30 minute sketch
© 2026 Scott Brock
Haven't posted here in awhile. A 30 minute drawing I did! Any feedback would be great!
Cheesy Art7
I think what would help loads is allowing yourself to become a lot more fluid with the way you sketch and allowing yourself to follow the curves of the body instead of sticking to the structural guidelines you provided for yourself. Sounds counterintuitive but knowing that the body very rarely has stiff lines and follows both convex and concave curves helps more when drawing gestures. Starting with the spine helps me define these curves the most.
Joshuah
This is Great Scott! Love that you added some value in this drawing. Don't be afraid to make a more detailed under drawing so that you can really nail the proportions. One thing I like to do is do a couple of quick gestural thumbnails of my reference before I hop into the a longer piece. It give me more confidence when I am approaching the figure.
Jcmlfineart
ScottBrock,
How are you holding your pencil? Are you using a writer's hold or a artists hold?
The reason I ask is that it looks rather stiff and consistent with a writer's hold. When you work from only your wrist, your drawings will be less dynamic and can make the figure look tenser than it is in real life, or in this case, the photo.
I'd also suggest working with different pencil pigment levels. Start with something like a 3H-HB and then work your way up to a 6B-9B pencil for core shadows and points of emphasis within the figure. I am suggesting this approach because it visually shows that your drawing has the same pressure around the figure's edges/areas of interest to you, in terms of line quality. By changing the pigment-to-clay ratio you use in your varied pencils, it can help you express light without changing your pressure levels. This is what I call 'The Sacled Pressure Method'. It is a great method for those coming back to the craft and for beginners.
Yes, adjusting your pressure levels also helps create more dynamic, fluid drawings. But by working in the Scaled Pressure Method, you can concentrate more on expressing light without the added difficulty of working on your tension and touch ratios, which is more of an advanced technique.
As you are coming back to the craft. I suggest you 'eat' some of your 'art veggies' and work on boring things like
None of this stuff is really pretty or satisfying to share. But they help you reacquaint yourself with your tools and become a better artist. Boring, but very useful.
I hope some of this helps.
All of the best
JCML Fine Art
How are you holding your pencil? Are you using a writer's hold or a artists hold?
The reason I ask is that it looks rather stiff and consistent with a writer's hold. When you work from only your wrist, your drawings will be less dynamic and can make the figure look tenser than it is in real life, or in this case, the photo.
I'd also suggest working with different pencil pigment levels. Start with something like a 3H-HB and then work your way up to a 6B-9B pencil for core shadows and points of emphasis within the figure. I am suggesting this approach because it visually shows that your drawing has the same pressure around the figure's edges/areas of interest to you, in terms of line quality. By changing the pigment-to-clay ratio you use in your varied pencils, it can help you express light without changing your pressure levels. This is what I call 'The Sacled Pressure Method'. It is a great method for those coming back to the craft and for beginners.
Yes, adjusting your pressure levels also helps create more dynamic, fluid drawings. But by working in the Scaled Pressure Method, you can concentrate more on expressing light without the added difficulty of working on your tension and touch ratios, which is more of an advanced technique.
As you are coming back to the craft. I suggest you 'eat' some of your 'art veggies' and work on boring things like
- shading scales from 1-10
- Playing: Thicker, Thinner, Darker, Lighter, the continuous line game,
- Hatching in little boxes with different thicknesses
- Shading basic shapes with 1-3 light sources
- Drawing basic shapes in one stroke, but starting with one type of pressure and finishing with the opposite pressure.
None of this stuff is really pretty or satisfying to share. But they help you reacquaint yourself with your tools and become a better artist. Boring, but very useful.
I hope some of this helps.
All of the best
JCML Fine Art
Scott Brock
I actually never heard of a writers hold or a artisits hold. I do record myself drawing, speed them up and make shorts out of them to record my progress. I've been drawing for....7 months now, just the human figures. if your interested, I can always record myself drawing and if you can take a look if you like.
Never heard of art veggies either, so I took a snippet of what you wrote for that and saved it.
I will try to appy what you told me. might take awhile.
Thank you!
Never heard of art veggies either, so I took a snippet of what you wrote for that and saved it.
I will try to appy what you told me. might take awhile.
Thank you!
Jcmlfineart
Scott Brock,
Okay, I can show you the difference between a writer's hold and an artist's hold.
Hold your pencil the way you were taught in kindergarten, and now hold it comfortably as an adult. This is a writer's hold.
