Character art and education
Hey Polycounters,
I wanted to get the opinions out there of character artists on the topic of education. I just recently finished up another semester at my local university, but living in Wisconsin (a crap shoot of a place for wanting to do anything technology related) they don't have programs centered around 3D or any of the sort so I took up the drawing program (which I have another 2.5 years if I continue). It has though come to interfere with my attempts to get modeling practice and the like, and I'm currently debating if I should drop the program and place full focus on getting better at modeling and the like. The question I have for current character artists is; Would there be any incentive to continuing a drawing program of sorts, when it is going to hinder my time with getting practice in modeling and the like?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and any advice you can give.
Sincerely,
Matt T (thepapercut)
I wanted to get the opinions out there of character artists on the topic of education. I just recently finished up another semester at my local university, but living in Wisconsin (a crap shoot of a place for wanting to do anything technology related) they don't have programs centered around 3D or any of the sort so I took up the drawing program (which I have another 2.5 years if I continue). It has though come to interfere with my attempts to get modeling practice and the like, and I'm currently debating if I should drop the program and place full focus on getting better at modeling and the like. The question I have for current character artists is; Would there be any incentive to continuing a drawing program of sorts, when it is going to hinder my time with getting practice in modeling and the like?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and any advice you can give.
Sincerely,
Matt T (thepapercut)
Replies
While you don't HAVE to be able to draw to be a 3d artist, I believe it will help you become a better overall artist. It's easier for a lot of people to learn fundamentals through drawing, painting, and sculpting without having to worry about the technical hurdles of 3d. I also think it's a quicker way to grow.
The real difficulty lies in the knowledge of lines, planes, form, anatomy, value, color, proportion, scale, contrast, balance, rhythm... the list can go on for ages. These concepts are completely independent of the medium in which you choose to work, or the tools that you choose you use, and are, in my opinion, much more important to the artistic process.
If your instructors are competent artists that you respect, and can effectively communicate these ideas, then by all means, learn as much as you can from them.
I have come to find that drawing is an indispensable tool no matter what medium you intend to work in. Use it to make notes, to examine different ideas, and to flesh out problem areas in your work before you even touch the sculpture/canvas. The purpose of drawing is not what occurs on the page, but what occurs in your brain. The act of drawing strengthens your understanding of whatever it is that you are trying to depict.
Be constantly drawing, but never guess where to place your strokes. This is especially important when drawing the human figure. If you guess, it will be wrong. Use reference. Lots of reference. Measure carefully. Compare your marks with your reference constantly. If something is wrong, correct it. This will become easier to do the more you draw.
Only a small portion of the act of drawing involves manual dexterity. The majority of it occurs in the mind. You may think that your mental visualizations are incredibly clear, but if that were the case, drawing them would not be difficult because you would not have to guess where to place your strokes. If I cannot draw something, then I know that I do not understand it and must do more research.
Start by drawing simple volumes. Spheres, cubes, cylinders, etc. Note that a circle in perspective is an ellipse. A very specific shape that you will come across constantly. Draw lots of them, over and over, from all angles and lighting conditions.
When you are comfortable with this, move on to basic human forms and proportions. Don't just look them up and think you know them. Draw figures over and over to reinforce this new information. Once your proportions are accurate, move on to the study of anatomy. Study the skeleton, and then study the musculature. Do the same thing that you did with your basic forms. Draw over and over to reinforce this new information.
If you do all this, construction of your sculptures will be much easier as the forms that you have all ready internalized will simply fall into place. You will find, though, that there are countless forms that you have not yet internalized, you must make more observations and use more reference in order to accurately render them.
Be constantly observing.
Edit: formatting
sorry man, haven't seen any of your work to know if your opinion on this is worth a damn. but i'll chime in with my own $0.02.
last year i started drawing before i made every character, even if it's a pre-existing concept and i wasn't changing anything, i'd still draw it as much as i could in as many poses/positions/angles as i could. this has helped me become a better 3d artist, it absolutely has.
there are artists who are active in the google hangouts that we hold, who've refocused some of their time into doing 2d studies, and their 3d work has come along a lot quicker/better as a result.
having a solid foundation in 2d skills will absolutely make you a better artist, and if you think otherwise then i'm sorry but you're lost. you could be the best 3d artist on the planet, and i'd still tell you that having better 2d skills will help your 3d work.
we'll agree to disagree then.
welp, for me it's pretty obvious to tell which artists can draw, VS which ones cannot just by looking at their 3D.
Its not that you "need" to have drawing skills, its a quicker way of learning and understanding vs. trying to figure it out in a three dimensional space. Its just a benefit that you also get good at traditional art the more 2d studies that you do.
Every skill gained traditionally will definitely translate to 3D art, in my experience I haven't seen this to be not true.
@jason young: That is my current plan, I just fear the time allotted won't be enough to put together a decent portfolio be the time I leave school, and but stuck jobless, and with a poor 3D portfolio.
No it just comes to you from this old priest who comes in your vivid dream after you smoke an ounce of pot and OD on meth.
To the OP; Fundamentals are important; That includes, anatomy, pose, camera position for basic environment structure, etc. That being said, I am still learning everything and practicing 2d arts as I feel the need for it because I know that it will help me alot in 3d. But if you wish to just shoot for 3d and leave the drawing part out of it, by all means. There are many artists on this forum who make 3d arts just by using other's 2d drawn reference.
EDIT: After reading few posts in this thread I also feel obligated to remind you that this is a General Discussion section and opinions matter here from all perspective, doesn't matter if the person posts his work or not.
I disagree with him because to me the best way to learn anatomy is by practicing drawing the forms and by reading up on the anatomy.
I agree with him if and only if he practically sculpts the anatomy or owns the anatomy models provided by Zbrush and uses them for his work.
There are many ways of learning CG.
Also; Based on your work and thread flow sir Super Franky; I'd say you are at the start of the things. You may not realize how (most of the times) 2d and 3d art go side by side in the game industry also how essential it is for one to understand the fundamentals of 2d arts before jumping in to CG. So you might want to consider watching this thread.
Just a friendly advice, even though your opinion was duly noted.
I'll stop here now and see how this thread flows.
Kind regards sir, and salutations.
Sorry but as other people have pointed out in this thread - absolute and utter nonsense. You don't have to draw/paint, sure, but it can't harm your 3D skills and will give you a much better foundation in form and design, not to mention a more keen observation.