Hello all,

I realise its been a while since I used this for blogging art but as I endeavour to push myself deeper into the craft of anatomy and poses I find myself yearning for considerate dialogue, so here goes. Since my hiatus from posting anatomy quick sketches on here I have applied myself to a direct medium (via Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch) which puts me on the spot a bit with my art and as I only stream for 3 hours at a time there is a certain propensity to leave with a somewhat finished work... (not always achievable but I try). 

Hell Art (Stitch) is my new art moniker and as I push my digital art ramblings out in various forms over the inter-web (can I call it that?) I have taken to not only creating a temporary stream video over on Twitch but also a time-lapse over on Vimeo (1-59 can be found here - https://vimeo.com/hellart) of every stream I partake in (I use Procreate to draw anyway, so I always end up getting a time-lapse - why not use it?)

Anyway I figured I'd post here too, Instagram seems to have an issue showing any kind of art depicting the naked, outline (or Semi naked) human form (despite supermarkets now being a place that stock genital shavers with accompanying imagery). I've said before and I'll say it again if you've seen one nipple, one breast, one penis, one vagina, it really isn't taboo at least not to me, especially not life poses which are not salacious or compromising - acting simply as a medium to study the human form,

Anyhoo, these posts will probably be a standard bit of retrospective on my part with the time-lapse and resulting art piece. These are not finished works, just merely study (finished things I will post on the hell arts Instagram - located here https://.instagram.com/hellartstitch). When I have a complete collection or something I am really proud of I will throw it in my portfolio on here but at the moment I'd like to keep that to motion design or animation but we will see.

The above shows the time-lapse for the stream dated Feb 10th 2022 which is the 59th I have done over Twitch. A bit of a baron stream to be honest but its a space and time for me. It's also a place where I study what I want, when I want, however I want. For this particular stream I started with a life pose which I adapted into an amazon warrior. There was absolutely no intention to do this initially, its just the direction the pose took me. It's been a while since I worked on a pose from the ground up, drawing the limbs and all elements so I was happy that it didn't take too long leaving me enough time to clean and ink a few bits up. 

She was quite a fun pose to do after such a long hiatus foreshortening is something that always irks me so I wanted to go with something a little light. In the pose the character was holding a spear in her right hand (and an axe in her left) but to me it looked perfectly placed to be an archer (you can see the lighter rough drawing underneath).The clothing was the last element I added and that was just so I would be able to post it (although I am still not sure if Instagram will take it). 

A good test case as things move forward,
Wish me luck :)

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey Guys,

I know I've been MIA but I've been gathering my shit together and am finally starting to get back to a place where I can start finding some forward momentum. In the interim I have done a couple more sketches going over some of my older Proko videos and managed to get back to a slightly better place. However, I have just noticed that my placement of the landmarks still needs a bit of refinement and obviously I still have my desire for harsh lines to work through. Still I wanted to release something just to show you guys that I'm still out there planning my next steps very carefully. Once I have a strategy devised we can finally move on, I cant wait.

(IMG 1 - 8 Min - 27/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Heads a bit small, try to measure more"

(IMG 2 - 7 Min - 27/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "This is much better, keep practicing"

(IMG 3 - 5 Min - 27/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Try to achieve more in less time"

For this series of poses I started at a longer length and then eased out to quicker durations which I found actually worked a little better then drawing for shorter periods into longer ones. IMG 2 is my absolute favourite as its form is probably the most anatomically accurate drawn in a decent duration. I need to get out of the mind set of harsh lines, its just when I dont know which lines to select its easier by defining one with a stronger line which then leads to more darker lines and stiffer anatomy. You can see that my first pose is always my weakest (IMG1) but its a trend I'm trying to fix, everyone has bad days in the way of art... Hopefully I can get there soon.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx  

Hey Guys,

Another load of sketches for everyone and something of a battle plan. I have a few sketches left to post but then I'm going to go away and get the next stage of this course sorted in my mind. Its the best thing to do as it will allow me to focus on the next stage of drawing development which I feel has hit a bit of a wall. I'm going to get feedback on what I have come up with so far from other people to try to decipher what I need to focus on next. In the meantime I have a couple of sketches here to talk about which basically underscore why I need to continue moving forward. Suffice to say it's mainly because I had upward momentum when I started this blog... now whats next.

(IMG 1 - Unknown - 23/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "A bit messy, keep working on this"

(IMG 2 - Unknown - 23/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Stiff with hard lines... the face is wrong"

IMG 1 is basically a loose sketch I knocked up to try to see if I could draw a pose I have drawn accurately before. I'm sad to say it didn't work out as good as my previous attempt. Despite it being loose there really isn't much detail considering I drew it more accurately before in 5 minutes. IMG 2 is just full on my old mistakes; rigid hard lines and a flat pose (including a head that is just waaaay too stiff). This just italicises why I need to get a game plan together, maybe some new exercises and a bit of feedback beyond "these are good, keep going". I have one post left to submit and then after that I will be back hopefully with the next stage under my belt.

