Doodles part 2

Drawing is thinking. Instead of forcing it, I start by scribbling light random lines of basic geometrical shapes and then let the mind fill the rest of what they could imply. Later I just refine the selected characters for further uses in comic or illustration. Drawing is like gymnastics, if you don't practice on a daily basis, raising the bar little by little, the muscles will wither.

Pocket sketching part 1

It's summer job time again which means plethora of pocket sketchbooking to keep me sane. Just mindless brainstorming without prejudices which usually produces surprisingly weird stuff, which is awesome. This is my fourth moleskine pocket sketchbook going on since 2009. A loyal companion that book is, always there to remind me to draw.

Self-portrait (updated September 23)

Academic self-portrait, Flemish layer painting technique, oil on canvas 46x54cm. Left: preliminary study. Carbone and chalk on tinted paper.

Edit September 23: Finished after four month break, on September 4, I took a more critical look and checked  the proportions from mirror, turned the piece upside down, sideways and evaluated, measured by eye sight again and again, squinted eyes and refined until every millimetre seemed right. The Rubens study I did this summer gave me the information  to refine this further from previous stage too.
Historically, for artists, painting a self-portait is not just an effective form of practicing skills and one's eyes, but a much more intense way of self-examination than just looking at mirror.

Color sketch (nude)

 

guache

 

 

This would be the last page from my moleskine sketchbook. I used one croquis drawing for reference and made a quick acrylic sketch from it.