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After 6 months of figure drawing (mostly)... I have probably became worse at figure drawing xd

10:17 PM, Wednesday February 12th 2020

Guuuuuys, I feel really lost.

(Not english native, so expect a really dense text xd)

Have been drawing for like... 6 months, with an average of like 1h per day testing different types of figure drawing and construction... Feel stuck as fuc with just drawing 2D, even while using cubes or cylinders... Know that drawabox should help me with those things (started 1 month ago with it, finished the 3rd lesson without external critiques, felt stuck for obvious reasons and restarted it, now with critiques xd, 1 week ago, but anything for practicing figures simultaneously? I have the time...)...

Is it there any heavy reading, group of videos or 3 words phrase you think that could help me too?. I know that time, pacience and those things help, aren't taking it as a race, but really feel as bad as when I started 6 months ago, specially compared to some people I know that started at the same time and have spent less time... I must really be losing something important here xd.

It's not that i don't improve, it's that i can't go any further than 2D, while not having a references you would really have some difficulties to determine if what im drawing is a human xd.

Here it is the best i can do without time limits: https://imgur.com/a/QIcHLh3

Actually studying design, and Im suffering SO much in drawing related subjects having so much free time... If im just a person that only needs drawabox and some patience... sorry and thanks for reading this in advance xd.

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2 users agree
3:17 AM, Thursday February 13th 2020

What I see is the same I saw in myself a month ago (I was a bit worst actually). This is my progress in one month:

https://imgur.com/a/K17efqd

If you like what you see then read on.

The first thing I wanted to address with my practice was my inability to see. I have working eyes (though I'm nearsighted) but that's not really the problem. The problem is in my brain, it just did not have the ability to see the forms of the figures. So the brain just does it best job to fill in the missing info by guessing (poorly).

The way I addressed that problem is by making all my drawings "blind". That is I kept my eyes fixed on the photo reference and never looked at the paper I was drawing on. Doing this forces me to rely entirely my ability to see information on the photo reference. I also was spending nearly all my time staring at human figures. And not only staring but actually observing every little turn and bend and every contour and, eventually, every form.

After 1000 figure drawings or so I then started doing half of them blind and half of them allowing myself to look at the page. I still forced myself to draw mostly while looking at the reference, but looking down occasionally can help with alignment of the parts.

I still have a long way to go in my figure drawing though. This is only the beginning.

6:06 PM, Thursday February 13th 2020

Thank you for reading, replying and the advices replied! I'll try some of this blind contour drawing thing

10:58 PM, Thursday February 13th 2020

Interesting, how much time did you give yourself for each blind contour drawing? Did you give yourself 1 min or 2 min or did you just stop once you felt like you had completed the drawing?

I feel like I am struggling with the same issue so I am eager to try this method.

3:36 AM, Friday February 14th 2020

I try to keep it short, usually 2~3 minutes but I don't really time myself. I just try doing 50 a day.

1 users agree
4:30 PM, Thursday February 13th 2020
edited at 6:11 PM, Feb 13th 2020

Currently, a youtuber I follow is doing Figuary this month. He gives pratice exercice with purpose each day, you could begin at day one and built up your skills with those videos.

Here the day one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcS3927iLYw&feature=em-uploademail

edited at 6:11 PM, Feb 13th 2020
6:07 PM, Thursday February 13th 2020

Thank you!

0 users agree
8:09 PM, Friday February 14th 2020

First, I would make sure you are taking breaks. Learning to become an artist is not a 6 month, 12 month, 6 year thing. Becoming and incredible artist is a life-long process. Once that fact set in a lot of the pressure of making "good" art melted away.

Some days are going to be awesome and you will make incredible compositions. Some days you will spend 16 hours and making nothing.

The figure you drawings you submitted are awesome. You are able to see form and extract that from an image. Moreover, drawing from life is a really good practice to get into. So you are already doing that, congrats!

As far as improvement goes, I recommend investing in some additional literature to help illuminate your path.

Books on the Basics:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9063693346/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933492759/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0891343377/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9063692536/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Books on Texturing:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0997046538/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0997046503/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Books on Color/Lighting/Rendering

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0740797719/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193349283X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Feng Zhu has also really helped me find inspiration and clear creative blocks. He runs the FZD Design School and has a ton of free videos. I also recommend his podcasts on What to practice and How to Learn.

https://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL

Above all keep going. Try not to focus on outcomes as much as learning the fundamentals and how that stuff can applied. Challenges for seasoned artists are not on "How to draw" as much as "What to draw". Eventually your skill will grow to a point where it is second nature. That is not gonna happen over 6 months. Keep going and good luck! I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Alan

12:12 PM, Sunday February 16th 2020

Wwoooooooow, thank you soo much for all these advices and resources! ^^

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