Figure drawing

Zephir62

I've always had a natural knack for drawing but I never practiced - maybe once every few months at most. Last month, however, I decided to get serious about it to complement my 3D skills. Since then I've spent about 30 minutes every day drawing and occasionally taking a peak at my "Atlast of Human Anatomy for the Artist" book by Stephen Peck(great book!).

Today I picked up my dusty 4x6 tablet that I never ever use and decided to give it a try. And damn are these things hard to get used to! Any how this is what I've come up with so far today after an hour:



Personally I really like how the torso and chest came out, but the legs and arms look sort of off. Also, I am new to this whole coloring and lighting thing so tips would be helpful. I'm hoping for some crits since I know you guys rock at giving them So what do you think?

EricElwell

I think you might benefit from focusing on forms with only line work. Color can be fun, but from the looks of it, you need to work more on your anatomy and basic line work before. Personally, I feel that speed is the key. If it takes you an hour to nail down forms, then cut back on the amount that you are trying to do. Use a pencil, block out shapes, and move on to a new character/pose. You'll be surprised how fast you'll learn and grow as an artist. A great book on basic quick forms, and really just drawing in general is Fun with a Pencil by Andrew Loomis. which I found here:
http://basangpanaginip.blogspot.com/2006/01/fun-with-pencil.html

This leans more towards cartooning, but the principles will help you break down shapes before you try to do too much.

Zephir62

That's a pretty good book Eric Thanks. I've tried the shape method before though and it doesn't work for me.

Any way I had another go at it except paying attention to proportions this time and this is what I came up with:



I think I'm getting the hang of this tablet/stylus thing. It's a lot more fun working with photoshop than with pencil and paper now

Zephir62

Here's another:

Zephir62

more!

Japhir

looks cool! looks like you got the shapes all worked out! maybe you can try lighting some stuff now (drawing more realistic)
like the style!

Panupat

Something's strange about the last drawing's arm proportion. I think you shouldn't focus that much on the oblique muscle yet. Get the chest shape right, and get the arm length right, first.

John Warner

hey man, cool stuff. i should do some of these....

i'm assuming you want some crits so i'll just be blunt.

I think the shapes that make up these figures is unappealing, and the proportions are wrong as well. in addition, the line work isn't very interesting... and the perspective doesn't appear to be right either.

IMO, you might enjoy going back to a pencil and a piece of paper. I've got a friend who's been teaching me to draw and he pointed out something very interesting, which i found really really helpful, and you might like as well.

basicaly he says drawing (or any art, i think really..) is about switching your mind back and forth between a series of different "modes".. such as -- drawing appealing lines, drawing appealing shapes, painting light, etc etc. he told me to just practice these modes, that is, just draw random abstract shapes for a while until i get a sense of what shapes work good next to each other.

once you get good at drawing shapes, you start to notice something extraordinary -- anything you draw can be viewed in this way-- as a collection of shapes. when that happens you can stop drawing faces, in a way, and start drawing a collection of appealing shapes that create a face.. anyway. you can spend an infinite amount time finding new depth in any given aspect, or mode, of art, and if you look for it, you can tell what a given artist focuses on by his work, i think.

that might be a little confusing, or sound like psychobabble, but to me it was a big help. just try drawing shapes for a little while, then come back to the figgure.. hehe it makes me appreciate just how complex it is to do well.

Zephir62

Finally got some time to do more



Thanks for the crit John, I think I see what you're talking about. Working in shapes doesn't seem to agree with my mode of thinking when drawing, but maybe it's just because I need practice. I'm going to look into it when I get more free time.

Mark Dygert

wow, getting back in the swing of it! Great progress!

richkid

you need to go back to square one, perspective and shape. blocking out the forms isnt one of those things that you just skip, unless you are a prodigy. it feels wierd at first i know, but it is an essential part of drawing anything.

after you get shape and form you move on to rhythm, this one is huge and will give your drawing life, where right now there is no life to it.

also, pay attention to weight, it is huge, your drawings feet are planted pretty well, so that shows either you copy pictures very well, or you do understand what you are doing. along with that is the contraposto of the person, this goes along with the rhythm.

you have a decent start, but you have a long way to go still

Zephir62

I'm trying out a new painting style, since I haven't found one that works for me well. Not sure if I like this one either.



What I did was essentially block out the forms with a large brush on top of a silhouette I liked, then moving onto a smaller brush with a low flow setting. I use a smudge brush to smooth it all together. Any other suggestions or methods you guys use?

Genjix

The torso looks cool, but i think the leg on the left (his right) should be foreshortened but it looks longer than the other leg. The thigh and shin looks appealing but what's that pit behind the knee?