Question for Artists.

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Tingle said:
Anything related to anatomy in general: hands, feet, faces, bodies, muscles. Many artists avoid figure drawing/studies for various reasons which leads to poor figures in their art. Even if someone knows how the average human is structured, that knowledge doesn't tell you how age, body structure, fat and race can all alter a figure in question.

Also perspective because if you get one part wrong everything else is off too.
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If perspective is an annoyance then what exact perspective would be for the faint of heart?
 
Gorgar said:
If perspective is an annoyance then what exact perspective would be for the faint of heart?
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One-point perspective I figure, since you can literally line everything up to a single vanishing point.
 
So what body shape would be the hardest?
 
Gorgar said:
So what body shape would be the hardest?
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The one you study the least. Fat or really muscular people trip me up since their bodies are less defined by skeletal structure like most people and more by exaggerated less common features. A common mistake amateur artists (and professional studios...) make is making children appear like small adults, despite needing different proportions from them.
 
You could honestly just look at what most artists put on their 'will not draw' list and that'll give you a solid suggestion of what will make an artist stress. Many artists specialize more heavily towards humans or creatures (or furries) until they reach a high level of skill and can draw most things comfortably. Pick the thing they don't normally draw.

Some likely options though;
- elderly people or babies (unfamiliar proportions), morbidly obese or anorexically thin.
- hands and feet
- Mecha/complex machinery
- Extremely high-detail costuming or armor
- complex, high-detail materials like intricate lace or highly polished chrome
- rocks, surprisingly enough, doubly so for porous types like lava rock.
- unusual lighting, such as lit from below, colored lighting
- 3-point perspective or forced, extreme perspectives like birds-eye, worms-eye, fishbowl, etc.
- detailed wings
- horses, especially with a mounted rider
- detailed landscapes, cityscapes
- dynamic action posing
- anatomy with multiple sets of limbs on a human ribcage
- natural-looking porn
- anything that's wet/slimy, especially with a viscous liquid or substance that has ripple structure
- detailed skeletons or skinless musculature
- clutter, any design with a lot of clutter
- working from a reference with heavy watermarking
 
For me it has to be girls, and hands. To an extent the armpits?

Maybe it's because I grew up drawing long ass lanky anime boys, but I can't seem to draw anime girls right, nor can I get armpit placement right either, or hands. I honestly need to be drawing more dynamic shit anyways so that's probably why I suck. However, for me feet aren't an issue but I think one of the best ways to get an idea of how things work is by using references.

I'm just a hobbiest, I wouldn't say I am a pro but that's just my insight.
 
BoobWhiskers said:
Okay it's BOLD OF YOU to mention that you have no trouble drawing feet when your username is literally 'toe sucker' though. I'm just saying.
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Trust me, it took a few good months to learn how to draw feet. It was a fun practice during quarantine and interesting to go from "hot dog looking things" (I have no idea how to describe it man) to "ah yes, that looks like a fine pair of feet". Course, I can still do better since when you draw feet, that area where the toes are can either be too high, or the width of the foot can get blocky and lumpy. A quick trip to DA can show exactly what I mean.
 
KaibaCorp ToeSucker said:
Trust me, it took a few good months to learn how to draw feet. It was a fun practice during quarantine and interesting to go from "hot dog looking things" (I have no idea how to describe it man) to "ah yes, that looks like a fine pair of feet". Course, I can still do better since when you draw feet, that area where the toes are can either be too high, or the width of the foot can get blocky and lumpy. A quick trip to DA can show exactly what I mean.
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All toe sucker jokes aside, they are a good thing to learn to draw just as much as hands are. It's a shame so many people spend so time dodging learning hands in particular, art teachers always point out that aside from the face the hands are the most expressive part of the body, so they're worth the study even if they can be kind of a bitch to learn.
 
BoobWhiskers said:
All toe sucker jokes aside, they are a good thing to learn to draw just as much as hands are. It's a shame so many people spend so time dodging learning hands in particular, art teachers always point out that aside from the face the hands are the most expressive part of the body, so they're worth the study even if they can be kind of a bitch to learn.
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Honestly, I do plan on doing more hand stuff. I think what sucks is that unless you go to an art school, or like maybe a art college class (at least in my experience) all you're going to learn in public art classes is "this is so n so artist, this is shading for like 1 day. Alright kids I'm tired here's a video on this museum, a work sheet of terms, and a list of art projects. Oh you don't know HOW to do that? Not my problem didn't you learn? Sucks to be you now take you D- minus and get outta here".

Maybe that was just my art education. but damn did it sting. I feel for hands the best way to break them down is into circles and squares. Circles for the joints, and squares for the overall part of the hand, and then it's a matter of connecting. If you draw fetish art often (like I do) its essentially a necessity to learn them. The important thing is to not get hung up on "oh man that looks like ass" phase cause you will get better with enough practice, unless your Manny the troll fucker.

I do own the Manga in Theory and practice book by Araki, and say what you will about his anatomy there are legitimately good tips in there when it comes to drawing things such as the face, and that you should learn how a normal human body operates before doing god knows whatever you want to it.
 
Hands are the hardest for me. Even when I do very stylized cartoony drawings I find getting the proportions of hands very difficult.

If I was just doing a study of a hand that's one thing and I don't find it hard, it's only the hands in full figure drawings I have a hard time with.

I find realistic drawings of cats tricky as well. It's the only animal I can think of off the top of my head where I feel like I can never get the face quite right, something always looks off about it to me.
 
