feel like I've been doing this the wrong way for a long time.

alright, so i've been using line of action for a pretty long time. maybe not the longest but ive had it bookmarked forever lmao. for me, figuredrawing would be warmup, and it would be extremely messy sketches, i wouldnt really care much about accuracy, but i just wanted to get down basic shapes. there's been times where i would sit down and draw for 5-10 minutes the full figure, but i'm realizing that drawing 60+ lazy sketches aren't as beneficial as spending the time to do more quality drawings.

this is the (sorta) the first step in the right direction hopefully, there weren't timed or on the site but instead on a reference image archive. i spent at most 3 minutes on each and wanted to focus on porportions. i'd really like some critque to see where my root issues are and improve on. thanks in advance!!!

Focused practice is always the most effective practice! Having a clear goal such as "accurately capture the proportions of the limbs in relation to one another" is a great step to focusing up.

I do see a few issues with proportion - the jumping/kneeling person in the middle appears to have very short calves and small feet in comparison to the other parts of his body, but other figures show clear attention in this area.

Some good and some bad is a good sign that you're working in an area with attainable improvements, so that's about right for right now.

For this exercise, consider working in stages. Do an initial pass, then get up, walk away for a minute, and come back to the same pose. Do a second pass of the same length where you correct your previously captured proportions, either by erasing and re-drawing or drawing over top in a different color. Measuring different parts of the body against one another will be your friend here. How long is the hand compared to the foot in actuality? How long is the hand compared to the foot in your drawing? And so forth and so on.

Hope this helps! Great work :)

Hi Naonao!

Wow! Your drawings are beautiful. The poses are dynamic with a clear sense of movement, and you do a great job at capturing the essence of the pose over such a short period. I think your varied line weight is especially effective at communicating where the centre of gravity sits. It really makes these poses feel more grounded.

In order to get more comfortable with producing finished pieces you might consider drawing some longer, dedicated studies of smaller parts of the body only (e.g. hands, feet, torso, back). I see that most of these images don't include feet. That may just be because you are running out of time, but adding them in may be the next step towards producing finished full body illustrations.

Your use of inside contour here is really effective. Drawing in the curved lines sideways across areas such as the torso and legs really help to give these drawings depth even with a fairly economical line. You're doing really well and you clearly have a good grasp of general proportion. I think you will produce some amazing finished pieces when you have the time.