It came from Slidell, Louisiana...

[Kino_PuA]

Happy Birthday! And do not be discouraged! Just draw draw draw.
My advice is view other people's drawings and replicate them. It helps you understand certain aspects of form and value

Subscribed and can't wait to see your progress!

[FightingSeraph]

Thanks Kino, and here's a WIP of a test movie I'm making:
http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/...e1581b2fbba8ac

[FightingSeraph]

New stuff...

[Kapri]

Nice practise: drawing the same object with different mediums in post #909. I'll give that a try too sometime.

Maybe try to do some master studies from you favorite artists? See if you can incorporate little elements of their style into your own and see how they solve the visual problems they encounter.

[FightingSeraph]

To Kapri: I might have to look into that sometime.

[FightingSeraph]

I hardly get to draw anything fun anymore...

[FightingSeraph]

Continuing where I left off, but nobody ever pays attention...

[FightingSeraph]

Here's an attempted blind contour drawing of my cat.

[rainingdarkness]

You just need a lot more practice. Keep working at it.
Try doing some of the classes on this site:
http://www.pixelovely.com/gesture/figuredrawing.php

Make sure you're doing a BUNCH of practice EVERY day. You won't get anywhere doing a little bit every now and then. Art is like any skill, you have to do a LOT of it to get good at it. Nobody is born amazing at drawing.

[FightingSeraph]

To Rainingdarkness: I haven't been practicing every day for about two years now due to a lack of motivation & inspiration. However, I will accept what you have said and will try to get back on track.

[Kino_PuA]

Looking good Seraph Keep at it!

[Forrest_I]

You are making progress. It might not be the fastest progress made, but it's there. With every study you do on something (whether it be arms, legs, torso, or figures in general), apply it to something from your imagination. Stuff this knowledge in to your head and don't forget it. Don't just copy from your anatomy books and move on either, pay attention to what's going on and what you are drawing. Bridgeman goes through construction in his books, do you know the construction? Do you apply construction to your imaginative works? Keep these things in mind and get inspired damnit. Go find an artist who inspires you, look at their work and get back to drawing. Or even just look at all the people supporting you in your sketchbook, get inspired and go on a drawing rampage. Tackle this bitch head on with studies and absorb all the knowledge you can. Keep goin

[FightingSeraph]

To Forrest: Thanks for the most salient critique on this very thread.

Here's some more of my shitty gestures...

[FightingSeraph]

Even more gestures...

[FightingSeraph]

A light gun study...sorry, but no gestures for now.

[will123will]

My advice would be to really work at getting the proportions of the body down first for example, from the bottom of the head to the waist is around another 3 heads in distance, look at loomis books for that, then work at the basic shapes of front view and side view and work them in a 3d view, then start working on gestures again with the knowledge you know and try and build on your anatomy. Another good resource would be structure of man by rivenphoenix, just type his name in on youtube and there is about the first twenty lessons of his dvd for free, that will at least give you the proportions and basic shapes. Just carry on and make sure that whatever you practice is constructive and will help develop your abilities.

[FightingSeraph]

To Will: Good point, trying to get proportions and gestures together is one of my weaknesses. Unfortunately, what I have to show you was done before you got to say was already done some time ago.

[Grimtooth]

I just went through your entire thread of sketches and I must say you've come a long way! There is a lot of improvement in your work and being a fellow animator, I see the angle you are coming from.

It is easier for us to make art simple and 1 dimensional (in a sense) in order to improve the animation quality rather than that actual artistic quality.

Some of your work is coming together, but you still need to find a soft balance between your rigid framework and proportions. Chill my man, chill

[FightingSeraph]

New stuff!

[hitnrun]

Draw bigger, MUCH bigger - and study anatomy!

It'll help you go from O----O----( ) to a shoulder, an upper arm, an elbow, forearm and a hand.

