@nahgul
@nahgul
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@nahgul
posting this so that anyone can reply, still not sure about how to post the actual topic as "Help Request".
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@nahgul
So when I look at twisted poses I am able to break them down in to two boxes representing the pelvis and ribcage without much difficulty and visualize the twist prety well, however, I strugle with translating that information in to a bean. I often understand how a pose is twisting but I just can't seem to be able to capture twists very well with a bean, it just feels a bit too abstract. I guess what I'm asking is how do I turn something like this (first image) in to something like this (second image) (Not my drawings).
John B
I don't have much experience with gesture drawing, but I can tell you're doing a really good job staying loose with your lines. With some of these, it looks like your line confidence is a little shaky and as a result muddies the gesture a bit. One thing you could try is to just commit to your lines and if you mess up just push onto the next gesture and come back to the pose later. That will help you avoid developing hairy lines as a habit when you're drawing.
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@nahgul
I'm a bit late with responding but I did take what you said into consideration during my figure-drawing sessions by limiting the number of lines I can use when doing gesture drawings and it has definitely helped me improve my line quality. Thanks!
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@nahgul
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dunno how this "help request" system works so I'll just post this so that people can reply
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Gesture Drawings
9mo
Hi! I did these gesture drawings after watching the video "How to Draw Gesture" and I'd like to hear your opinions about them. One of the reasons why I am asking this is that I have just started to go through the free figure drawing course a bit more seriously now, whereas before I was exposed to and practiced the principles covered in the course but in a kind of unstructured way for quite a long time and I feel like I am repeating a lot of mistakes because I did not draw along with the assignment example videos that much or ask for critique very often. So basically what I am asking is do you see any repeated mistakes that are holding me back? (or anything else regarding my gesture drawings) Feedback is very much appreciated, thanks! These are 30-second and 2-minute drawings I did with the Conte à Paris 2B charcoal pencil that I got recently in preparation for going through this course on just normal A3 office paper. If you would like to see more material to make a better assessment I could provide even more drawings, there is no shortage of it lol.
@nahgul
I'm pretty new to charcoal as a medium so I followed Proko's old video on sharpening the pencil and I think my pencil turned out looking pretty good but when I tried it the strokes did not come out nearly as soft as in the video. Anyone who knows what might be causing this?
@nathanandersonart
My character design: The Autumnal. Attached a couple of closeups as well.
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@nahgul
This is fantastic!
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TK
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@nahgul
Great drawings, really inspiring!
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@nahgul
Hi there, I have been working on the figure drawing fundamentals course for a while now and although I do feel like I’m not confident enough to tackle the anatomy course yet I can’t help to wonder if I should be learning some basic anatomy along side the figure drawing fundamentals so that my drawings can start to look a bit more like humans rather than just mannequins. Or is it possible to make convincing human figures without any knowledge of anatomy and I just have to stick to the fundamentals? This might have been a bit messy, but I hope someone can give some form of an answer. Any feedbacks is very much appreciated!
TK
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@nahgul
You just got a new follower
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@nahgul
Also working with Mannequinization at the moment, pretty helpful actually. Thanks!
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Mannequinization
2yr
I have been practicing mannequinization (what a complicated word) and just wanted to know your thoughts on these recent studies of mine. I would consider these to be the better ones I’ve drawn recently but I still see some flaws in them and generally have a hard time drawing mannequins. I would really like to know your thought on these drawings. Personally I think that my main issues comes from drawing the legs, forearms and generally just the quality of my lines. Any feedback is appreciated!
@gwench
I think it depends on what youre're after, if you plan on doing concept art you'll probably mostly deal with neutral faces as you said so I don't think it's necesarry. However if you plan on doing something like animation or illustration I think it's quite essential
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@nahgul
Can't respond to all comments so I'll just do it here, thanks for the clarification! I always knew it was important somehow but I had never really heard why so i guessed it was for more complex face expressions and it seems i was right in that regard. Thanks!
