Forum posts by Sarosna

Yes, that helps very much, thank you :)

I was nitpicking on the first few sketches and tried to even nail down some anatomy. But then later on I really started to focus on the gesture and started focusing more on the stick figure. So I guess I'm slowly starting to get the point.

I'm trying to get better at "fluidity" when drawing animals. My drawings tend to be kind of stiff and I nitpick on details and getting the anatomy correct which simply makes drawing a bit scary and not fun at all. I did some 60 second canine gestures for half an hour. They look very messy but I guess that's to be expected...at first I was nitpickin on details as usual but by the time I got to the last 3 drawings at the bottom, I think I started to focus more on the actual gesture. The image quality is very bad. My scanner is on vacation since my USB cord got chewed into pieces :(

So how am I doing so far? Am I doing the gestures "the right way"?

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2014/133/d/2/60_second_gestures_by_sarosna-d7i6nq9.jpg

Thank you so much for your helpful post and the feedback on my drawings :) You already made me feel a lot better.

You're right about abandoning things too quickly. I liked the "basic shape animation building" at first but I've started to realize that it's very difficult to use for more advanced drawings. As a kid, I used the skeleton method. Marking the head, ribcage and pelvis with a circle and then building the legs etc. around it. It's a bit harder to build details on it but I should probably use that method since it will be more natural in the long run. It also works far better for gestures.

When I was in my early teens I was really into Lena Furberg's art.
http://www.lenafurberg.com/unicornbutterfly.html

She used the skeleton and circles method and I think I did pretty well with it considering I was only 11 years old at the time.

I've read the articles before and they are very helpful. The digitrate legs on animals sometimes make things rather diffucult but it just takes a lot of practise I think.

Some work stuff resolved itself last night so I'm feeling a lot better now. I know I should calm down and not stress and obsess so much as a whole.

Hello everyone, I'm new to this site altough I have used the practise tool before.

A bit of background first: I'm a 28-year old woman who started drawing again after not having drawn actively for 10 years. I've been drawing almost every day for a year and a half now. I've improved a lot since I first started but now recently I feel like I've hit a wall. I only draw animals but lately I've really struggled with anatomy and fluent poses. I have major issues with consistency and I don't really know what is the most comfortable way to construct a character.

I've tried drawing from a stick figure, drawing by using basic shapes, animation drawing, copying from my favorite animated series', drawing from photos etc. I just feel major frustration majority of the time. I was doing fine for a while when using photos. You can see some of those drawings here:
http://sarosna.deviantart.com/gallery/48848343

Now during the past few days, I feel like my drawing skills have vanished. I don't know if this is one of those "improvement waiting to happen moments" or if I'm simply overthinking. Would gesture drawing help me as much as people say it would? I tried to do some 30 second sketches and I only got frustrated. My drawings looked crooked and nothing but a big bundle of mess. How does this teach me about anatomy?

Granted, I'm feeling somewhat depressed and distressed right now. My work is starting to really mess up my private life. I'm being pestered all the time and I have to do extra shifts. It's hard to draw when I can't concentrate and relax in peace.