Errol McGillivray (illust. & visual storytelling) - [hiatus]

[]Pencil Fetish[]

Until I can get my camaera to work, will something like thsi do? Someone asked me a while ago how I draw so.. I did a basic 'four-step program' XD
I've lost the first step but~ I have the last three. The first step was just 'Draw a squiggle'. >.>
[Lol nothing]


http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7459/step2tj8.png


http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7459/step2tj8.png


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5660/step4copyeq3.jpg


http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/43993889/


>.> That any show of my process?  

[Errol McGillivray]

]Pencil Fetish[

Until I can get my camaera to work, will something like thsi do? Someone asked me a while ago how I draw so.. I did a basic 'four-step program' XD
I've lost the first step but~ I have the last three. The first step was just 'Draw a squiggle'. >.>
[Lol nothing]


http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7459/step2tj8.png


http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7459/step2tj8.png


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5660/step4copyeq3.jpg


http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/43993889/


>.> That any show of my process?

That's quite helpful to know.
We're going to add some steps to help solidify your structure. I love the gesture you did though. Very fluid and loose. Combining that with rigid structure will give you a nice figure.

I'm working on your critique of that last image tonight and I'm also going to show you my process. I won't say my process it the "right" process, but I find it gets the job done.  

[Errol McGillivray]

I feel that before you worry so much about technical things (you will learn those in time) you should work on some of your drawing habits.
One really big thing I noticed you detail before you have structure. That causes you to have an uneven and unplanned looking image. I noticed this is the thread I met you in. You had a face and hair, but the body was barely drawn.
Plan: Thumbnails, stickmen, lines, ovals. Whatever you do to get your idea on paper without wasting time drawing it all out. (Planning helps you not waste time on an idea that won't work well.)

I'd go over all the things I feel can be improved about that drawing, but I think I'd rather focus on your process. Using some things we've gone over, try and draw the other one again. FYI (I'll go over the anatomy another time.)

Your Process sketches:
You've got a great design shape there in the gesture. Over that line though, account for the bones in the body. Keep in mind, people aren't noodles. It's good to see that flow and the underlying structure at once.



The green line is how the eye will move through that image due to the position. I find that I start going up form the lone knee past the pelvis and follows the spine, using the head to swing back around to the pelvis. That's a good thing.

At this stage, give a little more consideration to anatomy though. Once your gestured shapes (the noodles) are there, add the skeleton. The proportions will be much more rigid, and that forces you to adjust to things fall in the right spots and you still keep your same gesture and eyeflow.
As you can see, the thighs were too long and the knee needs to come up a bit to fix that. I also see that mechanics wise, the elbow is bending in the wrong direction. The orange lines show some other possible positions. (That I can fit on the page.)



Be sure to account for hands and feet at this stage too. Leave none of the main forms out. Just don't refine anything. At this point, my drawings look like scribbles. Besides, the hands and feet make up part of the gesture.

Correct your skeleton's proportions. There is no reason at ALL that you should have a clean up step before you've corrected anything. Also, you have too much contour at this stage. The outside shapes don't need to connect yet because we're not sure how they'll connect until the overall anatomy is fixed.

As you fix the simple structure, use credible reference. I do NOT recommend using other people's art for that. I recommend images of real people and charts. Start with your figure's head and measure with your eyes (I use my pencil to help me do that.) the head relative to other parts. At this stage, it's a good idea to have someone look at it until you learn anatomy well enough to catch your own mistakes. (Even then, it's a good idea to get another set of eyes.) A way to use your own eyes for that though, is to mirror the image. Hold the notebook up to a mirror or mirror the canvas if you're working digitally. Flip it vertically too. Looking at it from different angles will open your eyes to some things you didn't notice before. (I tend to flip at least once an hour to check things.)

As a note, I like to use ovals for the buttcheeks even at this stage, because it helps later on and I consider it part of the gesture.

Before you add flesh, find some relationships. It's a bit complex to explain, but it's basically making lines to show how things will line up in your picture. This is where you make sure your weighting makes sense. Your center of gravity gets taken into consideration and you correct your feet to make sure you're balanced. or unbalanced. It depends on what you want. This I'll have to show you in another image. Consider the relationships between all the matching joints.
(1)elbows
(2)hands
(3)feet
(4)knees
(5)hips
(6)shoulders
(7)hip to ground



At this point, you can also ground the figure (make it look like it's interacting with the ground) buy paying attention to the relationships between the points of contact with the ground on the figure. ( cool I also keep working on the structure to keep it following the gesture I wanted.

Once you have a plan you like, add some flesh. This is where knowing internal structure helps. Organs still need to fit. Bones don't have much give. Reference time. Not artwork. Real bodies and charts. When you add the flesh, consider how things are turning and be sure to have overlapping lines (1). That helps shape things so you have a set of connecting solid shapes and not just flat contours. Use straight lines to reinforce structure. Especially in males.




In the example from my own recent drawing, I redlined places I deliberately used straight lines and bluelined the places that I made sure to overlap. His shoulders and calves I was particularly making sure to reinforce because he is male and males are more square than females. It comes with more muscle density. He's still soft and feminine even with the angles I used to give me a more masked masculine look.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/hardcandyvegetto/32707penfetexampstruct.jpg

A note on flow in the figure. If can connect things with your eyes, you've got some flow. Some examples are with the orange lines. Compare that to the image before it and you'll see what I mean.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/hardcandyvegetto/32707penfetf.jpg

This has been a lot so far. Take a break. See if you understand and go over the pictures.

