First Entry

Greetings to all that know me, and to all that don't.

I'm the resident concept artist here for SF and have been working as much as I can while here in Iraq, plus also squeezing in time to not only develop my drawing skills, but for personal growth as well. How many more posts like this I will do is unknown, but I hope to do something like this a decent amount. As a Christian, personal growth is something that is extremely important to me. Whether you have the same views as me or not is perfectly fine, I'm not here to impose my views on anyone or condemn anyone. I've recently begun something new that i think might interest some of you. In the very least, it will let everyone know that I am, in fact, still alive.

A Little Background:
As we all go through life, everyone has issues or problems they face. Whether you choose to believe that you do or not is fine, I'm not here to argue. But, personally, as I see these issues/ problems come up in my life, I decide to work through them and to figure out why they are there, what is causing them, etc. More often then not I have found that the main cause of these issues is something inside of me; whether thats a behavior, attitude, desire, or what have you. As I work through this process of 'digging' through my morals, values, beliefs, I see it as a battle; against good and evil. I imagine these battles, these struggles, as I work through them, and have decided to start drawing these pictures in my imagination as a way to help me work through them.

I've recently found the root of one area in my life that I was not happy with. The issue that I was struggling with was comparing myself to others so much that I would work harder to be like others, instead of being, and accepting, who I am; being myself. Below is the first entry of my Developmental Drawings that I have started. This is a little dated, because I've already made changes and added detail, but I will post the updated one shortly afterwards. I figure that if I show a few of my steps that I make, maybe even explain what I'm doing when I draw, maybe it will help any of you aspiring artists to try something different, or do something you haven't thought of before!

Drawing Description:
Basically this drawing shows a dude coming out of a swirling fog of goopy blackness (representing sin, deception, death, all those nasty things) and rising towards the light. There are beams of light that are shooting down from above him, and they form tips of swords, cutting chains away. The chains represent the issues/ problems in life that keep us imprisoned. There is only one chain right now, soon to be more, that goes into the dudes chest. I haven't drawn it yet, but there will be a hand pulling on that chain. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to give that hand some pretty nails (representing lust) and the rest covered in sludge, or if the hand should be all cut up (representing self hatred) and covered in blood, but I'm going to be doing something like that. But the dude has broken chains in his hands; representing how he is trying to get free from all his bondage, and God is helping him (swords of light). So there is a view into what I see when I visualize a battle between good and evil.... well, one view.

Drawing Aspects:
As you notice, there isn't all that much detail. I think I might have spent about an hour on it. A really good place to look is in the dudes right arm (your left), it shows the beginning 'skeleton' that I used to get the basic location for the dude. I use slightly curved lines for bones, which give a direction for the curve of the leg, arm, spine, etc. I also use circles to denote where the joints are. Using curved lines, in perspective, I'm also able to determine where I want to position the dudes eyes, nose, and mouth. I use this technique of building a skeleton with every drawing of the human figure, and even if I'm drawing creatures because they have a skeleton also, and then begin 'fleshing' them out; adding muscles. I've started to darken in some lines that I like, but basically, as you can see by looking closely at the fog, I draw multiple lines, all of which are very light, to get the general shape, direction, curve, etc. before I begin darkening anything in. It is WAY easier to erase if you start off light, for obvious reason. Any question on how or why I did something, feel free to ask!




NOTE: Please keep in mind that these are just my views and beliefs, and is by NO means meant to push anything on anyone. I would appreciate if people don't turn this into a flame war, but just take this for what it is; me, and one of my drawings.

Attached Images

Scripto Draw B1.1.JPG (85.9 KB, 119 views)

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nobody

Second Entry

Drawing Aspect:
Building off of the first drawing you get the image below. Drawing something out of my imagination is something that is the hardest for me. Why? Because I have nothing to base what I'm doing off of! One thing that really helps me, when drawing human figures, is to either have a mirror so that I can see how things are shaped, proportioned, located, etc., or to have other people just going about daily life that I can look at and study. However, when drawing this, I didn't have a mirror or other people!

The human face is one of the more difficult things for me to draw, but to help with that (and without a mirror) I use my hand to feel my face (yeah, sounds weird, but it helps!) and find out dimensions; how big my ear is compared to my nose, how far my eyes are apart, what my eyebrows might look like when I scrunch my face and trace my fingers along the creases.

There are some things in this drawing that I'm not particularly happy with, but as I continue to add detail, shading, etc., those imperfections will hopefully get covered up... hopefully. One of the biggest things, when doing a drawing that you are taking your time on, is to stick with it. Just because you don't like the look of something early on doesn't mean it can't be fixed by the end.

Attached Images

Scripto Draw B2.1.JPG (72.4 KB, 87 views)

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nobody

I dislike your drawing. It seems unholy to me. I find it hard to understand how anyone of benevolence as you claim to be could draw such hideous images of pain and suffering.

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"Silence is a fence around wisdom."
"Promise little and do much."
"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.”

Well, for me, evil is just that; hideous, and embodies every kind of pain and suffering. This picture is just my way of depicting the pain and struggle that ensues while you try to break free of that.

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nobody

Childbirth is painful, is it evil too?

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"Silence is a fence around wisdom."
"Promise little and do much."
"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.”

You seem to have failed there, he never said that pain was evil, just that evil embodied pain.

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God.

Man... this thread is full of nuts.... o_nobody_o you need to get home i think you have some kind of shellshock, gws and wtff... you're just nuts

Its just a picture wtff, get over it christ.

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Eat crayons, poop rainbows!

I really don't want this thread to turn into a debate, but if you wish to discuss more of it, I would be glad to! PM me if you wish.

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nobody

Actually, if you believe what the Bible says, the pain involved with childbirth IS evil. The childbirth itself obviously is not.

I think the pictures are awesome.
As the subject fights to free himself from the chains that are dragging him down to the depths, he realizes the futility of his fight. He cannot hope to break the chains that hold him prisoner.
But then, out of the sky comes a Sword that slices through the chains as though they're made of paper. Christians often refer to their Bible as their Sword.
To me, this picture says, "God's Word will set you free."