I think that this is one of my favorite figure drawings that I've done recently. The contrast is nice, the form is well defined and the highlights really help give the figure some life. Really my only regret is that the arms, neck and face didn't get finished as much as the rest of the body. But you can only do so much in 30 minutes. 

This is an ambient occlusion test. While not as exciting as some of the other studies I've been doing I think that revisiting basic concepts is a good thing to do an a regular basis. This took an hour to do.

I am sad to say that I don't have an appropriately spooky post for Halloween. The only spooky thing about this blog today is that I have made one post a day for the entire month. I hope that I can keep that trend going into November and beyond.

 Despite having a lot of the sketch lines still visible I really like this final pose. I think I got the muscles in his back and arms really well defined. When I started this pose I was worried I wouldn't get this far because I'm so used to drawing women who have far less muscle definition.

This is a transparency study looking at how light travels through objects. For an hour I think that this came out pretty good, I got the basic concept down and even though I didn't get get to color I still think that it was a successful piece.

 I like the level of contrast I got with this pose, it's enough to really get the form across but not so much as to be distracting. The anatomy is good with some minor exceptions. Really my only issue with this piece is that I didn't put a shadow down anywhere so she looks like shes floating.

This was done from a 3D model that was testing subsurface scattering. I feel like I got the general feel of it across, but I still feel like that there's something missing. It took about an hour to get this done and I think that I learned a lot from doing this painting.

Not really sure how I feel about this one. On one hand the composition is nice, I like the background element and how it works with the figure; but the figure itself has some issues. I think she came out looking too thin, The waist looks to small and I seemed to place a lot of emphasis on the ribs. The model was thin but I think that I exaggerated it to much. 

ERMAGAHD COLOR! So I trying to work with color now because it is something that I struggle with so this is one of my first color studies in a while. This one is looking at reflected color specifically. It took about an hour to do and I think I could have done better. It's not bad for a quick study but I still feel like that it looks to rushed and not very well thought out.

 The final pose here is good but I think that it could have used more finish, particularly around the edges. However the anatomy, the lighting and the contrast are all good for a 30 minute pose.

A portrait of Chris Hemsworth as Thor from the Marvel movies. This took about 45 minutes and overall I'm happy with it.

 The final pose here is a bit uneven. Her legs and torso look pretty good but the rest of the figure is largely unfinished. So I think that now my goal should be to work more efficiently so that even with the thirty minute time limit I can produce a good looking figure.

This took me about an hour and I'm pretty happy with it. There are some things that I would have liked to take a bit further like her hands and the curtain behind her. One of the things that I like about this is the hair, just having it as a flat black shape. It's something I might play with more in the future.

 I really like the final pose here. The shadows are good and the highlights really make the figure pop. For a half-hour drawing I think this turned out really good.

Emma Stone from The Amazing Spider Man. This took about half an hour and I'm not unhappy with it. I think that with another 30 minutes I could have had a very good portrait. The face is good but I would have liked to finish the hair, neck, and shoulders.

 Overall this final pose is okay. There are some minor issues but no major issues that would make this a bad pose, but at the same time there is nothing outstanding about this pose. Not bad for 30 minutes but not outstanding either.

An action pose seen in so many action movies, guy jump over something and shooting his gun at the bad guys. This took about 30 minutes and for the most part I'm happy with it. The clothes took up a lot of my time with this one so some of the rendering didn't get as far as I would have liked.

I like the final pose here. The anatomy is good, decent contrast, and the highlights. I would have liked to be able to put more time into the arms and get a shadow on the floor but for 30 minutes I think I did alright.

Christina Hendricks from Mad Men. This took about 30 minutes and overall I'm happy with it. I didn't get to finish her shoulders and breasts but the face looks good and that was the more important part for this painting.

 For half hour pose I think this is pretty good. There are some areas that I would have liked to finish but over all I like the pose, the anatomy is good, good contrast. Not a lot of negative stuff to say about this one except that I would have like an extra ten or fifteen minutes to really get the whole thing polished.

Not happy with this one at all. I know this was just a quick 30 minute pose but I really feel like I could have done better. The shading is woefully incomplete, I spent to much time on the face and neglected everything else making the whole thing feel very uneven.

 I like the final pose in this one. The blending in some areas is a bit rushed but no one area looks more finished than the rest. I think there are some anatomical issues with the forearm but I don't think that it's to major.

J. K. Simmons. Voice of Cave Johnson, Tenzin and J. Jonah Jameson. He is a great character actor and is always funny. this took a little over half an hour.

While I think some of the edges get lost in the shadows on this one I think that as a whole the drawing works. What I really like about it is the edge lighting, it blends into the figure in interesting ways and really helps give the figure some life.

