Figure Drawing Practice 009

       Another essential lesson I'm learning from the online figure drawing class I'm taking is Value Grouping.  Instead of filling in all the tiny details. I simplify the shapes and group the values with a very limited value range. Even without those details, it still looks realistic. It's not the details that makes it look real. it's a well-designed shapes.  

       Here's one of the assignments I did for the class.  Model Reference from Croquis Cafe.

Figure Drawing Practice 008

      Another breakdown of my drawing process, from gesture lay-in, up  to the finish render.  Drawing a good lay-in took a bit of time. Making sure that the gesture was clear; the shape design was simple and the proportions correct. Then fitting in the details was like completing a puzzle.  Finishing the whole thing took me approximately  a day.  Learning these steps makes drawing the figure easier to handle.

Figure Drawing Practice 007

      For years,  I've always struggled on how to get my drawings to look like those in how-to-draw art books. At the time, I thought that learning to just construct the figure well was all it takes to make a good figure drawing.  Now I realized it's just one of the many elements that makes a good drawing.  Aside from basic anatomy and proportion, gesture and shape design are also important. Plus years of drawing and developing a good observational skills. 

      The learning and practice had been an on-going journey. And before I knew it, I just got better. My drawings is starting to look like those in how-to-draw art books. There's no secret to it. Just learning the fundamentals and then put those into practice every time.
  
     And so,  here's the breakdown of my figure drawing process I've been learning lately - the gesture lay-in,  form construction of the torso, modification of the figure using half-tones, adding facial details and dark patterns, and the final render.  Having a step-by-step drawing process is always a good practice while learning. It's an efficient and logical way of  making sure the foundation is laid out well before proceeding to the next step.
     
     Over time, with frequent practice, I can surely do away with many steps  and go straight to finishing and render, just like the artists I admire.    Till then, I still need to do these steps .


Photo reference used  from Art Models.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure Drawing Practice 005

      One of the new art ideas I learned from the figure drawing class I've taken recently is this - a drawing with good shapes results in a good drawing. Conversely, a drawing with bad shapes results in a bad drawing.  Even if  one can draw anatomy, but without good shape design, the drawing usually ends up a bad drawing.

     

 

 

 Here's the breakdown of my drawing process: First, the simple shape of the gesture using a basic construction as the lay-in.  Second, using the Reilly method on the head and adding some anatomical marking on the body as a guide.  Third, drawing and defining the shadow shapes while being mindful of the anatomy.  Then finally, adding in the whites for the lit areas and continue the rendering to the finish.

 

 

Reference photo of the model is from Croquis Cafe Photo Archive. (www.croquis.com)

Figure Drawing Practice 004

      Knowledge of some anatomy is always valuable. But even if one has a very limited knowledge of it, one can still draw a good figure drawing. The key to a good drawing is drawing good shapes.

      Here's the steps I've taken in creating this drawing.  Firstly,  I established the overall shape and proportion of the figure, with the use of the Reilly head construction and some muscular anatomy markings.   Secondly, delineating and darkening of the shadow shapes, while being mindful of the anatomy underneath.  Then adding the whites in areas that are lit. For the final look, I decided to thicken the outline for a bit of design. 

     Here's the final look.

Model reference photo by Hong Ly
(characterdesign.com)

Figure Drawing Practice 003

Here's another figure drawing,using photo reference from Croquis Cafe.. 

Figure Drawing Practice 002

Here's another figure drawing focusing on the back muscles.   Learning artistic anatomy has been an ongoing effort and it really helps in recognizing all those muscle shapes and bumps that can be quite confusing especially in the shoulder blade area.  The challenge with this drawing was deciding how much muscle anatomy should I show and still maintain the feminine quality of the model.   There's not really any way of  learning how to judge this except to just keep practicing and let my artistic taste evolve to what's pleasing to the eye. 

Figure Drawing Practice

     One of the fundamental skills I should have learned by now, considering I was once a traditional animator, is figure drawing. But due to various reasons, I haven't done much of it.  As a former traditional animator, the emphasis of  our figure drawing exercises had been in capturing the gesture quickly, and pushing the pose for a quick read.  And so most of my figure sketches were sketchy, loose and unfinished.

      And so, for this year, I decided to focus on figure drawing and learn  how to finish it.   For this effort, I signed up and just recently completed  a figure drawing crash course and will further my learning in another course for a long pose figure drawing  The method is very similar to the previous head drawing course I've taken, by learning how to do the basic figure construction using shapes.

      And so, while waiting for that course to start, I did this figure drawing  and will compare this later to what I'll be learning in that upcoming course.  So here's my first post for 2019.

      Using a photo reference from Croquis Cafe, I drew this in Clip Studio Paint, using a Wacom Cintiq 13HD pen display tablet

The Nose Knows

 

    Trying to squeezed-in some drawing before Christmas, so I decided to do Creamy again. This is the typical thing that Creamy does. Ever curious and obliviously preoccupied with whatever it is that interests her.  Everything seems interesting and warrants a closer investigation.  Never a dull moment for this canine.  If only she pays attention to me when I call her name.  The only thing that would break her sniffing trance is when I have some food.and she would want some.  

Shy Snowy

 

 I feel like drawing a dog again today. It's my sister's pet, Snowie. a fearful and shy dog but can be naughty, sneaky, and can jump really high with her hind legs when trying to catch my attention during feeding time. I sometimes call her kangaroo.