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Posted: July 7, 2012

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PLEASE HELP ME!

~Kiddie-Icarus Jul 7, 2012 Student

I've decided to take art seriously--yay!

I need advice and examples on how to really have your drawings scream life. I'm having trouble with weight, movement, and most importantly...facial expressions!

I haven't posted some of my latest stuff, but I do feel like figure/gesture drawing is really giving me a boost.

Can you help me/give advice/or inspiration/show me examples of artists or students who are great at this? ^_^;

I really want a simple way of drawing that will get my point across. I'm constantly getting bogged down by details, so I need to break that habbit.

ME: Uh...I'm a soon to be sophomore in highschool, very interested in animation, and set my goal on CalArts so even if I don't make it I will have improved a ton!

Thank you all!

BONUS: I'm having a terrible time coloring on Photoshop...How do I do this correctly?

BONUS 2: Anyone know if Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 is like Photoshop? I found it unopened at my town's swap for free...

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~lequiem Jul 8, 2012

I've been throwing this around a lot but the Loomis books are pretty standard and a good way to get started in drawing the body.

Begin with the basics, 3D models, perspective, shading, and work your way up. Most people overlook this but it's the basics, think of it as, you wouldn't build a house without a solid foundation. I see many artists with beautiful drawings but because they have a poor grasp of the underlying structures, their work is lifeless or unmemorable.

Study anatomy, proportion, and at the same time, do gesture drawings (which focuses SOLELY on movement/action).

Some links:

[link] Loomis
[link] Since you're interested in animation, I see this book recommended a lot, written by a former animator for Disney.
[link] interesting studies

Remember that drawing from life>>>>>copying a 2D stock photo or using posemaniacs. Bring small sketchbook with you and just find small opportunities to draw, draw, draw.

~scrumpleberry Jul 8, 2012

Right

1. Don't take shortcuts to hold all your work together. Doing it properly is what will teach you. I understand the desire to draw something easy for fun but you must also make sure that you're trying to come out of your comfort zone with at least some of your work, the more the better- that's how you expand your comfort zone.

2. You have to find your own inspiration and your own tutorials because you have to develop your own taste. Luckily the internet has an ENDLESS BOUNTY of art. Look through the tutorial and popular sections here, look in the favourites sections of artists you like, follow off-site links to artists' homepages or tutorials which discuss things you're interested in...it's half the fun! (Photoshop colouring is tricky especially if you're not used to it but there are loads of tutorials all over the internet...follow them to the letter, try loads of different ones until you find something that works, then try MORE new stuff, then just practise and you'll get better...you'll pick up tricks as you go along.)

If you're interested in animation find out as much as you can about your favourite productions...who were the concept artists, what techniques were used in the movie, what are my favourite scenes and why do I like them so much, why are they special compared with other scenes and other productions... If it's biggies like disney there should be a wealth of information about people involved in the productions (eg. Glen Keane and Mary Blair.) Doing this is important because it'll enable you to follow a particular artist, particular trends or particular techniques across many productions, so you can understand more about it! Just explore the internet and be nosy! And, of course, practise: follow tutorials, try stuff of your own, find what works for you, learn about basic animation techniques and give them a go.

Facial expressions - there should be loads of references for this online. Please don't just look at cartoon ones, find realistic or photographed stock, then work out what makes that specific expression, and practise conveying it in your own particular style. Actually, you can do this if you have a mirror. Just watch how your face changes when you pull a genuine expression. Sometimes you can't work out what makes the expression work or not, you just have to redraw and redraw until it conveys what you want to an acceptable degree.

Hope some of this was helpful.

~Kiddie-Icarus Jul 8, 2012 Student

Thank you! That really helped me put some things in prospective. I hadn't really thought about why I like certain art pieces, but just thinking about it makes me feel inspired. Thank you for the help!!!

*xoxKari Jul 8, 2012 Student General Artist

Honestly, if you want to take art seriously, there's no simple way. You have to try everything and learn what you can little by little. Trust me, I'm studying Illustration. There's still a lot more I need to learn but this is what I've learned so far in my first year and even before. (:

Draw from life and study everything you can about anatomy. Keep practicing those two and you'll be good, if you want to take some art classes, I did and that helps as well! Facial expressions, look at tutorials for them, I'm sure there are a lot on here. There are a lot of people that have great tutorials on YouTube. MarkCrilley, BaileyCreations/zkittyz, BlueRoseArkelle, ArtByKarenEHaley, that's all I know for now.

I agree with the comment below, read Making Comics by Scott McCloud. I had to when I took a certain class at a pre-college course for Illustration. There's more advice put I didn't want to make it too long, if you have more questions that you would like to ask me, don't hesitate! (: I'd love to help you out!

~Kiddie-Icarus Jul 8, 2012 Student

Thanks for the tutorial names--I've been having the roughest time tracking down some quality ones.

Thank you so much for the help!!!

Haha! There are probably worlds of advice out there. Thanks for keeping it concise! :3

*xoxKari Jul 9, 2012 Student General Artist

You're welcome!~

!GloomyPandaBear Jul 7, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

try looking around, studying from life and look up tutorial videos or find some books on the subjects of weight and movement. with facial expressions, the best i can recomend is a book called Making Comics by Scott McCloud, because starting on page 80, he talks about facial expressions and it's pretty helpful. also start out slowly, don't worry if your art doesn't scream life at first. my art still looks cartoony but with practice you'll get there. i hope this helps ^_^;

~Kiddie-Icarus Jul 7, 2012 Student

Thank you so much!

I'll see if I can snatch his books at the library sometime.

!GloomyPandaBear Jul 7, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

happy to help, i just took a look at your gallery by the way and you're on the right track ^^ keep it up

~Kiddie-Icarus Jul 7, 2012 Student

Daw, thank you!

Haha! What I'm proud of now, I'll be disappointed in myself within a week...That's why I keep having to get better! ;D

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