Pickman's Model

[Shalashaska]

My name is not Pickman, it is Shalashaska. If you've ever read the H.P. Lovecraft story "Pickman's Model," you'd understand the title of this thread. If you haven't, suffice to say there was an artist named Pickman.
So yeah, this is where I'll post any noteworthy sketches/drawings.

[Shalashaska]

Horrible quality, I need to find a way to make the image smaller without just cropping it. But yeah, it's smudgy and shoddy but it's also a first draft.

[Shalashaska]

Making progress horridly slowly, but successfully. In an attempt to understand shading more than I currently do, I've done a rather flawed version of the sharpener again, but with much more shading this time:

Alright, so my main error here was making the hole where the pencil goes in as dark as the area to the right of it, which is really just a blank space blocked by the back of the sharpener; the hole, which received no light, should have been much darker than that other area, which was only blocked by a slight overhang. Perhaps the shadow on the paper was too thin, as well... It certainly lacks definition. Meh, either way, this is the second draft, hopefully the third will combine proper shading and proper outline to look nicer than both of these previous drafts.

[Whetfeather]

Try placing a focus point for all of your lines to point towards. Perhaps below the sharpener a ways place a light 'x' and try to draw the lines toward that general direction. That should help with the angling issue you're having.

[Shalashaska]

Try placing a focus point for all of your lines to point towards. Perhaps below the sharpener a ways place a light 'x' and try to draw the lines toward that general direction. That should help with the angling issue you're having.

Thank you, I was beginning to wonder if there was a simple way to fix the rather unpolished look of the shading. So, rather than just drawing the lines all facing downward/in whatever direction they happen to face, I should direct them toward a single point? Meaning, if that point were in the center, on the right side they would be at an angle, in the center they'd be pointed straight down, and at the left they'd be at an angle?

- - - Updated - - -

Ah, you're an Irregular too. XD Sorry this wasn't in the main thread, but I didn't want to bog it down with daily studies.

[Whetfeather]

Yes, that's correct! No worries, I have a separate thread as well. You're working and making progress. Maybe when you move forward with this, post your first and last pieces in the Irregular's thread. You're doing fantastic, so keep it up.