Showing all 44 replies.
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>>7931107
oh, my meme in the wild!
take a look at this flowchart, it should help you if you're /beg/
most important thing for any beginner is:
>Observational Drawing
everything else comes after that
use Grid Drawing or Sight-Sizing or whatever you can do to get good at it, then move onto the other fundies
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>>7931194
came here to say this. you have to humble yourself and teach yourself to become a xerox copy monkey first before any other education is worthwhile. if you can't copy the diagram in the anatomy book or values/hues in the color theory book what good is that information.
start copying art you admire like guitar players learn to play their favorite songs and no one bats an eye about them "stealing" songs. so in your case it would be Loomis or Norman. then focus on drawing/painting what YOU want and only then when you encounter a problem do you actually go do focused study on the part you are having trouble. anatomy books are encyclopedias/references and not textbooks you are supposed to go from A to Z
>i don't know what i want to draw
ask yourself why are you here
too many people start out with Hampton or whatever else book and fail to reproduce a single diagram or drawing from the book itself.
and they fall into the trap of endlessly studying
just my 2 cents. probably a bait post by OP anyways
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>>7931218
True, and before anyone says you're not supposed to be muh xerox machine, the point isn't to stop once you're good at copying, it's to actually move onto the fundamentals. Once you can copy competently is when you can move onto shit like perspective and construction. Until then, yes the xerox machine is your goal (disregarding realism).
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>>7931107
>Give me a road map to learn art.
Step 1 - learn how to copy. Do Keys to Drawing (if you are doing digital, you can drop it after the first half). Or do Dorian Iten's accuracy guide. Or both.
Step 2 - Once you do those, start copying either art that you like, or diagrams from Loomis and Norman books. If your copies are mostly accurate (no need for perfection), continue with these books, read text, copy every single drawing and diagram. During this step your goal is to get familiar with body proportions and basic anatomy.
Step 3 - At the same time you go through the construction/anatomy books, make sure to do your own versions by using real reference (ie. photos of people). Use google, pinterest, or download ref packs. Draw those forms you learn on top of photos to break them down, then do a copy of what you drew next to it. Afterwards, hide both and draw it from memory (you can take a minute to memorize the shapes and positions beforehand). This trace-copy-memory loop will become the core of your learning.
Step 4 - Once you finish your chosen book(s), you can start studying other subjects like shading and color if you want. At this point you no longer need books, just find art you like, and do the Step 3 loop with it to learn how to do it. Maybe read Gurney's book on coloring.
Step 5 - You've made it farther than most of /ic/. Keep drawing whatever the fuck you want, and when you encounter something you don't know or struggle with, find references and study them as described in Step 3. You now never again need to learn more and have the one tool to teach yourself whatever is missing.
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>>7931107
Here's what worked for me.
General Drills:
>blind contour drawing for observational skills and hand-eye coordination
>gesture studies for energy and flow
>envelope method for accuracy and simplifying
your daily process
>pick a subject (ideally something you love or that you know you suck at)
>Cognitive-Iterative Drawing: draw from memory ---> observe reference and draw as you observe ---> hide reference and draw from memory ----> observe ref and draw from memory (note your fuckups!)
>Shrimp Method: copy and trace your references while making sure to break them down into shapes and forms (also use the Envelope Method as you copy - it helps to use it directly on the ref BEFORE you copy)
>Art Style Development: Pick ten drawings from your favorite artist and take the stylized features you like best to study and inject into your own drawings (use the above two methods!)
Your first month:
>spend a week doing lines
>spend a week doing shapes
>spend two weeks doing forms
Targeted practical study is what will allow you to efficiently improve, but you also need to engage in play like how a child does. Read lots of comics, watch lots of movies, doodle cartoons, color in your drawings, copy comic book/manga/trading cards, etc.
Be sure to get physical models. Action figures, dolls, statues, puzzle boxes, etc. I struggled with perspective until I started using toys.
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>>7931446
Now as for a specific road map, we'll do simple human bodies.
>grind lots of shapes and forms first
>collect references of clothed people being active (walking, running, throwing, jumping, etc), human skeletons, and clothes
>observe these references intently for as long as you want, don't be afraid to trace over them and break them down into shapes (start with the skeletons, the clothes, and then the clothed bodies), use the envelope method too
>next, do some blind contours and gesture studies (use the website line of action for help with this)
>now put the references away and draw from memory
>take out the references, and draw while looking at them
You should be drawing 30-90 minutes every other day. When you're resting on break days...
