[amnesia]

I drew them with a pacer for out lines and 2b's and 6b's for shading. And a smudgerater.
I was looking at magazine pictures of them whilst drawing them.

[kurisu]

Keep up the good work!



-k

[amnesia]

Thanks, I've a question.
What's the best way to learn drawing things without a reference is it just practice?

Coz' I'm pretty bad when it comes to that.

[yoszi]

With me is the opposite, i have problems with drawing from a reference. Are there any drawing exercises i could do to improve ?

[Sanga]

I don't think that there's anything wrong with working from reference, it does not make you any less of an artist. A few years ago I came across a magazine story about the fantasy artist Boris Vallaeo (spelled it wrong!) which showed how painted his pictures, he goes so far as to hire models and put them in costume, and take tons of photos for reference. If it helps you draw better, then I say go for it!

Sanga

[kurisu]

To answer you question, amnesia, I don't know. I think it really depends on what it is that you, as an artist, want to 'improve' on. Is it making your images look more real? Is it developing your own style that helps make you feel more unique? Is it just the act of self-expression you enjoy? I think any answer someone could give you would be a shade of gray, not black or white - which, of course, is usually the hardest to accept and act on... but, you know, life just isn't 'cut and dry'...

Personally, I've always preferred to 'just draw from my head.' For a long time, there was a big part of me that fought 'copying' things - whether it was looking at life to draw it or just another artist's picture or technique. But, I found there to be times when I really loved the way something looked - whether it was a sunset outside or somebody's artistic style. So, I copied. I learned. And I incorporated those elements into my own style. That cycle continues indefinitely for everyone, I think.

I agree with Sanga that there's nothing wrong with 'reference' (or Photoshop Filters either!) I believe everything we create is just a reproduction or combination of things we've experienced before. - and who cares how you create it?! Everybody copies in some way or another - whether they want to admit it or not. Once I accepted that, things seemed easier to deal with, I felt more confident and life just went on...

Inevitably, people 'categorize' each other... in personality types, religious beliefs, art styles... there's no escaping it. It's just our way of trying establish rules in a world where there really are no rules. We'd go insane if we had nothing to create boundaries, to help us define what everything around us meant. As far as art, I have tried to just do anything and everything that interested me. People, some whom I knew and/or respected, would tell me - "Oh man, you *have* to study the masters, you *have* to see where we've been, before you can step forward with the right tools and mindset..."

Well, the part of me that wanted to feel unique just fought that whole idea. The reality was, and is, if you want to make a living doing something, there is at least a certain amount of research one needs to make in order to co-exist more smoothly and 'effectively.' Learning to draw what I saw helped me create things that others could relate to better... whether or not what I was creating was supposed to be 'real.'

An example would be my pig animations in the 'very fast pig' thread. They are in no way real, but there are elements of reality in them - and so humor can be appreciated (hopefully). If you see the pics, there are 'stylized' pigs. How can I say they're pigs? Well, they're pink (associated with pigs), they have floppy, triangular ears (again, associated with pigs) and something that resembles a coily tail... other than that - how the heck would anyone know?!

My point is just that there needs to be something in every picture that the viewer or audience can relate to. It could mean that the picture just looks totally real - even though there's a spaceship in it... or that the caricature of Sly Stallone just looks TOTALLY like him - but just more extreme...

Just draw like it's your last picture.

Enjoy it!

-k

[yoszi]

I think it does not matter how you draw or if you use reference photos, the end result is what counts. Lack of conceptual skills will be evident regardless of whether reference materials were used or not.

You can use reference materials to create something new and entirely different.

[amnesia]

Ok thanx alot for your replies.

yoszi: As for helping you draw from reference. I draw the lines first, and if I find it hard, then try measure it mentally useing the head as a measurement. If that doesn't work I sometime make a few head marks on the reference and on my paper. This helps a lot when trying to draw at a differant size to the reference. Really just an extremely simplyized version of the "draw a grid" idea.

Another trick I've recently found, is drawing the head first, then shading it completely and getting it right first. Then it's heaps easy to judge the proportions for the rest of the picture.

Hope that helps.

Yeah, as for "drawing from my head" I do that often but they don't look real enough. And often they come out being a totally differant being than what I wanted.

Oh yeah just gotta edit this to say that the animation of those pigs was great. Really brought them to life.

[This message has been edited by amnesia (edited March 18, 2000).]

[Chapel]

yoszi - Something you might find helpful when drawing from a reference is to just turn it upside down. Its easier to draw sometimes if you don't understand what it is and your just going by the lines. If your drawing it straight on then your mind begins to over correct itself.

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Chapel