KaibaCorp ToeSucker said:
Maybe it's because I grew up drawing long ass lanky anime boys, but I can't seem to draw anime girls right
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That's funny since I have the opposite problem, I can't seem to get male physiques looking right even though I'm aware of the squareness of their build. I mean, my girls still need work tbh, but I draw them much easier than guys. Also, I have a hard time coming up with guy hair styles, but girl hairstyles I can come up with a dozen on the fly. It's weird lol.

Armpit placement is a unique example, actually, but I can see where you're coming from, Sometimes, I get confused as to which direction the concaveness of the armpit should be, even with the placement of a side-boob outline. I also have to occasionally remind myself shoulders are connected to the clavicle, so they need to be drawn on the same level and not just rounding out from where the base of the neck lies.
 
Kari Kamiya said:
That's funny since I have the opposite problem, I can't seem to get male physiques looking right even though I'm aware of the squareness of their build. I mean, my girls still need work tbh, but I draw them much easier than guys. Also, I have a hard time coming up with guy hair styles, but girl hairstyles I can come up with a dozen on the fly. It's weird lol.

Armpit placement is a unique example, actually, but I can see where you're coming from, Sometimes, I get confused as to which direction the concaveness of the armpit should be, even with the placement of a side-boob outline. I also have to occasionally remind myself shoulders are connected to the clavicle, so they need to be drawn on the same level and not just rounding out from where the base of the neck lies.
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Like I can head's shoulders, but then when it comes to the armpits, for guys I do this triangle trick my friend showed me, but somehow when i go in for feedback theyre like "mmm maybe lower the armpits a bit"
I for the life of me can't draw female's. Like I can draw a face, but the wheels go SKRRRT real fast after that. I usually draw my female oc's for practice but damn boobs! I did find a good tutorial a while back which did help, but I suffer from "balloon tits" in my drawings sometime.
 
Foreshortening limbs always fucks with me. Everything about trying to draw the figure in perspective too.
 
KaibaCorp ToeSucker said:
Maybe it's because I grew up drawing long ass lanky anime boys, but I can't seem to draw anime girls right
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You're in good company.

https://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com/gallery_images_new/Medici_Lorenzo_Evening_Dawn.JPG

KaibaCorp ToeSucker said:
I think what sucks is that unless you go to an art school, or like maybe a art college class (at least in my experience) all you're going to learn in public art classes is "this is so n so artist, this is shading for like 1 day. Alright kids I'm tired here's a video on this museum, a work sheet of terms, and a list of art projects. Oh you don't know HOW to do that? Not my problem didn't you learn? Sucks to be you now take you D- minus and get outta here".
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I'm trying to figure out if that means you went to a school or college that actually taught you something substantial, but anyway. There are excellent figurative classes available online, Vilppu and Proko among them. Also books and no end of online references. They might stand you in better stead than random how-to-draw-anime tricks you stumble across.
 
Newman's Lovechild said:
You're in good company.

https://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com/gallery_images_new/Medici_Lorenzo_Evening_Dawn.JPG



I'm trying to figure out if that means you went to a school or college that actually taught you something substantial, but anyway. There are excellent figurative classes available online, Vilppu and Proko among them. Also books and no end of online references. They might stand you in better stead than random how-to-draw-anime tricks you stumble across.
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The only time I learned anything substantial was probably elementary and 1 high school class. At least where I went to school with, the art program was shit and it was more teaching you about terms but not doing any of the actual arting if that makes sense. When we did get told to art for real, the teacher was undoubtedly an asshole who would take points off for shit left and right. I think it was cause she played favorites but this was an encounter to give you an idea of what she was like.

Me: Hey, why did I get a point taken off on my name????
Teacher: well Mrs.KaibaCorp, your last name isn't T. You must write your full last name. :)

and there was another incident where the class was full of quiet shy people and we were all trying to discuss these stupid toothpaste box projects we made and she yelled at all of us that "the feedback was worthless because none of us were talking enough".

Another art program wasn't too bad but if you didn't have some kinda decent talent as is, you were given ass pats and "i-it's ok! Just- you tried...?"

I'm self taught and I've gotten more mileage out of how-to's and reference books than I have actual art classes. It's kind of a shame really. If anyone has taken a good art class in the public school system, please tell me because I just need to k n o w.
 
One thing that's always eluded me since I was a girl is how to draw airplanes (not from birds-eye-view). Like, I feel like planes should be easy but I feel like I can't ever get the perspective right on them. I think I get thrown off whenever the perspective dictates that you shouldn't see both wings, and then I think that people won't recognize the plane if they can't see both wings and then I add in the back wing anyway but then I realize that to see the back wing at this angle the wing'd have to be bent upwards, and then everything repeats until I throw the picture of the plane into the trash. There is nothing I have ever drawn asymmetrically more often than airplanes.
 
Photorealistic things like faces if the paper is bigger than the reference picture.
 
With all of this power, I can create the most impossible to draw fursona in the world, stumping all furries who attempt to draw it. There will be long delays indeed!
 
Don't try and draw detail for the sake of it, detail for the sake of it is a dumb, stupid kafka trap.
draw what is necessary for your object to read as an object or, in the case of something like the opening to Patlabor 2, what is necessary for your mechanical design to function. Do not draw any more than that, it's a waste of time and will only cause you pain.

If you don't know how to draw something then it's time to start doing studies.
If you're unsure about painting things in a certain style then it's time to start doing studies.
If there's any part of any of the various processes to drawing and painting that you don't understand then it's time to start doing studies.
Don't just study realism, study another artist's style, study basic shapes, study silhouettes, study colour palettes, study still shots from your favourite films. Study everything; studies are your friends.
 
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