Satch
added comment inI'm A Beginner And I Don't Know Where To Start
3yr
Hi Phoenixx,
there is no set way to begin any art journey. It kind of depends on your approach and style of learning, as well as what you want to do with your art. I can tell you a little bit about what I did to start of and maybe it will be something you want to copy.
I was drawing as a child and teenager but kind of lost sight of it during my years in High School and University. As an adult (over 12 years later), I kind of wanted to find the "fastest" way to improve. I have no time to loose after all. So, I looked into the fundamentals and assigned them a position in a hierarchy.
Since I figured that structure is very important to make things look 3D on a flat surface, I gave perspective my undivided attention for a couple of months. An adventage of perspective is that there is a definite right and wrong. You either got the perspective right, or you didn't. So, I went over to drawabox.com and started from lesson 0 until I had completed lesson 4 or 5. I kind of grew tired of it and felt like I got what I wanted from it, and looked for the counterpart of structure, which is gesture, at least to me. Gesture is almost everything about feeling and movement. And I did that for quite some time until I was confident enough with it. I then continued with more structure and sign up for prokos anatomy course. I have just finished the lessons just a couple weeks ago.
I am now quite confident in drawing people in interesting poses, but am very bad at putting on some clothes. So as a break, I kind of doodle characters with cacual as well as fantasy outfits for fun. If you are not confident with drawing the nude figure, just find some references with skin tight clothes, maybe in bathing suits or underwear. line-of-action.com has the option of only presenting you with covered models.
After understanding structure and gesture enough for now, I want to dive into rendering, so everything that has to do with value, light and shadow. After getting comfortable with value, I want to continue with color.
So, the way I structure my art journey and the fundamentals is the following:
1. Perspective (drawabox.com)
2. Gesture (Proko)
3. Anatomy (Proko)
4. Rendering with only value
5. Color
I am not concerned with composition or acurate folds and clothing, textures etc. for now. I will go into those as I need to for the things I want to draw. This way, I will not get tripped up by exercises that I do not need immediately and keep myself from burning out.
What do you want to do with your art? Do you want to draw characters or enviroments? Do you want to go into 3D Design? Maybe you want to draw your own comic. What is you end goal? Depending on the goal, the skills needed are very different and with it the importance of the different fundamentals. For example, if you want to draw enviroments and landscapes, you will not need to study anatomy. If you want to draw Manga or Comics, things like storytelling will have more importance over high level rendering skills.
Maybe you want to clearify your end goal and we can figure out a path for you.
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3yr
This temperament thing sounds like the big five personality traits; are they related?
Satch
3yr
I was actually waiting for them to mention the big five personality traits, but I rarely hear about the big five outside of the psychological field. Whenever anyone other than a psychologist is talking about personality, it seems they always refer to the 16 personality types. I don't think the big five and myer briggs is related when it comes to research but since they both try to measure personality, there will be some overlap in questions (I noticed it most with agreeableness and extraversion). I like to think of it as solving the problem from different angles.
3yr
Asked for help
More ribcage assignment drawings. Looking for a critique
3yr
I feel like the pelvis is very small compared to the ribcage. The female pelvis ist a little wider than than the ribcage. With your drawings it seems that they are the same width or smaller. The construction looks good, however you could make it wider and taller.
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3yr
Oh, David, I feel you. Every time I thought some part of the body is "easy to draw" I was tripped up by all the information and subtleties you will need to keep in mind to draw it well. For me, I notice that I really don't get something if I press down hard with the pencil and make a bunch of lines that lead nowhere. I guess getting through that stage of confusion and hardship is the only way foreward.
Remember, nothing is more confusing than the forearm, which was an absolute mess for me ;)
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3yr
Hey @Luigi Manese I've tried drawing some gestures of references outside of the proko course and I would like to see if I've learn enough to draw my own gestures
3yr
Hi Josh,
unfortunately it is really hard to see the lines you have made as the pichtures are really dark. It would be good to use better lighting when making a picture.
From what I can see, the first one seems good to me. The movement of the ballerina was caught nicely. The gymnist on the other hand needs some zick zack lines in the knees. There is a lot of tension and muscles pulling and strechting to get into such a position and a zick zack would capture that tension besser than curves. I would also have exaggerate the inward motion of the arms more as they are holding the weight of the gymnist. Remember that gesture is not only about flowing, curving lines, but also about sharp corners and straights.
About your question whether or not people need gesture once they are advanced: They absolutely need it. If they would not have any gesture in their character drawings, the characters would look stiff. However they have a good enough grasp at it and the gesture in their drawings is just very subtil.
It is best to practice gesture with broad movements and exaggeration. Once you have a good understanding, you will notice that even the subtil poses have a lot of movement and you will be able to capture subtil gestures as well.
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3yr
Asked for help
2021/6/21. Good morning everyone. This is my first long drawing I've drawn with Conte. Thanks and have a good week.
3yr
Hi Marco, greate job!
Just a couple of things you might want to consider going into your next long drawing: Unfortunately I cannot make out a clear focal point in your drawing. I assume it should be abover her hip as the background is also lighter in that area. To strenghen the focal point, you could push the upper back into shadow a little more. Also the hair seems to take away some attention as you have thick outlines around the strains of hair and a lot of detail as well. The torso also looks a little long to me and the pinch on the side of the hip could be stronger.
Other than that, you have good controll of your edges, the details on the foot look really nice and overall it is a nice drawing.