 This took a bit over an hour to do. I'm not sure how long I actually spent on it because I was having a lot of fun working on this one. It was just one of those days where painting just seemed to come easily. I think the strongest part of this one is her upper body. I would have happily spent the rest of the day working on this but I had to return to my job hunt.

I like the final pose here. I could have pushed some of the highlights a bit more and given more attention to some of the details.

A quick castle on a hill. This took about 30 minutes. This is my last landscape for awhile and I ended with the worst one that I did. I spent to much time working on the details of the castles and neglected the rest of the piece.

 Not unhappy with the final pose. There are some areas where I should have pushed the contrast some more especially around where the highlights are.

Keira Knightly. I'm not sure what movie this is from but I though she looked cute with the short hair. this took about 1 hour to do.

 The final pose here is okay. My main problem is that the blending looks too soft and muddy. Also I think that I could have pushed the contrast more.

A painting from a stock photo I found on Deviant art. It reminded me of A Clockwork Orange a great movie  that everyone should see. I tried a different technique with this painting by blocking in the tone first as opposed to sketching everything in. It turned out pretty good and it's a technique that I might try to use if more in the future. This took about 30 minutes.

The final pose could have used a bit more contrast. I think that it lacks some of that pop that some deep shadows and bright highlights would help bring out. 

A quick painting of car done in about 30 minutes. I don't do a lot of car or mechanical paintings so this was a bit out of my comfort zone, but that's the only way I will ever get any better.

 I think with about an extra five or ten minutes I could have finished blending and the final pose would have looked a lot better. That said I do like the way it came out for the time I spent on it, I just shouldn't have spent so much time on the towel.

A painting of the African savanna done in about 30 minutes. I feel like I could have pushed the atmospheric perspective more especially with the trees in the distance. But having said that I do like the way it came out for such a quick painting.

 I like the final pose but it's to small. This is before I really had a system down for doing these drawings. I think after this I don't make the final drawings so small. Anyway the blending is nice, there are some anatomical issues but not anything to crazy.

The badass warrior queen Boudica. It's a still from a movie about Boudica, I can't remember the title of it though. She was the queen of the Iceni tribe that was located in modern day Wales and lead a rebellion against the Romans. This portrait took about 30 minutes.

 For once I am actually happy with the final pose. The anatomy is good, as is the lighting. The only thing that I see that I would have done different if to push the highlights a bit further.

A 30 minute pose done of a dancer. Not as finished as I would have liked. I think I spent to much time on the details and never got around to fixing some of the anatomical mistakes. Not unhappy with this piece just not particularly happy with it.

 Final pose came out a bit darker than I would have liked. I should have pushed the highlights further.

Drawing metal and mechanical objects has been a struggle for me in the past so I decided to tackle the problem with these two drawings. The helmet was more of a texture study, looking at how metal reflects light and how it's shape affects the highlights and shadows. The gun was more looking at how things are constructed with metal, hinges, bolts, and the like. Both took about 30 minutes to complete and I think I got what I needed out of these studies.

 Other than being a bit small I think the final pose came out pretty good. The shadows could be better defined and some of the anatomy isn't as refined as I would have liked but for 30 minutes not bad.

A 30 minute painting of a marsh. I really like how I got the glow from the sun to bleed around the trees. It really helps sell the foggy atmosphere. Some of the various bit could be more finished but this was only a quick painting.

Foreshortening is the bane of my existence. The final pose came out alright but as I finished it I realized that I had screwed up some of the proportions. I tried to correct it and I think it came out okay but I would have liked to have not spent the time fixing it and instead got it right the first time.

"Make it so Number One." Captain Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek. Not my favorite captain from Star Trek but I grew up watching TNG on a little TV in my mom's kitchen so TNG tends to bring back lots of warm fuzzy feelings. This took about half an hour.

I really like how the final pose came out in this one. It has a good amount of contrast and the minimal background helps to bring out the highlights on the upper body. Not bad for 30 minutes.

didn't quite get get as far as I wanted with this guy. It took an hour to get this far and I like how it was turning out. The fabric looks good and his face and hair were coming along.

The final pose is not as far along as I think it should be for a half hour of work. Need to work on my speed and using my time more efficiently when I paint and draw.

Ahhhhh! Its a cylon, run for you fraking lives! A friend got my into the Re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. I am loving it. This guy took about 30-40 minutes and came out pretty good for such a short painting.

Feel like my blending isn't as smooth as it should be. some of the edges are too well defined where they really shouldn't be. 

It's a foggy forest. Done in about 30 minutes. I like how I handled the atmospheric perspective in this quick study. I think it works. Maybe I'll actually be a good artist someday!