Tutorials

UPDATE 12/10/11: If you’re looking for even more eye drawing resources, check out this great Squidoo lens on how to draw eyes compiled by Martin Stankewitz!

Figure Drawing For All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis (p. 176)

Drawing the Human Head by Burne Hogarth (p. 37)

Eye Drawing Tutorial by Brian Huey

How to Draw Eyes by Stanislav Prokopenko

Drawing the Human Eye on OnlyPencil

How to Draw Eyes on DrawFurry

How to Draw Eyes: The Male Eye by Cataclysm-X

How to Draw Eyes by JR Dunster

How to Draw a Realistic Eye by DorsY69

How to draw the femal eye on Instructables

Female Eye by Faith Te

Drawing Cartoon Eyes by Pete Emslie

Cartoon Eye Reference Sheet

Manga / Anime Eyes

Drawing the Manga Eye by Archvermin on DeviantArt

Tutorial: Create Unique Anime Eyes by Kikariz on DeviantArt

Draw Female Anime Eyes

How to Draw Eyes by Koda Tadashi

Videos

Photo References

Eye Stock Images on DeviantArt

Eye Images on Flickr

Eye Stock Images on morgueFile

40 Amazing Female Eye Photography by Amir

Related posts:

1. How to Draw Hands: 35 Tutorials, How-To’s, Step-by-Steps, Videos, Studies, Poses and Photo References
2. 7 Tutorials on How to Draw the Human Anatomy / Body / Figure
3. How to Draw a Face: 25 Tutorials

"Chameleon Tree King" by Henry St.Leger

What’s your name?

Henry St.Leger

Where did you grow up?

A town called Bridport in Dorset

Where do you live now?

Bristol

How old are you?

28

What is your educational background? What, if anything, did you study?

I have a degree in illustration with animation from UWE in Bristol.

Self Portrait by Henry St.Leger

How do you make a living?

I am a freelance Illustrator, Animator, Character designer and Storyboard artist.

How long have you been making art, and what role does that play in your life?

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I used to sit there with a pile of paper my parents had got me and my brother and draw constantly.

It’s hugely important in my life and I still draw in my down time. I think I’d still make images even if it wasn’t what I did for a living. I was not very good at very much else at school and nothing brings me more pleasure.

What does “art” mean to you?

I think art can cover so much. I think it has to be something that makes you feel something. So much of it is a gut feeling that happens when you first see a piece or hear some music or watch a film or animation. You know almost instantly. For me Art is something that inspires and pushes my own work or makes me look at something differently.

What role does drawing play in your work? Is it a means to an end, or an end in and of itself?

I work in illustration or even just drawing for the pleasure of doing so, it’s what I want to do and I don’t particually care if it sells or if people even like it (although both are always nice).

Making work makes me want to make more work and develop and evolve as an artist.

What would you consider your “style” of art to be, if you have one?

I would consider my art to have an illustrative style. For years I thought I was a fine artist but then on my foundation course someone pointed out that I was an illustrator. I sat there and looked through my sketchbooks and realised how obvious it was.

"Tree Whale King" by Henry St.Leger

What’s your weapon of choice? What medium and drawing tool do you prefer to use?

By far my favorite pen is the Pentel Brush Pen. I spent a while looking for a good brush pen and this is the best by far. It doesn’t dry out and keeps its shape beautifully. You can achieve such fine lines and massive fat ones with one pen.

I also use a Pilot G-Tec-C4 for super fine work. I hold a pen at a strange angle and so a lot of fine liners end up breaking or become stubby. This is a super fine roller ball that holds up.

Some of my work is done digitally on Photoshop. I learnt to use it so much in the industry i work in and you can do so much with it. However there are things i can do on it that i can’t do hand drawn and vice versa.

What approach do you take for your work? Do you plan it out or does it emerge spontaneously? How long do you usually work on a piece?

It can vary really. I usually doodle in a sketchbook and when I draw something I like I develop it further and then sometimes that develops into a more final piece outside my sketchbook on a lager scale.

Sometimes I draw an image straight off and it doesn’t need any more work to it. Often these more spontaneous drawings are what I consider my best.

I often make a pencil plan first and then go over in the pen if I am planning composition a little more. For example with the large skull piece called ‘Nest’ i did i made a rough pencil line showing the shape of a skull on the page and then went straight on with pen to make the detail that makes up the piece.

I work pretty quickly. I have quite a short attention span when it comes to my work. I need to get the image on the page. The ‘Nest’ image i mentioned before was probably my largest piece. It’s about two meters squared. It took me two long evenings to complete.

