Drawing/Sketching fundementals thread

Sexperienced · July 28, 2014, 8:27am

This thread is for people who want to learn how to draw anything from their imagination whilst maintaining a sense of realism in their work. The rules for this thread if you decide to post your own artwork are:

-Work must be in either graphite pencil (single colours) or black ink or charcoal on any sized paper, I’d suggest A5 but use whatever you find most practical.
-You can draw anything you like but try to show variety in your work.
-Work can NOT be older than 2 months.

If you can’t follow these simple rules just post your work in the lounge thread.

The topics I want to discuss in this thread are as followed (Tiered from most most important to least).

*Drawing ANYTHING from life, especially human antomy.
*Understanding human Anatomy: Muscle groups and Bones, Drawing the male and female body, Different body types and proportions.
*Mech Design, Drawing Cars, Planes and anything else that’s non organic
*Knowing the most common Animal Anatomy and Creature Design
*Drawing Objects in Perspective. Really basic to really advanced perspective tricks.
*How to render an Object, Lighting and Shade, Drawing Creases in Clothing
*Composition, Rule of thirds, The Golden Ratio, Camera views/Lenses.
*Freehand drawing exercises such as silhouette sketching, Straight line exercises, circle/ellipse patterns.

Personally I believe the most important topic in sketching is drawing from life, especially when it comes to human anatomy. I’d highly recommend going to as many life figure drawing session as possible if you can afford it, especially the ones that make you do the really fast gesture drawings (30 seconds - 2 minutes), do this often if you want to improve. If you want to draw a particular pose just set up a mirror beside your drawing table and become your own model, if not, ask your friends, wife, girlfriend, ANYBODY to pose for you. Have them take pictures of you if you need references. You have to develop a feel for anatomy and clothing by drawing them from life over and over again. Don’t learn by copying other artists. Develop your own approach and style by going straight to the source!

At least 50% of your sketchbook should be filled with Male and female figures sketched from life.

Posts I’ve found on the net explaining why Life drawing is important:

Basically, it boils down to understanding how things behave in the real world in order to emulate them successfully. Everything from light to perspective to anatomy can be learned and learned well through life drawing.

For instance, let’s say you want to draw a character sitting on a chair. You’re going to run into a series of problems if you don’t do a lot of life drawing:

You probably have a very limited amount of sitting poses in mind, and most of them were acquired through looking at or copying other people’s stylized drawings. It won’t help you that you probably don’t have a good grasp of human anatomy. This means you’ll have trouble coming up with your own pose, and even more trouble if you want to change the angle, even by a little bit. Things that should come to you naturally, such as the position of the legs or arms will become massive walls of pain and despair that you can’t climb over. This is why you see so many “help me with this pose!” or “I don’t know what to do with the arms!” threads in Picture Post.

This happens because these folks don’t have even a basic understanding of how the human body works. Through life drawing, you pick up a lot of subtleties in gesture, weight and balance. So when you draw your character sitting, you instinctively know how to pose the arms and legs because you’ve seen real human beings sitting and you’ve picked up this information through drawing them.

You probably have a very limited amount of chairs in mind, and you don’t really understand how they were built or how they stand on their own so you’re unable to just come up with one of your own on the fly. You’re reduced to finding reference, but you most likely won’t be able to look at a photo of a chair and do a turnaround in your head to make it fit with the composition that you have in mind. So you’re reduced to either searching for hours until you can find a photo that fits or giving up and drawing a rock.

You don’t understand how perspective works in the real world and foreshortening is most likely lost on you. You may have looked up tutorials and whatnot but it never looks quite right. This is because tutorials are 2D things and while they’re useful, you can’t learn everything from them because when you’re referencing or learning from another drawing, the 3D to 2D translation has already been done for you. So you learn a technique, but you don’t have the “visual bank” in your mind to actually apply this technique successfully. As such, you will most likely end up drawing something without a background and not at an angle that is actually interesting.

You don’t understand how fabric behaves in the real world, why wrinkles are formed and how they’re formed or where they go. This results in either excessive wrinkling all in the wrong places (VERY common in newbies trying to draw anime/manga) or none at all. Both are terrible.

