Forum posts by Ai Neander

Hi genocide_clear,

It looks like you tried to link images that are on your desktop, so I can't see them. You'll have to put them on the internet for anyone else to see them. You can use Line of Action's upload tool, but the key is downsizing your images first. I recommend checking out GIMP or Krita for free photo editing software. You can composit your photos together in one image, and then downsize them to a point that they can be uploaded with LoA's built in image host.

Hope that helps!

Hi genocide_clear,

It looks like you tried to link images that are on your desktop, so I can't see them. You'll have to put them on the internet for anyone else to see them. You can use Line of Action's upload tool, but the key is downsizing your images first. I recommend checking out GIMP or Krita for free photo editing software. You can composit your photos together in one image, and then downsize them to a point that they can be uploaded with LoA's built in image host.

Hope that helps!

Hi Layan,

These are looking good. For the proportion problem, I recommend drawing a box (or boxy shape) that defines the entire height and width of the subject. You can divide it at major points, like where the waist falls, but then try to keep your drawing within that box. It does take practice, but it gets you thinking about the proportion early on in the drawing.

As for not getting caught up in details too soon, well, that just takes mental discipline. In my opinion, this kind of sketching practice can also act as meditation to exercise mental and emotional discipline. When you notice yourself getting too caught up on a detail, just say "not yet" to yourself and refocus on the whole.

Both of these things get easier with practice, but it looks like you are on a good path!

Cheers!

Hi orangekiwiwatermelon,

I think these are really good! In particular, starting with a rough armature and then working on the volume around it is working very well. As for drawing without reference, yes, I think time and practice does help. Some other things that might help are learning more about human anatomy, and playing with different ways to draw the figure just to build on different ways to think about the figure (maybe another technique will stick better?). An exercise you might enjoy is taking the outline of a person from a painting or photograph, and then trying to draw the skeleton inside.

Cheers!

These are looking good. One thing I notice is that your approach for many of these is what I think of as "outline style," where you are more or less drawing the outline of the figure. Try drawing 'through' the figure (like armature) and hanging the volumes off of that central stroke. Most importantly, keep trying new things and have fun!

Hi Jown,

These are pretty good 15 sec poses. The purpose of a 15 sec pose is to loosten up and get the gesture of a figure, it isn't necessaritly going to look like a realistic figure at the end. I find it most benefitial to focus on the areas of mass, major planes of the body, and draw through the center lines of the figure (almost like a stick figure) and exagerate the movement. This will help later when trying to compose more dynamic poses. So try loostening up more and not worrying about getting something realistic at the end. They only cost 15 seconds after all, so "bad" ones have minimal time investment.

Your proportion is good, and that is tough to master. It seems like your line work lacks some confidence, though, because the lines are short and sketchy. I’d recommend trying to use longer, fluid lines for the initial gesture (nothing more complicated than an S curve), then build on top of that. You may also want to try experimenting with drawing with the side of your pencil/stylus to lay down initial lines that are less defined, then switch to holding your pencil upright half way through to lay in the more defined features. Really good start!