Defuncted

[D.C.]

Hi,

I recently started drawing, after joining this great site. I'm a total beginner, so please bear with me Of course any help/comments/critiques are welcome and I'll do my best to build and improve my skills.

I've started with anatomy and figure movement, because I want to be able to draw human figures in any position possible from imagination. I realize anatomy is one of the hardest things to draw, but hey you gotta set the bar somewhere. Most sketches are from "Figure drawing for all it's worth" by Loomis, some are from "Complete guide to drawing from life" by Bridgmans.

Edit: Changed thread pic.

[D.C.]

Nothing special today, just more studies. I drew the first page with a mechanical pencil and the second one with a 2B pencil to compare the line quality. Clearly my lines are pretty bad, need to keep working on them.
For the stick figures on pages 3 and 4, I used photos from the Beijing Olympics as a reference, because athletes have great posture and movement.
Going to work on some Bridgmans studies of the torso.

[Black Spot]

Keep at it, you're getting a lot of life in there.

[Taneli]

You are doing good. Studies like those will really pay off. Do a ridiculous amount of them! I should too.

[Euphemism]

Hello, it's good to see you're starting simple and working on your own initiative.

It'd be nice to see you start working on complete renders of people, both figures and portraits, instead of stick figures, on your next updates. Just watch out for the proportions on your 'fuller' figures. To try and really study anatomy, you just have to keep looking and comparing widths and lengths. This will take a lot of time and patience to master, but keep at it, crack it, and the (artistic?) rewards are permanent!

Also try to draw more people from real life; go to cafes and other public places where people can sit for more than five minutes. With this method, try quick sketches and long studies of RL people. Good luck!

[D.C.]

Black Spot: Thanks, that's why I'm doing them.
Taneli: Thanks. Yeah, I try to do as many as I can, using interesting references or trying interesting poses from memory keeps it fun.
Euphemism: You're right, getting right proportions isn't easy. Also, will try to start drawing from real life.

More stickfigures, as usual . I did some torso studies from Bridgmans. Also decided to try my first selfportret. I did a quick one, but because I wasn't really pleased with it, I tried another one. I haven't read much about drawing portrets or anything about shading, so they look pretty flat. Also, I don't really look like that, so don't worry.
Back to the drawing board.

[D.C.]

Just another update, more studies.

[SaiVix]

Your stick figures are awesome!! They can definitely kick my sticks' butts.

[D.C.]

SaiVix: Thanks, it's been fun drawing them.

I did some torso/shoulder studies from Bergmans and stickfigures as usual. I'm doing a gradual transition from the stickfigures to more musclular mannekins, so I drew the front, back and side view of the Loomis figure as a start.

[JailHouseRock]

Hi DC and wecome to CA
Your off to a great start dude.
great to see your into the anatomy studies, those will take you places.
Your going good but I agree with Euphemism about proportions and 'looking and comparing widths and lengths'
great start keep the posts rollin in.

matt.

[Taneli]

Man, your sticks have so much life in them. Nice clean lines too. I can't do them as well and you've just started... That's a bit disheartening! Keep going and you'll get far.

[D.C.]

JailHouseRock: Thanks, have to always keep that in mind when drawing. Love your avatar btw
Taneli: Thanks man,your line quality really inspired me to do better . I'm using the stickfigures for that same reason, hoping that when I move on to more fuller figures, I'll be able to transfer that same dynamims to them.

Well, I started to draw the more fuller figures of Loomis today. From the line quality it's clear that I had difficulty with the poses in the first and last page.
I'm going to have to work harder if I want to be able to draw such a figure in every possible pose from imagination. No Bridgmans today, didn't have time for it, but I did some stickfigures as usual.
Time to push the tempo!

[algenpfleger]

Hey, you practice a lot! That's awesome. Loving the fact that you're concentrating on the basics, this will pay off. Remember to not simply copy from the books though, do some imagined and half-imagined stuff too. keep it up!

[D.C.]

algenpfleger: Thanks man, I've been checking your sketchbook for a while now and you've made great progress, love your digital paintings.

I hope to use my imagination a lot once I get the basics down, for now have to keep on practicing.
I sketched mainly Loomis mannikin, trying to get a feel for the motion. I didn't find it easy doing these, hence the messy lines. I'm questioning if I'll be able to do these from imagination if I keep drawing them, hope so.
Did some quick stickfigures, out of habit.

[D.C.]

Loomis continued.........
I feel I'm not really learning much from constantly copying these figures. I'd like some advice, preferably from someone who's good with figure drawing and/or has used Loomis books to improve their figure drawing. Should I go back to the stickfigures, perhaps draw them larger? Loomis also states that it's better to get used to this mannikin figure (propotion, mass, bulk) before going deep into anatomy/muscle study.
Thanks in advance for any help.

[D.C.]

Practice, practice, practice.........well sort of....
Didn't have much time today, so just 2 pages. Will try to make it up tomorrow.

[smuckers]

Loomis continued.........
I feel I'm not really learning much from constantly copying these figures. I'd like some advice, preferably from someone who's good with figure drawing and/or has used Loomis books to improve their figure drawing. Should I go back to the stickfigures, perhaps draw them larger? Loomis also states that it's better to get used to this mannikin figure (propotion, mass, bulk) before going deep into anatomy/muscle study.
Thanks in advance for any help.

