Learning to draw

[krysjez]

New Art at Last Page

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Hi all, I'm sixteen this year (18 now! o_o ) and just joined CA. So I've been drawing for quite a number of years but I've never been good at it. Most of my stuff looks like the attachment. I started off with imitating manga so all the stuff I do has some degree of stylization to it, even my observation drawings.

At the start of this year I began trying to move away from that and now a more realistic look, like what most people here are doing, is starting to appeal to me more.

Edit; thanks asiJa for reminding me about this: But at the same time I'm also afraid of getting stuck and only being able to draw in that way after a while. So I'm going to try interspersing more technical practice with the usual stuff I do.

I've never used photo or life reference for any drawings of people, and of other things probably only 0.5% of the time. The end result is that most of the time I have no clue about what I'm drawing, about the form and the way light works on it and how it interacts with other things. So I realized that I probably need to start doing loads of studies and sketching from observation.

Now if I knew where to start...

[krysjez]

Found a PDF of Andrew Loomis' "Fun with a Pencil" linked by someone around here. Trying out some of the ball doodle exercises...I seem to have a problem drawing circles.

[gamersgene]

awesome you're a beginner just like me! I had the same problem as you except I had learned how to draw from dragonball-z which is even worse.
but I found some good reference sites and borrowed some anatomy books from the library and i was good.
You seem to have "The eye" which is like the first step in becoming an artist.
Having "The eye" means you're able to draw what you see in-front of you instead of a symbol of that object.
It's the difference between

which actually looks like a tree.

and

which looks absolutely nothing like a tree but is just a symbol of one (which is why you're still able to recognize it for what it is).

compared to getting over that big hurdle the next 3 parts - the anatomy and lighting and color - are a piece of cake.

here's some good anatomy links:
posemaniacs
CharacterDesigns

a great overall tutorial would be the PSG art tutorial

and for everything else there's artlinks.
it's a very good resource but be careful you dont spend the whole day there looking at all the different links. lol it's almost as bad as TV tropes.

[krysjez]

Thanks gamersgene for the links. I tried doing some sketches off Posemaniacs...

Didn't go very well, these took me an hour (or more) to do. The ones near the top were using the pose viewer set to 60 seconds, but it was too fast and I couldn't complete the sketches. Afterwards I just clicked through some random poses one by one. The hands are my left hand.

I realized I'm having some trouble with getting proportions right, like the way the different lengths of things relate to each other.

[asiJa]

hi krysjez,
to your first note - it's imortaint to know what you want to be able to paint. There people who makes great emotional characters (like linda bergkvist) but cannot do anything other, and people who can cast impression from almost any topic (Craig Mullins) but don't bother with details. Both are very good, and nobody probably can everything.

So I think painting from references to get realism is not the only way, Don't loose emotions which I can see from the first picture. Sure, you need practise pose, prespective, composition and such things, but you can specialize. You don't need to "just train" on boring things, you can prectise on things you love.
look for example on artkitty http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78513 , which I really like. I think it's a style which can fit you.

[krysjez]

Thanks asiJa for that link. Yes, that kind of thing like artkitty's work is what I'm aiming for eventually. I just want to draw pretty girls actually...but to do that first I have to get the basics right which is what I am trying now.

[SageTso]

Nice drawings so far! Keep it up!

[gamersgene]

personally i think they're pretty good. you shouldn't bag on yourself just cause it's not perfect, it can really stifle your creative side. the only one that seems to have proportion problems is the one you drew the sad face on, the arms are kinda short. whats i would suggest doing is finding an accurate anatomy cheat sheet that shows you how the proportions are supposed to be. hide the cheet sheet away on your desktop somewhere and just do your sketches as you normally would and when you're done compare them to the cheat sheet to see if and where you're going wrong.

[furiana]

I honestly don't see anything wrong with the gestures from Posemaniacs, krysjez! Even if you feel like you're struggling while you draw them, it doesn't show in the final results. Just keep practicing, and soon they will feel easy!

Have you drawn any figures (head to toe) from imagination yet? I see lots of heads and one girl from the waist up, but none that show the figure from head to foot.

[FallenLegend]

I like it!!!

Hi all, I'm sixteen this year and just joined CA. So I've been drawing for quite a number of years but I've never been good at it. Most of my stuff looks like the attachment. I started off with imitating manga so all the stuff I do has some degree of stylization to it, even my observation drawings.

At the start of this year I began trying to move away from that and now a more realistic look, like what most people here are doing, is starting to appeal to me more.

Edit; thanks asiJa for reminding me about this: But at the same time I'm also afraid of getting stuck and only being able to draw in that way after a while. So I'm going to try interspersing more technical practice with the usual stuff I do.

