Cheesecube! :D [Taken]

[The Titanium Spork]

Could I be a designated mentee, please?

Samples.

Having some real technical difficulties with anatomy. Aaand, I can't do backgrounds for s**t, like I understand perspective better than most, but I have difficulties applying it.  

[.[ Cheesecube ].]

Oh, oh yes.

Yes you can. :] Would you like me to start you off with a general overview of anatomy processes/composition tips [for backgrounds] or with initial pieces and critique on them?  

[The Titanium Spork]

Umm... I've been through loads of tutorials on anatomy and composition respectively, so I think if you'd be willing, a critique of stuff I have and some assignments would be marvelous, please.

(I <3 run-ons)  

[.[ Cheesecube ].]

Okay, I am excited now. biggrin Send something my way and I'll send you somethin back. :]  

[.[ Cheesecube ].]

And as far as assignments go have you studied the core of anatomy, such as the skeleton and muscle structure? Those sorts of things are ridiculously helpful in art and anatomy; so if you haven't, I would suggest beginning there, at the skeleton, then onto the muscles.

And if you haven't and even if you have the number one thing to do: Practice life drawing. It doesn't have to be in a class with a model, draw people who are holding still. Remember to draw what you see, and not what you think you should- this should be something you constantly do. Life draw. And just watch people sometimes and how they move and how they're body works. A better understanding of the human body will produce a better result.  

[The Titanium Spork]

Umm... I PM'd you some stuff, I'm not sure if you got it, or if you're just busy (if it's the second, feel free to scold me for being naggy).

Aaanyway... I was messing around on posemaniacs yesterday, and I decided to sketch one of them. I may yet actually turn that into a proper drawing, but anyway, here it is:

 

[.[ Cheesecube ].]

Lol, it is because I have been horrifically busy. I haven't gotten a day off work in almost a week, and the spare moments I have I've been using to prepare to move in three weeks; as soon as I can I'll send you some critiques and redlines. [I would send you a critique now I just don't have the time for a full-blown one.] If I'm unable to do it tomorrow or the day after before/after leaving for work, I have Wednesday off so I'll be able to do it then.  

[.[ Cheesecube ].]

Okay, throwin the first one your way; please forgive my lines, I can't figure out how to change my tablet properties and it's spazzing out on me. >w<

Okay, here are the main mistakes I saw:

Starting at the top and working down.
the neck is far too long. He'd really have to be stretching his neck FARRRR and leaning his head back to get it to look like that. It makes it seem veeery uncomfortable. The neck out to be shortened.

The arm I kind of ******** up on redlining- it looks like there's something wrong with the arm but I realized it's actually just the leg so I'll get there in a sec.

You forgot any curves in the side of his chest- you just made like slightly curved lines that don't have any dents to indicate muscles or anything. Like it almost looks like you drew them with a compass. With humans, no lines should be straight [unless you're drawing cartoons for nickelodeon or something of that sort, in which case they're stylized.]

He has no crotch. Like his legs just spout out of nowhere; there needs to be room for his junk down there, remember! [lol] But in all seriousness, there needs to be some space between the legs, because it looks like they're joined at the top of the legs, like a stick figure, but fleshy. Can you imagine how awkwardly people would walk if their legs weren't separate? When drawing you've got to remember that if your drawing were real it would need to function. So you can do whatever you want but there has to be logic and reason behind it. On a study like this, though, you've got to keep in mind realistic human function. Knowing how something works will give you so much more insight to how it should look.

The foot- the heel is behind where his bum is sitting, but the toes are ahead of his legs. So his left foot is teeny tiny and his right foot is HUGE.
But going back to function, try sitting with your foot on the flat on the floor, heel behind your but, and knee shooting straight up- it's a little painful. You've got to make him extend his foot towards us more. Because you have to do that, it would mess up the rest of his pose- so in order to keep it all the same, you've got to tilt his leg more to the side. This is why I thought the arm was messed up- I thought the elbow needed to be resting on his knee because while you can sit with your elbow PAST your knee, your leg would be pretty close to your torso, and he's just got tons of room between his torso and leg.

When I draw to get a feel of the whole pose together, I do mannequins to make sure things don't feel awkward.

There's what I did to try and get a better feel for the whole thing.But anyways, that's also how I would fix my mistakes- it's good to start with a mannequin I think when you're still getting hold of the human body [though like I said.. LIFE DRAWING! The more I'm seeing your art, the more I believe it will help you. What is more natural than observing the human in their habitat? Work, school, home, at play- draw, draw, draw. This will help you get a feel for human posture, behavior, etc that will show in your artwork, I promise.] because you can stop if something starts to look odd and say, 'wait a minute..' and change it in early stages.
From there, I'll just define it:


Really, the main thing I think you have a problem with it making it look natural and comfortable. Humans are natural beings- we are born of flesh and we feel love and pain and we can hear music and feel it's emotions. We laugh, we cry, we dance, we kiss, we love, we scream and live and die. While technical skill is important, what's more important is making it natural. I want you to do tons of life drawing until drawing a human figure is as natural as natures call.  

[The Titanium Spork]

Mmkay, I did a lot of life drawing, but I don't think it's really worth scanning, I also did a lot of gesture drawing, just to get a feel for poses. I should have something worth scanning up in a couple of days.  

[The Titanium Spork]

Aaaand... halfway decent lifedrawing I did on Saturday.
[link]
I can tell that his arm is too long, but otherwise, does it look okay?

Also, study of the muscles in the back.  

[.[ Cheesecube ].]

The Titanium Spork

Aaaand... halfway decent lifedrawing I did on Saturday.
[link]
I can tell that his arm is too long, but otherwise, does it look okay?

Also, study of the muscles in the back.

Both are great!!

Just something to keep in mind when lifedrawing, though- this is something my dad always said to me and I think it helped me grasp the concept. He said, "Draw what you see. Not what you think you should see.

Just keep going strong with life drawing, because I think it's the easiest and fastest way to both train the eye and study the human body. Because drawing, really, is all about how well-trained your hand eye coordination is.  

[The Titanium Spork]

Thank you!

I've heard that saying before, many times. Now I just have to actually apply it.

I bought a small sketchbook the other day that's much easier to carry around than my old one, so I should be able to fit in more life drawing.  

[.[ Cheesecube ].]

It's good, like really good, to have a small sketchbook to bring everywhere biggrin  

[The Titanium Spork]

It is definitely very useful.

I'll try to get scans in a couple of days.  

[The Titanium Spork]

I got some of 'em scanned!

Huge picture warning.
un. deux.

Am I improving, or have I come to a standstill? (I can't really tell right now... TT^TT)