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To draw a horn coral.


Arizona Chris

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Hi all,

 

This week I continue to work at escaping my incompetence in the art of paleo art drawings by posting this weeks attempt.  I thought this one would be easy - what could be more simple than a curved arc and some ribs, right?  Oh man.  I spent the better part of this week studying the morphology and growth of rugose corals!  I had no idea they were so interestingly complex.  My first attempts at going beyond stick figures did not go well, and you wont see those!  Finally, after taking another hour and a half on line drawing course, I made another attempt, this time with pencil in hand - got it a lot closer to reality.  Here is my pencil drawing of the basic shape, with out any shadows or shading:

HornCoralDwgCal-1290.thumb.jpg.97d970e3b79413b601ffb935404381df.jpg

 

Next, I tried to shade the body to look more 3d and then add a drop shadow.  But I  had NO idea what the shadow of such a shape would look like.  I guessed at some sort of triangle. To help me get it right, I made a modelling clay model of a horn coral, and when it dried I had this to work with to find my shadow shape:

DSC00770-800.jpg.7b01470f71f931e95b8c4dd382a365e3.jpg

 

Next I put the light on it at the right angle and set the orientation per the drawing:DSC00769-800.jpg.f86f9340d1ae0bfd295d5559c9703b32.jpg

 

 

And the shadow I got was amazing.  I had no idea it would look like this.  Next, I added it to the drawing one light layer at at time.  And the final drawing came out looking like this:

 

HornCoralDwgF-1290.thumb.jpg.ee00b0085c1cfb062612bbc0ff0917b0.jpgar

 

I hope you like it.   I learned so much about the shape and construction of these amazing animals in this process.  I think I am slowly making progress in paleo art, the goal will be eventually put  them in a paleozoic ocean scene and create a Permian Panorama.  Thanks for looking,

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Arizona Chris

Paleo Web Site:  http://schursastrophotography.com/fossiladventures.html

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Well done. :) The trick to drawing from life is to spend more time looking at the object, and less on the page, so that you draw what is there rather than what you think is there. 

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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Hi Kane are you an Artist?

 That is exactly the same advice I give my art student every day. 

 

Cheers bobby 

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1 hour ago, Bobby Rico said:

Hi Kane are you an Artist?

 That is exactly the same advice I give my art student every day. 

 

Cheers bobby 

I used to get the odd commission now and again to do some illustration. Sadly, haven’t picked up the pencils in a decade. :(

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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I like it! Was your original drawing with a pencil on paper or did you use a tablet? I need to get some kind of tablet for drawing. I'm using a mouse and it's like drawing with a brick. :trilowalk:

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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Nicely done! I admire your determination, and you have a worthy goal to keep you on track. Are you taking a regular line drawing course or was that just a one time thing? Doing something regularly like that helps keep you on course. I like to doodle about, but I don't get around to it that often. Maybe I should change my priorities a bit.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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I agree the more you draw the better you will get. I am an Digital Artist but also teach Art and Design. After the summer holidays   and when I have gone back to work my draw has suffered greatly because of lack of practice I have had. It takes a week or two to get it back . Also the linear type of  drawing you are working on is very difficult to master, you have  to convey In very few lines what the object feels like but when you have mastered it is an amazing skill to have. Nice work.:dinothumb:

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Thanks everyone!  The original was done with a set of pencils, and scanned with my flatbed scanner.  then the shading was added in photoshop. 

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Arizona Chris

Paleo Web Site:  http://schursastrophotography.com/fossiladventures.html

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Nice job for a beginner (even for more than a beginner). My only suggestion is a little more shade on the underside (overhang) of the 'cup' (can't think of the technical term for it at the moment!)

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  • 1 month later...

Now that's gorgeous!

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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