Thousand Head Drawing Challenge COMPLETE!!!

I did it! Here are the final best fifteen in the last hundred of the one thousand head-drawing challenge! It's taken me just about two years to complete, but it's been worth every effort. Progress photos ahead!

transferring drawings to bristol for inking

in process inking while listening to Coast to Coast AM

final ink

all thousand head sketches

And just to recap the entire project, here are all of the best of heads from each one hundred in the challenge. When I look at it all together I can really see the progress.

900/1,000 Heads!

Only one hundred heads left in the thousand head drawing challenge! I'm thinking of amassing a giant pdf of the entire thousand to share once I finish. Time to start scanning!

900!

The best 15 outta the next hundred heads have been finished tonight! I'll be photoshopping these guys together and share them soon. Only one hundred left to a thousand!

800

Here are the best fifteen heads out of the next batch of 100! I've now hit 800 heads out of 1,000; only 200 more to go! I'm excited about finishing this drawing challenge. It's been a lot of fun and has really benefited my drawing skills thus far. (If you're new to the blog, I've been doing a Thousand Head Drawing Challenge: draw a thousand heads and voila, you've improved!)

I also thought to share just the inked version, done traditionally with dip pens.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Best Fifteen

The best fifteen out of the next batch of hundred! Now I'm a smidge past 700. Only 300 more heads until I hit 1,000! 

(Anyone new to the blog, I'm doing a "Draw a Thousand Heads" drawing challenge. Draw a thousand heads and practice drawing!)

Ink All the Things!

I've been inking a lot recently, back with my croquill dip pens and that sweet, black ink.

Here are the best 15/700 for the next batch of hundred heads in my head drawing challenge. I'm a little less than halfway done inking them and will share the finished heads Friday.

Here's a peek into an illustration I'll be inking later this week, too. More to come on this illustration as I finish it... probably won't be posting the finish until next week.

I have to say I've really enjoyed going back to my dip pens for inking. I was trying to use microns and other pens, even brush pens, but I really am drawn to the croquill for its versatility in line shape and weight. I know brush pens can be pretty sweet in that arena too, but man my skills using brush pens for inking are not up to par. I'll have to keep practicing, but I just had to go back to my darling croquills for a hot minute.

Ten more to 700!

Only ten more heads until I reach 700!

This drawing challenge is a lot of fun and I am definitely seeing results. 

 can't wait to hit 1,000!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

600 and Onward!

The best ten heads out of 100, adding to 600! I'm slowly getting toward 700, and hopefully it won't take as long as these did. In case you're new to these posts, I'm doing a One Thousand Head Drawing Challenge: draw one thousand heads and by the end of it, voila, you've improved! It's a lot of fun and I use Facebook as a penalty of drawing five each time I visit... so it gets along pretty quickly. I also appreciate all my friends posting pictures so I can draw them; it really brings me out of my standard character drawing habits.

Tonight I'll be going to the Academy of Art University's Spring Show Opening Night Reception! I have a piece in the show and am excited to check the event out and see a bunch of great artwork. The show will be on display in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts until June 5, so if you're in the Bay Area try and check it out!

Here is the piece I have in the show. I've posted it here before, but tweaked it slightly since then.

Halfway!

I've reached 500! And beyond. In fact, 600 should be right around the corner. It took me some time to finally finish clean-up, value and light Photoshopping on these. (In case you're new to my blog, I'm doing a One Thousand Head Drawing challenge.)

For any who may be wondering, yes it has been a long time since posting. Between my internship with Rooftop Comedy and starting my last semester at AAU I've had quite a lot on my plate and it's taken some time to adjust to the schedule change. Now that I'm pretty comfortable, though, I will be getting back to posting regularly. Wednesdays and Sundays! I look forward to sharing my drawings with you all in the weeks to come.

First Post of the New Year!

Happy New Year! Hello, 2013. You seem like you'll be cool, but really I'm holding out for 2014. For some reason that year number feels good to me...

But 2013, here you be so let's get this year started productively!

The first blog post of 2013 marks 500 heads!!!

There are some... bad.. bad.. heads in this bunch. There was definitely a wall that slammed into my face and I started wielding the pencil more viciously than needed around the 430s. I think I got out of that funk by the end of this bunch of hundos, so I feel like this is a good milestone. Halfway completed!

(In case you're new to the blog or merely lost track, I'm participating in a draw-one-thousand-heads challenge. It's a great boost to my drawing habits and really allows me to explore and experiment with stylization. It's been super fun so far!)

Also tying into the thousand head drawing challenge, there's this cool January project some friends told me about called Fun-a-Day! Anyone can participate and certain cities will even be showcasing what gets made in February. The idea is to do something fun once a day for the month of January--pick a project and go with it!