>play video games, watch movies, or look at nature
>play a ball sport, run, or bike
>do puzzles, origami, sculpting, and cooking
>eat a diet high in protein, carbs, and fat (don't skip out on greens...eat seaweed!)
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>>7931321
This comes from the fact that many artists surpass pre-beg by just copying anime faces. It's not the most efficient but if it gets you to copy more and draw more, it's as effective of a method as any.
The main trap you want to avoid in the beginning is drawing from imagination. You draw from imagination once you have an actual visual library, not before. So even if you're just copying anime faces, you're at least copying and learning to observe, which is good enough.
Again, it's not the best method, Grid Drawings are a bit better, but it's still not something to disregard if it gets people to draw more.
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>>7931446
>>7931459
A word of caution: do NOT do drawabox as it is really intended for somewhat experienced artists. If you are concerned with learning perspective, then study cubic household objects, buildings, and vehicles.
If you want to improve at composition, study and break down paintings, movie stills, and comic panels.
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>>7931459
All your advice seems pretty standard except
>draw 30-90 minutes every other day
Can you explain the reasoning behind only drawing every other day? Also, why specifically 30-90 minutes?
I am aware that "pyw" is a major meme here, but I would really like to see your progress using the methods you described, and I genuinely don't mean that in an insulting way.
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>>7931476
>>7931459
>>7931446
Now if you want to improve at drawing a specific subject but really internalize it, you need to immediately connect what you've learned to something else.
If you spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday studying nothing but hands, you should spend the entire weekend drawing hands that are connected to the arm or drawing characters doing hand motions.
This is "Active Study". Compare this to "Passive Study" where you're studying multiple fields (body parts, proportions, poses, details) while doing a subject on the side.
>>7931498
30 minutes is the bare minimum amount of time you NEED for drawing if you don't want to regress/stagnate. Your max should be 90 minutes because, well, most people don't have more than an hour and a half to draw on a daily basis if you're not committing yourself fully to art when you're done with work/school.
If you ARE going to fully commit yourself to this, take a fifteen minute break for every 90 minutes you spend drawing.
Drawing every other day is so your brain can relax/rest and internalize what you did the previous night while also creating long-term connections that make the process of drawing easier and more natural.
Let's draw parallels with Dragon Ball: Goku is stronger than Vegeta throughout Dragon Ball because even though Vegeta works harder, Goku lets his body rest and relaxes. Vegeta never gives himself a break and he stagnates as a result.
I would post my work, but I mostly do traditional stuff in a sketchbook and I don't own a smartphone. This is gonna be one big "trust me bro" but I sincerely assure you that this gets results.
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>>7931508
Okay, well I'll try your methods, not like it will harm me.
One more thing, you mention:
>Shrimp Method: copy and trace your references
I don't recall the shrimp method using tracing.
Do you mean something more like this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXb-Y_kz2aU
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>>7931107
Stage 1:
>draw lines for a week
>draw shapes for a week
>draw forms for two weeks
Stage 2:
>do blind contours and gesture studies of household objects
>draw with your non-dominant hand
Stage 3:
>use markers on glass to study forms of household objects
>print out forms in varied perspectives to trace and copy
>do still lifes of cups, fruits, plastic balls, bottles, furniture, shoes, models, vehicles, toys, etc.
>break down references into shapes and forms
Stage 4:
>draw from photos/references and break down into shapes and forms
>study comics and artwork
>thumbnail sketches of film shots
>shape design
Line Quality/Shapes and Forms ---> Gesture ---> Construction and Perspective ---> Composition
You may then move on to Rendering and Color and Ink.
General Study Method (for Stage 3 and onwards):
>draw from memory
>collect and observe references
>break down refs into shapes and forms
>hide, then draw from memory
>draw while looking at the reference
>hide the reference
>repeat
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File: justdraw.png (78.2 KB)
>>7931107
Draw things you enjoy during the process
Study Perspective, shapes, Line quality and Colors
If you like drawing people be sure to draw from life or references.
Then study composition
Do photo realism studies of subjects you like.
Eventually your natural shortcuts will turn into a style.
You can also take inspiration from others but be sure not to only ape one person, find multiple styles you like and try to synthesize the things you enjoy to create a blend unique to you
be specific about things that you want, if you ask vague general questions you will get short snippy answers