Statue of Poseidon

I'm taking AP studio art this year and this will be for my portfolio. I'm thinking about focusing on portraits and faces/figures so I figured that this is a good study. I know it's kinda big. Sorry. I had to reformat the fucking comp after I got a virus. Damn porn.



EDIT By the way, if you couldn't tell it's not finished. This is half an hour's work.

I like what I see. Working from marble, are we? The nice white lustre of it probably lends itself to drawing very well. I also kind of like how there are no pupils or irises on those eyes. Though of course greek statues would have been all painted in living glory.

The angularity mixed with the curves workes really very well. On the craftmanship, your blacks could be blacker and you could get some lighter greys, especially in the < 20 % grey areas. Although I know this is rough and unfinished and all. But the start you have is rquite good. The anatomy looks pretty close to me.

There are some things I noticed in the eye area, but they may be a result of the way the statue was sculpted, so it might have nothing to do with you. The eyeball looks too small. It looks like the sphere terminates not too far beyond either eyelid, when in reality it should be much larger. Also, there are no details under his eye, and I originally mistook that shadow for his lower eyelid.

But really, great work. How big is this, out of curiosity? Judging from the pencil grain, I should say not too large. (myself being forced to work at no less than 20 x 26, I should say most things are not too large)

I really look forward to seeing the finished version!

An ogre reply! Ok, first off, this is on 9x12 inch paper. The scan also distorted the original greys so everything is a bit lighter. I sketched the outline with a 2B and I'm doing all the shading with a 6B so the shading should be fairly dark. I'll need to borrow an 8B from school to do the black background. I'm also working from a ref. Maybe I should have mentioned that. I'm staying pretty faithful to the reference so the issues with the eyes and stuff is Michelangelo's fault. Damn guy. Actually I don't know who sculpted it.

Here's the reference.

Anyway thanks a lot ogre. I always try to post stuff whenever I see you online hehe.

You say the nicest things . . .

Ok, I see what's going on. Hmm, I guess that if you put in that little patch of deep shadow just below the eye (the lower eyelid, essentially), it would clarify things.

It's also kind of difficult because of the unique shadow situation. Those areas which do fall into shadow have some relected light from the blue sky (classic warm light, cool shadows), so it can get a little harry to keep the volumetric and cast shadows seperate. Also, that doesn't really look like marbe to me. But if it's old, who knows.

If you're working with things that soft, then it's probably a matter of the scanner lightening things. In a total act of self-contradiciton, I'll say it would be nice to have a top of the line scanner which can capture all of those subtle tones you put in there with pencil.

If you're gonna do a black background, you may want to look into the possibility of doing it in charcoal. It transfers a lot faster and would take a fraction of the time, but it has its own problems (it smudges so easily, sometimes doesn't grab the paper, and you usually have to spray it with fixative). Another thing is that it probably wouldn't be the same black, so it could either be good or bad. Maybe it's a better idea to stick to graphite after all. Check an art supply store for a graphite stick of 9B. Those are nice for such applications (or making your own carbon paper, for that matter).

And 9x12 is still not an indecent size. The paper looks to have a nice tooth.

Ok, I've had four hours of sleep in the past two nights, so I'm off to bed.

Updated.

im digging it man!!!! cant wait till u finish. as for me, im still not sure what my topic will be for my portfolio.. so im just doing a whole bunch of stuff.. and whatever i like, ill focus on that later on. im thinkin about going portraits, and figures myself.. but we'll see...

i like how precise u got w/ the kneeded eraser(i think kneeded... or else it woulda been hell to erase his lower eyelid).

Thanks. Actually I just didn't pencil that part in. In areas where I do need to erase for highlights, I use one of those rectangular plastic erasers. The corners are really nice for making thin highlights. The kneaded erasers tend to get misshapen and it's hard to keep a point on them.

Nice progression. I think the area around the mouth might benefit from being a little darker.

Also, maybe the edge of the shadow on the cheekbone is a little too sharp and could be softened.

Kneaded erasers are usually good for charcoal, because they can pick it up very nicely. And yes, because of their malleability, they lose shape too easily, making the hard plastic ones good for sharp edges. Although, they can damage the paper.

How long have you spent on this so far, just out of curiosity?

Hm... so far I think I've spent about 2 hours on it. I should actually spend 10 hours on each piece but fuck who's got that kind of time? AP board is crazy.

Good work Beam... I like the eraser highlights...

Bob took some AP art test thing too... but he did lots of weird things... and passed...

Ogre, how does a hard eraser damage the paper? just by the abrasions? and what weight of paper are we talking about here?

icbm1987

Well, it can damage the paper, most especially the surface. The reason for this is that a kneaded eraser (or some similarly soft eraser) removes the media from the paper because it sticks to the eraser. It can thusly be lifted off the paper.

With a hard plastic eraser, because you're rubbing the paper, the abrasion can certainly remove the top surface of the paper and damage its texture, and in some cases can go deeper.

This all depends on how heavily you're erasing. If you have some marks you've laid on there with a heavy hand and done with a 9B, and you're trying frantically to erase it with your plastic eraser, you're probably removing as much paper as pencil.

Heavier papers are more resistant, of course.

gosh.. ogre's so wise...

anyways.... 2 hrs on a 9x12 pic, and still u not done.. gosh.... do you normally draw slow? i finish most of my 9x12's in 2 class periods in school... which is about 2 hrs. but then again, i draw really sketchie, then go in later w/ the details. other people around me draw SOOOO unbelieveably slow, and persice.... I CANT STAND IT! but hey.. whatever gets the job done.....

Slow and steady wins the race bro. Usually you can catch errors and stuff if you work slower. I step back every now and then to look at the pic as a whole, to see if anything looks off. Plus the teacher can tell how long it took just by looking at it. Some artists spend 40 to 50 hours on one piece.