Escapism With Birds

@curdalert, asked me a few weeks ago,  “How do you approach figure drawing?” While this isn’t really figure drawing in the traditional sense. This is just me trying to show how I see the human form, how I simplify things for myself to understand it enough to move past all the bullshit and difficulty of drawing. I’m by no means an expert on anatomy. I don’t know all the ins and outs of every damn bone, ligament or muscle. It’s all too much. A lot of this I learned from sifting through tutorials and browsing the internet.  But figure drawing itself in the traditional sense is more about capturing the form. The force and flow of a pose. But I do keep a lot what I’m showing here in mind when I’m drawing from memory. I should however be doing a lot more life drawing, which is like zero at the moment. What I’m showing here can help de-mystify the human form a bit.  So basically, this little tutorial I threw together is really about these 3 SHAPES and how everything is a mix of those 3 shapes. No magic. No abiding by rules of how many heads fit into a body. It’s all just shapes. Hope this helps. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, please send me more questions and I’ll do my best to answer them :)

Hmm okay sure! I’ll try to explain and sum it up as best as i can, so it’s easy to understand! 

Okay well my biggest tip is going to be Gesture Drawing. Gesture drawings are quick sketches of the figure that focus on the action, the movement, and the fluidity of a pose. When you do gesture drawing, don’t worry about anatomy and all those tiny bumps, curves, and details- just try to focus on the overall motion of the pose, especially with dynamic poses. Try to draw your lines in curves- the CSI method. Your lines should consist usually only of those letter shapes. Proko does a great video on this, please watch it! [links below!] That really helped me out soooo much when I was learning gesture drawing. And a good way to practice is using Artists.Pixelovely’s Gesture Drawing tool. You choose the time for each pose and try to capture the pose within the time limit; it’s great for practicing your strokes and increasing your speed. I try to do this regularly. I’m encouraging this since you mentioned dynamic poses specifically. Gesture drawing a dynamic pose before your final drawing will be especially helpful in capturing the basic movement of the pose your trying to portray. Another site I’d recommend is Posemaniacs. They’re 3D models that you turn around and draw from almost any angle (they show the anatomy of the figure too, but remember theyre 3D generated, theyre not necessarily all correct). 

Alright, second off, you have the gesture and the action of the pose, but now the anatomy. First off, don’t be overwhelmed by anatomy. There like over 700 muscles in the human body, but we artist’s don’t need to know every single one, just the ones that affect the surface form. If you want to be better at anatomy, the best way is to take a class, or if you would rather work at your own pace (and maybe save the thousands of dollars an anatomy class costs) get yourself some books. Books are you savior. Here are some of my personal recommendations, both for gesture and anatomy:

Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators by Mike Mattesi is GREAATTT. It’s really not just for animators, you can use it for creating good gesture, motion, and force in your art and illustrations. Super great.

Classic Human Anatomy by Valerie L. Winslow is easy to understand, and really teaches all the essential things you need to know for artistic anatomy. Personally, it’s one of the best books on artistic anatomy you can buy. Definitely recommend this one.

Figure Drawing For All It’s Worth by Andrew Loomis is a must have. ANYTHING BY ANDREW LOOMIS IS WORTH IT’S WEIGHT IN GOLD. If you’re willing to splurge a little more for an all-in-one book with gesture, construction, proportions, etc., this is it. EVERYTHING you want to know about figure drawing is in here. Andrew Loomis books are the literal best.

Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hamptom is a great alternative for those who want to save a little money or don’t have the extra money to spare for a Loomis book (not gonna lie, they can be pricey, but worth every penny). His art is very fluid and dynamic and he cover’s gesture, anatomy, everything important. Real good.

Ok, now that that is all covered, here’s a short step-by-step from gesture to finished lineart from me, using the last picture I just posted (with the guko and da cakey). This is how I tend to draw digitally (traditionally is only slightly different, but still essentially the same process):

SO YUP that’s my process usually and those are all the best advice I can really give. Hopefully this was a little helpful to you :) Best of luck! Keep drawing and don’t give up!

Notes on the importance of the line of action.

Sources: Flooby Nooby, Advanced Animation by Preston Blair, shermcohen, Pixelovely.com

Ah yes line of action, we meet again.

your pretty damn important to me and my arts browski.

Wisdom from Sherm Cohen by way of Character Design References!

PUT TOGETHER SOME QUICK NOTES!

but tbh, limbs were a HUGE problem of mine for a long, long while as well (ESPECIALLY legs). I found that the biggest help for improving how I drew them was just…DRAWING THEM! that’s the case with anything tho -v-

I hope these help!

@curdalert, asked me a few weeks ago,  “How do you approach figure drawing?” While this isn’t really figure drawing in the traditional sense. This is just me trying to show how I see the human form, how I simplify things for myself to understand enough to move past all the bullshit and difficulty of drawing. I’m by no means an expert in anatomy. I don’t know all the ins and outs of every damn bone, ligament or muscle. It’s all too much. A lot of this learned from sifting through tutorials and browsing the internet.  But figure drawing itself in the traditional sense is more about capturing the form. The force and flow of a pose. But I do keep a lot what I’m showing here in mind when I’m drawing from memory. I should however be doing a lot more life drawing, which is like zero at the moment. What I’m showing here can help de-mystify the human form a bit.  So basically, this little tutorial I threw together is really about these 3 SHAPES and how everything is a mix of those 3 shapes. No magic. No abiding by rules of how many heads fit into a body. It’s all just shapes. Hope this helps. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, please send me more questions and I’ll do my best to answer them :)

1, 2 and 5 minutes sketches from last week, using references from this page. Figure drawing happens to be an incredible warm up.

Some tips for gesture drawing!