Forumberichten van wintersouls

Heyo! I've been doing a lot of figure study sketches but I've been struggling with faces and facial expressions. Mine tend to be kind of mundane and somewhat boring. I try to exaggerate more but it never really ends up looking right. Does anyone have any tips or useful resources to better understand what makes facial expressions so expressive? Thanks for reading!

Whenever I'm stuck in a rut, I do one of two things. I either wait and take a break from art for a while (to recharge) or I try to explore as many mediums/poses/colors/etc. as I can! Oftentimes I get in a rut by doing the same things over and over again so I find it best to try learning when I'm in a rut. (Which is why I'm on this site in the first place!) It's also good to remind yourself that art is a never ending journey. No one ever gets to the point where they're completely satisfied with their art. At least not to my knowledge anyway. Every artist I've met is constantly wanting and working to improve, so just give yourself time. You'll progress, I promise. You're doing great already! ^^ Just keep going.

Hello! I'm not too great at figure drawing either but I have a couple things that I think could help.

First off, there's a great couple of posts in the section of this site titled: "My daily gesture drawings." They've given great advice and there's a few different pictures of someone's own journey with figure drawings! They really analyze and try to understand the body and how it conveys character. They're also very inspirational (in my opinion)and it could help motivate you.

Secondly, the best YouTube artist I've found that I like for figure drawing is Sycra. You can find his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/Sycra

Just overall, be patient with yourself. 45 seconds is good to get the bigger picture and overall movement down but it takes a bit more time to get all the nooks and crannies in. Also keep in mind that humans aren't lines, they're 3-D and tend to have more curves to them. Try using curvier lines while you're drawing and have fun with it. ^^ As was said in the "My daily gesture drawings" group, it'd be best to try a balance of short and long sessions. The short ones to get the overall picture and the longer ones to really analyze the body and pose. Just be patient with yourself, you will improve if you keep at it. Even if you don't feel like it.