You probably don’t understand how light behaves in the real world or its relationship with color, so when you color and shade your drawings, you miss several extremely important things which end up making the picture look flat. You may end up over rendering it or putting in too much detail to compensate, but it’ll end up sucking.

In addition to what I said above, not having an understanding of things like facial and muscle structure will lead to incredibly awkward shading that actually makes the picture look flatter.

This is just the most basic stuff, off the top of my head.

You know how a lot of people post asking for pose help, help with shading, etc? None of them would have those problems if they drew from life.

This is what it teaches you. This is why it’s important.

Will life drawing teach you to draw anime? No. It won’t. You won’t be able to magically draw your K-ON! doujin because you draw from life. That’s not how it works, if you want to learn to draw a certain way, you have to study that particular style. But if you don’t have that base which you can only acquire through study of the real world, you will not be successful at emulating any style. Because anime people are still people, even if they’re highly stylized, they’ll still have the same mannerisms, the same gestures as a real human being. Same goes for anime horses, anime dogs, anime whatevers. Backgrounds in anime are also based on real places, buildings, cars, what have you. Everything is a representation of the real world. Familiarize yourself with it, and you will do better no matter what you want to do with your art.

You also need to study other things! Composition, light, color, perspective and anatomy (both human and whatever animal you want to draw). There are many, many books about these subjects that can help you. The free Loomis books will teach you a little bit of everything you need to know, but remember: books can only do so much. You need to draw from life.

That’s the real difference between this and this. It’s a good understanding of how things look in the real world. The second drawing isn’t a different “style” – it’s a bad drawing!

So, with that in mind, and assuming you do your life drawing every day for an hour or so, just how do you learn to draw anime??? Well, first make sure you can draw real people and understand structure and proportion. Then, just study your favorite artists. STUDY, NOT COPY. This is how you study:

Choose a picture to study. Find one that you really like, because you’re going to be stuck with it for a while.

Look at the picture. Really look at it. Try to figure out what the artist is omitting or exaggerating. Look beyond the obvious big eyes, small mouth. Look at the shape of the character’s legs, look at the placement of objects in the composition. Why are they there? Nothing is accidental in a composition. There is a reason that artist decided to put that thing there. Why is that? Try to imagine the picture without that element. Does it still look good? Why? Ask yourself these questions all the time: why and how. Why did he/she do it, and how? Try to answer those questions.

Try to break the picture down into simple shapes and draw them. Draw those shapes, little stick figures where the characters go, big boxes where the buildings or whatever go. Skip all the small details, focus on the shapes first. Compare it to the source image. Do your shapes look like they’re in the right place? Measure things carefully. Is the gap between those two shapes really that wide? Does that character’s elbow line up with that other character’s forehead? Pay attention to what you’re doing. Be patient. Get it right.

Once you’re satisfied with your sketch, start adding more detail. Always do the big stuff first – don’t draw all the details on the hair, for example, just the general shape of it. Leave things like highlights on the eyes and hair for later. You want to focus on the stuff that actually makes or breaks the picture right now. Look at composition, light, perspective and anatomy. Try to figure out why and how the artist chose to stylize certain elements. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Don’t just copy the picture, try to understand it. Figuring out the thought process that went into making an image is what’s most important about studying someone, not making an exact copy. You’re going to end up with a pretty good copy anyway, so just forget about the results and focus on the process.

Keep adding more details until you finish the picture. Again, keep in mind that your study isn’t supposed to look identical to the source image. You’re not copying it, you’re just trying to understand it. The final result does not matter at all in this case, it’s entirely about the process.

This is the difference between being influenced by another artist and downright copying them. In studies like this one, you learn how the pictures were made and you also learn why they look the way they do – and then it becomes easy to pick up the elements you like best (and you’ll actually know why you like them!) and apply a similar technique to your own work. This is how you polish your style. It’s not by copying, it’s by studying.

Rinse, repeat.

Disclaimer: I am not an amazing, uber skilled artist and I’m sure I missed a lot of stuff. Please correct me and add information to this thread if you want.

Oh, and the artists I’m using as an example of good anime are my favorite Japanese artist, Kenichi Yoshida, and Miyazaki (I’m sure I don’t need to link you to this one).

