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    Default Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    You will never find a day better than today.
    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Now, friend. Try now. There's always a tomorrow, always a one more thing, but Now is fleeting.

    I would do it myself, but I currently physically lack the ability. But there really is no time like the present.
    You two both make convincing and also true arguments. Hmm. I've got a four week long pre-college art program thing in the summer, in which I will be doing art but I probably won't have any means to post any of it, so I'd
    probably have to put the thread on hold for about a month, which is the main thing holding me back.

    Honestly, though, this sort of thing would be really good for me. What got me to make real writing progress was the "700 words a day or shame list" that my writing group did a while back, in which everyone who participated had to report writing at least 700 words each day or be on that day's List of Shame. I was the only one to never be on the List of Shame, and I've never been more productive. So doing something similar with art is really what I need to stop being lazy and actually do art. The idea of making a thread like this terrifies me, because I hate all my art with a passion and hate showing it to people, because I'm always convinced that everyone will think I'm a terrible artist, but that's a fear that I need to face and get over, so that's another way that a thread like this would help. Anyway, I'll stop blabbing about myself.


    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    Hmm~mm, I've considered it but I have odd mental blocks against looking at naked people. Drawings of naked people are fine, but there's some trigger in my head that turns me away from looking at undressed real people. I'll see about finding a workaround.
    Hmm, yeah, that could make things a bit trickier. There might be drawing sites that have models wearing tight yoga clothing and such? I haven't really looked, but I'd think there'd be something like that somewhere.



    The practice pictures are looking good. One thing that I'd advise though, if you aren't already doing it, is trying to find where the subject is placing most of their weight. Most people stand with more weight on one foot or the other, or have their center of gravity off-center in some other way, and learning how to draw that can really help with making poses look less stiff, I've found.

    Also, I think I've already posted this series of tutorials? If I haven't for whatever reason, here it is.


    Working on expressions next sounds like a good idea. You may need to devote more than a week to it, though, or maybe do something like the thing I suggested with the anatomy practice, and just quickly sketch one face every day.

    I'll probably have more tips for expressions for when you actually start working on them, but here's one that I found very helpful when I heard it: Draw heads, not faces. Yes, it takes longer, and you have to deal with getting the head shape right as well as the expression, which might seem like a pointless bother when you're working on expressions, but it really does help. You might end up making the face and the expression flat if you don't have a head to put it on, and if you draw too many headless faces, you'll learn how to do those well but when it comes to drawing a real head, it might end up looking really weird, like the face was just plastered on rather than being part of the head.


    Edit, because Thanqol is a ninja: I really like that most recent drawing. Experimenting with different heights and body types is always good. And yes, even though these pictures are sketchy and such, they're great practice.
    Last edited by Silviya; 2012-05-25 at 04:55 AM.
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