Forum posts by A_A

Wow, everyone's drawing away, it's really great to see people here share in their love for art!  :)  Nice work Robbjosf!  Good luck with the 100 project!  :D

Hi Chase!  :)

The first thing I would like to say is that what you're going through is completely normal and understandable.  We're human, sometimes other things take over and getting back into what was a routine or something we want to do, can be a little tough.  That's ok!  :)

The next thing I wish to tell you is to not be so hard on yourself!  Just start with a clean slate instead of thinking things like 'I can't focus like last time, it was so much better when I did figure drawing before' etc.  Just let that negativity go.  I know it's so easy for me to say this but you can think of it as a skill that can be applicable to other parts of life; the more it's practiced the better you get at doing it.  This isn't going to be the first time anyone stumbles or stops drawing/doing what they love for a while and it's not going to be the last. Just know that everything is going to be ok and that yes, you most certainly can get back into figure drawing, it's not an impossible dream!  :)

One thing you might want to try, if this isn't what you did before, is find the same time slot everyday to do your figure drawing.  I know people who meditate and do this (as in, same time each day) and after a while of doing it on a daily basis, it became part of them so that when they meditate at that time, their brain is so used to it, it's easier to focus (if that makes sense!).  Sorry if I was presumptuous just now!

If anything else, perhaps you can make a little commitment here to the board!  You can start small, that's totally cool.  Maybe 10 minutes of drawing everyday for a week?  And from there, you can build it up as you please.  You can ease yourself into it rather than jump right into the deep end.  Don't think about how much you used to do and compare, just focus on now.  :)

I hope something in here was helpful and that I haven't blabbed too much.  Feel free to reject anything as you wish!

Good luck with your drawing, I know you'll get back into it!  Take your time!  :)

Thank you El Bow!!!  I really appreciate the trouble you went through to draw those!  :)  The diagram definitely helps; if I have my anatomy correct, at that angle 5 is the extensors and 6 would be the brachioradialis to the flexors?

Wah, I've been trying to understand the arm muscles for a while now and they've been making my head spin.  If the leg muscles are just as tough... x_x

Thank you again for your help, it certainly benefits me to see the muscles drawn in that particular way as you did.  If I can also find that book you recommended in my area, I'll pick it up!  I hope you don't mind if I save the references you posted up as well (purely for reference only!  I won't share them or anything of that sort.)?

:)

I'm trying to study the anatomy of the arm and it's proving to be rather difficult to understand.  I've been looking at lots of references but there's one arm position with muscles descriptions that I can't seem to find.

The position I'm thinking of is the side view of the 'inner-side' forearm and arm.  By this, I mean: imagine someone standing directly in front of you but their whole body is facing to the right. They then raise their left arm to a 90 degree angle and point their finger at something.  The way you would see the arm and forearm is what I'm trying to understand.

Here's an image of what I'm sort of thinking (all credit to the person in the photo, I'm merely just using it as a reference of what I'd like to learn!).

I can't seem to find any images of this pose, explaining the muscles in this position (so I can't really tell where the brachioradialis goes etc.).

By any chance, does someone know of any image of the arm they could share with me, describing the muscles in this pose?

Thank you very much!!  :)

Vyse, nice stuff!!  Keep up the good work!  :)

El Bow, anatomy is a toughie, ain't it?  I'm stuck on the arms... I'm just not getting it. x_x  Your drawing though, is awesome!  Keep at it!

And hi there Robbjosf!  I'm sure you'll like it here, I look forward to seeing some of your drawings!  :)

Hi Dominique!  Welcome to the site!  :)

You do great stuff, your drawing from reference (I was able to see it since I have a DA account) is really good so please know that you've most definitely got talent (no seppuku for you today!).

I'm by no means a great artist but I thought I'd toss in a comment!  As Vyse mentioned, working on the 3D aspect could really help add a little more to drawings.  Atop of what was mentioned, I totally recommend doing gesture drawings.  You can practice 30 second, 1 minute, 2 minute etc. gesture drawings and with a bit of practice and persistence, they give you a much better feel for depth and drawing more 3D-esque stuff.

I know this sounds boring but learning the anatomy (bone structure + muscle groups) is also great for getting a better understanding of drawing figures.

I hope I haven't been too presumptuous with what I've written here.  Please feel free to reject my advice as you wish!

