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Post by Koedi on May 15, 2008 21:27:17 GMT -5
So I've taken your advice and have started drawing real animals, but the only problem is that I can't seem to ever find them in the right pose. All the ones I find on google are too hard for me to draw =( Are there any you can recommend to me? Pictures, that is.
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Post by Night Bear on May 15, 2008 21:44:16 GMT -5
Well what kind of pose are you looking for?
And I do recommend you try different poses.
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Post by Koedi on May 15, 2008 22:02:36 GMT -5
Just basic poses, nothing complicated. Mainly bears, but other animals are fine as long as they have four legs =D
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Post by Truttle on May 15, 2008 22:10:30 GMT -5
I recommend you try looking at hand drawn bears. Live animals can be difficult to draw because their fur hides the details of their body.
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Post by Night Bear on May 15, 2008 22:13:29 GMT -5
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Post by Koedi on May 16, 2008 4:39:53 GMT -5
Lol! I've already done that one xD And it is simple, except for the head...I don't know how to draw it at the angle >.>
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Post by Night Bear on May 16, 2008 8:37:07 GMT -5
What was so funny about it? I was only trying to help.
And you won't know how to draw it from that angle until you actually give it a try and practice at it.
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Post by Epesi on May 16, 2008 11:00:32 GMT -5
Here is an example of how you draw the head at that angle, or any angle. You've probably seen this sort of thing before if you've looked at a "how to draw" book. That circle with the crisscrossing lines is an enormous help. You should always start with simple shapes, then fill in the details. Here's one with more shapes added in. That would be how I'd do it. And listen to Night Bear. Like she said, you won't know how to do it until you've tried and practiced at it. Never shy away from drawing something because it's "too hard", or it'll never become easy. On the flip side, keep practicing at everything, even the easy stuff. We never stop learning and improving our craft. It can always be better. Most of all, don't worry. Don't get frustrated, just draw because drawing is fun. If you fall into the dreaded rut of artist's block, where nothing comes out right and it's just not fun, just take a break until it feels right again. Otherwise, draw as often as you can, as often as you want to; you'll see yourself getting better and faster. Edited to add: I recommend you try looking at hand drawn bears. Live animals can be difficult to draw because their fur hides the details of their body. That is true, but if you focus only on hand drawn bears, you'll only get a secondhand understanding of their anatomy. Also, chances are that the artists you're learning from learned from studying real animals themselves. To see the animal's musculature without the fur, look for scientific illustrations. It is very important to learn about the underlying structures, like I said before about the skeletons. But that doesn't mean looking at the whole creature, fur and all, isn't important. Yes, do study hand drawn art as well. In short, study everything. I know that sounds incredibly vague, and this next part will probably sound a little kooky, but it's the truth: keep an open mind and draw inspiration and knowledge from everything around you.
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Post by Koedi on May 16, 2008 14:46:12 GMT -5
What was so funny about it? I was only trying to help. And you won't know how to draw it from that angle until you actually give it a try and practice at it. I wasn't laughing at you T_T I didn't mean to hurt your feelings =( I was only thinking of how ironic it was that you suggested a picture I have already tried to do. Sorry if didn't come across that way =( And Epesi, I haven't had a chance to buy any "How to Draw" books yet. Can you recommend me some? Btw, I've never taken any art classes, so those links you gave me don't really help because I don't know what to do with that ><
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Post by Night Bear on May 16, 2008 17:36:41 GMT -5
That's ok. I was just a bit confused.
To be honest, I never took an art class save for the ones at school. I learned most of what I know through experimentations, watching cartoons, looking at pictures, and looking at artwork.
If you'd like I could make a "How to Draw" pic for you.
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Post by Epesi on May 16, 2008 17:37:11 GMT -5
Keep in mind that it's all subjective; you might find you prefer a different writer's style, so the best thing you can do is skim through any How to Draw books you can find in stores and decide what's best for you.
