Uncomfortable's Advice from /r/ArtFundamentals

inq314 in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects (new 30min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-02-06 02:36

Hey again. Here is my lesson 6. Of all the lessons so far, this one was the most fun for me. Thanks~!

inq314 in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (new 50min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-02-02 03:53

Haha. No I'm not in a rush. Okay I think I will spend more time measuring. Somehow I felt like that was cheating, or, not in the right spirit of drawing, that it should be more flow-y. I hope I can improve quickly though! ...and that's your cue to say, "don't worry, you won't" eh?

inq314 in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (new 50min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-02-02 03:23

Do you do a lot of measuring of reference images, or real life subjects? Not necessarily with a ruler, but for example with your fingers, or your pen? I would think to answer that you would have to think way back to your first years drawing.

Part of me feels like I should be able to draw accurately without planning(measuring), that no one actually checks every line relative to every other line consciously, but more unconsciously. But at this point I feel like if I'm going to draw accurately I really need to be consciously measuring and checking everything with relative measurements.

Since doing that is quite challenging and takes concentrated effort, well, forget about the pencil, but maybe there would be value in focusing on just that: accurately drawing contours with pen. What do you think about that?

inq314 in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (new 50min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-02-01 22:11

Great thanks.

I have two questions.

Do you think there's value in practicing a contour focused approach with pencil, to work on observation skill? I'm sure you spent many years drawing with a variety of tools before you were taught this method of approach to drawing. I haven't spent any time really drawing, so maybe I could learn more from this course, if I had stronger observational skills.

2.I'm confused about the concept of "planning a stroke". I want to put dots all over the page, to help me plan out strokes, but I don't think thats really what you mean. For me, I have to see the two wrong strokes side by side, to see the right stroke between the two. Which is why I used so many extra lines previously. Do you know what I mean? Any tips in that regard?

inq314 in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (new 50min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-02-01 03:43

Okay, working on more line economy. Here are some more animals!

http://imgur.com/a/J3kD9

inq314 in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (new 50min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-01-29 21:29

This time I shared a lot more of my failures. Every other lesson I had just as many, but I didn't share them... Maybe thats good?

inq314 in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (new 50min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-01-29 20:53

Here is my lesson 5. Do your worst. ;)

http://imgur.com/a/bWMYe

inq314 in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids (new 40min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-01-24 20:09

Okay got it! Great advice. I'll be working on it.

inq314 in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids (new 40min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-01-24 01:13

Okay, thanks so much for those points. I have a couple of questions.

I found it difficult to show the 3d-ness of the insects that don't have many contour lines, like beetles with smooth shells. And the same with legs. I didn't know what lines to add to create the illusion of 3d-ness, and so I ended up scribbling-in them I think. For beetles I tried to use blocks of filled in, black, but I don't think the result was very effective. Any advice on that point?
Your point about starting with the loose proportions (3 initial masses), but then ignoring them is spot on. Additionally I would draw in a midline, that showed the form of the top surface of the shell all the way to the head. Anyway, I totally understand your comment, but am just trying to think how I'll put your advice into practice on my next drawing.

My worry is just that, for me its such a struggle to get the proportions right with those first three strokes (ellipses), that I'm not sure if I can take on both challenges simultaneously. Maybe I'll end up with convincing 3d forms, but they'll have wacky proportions. But I'll definitely aim for that more structural approach, hopefully I'll have some success.

Typically I would only get so far as those 3 initially masses, and then crumple up the sheet, several times before I got a good one, and then I would continue to draw the rest. Particularly with the wasp, which I tried almost a dozen times, and in between every other drawing until I finally got it at the end.

Is there anything that you think you can add to this point? An exercise or strategy for example.

inq314 in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids (new 40min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-01-23 16:53

Drawing, drawing, drawing... Here's some insects.

http://imgur.com/a/Ca5Cu

Such a great drawing course!

inq314 in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants (new 40min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-01-22 05:13

Hi again, I drew a few more plants, and tried to choose ones that I could communicate with mostly leaves and geometric forms, also I didn't do too much with detail and just tried to focus on the structure.

http://imgur.com/a/K6L6m

inq314 in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants (new 40min intro video, 3 new demos)"

2017-01-17 23:47

Hey, here is my lesson 3. http://imgur.com/a/zUy5k

Again, this was super helpful. I feel like I'm learning a lot and taking big steps forward. At the same time many(most?) things still feel totally out of my realm of ability.

Just figuring out how to do the folded leaves in 3d space was very difficult, but eventually it clicked, and was such a eureka moment!

Big Thanks!!