[Shadow-X-]

I posted a while ago, and didnt post the pics since xoom is picky, and I doubt anyone went to the links to check my sketches since i didnt get any responses.... or i suck that much. So I made a geocities account just for this, but I am trying to draw a gladiator in a motion where he is comming out of hitting someone with a weapon. I cannot get the stance properly where his right arm is over his left shoulder from the swing... any ideas on how I can improve this? Please comment. Good initial sketches, bad, colour needed, body movement should be more loose, etc... ! Please help! thanks

[Anthony]

I'd return to a more basic level, and study anatomy and basic form, before going onto more complex motions like the one you have there.
However, I'd be something of a dick if I left you there, so here's a sketch of what I think you want:


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-Anthony
Carpe Carpem

[Transcendence]

what helps me sometimes, is stand in front of a full length mirror and take the same pose and study how muscles and etc are..

[psi burn]

i dont have a functioning scannuh as of right now, so any sketch of mine to help wouldnt make it to this computer.

but ill try to help verbally (hope some others dont take this the wrong way...)

ok first of all, the arms. the right arm holding the weapon is too short (no elbow?). it also looks as if the man has it flat across his chest. also, you made his shoulder come out in front of his body, which is unrealistic and quite impossible. the shoulder will always be somewhat aligned with the neck and collarbone, it wouldnt come in front of the body like that. to give his arm a more fluent, 3D look to it, first you have to extend the arm. make an elbow visible (it would be considering theres a bend in his arm). try to make his arm from shoulder to elbow point toward the viewer, while the forearm, from elbow to hand, moves backward.

the hand wouldnt be clenched in that manner, it looks as if hes going to punch something. try to give some bone definition in the hand, to show his fingers are struggling with the heavy weapon. show them slightly apart and curled around the handle.

now, for his body. i wont rant about anatomy, because these are obviously movement sketches. so, lets take the torso's position. picture yourself swinging a baseball bat in the way this gladiator would be swinging the weapon hes holding. his body wouldnt face foward like that. his torso would basically follow the direction the hand holding the weapon is pointing. also, his back would be arched slightly backward, due to the "heave" he'd be giving to bring the weapon up, and then down. your character seems to stand still and peer downwards.

now for the head. like i said, imagine yourself in that position. your head wouldnt tilt foward looking down like that. it would be somewhat poised.

now for the other free hand. it looks like its trying to find his pocket =]. generally, it would probably be falling downwards as the weapon was lifted, and his fingers wouldnt be clenched, they'd be open and very tight (tight meaning stiff). his shoulder be hanging loosely, and his forearm would be tense, so try capturing that. dont just have it stuck to his side.

now, for the legs. it looks as if your person were running, in which case you'd have to change everything above. so lets say he was standing, but ready to leap foward with the striking blow. his right foot, the one beneath the weaponed hand, would be facing foward, and his back leg would be slightly tilted, and at an angle. all the weight would fall on his back leg, not both. in your picture, the opposite leg (as opposed to the hand with the weapon) is running foward, which would be a very awkward move for a person to make. there body would look strange. instead, make the shaded right leg come foward, facing foward, while the other is arched, with his weight on it. i hope you understand what im trying to say, it would be so much easier with a drawing!

also, it looks like you started drawing that movement sketch out of nothing, starting at some awkward point. i see alot of artists start their drawings at a persons shoulder or hand, and try to build the body off it. it really never works out. try giving yourself a light stick figure drawing, then slowly build off it. simple lines can be considered the skeleton of the person, allowing you to capture the movement first, and the body later.

hope i helped :]

[Shadow-X-]

Wow! Thanks for the replies, Ill be trying out your tips probably within the next 2 days if i have enough time to sit down and sketch. Its kinda hard to post pics on here cause you get the cold truth, either people like it, or they try to help you improve. And sometimes the truth can hurt, but its all for the better. Now if you excuse me, im gonna go dig myself a hole, and cry in it for a few hours. ^_^
Thanks again.
Oh yeah, would a baseball player be a good example to get an idea of the posture off of? I was thinking a picture of a batter who is done his batting phase, looking at the ball in the air, and has already let go of the bat with one of either one of his hands. Sounds right doesnt it? and i can find tons of those pics on the net somewhere prolly.

[waylon]

One of the best ways to learn to draw people is truly to just sit down and draw people. If you can get a model, that's great, but you can learn a lot by sketching yourself in the mirror.

You have to be careful about getting caught up in details when doing figure sketches, though. (*I* have that problem, anyway.) If you really want to learn about human form, try limiting your sketches to about five minutes apiece, and draw lots of different poses.

If you have any friends who do art, you may want to take turns drawing each other.

Oh, and another thing you could try... Get a newsprint pad and some charcoal (or conte crayons), and draw BIG. Once you get the hang of it, it can be a lot more fun than just doing tiny cramped little sketches in a notebook. (The only problem is that you'll have trouble scanning your work. Works well for figure drawing, in my experience.

[spooge demon]

You are trying to define a form from the edges, a difficult thing to do at first.

I would recommend working from the middle out.

Try this. Open a PS document, flat white about 1000 pixels to a side. Make FG color white, BG black. Turn off opacity if you are using a pen. Start by drawing a black blob, maybe something that looks like a peanut. That is your torso and pelvis. Work from the center out, always feeling the weight and shape of what you are forming. Put a head on it. Look at it and see if it suggests a motion or something else.

Keep your mind open to letting the shape tell you what it is, like a writer whose characters suddenly start talking for themselves.

No shading, no gray at all. Keep your finger over the x key to toggle white and black to cut the shapes back and forth.

In long division you break the problem down into smaller and smaller parts until the parts are within your abilities. This is the same thing. No rendering, no value, color line, etc. Just shape, and the simplest and most important shape, the silhouette. Later you can refine it as much as you want and be explicit as you can with the construction.

sumthin� like this. It is like a golfer motion a little.

[Anthony]

You might want to be a little careful about how dynamic you make those little guys. In real swordfighting we don't swing so widely and get ourselves offbalance-that's more for Marvel....Christ, now I'm lecturing Craig. I'd better scurry back to my lair before he crushes me with another mind blowing image.

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-Anthony
Carpe Carpem

[mantis]

spooge the upper left pic looks like he is going to deliver a killer forehand.