I've never used photo or life reference for any drawings of people, and of other things probably only 0.5% of the time. The end result is that most of the time I have no clue about what I'm drawing, about the form and the way light works on it and how it interacts with other things. So I realized that I probably need to start doing loads of studies and sketching from observation.

Now if I knew where to start...

[krysjez]

Mostly imagined stuff today.

In the first one I was trying to draw a quote from our discipline master about some noise control mechanism for classes. It didn't work out obviously...below that, trying to remember what I saw in someone's sketchbook about ellipses in perspective, and figuring out the difference between 2-point and 3-point perspective.

Next we have heads from Fun With A Pencil, some vaguely cuboid shapes after Marlee mentioned that it's deceptively hard to draw cubes. The bottom right is a "comely fortune-teller who's a magnet for trouble" (from Seventh Sanctum's character generator). My friend's marker is really fun to use but there's trouble with the arms and hands.

Third is some observation drawings. Curved appendages give me trouble, apparently: I spent a long time trying to get the handle of the cup and the clip of the pen right.

Furiana seems to be right, I really seem to have a phobia of drawing anything below the chest...

Have you drawn any figures (head to toe) from imagination yet? I see lots of heads and one girl from the waist up, but none that show the figure from head to foot.

And for the last picture, today during a lecture I was trying to describe Wonder Woman's new costume to my friend and ended up trying to draw it from memory instead. That is pretty much the only legs-included pose I can draw right now, sad to say. The girl on the right is a classmate, but it ended up a little distorted when I sat up straight because I was drawing while leaning back in my chair.

It's so difficult to draw people who are moving! No time for Posemaniacs sketches today, there is homework to be done.

[gamersgene]

I was really impressed with that last batch, especially the fortune teller and wonderwoman. keep it up!

[Marlee.]

Hey, you've got some really good stuff going on here. The gestures aren't bad at all, they'll definately improve (though i would 1000% recommend using the 60 second feature for a while. In fact, if you're up to it, do a few pages of 10 second gestures. like, 30 pages. Seriously. It will help you start to see motion rapidly and take it down quicker. Then when you move on to the 60 seconds you'll sit there tapping your pencil and twiddling your thumbs )

I'd like to see more lifedrawiings, too, especially of people. It will help you break out of any stylization and see things for what they really are.
Keep working hard , krysjez

[krysjez]

I will try doing the fast poses then. But I can barely get the general shape of the body down before it switches to the next page, sigh.

In order of attachments:

1) Trying to do some cuboids in perspective, based on what I could remember off a book I read a long time ago. It doesn't look quite right though...

At the bottom, drawing some poses from imagination. Can't figure out how the body bends just quite yet.

2) Expression chart from Fun With a Pencil. 14/7 things: expressions again with a little bit more detail in the eyes, a sketch of my friend doing homework. She moved to the other side of the table later so I had to redraw her, which leads to...

3) Friend again, except she kept changing position while doing homework. The areas where the neck connects to the shoulders look a bit funny for some reason. To the right, girl sitting on a chair copied from school newsletter. Seem to have a tendency to draw heads too big.

During my free period I went to the library but the only book on anatomy I could find was Stan Smith's Anatomy, Perspective and Composition for the Artist. I only managed to read a few pages in total before my next class, but I feel more enlightened already. I never knew there were two bones in the forearm and calf.

4) fail

5) Slightly less fail, but still not particularly accurate, copy of male skeleton (back view). Not done yet, will see if I can use half-hour free period tomorrow to complete it.

[loper42]

You have a good sketchbook going here. I love your expression study. I need to do one of those myself. I suggest you do more work from life. You seem to have a good eye for drawing. I hope to reach your level of seeing someday.

[fudgeloaf]

Hey Krysjez its always good to see another beginner like myself thanks for visiting my SB, I can see your already improving with your face drawing from Loomis' book remember he asks to not just copy what he has done but to understand it and memorise it so you can draw from a visual library. Keep up the studies man i'll definitely check back

[ErikHolfelder]

You're doing awesome krysjez! You're in the right place. Don't get down on yourself because something is crappy, just learn from it and be excited about where you're headed! All this practice will let you draw awesome anime/iconic things/pretty girls - all of it. I don't believe in specialization really, you just have to practice things to get better at them. Keep drawing a lot from life!

Check out loomis' other books for anatomy, like figure drawing:
http://alexhays.com/loomis/
And bridgman (search for more, this is not the only bridgman pdf available for free)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4461737/Co...eorge-Bridgman

Just keep it up! Draw draw draw and you're gonna kick some serious ass!