The bad drawings were just Googled, I don’t know who the artists are. I’m using their doodles for educational purposes, however, so I’m not violating their copyright. If you drew one of them and want it taken down let me know (and follow this thread’s advice, you’ll get better!)

Words of wisdom:

Kaiser-chan

I think it’s also really, really important to remember and emphasize that drawing from life is not drawing “semi-realism,” or “realism” shading or “style” from your head. It is not about a doodle of a person who has more than a line for a nose, because all that teaches usually is how to polish. I know I learned no more from that when I was younger, and I see a confusion between the two a lot. That stuff is just a variant on drawing anime - it’s regurgitating what you think a person looks like, rather than drawing one, and also just ingrains bad habits.

x_Silver_Starlight_x

I think it might be important to mention the fact that they’re not going to be good at life drawing right away. A surprising amount of people think it’s supposed to be easy.

Bret Blevin’s why draw from life: part1 part2 part3

I think the topics I’ve mentioned cover just about everything. Feel free to ask questions.

**

wyze:

Sry for the long post. It’ll probably be my last one for a while so I wanted to include a wealth of information. Hopefully it will serve to motivate and get some of you started!

For those looking to become better artists

Below is an orientation by Jeff Watts for his school “Watts Atelier”. Please watch the entire thing, I absolutely cannot recommend it enough!

I first heard about Jeff Watts in one of my university art classes. My professor overheard me talking about comics so she jotted the name down on a small slip of paper and told me he ran a small school up north. Several classes later I became unsatisfied by how the art curriculum seemed to favor self expression and experimentation over improving technical skill. I was left without any clear direction and hundreds of dollars worth of materials I bought for art class projects–most I ever only used once! So I sought Jeff out, attended his panels at conventions, and finally enrolled at Watts Atelier in 2007. I was stunned by how much more effective the instruction was! Students of various ages, skill, and experience (some already working illustrators and concept artists) learned side by side helping each other get better! I went back in 2012 and was completely floored by how much some of the old students improved! I remember how they struggled yrs ago but are now absolutely killing it! It’s truly a testament to the atelier teaching style and expertise of the instructors! It kills me to know how much I could’ve improved had I stayed. Currently going through major changes but absolutely aim to continue my education there once I save up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NIvZZ7x3dc

Frequently Asked Questions

Just my two cents regarding the potential questions plaguing every new artists mind. My answers are based purely on my personal experience and my education in art. I don’t claim to be an authority on the subject… just another point of view to be considered.

How do I go about becoming a great representational artist?
Seek articulate instruction conducive to a firm understanding of fundamentals! Many of us need help in correcting some of the bad habits picked up from attempts at blindly emulating exaggerated simplified styles. Realize that within the realm of representational art there are indeed rules you must learn. There’s little you can refute with when learning fundamental concepts like edge and value. For example, hard edges are used to express a sharp abrupt change in angle while soft edges are for smooth forms which gradually bend away from light. A firm understanding is crucial in developing a strong foundation of knowledge and skill. By skipping the fundamentals you risk compromising characteristics like depth and dimension in your work.

How do I know if I have what it takes to be great?
Well, you’re gonna need a well trained eye and the hand of a surgeon… achievable with patience and determination of course! The eye needs to be trained to analyze visual information while the hand needs to be dexterous enough to accurately translate that information onto paper using precise strokes varying in length, thickness, curvature, pressure, etc. It’s comparable to performing combos in a fighting game! Your eyes need to be trained to react off visual cues (i.e., certain atks connecting) while your hands need to be able to keep up and execute complex button sequences and motions. Both demand a certain caliber of hand eye coordination which can be cultivated with articulate instruction, diligent practice, and repetition.

Are animated cartoons, comics, manga style etc. great styles for me to learn from?
Every visual style is a derivation of the human figure from life… just different in the way one chooses to simplify and exaggerate it. It’s okay to be inspired by these styles–they certainly can be appealing–but they also give less visual information to study from. Understand that these styles have to be dumbed down and simplified. I can’t imagine a traditional animator or comic book artist wanting to spend hrs upon hrs rendering every muscle on every figure on every frame/panel. Relying on a dumbed down style to teach you will yield a dumbed down understanding of the fundamentals. It is the reason you see most amateur artwork focus heavily on contour with little to no sense of underlying structure and minimal tone ultimately causing the image to look completely flat. Most successful artists and illustrators recommend first drawing from life. Once you have a firm understanding and are proficient in drawing you can bend and distort your style in any way you please and still be able to produce solid work!

