love it. It's a good example of dynamic lighting. The only thing I would say to fix is the hair on his right. Your flesh tones and cloth are filled in so realisticly that it makes the hair which looks rushed look fake and kinda croped in there. I can't really say how to fix it, but that's just my two cents.

And I love doodles, so I enjoyed looking through the other links.

[Smitty]

I'm sorry, but drawing Captain Jack does not count as drawing a male figure.
Hehe, I know, I told you my men were effeminate! :p

P.S. You rock.

Aqueous - thanks for the tip, though I don't know if I'm ever going to go back to that one :p! If I had done it with pastels on black paper, it probably would have looked a lot more realistic - blame the ambition of my young heart in '03. And I'm glad SOMEONE bothered to look through the links - that took me forever just to put them up :p.

Edit - wow, I somehow managed to use the same smiley three times in this one single post :p. (Make that four!)

[iRock]

very very nice drawings, 10/10

[PoX]

... i like the amount of banned people i have been encountering.


to business! the drawing of cpt. jack is incredible. the eyes caught my attention and the gun to his side did the trick. ummm the only thing i would suggest is to have the black pearl in the bg instead of the darkness. but it works just the same.

the "doodlyness": i guess the next step would be to darken the out lines (by photo shop if possible) and to create a background and place the foreground on the background