Elvgren stuff 2

Some more from the book. Actually I'm still in the first section of it where his influences are presented, along with pictures drawn and painted by other artists. None of these images represent Elvgren's own work.
I'm particularly happy with the little boy in the bottom right pouring water. I was really in the zone while sketching out his chubby little arms and hands, making them very organic and believable, imho. I almost ruined them by trying to go over some parts one more time, but forced myself to leave most of it alone in the early rough state.

Elvgren stuff 1

As I mentioned before, I got a great book on the life and work of Gil Elvgren. A few days ago I set out on a crazy path to drawing every single picture from that book, including various historical photos and whatever else came up. Mainly though it's full of amazing women stylized and exaggerated just enough to make them look "super perfect" (in the words of K.R.)

I'm not trying to be 100% accurate with everything here, just using the images as inspiration and guide for what to draw. Sometimes I attempt to match the exact lines seen in the original, while at other times I draw something very different that's just based on the same angle or scene shown in the book, or a particular detail thereof (like a face or a piece of cloth).

So far I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'm not worrying about completing the whole book, I'll just keep going for as long as it feels worthwhile. The whole point of course is to learn, and to be influenced by some of the best art I've seen.

Bar

Photo reference, but used loosely. Just before this I had made another one of the same model (Bar Rafaeli) which turned out horrible and was a struggle. With this one I constructed the head on my own, just glancing at the picture from time to time. I didn't go crazy with getting angles and lines to match up on my version, I just tried to make it look good and natural. There are a few wonks (forehead, ear, near shoulder) but I'm very pleased with it. Critically, it was also fun and "easy" to draw. Listened to great music while making it, might have helped.

Hairy heads

Kind of boring, but I thought they turned out relatively nice.

All in one

Several quick efforts from different days all on the same page, and another inside shot of the same car. Both were done while I sat waiting for other people to buy food.

Scenery stuff

Tiny framed scenery drawings. They're fun. Your pencil strokes become so much wider at this scale, almost like using a brush.