"Nest" by Henry St.Leger

Are there any people that influenced you that stand out? What current artists do you follow?

Ralph Steadman was a huge influence to my work and also comic book artists like Jack Kirby have made their mark.

At the moment I’m really into Charles Burns. His graphic novel Black Hole is a lesson in black and white illustration. I have a massive signed screen print of one of the panels from it above my desk at home. I’m trying to get some of his style to rub off on me.

I’ve been making screen printed gig posters through a company called Jacknife who are based in Bristol. The world of gig posters has a huge amount of very talented artists and designers that have inspired some new approaches and ways of working. One artist that particually caught my eye recently is Aaron Horkey. His attention to detail is mind blowing.

Whilst I was growing up my brother, Sam St.Leger, was a huge influence. We now have very different styles but i still get inspiration from his work.

I am also lucky to be amongst some hugely talented illustrators and artists who I can bounce ideas off of and I think we influence each other.

What are you currently working on?

My day job at the moment is at Aardman Animations doing some photoshop work and a bit of animation.

In my spare time I’m currently designing a gig poster for the band Chew Lips.

Also me and my brother have been discussing an animation project for a few years now. I am determined to get it going this year.

Do you have any upcoming events?

I’ve got a joing show called ‘Deep into the Woods’ with a load of very talented individuals in May at a gallery above Start the Bus in Bristol.

The show is including work from:

Stuart Kolakovic
Log Roper
Jon Boam
Matthew the Horse
Seb Burnett
Dave Bain
Rosie Miles
Amy Brown
Paul Roberts

What would you tell aspiring artists?

I don’t know really. Just keep at it I suppose. If you really want to do it keep pushing. I’m freelance and it is pretty hard work sometimes but when it pulls off it can be so rewarding.

"Big canvas" by Henry St.Leger

"Big canvas" (detail) by Henry St.Leger

Related posts:

1. Interview with Jonathan Bergeron aka Johnny Crap
2. “The Drawing Is the Most Important Part” – Interview with Matt K. Smith
3. Matt Cassan: Charcoal Art and Interview

Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery

Today I’ll be reviewing Christopher Sia’s “Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery”, a home-study course that will teach you how to draw realistic portraits.  Now let me begin by saying that I care very little for so-called “pitch sites,” the online version of OxyClean infomercials.  They all have the same structure: 1) Hey check out how great my product is; 2) see how great these people think my product is; and 3) but wait, there’s more!

Well, this online course is sold through just such a pitch site, but Mr. Sia got in touch with me so I figured I’ll give it a try.  At this point let me also provide full disclosure: if you access his site through any of the links I provide on this page and ultimately end up purchasing his product, I will earn a commission on that sale – money that will be reinvested in keeping the lights on around here.  Nonetheless, I will try to do as objective a review as I can.

So let’s get started.

All sales pitch aside, what product do you get for your $47.00?

• 5 e-books lessons and 5 process maps (more on that below)
  1. How To Draw A Realistic Eye
  2. How To Draw A Realistic Nose
  3. How To Draw Realistic Mouth And Teeth
  4. How To Draw A Realistic Ear
  5. How To Draw Realistic Hair
• 100 high-resolution reference pictures (70 head shots, 30 facial feature close-ups)
• 12 weeks of exercises

Ok, so let’s a look at what we’re getting.

The Lessons

As the author states, the lesson contain 208 pages and a total of 605 illustrations.  The basic technique used is that you start with a picture, draw a light outline of the feature, and then shade it in.  He goes into painstaking detail on all the required shading.

How to Draw a Realistic Mouth

Following his instructions will definitely make you see things you might’ve otherwise not caught.  There are good little tips dispersed throughout.  Here’s a bit on drawing hair and eyes:

How to Draw Hair

How to Draw Eyes

The Process Maps

Each lesson comes along with a process map, which is essentially a diagram on how to go about attacking the particular feature that you are looking to draw.

Process Map for the Eye

The High-Rez Photographs

Included in the package are 70 high-resolution images in black and white (resolutions are in the area of 1500px by 2000px).  These are definitely helpful as they provide you good reference material, although they are all celebrities – subject matter I always find slightly tacky.  In addition to the celebrities there are 30 images of facial features, which are great for you to get a sense of how individual features vary from person to person.

Liam Neeson

Female Mouth

The Exercies

The 12 weeks of exercises are a bit light on the exercises per say, but contain some additional good information on various shading techniques.