So I'll be working off my thousand heads challenge and drawing five heads a day then inking/coloring one that I like. I'm thinking of doing one week of fictional characters then one week of real people... friends, maybe even historical figures or politicians too, and switching that up each week. This may change as it goes, we'll see. But it seems super fun and I already got my first day done! Just not inked...

You all should totally participate! Let me know if you do!

Also, keep an eye out for the best ten(ish) heads inked from this last batch to 500.

400!

Finally inked, scanned, and lightly colored the best twelve heads out of the last hundred done. This brings me to 400 (and beyond... at 460 as of today)! This thousand head drawing challenge is extremely fun and beneficial. Although, I must say, I think I'm hitting that wall of blech drawings now. We'll see how the best of 500's hundred are...

Heads in Costume!

So this past weekend was, of course, the weekend of Halloween parties as Wednesday just isn't quite the day to get plastered and go to work the next day. Hence why there were no posts for Halloween this weekend--Saturday was party time and Sunday was recovery.

Today I was happy to see all my friends posting their costume pictures dans le facebook, and took the opportunity to knock out some heads as well as draw something for Halloween today!

Top L to R, Pirate (one of two pirate brothers), Madeline, A cute cat lady

Bottom L to R, Malory Archer and a Spirit Guide!

Halloween is super fun time and I hope you guys are enjoying the festivities!

400!

Not too much to post today, since it's my birthday and my present to myself is to bake and lounge around the house, putting off work until tomorrow. But I have made it past 400 in the 1,000 head drawing challenge! Bask in their glory!

Tomorrow I shall ink the best 10 (technically I think I chose 11 or 12) and share those in the days to come. Also starting tomorrow is the countdown to Halloween! Check back for some fun, sketchy Halloween-inspired drawings!

300!

Onwards the count goes! There will be a midway celebration once I reach 500, for sure.

Prepare to be Inked!

I am now past 300 heads in the Thousand Head Challenge! These bad boys are waiting to be inked and then I shall share them when they are done.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

200 and Beyond!

And the drawing continues! Soon I'll be starting on the hands and feet as well...

This time drawn with dip pens and ink on bristol.

Slowed by an infectious Reading Spell

Today I had wanted to post that lil' illustration I was working on. Then I thought, well, since I don't want to rush it maybe I'll just do clean up on the next ten from 200 heads. However, I wanted to go about this on nice bristol this time with the crowquill and, truth be told...

I was under a vicious must-read-all-day spell yesterday and today. But I finished Garth Nix's Sabriel in two days! (Be wary of the link to the Wikipedia page on the book in case you don't want to read too much and spoil it for yourself, if, like me, it has taken you this long to read it). I really enjoyed the book and now need to read the next one. It was nice to tear through a book at a steady speed... but that means not much to post today.

So here are the clean-ups in progress!

The sketches posted on my wall back there are not mine at all, but the lovely shapes and sketches of one Sarah Fenton, whom I luckily got to meet via Character Design class and her being a former student. Check out her blog cause she has some great stuff.

Have a great weekend, everyone! And I swear to the old gods and the new that Wednesday there WILL be work to share!

First 100 Complete!

My first 100 heads is behind me! Actually, I'm almost to 200, but each hundo is a place marker of achievement. ^.^

For those of you just coming along to my blog, I'm working on a 'Draw One Thousand Heads Challenge' and you should too! Drawing is fun, so let's all practice!

Also, I'm going to clean up/ink the best ten of each 100 as I go along. So here's the first ten inked!

Never again will I use pens on printer paper, though. I wanted to kill every bleed I saw (and there are a lot of them). Next time I want to ink them Imma have to bust out the nice paper and crowquill.

Have a sweetass weekend, everyone!

Are you up for the challenge?!

And so begins my challenge of 1,000 heads!

My CD (Character Design... which from henceforth will be abbreviated to this since there will probably be a lot more posts from this class) instructor told us about this challenge to do just what it sounds like: draw 1,000 heads and by the time you're done, guess what, you're better. Voila!

9,995 left to go until growing as a drawer! Leveling uuuup....! And you can say I'm farming Facebook because every time I visit I am giving myself the task to draw at least five heads. I'm hoping that helps me to keep on it more regularly (and possibly lower my checking Facebook sometimes, 'cause damn).

Also, forgive the awful picture... I even tried fixing it but my camera in a dark room is not that good. I took one too big a nap and awoke to darkness, thinking, 'Shit! I need to make a blog post and eat some dinner!'

Are any of you fellow artist friends up for the challenge of the 1,000 heads?!