Wish me luck guys!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx  

Hey People!

Gonna just get straight to it today as things have been a little hectic and my motivation has been lacking a little. I cant tell if this is because of the current situation (coronavirus) or if I have hit a bit of a dead end. I decided to just go back and draw a few more Beans and gestures just to keep that fresh at the very least. I'm currently in the process of deep diving back over old Proko stuff that I have watched to try and dig myself out of this loop that I am currently stuck on I may mail the Proko email again to get a second burst of inspiration. I just dont feel that things are moving forward and the landmarks videos are quite vast... I just cant get motivated.

(IMG 1 - 45 Sec - 22/04/2020) Various Beans from Female Pose Series Tests 67 - "Try to study the form more before sketching" 

(IMG 2 - 45 Sec - 22/04/2020) Sitting female pose series x 10 Revisited - “Try to capture more dynamism in the poses" 

IMG 1 are my bean efforts which by now I've done so many of these things that I'm getting to a point where I dont think its worth posting them. I may have to start getting a bit more radical with this blog, posting better content but not daily. I need to find the next step and once I've found it I'm sure there will be some relevant insights I can share. IMG 2 are my gestures which after seeing others in the Proko group just feel lack luster and a re-tread over my other gestures sketches. I'm getting better with standing poses but sitting/lying poses involve foreshortening and overlapping... this is where I'm weak and need much more practice to get better.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx  

Hey Guys,
Another round of doodles!

Still working on laying down poses if only to try to understand foreshortening better. I know I said it in my last post but I will be going back over the Proko videos because I am quite sure that I am just making the same mistakes and am not moving forward. I remember hitting the landmarks video and seeing so much to unpack that I didn't know how to fit it into a short sketch series. Proko maps lots of elements by building the form from an eclipsing shape and then cuts negative space and anatomical placement from the shape and obviously applies landmarks. I'm still trying to understand the form from multiple angles and how the form overlaps.

(IMG 1 - 5 Min - 21/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Good flow in the hips, keep working on the legs"

(IMG 2 - 20 Min - 21/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Revisit the Proko videos, to go over old ground"

I was actually quite proud of IMG 1 after I completed it because of the dynamism I managed to capture in the hips twist and its overlap on the torso/pelvis. Obviously that was marred a little by the issues I still suffer with limbs particularly legs/feet. Still I managed to tap into a system here which was working the problem is after every sketch I feel like I'm back to square one. IMG 2 was a longer sketch to give me the confidence to work more on the legs and how the waist moves into the chest cavity. I've tried this pose a few times but each time I stumble with the right foot which doesn't flow to the bed... its weird.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx  

Hey Guys,
Here we go again!

Had another rather interesting day of sketching. There is a lot of challenge in trying to decipher these poses especially where foreshortening is concerned. I've also frequented the gesture sketches of people on the Proko facebook group and it feels intimidating. There are a lot of people on there that capture gesture really well. Mine always feels messy or a bit stiff, not sure how I remedy this but I still feel as though I am going in circles. I'm going to look back over my Proko videos just for a refresher so I know I'm not making too many old mistakes. I tried mixing things up this week too by getting started with some basic poses before going back over Beans and ending with a longer pose.

(IMG 1 - 5 Min - 20/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Upper body is a bit off, invest more time in the limbs"

(IMG 2 - 5 Min - 20/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Keep the lines loose, no hard pressure"

(IMG 3 - 45 Sec - 20/04/2020) Various Beans from Female Pose Series Tests 66 - "Not bad J is the better pose here"

(IMG 4 - 5 Min - 20/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Good gesture/weight - keep it up!"

While I continue to invest a bit of time in the more complicated poses (where I cant see the anatomy because it is covered by an arm/leg/the head/foreshortened/etc) I feel my confidence fading a little. I'm in a bit of a rut but I'm hoping I can remedy this by going over some of my previous lessons to understand where I keep going wrong. The only sketch I'm remotely proud of in this post is the last one and thats because it's a standing pose where I can see the body so I know how to frame it. Foreshortening is really difficult especially when tied to a time crunch, even then it doesn't always work out. Maybe I should post this in the Proko facebook group to see what they say.

Food for thought, food for thought,

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey Guys!

Sadly the second and final post of the week but as I said things have been a bit tricky for me in terms of creativity. However we got further in terms of sketches after a rather scrappy start. IMG 1 is actually one of many but no matter how many smaller sketches I made I couldnt get the pose working. The twist in the waist was something I found quite tricky to reflect in a pose from this angle especially when you consider that the front needs to be more visible. Then there's the scratchy and harsh nature of the line work which made the final sketch a little stiff. I need to remember when I draw twisting poses to use a bean as it helps manage the chaos a little better then freeform sketching.

