Anatomy Practice

So, I’ve been practicing to draw the human for a while now. But even I’ve feel like I’ve improved, I’m not sure if I’m improving fast enough. Is there a certain way I should be practicing, if I would at least like some critique on my sketches.

This is my first critique, so please bear with me:

1 - How long did you spend on these? Depending on the times ( ex. 60 seconds or 5 minutes ) I would like to make specific recommendations to help you improve overall in gesture/form. For example, drawing in shorter periods of time could help you better understand the basic form of the model. I'm not saying to rush or anything, but something like working with less time forces you to draw the basic actions described in the model, which will help when drawing without and with a reference. (Note: Drawing without a reference is just as important as a study!)

On the other side, if you were drawing for an extensive amount of time, you should see if you can notice how the model can be seen as simplistic shapes. An example of this is instead of seeing an arm as an arm, try and imagine it as a retagular prism connecting from the shoulder to the middle of the arm. After that you can build up those shapes to more complex values and forms. You'll be able to notice these more and more with time, although reading an anatomy book and making notes could also help quicken the process. Understand that the process of learning takes time.



2. Drawing with your arm can help improve the fluidity of your drawings and will reduce the choppiness of the lines. Be sure to also start your next line from your previous one, for that will also help the drawing feel more alive.

A good way of practicing this by getting a blank piece of paper, drawing a single vertical line down with a pen, and begin drawing a line from the previous spot to the right or the left 8 times. Be sure to space each line from each other properly. Then, begin to increase the length of the lines until they reach the opposing side of the page. Note that for this to be helpful you have to do this daily. Finally, begin doing the same practice with curves instead of straight lines. You may not see anything improvement in line quality for weeks, maybe months. Remember, patience is key.

3. This is more of a piece of life advice then anything, but I feel that it is important to say concerning art as a whole. Do not compare yourself to others, for if you do you will never feel good enough. Instead, try to compare yourself to yourself. Continue to improve on the issues you have at this moment, and you'll be able to do anything.



I hope this helped. Good luck !!

I spent about a little less than five minutes on these sketches, I’ve been told I focus too much on the outline of the drawing instead of the whole image. Is there anyway I can fix that?



Edit: Also, I’ve heard a lot of artist using arms helps with getting good lines. But what about the smaller details? Can I use my wrist for the more detailed parts? To sum up the question, what are the exceptions to using your arm?

Hey Mike!
I answered almost this exact question for someone right here: https://line-of-action.com/forums/topic/critique-requested-for-1510-gesture-drawings?page=1#post-2672

I think it will prove useful to you as well! :)
Yes, you can use your wrist for details. Drawing from the elbow or shoulder is better for large, broad, confident strokes. However, you should not be arrived at needing detail until after your under construction is done. (Again, check out that link)

Mike,

my first bit of advice is to point out that you are drawing the countour of your figures and as such you are not capturing the anatomy.
The second thing I notice is what Kim has pointed out. You have a lot of tiny short little lines, and this is an indicator of a couple of things. First of all you are laying lines down from a very tightly controlled tripod pose in your hand and second you are completly unsure of every line you make.

I STRONGLY suggest that you start using the class mode on this site.

if the hour long practice seems daunting then do the 30 minute practice.
And do it at least twice a week.

Flip the pencil in your hand so it's more like you are holding a laser pointer than a pencil and draw from your shoulder.
In those 30 second poses focus only on capturing the line of action, focus on only the most important details.

Then in the longer poses use that same method to give your figure a foundaiton and add the details after. The tripod way of holding your pencil is great for details but you can't get those details until you have already laid the foundation down.

And if you are going to study anatomy you need to study anatomy.
You need to do studies of arms, feet, hands, legs, torsos.
You need to fill pages with hands, pages of arms, pages of legs.
THere are so many free resources available from You Tube to blogs, to sites, or your library.
You need to study anatomy for the artist and you need to know what is going on under the skin.

Then you need to keep that information in your mind as you lay down the foundation.
You don't need to be able to perfectly render muscle but you need to understand where it sits on the boyd.
You don't need to be able to draw a skull, but you need to know how the skull creates the shape of the face.

And finally you need to learn to make more confident lines.
Challenge yourself, when you draw the line of the upper thigh do it one movement.
When you draw teh line of the forearm, do one movement.

It's nice and you're putting some efforts on shading too!

Perhaps you could use a straight line and not a jagged one for your contours? I think it would make your drawings cleaner.

Kindly,

Laurence