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Time Spent drawing...

Hi everyone :),

Im new to the community and i would like to have some advice from you guy's.

Right now im 27 years old and im a university student . My major is in graphic design and i'ved done a college course in 3D animation. My primary goal is to become a character modeler, so ived decided to start back drawing after a break of 7 years.

The main point of university is to have the diploma and to get a master of 2 years in illustration(concept art)/character modeling.

So the main question is how much time do you guy's spend drawing per day? right now im doing a average of 2 to 2.5 hour per day! is that enough?

the book that im studying are from :

Andrew loomis
Brigdman
hogarth
...


PS : sorry for the bad english, i dont speak it very often!!! :poly136:

Replies

  • AimBiZ
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    AimBiZ polycounter lvl 14
    You can never get too good at anything. Draw as much as you can.

    Edit: Oh, and when do we get to see some drawings? :)
  • DarkStar
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    It will be soon :)
  • Mezz
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    Mezz polycounter lvl 8
    I don't think just drawing a lot is all you should be thinking about--you should also be thinking about WHAT you're drawing, and exploring all kinds of things to draw, and techinques, and so on.

    Since you say you want to do character modeling, I highly suggest life drawing! Find a life drawing class in your area, and head on over! You can find books with nudes to draw, but there's really nothing like drawing from life.

    Draw everywhere you go--draw in cafes, on the bus, in nature, anywhere.

    Find books that inspire you, books that teach you how to draw from the masters, books that have subject matter on different objects and life forms.

    And most importantly imo, keep drawing whatever it is you love in between all that. Drawing what you're not comfortable with is the key to expanding, but you have to still draw what you love, or else you'll forget why it is you're even doing this.

    Now, let's see some drawings so we can all critique you to death, Polycount style!!
  • wake
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    wake polycounter lvl 17
    Welcome to the fold DarkStar, glad to have you. And don't worry about the english-- your writing is better than some americans :D Plus, posting here should help that with time.

    There's a lot of different ways to answer your question-- from a technical standpoint they say it takes about 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert, so you can crunch the numbers and decide whether you're drawing enough per day or not.

    More practically though, Mezz is right about getting into a figure course with live models and just always having a sketchbook on you; it's important to be able to draw whenever the spirit moves you.

    The other thing is that Polycount is an invaluable resource-- there are a lot of amazing artists on the site who give great crits, and it's also good to find people around your own skill level and push each other creatively and technically. It's when you have that kind of give and take setup that you can really begin to excel. If you have a tablet the Concept Tag sticky in the Pimping and Previews section is a great place to start. There's a lot of creative stuff happening there and you can just jump right in without worrying about starting a new thread.

    I hope this helps, and I can't wait to see some work :)
  • DarkStar
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    Thx Mezz and wake for your good advice, it will help me out in the near future :)

    I would like to show you guy's some of my work but it seem that i cant find my camera at the moment :poly122:
  • DrunkShaman
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    DrunkShaman polycounter lvl 14
    AimBiZ wrote: »
    You can never get too good at anything. Draw as much as you can.

    Edit: Oh, and when do we get to see some drawings? :)

    This.

    And in the add, I think someone did the math for me that it will take few years to become comfy with arts/concept arts if you are spending 1-2 hours or 2.5 max.

    One thing I learned from this site is that, many people here, practice alot in their day regardless of how many hours are they giving to the project. They spend countless hours just doing that. (many self learners). Another faster way to achieve your goal to an average level is, you have to be motivated. Spend more time and be motivated towards your arts and you will see the change soon.

    EDIT: I also agree with mezz and wake.
  • redpandafire
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    2.5 hrs/day is good. It just depends what you are using it for. Studying Loomis is great if you can follow him. Some days I get so occupied I can only push 1 hr tops. Other days I get 0. The advice I was always given was to try for 10 minutes a day, no matter how busy. I think this advice was to trick me into doing 10 mins, realize I've done nothing great and on my own continue for another 2 hours. lol
  • DarkStar
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    LOL, yeah i do that to. Sometime im a lil tired, so i tell to my self that i will do about 30min to 1 hour, but like last saturday i ended up doing 5 hours straight because i was not happy with what i was doing.

    Anyway, its been for 4 month that i restarted drawing and yes i see improvement in my line, my way of thinking and my drawing are better then ever. Bridgman is hard to study and follow but the way he draw and explain every muscle is great!

    Thank for the comment redpandafire, i greatly appreciate it!
  • vatsel
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    hey mate! I spend about 10-14 hours a day drawing and painting
    I must get better, and putting in the time is what count I figure
  • DarkStar
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    Speaking for myself, i find that doing to much only leave me tired and without any understanding of what im doing (after 4-5 hours straigth). You impress me with your 10 hours, you must be learning a lot, i should try it some day :)
  • mr slobs
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    Brigdman is a great study for anatomy; I find the comparison of human anatomy to mechanical parts to be extremely helpful in drawing concept art for machines/droids. Focus on proportion and being able to draw a breadth of objects and textures in different visual styles (Hair, fur, destroyed appearance, worn appearance, etc.

    2 hours a day should be sufficient, but don't forget about quality and speed, not just time spent.
    Keep chuggin' away at that art! Don't be afraid to post your work in traditional mediums.
  • DarkStar
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    Mr Slobs : Yeah i will try to post some of my anatomy study in the next few day's but i need to find someone with a camera because ived lost mine a couple months ago.

    Thx for you comment's i appreciate it alot!
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