A beginner needing advice

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This topic contains 4 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by dieEnte 6 years ago.

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  • #458

    Hey guys i'm brand new to this amazing website/forums and somewhat drawing. Ive been drawing on and off ever since i was young but only recently decided to take it serious and finally decided what i want as a career and lifestyle.

    I want to become a video games artist, what field I'm not too sure yet, either concept or ilustration, i cant think of anything better than to design/draw characters and enviroments from my imagination as a career.

    I absolutley love drawing, it can be so overwelmingly satisying when you get things right but soul crusing when you mess up, i have no trouble with drawing from references but i xant for the life of me draw from imagination, which is so frustrating. So here i am desperatly asking for help, where do i start? What do i practice? What is the right path to practice on becoming a video games artist? Any help is much apriecated.

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    #2170

    This is gonna be a long one, so strap your belts.If you're ok with drawing what you see, than you're third of the way there. When it comes to drawing from imagination, this is where things get a bit divided.

    Depending on if you're analytical or intuitive artist. I won't be explaining this, there is a good video here youtube that explains that. I cannot tell you what you need for the environments part as i'm mostly a character artist.

    So characters, first things first, learn anatomy. It's one of the most important things for understanding how different characters are built and how to "build" them from scratch. I recommend Eliot Goldfinger's Human Anatomy for Artists as it's got drawings of individual body parts from all possible angles, the point here is not to try and remember every single name, although it helps when trying to remember shape's details(you can just look at the reference here, there is no shame in using them, everyone does it, just don't copy them 100%, you won't learn anything that way, instead try and change something like exaggerate the pose or stabilize it more, stuff that you can learn something from, experiment, the more you draw, easier it'll be and you'll require references less) just understand shapes of everything and their relationships with each other.

    Now for construction: learn gestures first- this video explains that well youtube, I also recommend you check out other weeks as they explain rest of the construction very well. And then just build everything else on top of that. Just Practice.

    Also color theory. This is the part where you just experiment and analyze other people's work to see what colors work with which other colors and try to figure out how. I haven't found a "proper" resource on this yet.

    Now for creating concepts: Just doodle. This is something i found works the best, just let your mind wander and don't stop moving your pencil. Now you're also going to need to do a bit of research revolving around the theme you're trying to design a character for. Example: you're designing a medieval knight, research how they look, what they wore, most importantly why they wore it, how practical is it to their occupation and intentions, don't add anything extra unless necessary(looking cool is also a good reason for some characters, start to think from their point of view), "Make it simple, but not simpler than it needs to be". Ano Example: Designing a dress for a princess, who is she wearing a dress for, business or private, for her subjects or for other royalty, why is her dress built that way, how "rich" is her dress, does it have any symbols or accessories on it, how is the princess wearing it(there is a good video on Elsa's dresses somewhere online but i can't find it now cuz Elsagate). Just take some disney character and analyze it, they are really detailed with their character design. Or just take your favorite character for that matter and analyze it, just ask yourself why, how, purpose, necessary.

    Now if you work in a team, you're gonna need to have a bit of a flexible style. Either adjusting to the one defined by the lead artist or just adjusting to the theme you're drawing for. Just make sure that you're verstile.

    Just keep practicing. Practice, practice, practice.

    Also did i mention practice.

    Practice...

    #2172

    Thank you so much for that incredible reply :)
    Ill be sure to check out the links u provided and have already started studying gestures and the anatomy, ive been using the drawing tools on this website and will keep at it everyday.
    Have you got links to any of your character designs?

    #2174

    Sure, here they are. I am not a professional, drawing is just a hobby for me, so i keep my designs fairly simple. I also included some of my doodle pages, just so you see how my thought process goes.
    imgur. These are a bit old as i don't draw that often now.

    If you wanna see a professional do it check out

    &list=PLtADktUah7yw7KTc_TwULNz3F1sGp5x93">Draw with Jazza's Design Sessions

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