I kinda decided to go back and start from ground zero. At the moment, my wish is to get better primarily in figure drawing and character design in general in the next couple of months. So I assume I won't be doing much color theory, perspective or environment practicing in the very beginning.
I wish to push in somewhat anime stylization with strong regard to fundamentals... I am greatly inspired by the general appeal of high level anime illustrations and even more by the ability of some of the top level artists to convincingly play with anatomy while pulling all sorts of stunts which seem as they can't hold their ground and yet they do:)
I have started to go through Michael Hampton's book about figure drawing. I've found out I digest things best if I reproduce them, so basically, I'll sketch the entire book and even write the distilled tips. This is where I've got so far:
So, I try to apply the principles found in the book when sketching from mind:
And when studying someone else's work or reference:
I am absolutely retarded when it comes to simplifying and stylizing hair, so I plan on working on that too:
That's it for now:)
And yes, I am aware I talk (write?:) ) too much, I am thinking about writing this stuff in the blog or something with the exact same content as this thread, but with accompanying walls of text, which would clean this thread quite a bit of unnecessary text:)
Until the next update:)
(01-09-2014, 09:13 AM)Peppermint Butler Wrote: cool stuff man and welcome! :)
Yes, those are oil on canvas. I must have shortened my life span for like ten years doing them, because I paint where I sleep, which is very entertaining if you paint with oils:)
About being doped up on oils, a friend, also a beginner illustrator, came to my place something like a YEAR after I've finished those paintings and got rid of all the mediums and stuff and he was like "why does the room smells of turpentine" and I was like "I don't know, I don't smell it", so yeah
Today, I continued with the book... I feel like I progress with the book a bit faster than I actually incorporate things from it. It might be better if I slow down with the progression and do more in-between application of the principles...
Hands, one of many banes of my existence!
Some more hair practice, horrible as usual, even though I reference it
A bit of value sketching, I try to keep the brush fairly large relative to the subject, so I must work with large shapes and overlapping big strokes and stuff like that...
(01-10-2014, 03:32 AM)Doolio Wrote: Thank you very much:)
Yes, those are oil on canvas. I must have shortened my life span for like ten years doing them, because I paint where I sleep, which is very entertaining if you paint with oils:)
Haha!! I never tried oil and I don't know why because I think that must be great.
Last year I get some oil pastels to see how it looks like and I enjoyed. :)
Well, for me, oil is THE traditional painting medium:) It's insanely versatile and it has bunch of blending "modes" and there are things you can do in oil which you simply can't in acrylic, for example. But it's kinda pain in the ass in some other aspects - mediums, turpentine, washing brushes, fumes, drying period, all the stuff you have to think about...
I think it's perfect for a fine art painter who is living and working at a "renaissance pace", but for the aspiring industry illustrator/concept artist, it is just unjustifiably inefficient, if you ask me:) That's why I put my easel away, maybe to be used again when I could afford the time to mess around with it, which shouldn't be soon:)
Quote:came for the pretty nice looking anime style, stayed for the surprising and excellent realism studies.
Thank you very much for your comment:) I plan to work on both and eventually develop a personal anime style built upon strong fundamentals...
Quote:I also yearn for oils that I have no time to justify their use :(
Well, some day, when we're old and can afford to take it easy, I guess:D
Okay, for today's update... Today was one of those days... Do this, drive there, buy that till like evening and when you are finally back home, you sit to draw and you try to draw a human and you actually draw a potato. And then you cry on the floor.
But, what can you do:)
Again, trying to apply what I learn from the book in sketching without reference... with varying results lol
I've come across this book(let), it's called "Manga moods". It's basically a collection of various facial expressions and emotions. Seems like a cool little book. So I decided to sketch some pages:)
Meh, another busy day, so today's update is limited to couple of Hampton pages... Tomorrow I should be going back to pushing the tempo, hopefully.
Even though I still kinda feel that I go through the book faster than I incorporate things from it, I've decided I won't be digesting it more slowly. I think I should go through it and see what sticks and after that decide whether I should go for another similar stuff (Vilppu?) or progress to some anatomy-specific learning tool.
Great sketch book you've got here. I was going through Hampton's book too recently. I really got a lot out of his gesture method and the chapters on specific muscles. If you want to do some really in depth anatomy study I REALLY suggest this site. https://www.biodigitalhuman.com/home/
Its a free 3D anatomy model that runs right in your browser made for medical students. Its got the basic skeleton and you can add the muscles on top and look at it from any angle. Plus it has extensive information of each muscle and individual part of the body. Its probably way better than any anatomy book if you ask me.