Now is a good time to ask questions.

Once again, I'm not going to correct the anatomy in this. There are too many things that are wrong that it would be a waste of time. I think it would be more time effective for you to draw something else that focuses on anatomy. I'm gonna give you a couple of photos of people. Please draw them as they are in the picture. Try and pay attention to your gesture, but also pay attention to the anatomy.

Forgive me if this is vague or the sketches are crappy. It's nearly 1 am and I worked two jobs today. I'm very tired, but I wanted to get this at least ready for you tonight.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Identifying relationships



Relationships are really just lines between one point on the figure to another. These relationships help us do gestures and measure the figure. It's very very helpful to get used to looking for relationships in your own drawings. It helps a lot to make them more lifelike and fluid.

See if you can identify the relationships on the figure above. Write them down (they're numbered and color coded. Just skip those you can't identify for now. ) The answers are in white on the bottom of this post. Just remember, cheating in your education doesn't ******** anyone over but yourself. 3nodding

Here's an example of a female.



Here's an assignment should you want to practice:

Find a photo of a man and plot in the relationships you think you should look for to draw the pose effectively.
Do the same with a photo of a woman.
If you're feeling adventurous, do the same with a photo of a four legged animal. (Got for something without a lot of long hair that has limbs long enough to make it easier to see, like a large dog, short haired cat, or horse. A mouse would be a bad idea for now.)

Feeling more adventurous? Draw them. No full out fleshing or detail though. Stick to gestures. Show your relationships.


(1) Red. Top of head to ground. Center of gravity. Should be vertical. (1a) Red. Hip to supporting foot. Both are very important for balance.
(2-2a) Blue. Shoulders. (Bottom of the ribcage. I like to have this one. Many people don't use it. I just like to see the waist as a separate section.)
(3-3a) Blue. Hips. (I like putting the top of the pelvis for the same reason.)
These are all very important for attitude.
(4) Yellow. Knees, elbows, ankles, wrists. (In this case, toe to toe. You can use more than just the more important relationships when using complex poses.)
(5)Green. Neck and head direction. Direction of eyes. These are important for storytelling and help add to the objective of the figure. We look at what we're interacting with.
(6)Green. Planes (direction) of the hands and feet. This helps with the gesture and is just as important as any other part. It's also something people tend to overlook because they avoid hands and feet.  

[Enticing-Faye]

A link to a thread, gallery entry, or the image itself
[x]

What you used and how long it took
I used a mechanical pencil and it took me about 15-20 minutes. Maybe less-- it was quite quick.

What YOU think of your piece
D; I need something better to do.
I actually drew this out of anger, if you cannot tell already. I was looking for some avatar art, but the type of art that I want involves bribes in order to be made. I don't have time to be giving away my damn gold just to get nothing if the artist doesn't like my bribe-- understand what I mean?
So it was quick. I find it quite worthless since I cannot draw fingers and the pose itself doesn't say very much, but then again, she's pregnant and can't do very much already-- and she's smoking! Bad bad.

A 2-4 sentence self critique.
Fingers/hand needs work. I need to learn how to draw hands and fingers since I always end up drawing one of 'em too big or too small. BS if I do say so myself. Maybe get the posture right? It seems that the picture gets bigger as it scrolls down the body. Add some shading. I need to find my source of light, but I did add a little bit of shading under the shoe; I guess the source of light is above her. -Shrug-

Well, there's my 2 cents.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Faye, I didn't forget you. Today was very busy. You'll have it early next week.

Iyou, I'm doing my taxes and trying to get a loan for that computer. Let's see how that goes. I'd like to start puttin some focus back into my 3d work.

Pencil Fetish, I'll have a next tutorial about figure construction once you're sure you're good about the relationships. (That is if you haven't run away screaming yet. xd  

[Enticing-Faye]

No worries. =3
I can wait; I've got patience.

<3
Thank you, again, for doing this. Tehe.  

[Errol McGillivray]

Faye, have you drawn anything else after going over the proportions pages?

Announcement:

Errol McGillivray

Sorry I've been a bit MIA. Court case is over. Flooding is almost cleaned. (Though my carpet isn't smelling so hot. neutral ) My phone was cut off and since the internet is through the same service, there's none for me until that bill is paid. Should be this weekend.

I wish everyone would just get the hell off my back and leave me alone so I could draw. (Uh oh... starting to sound like that episode of twilight zone. Good thing I have a second pair of glasses. xd )

 

[Errol McGillivray]

Are any of my mentees still alive?  

[Yukiko Gemini]

||-{The waitress is practicing politics, while the businessmen slowly get stoned...}-||

Um...Would it be proper to assume by the change in your thread title that you're accepting applications for mentees again?

||-{...They're all drinking from a cup they call 'Loneliness', but it's better than drinking alone.}-||

 

[Errol McGillivray]

That I am. xd  

[Yukiko Gemini]

||-{The waitress is practicing politics, while the businessmen slowly get stoned...}-||

Thanks for PMing me, by the way. xD;
Responded to it, but I forgot to say that twice now.~ ^^;

||-{...They're all drinking from a cup they call 'Loneliness', but it's better than drinking alone.}-||

 

[Errol McGillivray]

You can start posting art anytime you're ready.  

[XxOver-rated-muffiNxX]

i need someone to help me in the manga art section  

[Errol McGillivray]

Did you read the first page? Just post your work (according to the guidelines) and I'll help you out the best I can.