[edible snowman]

recently i realized that i suck at just about everything besides drawing faces. i think i have a good understanding of anatomy, but since i never drew bodies for people or backgrounds earlier on, about 9 out of 10 attempts at this completely suck. i wish i realized what i was doing to myself so i could have corrected the problem then.

[Briareos]

Take a figure drawing class or two. It will enlighten you to an stage you never thought possible. If the instructor is half good, your drawings will improve tenfold. It doesnt matter how old you are either, it is art.

[Ysg]

Don't stop drawing either!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[edible snowman]

of course. i figure with some hard work this summer my school note doodles will look cooler.

[specialbrew]

the thing is, it's is in those 1 in 10s you do the moving forward

sb

[Socar MYLES]

I don't want to sound snooty & pretentious, but I can tell you what works for me, as far as improving quickly goes. Every time I start a new picture, I pick a subject, pose (if I'm doing a figure), or theme that's just a little bit beyond my current skill level. For example, if I were to look at, say, a very detailed battlefield scene with orcs and humans bashing it out in front of a burning sky, and think to myself "Damn. I could never do that!", then the next step would be to turn right around and try to do it. You say you can't draw anything but faces? Attach a body next time, and keep at it till you get it right. Then do it again. On the second attempt, things will go better, because you'll remember everything you learned during your first try. Then, after you've done two or three figure drawings, try adding a simple setting. From there, you can progress to more complex compositions, more dynamic poses, et cetera.

The gist of what I'm trying to say is this: Work from what you already know, and always push yourself a bit further every time.

Another good thing to do is read lots of tutorials. You don't have to follow them exactly--in fact, I'd recommend that you don't--but you can always pick up a few interesting ideas. Sometimes, reading -bad- tutorials is more helpful than reading good ones, because you'll see the bad advice, and think--"Hm. I wouldn't do THAT...but THIS could work better...."

And, of course, look at lots of art, and lots of...well, things. You know. Objects. Scenes. When you look at a tree or a building, try to see the lines & forms, and how it all fits together.

Heh...anyway...These are a few things that help me. Hopefully they'll help you, too. (And hopefully I didn't sound too pretentious. I don't want to be pushing myself forward, pretending to be another spooge demon--I don't for one moment think I'm on that level. Just trying to help.) <---The reason I wrote that last, incidentally, was that I got a very rude e-mail the other day, which read pretty much: "How dare you give advice? You aren't GOOD ENOUGH to be giving advice!" So, I put that disclaimer, just so that lurking flamers don't assume I think I'm better than everyone else. So there.

[edible snowman]

good plan, and the one im currently following. since figure drawing classes aren't an option, im going to try to get a digital camera and just take pictures of everything and then paint them. however you slice it, all it comes down to is a lot fo work.

[NukleoN]

Edible...I tend to think every artist is striving to learn something he\she may feel is a weaker discipline. Myself..I am working on more dynamic poses and such, as well as experimenting with a looser style. But certainly, ya gotta be well rounded..draw things you would not normally draw, and have a low tolerance for mistakes..if something bother you, it probably isn't right. I know I will often redo something over and over till I am happy with it, rather than finishing it just to finish it. For me, it is not how many things I finished, but how much I like the end result..

Be free to experiment..there are common ways to make anything you draw look juicy, and I'd say it all comes to down accurately describing form, and adding your own style or touch to it. But to describe form, you have to understand it, so a LOT of work goes into observation, which when you understand, may translate in a few minutes spent drawing something very cool.

As far as giving advice..even people who don't draw often know why something does not look right. They know cheezy FX in movies from good ones..why? We know what things should look like..if not, then non-artists would think anything is cool that was drawn..this is not the case because everyone has a collective idea of what is cool based on believability and how well the intent of the artist is realized. Therefore, anyone who has advice, is probably seeing something that can be improved..unless it is a question of style, which is another matter entirely.

[synj]

one comment i'd like to add other than forcing yourself to draw something you probably cant draw well is to do it more than once. draw it over and over alot.

either that or end up animating and you're much more likely to get a nice loose pose for your future works on the first shot. technically animating is just drawing stuff a whole bunch of times, but you can just not think of it like that while you're getting your practice in. so i guess this goes with the first paragraph.

[edible snowman]

yeah, i was thinking animating would be awesome practice for action poses, since you have to draw the figure so much. its so much work though... maybe when school is out.