As for me, I really liked Christopher Hart's books, so look for his name and see what you think. His style is probably more cartoony than you're looking for -- it's more Looney Tunes than Disney classic -- but it's the principles of the art that are important; out of the different art books I tried starting out, Christopher Hart's were the most helpful to me. My favorite of the series is How to Draw Animation.
If you can't find his books locally, don't worry about it; it's probably not worth a blind buy off the internet if you don't know whether you'll like him. Just browse local stores and libraries. If you have an art supply store, they might have a better selection than a bookstore.
I'm sorry I couldn't be more specific; it's been a little while since I bought a new one, so I don't really know what's easily available right now. From searching for Christopher Hart on Amazon, I found that a lot of the ones I have are difficult to find now, and he's since released new ones.
One thing I can tell you is that the How to Draw books for specific movies are not always very helpful. The one for Brother Bear is particularly lacking, in my opinion. In my experience, it's best to get "generic" how-to books rather than movie tie-ins for learning the craft; for learning about a movie's style, you might find an "Art of" book is more helpful, as they're more likely to have model sheets and notes from the designers. If you haven't already, check out Brother Bear: A Transformation Tale.
Actually, I haven't really had art lessons myself; I took a couple of general art classes when I was little, but they didn't focus on any subject long enough to teach me anything useful. I'm mostly self-taught from books. When I start college, I want to take some more serious courses; it seems to be hard to find good art instruction below college level, at least in my home town. :\
Sorry, I should have explained the circle. Basically, you think of the character's head as a ball. The crisscrossing lines tell you where to put the features; the way the lines curve show which way the character is looking. Where the two lines meet should be about the bridge of the nose. The eyes rest along the horizontal line. When you start drawing a head, you should start with a circle like that.
In the second picture, I added on some rough shapes, like the muzzle. I put a line down the muzzle too to help me see it as a three-dimensional shape. You don't have to do that for everything, but it can be helpful.
Another important thing you'll read about is called a "line of action", which sort of represents the character's spine and determines the pose. For a full-body picture, that's supposed to be the first thing you draw. I actually still have a lot of trouble with those, myself. ^^;
Most how-to books will cover these things.
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Post by Koedi on May 16, 2008 18:46:49 GMT -5
Thanks for explaining that to me ^_^ I just got back from MIchael's arts and crafts store, where I bought a set of sketching pencils, some tortillons, a sandpaper block, a sketchbook and a How to book on real animals. My aunt is an artist, so she's helping me with the basics of drawing =D I'm really starting to get interested in pencil sketching. It seems like a lot of work, but the end result is amazing! You can see a sketch I did this morning with an attempt at shading here (note: I hadn't bought the book or the proper materials, so I was blindly guessing at how to shade): BrotherBearKenai.deviantart.com/art/another-bear-drawing-85841920
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Post by Epesi on May 16, 2008 19:01:47 GMT -5
You're welcome. ;D I'm glad to see your enthusiasm for this, and it's great that your aunt is helping you too. ^^ Good work on that latest picture! Already, I can see great improvement since the last one. You're doing a great job and going about this with the right attitude. Keep it up! The main criticism I have of that picture is that the toes are too big. They should be a little closer to human toes (not counting the big toe) in proportion to the rest of the foot; a little bigger than that, maybe, but still relatively small. Keep practicing and have fun! :3
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Post by Ken'ichi on May 16, 2008 19:58:26 GMT -5
Hey, you're improving quite well, brotherbearkenai! I have the same criticism Epesi mentioned, but you're going great. Wish I had your enthusiasm, I've been meaning to get back into drawing but I've been too lazy so to speak XD
Keep it up, you're doing great!
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Post by Koedi on May 16, 2008 21:36:04 GMT -5
Ok, more stuff has been uploaded to deviantart! Just some stuff the book taught me to draw >.> Basic shapes are so much fun =X brotherbearkenai.deviantart.com/First 2 on recent deviations!
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