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Done mannequinization practice from imagination. Critiques and feedback are much appreciated
3yr
These look really good. Great job! The only thing I would change are the legs in the last picture. The legs look extremely long. They could be shortened by quite a bit.
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Hi everyone! This is my assignment for the hand lesson. I am not very confident inventing light and shadow, which is why I shied away from inventing any lighting in the hands I drew from imagination (picture 4-8).
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3yr
Asked for help
When Proko mentioned that it might get a little complicated in the forearm muscles, I already broke out in cold sweat since I personally found the Biceps and Triceps to be not as easy as I imagined. So when starting this lesson I was kind of overwhelmed at the number of muscles in the forearm. Even after rewatching the lesson and having multiple attemps at the assignment, I am still unsure what exactly to look for. Who could have thought that the forearm is so complicated?
Anyways, this is my homework for the Forearm Lesson.
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3yr
Asked for help
Hi everybody. These are my results for the Triceps Assignment. I think I did quite well, if I say so myself. At least if I compare it to my Biceps attempts. I tried to really get the overlaps of the Deltoid, Biceps and Triceps correct as I struggled with them in the Biceps lesson. Should there be any areas that I need to focus on to improve, please let me know. Any feedback is appreaciated.
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3yr
Asked for help
Hi everyone! I was absolutely not feeling it this week, and therefore am not very happy with my homework. Only the very last drawing turned out well. Feedback is appreciated.
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Asked for help
can anybody help me with these hands
3yr
Hi Neena,
I think you are doing a good job following the lesson. The Hands don't even look bad. However there is one big issue and a couple of minor issues.
The big issue is structure and perspective. In the first picture there is a problem with the middle finger and the the way the joints are placed. The two joints in the middle section of the phalange converge to completely different vanishing points. Also the structure of the Palm is not correct. The boxes of the palm don't read as solid structures and feel very flat. This also has to do with perspective. I would advise you to start drawing some (actually many) boxes. This will help develop your eye and a feeling for a more 3D understanding on the paper. I personally grinded through the 250 box challange from drawabox.com.
The more minor issues are mainly proportions and the positioning of the thumb. The thumb should be positioned right at the line for the half circle of the carpal. You put the thumb where the carpal connects to the radius. Simply shift it up and you are good to go. Regarding proportions: Keep the half rule in mind that proko introduced in the lesson. So dividing the complete length of the hand (carpal to tip of the middle finger) is the length of the palm, dividing that is the first sections of the phalange and dividing that again gives us the position of the last joint.
It would be best if you also consider the connection of the hand to the arm. I think it is totaly ok to simplify the ulna and radius into one structure, however keep perspective in mind when doing so.
Other than that, your drawings look very clean with continues lines.
I know it is very hard when starting out with drawing and being overwhelmed with the amount of information coming in. It takes time, patience and practice to develop a feeling for space on paper and an eye for proportion and the dexterity to execute it, to be able to draw something that feels solid and is convincing. Keep at it and you will improve. I would have loved to go over your drawings with you together to show you exactly what I mean. However I hope, that you can take some things away from this feedback.
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3yr
Asked for help
Hi everyone. These are the results for the Deltoid lesson. Except for the secound one, I am quite happy with them. Feedback is very appreciated :)
3yr
I have gone over and corrected the secound picture. Thank you all very much for the feedback!
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3yr
Asked for help
Here are some portraits. My main focus has been lines and proportions. So much to practice and learn. Any critique and Feedback would be much appreciated so I can improve my drawings.
3yr
Hi Søren, these look pretty good. You have a good eye for proportrions. The structure of your portraits also looks good. However, i cannot make out if you have done any constructions. Some parts seem to reveal that you have jumped right into it. Either way these look good already.
The advice I have for you would be to soften those lines on the forehead. You have done such a good job when it comes to the lines around the mouth. Simply take that over to the forehead as well.
My secound advice would be to have a wider range of shades. You show the structure of the face well with the shading especially in the very first portrait. That portrait feels most 3D. However, you are working within the same kind of mid-grey tone. Widen the range of greys you are using.
Another thing I have noticed is that you have the eyeballs completely white. This is not the case, as there will be some cast shadow from the eyelid as well as the brow ridge (depending on lighting of couse). You might also want to look into the proko lesson about neck muscles and study the structure of the face (maybe using the Asaro Head for shading reference).
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3yr
Asked for help
Hi everyone. This is my submission for the hand assignment. Since I was still struggeling with the bones of the forearm, I included them into the assignment. I feel like the right hands on the first picture where the best. In picture 2 i was still struggeling with the phalanges. In picture 3 the metacarples where two long in my undersketch. I corrected it as i was drawing the final structure.
3yr
I usually do that thing with the reference picture on low opacity to check my accuracy. However I only had a reference picture for one of them (the sketch of the two hands on the first picture). So I was especially eager to know how I did. I am happy, that they seem to have turned out quite fine. Thank you for your feedback :)
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I tried my very best. Somehow I don't know if I am satisfied with it or not. I feel like I failed here and there but can't really point my finger on it...
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3yr
Asked for help
I have just completed the homework for the Arm Bones. The first image is just me trying my best on my own. The second image is the next attempt after watching the Examples.
After I have completed the secound try, I watched the critique video and saw that I made some of the mistakes mentioned. So I corrected some of them to the best of my abilities on the last image.
I am very new to this and I am quite unsure as to how to present my homeworks. I appriciate any critique regarding my attempt, as well as on the presentation.
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