Ok well over a week has gone by but I have been busy.  So here is another study of a Martin Schongauer piece called "A Foolish Virgin" from the late 1400's.  The original piece is only six inches tall and has an incredible amount of detail.  I was working off a murky laser print copy.  I drew a vertical and horizontal midpoint line across the copy to get my bearings and then eyeballed the rest.  My study is slightly elongated vertically.  For most of the finish work I experimented with a grease pencil and gritty ink brush (digital versions).  My favorite parts of the etching are the turban and the garment draped over her right arm.  I am also drawn to the sensuality expressed in the neck and breasts.  The loose hair tied in a loop over her left shoulder is a nice touch.  She is supposed to be holding an inverted lamp - like in the new testament parable.  Another artist Urs Graf, made a study of this piece a few years later, and kind of botched the face.

 

I am not very satisfied with my study.  But the purpose was to practice using Manga Studio for the second time.  I definitely like being able to turn the image 90 degrees, or upside down to get a fresh look at proportions.  I think I learned quite a bit because my next study turned out better.

 

 

View the original engraving at  http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.45803.html

I have only sporadically sketched stuff over the past few years but I really want start devoting more time to it. 

I recently started using Manga Studio 5 on a Microsoft Surface Pro.  I thought studying artists that were pioneers of Renaissance printmaking like Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Durer would be a fun way to try digital drawing and inking for the first time.  I used  a pressure sensitive pen directly on the Surface Pro screen.  I used Frenden's brushes starting with Pencil - Layout Blue on the first layer to rough things out. For the final layer I used Frenden's Inker - Nib Gritty.

Below is a GIF showing the layers I used for my study of Martin Schongauer's Griffin.

So the GIF above is nice for showing the progress and the layers but the image quality is poor.  Below is the final layer.  I reduced the size for web viewing.



I didn't quite finish the study but on the other hand I don't want to waste too much time on making things perfect.  I don't want to spend more than a week (about six hours of my limited time).

So Yes! Drawing with the above mentioned tools has tremendous potential.  I will keep working and posting stuff, hopefully at least once per week.

Paul