How to Draw Eyebrows

But wait, there’s more

Once you’ve purchased the course, you can upgrade to the VIP level for another $29.95, which will give you access to another 30 high-rez black and white celebrity pictures as well as a worthwhile guide on how to make sure your drawing doesn’t lack contrast but shows more volume.

David Beckham

In addition, you can send in your reference picture and Mr. Sia will make sure that it is properly edited for you to draw from.

My Thoughts: The Bad

There are several things that I miss from this package, the most important being a lesson on how to pull it all together into a coherent face.  There is no theoretical background on some basic things like proportion of the head or face.  Moreover, each lesson focuses on only a single facial part, instead of varied facial parts to illustrate some facial differences.

If you want to be able to draw from your mind, this course is not for you – it is strictly useful in drawing from a given photograph.  The course also requires some basic skills in being able to trace the contours and features that you’re later going to shade in.

The Good

Mr. Shia is very detailed and you can fully follow along his entire drawing process.  If you want to see each step in how his drawings are put down, you’ll find them.  There are many good tips and tricks on shading and pulling off tricky bits like hair.  The process maps give you a birds-eye view of the drawing process and the exercises have some additional beneficial information.

The reference material will keep you busy for months if you don’t mind drawing celebrities.  The facial features pics give you sense of the variation of facial features.  The photographs are very large and very crisp – great to draw in other words.

Conclusion

If you have been drawing largely from photographs and want to elevate your game to the next level, this is certainly a purchase you may want to consider.  If you are looking to be able to draw the human head and face in 3 dimensions from your mind, look elsewhere.

Hopefully this review has been beneficial to you, and thanks to Mr. Sia for letting me review the product.

Good luck and happy drawing! – Lee

Related posts:

1. Self Portrait (No. 23 / B5 Series) and Others by Matt W. Moore
2. Self Portrait Sketch and More by Shawn Barber
3. “The Drawing Is the Most Important Part” – Interview with Matt K. Smith

Back in Black T-Shirt by Godmachine

Aziz a.k.a. Godmachine is an illustrator based out of Wales, UK, with some seriously nasty skills. Growing up and working as an electrician and bricklayer as a young lad, it was skateboard graphics through which he rekindled his connection to art.  Influenced by artists such as Horsebites, Gieger, Aubrey Beardlsy, Klimt, and Richard James, it is probably fair to say that he does a bit of influencing himself these days.  As a freelance artist Godmachine’s art graces skateboards and band merchandise such as t-shirts, album covers and posters. Even though he considers himself old-school, he does most of his sketching straight on the computer these days.

I think t-shirt illustrations such as the one show above are a great example his work and what I personally like: gory, detailed illustrations.  His work in general is quite dark, and this is the essence of his appeal I think – at least for a certain type of audience.

If you haven’t done so already, check out Godmachine’s website or blog and put some food on his table by buying his stuff from his store.  There are also a number of interview with Godmachine if you want a deeper look at who he is:

Interview with Godmachine on Abduzeedo

Interview with Godmachine on We are the Zombie Nation

Interview with Godmachine on Creep Machine

Interview with Godmachine by Rockett

Sonisphere Poster by Godmachine

Untitled Sketch by Godmachine

Untitled Sketch by Godmachine

Untitled Sketch by Godmachine

Related posts:

1. “The Drawing Is the Most Important Part” – Interview with Matt K. Smith
2. Untitled (Neck in Straight Jacket) and Others by Hamid Bahrami
3. Drawings by Wonman Kim

• Tutorials, How-To’s and Step-by-Step’s
• Videos
• Anatomy
• Books
• Poses
• Photo Reference

Tutorials, How-To’s and Step-by-Step’s

It’s often useful to have a step-by-step guide, tutorial, or “recipe” on how to accomplish a certain task.  I’ve found that following steps is good to grasp basic concepts before going on to experiment and expand one’s understanding.  Tutorials on drawing hands are no different, and the tutorials and how-to’s listed below should be a good starting point.

J. Peffer created some nice step-by-steps for about a handful of hand poses.

Nice little tutorial by Ron Lemen.

Tom Richmond’s site is a must-go for any aspiring cartoonist and caricaturist and has a wealth of information.

Joumana Medlev has a superb introduction on the anatomy of hands on DeviantArt; also check out her work on cedarseed.com.

Quick hands and feet tutorial on Scribd by unknown author.

This tutorial is a bit different in that it’s more focused on how to draw using a graphic tablet as opposed to a hand per se. Nonetheless, it’s never bad to learn two things at once, so check out Whyball’s “How to Draw a Classic Hand using a Graphics Tablet” over on GoMediaZine.

