John Singer Sargent Master Copy
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Tracing has a tendency to take some of the charm away from the drawing too even if it is a practice exercise...I prefer just wading through and correcting as I go. I could tell the color and proportions were wrong but having Lee direct how to approach fixing it is really helpful.
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The piece is already looking much better...
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Getting a bit closer, although I may need a drink before this is finished! lol I still have a lot to fiddle with on the color and especially getting the angle etc right on that eye...it's a bear and the eye has to be right or it throws it all off!!The eye and nose are both to big too. GRRR. In the original you can practically see the veins in the forehead, there are so many little details going on...it is incredible! On a side note, my 7 year-old is mucho impressed with my attempt...hehe score! To be continued.....
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I just decided I will do a master copy tonight (well at least start one!)
I wanted to suggest something, but keep in mind I am not a professional, far from that! I think Lee's right about trying not to trace, except if you really want to focus on color or value and want to save time. However, maybe at this stage you could use photoshop to layer your work above the original to see where you need to fix it. That way you can really see where you went wrong and what you need to correct and than go back and fix it. I don't know what @Lee-White would think of that, but I think maybe it would even help to train your eye... You can study your mistake and learn from them!
That being said, I think you are doing a great job! I'll share mine on the forum this week-end!
noemiegionetlandry.squarespace.com
noemie_illustration on Instagram -
Beer pizza paint...@Lee-White this could quickly go south...lol...slow progress...to be continued!
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@NoWayMe Thanks. I will probably just continue to adjust as I go and see where I end up, but that is a good idea. The problem is all of the head features minus the ear are all just a bit too big and the eye is so delicate and dark I am having a hard time nailing it.
PS this guy is really GOOD! hehehe -
Still going, it is getting harder...:P
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Getting late, may tackle more of this tomorrow...here is the latest version.
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@Damien-Rambacher oh I see what you mean about the hint of green...I'll add more warmth too. Somehow I managed to make his nose even bigger so I'll scale back on that a bit too. This whole exercise is so tricky, but fun.
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This is as far as I'm going to get tonight.
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@Lee-White I've had good experience with learning by tracing. I had my sixteen year old daughter trace a lot of da Vinci faces the other day, and she said it gave her the odd feeling that her brain was changing. Immediately after that, her ability to draw well proportioned heads and faces jumped significantly. It seemed like an extremely efficient learning shortcut. I believe tracing can help someone pay attention and learn to see what they might not be able to see with understanding any other way. (I hope I don't seem argumentative here. I'd just hate for someone to miss out on what seems to me really helpful eye training.)
Thanks for all your work here. My subscription to SVS has been super helpful, really on the way to becoming life changing for me.
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@anthemsweet That is wonderful that it is helping your daughter and that she is doing da Vinci studies!! I'm sure everything has its place especially when first starting out and trying to understand anatomy etc and building muscle memory. I know for me, I prefer not to trace because my subjects become too stiff especially if I am doing line work but I can see how it can be helpful as practice but you learn a lot too by not tracing. I think it mostly depends on where you are at and what it is you want to accomplish overall. For me, I like the trial and error of not tracing. I also love the undo button in digital work so there is that too. No right or wrong as long as it leads to growth and you get something from it.
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@Charlie-Eve-Ryan that is a big improvement, well done!
@anthemsweet oh wow that is so great to hear SVS is such an amazing place. -
@Naroth-Kean Thanks Naroth...here is the lastest. I added some vein details on the forehead and some stray hairs on the neck and beard. I will probably fix the eye more and some of the over all proportions again tomorrow but it is coming along.
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really like the brush strokes and texture you are suing, very expressive and traditional feel.
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@Naroth-Kean Thanks! This was done with three different custom brushes that I created in Manga Studio 5, with no overlays or filters added and I did everything on one layer.
I will probably do another one of these studies soon, once the bird book is done. I found it really helpful! Next time, I will spend more time in the beginning nailing the proportions etc, I didn't have a good enough game plan going in on this and it was all trial and error.
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@anthemsweet I totally agree with you and should clarify my comment. I think tracing is an AWESOME way to get good. As a matter of fact, I give a ton of assignments that are tracing based. It's a different exercise than what I give with the master copy. For the master copy, I consider that a "test" kind of assignment. By "test" I mean that it's basically the artist saying "ok, I can do this and and i can do it from scratch." This kind of an assignment builds a fantastic amount of confidence when pulled off. It emphasizes really sticking with an image and looking carefully.
In my tracing assignments, we are basically trying to "train" your hand to make the right marks in the right spots. Very helpful for figure drawing and head drawing.
Both have their place. Anything that makes you better is fair game and each of these have different priorities and are typically given at different stages of an artist's training. Tracing often happens much earlier and is great at the late high school, early college level. Master copies with no tracing or color picking takes place at the sophomore level and higher. (although both can be done anytime!). : )
SVS Faculty Instructor
www.leewhiteillustration.com -
@Lee-White Thank you for clarifying. That makes sense.