I watched that intro movie and that's some serious hardcore stuff and I think I saw the 3d animation of a running skeleton with some muscles, which is really something you can't see in a book. I'll keep the site bookmarked. After Hampton, I might go through some more basic anatomy stuff, with muscle groups and simplifications and then I might throw myself on that behemoth you linked:)
I begin to see that having a sketchbook thread really pays off. I mean, it's like some kind of structured retrospective of one's practice. It's an ongoing updating bulk of work and it feels good to feed it more and more content:) And it creates kind of positive sense of commitment and obligations, as it's public - and I get to have feedback, encouragement, critique, information, all in one:) It's like some kind of perpetuum mobile of practice.
So, yeah, I should have done this a long time ago lol:)
Today it's solo Hampton update lol:)
At this point, the book introduces practical exercises, with emphasis of drawing form shoulder.
I have a lot of trouble drawing from shoulder on a tablet. In fact, my lack of control is quite ridiculous compared to when I draw traditionally. Even more if I take into consideration that prior to using a tablet, I have drawn and painted solely from shoulder, even when going into full detail on a rather small piece. Actually, I see it as one of my stronger points.
And then it came his majesty intuos 4, with it's surface with ice rink qualities and I was like "what is this sorcery":) It's really discouraging, to the point that I often think that I am doing something wrong (although I can't really think of what could it be lol).
So, while I do try and practice it, I actually do it relatively rarely. I realize that eventually I should incorporate it completely somehow, but it's so frustrating that I am hoping to achieve it extremely gradually, if possible... Today I've tried some kind of frankenstein method with adding extra control with having pinkie fixed to the tablet and it was a bit better, but still quite bad. Ah, well:)
Yay, somebody who likes anime as well! I really like your sketchbook, your studies are coming along really nicely, keep it up!
As for the hair, I think it's going in the right direction as well! I sometimes participate in workshops on drawing manga, and a lot of people are having a lot of trouble with stylizing the hair. I also always notice that instead of one, long, confident stroke they tend to make many short strokes, and as a result, the hair kind of doesn't look as smooth. Sometimes this only happens later in the inking process. Maybe this helps? I guess it takes a while to develop the ability to draw those smooth curvy lines but I'm sure you'll manage in no time!
I'll be checking back here (:
Yup, I do have problems with long confident lines when using tablet, it's like some oily surface from hell for me:)
Though, as far as the hair goes, I think my main problem lies more on the design side. I guess I have difficulties with following a ribbon-like approach when it comes to designing hair, so my hair often looks tentacle-ish, instead of bunch of 2d shapes. Add to that the inability to design interesting lines (I'm like "oh, hair, let's go, C line, another C line, another C line") and voila:D
Also, I think that I have tendency to "think lowly of hair":) As I have been painting portraits and stuff like that, I was always focused on achieving convincing studies and likeness, which basically means you can leave the hair as it is after you defined it as like two or three big shapes. So I was always like "ok, splat splat, I got that covered, now let's paint dat face". Which actually does work in realistic portraiture, but it certainly doesn't work in anime lol:D
Speaking of lines, I have watched a lot of those wacom videos where they record some mangaka for like 45 mins and then speed it up and put on youtube. And, a lot of them draw bunch of small, straw-like lines in order to form single line - which surprised me, as I come from somewhat traditional fine art background and that's kind of a mortal sin there:D The end result looked ok. Of course, there were some guys with quite impressive drawing skills, that drew long confident strokes, but I think the majority did the "gradual caressing" thingie:)
Personally, I do a little bit of both, as I am still in the beginning phase, so I'm experimenting with different approaches. And, while I have only words of praise for those who approach it in the olskool manner of drawing single elegant line, I have mixed feelings for the "hairy" approach:) I mean, the guys in the videos were good (their linework looked confident and pretty much as the series of single long strokes in the end), but the commandment not to do that is pretty much still embedded in my brain lol:)
Ok, today I did some painting, I thought I should do it from time to time, so I don't get tunneled that much... I've tested a few simple brushes...
A self portrait from a photo reference, so yeah, this is me (although several years younger, a bit drunk and also incorrectly drawn lol) :D
Also, Hampton
Because of the funny way I hold pencil (I kinda push it down with my thumb and also often get my wrist in some weird zombie-claw position:) ), I am starting to get all kinds of muscle and ligament pain around and below the thumb, so this is it for today. Also, the pain reset times are getting shorter, so I might have to find some solution to it (maybe draw some traditional stuff, as I don't have problems with it, due to the fact that you can hold your pencil like a charcoal piece).
I've been doing some adjustments to the movements and positions, that's why the Hampton drawings are ridiculously badly drawn lol:) Well, if the pain persists, I guess we'll be seeing some more badly drawn stuff:)
