Best way to learn that doesn't involve doing masses of reading?

[Geno3883]

I have a handful of books, including all 6 Loomis, but I just can't keep interest when reading.
I tried the Vilppu videos that 4chans /ic/ suggested. And....same problem.

There has to be SOMETHING that can keep my interest.

My goal is to draw character concept art, doing pencil rendered versions of stuff like this:
I assume I'd have to be a master of shading/blending in order to achieve a smooth look. I don't want my art to have the "outline" look.
I need to find a way to understand anatomy where I don't get bored to death.



Is there anything besides hours upon hours of drawing, that will help my lines go exactly where I want them to go, and have my proportions correct?

I have always drawn holding my pencil like you would when writing your name, and I assume thats a bad idea.

I don't have any art to show off, sadly.

[TinyBird]

Is there anything besides hours upon hours of drawing, that will help my lines go exactly where I want them to go, and have my proportions correct?

Sometimes, there's no shortcuts for things that require lots of hard work and effort. Learning to draw does require you to draw, a lot. With or without books as your help.

[MidgardSerpent]

Is there anything besides hours upon hours of drawing, that will help my lines go exactly where I want them to go, and have my proportions correct?

I think you should take a minute to read what you just wrote down. You say you want to draw well, but you don't want to draw for it, don't you see how backward that is?

If you only care about having great results, but you never feel pleasure or desire in going through the actual drawing process, then drawing is probably not for you, because A is never going to happen without B.


Edit : Please don't get mad at this response, I didn't say it to put you down or lecture you. Just being 'real'. And people can change, you might grow to enjoy the process. Or not. Who knows.

[Arshes Nei]

I think people should reconcile with whether they're in love with the idea of being an artist vs understanding what it takes to be an artist (in this case illustrator) and actually doing it.

[Geno3883]

Let me reword what I mean.

I didn't mean I want to skip the hours of practicing, because that's stupid.

I mean was there something aside from that, like a certain technique or w/e I can practice to do to help that.

When it comes to the reading, I don't know what I can do on that end, because the books I have been reading haven't kept my interest at all.

[Star Eater]

lol reading books is for fagots!!!!

[Arshes Nei]

http://www.marcscheff.com/the-truth-...ust-takes-time

http://www.marcscheff.com/the-truth-...great-painting

[Chris Saksida]

What you're looking for is a magic pill, and there is no magic pill; It's exactly what Arshes Nei said... some people love DOING art, and don't care about being an artist, and some people wold love to BE an artist but don't really like drawing, you don't sound like you like drawing at all, you say "there's anything besides hours and hours of drawing..." and those hours and hours of drawing are the point in itself.

And "doing masses of reading" won't help you either, only drawing will, the text in those books is just a plus, the exercises are the only thing that really matters.

[Geno3883]

What you're looking for is a magic pill, and there is no magic pill; It's exactly what Arshes Nei said... some people love DOING art, and don't care about being an artist, and some people wold love to BE an artist but don't really like drawing, you don't sound like you like drawing at all, you say "there's anything besides hours and hours of drawing..." and those hours and hours of drawing are the point in itself.

And "doing masses of reading" won't help you either, only drawing will.

hence why I reworded what I meant, I didn't mean for people to think I want to skip the hours of practice. Because that's stupid.

I just have trouble staying focused reading these supposed "excellent resources" that I've gotten from /ic/ (the Loomis Books, the Vilppu videos). Because they bore the hell out of me.

[TinyBird]

Because they bore the hell out of me.

Okay so, if reading bores you, how many hours are you currently drawing daily?
I mean the books are to help you draw, so if you don't draw, reading the books is kinda moot point too.

[Geno3883]

I'm basically just starting out, and being 21 that seems kinda late.

I'm trying to learn programming too, which also requires time/dedication, so how much time would I have to spend minimum daily to get anywhere with this.

[TinyBird]

I'm basically just starting out, and being 21 that seems kinda late.

I'm trying to learn programming too, which also requires time/dedication, so how much time would I have to spend minimum daily to get anywhere with this.

I asked how much you are drawing NOW. Minutes/hours per day. Or have you just been trying to read books, without drawing at all?

[Arshes Nei]

OP

What do you want from us really? You came here from 4chan asking for advice.

You reworded the question and know "that you need to practice"
So are you practicing?

If not then why are you wasting time with rephrasing the question if you don't want to read books, you get better at drawing BY drawing. So you know this, what else do you want?

[Geno3883]

Very little to none, basically none.

[TinyBird]

Very little to none, basically none.

Better get to it then. And it's pretty silly to ask a "minimum" you have to draw to achieve that level of drawing, it's going to take years anyway, and the less time you spend drawing, the longer it will take to achieve that level.
Also reading the books may become more fun if you actually try to apply the things you read in your drawings.

[Geno3883]

This is probably going to sound supremely stupid/lazy, but could you possibly give me a list of everything I need to focus on specifically for what I want to do (realistic pencil renders similar in quality to the 3D render in my first pic). And where to start/what to move onto after that/etc.

