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how to draw

Blogs > FFGenerations
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FFGenerations
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
7088 Posts
October 09 2011 16:26 GMT
#1
how to draw..."thinking theory"

i dont know how to draw (yet)

when i draw atm it is usually copying something and i feel that is a good way to learn as long as you actively engage your brain to understand and remember what you are doing so you can replicate it and later when you have confidence or inspiration improvise it.

what i am doing at the moment is souly focusing on the proportions of each line in relation to one another. this seems like an intensive process as your eyes flit around from a nose to a hair to a neck and constantly evaluate how to draw the correct proportions of the next object.

so i am wondering is this how artists minds are working when they paint? this rapid constant struggle of assessing and matching proportions piece by piece?

here is the one i just done whilst concentrating decently hard on matching line accuracy . at the start i was like "man i must be thinking the wrong way - but im gonna try this coz im sure its the key even tho its a big effort and a little daunting and ill just let the result speak for itself"


[image loading]

**
Cool BW Music Vid - youtube.com/watch?v=W54nlqJ-Nx8 ~~~~~ ᕤ OYSTERS ᕤ CLAMS ᕤ AND ᕤ CUCKOLDS ᕤ ~~~~~~ ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ PUNCH HIM ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ
mizU
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States12125 Posts
October 09 2011 16:39 GMT
#2
It seems like some people just have talent and can kind of wing it, versus make all the calculations you think they make. But I have no idea.
if happy ever afters did exist <3 @watamizu_
fabiano
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Brazil4644 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-09 16:45:30
October 09 2011 16:44 GMT
#3
I think most people just wing it, the hand goes and the drawing comes out nicely.

Don't overthink things

Well, obviously it all comes down to practice
"When the geyser died, a probe came out" - SirJolt
FFGenerations
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
7088 Posts
October 09 2011 16:45 GMT
#4
i dont think thats the case
you dont find anyone who is good at drawing without them having drawn a lot. you dont just pick up the guitar and play it like a pro, that takes years of practice

i did realise copying must be very different from actual drawing because when you draw your own original thing you can sketch down the larger proportions like the body and head and limbs and then just add the detail however you want and itll all fit. whereas in copying you're trying to draw all the little details exactly right as well as the simpler greater proportions.

so that kinda answer my OP
Cool BW Music Vid - youtube.com/watch?v=W54nlqJ-Nx8 ~~~~~ ᕤ OYSTERS ᕤ CLAMS ᕤ AND ᕤ CUCKOLDS ᕤ ~~~~~~ ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ PUNCH HIM ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ
Kiett
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States7639 Posts
October 09 2011 16:51 GMT
#5
You know, when I started drawing, it was basically tracing stuff that other people had drawn (including my best friend's doodles). Then again, that was like, 8 years ago, so I can't say I improved very fast. Anyway, the technique you're using is one they teach in art classes anyway, so you're on the right track (although usually, you divide into squares. Makes vertical comparisons easier as well). Keep working at it, and have patience
Writer:o
Warfie
Profile Joined February 2009
Norway2846 Posts
October 09 2011 17:06 GMT
#6
Drawing as a skill is too often thought of as an unlearnable art that one must somehow magically possess and cannot learn through hard work. While that may be the case for some, I believe in most cases such a belief is false, and hard work and dedication will yield amazing results.

I recently was recommended abook that focuses on the approach to drawing as a skill.

Basically the theory is that the right side of the brain is the side more capable of recognizing what your eyes take in, impressions, scales, composition etc, and as such it contains excercises and tutorials/tips on how to activate that part of your brain when drawing.

I don't necessarily agree that this is the only right approach do drawing, it is not very methodical and analytic due to the nature of the right half of your brain, but it certainly helped me get more into drawing and some of its excercises definitely increased my ability to put what my eyes see down on paper. While its methods not always worked for me, I found that when they did, drawing became relaxed, comfortable and fun in a different way from what it had been before.

I believe you can get ahold of it without paying anything online, check it out if it sounds interesting. Best of luck on improving your skills, I recently purchased a Wacom drawing tablet and I highly recommend it!
ProjectVirtue
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Canada360 Posts
October 09 2011 17:07 GMT
#7
i started by measuring things and then experimenting and comparing to a reference picture. I find that way was the best to understand the proportions relative to the rest of the body and it allowed me to deduce the changes you would expect when you change the angle.

