Some drawings that I need help with
9mo
@paper
Hello, I recently did this study from life, I drew this in a restaurant and drew one of the guest there. I only had about 15-20 minutes to draw him, since he and his family ended up leaving early. But what I would like to ask for critique is proportion and foreshortening, When I looked at it, I feel the arm and hands are too small, almost like a child, but when I try to fix it, it kept feeling wrong. I even tried fixing it in digital and I still for the love me couldn't get it to work.
After that, I began to try to improve my arm and hands proportion/foreshortening by copying a lot of John Singer Sargent's arm, these were done quickly in pen just to get a feeling of the shape of the arm when foreshortened.
The next day, I attempt to do another figure drawing from life, this time of a waitress resting her hand on a railing. I found the arms and hands better, they're not as foreshortened as the first figure, but I still see some subtle foreshortening (particulary on the forearm). But now the body isn't foreshortened correctly! It's driving me nuts! If anyone out there could lend a helping hand in figuring this out, I would really appreciate it.
(P.s. I know it's been a while, but @Liandro and @Jesper Axelsson any tips on solving this drawing problem?)
6mo
I am not completely sure but I guess you are starting the sketch from the head.
That might lead to magnifying effect for the head and the rest of the body looking small.
Next time you draw try drawing a hand first and choose a line from that hand as a scale to compare and draw other parts of the subject.
Comparing other lines from one line while drawing helps us draw better proportionate sketches.
Try these two things and let me know if they have helped 😉👍 have fun.
8mo
Hey, @paper, long time! Cool sketches!
About the drawing of the guest at the restaurant, I can see how you’d think the hands have become too small. One way I can think of to solve this problem is to bring the drawing into Photoshop and simply increase the sizes of the hands using selection and transforming tools. Not sure if you’re already tried this, but that’s how I’d attempt to solve it. I also think that the character’s head may have become a bit too big, so if you’re going for realistic-ish proportions in this drawing, I’d try reducing his head a bit, too (not that you necessarily need to go for realistic proportions, of course - only if you want to).
The quick gestures of arms and hands from Sargent’s work look pretty nice to me! If your goal is to improve proportions though, I’d suggest to develop these sketches one pass further and spend more time doing adjustments based on some careful measuring (rather than leaving them just as quick gestures). I’d also recommend studying hands from photos and - even better - from life, is possible (rather than studying just from other artworks).
Concerning the drawing of the waitress by the railing, I believe that practicing the construction of the body with exercises such as the one suggested by @Jesper Axelsson is the best path for you to understand how to solve this kind of foreshortening problem. For example, you could visualize her whole torso as a cylinder and consider how that cylinder would be seen when foreshortened in this perspective - its length, its depth, how much of each plane would be visible. This skill requires some abstract thinking and spatial reasoning, but, given time and practice, it becomes much easier. If you need more information on how to simplify the human body into simpler pieces, make sure to check Stan’s lessons and assignments on the Bean, Robo-Bean and Mannequinization:
. @How to Simplify the Motion of the Torso – The Bean
. @How to Draw Structure in the Body – Robo Bean
. @Mannequinization – Structure of the Human Body
Hope this helps!
@paper
7mo
Also p.s. I have another comic done and would like some critique but it ended being 60 pages long, would it be okay if I just send some odd pages that I feel unsatisfactory and ask for advice?
7mo
Hello @Liandro , thanks for the feedback! I'm sorry for the late reply, I got burn out after I posted this had started out college soon after, so I had to take a break >_<
Anyway,
On the topic of drawing the guest, thanks again for the feedback! Though I think I did try to shrink the arm in clip studio alongside making the head smaller (Wait no, I think I found it!), but even then, I still find it "Wrong", it's very confusing. Would appreciated some secondary opinion.
Thanks for the compliment on the Sargent study! I follow your recommendation and did some more study based on Glen Keane and Milt Kahl (I didn't save the reference picture so it's just the result, sorry >_<) I swear also threw in some life study from my own hands in there (I even wrote it on the paper for God's sake!!) but I don't remember which one. If you see any common mistakes in these, please tell me. Would really be grateful for it.
Also did the exercise Jesper Axelsson asked below their comment, if you're interested you can see it below.
Also also I think I misremember when you say studying from life, I must've forgotten you were spcifically talking about hands and just drew this drawing of my grandpa sitting half naked. The value's really crude (Maybe I didn't go dark enough?), and I think the composition isn't that striking (didn't do any thumbnail either, he was about to go take a shower so I had a limited time), I did take a photo of my grandpa as reference in case I ran out of time, please tell if needed so I can send through private text if needed.
Again thanks for the feedback, don't worry it was really useful! I'll try to find time to practice my drawing though I'll probably have to finish all my college work first >_<
Edit: I couldn't shake off the last picture study of my grandpa, so I try to fix in clip studio paint, I think it looks better, (particulary the composition) Feels more emotionally right. Though it also looks like an Ivan Loginov painting, hopefully it doesn't stay that way and I find my own voice in this medium. Would probably try to tone my paper next time to get better result. (Would also hope to make it less "Digital" when doing it on paper)
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8mo
Hi @paper, cool drawings. I like the attitude in the characters, and the drawings feel clearer than some I've seen you do before.
Since the struggle is about posing the parts of the figure in a convincing way (right proportions and foreshortening for example), I'm going to suggest an exercise:
Pick a reference photo of a figure.
Draw the figure with clear and simple pieces.
Try to get the pose and the proportions of the pieces match the reference.
When you've tried the exercise, post your drawing and the reference, then tag me and I'll try to take a look :)
7mo
Hello @Jesper Axelsson , thanks for the feedback! Sorry for the long reply, I got burned out >_<
Here's 2 drawing I did based on the sculpture "Rape of Hippodamia" by ALbert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse and Camille Claudel's "The Waltz"
I thought the piece on "The Waltz" look fine, but the "Rape of Hippodamia" Looks off, particulary the torso and the foreshortened knee. Would like some tips on these two.
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