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Original post by nibbuler Here's a page for the side of the head... since that looks like the area you need most help on. http://www.fineart.sk/show.php?w=11

Interesting. Got anything for non-caucasians?

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It looks to me like the pen size is too large. Decrease it so you're forced to draw more precisely.

I'll give that a shot. Note that it was drawing in a "rough out" fashion, which means that I went over some of the lines several times as I was trying to get comfortable with the pad.

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And as a side note, very little looks better on a white background than black. :}

Actually, I went with the red pencil because I was going to color it, but I didn't like the colored version at all - I think the use of flat shading with a pencil didn't help. ArtRage Free doesn't provide any tools appropriate for inking, and I'm still looking for something else that works as a digital drawing tool not trying to mimic natural media.

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The best advice I can give you is to start at the beginning of the Loomis books and draw everything in them, page by page. Good luck, God speed.

Thanks, and thanks. I'll grab those books and work through them; they sound like just what I was looking for. I'll still pick up an anatomy book next week, though. I need a better understanding of the underlying musculo-skeletal structure.

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Original post by leiavoia Anatomical business aside, i think you might be better off with a better drawing tool.

I concur. I think ArtRage is great for mimicking natural media, but I'm looking for something that's better suited to digital media. Clean lines, surfaces without texture, etc. So far Photoshop Elements doesn't seem pressure sensitive enough; is full-blown Photoshop better in this regard?

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I think these types of drawing would be better served with a pencil or thin paint line type of tool if you have that available.

Ironically, the image above was done in ArtRage's pencil tool.

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However, if you can manage to draw anything from scratch on a graphics tablet, kudos to you! It's a lot different than a piece of paper, for sure.

Thanks. Here's the picture I started on today, to practice my anatomy:

Looks much better, keep going through the Loomis books and you'll come out able to draw well beyond most people in the forum.
As far as the technical stuff goes, the pressure sensititivty comes from the tablet, not the software (ie, 512 levels or 1024 levels). It makes a big difference, getting a more sensitive tablet.
I'm not sure about PSEssentials and Artrage's brush engine, but Photoshop and Painter have excellent brush engines, and can give you any style you want (emulate natural or hard-lined digital).

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Original post by Professor420 Looks much better, keep going through the Loomis books and you'll come out able to draw well beyond most people in the forum.

Thanks. I'm also setting up studies for myself of arbitrary objects and planning to draw from reference.

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As far as the technical stuff goes, the pressure sensititivty comes from the tablet, not the software (ie, 512 levels or 1024 levels). It makes a big difference, getting a more sensitive tablet.

I have an Intuos3, which has 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity. I guess I just found the baseline with PSEssentials too "heavy." I'll see if I can tweak that (I'll switch to using it primarily, as I'm not quite looking to emulate natural media just yet.)

I might also give Painter a try. An "essentials"-type version comes bundled with the tablet.

Nice pose on the second image. The (figure's) right ear is a bit high, and the head is might be too long -- it works as a stylization, but I'm not sure that was your intention. For the first image, the pose would work better if his head was angled forward. Ideally, you'd probably want the main line of action to be a slight curve through the spine, neck and head. Also, I think the leg is too high if he's supposed to be running. (And not, say, launching into flight.)

I'd consider doing a bunch of sketches without much in the way of clearly-defined anatomy, just getting a feel for poses. Worry about the details later. I realize this is the opposite of Professor420's advice, but I never studied anatomy, and can't imagine that repeated drawings of a statically figure would have kept me interested long enough to learn anything. Draw enough poses, and you'll get better at drawing poses. You'll learn something about basic proportions by osmosis... and knowing which muscle goes where won't help you much if your poses are weak.

But I'd definitely recommend a life drawing group, if you can find one.

Its the two-pronged approach to figure drawing, both are really neccessary. It'll be hard to learn proper dynamic poses through merely knowing the muscles... poses show what they do. But on the other hand, it'll be mighty difficult to draw from your head until you know anatomy, no matter how good your life-drawings are. I spent a month and a half doing a very intensive life-drawing course, and at the end, while my drawings were great, I couldn't draw figures from my head. I realized its because while my observational skills were sharp, its really using the opposite mind areas. I was looking at it not as a person, but as a thing (ala impressionist thinking), so I wasn't interpreting what I was seeing. But once I learned anatomy pretty well, my life drawings improved some but I was suddenly able to draw without live reference. Its really a must to do both, you'll never be able to do your best without learning both pose through observation and anatomy through study/observation (actually learning the muscles in a book I've found better than solely relying on trying to figure them out through seeing).

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Original post by Logodae Nice pose on the second image. The (figure's) right ear is a bit high, and the head is might be too long -- it works as a stylization, but I'm not sure that was your intention.

Actually, it's not a finished head. I just threw it on there to practice drawing ovoid shapes in one continuous stroke. There's a tremendous lack of definition in comparison to the torso.

As for poses, I think that both you and Professor420 are right. I need to learn the underlying anatomy in order to elevate my drawing above the masses of "artists" who don't study, but I also need to practice, practice, practice.

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But I'd definitely recommend a life drawing group, if you can find one.

There's one that meets on Sundays in Manhattan, but it's $13 a meeting. Not yet sure if I consider that cost effective, plus I haven't bought the sorts of art supplies I'd need - board, paper, pencils, chalks, etc.

To illustrate Professor420's point, here's a sketch of a motocross helmet that I drew without any form of reference - and without having watched motocross, seen a live helmet, played a video game, etc in at least six months:



Being able to draw that well is a product of both knowing the structure and characteristics of the helmet and a familiarity with drawing such curves. (The "incident light" notation is for me to ink and colorize it in Photoshop Essentials, which I've been dabbling with for the last two days. ArtRage Free doesn't have layers, so I've taken to using it for my sketches then exporting as PSD for cleanup and colorization in PSEssentials.)