Short and sweet hand drawing tut by uchuucacahuate on deviantart.

(Very) short but good tutorial by nk-chan on deviantart.com.

Excellent hand tutorial by alexds1 on deviantart.com – I really wish I could executive cartoon hands like that!

Good step-by-step tutorial by vashs-angel on deviantart.com: simple illustrations and descriptive text.
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Videos

Often it’s helpful to see someone else do something, not just in pictures, but in real-time.  Here are some videos that show hands being drawn:

For you all you manga heads out there, you wanna go check out Mark Crilley’s channel on YouTube on how to draw manga. Among those the video above on how to draw a hand holding a sword and how to just draw a hand.

Nice demonstration on how to draw a hand by cattusOK on YouTube.

Here we have another tutorial on how to draw female hands, also executed in Photoshop, via WonderHowTo.
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Anatomy

As one of the more complex instruments of the body, a sound understanding of underlying anatomy of hands can help considerably when trying to render realistic and convincing hands in your drawings.  Below are resources that should help you begin to understand how hands truly work.

The Wikimedia Commons continues to be a great place to find reference material, such as the hand anatomy plate from Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body pictured above.

Drawing and Anatomy by Victor Perard has pretty in depth coverage of human anatomy even though the drawings aren’t the best I’ve seen.  Nonetheless, very useful for the artist seeking to deepen their understanding of anatomy.

A more comprehensive discussion on drawing hands and feet which (I believe) originated on WetCanvas by JayD and then ended up on document form on Scribd.

Great mini-tutorial on hands by T. Arthur Smith on DeviantArt, looking to go beyond a tutorial on simply the idealized form of the hand.

I’ve mentioned him before in the post on skulls, and I’ll mention him again here: check out Michael Hensley for some great anatomical drawings with a distinctive style.
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Books

Perhaps the ultimate “tutorial” on drawing hands, “Drawing Dynamic Hands” by Burne Hogarth is a must-have reference book in your library. You can buy it here on Amazon.

Mr. Hogarth has more hand material in that most amazing work, Dynamic Anatomy.  You can buy it here on Amazon.

Thankfully there’s a copy of “Drawing Head and Hands” over at Scribd, by that other master of drawing, Andrew Loomis. The section on drawing hands isn’t as comprehensive as that on heads, but a great resource nonetheless, especially when trying to draw non-male hands (female, baby, etc.).

George Bridgman is the author of yet another treasure of a book on drawing.  Above you can see a plate from his the chapter on hands in the book Constructive Anatomy, available at the Internet Archive (or here via Scribd).
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Poses

Here’s a list of resources that display hands from many different angles.  It’s truly remarkable just how many poses the hand can be seen in.

Useful collection of hand poses by Chrissy Fellmeth.

More hand poses by what-i-do-is-secret on deviantart.com.

A nice little collection of female hand poses by artrush73′s hub page.

Mickey Mouse Hand Model Sheet by Les Clark

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive has some true gems when it comes to old drawings, such as this hand model sheet of Mickey Mouse by Les Clark from 1932.  Lot of other great stuff too, check it out. Found via this post on Animopus.

Another hand model sheet can be found on the Ultimate Iron Giant website, this one in particular being of Hogarth’s hand.  There’re literally a ton of other drawings on sketches related to the Iron Giant, you’ll find the hands in about the middle of the page.

Nice little reference on drawing animal hands/paws provided by Kelly on drawfurry.com.

Great study of the hand in its many incarnations – love the minimal style here.  By jimmymcwicked on deviantart.com.
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Photo References

Although you’ve got a pair for easy reference, it can help to look at a photo of a real hand, especially for awkward angles.  Here are a few sites that should give you ample hand pose pictures for hours of hand-drawing fun.

Nice collection of hand poses taken by Thomas A of Ander’s hands, via elfwood.com.

This site is certainly something out of the ordinary: Hands for Drawing by Pose Maniacs allows you select various hand poses and then turn them in 3D (select one of the numbers in the right-hand menu).  Great when you can’t find a proper reference at just the right angle.

Nice collection of both male and female hands in various interesting poses.

Female left hands by WindsweptSummer on deviantart.com.

Hand holding pencil by dragyourstock on deviantart.com.

