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Awesome for actually proactively critiquing but i'd like to see the before and after to see what was the major changes since your blue lines are really over powering. Thanks for the tips!
Also so I don't have to search through my old links to see what you used. lol
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Fasdlk
edited this post on December 22, 2018 2:54am.
To clarify the opacity/flow comment earlier. If you're using a drawing program it would have options that let you customise brush settings.
I'm using Photoshop so generally it's located at the top on default when I'm using the brush.
Here's a simple demonstration on what they do:
it's just essentially letting you build up the strokes towards it's 100% form, like how you would use paint. Sometimes you have to water down pigments from the brush to build up the colours better and allow some flexibility and control. Even with a pencil you would rather use a softer lead than work immediately on hard and difficult to erase.
1Nice! Would love to see you build up to do longer session up to 5 minutes if you feel like it! lets you see what you can do after a good warm up like those.
Yeah! that's why 30 seconds to train your eye to see movement is (to me) important so you can build it up when it comes to longer times.
But they're looking good! I can see the pose's movement really well even as gesture lines, keep up the good work!Try doing a class session of 30 minutes if you have the time for it!
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Fasdlk
edited this post on October 25, 2018 1:27pm.
First off nice attempts! I really like a lot of the movements in a lot of the 1 min works. There's nothing wrong with resetting and let yourself figure it out slowly some poses are definitely a lot more difficult than some.
What I recommend foremost is use a thin brush setting and something that can let you build up, almost charcoal/pencil like. If the brush settings have a flow or opacity setting use it! secondly don't be afraid to work simply with gesture lines. Gesture lines meaning just using curved strokes to indicate the figures movements.
Instead of the 30 minutes session try doing a longer session if you can, so it gives you more time to warm up in the earlier stages. I've mentioned this in another thread but don't worry about the time limits. It is not there to tell you that you should be finishing a whole piece in that time frame cause 30 seconds is definitely not enough time to do a satisfactory sketch for some people. Treat those 30 seconds for you to train your eye on capturing the movement only and translate that as simply as possible.
Also here's something for you to think about. It's limited to 30 seconds so you don't spend too much time lingering and overthinking! So don't worry! Just sketch at the base stick figures! If you can't finish it that is OK! that's why there are longer time limits later on in the session so you can build up slowly and be able to finish a piece that incorporates those gestures and details you see.
Otherwise whatever Drunkenelf has said in his is generally really great advice. Youtube is your best friend for art resources.
1 1Definitely, learning gestures at its core will definitely improve your proportional sense if you learn gestures 'properly'. I'll use the word 'properly' lightly cause everyone has their own way of judging and figuring out key points in anatomy and proportions. You generally learn key proportional points in anatomy when you do a lot of anatomical studies with heads as a measurement specifically with the whole 7/8 heads rule (I'm sure everyone is sick of it but we all go through it at one point in our lives lol). Even I'm rusty when adding forms but I know my key points by heart and will always refresh myself on it.
Proko touches on this topic really well in this video if you haven't seen it yet. When I say key points it just means averaging figures for him in the video. Generally, It's like a house you need a frame to work with and gestures in a sense is helping you develop that frame. Gestures is there to compliment your proportions with dynamics. Anatomical Proportions in general needs to be studied and observed.
Here's a simple break down on why there are certain timed drawing sessions for a reason:30 Seconds : Not enough for you to build a form but enough pressure and encouragement for you to get the gesture and flow of the figure down even if that's the only thing you can do, that is OK. If you just draw a spine line of action that's OK you will eventually get better at judging significant line of flow/movement on the figures. It's all about training the eye to observe and become more efficient later on.
2 - 5 Minutes : You can now start putting forms on if you're efficient and a speedster but again even just figuring the flow/gesture is OK.
10 - 20 Minutes : This is generally where you can take a breather and focus on the form and incorporating it with the basic gesture lines you started with.
30 min - 1 Hour : Proportional Correction and Shading.
You do not have to meet the standards, it's just there for you as a guide and learn why it is timed like it is so you don't stress out about finishing the whole figure.
Looking forward to what you can do later on cause you definitely are in the right direction by wanting to improve. :P
1I'm going to go against the grain here with the big brush you seem to have adopted and say that thinner brushes seem to work better for you comparing to what you initially sketched earlier this month. With consistent/non extreme pen pressured lines, I feel it allowed you to be more aware of the curves in the poses better and encourages you to use longer strokes. Compared to the thick pressured lines, it seems to be forcing you to connect them together because it's tapered at the tips which I think tends to break fluidity in your gestures.
I'm inclined to say this because traditionally, I personally generally work with thin lines to develop the form and because it's thin you generally have more control on adding curved details later on when you gain more time to work on a piece and then add on thick strokes for shades to further develop the form. Starting with thick strokes is a sure way to concrete in not necessarily mistakes but forms you might later on wish to change but it is now more difficult to do so cause it has been thickly drawn on.
For your 30 second gestures, I would recommend you to observe the flow of the figure rather than trying to finish the body in proportions. It's good that you're trying to do the full figure but you also need to get into finding the 'gesture' and that's the whole point of the 30 second time frame it's to force you to only get in the basic flow loosening you up and training your eye to see the movement in forms.
With advice on legs, the video that Torrilin linked above is definitely a great one to watch as I've pretty much demonstrated it earlier and I usually tend to do those lines to sketch the legs at it's most basic curves and it also helps you see more of the flow of the figure's form. You seem to treating the thighs of the legs as a separate forms which is helpful but it makes you draw unecessary shapes which could confuse you on why it looks unnatural, again it falls back generally on the flow and gestures of the legs.
Keep it up, sorry this critique is so rushed but I really love the gestures you've done so far, I've noticed really lovely lines in some poses! I understand some poses are generally easier to get the flow of because it's spread out but for bunched up/closed poses break down the gestures and carefully observe the movements.1 1 -
