Just beginning drawing, Noob Alert!

[SageTso]

After screwing around for a long time, I want to get more serious about art and I am beginning to invest more time into it. I've been trying to draw on and off since 2002, but I haven't gotten anywhere. Here’s What I have been working on, even though it is not good at all it is a start.

Latest stuff at the end of the thread!

[SageTso]

Some more shapes and box drawings

[SageTso]

Here is an update, some more drawings of shapes, eyes and boxes!

[Naidy]

Woah, that's allot of studies you have there. Definently shows you're dedicated.
What I'd say though is I've seen a couple of Anime influenced faces/poses, for now I'd steer clear of them. Most anime pays *very* little attention to the rules of anatomy and they'll just confuse you which'll make the road to improvement longer. Believe me, I know (Was swept into it since 9, took ages to shake off) xD

But, Anime aside I see much promise in you so keep up the good work!

[mdbauman]

Good to see you're working so much on the basics; you can never practice that stuff too much.

Looks like most of the anatomy stuff you're doing is from imagination. Working from imagination is a great way to see where your knowledge is lacking at this point, but if all you do is practice drawing something the wrong way it'll just be harder for you to break those bad habits. So if you're trying to improve your anatomy knowledge (well, your knowledge of anything) draw from reference.

[SageTso]

Thanks for the advice guys! Yeah its true alot the stuff is manga influenced, I used to draw in that style alot before. But I'm looking at more Loomis and Jack Hamm, I'll begin too study them more carefully. I also just ordered a book on Drawing What You See by Rudy de Reyna, so I can work on perspective and shapes. I did these drawings today, and I'll try working on some more proper studies after this.

[waffles!]

Hey man, I like the effort so far. Your figures could use a lot of work so I suggest not only studying figure drawing books (ie. loomis/bridgman) but also draw from life. Try your best to get into some life drawing sessions or even just draw people outside (subways are great for this). Also your perspective blocks look a little off, remember that all parallel lines will converge at the same vanishing point. Try to line them up/visualize where they go before you draw them. Also when sketching I find it best to start light and then make the important lines with one nice clean stroke. Good lucky buddy and keep it up!

[SageTso]

Hey guys, I'm back with more basic box sketches, its not that easy though. I'm trying to understand basic shapes and perspectives by drawing boxes alot to understand it better. I have a long way to go though..

[Naidy]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook
Thought I'd pop by and see how you're going-
I love the perspective and eye practices, keep up the good work
(I would love to see you try and shade some of the cubes too, that would also help you)

[SageTso]

To Naidy: Thanks for the encouragement, and I'll try some shading soon! This time I focused alot on boxes, eyes and some spheres, but the spheres came out kinda bad, it's something I still need to practice on alot.

[zou]

hello there
thanks for stopping by my SB

great dedication on getting the basics !


here a very good tutorial about ellipse by scott robertson (all his stuff will teach you THE basics) get his training videos

http://hi.baidu.com/i_am_c/blog/item...30bd1872a.html

one advice: try to not redraw over lines too much. two, three times is the limit (one time is the best)

try also to exercice simples straight lines: place two points and connect them
then try curved lines: place three points and connect them with a smooth clean lines (one pass)

keep the good work mate

[SageTso]

Hey guys, its been a while, but I have been drawing quite a bit, so I have new studies to post!
Zou: Thanks for the link, it explains what I need to practice perfectly!

Here are some new things I've been trying to draw for the past few weeks. Its kinda all over the place tho, so its a bit random..

[SageTso]

Here is some more:

[Diarum]

Hey good work pumpin out the work keep it up! I posted this on the forum a week or so ago click HERE Hope this helps this is like hundreds of hours of tutorials and then some! spend some time check it out. A lot of it is digital but it is still good for drawing!

[SageTso]

Thanks for the tutorials Dairum, They will come in handy!

Heres some other stuff I've done, two portraits. One was of a random girl, and the other is Motoko from the Ghost in The Shell.

[jeremygordon89]

You're doing well for starting out; just remember that consistency is key. Drawing every day is more important than drawing a lot one day and then taking a few days off.

