WorkOfArts Art Advice 9
Hey guys! I love giving art advice or critique. I can only give advice and critique to the best of my knowledge and ability, though. I've never taken an art class or had any type of formal training, so things I say might be different from what you may have been taught.
If you want critique, feel free to post below or send me a PM!
[header]Art Advice #1[/header]
[b]Polygons and shapes are your friend... or your worst enemy[/b]
We all know the way art schools and books teach you how to draw humans with shapes and circles. You need to draw a skeleton, this, that, blah blah blah.
That is very important for figuring out proportion. DO practice it. DO NOT ignore it. If you don't know your proportions then need a couple hours with some polygons and circles.
Polygons and shapes can make your character stiff. Think about it. You lack roundness. You're literally using lines, so your character often lacks roundness. Like you're trying to pose corpses. A lot of people have this posing problem... even when it seems very good, there are certain aspects of stiff-ness.
You want curvy! Even in guys, you want curvy!
There's another method. A few people showed me this method a while back and it blew my mind. Not only does it work in every single possible pose or position (trust me I drew over 50 random poses and it works), but it lets you pave the way to draw the really tough poses. The perspective poses, the distorted body poses, all that good stuff.
But wait, there's more! Just kidding, here it is: http://jeff-h.deviantart.com/art/Gesture-and-Curvature-Tutorial-351817005
It's called the bean method. Yep, you draw a little bean. I think it's a black bean, not sure. A curvy ass black bean. That's the whole torso right there. And boom you have a whole shapely body in your hands.
See a quick sketch comparison: http://imgur.com/RFW4p7B
The bean method one (left) took about 1.5 minutes. The polygon method one (right) took about 3 minutes, I still have to draw an actual body on top of it, and it will be less curvy.
Disclaimer: You need to know proportion! Even with the bean method if your proportions are off it's gonna look like crap. So yes, polygons and shapes are important. But don't depend on them forever... once you understand proportion more they can easily become harmful!
[header]Summary version[/header]
Shapes can make you draw stiff characters. Bean method ([url=http://jeff-h.deviantart.com/art/Gesture-and-Curvature-Tutorial-351817005]Link[/url]) can allow you to draw very curvy, sexy characters. Tough poses, perspective poses, action poses, it's all easier with bean method. You still have to learn shapes though, if you don't know proportion. Just don't depend on them.
6 Comments • Newest first
I really depends on how you use the shapes though. Below is an old tutorial, but very good for seeing how using shapes can help with dynamic construction (the second link is a better example). For poses with a lot of energy, it's all about know how to construct those shapes in a way that shows strong rhythm and gesture.
[url=http://www.lackadaisycats.com/howtodraw.php]Lackadaisy How to Draw[/url]
[url=http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=356]Lackadaisy Construction[/url]
[quote=TeenyRikku]When you're using shapes to draw the body, I don't see how it can 'distort' your view of the body. The shapes act kind of like a skeleton, something you build off on. You wouldn't just use the shapes alone.[/quote]
It is quite a noticeable difference. If you practice drawing say, a hundred crazy poses, you will realize that using those shapes can prevent you from easily express the fluidity of those poses. I think you're misunderstanding this, I can't further explain it to you until you experience it yourself.
[quote=WorkOfArt]I did state that using shapes are very helpful in proportion and anatomy. I also stated that shapes alone can easily distort your view of humans into shapes and can cause stiff poses.[/quote]
When you're using shapes to draw the body, I don't see how it can 'distort' your view of the body. The shapes act kind of like a skeleton, something you build off on. You wouldn't just use the shapes alone.
[quote=TeenyRikku]Using shapes (like a rectangle,circle, square, etc) is actually very helpful, I've used it as a building block in order to later add the details of the body. In my figure drawing class, we used a book called Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist and it helped me a lot when we were drawing from a model.[/quote]
I did state that using shapes are very helpful in proportion and anatomy. I also stated that shapes alone can easily distort your view of humans into shapes and can cause stiff poses.
Using shapes (like a rectangle,circle, square, etc) is actually very helpful, I've used it as a building block in order to later add the details of the body. In my figure drawing class, we used a book called Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist and it helped me a lot when we were drawing from a model.
Dat Gluteus Maximus. So tight.