Hold your pencil like you were taught to hold your knife to cut up a stake. This is an artist hold.
[li]It mainly uses your elbow and shoulder, but it also uses some muscles in your back.[/li]
[li]This gives you a much larger range of motion than your wrist. About 18-24 inches from your elbow in circumference and about 3 feet from your back and shoulders. (Again, this varies from person to person)[/li]
[li]Working from your elbow and shoulders allows for more fluid line quality and expressive drawings once you gain control of your implement through consistent practice.[/li]
[li]Please be warned: If you have never used this method, you will get tired quickly. Do not overdo it. These muscles need strength training (both by drawing time and actual gym time), but they also need to be stretched and rested. They are wee babies. Take the time you need to get big and strong by 'eating your artist veggies' and holding your pencil correctly.[/li]
[li]Please be warned: You may have a tendency to hold your breath and grip the pencil harder then nessary because you are unused to this grip. When you notice this, take a break; it's your body telling you you're doing too much. Your grip should be very loose and relaxed so that you can vary the pressure and thickness of your lines.[/li]
No matter your hold, this tension in the body can happen when we really want something. Without stretching and strength training, you can hurt yourself by drawing, incurring repetitive nerve damage injuries. Please Be Careful!! aNNND Listen to your body.
I hope this was helpful.
All of the best,
JCML Fine Art
Okay, I can show you the difference between a writer's hold and an artist's hold.
Hold your pencil the way you were taught in kindergarten, and now hold it comfortably as an adult. This is a writer's hold.
- It mainly uses movements of your wrist and fingers.
- It is great for detailed, very fine little itty bitty works, usually no larger than 2-2 1/2 inches (Depending on your flexibility in your hands, the circumference of your wrist movement and your finger placement on the pencil- ability using this grip is variable between person to person)
- Your movement is small because you're limited by how much of a circle you can make with only your wrist.
Hold your pencil like you were taught to hold your knife to cut up a stake. This is an artist hold.
- Here is an example from an [url=
[li]It mainly uses your elbow and shoulder, but it also uses some muscles in your back.[/li]
[li]This gives you a much larger range of motion than your wrist. About 18-24 inches from your elbow in circumference and about 3 feet from your back and shoulders. (Again, this varies from person to person)[/li]
[li]Working from your elbow and shoulders allows for more fluid line quality and expressive drawings once you gain control of your implement through consistent practice.[/li]
[li]Please be warned: If you have never used this method, you will get tired quickly. Do not overdo it. These muscles need strength training (both by drawing time and actual gym time), but they also need to be stretched and rested. They are wee babies. Take the time you need to get big and strong by 'eating your artist veggies' and holding your pencil correctly.[/li]
[li]Please be warned: You may have a tendency to hold your breath and grip the pencil harder then nessary because you are unused to this grip. When you notice this, take a break; it's your body telling you you're doing too much. Your grip should be very loose and relaxed so that you can vary the pressure and thickness of your lines.[/li]
No matter your hold, this tension in the body can happen when we really want something. Without stretching and strength training, you can hurt yourself by drawing, incurring repetitive nerve damage injuries. Please Be Careful!! aNNND Listen to your body.
- A good habit is to do something like yoga, or some activity that focuses you on your breathing and stretching before drawing. Why? So your muscles are primed for their workout on the page.
- Lastly, different kinds of music/sound will affect your line quality because they influence how you hold your body and breathe. Choose Wisely.
I hope this was helpful.
All of the best,
JCML Fine Art
Scott Brock
It was! Good old Proko. I liked the video and I'll do my best to go through with the techniques of artisit hold! Thank you!
Coiledlamb
hey, this is quite good! i can recognize the model and the key parts of the pose from it, which is always a good sign. i think the places to improve the most here would be the shoulder joints and hips. i can see you thinking about the chest as a sphere, which is good, and i believe i see the outline of a sphere dictating the lower pelvis area - with the thick line on the back serving as the spine. it can help to think of these as shapes as well - the shoulder being a round joint set into the sides of the chest, and the pelvis being a slightly v shaped rectangle. really, if there's any part that gives you trouble while drawing, try reducing it to the most basic shape it's close to, and add detail from there. lastly, rubbing quickly with your fingers can add a nice smudge effect depending on the medium you're working with, but it also adds oils to the surface, so up to you if you'd like to do that in your finishing steps.
