Life drawing completed!

Hello again

I am back to university now after the Christmas break. I am glad to back as I was missing drawing so much. This week I have already started a new project that I am enjoying and I am using my Christmas presents which is nice to use exciting new material!

Anyway, today I wanted to show you the life drawing I did in the first term of my course last year. I finally completed the sessions and I wanted to show how I have improved over the weeks. Even though life drawing isn't like my usual style, I think it is really important to look and draw the body to work out proportion and posture. I found the sessions really helpful and I do notice my improvements personally.

In this session we were told to draw how we would normally approach it. I drew the life model on the chair whilst he posed for about 30 minutes. The proportions are wrong and I don't think it's a particularly good drawing... But this was my first session!

This session was very challenging. We had to use the very popular life drawing method of using a pencil to measure the body proportions and marking the measurements with dots. We had to measure the whole body (including the chair!) before we drew the lines to make out the mass of the body. This was very difficult but I can definitely see how the proportions are more accurate.

This session was my favorite. It was all about drawing quickly and expressing movement. The model walked slowly around the room, sometimes raising his arms whilst we drew him in stages. I really like the pages look even though the drawings aren't the most accurate, I think they are quite consistent and appealing.

This was the session we explored charcoal. We were told to use the flat side of the charcoal to make the shape of the body. I like the page as it has a mixture of hard and soft mark making. Also, In this session, the focus was on composition. That is such an important lesson for illustrators as we need to plan what we draw and where on the page rather than rushing ahead. Below was my final drawing of the whole 5 week sessions. We were asked to use charcoal and white chalk to create a soft image of the life model lying down. I am really proud of this image because I was really trying hard to not over work my drawing and be as accurate as possible. It's definitely not perfect but overall I am happy!











Thanks for reading and I hope you liked my drawings. Come back soon for more illustration related posts!

Megan Stokes

What I got for Christmas!

Hello again!

So December was a busy month for me. I decided to upload a drawing everyday from the 1st to the 25th. When Christmas day came around I took a deserved break that went on for longer than I thought...oops. But I'm just writing to show you what art pieces I got for Christmas as I was really pleased with what I received!

1. I received a set of paint brushes off my boyfriend's sister which was really nice because all of mine are old and hard now. So these will be nice to try to do more water colour or I might even try gouache this year!

2. The Carbothello set of chalk pencils from Stabilo was a present from my parents. They are both familiar with my drawing style so when I was asked what I wanted for Christmas, I said 'anything you think I would like'. So they chose this set which is good for me as I have never tried chalk pencils.

3. The Triplus colour set of pens from Staedtler are another set that I haven't tried before. They are thin felt pens that have 10 bright colours in the pack. I am excited to try these also because they don't go through the page.. I tested!

4. The Pentel Arts Pocket brush pen is a pen I have seen before. A lot of manga illustrators use this pen and I have heard good things about it. I have had a play with it and it is much harder to use than I first thought! I'm sure I will improve though.

5. The Berol colour brush pens that have 12 colours in the pack are another product I have seen before but long ago when I was in school. I think I remember these being easy to use which is nice and they are a thicker brush than the other pens I received from Staedtler. 

6. This is a really cool notebook for me to do little sketches in or story ideas. Note books are always appreciated because it's an item I don't want to buy myself but I use so many of them!

7. I got a black A3 sketchbook, purple A4 sketchbook and 2 blue A5 sketchbooks from my parents. I asked for a variety of sketchbooks because as university we use LOADS. So I was really happy to get them!

8. The best present til last... A Huion A4 light box. I have wanted a light box since I started my degree because they are so useful! I have been borrowing other peoples and my teacher's light box but no more will I have to! I asked for this brand of light box because it is so thin and really light that I can carry it around easily without it weighing me down. I can not wait to use it!

I am so grateful for my presents this year and it's really helpful to receive presents that are art related so that I can get a lot of use out of them! I will let you know what they are like as I use them.

Megan Stokes

Day 25 of the 'Drawing advent calendar challenge'

Hello

It's the last day of the drawing advent calendar!
Today's challenge is to draw scenery. I chose to draw what I can see on Christmas day. I am in my living room and I am surrounded by my family and my boyfriend. My dad is asleep, as always, and my mum and sister are sitting together. I love Christmas and I dread when it's over!

This is the final day and I will probably do another month of daily challenges. Stay tuned!

And Merry Christmas!!

Megan Stokes

Day 24 of the 'Drawing advent calendar challenge'

Hello again!

It's Day 24 of the drawing advent calendar!

Today's challenge was to draw your favorite place... which was also Day 4's challenge.. oops. So I changed it to do what I wanted to do. On Day 18 I had to draw the worst fashion statement. I drew a man wearing odd socks, odd shoes and hairy legs. I thought it would be funny to draw the rest of the character. This really helped me with character design as I thought about the items of clothing to represent the person rather than drawing a generic t shirt and jeans. I love this character! He is definitely a dancing dad who likes to embarrass his kids and he wears whatever comes to hand!

See you again tomorrow for the last day of the drawing advent calendar!! and CHRISTMAS!

Megan Stokes

Day 23 of the 'Drawing advent calendar challenge'

Hello

It's Day 23 of the drawing advent calendar!
Today's challenge was to draw a doodle. I chose to draw what I am doing today which is making cookies. I found out today that drawing cookie cutters is the most confusing thing ever! It was quite fun just doodling knowing that it doesn't need to look like a finished piece of work. Feeling in the festive spirit now, only 2 days to go!

See you again tomorrow for more drawing advent calendar!

Megan Stokes

Day 22 of the 'Drawing advent calendar challenge'

Hello again!

It's Day 22 of the drawing advent calendar!
Today's challenge is to draw something orange. What's more Christmasy than a Terry's chocolate orange? I always receive one at Christmas and it tastes a lot better than a normal orange. This chocolate is up there with one of my favorites and that's saying something!

See you again tomorrow for more advent calendar drawing!

Megan Stokes

Day 21 of the 'Drawing advent calendar challenge'

Hello!

It's Day 21 of the the drawing advent calendar!

Today's challenge was to draw yourself in another artist's style. I chose to draw myself in the famous pop art, comic like style. Roy Lichtenstein is a very famous pop artist. I attempted to draw myself trying to use mostly black and primary colours. I thought my red hair would look good in this style. I found it difficult and it did take me a while to do, I found it easier to give expression as I ignore some of the facial features when drawing in my own style.

See you again tomorrow for more drawing advent calendar!

Megan Stokes