I think you're not sure how to go from guidelines to finished product. Believe me, that's okay. Just do NOT get discourage - KEEP PRACTICING!! Check out the names in my sketchbook - and don't forget those anatomy studies! I look forward to seeing more progress!

[FightingSeraph]

Thanks for the kind words...here's something in return: http://mod15productions.tk/index.htm

[FightingSeraph]

More attempts at color...

[FightingSeraph]

New stuff, and Relic by Hyptosis is pretty amazing so far!

[LtPlissken]

Your studies are getting better,
and I think the head drawings above,
are a big step for you.

[FightingSeraph]

New hands, and a study of hierarchy in drawing.

[fishysmell]

Hello FightingSeraph,

You're not progressing as fast as you'd like because you keep doing the same thing over and over again; it gets very frustrating and monotonous.

The main problem is that you're using too many approximations in your figure construction. In particular, your figures are dominated by oval constructions. You approximate nearly everything using a oval, and you leave them at that. Fingers do not look like three stacked ovals. The forearm does not look like an oval. Nor does the upper arm look like an oval. There are oval elements (eg flexed bicep), but they should not be the dominating overall shape. You are obsessing over construction methods to the point where you are forgetting your main objective; you are drawing people, not manikins. People are not simple shapes.

Someone on this thread said that the shapes you are using are training wheels, which should be abandoned later. Someone else also said that you should not abandon them, but use them to construct what you are drawing. I sort of agree with both of them: you shouldn't abandon them; you should keep them in mind. However, they should be a mental note in your head, not stringent guidelines that dictate the actions of your hands. You shouldn't be constrained by your construction methods. They should be assisting you, not commanding you.

Also, your oval construction method is making you lose a lot of subtle information and gain a lot of extra baggage. If you use one big shape, you will miss all the dips and curves. If you use too many shapes, your drawing becomes a chore and looks cluttered. You need a healthy balance of using shapes and just-going-with-the-flow (which you can get better at by studying images, not copying!). I've attached some images to clarify what I'm saying.

[FightingSeraph]

To Fishysmell: Thanks for specifying on what I'm doing wrong, and a few of your examples were helpful.

[ConnyNordlund]

I see you've started doing some actual anatomy and structural drawings, that's great.

There's a few reaccuring problems you do. A lot of the time you make your figures extremely broad shouldered. Usually, people aren't more than one or one and a half head wide. Women are far more narrower than men too. It's interesting though, I did that exact same thing when I was new to anatomy. It might be because it's easier to exaggerate it.. but try not to.

By the looks of it, I can see that you're doing some studies from Andrew Loomis books. It's great that you draw from them but read into it too. The text is as valuable as the pictures.

Also, to repeat myself: less ball people, more structure!! The ball stuff are just indication of forms, very simplified too. If you're going to use that, apply the musculature afterwards. Those balls are no more than guidelines, they aren't exact. Also, the main purpose of them are to indicate proportion but I can see that they aren't doing it's job. That's why I told you to read the books you study too. Learn the landmarks on the body. Eventually, you'll find your own landmarks and points of measurements.

I know it's a difficult time, it's pure agony at this stage. Just power through it, once that boulder starts rolling it'll feel better... For a while

Just keep the hard work up, keep attacking things and don't let your lazyness stay in the way of your improvement. When you feel like you've done enough anatomy for the day, stop yourself for a second and tell yourself to do at least a few more.

GO!

edit: also, remember to do some drawings that are fun for you to do. At very least, do one sketchbook page a day. Just so your creative side won't suffer from all the training. When you do draw, just remember what you learned during the day.

[FightingSeraph]

To Conny: Thanks for the clarification, and as a reward...

[hitnrun]

I agree with Conny. Take those figures that extra step forward. Don't forget to measure with your eyes too.

Also, try to keep your creative side flowing - I find my creative side has suffered because I want to keep my ideas original, yet so many designs of armor, creatures and weapons already exist. Difficult to sometimes make something your own. Just have to keep trying.