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[Gainsworthy]

Nothing worth posting with my anatomy drawing... it's really hard to do but im practicing .

But to show I'm not giving up yet, here's some doodles.

F-BOT so cute! 

[Shambrook]

I'm gunna offer some advice in a completly diffrent area since everyone seems to have a lot of stuff coverd.

On inking the pic you might wanna look at you're lineweights, basicly thinks closer to the camera should have thicker lines then things further away, things in shadow should have thicker lines then things in light etc. If you have decent lineweighting before you start colouring then colouring is a fucking sinch.

[ImaginaryThomas]

Ok, neon. Since you're so rad I'll post some of my less than triumphs.

I've got the whole weekend with nothing to do besides maybe make my site look less crappy so practice abounds! 

Thanks, Gainsworthy. It's all pretty much my comfort zone stuff.

Benza: This is great advice. Looking back on sketches I can see I've inadvertently done that on the sketches I think are better than the rest but now it all makes sense!

Stay tuned for more.

[neon]

aw, shucks 

 :D

[ImaginaryThomas]

As promised, here's some of my practice fodder in the field of anatomy.


He's more sausage than man now.










Monsters have anatomy too.

[ImaginaryThomas]

One more. Trying the female form this time

[Renton]

One advice. Life drawings. Go for them. Go to a park and draw a someone sitting on a bench. Find some photos online and use them as reference. Study as many figures as you can. Establish realism first, style second.

[moi]

arms too big

[Renton]

Yep. Arms are rather "manly" and the crotch is too low. Hands are too small as well. Remember; go for realism, learn your anatomy.

[pen]

(don't forget the head).

You are making progress, and I would like to give you a small tip to think about: When surfaces - (usually represented with lines) connect, one surface will often look like it's "in front of" the other surface (because it sort of is). You can use this to your advantage when you're drawing, to create the illusion of depth and make your lines more fluid.

This might not be the very best example, but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say. If you study a little anatomy and look at photos, you can use this technique to - without extreme accuracy - create fluid movements and shapes. ( http://bp0.blogger.com/_b48YwUyz3Ms/R0uaxXYC9BI/AAAAAAAAAL0/-4nT7LH7f-U/s1600-h/life_07.jpg <---- in these you can instantly tell which shapes are closer to the camera, which creates the illusion of depth).

Hope I made some sense...

[Shambrook]

Also if you don't want to look like a creep staring at people in the park, buy some sunnies... of course if you go for aviator sunnies and sit around looking at little kids then you're gunna look like an even bigger creep...

[ImaginaryThomas]

Yeah, she kinda has man arms, doesn't she 

Yeah, looking at people in the park is a little creepy so I'm kindof turned off by it. I'm trying to notice more people on my daily outings for their stance, ratios and whatnot.

I see what you mean, Pen, I'll keep that in mind do you have a larger version of the sketches you linked to?

[pen]

Yeah, she kinda has man arms, doesn't she 

Yeah, looking at people in the park is a little creepy so I'm kindof turned off by it. I'm trying to notice more people on my daily outings for their stance, ratios and whatnot.

I see what you mean, Pen, I'll keep that in mind do you have a larger version of the sketches you linked to?

nope, just took the first google sketch I could find that fit the description

Check out Vilppu for figure drawing, and Loomis for your everyday art needs.

[Derek]

At this point you shouldn't even be worrying about drawing a full figure, but instead focusing on learning the proper proportions of the human body.



You want to start by drawing the ideal human body, which is 8 heads tall.  Try doing short gesture drawings (a few minutes long) to get a feel for that (and to improve your line control).  You want to start with something like what I've done in green on the left - nothing more than a stick figure that has the basic forms in place (head, chest, pelvis, and extremities).

Looking at people day-to-day and then drawing from memory is fine, but in order to make any real progress you'll have to be disciplined about practicing the "right" way, and learning the fundamentals.

Loomis is a great reference.  Here're scans of his figure drawing book.  Check it out!

[ImaginaryThomas]

Would you recommend a book like "Anatomy for the artist" or something to that effect?

[Derek]

I think for now, just check out that Loomis book and practice from it.  It will be hard to work out the anatomy until your linework improves and you have a better sense of the "flow" of the human body.

It's not as fun to do skeletal gesture drawings, maybe, but it will be fun once it starts to make sense.

[Renton]

So, can I also put some stuff here, or do we have a thread for concept art and other amateur stuff?

[Μarkham]

Okay, I'm between classes and don't have much time, but I'll try to help as much as I can.  For one, start using a pen all the time.  Not just a ballpoint pen, either.  Get yourself something that makes solid black lines like a "uni-ball micro," or even a "Sharpie" marker.  The less darkness variation, the better.  You need to learn how to make confident lines, and a pen that can't mimic a pencil is the best for this.

Another thing is to get the underlying form.  Look at people outside, and draw the "lines of motion" that you see.  Draw as simple as possible, with quick strokes.  Then when you can get that down fast, start adding the underlying forms, such as the chest area, head, shoulders, etc.  No follow the contour of the person.  I don't have my scanner with me, but I sketched this example in Flash in about 45 seconds:


Quick, confident lines, no "noodling" of lines, and no sausage forms are what you want to practice.


[EDIT] Also, a "few minutes" are usually "too long" for gestures.  Start at 30 seconds, and then gradually work your way to 1:30-2minute drawings.

[Derek]

So, can I also put some stuff here, or do we have a thread for concept art and other amateur stuff?

I'll start up a thread where anyone can post for feedback on drawing!

[neon]

I'll start up a thread where anyone can post for feedback on drawing!

yay!  great idea, glad it's becoming a reality