I fell out of love with making art for a while. It was difficult to make myself create things as I barely ever finish anything. My ideas for the most part are grand, would take too much time and are far beyond my skill for what I see in my own head.
So this is an attempt at making “quick” sketches mainly from reference, just to get myself actually making anything. For the most part, I will try to keep sketches to under an hour but we’ll see.
This one’s an attempt at getting my head around Golden Eagle anatomy. I’m actually quite happy, the 3 head shots were rather quick and took 10-15 minutes-ish each and the full body admittedly I ended up sitting with for 2. Am quite happy to finally get going, and I’d like to really credit this brush by @mdfm28:
It really got me to be less strict with my lines and stopped me from instinctively Ctrl+Z’ing.
Also, please, feel free to critique and let me know how I could improve on these or add any informations/resources or inspiration you could give. Much love.
Edit: Should probably add the references I can track down. The full body was shot by 王 HC from flickr (Chinese character as I can’t write his anglicised name?). From left to right Furante (flickr), Shamil Zhumatov and TheDazDanks (flickr).
Looks like you’re doing very well already. One of the others here put me onto John Muir laws, so I watched this a couple of days ago and have been drawing birds since! The New Bird Drawing System (video) • John Muir Laws
Today I’ve continued my path on Golden Eagle heads, trying to build them up from skull to feather, but also to learn what types of feathers are where on the head. Probably going to do a colour study next from these sketches.
Tried a colour pencil brush for the Sparrow up top right and quite happy, looks exactly like my coloured pencil drawings - a little dull because I don’t have the patience for layers. Not really happy with how the Superb Fairy Wren on the bottom left turned out because of the shading but it’s still nice to actually get stuff made. Need to work on stronger lighting fundamentals me thinks
It’s commendable that you’re pushing past the hurdle and reigniting your passion for art! Embracing “quick” sketches from references is a great strategy to keep the creative flow going. Your Golden Eagle sketches show promise, especially considering the time invested. Incorporating diverse references and seeking feedback are solid steps toward improvement. Keep experimenting, stay open to critique, and trust your progress. Your determination is inspiring!
There sure are plenty of videos, watched his video on drawing bird feathers and drawing less than you see and they’re super helpful. Thanks so much for introducing me to his videos, I’m probably going to take a break from birds in the meanwhile and do other stuff lmao
Here’s some sketches I got using the info from the video, really helps to limit to 5 minute sketches and find a way to convey exactly what you want with as few marks as possible.
And thanks Muhammad, I’ve been really enjoying this go at getting better at my fundamentals in art cause they can be anything. Whether or not they look good doesnt matter cause the next one can be better.
I’ll have to check that out out, because ‘less is more’ is very useful when it comes to doing pixel art as well.
Managed to get a partial sketch of a crow in our backyard today. I’m going to have to get much faster if I am going to finish one that is not sitting still on my screen!
John Muir has a book on how to draw birds, I recommend checking it out(at the library or buying it). It really helped with my bird anatomy, but I still have trouble drawing layered feathers ;D
Also, @Michelist I’ve seen you around helping people out so I hope you don’t mind my tagging you, but I can’t seem to edit my post to change the thumbail of the sketchbook and would like any ideas as to why that is.
Gorgeous!