Doing these types of drawings should help you with your line quality, though you should really focus on drawing from life mostly in the beginning (draw still lifes of simple objects with one light source), draw a contour drawing of shoes, try drawing a still life of drapery using charcoal; things like that will teach you about form and lighting and how to observe; also try doing a self portrait every night you can. Things like that will be invaluable in your artistic growth.

Other things that you will need to learn are perspective (check out Carl Dobsky's videos on here, and the book Drawing Essentials). Perspective is another fundamental skill that will push your work to another level.

Anatomy and gesture are also very important things to learn for figure drawings. Check out Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life, and Vilppu also has amazing lessons on video. The book FORCE will teach you invaluable things about getting rhythm in your drawings.

Make sure you focus on observing values (how light and dark something is) after you get line down; don't worry about color too soon.

But the most important thing is that you draw from life as well as your imagination. Life is where we learn everything that comes from our imagination, so you have to be able to draw from life to draw from your imagination well too.

For now I'd very much recommend going through this site too; it will save you a lot of trouble if you learn these basic construction rules (check out the preston blair lessons section of the blog) http://johnkcurriculum.blogspot.com/

And remember, drawing every day is key. Keep it up.

[aLDoDarK]

hi SageTso! nice to see you in SB,
and I can say that you are in the right track, keep on practicing on your line and circle till you used to it, and move on to the proportion. keep up a good work! =)

[SageTso]

jeremygordon89: Thanks for the helpful advice! I'll look into Bridgeman and the blair lessons. Thanks for the encouragement!

aLDoDarK: Thanks, I'll keep it up!

[Incinerated]

Awesome that you came by my sketchbook!
A word of advice use more time on the individual study drawing, it seems as tho you rushed those, I find it better to do quality over quantity when I study shapes, gestures, anatomy~ and so on. So basicly what im saying is one good study is better than 10 rushed ones speed will come eventually. jeremygordon89 is right study everyday, if you can, draw from life- but right now I don't see the harm in some photo reference.

for perspective and shapes I suggest you start by looking up yoitisi Island here on CA - here followed by some architechturial studies-

For portraites i suggest you start with some skull studies, followed by doing studies of the faces from steve mccurry's portrait book ~ should be availible at a nearby libary the cover looks like this

I could probably continue giving advice... But honestly, the things I and the others mentioned, should give you more than enough to work on . Anyway you were already esentially working hard so im not gonna bother anymore- now draw!

[cgaddict]

Nice work - try scaling your images a bit smaller though - takes quite some time for them to load Other than that you're off to a great start, really looking forward to seeing how you progress.

[DSmith]

Hello!
Your effort and work looks great so far,just keep drawing those basic shapes,they'll help you a lot in the future!I suggest picking up an anatomy book,and drawing from it,also drawing from life is one of the best ways to improve!
Keep it up!

[SageTso]

Alot of replies!

Incinerated: Yeah, I tend to draw pretty quickly, I'll try going slower from now on. Also, I didn't even realize there was those tutorials on CA, I'm definitely going to practice from those.

cgaddict: I usually don't edit them after I take the pictures, from now on I'll try to make them a bit smaller

DSmith: Thanks for the encouragement. soon I will start alot more in-depth studies.

I just did some quick life drawings, heres one page from the sketchbook. I also have better ones coming soon.

[SageTso]

Here's another quick sketch from the manga series Appleseed

[SageTso]

Morrigan from Darkstakers:

[Diarum]

aww get a way from anime as fast as you can it is bad for your health!

[NanoBlack]

Seriously, you look like you will one day become good. But, in this learning stage, stay away from the anime. It will only keep you away from learning proper anatomy and developing your skill as an artist.

This isnt to say you have to quit it completely, just keep off it when you're still learning in the early stages. Try life drawing first- yes, actual people can be pretty ugly XD but this is what being an artist is all about. Learn your forms, then learn to manipulate them, in that order.


Also, your pics are quite big. Shrink them by about 50%. WE will still be able to see what's happening, but for those of us with dialup and a Win Agere Modem (therefore a highly unstable connection) it can be a hell of a time trying to reconnect every time we check out your work

Anyway, Keep up studying, and remember to have fun!

[SageTso]

Thanks for the advice guys, I have gone and tried to focus more on some anatomy, I'll post some new work soon!

[SageTso]

Here is some life drawings I did earlier

[SageTso]

Some more life drawings

[SageTso]

A few more