Related posts:

1. How to Draw a Skull: 50 How-to’s, Tutorials, Studies, Photo References, Videos, and Inspirational Skull Illustrations
2. How to Draw Eyes: 25 Tutorials, Step-by-Steps, How-To’s and Reference Photos on How to Draw Human Eyes
3. 7 Tutorials on How to Draw the Human Anatomy / Body / Figure

"Ms. February" Line Art by Brian Ewing

Man am I glad that I checked out Brian Ewing’s Flickr page.  While there are plenty of sick drawings on his website and blog, the real action is on Flickr.  Ewing is an illustrator who pumps out amazing illustrations for band T-Shirts, posters, magazines, skateboards, etc.  For those of you who like the skull and, more broadly, tattoo aesthetic, you’ll get your fill here.

The real treasure trove, beyond the pictures themselves, are the tutorials and how-to’s that Ewing has put together on his Flickr account.  Detailing every step of the way (minus colors) of how he’s arrived at some of his most memorable work, including, for example, the cover of I Want Your Skull #5, you get a really intimate look at the whole end-to-end creative process.  There are lots of little tips that simple invaluable to the new artist – for example, don’t tape down your drawing but move it to preserve the motion of your hand and wrist.  If you want to know how a professional does what he does, you simple must check these out.

Of course you’d also be doing Ewing a favor by buying some of his stuff.  Really, you should.

3 more images below the jump.

IWYS Cover Inks by Brian Ewing

"Suicide Girls" Line Art by Brian Ewing

"High On Fire" by Brian Ewing

Related posts:

1. How to Draw a Skull: 50 How-to’s, Tutorials, Studies, Photo References, Videos, and Inspirational Skull Illustrations
2. How to Draw Hands: 35 Tutorials, How-To’s, Step-by-Steps, Videos, Studies, Poses and Photo References
3. Drawings by Wonman Kim

Los Angeles, Self Portrait Sketch by Shawn Barber

If you like tattoo art, you’ll love Shawn Barber.  As his website states: “Shawn Barber’s body of work focuses primarily on painting, portraiture and documenting contemporary tattoo culture.”  Barber’s many paintings focus on artists, specifically artists with tattoos.  He goes around the world to meet and document them, an experience which he later turns into the painting.  If you’re looking to get a tattoo, you might find some inspiration here!  Also don’t forget to check out “Studio Visit: Shawn Barber and Henry Lewis” over at Fecal Face.

More below the jump.

Shawn Barber Studio Visit by Art Adventures.

Mister Cartoon’s Hands (Collaboration with Estevan Oriol) by Shawn Barber

Sketch of Henry Lewis as seen in Forever and Ever: New Works by Shawn Barber

Portrait of the Artist, Gregory Mocilnikar by Shawn Barber

Related posts:

1. Sketch by Coro36
2. “Kristoff” by Richard T. Scott
3. Untitled by Antonia Franck

“Brutality” by Jeremy Fish

Known for his skulls and silly pink bunnies, Jeremy Fish is a skateboarder and enterprising illustrator living in San Francisco. His work is funny and odd: a surreal blend of tattoo and graffiti imagery.  Beside skateboards, t-shirts, hoodies, and ashtrays, Fish has also designed a Nike sneaker, painted a room of the Hotel Des Artes in San Francisco, and designed an album cover for Aesop Rock.  His clothing line is superFishal.

For t-shirts by Fish check out Umbrella Market and let me know if you can find an XL “Brutality” tee anywhere – it seems to be all sold out, argh.

More pics below the jump.

Here’s a great interview with Fish from Fecal Face.  Check out the full interview for more pics from his studio.

Another interview with Fish on YouTube by mpetty23:

Definitely check out some more Jeremy Fish videos on YouTube (there are plenty).

“Whale Guts” by Jeremy Fish

“Ahab” by Jeremy Fish

“Nautical Back” by Jeremy Fish

Related posts:

1. “Thug” by Jeremy Mohler
2. “Girl With a Fish” by Melissa Haslam
3. Drawings and Tutorials by Brian Ewing

You really need to check out Happy Pencil, the site of one Cam De Leon, an artist in California. His art is the kind of stuff I can personally really get into; kind of perverted, raunchy, voyeuristic, and oozing with dark humor. The above drawing is but one example of this (done in pointillism by the way).

His site is also an experience unto itself, and there’s plenty of cool stuff to buy. Unfortunately it seems a bit outdated; the last news entry on his “dark side” is from Nov. 24th, 2003. Nonetheless, there’s some fantastic work here, drawing and otherwise.

How to Draw a Monster

Infiniteeth

No related posts.

“Life Strands” by Hong Chun Zhang

Yes, this is drawn in Charcoal. Utterly amazing if you ask me. Hong Chun Zhang hails from China.

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