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@nahgul
This might come off as a bit naive but I do not see the point of knowing the muscle groups in the face when you can just rely on the plains of the face. The only reason it might be helpful to be mindful of the muscles rather than the plains when drawing/painting a face that I can think of (I'm not an expert) is when you are drawing them in action (when the face you are drawing is making an expression), but I do not know. I would like to know your thoughts on this.
@nahgul
Title pretty much says it all, just wondering what the reason for it is.
@nahgul
Just want to know your thoughts on these simplified animal drawings I did for the structure assignment in the figure drawing course by Stan.
@nahgul
2yr
Having a hard time finding the twist in poses (especially the subtle ones), any general advice/tricks for finding it? Also here is one of my attempts at drawing a twisted bean + the reference which has a pretty extreme twist. would really appreciate any feedback.
Liandro
Hey, @nahgul! I think @paper has given you some valuable help with your work already. And I agree that’s it’s becoming a pretty nice painting, whether the symmetry and likeness are spot on or not. I wonder if you’ve called it finished by now, since you’ve created this post a bunch of days ago. As an additional thought, one thing I’d highlight is that, in life, no face is ever perfectly symmetrical - in fact, most of us are so asymmetrical that, if we take a front portrait to Photoshop and do a “symmetry test” (mirror just the left side, then mirror just the right side, and compare the two images afterwards), it might indeed look like two different people. In case you never have, try googling “face symmetry test” for some examples! So, I guess what I mean is that it’s okay when the symmetry isn’t perfect in a drawing or painting. Sometimes, a little asymmetry is what can make a portrait more life-like. As for likeness, James Gurney’s post @paper shared sums it up completely! This is something we can learn from caricature: likeness in art is not achieved by copying exactly what we see, but by seeking to emphasize the most unique aspects of a subject. How much we emphasize determines if it’s going to be a very exaggerated caricature (such as the ones by Court Jones or Jason Seiler) or a representation that, despite some exaggeration, tends to a somewhat stronger realism (such as Sargent’s depiction shown in Gurney’s post), or even something in between. Either way, it always passes through an artist’s creative filter. In other words, to practice likeness, try not to go perfect about copying, but rather interpret what likeness means in each case and look for ways to translate it visually. Regarding construction, I’d reinforce @Jeff Reid’s suggestions about image flipping and using a structural method such as Reilly’s, Loomis’s or even just simple plumb lines and measuring techniques to find alignments, proportions and angles. Any of these can be criteria to check your painting to make sure the facial features all follow the same perspective and have cohesive spatial relationships to one another. Hope this helps!
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@nahgul
Thanks for still responding, threw this one away a long time ago lol but these are some usefull tips
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Giselle
I think you captured the likeness really well! What stands out to me is that the values are a bit on the lighter side so you lose contrast. Your darkest dark looks right, but the lighter shadows on the left side of the face aren't deep enough. In the reference, that side is a lot darker and shadows are a bit more defined with some noticeable hard edges. Maybe another pass at defining the shadow shapes and deepening the values?
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@nahgul
Yeah I think that is why I think it looks a little bit “flat”. The lack of contrast made it harder for me to define the planes of the face resulting in a flat look. Also, I might have to work on the right eye a bit.
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@paper
Oh hey it's you Hey this is pretty good,you definetly improve your likeness a hell of a lot.Your value structure is good too,nice simplification on the light side.I guess if I have to give a critique I think you made some of the side on the left a bit too light and I think you can soften the edge of the eyebrow a bit.I also personally think the structure inside the ear could be a little bit better,so maybe study that a bit more (I recommend Vanderpoel plates and copying them) (Here's also an overpainting if that help) But other than that,great job!Please,if you do a little more work on the background (and also the above)This'll be a very good painting!
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@nahgul
Oh hi @paper, thanks for responding! Do you think I should maybe exaggerate the values of some plane changes with a little bit more loose brushwork going on to avoid it from looking flat and "cartoonish" or is it good as it is? The photo reference is pretty bland in my opinion.
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