New sketch

I figured I would try something new and use a reference pic to sketch from. Normally I do pretty good at making my sketch look like the reference pic but, this sketch I did last night just didn't quite turn out like I had expected. I had this wild idea to draw Alice from Alice in Wonderland and maybe tweak it into something a little darker as I worked on it. I like to experiment with things like that. Here is what I ended up with.

The original image that I referenced was a younger Alice from Disney's version of the story which can be found here

I still need to do some work on it but, I will probably just end up redoing the sketch from scratch and try using one of my own characters instead. The whole idea was to get some practice with different views and angles. The fact that the reference pic still had the reference sketch lines in it helped me in the layout of my own sketch. I know the only difference is technically the face but, I still suck at drawing hair so I just referenced what was there, which still needs work in my sketch.

I don't have any formal training as far as art is concerned so, everything is self taught or picked up from watching others. I have bookmarks and hundreds of megs of files consisting of drawing tutorials ranging from american comics to Japanese Manga and pencil art for single pieces. I have plenty of material to work from, it is getting it from my head to the page that is the hard part.

I always cite my sources of reference if I can find them again, I sometimes forget to bookmark the link or copy it to notepad. Even if I can't find the original reference page I still list the reference source as best I can. I wouldn't want anyone to think I tried to steal their glory or anything. One thing that must be realized, while there are millions of facial combinations, the human body is only capable of so many poses. If a pose looks similar to something out there it is a good possibility that it was referenced since I don't trace work that belongs to anyone else. I have used a 3D program to pose a model and then outline trace that to make some quick sketches for game characters when I play RPG's. I haven't traced anyone's work since I was in high school and traced a few poses out of Family Circus for practice. Funny thing is I haven't actually drawn anything since high school which makes this whole art craze of mine about 20 years overdue.

I think that is enough bloggerific rambling one one night. Please comment or don't, it is your choice. Have fun and remember CITE YOUR SOURCES.