[krysjez]

Sorry for not updating in a while. Eekolite, you'll be glad to know I'm trying to more things from life, and thanks for the link! I also borrowed a book, "Anatomy for Artists" by Anthony Apesos. The style is a bit different from the usual resources I see recommended around here (Gottfried and Bridgman) but I hope it will be useful.

This time we have more scans than usual

1) "Wayang" (Chinese street opera) players from a book. Their make-up is really striking, interesting stuff.

2) Copy from the anatomy book, made-up stickmen, my left hand. The one on the right doesn't look correct though (eye level was around the palm)


4) From life. I think my figures all look a little feminine...does anyone else see this? (the one on the right is a guy)

5) Girl sleeping on a leaf? @__@

6) I'd really appreciate any comments on this because something about it is just bugging me, but I can't figure out what. I think the head might be placed too far to the right. When I did a thumbnail of this it just felt so much more dynamic than the full-size sketch here does. Any suggestions?

[Sulphur]

Furiana seems to be right, I really seem to have a phobia of drawing anything below the chest...

This is sooooo me. I get to the hips and stop, haha! Legs are horrible. Sometimes I only draw the arms up to the elbows too!
I think this means we should both practise drawing those then hehe ^^'

Oh and thanks for the lovely sketchbook comment

[Ronpower]

Looking better and better every post! You do very nice cute facial expressions. Keep paying attention to people's comments and crits they will really help in the long run.

[Masayasu]

It looks like your an anime fan. I started drawing anime in high school, and now I can't seem to completely get away from it (not that I want to completely get away from it though). I did figure out the hard way though, that you have to start at the basics of drawing first, which is what it looks like you are doing. So, keep it up. Observe, study, and practice anatomy (Loomis is a great reference), and don't forget to draw what is around you. I always drew from imagination, and never seemed to get better, until I began drawing what I actually saw. Anyways, I look forward to seeing some more. Keep up the studies.

[loper42]

Nice update. It looks to me like your line quality has improved. Congratulations! My critique regarding your update would just be too keep it up and don't ever stop. Keep drawing until you can't draw anymore and then do it some more. You'll improve even more.

[krysjez]

Been all sorts of busy these few days, posting some photos of some stuff I found in a notebook on my side table. According to the date on Dinosaur it's from 8/7, about 2 weeks ago.

1) Dinosaur!
2) Girl! This exemplifies the kind of pose I have the most trouble with.

[gamersgene]

that girl looks awesome! her eyes and that little shine on her lips. yummy! =D
only thing i see wrong with the pose is that the left buttcheek (her left) looks higher than her right. I think you did that to show perspective but you kinda made it too high.

[loper42]

The drawings of the hippo and the girl are wonderful. I can see what your saying about having some troubles. My advice would be to make sure that the perspective is correct. I think those kind of poses are also something that I have trouble with. Good luck and keep it up!

[ColorExcursion]

Wow, you seem to progress fairly smoothly Nice SB so far, keep it goin' with them studies and you will go great :] How about some Bridgman studies? His work and words are helping me tremendously

[FightingSeraph]

I see that you're improving rather quickly, whereas I'm starting to slow down a bit. Keep at it, and I would like to see more.

[krysjez]

Thanks everyone for all your encouragement Well I'm back from a brief sojourn to Taiwan for a competition (which I lost...) and one new drawing off James Barry's "The Education of Achilles", done during lunch break today. His foot is quite bad...(Achilles' heel, hmm) and I sort of just scribbled in the face because faces scare me.

I see that you're improving rather quickly, whereas I'm starting to slow down a bit.

Unfortunately progress seems to be a logarithmic curve...

How about some Bridgman studies? His work and words are helping me tremendously

I have been trying to get a (discounted) physical copy of his book because I realized I can't work from PDFs on my small laptop screen. No success so far though...

The drawings of the hippo and the girl are wonderful. I can see what your saying about having some troubles. My advice would be to make sure that the perspective is correct. I think those kind of poses are also something that I have trouble with. Good luck and keep it up!

It's a styracosaurus...thanks for your words on perspective! My perspective is totally screwed up, I will have to look into that soon.

only thing i see wrong with the pose is that the left buttcheek (her left) looks higher than her right. I think you did that to show perspective but you kinda made it too high.

I've squinted repeatedly at that picture but I can't quite see what you're referring to...maybe if you have the time, you could draw it directly on the picture for me?

[Masayasu]

It looks good to me. Was that from reference or imagination? It looks like you have the basic anatomy down pretty well. It's funny that you find faces difficult, because that is how I find the body. All of my characters look stiff, but their faces are alive. Well. Keep it up. Looks good.

[krysjez]

No time for write ups today, it's really late...

N. C. Wyeth and J. W. Waterhouse are two names I'll leave you with. Gotta crash!