I think you're on the right track, try doing a number of speed drawings. Find a couple action/modeling poses, and just draw them as fast as you can without attention to clothing detail or anything and just focus on the shape and contours.
俺はダメ人間。。。
FFGenerations
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
7088 Posts
October 09 2011 17:08 GMT
#8
cool
Cool BW Music Vid - youtube.com/watch?v=W54nlqJ-Nx8 ~~~~~ ᕤ OYSTERS ᕤ CLAMS ᕤ AND ᕤ CUCKOLDS ᕤ ~~~~~~ ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ PUNCH HIM ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ
TheRealFluid
Profile Joined June 2011
United States501 Posts
October 09 2011 17:14 GMT
#9
Is that from FLCL?
"The wings don't make you fly and the crown don't make you king.||"What do you say to god of gg? NOT TODAY" -John the Translator. "Give me Command" -Yellow.
FFGenerations
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
7088 Posts
October 09 2011 17:17 GMT
#10
yeah was watching the first ep
Cool BW Music Vid - youtube.com/watch?v=W54nlqJ-Nx8 ~~~~~ ᕤ OYSTERS ᕤ CLAMS ᕤ AND ᕤ CUCKOLDS ᕤ ~~~~~~ ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ PUNCH HIM ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ
cive
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada370 Posts
October 09 2011 17:52 GMT
#11
LoL I really enjoyed FLCL manga more than the anime...

In terms of drawing, PLEASE do the proper "start with a basic shape" thingy. If you make a habit of drawing free handed, your proportions will get messed up and it will never look as professional as the work we see in good manga. Proportions shouldn't be related to the other objects. You should have that figured out before drawing in the details.

Also try to avoid line papers and pens. Ball pens give really good control and line paper gives you a sense of proportion without going through the "artsy steps". However they are terrible when u scan them in.
Play Terran
Torte de Lini
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Germany38463 Posts
October 09 2011 17:54 GMT
#12
It's all proportionality when drawn, no matter how detailed your realistic drawings, if they're not proportionate in side, distance from the various features, etc. It gets boring.

Abstract art is the most fun to draw.
https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Narcind
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Sweden2489 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-09 18:00:08
October 09 2011 17:57 GMT
#13
Draw very loosely so you can erase without any trace of it until you're happy with the result, and then draw on top of those lines.

Start out very simple until you get an angle you like and things like that, like this:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


All this is pretty basic and you're probably doing it already, but apart part from that, just draw, practice makes perfect!
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
October 09 2011 18:12 GMT
#14
so i am wondering is this how artists minds are working when they paint? this rapid constant struggle of assessing and matching proportions piece by piece?

When learning, sure, everything is somewhat consciously calculated. When you've done something a million times, however, you don't even think about it. It's the same with any skill. In StarCraft it can at first take a lot of effort to figure out what to do at every stage of the game, but after awhile it becomes second nature.

Practice your fundamentals properly and eventually you will get them perfect. A better example might be writing. When you first learned, if you can remember, wasn't it difficult to make every letter correctly? To even associate a sound with an abstract symbol? You can relive that feeling if you want by learning a non-roman language. But eventually you do not even think about it, and the proportions of the lines have a natural feel to them without you needing to consciously say "the cross of a t is longer than the cross of a + sign."
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Gearuza
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
150 Posts
October 09 2011 18:20 GMT
#15
One thing I can say after doing freelance art for years is to ditch that anime style as fast as you can and go to the fundamentals.

Too many artists get stuck in the anime "style" and use it as an excuse or crutch and never improve. The best artists take it from traditional life drawing and then find a style that they like, be it anime or not.

You're also starting with it the wrong way, as you shouldn't be thinking about line quality at the beginning. Think about proportions instead.
Kipsate
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands45349 Posts
October 09 2011 18:26 GMT
#16
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=227133

This is how you draw.
WriterXiao8~~
RedJustice
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States1004 Posts
October 09 2011 18:31 GMT
#17
There is a lot that goes into drawing. When you are drawing, the most important thing is not to get stuck on one part of the drawing, or draw it piece by piece. Instead you want to move constantly around the page so that you correctly draw the volume between things and so that you realize when something is incorrectly proportioned relative to something else.

It's important not to get stuck on rendering details, or else the overall object won't look very good. Go big to small. Also remember the more you retrace things, the more you kill the energy of your lines, so remember it's ok to leave some lines that weren't quite right, and once you have a good line, stop fussing with it.

Nothing particularly wrong with drawing anime, but you should really also make sure to focus on traditional life drawing skills also. Anime is a stylization, and so it is always very important to understand how things actually appear in real life and be able to accurately draw them, before you choose to stylize them.
Coagulation
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States9633 Posts
October 09 2011 19:04 GMT
#18
When I draw I think in "Shapes" most objects can be broken down into simplified shapes of some form or another. Visualize these shapes and the proportions that they will have relative to each other instead of trying to work out proportions of individual lines.
turdburgler
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
England6749 Posts
October 09 2011 20:46 GMT
#19
pro tip about how to draw

make your lines horizontal instead of vertical, realise proportions of peoples bodies and faces are normally about the same, use lines to draw realistic faces, or purposely ignore the lines for comic effect.

ezpz
rezzan
Profile Joined November 2010
Sweden329 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-10 00:56:24
October 10 2011 00:55 GMT
#20
how about my drawing skills? :3, 3 minutes in msPaint, lol im terrible xd but it looked nooby-funky imho :3


EDIT: Op, the guy and the girl looks like something from the Anime FL CL, is it true?

plz teach me how to draw ._.
+ Show Spoiler +

[image loading]

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