I've taken/am taking quite a bit in from loomis myself, have you made much attempts at laying some of these muscles youve copied onto some sticks of your own? Remember to think about the muscle masses as full forms as you place them.

see how you fair at that, drawing manniquins or full figures from some refs or life is essential in your journey with the body too.. check out www.posemaniacs.com if you havent already

hope this helps

[D.C.]

smuckers: Thanks for the website, gonna check it out. I haven't used references (other than in the book) for full figures so far, but I might as well, as you say it's part of the learning process.

Well, I did some quick Loomis figure sketches again. Also I started looking into Vilppu and so for I like it alot. I used a hb pencil (don't have anything darker) so the sketches are a little on the light side.

[D.C.]

I did some Vilppu sketches using posemaniac (30 and 60 sec) and some Loomis-like stickfigures and fuller figures ( random poses).
I'm looking into rendering textures with a pencil and I'm thinking about buying a moleskine sketchbook for sketching on the go.

[D.C.]

I started studying values and creating textures with pencil (see below). I did some Vilppu type sketches from posemaniac again and a few Loomis stickfigures/full figures. My figures still suck, I wish I could do more. So much to learn.

Edit: I noticed there's a whole mentoring section on the forum. I assume a mentor can give you pointers where you can improve and steers you in the right direction, but considering I'm a total beginner would there be any advantage in having a mentor?

[D.C.]

Didn't do much today, felt a bit tired. Did some perspective studies and some quick vilppu sketches. Hope to do much more tomorrow.

[chuck18mp]

Nice studies!
*better than mine*
I really suck at it!

[D.C.]

chuck18mp: Thanks, just keep doing studies till you can do them easily, al least that's what I'm trying to do

Well, didn't do much drawing today, more reading and understanding instead. I did the basic three figure poses and also drew some skeletons. I enjoyed doing those. Also tried something new with the Vilppu figures, giving them more volume. I'll definitely do more tomorrow.

[D.C.]

I posted this already but for some reason it didn't register. Anyway, today I read and listenend alot (mainly Vilppu). Also I spent a lot of time reading mentler's The Book Of Bones thread, which has lots of interesting stuff. Wish I drew more, but there's always tomorrow

[Lex.W]

Great stuff so far, I'd say your a lot more committed to figure studies than I am.
The perspective work looks like it's working well, from one beginner to another, good job and keep it up.

[D.C.]

Lex.W: Thanks, yeah I'm becoming obsessed with these figures

I'm experimenting with the box figures now. First I draw a Vilppu bean figure with a HB pencil as usual (gesture+spheres) and then I box it in with a 2B pencil. This makes it easier to draw limbs in perspective. Next step will be combining the spheres and boxes for a more natural look.
I'm updating now, because I might not be able to update tonight. If I'm able I'll then do a second update where I'll try to draw the same type figures but without ref (i.e. posemaniacs)

[grenappels]

Loomis continued.........
I feel I'm not really learning much from constantly copying these figures. I'd like some advice, preferably from someone who's good with figure drawing and/or has used Loomis books to improve their figure drawing. Should I go back to the stickfigures, perhaps draw them larger? Loomis also states that it's better to get used to this mannikin figure (propotion, mass, bulk) before going deep into anatomy/muscle study.
Thanks in advance for any help.

hrm... so many newbie sketchbooks i see just start at loomis and go from manikin post to manikin post. it's a good way to learn the figure, no doubt. but if you just started drawing, you're not going to get better at drawing by doing strictly manikins. granted you did some other studies but they are still not what will teach you to draw right now.

right, if you look at the first pages of my sketchbook, i too just wanted to learn how to draw awesome figures and so i flooded it with the same type of stuff. and it helps, no doubt. but before then, for the first 3 years of highschool, i actually built up some skill in drawing because my art teacher had us doing studies (from an hour to 6-7 hours over a few days) from life. i still haven't made as much progress as i saw myself making back then. making a good drawing or painting involves so much more than getting anatomy and proportions correct. you're going to learn all the subtle things working from life- how the shapes of the world really add up, not just how it seems in your head... how to use your lines to effectively describe shapes instead of just outline them... understanding shapes in relation to each other and in 3d. and most importantly, how to make things look natural.

having said that, your manikins are getting very nice, and show some really good 3 dimensionality in spite of what i just said, so keep that up too. when you do go to draw people from life, you'll definitely have a head start on getting their proportions and positions correct

just my 2 cents

[D.C.]

grenappels: Thanks, I've replied in your SB.

Just did some box figures from memory. Was planing to do more, but procrastination got the best of me . I'm going to try to spread my focus and pay attention to some other facettes of drawing (anatomy, perspective, values, drawing from life) and hopefully draw a lot more.

[Eon]

Hey the Vilppu work is paying off! Your studies are really well done. You've nailed gesture pretty quickly. After doing many gestures and getting the hang of creating poses you're left with the issue of having to fill them up. Which is the tough part. I'd suggest looking for figure modeling sessions around your area so that you can look and analyse the model (as Vilppu recommends) as you train your eye and to try to balance it out with anatomy studies (advice I tell myself) because I find that the balance between life observation and book studies produces the most rewarding results. Often time a muscle seen in a book will just seem stange until you've analysed it carefully on a model, from where you'll gain a better understanding of how to represent it.

Definitely keep that momentum and level of commitment going!!! You're on the right track!

[D.C.]

Eon: Thanks man, Vilppu is great indeed. You're right, I really need to study from life as much as possible. I'm looking into the possibilities, maybe following some art classes in basic drawing and/or figure/model drawing.

I didn't post yesterday, because I was hoping to do a nice self portret instead of just the regular figure studies. However, studying theory all day didn't leave me with much time to draw. Damn, there's just so much to learn and I'm so slow . So here are some figures from ref (except the first two).

Back to the drawing board.