Sorry, I'm probably just being an idiot right now, but I just have no idea where to start. Aside from just drawing random people.

[Wingal]

You can suck it up or look at other books about the same subjects. I kinda thought loomis was boring at first as well, so I got Hamptons book and I enjoyed that much better. (It was more show then tell and im a picture person!) So that helped a bit, but loomis has so much good stuff to offer. Some days it might help to just get revved up and read in short bursts, till you push through it (thats what I did for my world history class ugh). With nearly all careers you have to do stuff/read things that you wont always like, this is no different.

[TinyBird]

This is probably going to sound supremely stupid/lazy

Yes, it does. However here's lists of drawing fundamentals people here gathered which should give you some idea: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...n-Fundamentals It's not probably as clear and simple as you'd want, but art has so many variables that's borderline impossible.
Also most books give you pretty simple starts with basic body construction.

[Vinicam]

If anyone know a way I can learn to play piano like a pro, but that don't require me to play the piano or read books to learn, plz share.

[Elwell]

This is probably going to sound supremely stupid/lazy, but could you possibly give me a list of everything I need to focus on specifically for what I want to do (realistic pencil renders similar in quality to the 3D render in my first pic). And where to start/what to move onto after that/etc.

What you are asking for is a huge amount of information. Why, one could almost say a... book. Which we' ve already established you don't want to read, so...

[Arshes Nei]

This is probably going to sound supremely stupid/lazy, but could you possibly give me a list of everything I need to focus on specifically for what I want to do (realistic pencil renders similar in quality to the 3D render in my first pic). And where to start/what to move onto after that/etc.

Here you go

And yes that comes off as smart-assedness but dude, why not look at other parts of the forum and instead of just expecting the answers to come to you on this post?

[creeptool]

i think learning to draw concept art or any art is 90% knowledge... and a lot of that knowledge just is not taught in books you either know it or you don't.

[Zenith_]

Here you go

Was just going to suggest this.

OP, If I were you I'd spend a good amount of time sifting through the forums.
CA is one of the best resources for fledgling artists but you shouldn't come here expecting to be spoon-fed. (Many artists here are trying to improve too)
The need/will to succeed has to be your own, and if you want it bad enough you'll bite the bullet and start right now.
I'm not saying you should do anything you don't truly enjoy, if reading Loomis or watching Vilppu isn't for you research other books that might help you in your endeavor.


Here is a thread that can help get you started
But, like I said, have a look around the forums.

[Star Eater]

i think learning to draw concept art or any art is 90% knowledge... and a lot of that knowledge just is not taught in books you either know it or you don't.

I don't quite understand your meaning, elaborate?

[element1988]

You don't have to read the books cover to cover, just do some drawings and figure out your weak points. For example lets say your perspective is bad, open your loomis books and skip to the part on perspective, learn it and go back to drawing until you hit another road block. Thats what I do anyway.

[Black Spot]

I sort of understand what the OP is talking about. I do read and do watch videos, but I get twitchy before finishing and have to go and draw. Geno, just read/watch a bit and then draw. If you need more information to continue it will still be there. You don't have to eat the entire supermarket in one sitting.

[Falchion]

If you don't want to read, draw. The draw some more. And keep drawing. You can get great results once you at least understand the fundamentals, but you need to draw.

[vineris]

Information is available in a lot of places, and in a lot of different ways. You can take courses, you can try reading other books, you can look on various blogs and forums, buy DVDs, take workshops and you can always use your brain and observation skills to find it through experimentation.

You might find books you've tried less boring after you have done a bunch of practice. When you have some context for the information and an idea of the problems that you need to solve, the information will make more sense. Some people need to have all the information ahead of time because they're scared of doing something wrong, some people need to fuck up good and proper before they're ready to listen. And since fucking up in art is basically harmless, if you're the second kind of person then you might as well get on with it.

[Lelinet]

Why don't you start on life drawing, so that you can improve your drawing skills physically and also build up some sort of mental real world library. Also take figure drawing classes if you can.

But all that said nothing goes without practice and acquiring knowledge of fundamentals such as perspective, anatomy, lighting, composition and color. In my opinion you expect yourself to get good and achieve great results in a short amount of time. But you won't improve if you don't do those tedious studies such as drawing or reading texts. Yes, reading texts and books that are hundreds of pages long is extremely boring (I dislike reading texts myself) but you have to do some form of studying to acquire knowledge that will aid your skills and you have to give yourself time to practice use those knowledge. And when you do all of that you'll find out that it will take you years and years to get good at whatever form of art you are trying to achieve. And how many years? That depends on how much you practice.

If you hate reading you can switch it up a bit and go out and sketch people, do some photo studies, master studies activities that is more engaging.

[creeptool]

I don't quite understand your meaning, elaborate?

yes you can learn perspective and anatomy and manny other things from books... but to put it all together to make let's say a comic page that's somthing we as artist have to know that knowledge... yes books give tips on how to but books dont show you all the info we need.