(IMG 1 - Unknown - 16/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Not bad but a bit messy, proportions are good"

(IMG 2 - Unknown - 16/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Miles better, better flowing lines and better form"

Things got better when I got to IMG 2 which just looks and feels more along the lines of what I want to see in my sketches. Dynamism, form and flowing lines. I even managed to draw passable feet and limbs in a simplistic form. For this pose I tried to notice landmarks by drawing in the dimples around the lower back. Then a centre line up from there to define the twisting of the spine. I think the trick with the female form is to not underestimate the size of the female torso which can be an easy trap to fall into. You also need a suitably round posterior which needs to flow into the legs. I just need to try to do this in quicker time and using my shoulder for flow.

See you guys in the next post!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey Guys,
Another week down!

Things are still moving a bit slower on this end, its a little hard to find motivation at times in the current situation (Lockdown) but I managed to get a few sketches knocked up this week in-between the chaos. IMG 1 was entirely spontaneous and started as a bean which I wanted to explore in terms of foreshortening. I didn't actually spend too long on it which I'm quite proud of. Faces are something I've never been absolutely terrible at but obviously foreshortening is one of my weaker areas. I tried using landmarks to construct the body but feel this didn't work out quite as well because I just ended up sketching freeform without much of a plan, hard lines still plague me too.

(IMG 1 - 15 Min - 14/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Good form but a little messy in terms of line"

(IMG 2 - 10 Min - 14/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Good form for the upper body, keep working on lower body"

(IMG 3 - 5 Min - 14/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture/Bean "Torso is a bit thick but the lower body is functional here"

IMG 2 for me was the better execution of form and is bucking a trend for my sketches now where 5 minutes doesn't seem like enough, 10 minutes seems to give me a standard I'm happy with. That being said the lower body on IMG 2 wasn't perfect and I need to practice landmarks and analyse negative space to a greater degree. IMG 3 was good initially but the lack of definition in the torso makes it look a bit thick and not true to the models form. I loved how I managed to simplify the shape of the lower legs (something Proko tends to do on his shorter sketches) so I will probably try to use these blocking methods more to see if it helps me define the pose quicker/easier.

Later guys!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey people!
A few more sketches for ya!

Following the trend of all my other posts this week I am still drawing the lying female form but after yesterdays mistakes I have revisited the use of a twist in the waist too. My last attempts were so flawed I wanted to do another take. I'm please to say I'm much happier with today's results which I got to by investing more time in singular poses as opposed to lots of smaller duration sketches. I started with a 15 minute pose (IMG 1) which I feel turned out pretty well, especially the torso and pelvis regions. Even my simplistic limbs I found worked pretty well in this pose... I tried to keep everything more loose but still feel they lack flow to a certain degree.

(IMG 1 - 15 Min - 09/04/2020) Female Sketch from Bean/Gesture "This is very nice the only area to fix is the right leg/foot"

(IMG 2 - 10 Min - 09/04/2020) Female Sketch from Bean/Gesture "This flows much nicer although the back leg seems to be missing"

(IMG 3 - 5 Min - 09/04/2020) Female Sketch from Bean/Gesture "Good form but the pelvis needs defining"

I found it simpler to take time away from sketches, so have a longer sketch then shorter ones. This is why each attempt went from a long 15 minutes to my weaker 5 minute drawings. While there is a discernible difference of quality between the sketches I feel that it made the 5 minute one more of a success then usual. IMG 2 was initially rather complicated due to the pelvis leaning further away then the torso. This came full circle when I got to IMG 3 where the torso is practically front and centre but the pelvis is tucked away further in the background. You can see the angle change between each pose and I'm so glad I captured that here... That's the biggest achievement here.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx 

Hey Guys,

Another day, another few sketches for you to peruse! Its not been easy to focus on this with everything going on around the world at the moment but you know what they say where there's a will.... I'm continuing my adventures on the lying down female form... not easy to say the least. I figured today was the day to practice a twist in the waist, which I tried without the bean as a building block which now I feel was ill-advised. IMG 1 shows my initial attempt which ironically I feel was the better sketch out of all of them. I kept the lines more loose and the details much more simple. This isn't to say that the sketch worked it was just better then the latter two. (IMG 2 - 3).

(IMG 1 - 5 Min - 08/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture "Good flow but the legs need defining more!"

(IMG 2 - 5 Min - 08/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture "A bit too harsh, not enough flow and the legs just look bizarre"

(IMG 3 - 5 Min - 08/04/2020) Female Sketch from Gesture "The torso is really nice, she needs more neck and the legs are not right"

IMG 2 was where things started to go down hill a bit. I do what I usually do when I don't know what to do or how to start. I throw heavy lines down trying to define things early and it doesn't flow, the pose just looks stiff and its harder to adjust the proportions when needed. Thankfully I managed to at least partially resolve this in the next sketch (IMG 3) by keeping the lines looser but I feel were not as free-flowing. The legs were still very tricky to figure out and the 5 minute time limit didn't help because its where I feel there should be enough quality but not too much which causes me to rush details resulting in numerous mistakes. Check over my prior posts you will see what i mean.

Another day, another doodle.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx