Hercules - Part II

Did some more work on Hercules and here is the current state of the drawing.

Hercules drawing in progress...

I detailed the club as well as the lion skin draped that is draped over the club. I also added details to his hair and beard. What is left now is his left hand and his feet. Hands and feet are difficult to get right so I think I will do some practices studies to get more familiar with the construction. 

Thankfully my wife gave me a plaster cast of a very famous foot! Hehe...the foot of David as sculpted by Michelangelo. That will come in handy for my upcoming studies... 

Hercules - Part I

In my previous post I showed you my new Hercules statues. I have had him for about a week and here is first pass of my drawing.

Drawing of Farnese Hercules statue

Still have to draw his right hand, feet as well as the club he is leaning on. Hair and beard needs to be detailed as well. After having completed all of that I would need to go over the drawing to add more contrast. I am sure I will get some good pointers from Igor and the rest at the Academy when I bring it in.

Home studio setup and new statue

Here is a picture of my home studio setup. Basically just have an easel in our guest bed room and a couple of statues that I draw from. An iPod speaker dock with an iPhone (first version) playing classical music via Pandora is really good for getting the mind in the right mood.

Studio setup

Also recently ordered a new statue from Design Toscano. This time it is the greek demi-good Hercules. The statue is 30 inches tall and has a lot of details so I think it makes for a good study. This particular statue is called Farnese Hercules statue and was an ancient statue from around 3rd century AD.

The Farnese Hercules statue

From the Sketchbook: Bernini's David

Bernini is a Italian master sculptor whose work I enjoy very much. While visiting Rome last summer there was plenty of opportunity to see his work. He has a magnificent statue in the middle of Piazza Navona that were featured in the movie "Angels & Demons"  (where one of the cardinals almost drowns). He designed St Peter's square and have a bunch of statues around the church as well as created the baldachin inside the church. He was very prolific and was (in my mind) the greatest sculptor during the Baroque era.

My sketch above is of the head of Bernini's David statue...that particular statue we never got to see since we never visited Villa Borghese in Rome. Reason for going back to visit again...

Click on picture to see a larger version.

From the Sketchbook: Back study

I try to draw something everyday be it a longer drawing of some type of plaster cast or just a couple of quick sketches. When I do my sketches I tend to be more loose when it comes to measuring the proportions and other aspects of the construction. That is not necessarily a bad thing because you are still training your eye and this will improve your quickness and reduce the need for explicitly doing all the construction steps. Anyways, from time to time the sketches turns into to something interesting that I will upload here. This time it is a sketch of a man's back. 

Back study

This is actually the back of a video game character called Kratos from the video game God Of War. I am not a big gamer but the game features art from Andy Park who is an artist that I like. I never really finished this sketch but was happy with how some of the muscle definition came out. I look forward to get into more anatomy to enable me to capture the details even better. 

Abraham Lincoln - Final

Since the last post I have worked on the hair as well as giving some details to the suit. I feel like I am at a state where I can say that I am finished. I have spent roughly 6 hours on this drawing and feel pretty good about it. I will be taking this to Sofia Art Academy on Sunday and have Igor, Sofia and the rest of the gang take a look at it and give me some pointers. Always room for improvement though but I think I will find some other motive to draw for my next project.   Click on the picture if you want to see a larger version.

Abraham Lincoln - Part 2

Yesterday and today I continued on my drawing of President Lincoln where I focused on adding more layers of value and refining the edges. I detailed the ear and then started to develop the beard. Working on the beard was very tedious and I think it came out pretty OK. Next step will be to work on the forehead and the hair. I should probably also work on his suite but that can wait until the actual portrait is closer to done I think. Click on the picture if you want to see a bigger version.