What style should I be studying?
You should aim to draw accurately from life. Drawing from life is a practice proven tried and true by the old masters. Centuries ago exaggerated visual styles did not exist, techniques and styles were developed by studying and portraying subject matter referenced from reality. The knowledge was then passed down from teacher to student for generations. Art was approached in a scientific way. Fundamental concepts (i.e., edge, value, structure, anatomy, etc.) were meticulously studied leading to a solid foundation in knowledge and skill.

What’s with all the name dropping and technical jargon, am I suppose to know them?
Sure, look ‘em up! I mention artists to give an idea of the history and legacy behind certain styles and methods. The “Reilly method” (which I talked about in a previous post and encourage you to learn) has been passed down for almost an entire century. From Reilly to Fixler to artists like Orbik and Watts who still teach today, it’s all very fascinating stuff! Every time you come across jargon or an artist you don’t know, look ‘em up. It will help you better understand what’s being talked about and may even lead to inspiration!

I’ve got a mechanical pencil, pens for inking, copic markers, oil paints, and a Fredrix 24”x30” titanium primed canvas! Am I ready to get started?
You don’t need any of those materials when drawing from life! Heck, some of ‘em will even limit your capabilities! You can only make thin sharp strokes with a mechanical pencil and your values are reduced to either black or white with a pen! Color is completely unnecessary for the moment! If your drawing sucks no amount of color can save it and if you cannot draw you are going to suck at painting, I guarantee it! Drawing is the backbone of art leading to other disciplines like painting and sculpting. If you are skilled in drawing you will already posses the dexterity to make painterly strokes and you will already posses a decent knowledge of anatomy for sculpting. So focus on drawing first! You’ll need little more than good ol’ pencil and paper.

Materials List:

Conte 1710 B (get a bunch of these)

Kneaded Eraser

Smooth Newsprint (preferably 18”x24”)

Large Clipboard or Wooden Board w/ frog clips to hold newsprint

Razor Blade

Sand Paper (a stick of small sheets)

Below is a video of Ron Lemen (was formerly involved at Watts Atelier) demonstrating the correct way to sharpen and hold your pencil when drawing. Sharpening this way will yield a long smooth tip which tapers to a sharp point on the end used to make calligraphic strokes varying in thickness and weight and will allow you to cover large areas with tone quickly and evenly. At the end you can see the proper way to hold your pencil and how to manipulate it to get a variety of strokes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBINkOYYw8k

Okay, I’ve got the materials! Now what?
Start drawing from life! You can draw anything you want but I strongly recommend focusing on the human figure. It’s certainly more challenging than clouds and flowers but you’ll get more mileage from studying the movement and flow of various poses and the complex shapes of the muscles. Plus there’s a shit ton more resources which tackle the figure! Teaching you everything from simplifying the body into shapes and rhythms to filling in complex anatomy!

You can start off by doing simple gestures. I’ve already talked about the “Reilly Method” of drawing in a previous post. I quoted it below. Read it and look at the resources I listed to get an idea of the Reilly Abstraction and the process of drawing the Human figure from start to finish (Erik’s Figure Drawing Fundamentals PDF). I also quoted Sexperienced for the Croquis Café which is an excellent source for pose reference if you can’t get into a life drawing class!

Spoiler

wyze:

