I can draw, but not well. I'm endeavouring to change that.

[Elemental]

Well, as you can all see from the title, I'm going to be working on my drawing skills.
I'm going to try and post something once a week.

But be warned, my artwork is not for the faint of heart. It will likely reduce to an emotional wreck as you sob at how terrible it is.



So, I suppose I'll post the first thing now...
And yes, I cheated by copying from an illustration in an encyclopaedia.

http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u389/Aether_Elemental/20120402_223111-1.jpg

http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u389/Aether_Elemental/20120402_223334-1.jpg


My apologies concerning the terrible photographs. We have a scanner, but it hates me.
First note: Yes, there are some smudges, especially around the eye.
I couldn't get those parts right, so I had to repeatedly erase them and start over.
Second note: Get a new eraser.
Third Note: The backs legs are funny. I couldn't seem to get them at the right angle.
Fourth note: I should probably not use an HB pencil for this...


Any tips will be appreciated.
However, I probably won't draw another horse for while, so keep that in mind.

[Dr. Bath]

The mane looks a little painted on, it probably shouldn't exactly match the line of the neck (though I suppose it would be pretty close).

It's good that you're actually working from references, but I would also recommend working from the ground up.

Start with how the skeleton is structured, then muscles then skin. At least I found that it helped me.

Anatomy away!

[Elemental]

Indeed. The mane should not match the line of the neck like that.
And I should have looked at some anatomy. It was only on the next page after all...

[Dr. Bath]

Indeed. The mane should not match the line of the neck like that.
And I should have looked at some anatomy. It was only on the next page after all...

Perhaps! Still, don't be deterred, you're definitely on the right track. Just practice practice practice.

Soon you'll be breathing horses.

[Elemental]

Perhaps! Still, don't be deterred, you're definitely on the right track. Just practice practice practice.

Soon you'll be breathing horses.

I certainly hope not. That sounds incredibly painful.

And besides, there other things out there to draw.
As my piano teacher said, there's no point practicing one thing and one thing only. One should diversify.

[Dr. Bath]

Oh no, I wasn't suggesting you only practice horses.

Breathing horses is just a well known side effect of being good at art.

[Mazeburn]

Yay! Horsey. Nice work! You don't make a great many of the classic horse-drawing mistakes (aka, making it look sort of like a wolf). I'd say the body's possibly a bit too short? The front legs look a tad chunky, I think? The back legs look quite good to me though, and they're usually the hardest part. The face looks a bit off - horses usually have quite a pronounced cheek, giving them a very wedge-shaped face from the side. But seems like a really, really good start for such a difficult animal.

Looking forward to seeing more stuff from you. :3

[Elemental]

Okay... Twenty days after my first weekly* display of soul-shattering art, I present to you the second weekly* installment.

*Note: I am following a different calendar that allows me to adjust a week to be as long as I want.

Again, I cheated by copying illustrations off the Internet and out of books.
Except for the snake and the butterfly, which is why they look deformed.

http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u389/Aether_Elemental/20120422_222221-1.jpg
Yet again, my skill at photography has failed. But fortunately, the top half isn't completely out of focus.
For those who can't be bothered working out what they are, I have included a guide:

Top row: Raven sitting on ground, standing horse, corvid* perched on branch, terribly drawn snake.
Middle row: Raven in flight, hummingbird, another hummingbird, peregrine falcon perched on rock, head of miscellaneous falconid.
Bottom row: Wolf, wolf howling, really out of focus arctic fox, assymetrical butterfly.

*Note: I have no idea whether or not the image I copied was that of a raven or a crow.


First Note: Again, I used a HB pencil, but 2Bs smudge too much when I use them.

Second Note: The drawing of the horse predates the rest of the images by two weeks. The rest were drawn yesterday.

Third Note: Get new eraser.

[AndToBeLoved]

Are you just wanting to learn to draw horses, or are you interested in human anatomy as well? A great resource that I wish I had been introduced to YEARS ago is Burne Hogarth drawing books, most especially Dynamic Figure Drawing and Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery. The books might seem a little advanced, but they are the best references I have EVER seen. I wish someone had gotten them for me when I was a kid - then my skills would be much much better than they are today.

[Savannah]

Again, I cheated by copying illustrations off the Internet and out of books.

When you say copying, do you mean tracing? Or looking at a picture and drawing what it shows? Because the latter isn't "cheating" in any way, shape, or form, and the former is only cheating if you don't wean yourself off of needing to trace.

[Elemental]

Are you just wanting to learn to draw horses, or are you interested in human anatomy as well? A great resource that I wish I had been introduced to YEARS ago is Burne Hogarth drawing books, most especially Dynamic Figure Drawing and Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery. The books might seem a little advanced, but they are the best references I have EVER seen. I wish someone had gotten them for me when I was a kid - then my skills would be much much better than they are today.

I think drapery is beyond my skills at this stage.
And, eventually I'm going to practice drawing people.
Anyway... What makes you think I only want to learn to draw horses? I've posted two drawings of horses and seven of miscellaneous birds.



When you say copying, do you mean tracing? Or looking at a picture and drawing what it shows? Because the latter isn't "cheating" in any way, shape, or form, and the former is only cheating if you don't wean yourself off of needing to trace.

No, I don't trace. If I did, these would be a lot better.
I suppose I count copying an illustration as cheating, even though it isn't, because I'm not drawing without a guide of some sort.
But I suppose, artists draw what they see all the time. In my case what I see happens to be printed in a book or put on the Internet.


And I just realised, it's been eighteen days since I last put some drawings up.
I should do something about that.

[Savannah]

Real artists very rarely draw without some sort of reference. Those that draw without reference have years and years of drawing with references to practice. It's not cheating.