Saturday, December 5, 2009

more on putting down your lines

So, I said I don't draw with structure, but you have to understand it. Here is more on that. Basically when you are learning, you draw in a pretty systematic way. Eventually you just go for it as in the putting down your lines demo. drawing by Mucha and Leyendecker.


9 comments:

  1. these post you have been putting up have been sooo helpful. I am an animation student, and i am constantly trying to push my drawing and art.
    thank you so much.

    p.s. i was wondering if you could possibly check out my blog and comment with any tips that you may have.

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  2. Hi Bluesketchez. I took a look at your blog. I'll tell you the same thing every artist told me. Just keep drawing. But, you may want a specific plan of attack. Drawing is very personal, so every person should have a different approach. For instance, maybe an artist is only interested in personal expression and doesn't want to draw like anyone else. In that case, you wouldn't want to study. You would be more interested in the meaning behind your art. But, if you want to draw in a specific style, you have to study that style. Do you have a list of artist you would like to draw like? If so, every time you draw something and you feel like there is a part of the drawing you are struggling with, look at an artist you like and see how they handled that problem. For instance if you are trying to draw a hand from a certain angle, and you can't. Go look at hands drawn by and artist you like and copy a few hands. I've found that copying is the fastest way to learn. I've seen people who draw for years and never improve because they never do studies, they only draw out of their head. Drawing out of your head is like taking a test. You are seeing if you remember what you studied. If you never study, you just fail that test over and over. Again, that scenario only applies if you are trying to draw a certain way.

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  3. A second piece of advice. Find good teachers. I take classes with people from the list of "places to learn". The first time I took a class with a good teacher, at the Watts Atelier, my teacher Erik Gist walked over and pointed something out on my drawing that I never would have seen in a million years. It was a mistake I always made and would have made forever. It took someone else's trained eye to see it. After that day, I always noticed that mistake, and many teachers have pointed out many more mistakes along the way. We are blind to a lot of this stuff and for me it really takes someone else pointing it out to me. No matter how good you get there is always something you can't see and I'll probably take classes forever.

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  4. Hi, Rad

    Thanks a lot for putting in the time to make this blog, the content is extremely helpful and inspiring.

    Would you recommend some book to help us to learn capturing better the gesture of a pose? I read Burne Hogarth's Dynamic Figure Drawing, but I believe that, though great, that book helps more beginners learn the structure of the poses rather than the gestures.

    Anyway, thanks a lot and congratulations for your talent!

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  5. I'm so happy you decided to make this blog, its full of lots of juicy goodness!!! :)

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  6. i have the four season and the four jewels of Mucha in my house, fantastic example of flow and gesture.

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  7. Fabio: Thanks, I'm glad you found it helpful. I've never seen a book with this info, but the best info I've found is from Andrew Loomis (http://fineart.sk/index.php?cat=1) and "The Human Figure" by John H. Vanderpoel.

    Desiree: thanks. Glad you like it.

    Flaviano: He is the master.

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