For gesture I recommend studying the “Reilly Method” of drawing. A method preserved and passed down through generations of students, developed by Frank J. Reilly who studied anatomy under Bridgman himself at the Art Students League of New York some 80yrs ago. The Reilly method is a way to simplify and abstract the figure, to construct using rhythmic shapes and lines which act as a sort of ‘road map’ to help connect and relate the various parts and proportions of the body. This is the abstraction method practiced and taught by traditional illustrators like Glen Orbik and Jeff Watts–both were students at the California Art Institute under Fred Fixler who studied with Reilly–and the way I was taught to approach figure drawing during my few classes at Watts Atelier. Nowadays you can catch glimpses of the abstraction in the works of Jeff’s own students who have been groomed within the atelier to become his instructors currently teaching the new generation of students; check out Stan Prokopenko on Youtube “ProkoTV”, or look up the blogs of illustrators Erik Gist and Lucas Graciano. Keep in mind the abstraction is simply a way of thinking and may vary from artist to artist, pose to pose. Sometimes you may start from the head while other times the torso. As you become more proficient you may not need to draw as many rhythm lines and are able to fill in anatomy as you go. Ultimately it is adapted to suite one’s knowledge of the human figure and pose at hand. Try watching a demo if you can, otherwise below are some books–I don’t own any of ‘em so research if you’re deciding to purchase–and various online resources which may help you gain an understanding of Reilly’s abstraction method.

Books:

The Frank Reilly School of Art by Doug Higgins

Mastering Drawing the Human Figure From Life, Memory, Imagination: with Special Section on Drapery by Jack Faragasso

Online Resources:

Site dedicated to Fred Fixler
He studied with Frank Reilly. This page contains PDF’s of Reilly head and figure abstractions.

Site of Doug Higgins
He studied under Frank Reilly. This page contains info on The Frank Reilly School of Art as well as essential info for new figure drawing students.

Figure Drawing Fundamentals PDF by Erik Gist
First generation student of Jeff Watts turned instructor. I had him for one of my figure drawing classes, I remember asking him about this PDF and being told it was pretty dated. Regardless, it still gives a fair amount of insight into the process of completing a figure drawing from start to finish. The Reilly method can be observed in the initial lay-in phase.

Drawing Anatomy For Surgeons PDF
Reilly Abstraction as well as some anatomy.

Reposting to remind everyone that Croquis Café is awesome, it’s basically uninstructed life drawing class! You can use it to practice figure drawing! Try finding the abstractions in various poses!

Sexperienced:

Here’s an alternative to life drawing if you don’t haves classes nearby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1tC-HIV4Gk

Any other helpful resources?
Yeah, go back through the pages of this thread to find books and helpful links! Other than that…

Great channels to check out:

Youtube Watts Atelier
Youtube channel of Jeff Watts owner of Watts Atelier. Check out interviews with the instructors of his atelier and participate in the live workshops every other Friday! Also check out his school and enroll if you like the instruction, they now have an online program!

Youtube ProkoTV
Youtube channel of Stan Prokopenko, one of Jeff’s Instructors groomed within the atelier. Tons of tutorials!

Youtube Will Terrell
Youtube channel of Will Terrell; storyboard artist, illustrator, and comic book creator. Check out his weekly videos chronicling his experience as a recent student at Watts Atelier!

Youtube Ron Lemen
Youtube channel of Ron Lemen, Illustrator and instructor (was formerely involved at Watts Atelier). Great quick sketch vids!

Hecatom · July 29, 2014, 2:16am

Joshkaz · July 29, 2014, 2:37am

What are some good handercises to do to help get me cleaner lines? Mine can be pretty ugly looking and would greatly like to improve this.

Hecatom · July 29, 2014, 2:46am

I make sketches with a pen as an excercise to improve my line.

Sexperienced · July 29, 2014, 8:03am

I didn’t think I’d get responses this soon.

Use a pen as Hectom said so that your mistakes are visible and permanent. You learn a lot faster when you can’t instantly erase mistakes. I do a number of exercises which I’ll post directly from my pad next week (hopefully sooner). As of right now watch thisand this. He doesn’t cover the best exercises to do but its a start.

Seraph · July 29, 2014, 8:16am

May we draw abstract images? I’m not very good at drawing life like things. Much of the art I have done have been intuitive abstractions.

Sexperienced · July 29, 2014, 8:18am

Yes, in graphite or black ink.

Don_Barracuda · July 29, 2014, 5:09pm

Back when I did Architecture, we were taught to draw big to improve how we drew small. So we drew loads of A1 sized sketches before doing A3s.

Sexperienced · July 30, 2014, 4:53am

When practicing drawing exercises or sketching large environments (especially when you have to plot perspective grids) you need to draw large. A5 just seems practical for sketching anywhere. Hectom drew on a A4 piece of paper but he only showed us 1/3rd of the page, if that’s what works best for you then do it. I can relax the rules to anything larger than A5, but the graphite and black ink rule still stands. Drawing small helps to improve your precision and attention to detail.