I mean it Vyse, you do nice stuff!!  :D  Everyone here does awesome work, I'm really happy I came across this website!  :)

@Finn, thank you so much for your kind words!  I really appreciate them and the encouragement, they help me to keep going!  :D  Please keep up your awesome artwork, your drawings are beautiful!

@Vyse , your drawings are really great, keep at it!  Thanks for sharing your art with us!  :)

@Kim G, thank you so much for your kind words!  :)  I should really thank you for this site because it inspired me to do the drawings!  I wouldn't have improved had I not come to this site!  :)  I would love to do an interview for the blog, I feel very honored and would be happy to do so!

@El bow, thank you so much too, for your lovely comment!  I really appreciate it and feel inspired too, to keep going and drawing!  You're a rocking' artist, your drawings are awesome!  :D

@sylvester hansen, beautiful artwork!  I especially love the use of the different shades of blue!

Mini progress report!  So I completed my goal of 100 1-minute gesture drawings within and actually bumped it up to 200 because I was having a lot of fun doing them!

I'm someone who has always loved drawing comic/manga characters but really, REALLY sucked at it (I'm embarrassed to look at some of my earlier stuff).  I could just about sketch if given a picture but when it came to drawing from mind, my 'creations' were not terribly good to say the least.  They always looked so stiff and awkward.  After researching a bit, I decided to try 1 minute gesture drawings.  I watched a bunch of videos, searched for tips online but always felt confused, so many people had their own style but I couldn't figure out what would work for me.

After getting to about 60 odd drawings, I decided to try doing quick gesture drawings without the timer and found a style that works for me!  I realized I'm more of a scribbler and tend to follow along the contours of the body.  Some people use flow lines or stick figures, those didn't quite work for me but when I found my own style, I was really happy!  I actually found something that worked for me!

So I continued from there and after each 20 minute session of gesture drawing, I would do my own gestures from mind and -I'm happy to say- am much better at them!  :D  I can draw more dynamic character poses which I'm really pleased with!

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to share because I'm genuinely really pleased with my progress!  I'm not a good artist so a little improvement is a big thing for me!  XD  I've managed to stick with my intended goals of learning more about dynamic figures and understanding the anatomy more.

My advice to anyone struggling with drawing:  If I can somehow improve, anyone can!!  I know it's discouraging when you have a sucky drawing but you just need to accept that you'll get some not-so-great drawings along with some pretty great ones.  You're improving more than you realize!

:D  Keep up the awesomeness everyone!  My next goal:  200 more gesture drawings, to try and draw just a tad faster.  I sometimes go a little over the 1 minute mark so I want to improve upon that and better my abilities to draw dynamic figures.  :)

Sorry again for the long post!  XD

Wow, that's awesome Sylvester!  And thank you for the advice!  :)

I've always loved drawing characters (comic/manga style) but I completely suck at doing so, especially when drawing from mind. When I try, the characters appear stiff, unnatural and are just painful to look at.

I'm going to try and copy the work of others as you suggested, to get a better feel for drawing and improving technique.  David Kawena's art looks amazing.  I also really love the art on your site, your drawings are gorgeous!  Thanks to the encouragement, I'm also going to push myself to continue the gesture drawings too, so and not be too discouraged by my initial scribbles!  So:

Step 1 - I want to improve upon gesture drawing and technique to be able to draw more natural and dynamic looking characters

Step 2 - My goals include:

1) Improve upon my understanding anatomy and proportions

2) Develop a more fluid drawing style as I progress

3) Learn to understand the dynamic elements of a pose

Step 4 - I will do 100 1-minute gesture drawings within 10 days, starting today!  :)

Hi everyone!  I'm Aye and I just discovered this site today.  I really want to say that I love it and it has inspired me a lot to draw more.  I'm going to do the 100 drawings homework too but I really need some advice please!

My goal is to improve my gesture drawings.  I've started doing 1-minute gesture drawings but I'm really struggling with them.

Currently, when I do gesture drawings, they range from ok-ish to something a cat could have scratched out.  I usually start by drawing the head but then sometimes I get lost as to what to look for or what to draw next.  I don't really understand what it means to look/draw for 'fluid' lines.  Should I draw a stick figure first and then quickly add muscle around it, or should I trace the muscle (do something like a silhouette), when gesture drawing?  Sometimes the shapes I draw out are painfully awkward and out of proportion.

I've tried reading several websites and watching youtube videos but I'm still pretty lost.

Sorry for my long post!

Thanks very much!  :)