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Mim FINALLY makes an [art] thread. (NSFW)
Mim
I prefer my lovers…dead.Registered User regular
I prefer my lovers…dead.Registered User regular
Hello AC!
After years of waffling due to fear, I am finally doubling down and posting a thread. Basically, my objectives currently are to improve my anatomy and perspective skills, as I am looking to create comics. I would eventually like to become good enough to be able to sell them at art conventions and through comic stores. I'm mostly trying to stick to the independent circles, as mainstream comics are not really my thing. I've been drawing off an on since middle school and minored in studio art at college, but did not really apply myself as well as I should have. None the less, I have always harbored the desire to make publishable comics. Here is where I am at currently, skill wise (I'll put some of these behind a spoiler just so the OP is not too cluttered):
And here is a silly doodle, but I'm sure it could use help, perspective wise:
I am trying to get into the habit of drawing daily and drawing from real life, so I am taking my sketchbook with me where ever I go. I have an assortment of books to help aid me, I just really need to sit down and read them. I'll definitely list these later. I'm planning right now to post something in this thread every Saturday. As for art influences I have:
Lucy Knisely
Gigi Digi (she does Cucumber Quest, but I'm more in love with her Metal Gear Solid parody comics)
Yuko Ota
Ai Yazawa
Ross Campbell
Johnen Vasquez
All varied, but I admire all of their line work and their comics composition. Please do draw all over my drawings, and let me know what you think/link to anything that you think would help me. I am currently using Pose Maniacs and Quick Poses for gesture drawing when I am focusing on anatomy.
And now I am ready to let the journey begin!
After years of waffling due to fear, I am finally doubling down and posting a thread. Basically, my objectives currently are to improve my anatomy and perspective skills, as I am looking to create comics. I would eventually like to become good enough to be able to sell them at art conventions and through comic stores. I'm mostly trying to stick to the independent circles, as mainstream comics are not really my thing. I've been drawing off an on since middle school and minored in studio art at college, but did not really apply myself as well as I should have. None the less, I have always harbored the desire to make publishable comics. Here is where I am at currently, skill wise (I'll put some of these behind a spoiler just so the OP is not too cluttered):
And here is a silly doodle, but I'm sure it could use help, perspective wise:
I am trying to get into the habit of drawing daily and drawing from real life, so I am taking my sketchbook with me where ever I go. I have an assortment of books to help aid me, I just really need to sit down and read them. I'll definitely list these later. I'm planning right now to post something in this thread every Saturday. As for art influences I have:
Lucy Knisely
Gigi Digi (she does Cucumber Quest, but I'm more in love with her Metal Gear Solid parody comics)
Yuko Ota
Ai Yazawa
Ross Campbell
Johnen Vasquez
All varied, but I admire all of their line work and their comics composition. Please do draw all over my drawings, and let me know what you think/link to anything that you think would help me. I am currently using Pose Maniacs and Quick Poses for gesture drawing when I am focusing on anatomy.
And now I am ready to let the journey begin!
+4
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There's a ton of really good advice that just went down in Tidus's thread: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/195793/metal-tidus53s-sketchbook-revengeance#latest I would read through it. It looks like you need to do some work on your basic forms, the boxes look okay, but you need to build upon those exercises.
A couple of notes that came to mind- for the most part this is going to be redundant with the Vilppu lessons I recommended in the questions thread, but seeing the principles directly applied to your own drawings may help them seem less abstract:
I might also just suggest taking a bit more time on your studies in general- not 'spend more time drawing', but 'spend more time on one individual drawing'. This is something I see a lot from a lot of people- especially people just making the transition from 'doodling' to '"Real" drawing'- and I don't think this point gets enough emphasis. So, I kinda want to put this out there not just for you, but anyone else who might stumble across this thread- kinda getting something I've had on my mind any off my chest, and this is a good excuse to do it. (Long way of saying, this a lot of words, but don't take it personally, I'm not singling you out for some tirade).
It's easy to get seduced by quick gesture drawings because they're exciting to do, (and many art teachers put undue emphasis on them- easy to hide that maybe they're not so great at drawing, if all they do is drawings not meant to look great) and it's easy to get a false impression that, 'hey all the pros must get their pro drawings done in 5-10 minutes!'- but when it comes down to it, quick, timed gesture drawings are just one exercise out of many, designed to serve a single purpose.
Without training towards diligence as well- spending all the time you need to fix whatever needs fixing on the drawing right in front of you, rather than just moving and hoping that maybe the next drawing will be better- when you go try to make more finished work for a comic, you're going to run straight into a whole mess of problems that would never come up in a quick sketch, and you'll not know how to deal with them, having not practiced taking your studies further.
So by all means, do some 30 second drawings, some 60 second drawings, some 5 minute drawings, some 10 minute drawings- but also do 30 minute drawings, hour drawings, 3 hour drawings, 12 hour drawings. There's something to be said for those quick things but...well, it's like this.
I heard one time that in olden times, some people used to hunt not by hitting their prey over the head with a club or shooting them with an arrow- they'd simply run after it. Run after it for hours or days, never letting the animal rest- lots of animals are much faster in a sprint than a person, but none are as good at sustained running, having that stamina. So they'd just run after them until the animal passed out from exhaustion or died, and cooked it up.
Getting a good drawing is like that, more often than not. Yes, knowing the techniques help- but even with all the knowledge in the world, much of it comes down to simply running after it, continually pushing it until all the flaws give up and die. Can't prepare for the marathon just by doing 100 meter sprints.
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Mim, if your goal is to make comics I'd encourage you to try your hand at making some strips or something small scale to begin with, sooner rather than later. There are specific concerns and intricacies to comics separate from what you'll get out of sketchbook drawings so you should try feeling that out in tandem with your drawing studies.
I'd recommend Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud and Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner as far as introductory resources go