I also have a lot of art, anatomy and perspective books in Pdf which I’ll be uploading soon.

Sexperienced · August 1, 2014, 7:07am

Personally I believe the most important topic in sketching is drawing from life, especially when it comes to human anatomy. I’d highly recommend going to as many life figure drawing session as possible if you can afford it, especially the ones that make you do the really fast gesture drawings (30 seconds - 2 minutes), do this often if you want to improve. If you want to draw a particular pose just set up a mirror beside your drawing table and become your own model, if not, ask your friends, wife, girlfriend, ANYBODY to pose for you. Have them take pictures of you if you need references. You have to develop a feel for anatomy and clothing by drawing them from life over and over again. Don’t learn by copying other artists. Develop your own approach and style by going straight to the source!

At least 50% of your sketchbook should be filled with Male and female figures sketched from life.

If you want to learn more about human anatomy go to www.biodigitalhuman.com/ (I haven’t used this site yet because I’m having issues with my PC but I’ve heard its good).

HNIC_Mike · August 1, 2014, 8:56am

aww. cool. i used to be really into sketching till i hit high school. took paid classes and stuff. but in school they made me use a bunch of BS mediums that i really didnt care for, like water color. or they made me do stuff i knew i wouldnt be interested in like commercial lettering. i hated the classes and it totally turned me away from art as a whole. i havent seriously sketched anything in close to 15 years now, but ive been having these urges to get back into it. maybe i’ll start up again

maxx · August 1, 2014, 9:04am

you fuckers didnt tag me in this. shammmmeee

get in here @Negaduck‌

Sexperienced · August 1, 2014, 1:11pm

The only mediums that need to be learnt are traditional graphite pencil sketching, Inking with pens, knowing how to use Copic markers, Digital painting and editing with Photoshop and 3d modelling with Zbrush.
Everything else is pretty much worthless except sculpting but I don’t think its a necessity to learn like the other mediums I mentioned. It works wonders if you want to learn anatomy by sculpting your own anatomical figure.

I’ll tier the most important topics to learn to the least important. All updates will be on my first post. I’ll stress even more that mastering human anatomy from life to the point where you don’t need reference material is the most valuable skill to learn in art. A perfectly rendered image will still look horrible if the basic anatomy and structure is bad.

Sexperienced · August 2, 2014, 5:56am

Here are some Loomis books to DL. If you only need one book I’d highly recommend “Figure drawing for all its worth”.

http://www.alexhays.com/loomis/

TheBlackHombre · August 2, 2014, 6:12am

I’m definitely in on this, my roommate and I were talking about trying to get back into drawing again. Looks like all my anatomy and physiology classes are gonna help me out

CHIEfy · August 2, 2014, 6:46am

I’m taking figure drawing classes next semester. My human character designs in my comic need work.

Sexperienced · August 2, 2014, 7:10pm

I’ll upload my anatomy books in this thread but you’ll have to PM me for the other books. I don’t want SRK to get shut down over piracy/copyright issues.

Negaduck · August 2, 2014, 8:02pm

Holla. Good lookin Manx.

What about marker work? Is this just traditional work and not digital? Been working with markers a lot lately to become more confident in my choices.

@Joshkaz‌ draw a line on a blank piece of paper across the length with a ruler, then try and create lines trying to make them as straight as possible until you fill up the paper (use your arm to draw the line, not your wrist). This will help you become more confident in drawing straight lines in your art as well as clean up the Lines you make.

This was done with pencil, then inked over, then marketed and finally a white paint pen for highlights.

http://i.imgur.com/bCOfMWI.jpg

MechWarrior · August 2, 2014, 9:51pm

In regards to fundamentals, does the core stuff for doing work like this merit discussion?

^Soundwave vs. Blaster, BTW.

In regards to the subtle details that is, like the hard-to-see wiring that in the context of big machines and things like these two guys, is vital to their very functioning, for one of the most important aspects.

Yuri_AcTN · August 2, 2014, 10:17pm

^ Your image appears to be broken.

BMO is such a little cutie~