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funkmasterrex · 5 years ago
@guest straight lines aren't THAT important; rulers exist. I still can't draw a straight line to save my ass, but I can draw pretty much any curve and I also developed the "sketch back and forth" technique as I like to call it lol.
guest_ · 5 years ago
@funkmasterrex- I’m not the best with straight lines myself, and they aren’t the most important thing in the world necessarily. But a straight line is the foundation or key component to many basic shapes. Anything you want to draw well you will need the motor control to draw the line you want. It doesn’t matter if that line is straight for .1mm or 100 feet, or if it curls around. To draw what you want the line must go where you tell it. If I need a precision line I use a straight edge, lots of artists far better than me do too. You can use compasses or other tools to make precise curves as well. At a point though it’s arguable if you’re drawing or drafting, but either way you’re creating. The straight line is a good place to start. I wouldn’t let it hold you up, but it’s a good simple place to start telling the pencil where you want it to go, and very easy to tell if it came out as imagined and where it went wrong.
sublime_chicken · 5 years ago
@jay2327 The best thing you can do is just practice and never give up- dont start by tracing, you need to try and learn to draw what you see. You can look at a picture online and start there. The more you practice, the more you are going to see yourself improve. Draw every day. Experiment with materials. Try sharpie. Or ball point pen even, because they are a surprisingly excellent tool for drawing and are easy to shade with. Practice shading skills as well and drawing the 3d shapes with shadows. Once you start hear and learn the fundamentals, youre all set!
xvarnah · 5 years ago
I remember in one of my school art classes the teacher trying to teach us how to draw straight lines-- less because he cared if we could, more to teach us the way you have to alter the natural pull of your arm to compensate, and give us a better understanding of movement across the paper
But seconding what everyone else is saying-- whether you follow a how to draw or draw still life or just your imagination, the important thing is that you DO draw. It's like writing-- it doesn't matter if your first draft is perfect (if it is, YOU might secretly be Michaelangelo). The important thing is you get down SOMETHING. I had an art journal once that had a different prompt on every page-- and you can find lots of prompts on google if you're feeling stuck for ideas.
Also keep in mind that not ever artist is good at every style. Someone who does fantastic manga or landscape may fail at realism or portraiture. Feel free to explore different styles to see what fits you the best.
xvarnah · 5 years ago
Also, when/if you're planning on shading, there's a lot of techniques you can use such as stippling (making a lot of dots, closer together for dark areas, spread out for light areas), crosshatching, etc, but one thing I was taught was, on a separate sheet of paper, to make a "value scale" with my pencil.
Basically start by making a square as dark as you can to represent your black value, and then create different squares next to it, getting lighter each time, until you eventually get to white. You can compare the object your shading to your value scale to make sure you're not making part of the drawing too dark/too light.
Here's an example of one since my description may be confusing:
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/note1tonetexture-140119031248-phpapp01/95/tone-texture-14-638.jpg?cb=1390101226
signofcrashtest · 5 years ago
I don't recommend tracing pictures, just draw lots of still lifes.The main thing beginning artists learn first is learning how to draw something realistically, instead of using symbols. For example, if you draw a chair from memory, it's going to look simplistic and weird. But if you can see the chair, then it's easier to draw what it actually looks like instead of imaging it.
jay2327 · 5 years ago
Shit guys, you have all opened my eyes to so many possibilities and suggestions. Thanks times a million!
silvermyth · 5 years ago
always be drawing. Bring a pencil everywhere. Draw on napkins. Draw on used receipts. Keep a sketchbook and draw the crappiest drawings in it. If you’re bad at something, draw it until you’re good at it. Use references. Memorise how things look like, their parts. Figure out how shadows work. Learn proportions and how to bend them and have it still look ok. Use the eraser but don’t rely on it. Put dates on your art so you can see how far you’ve come.
funkmasterrex · 5 years ago
@silvermyth Unless it's uber important, I'd say just throw the eraser away or find a different way to fix the problem. I hate erasers.... they only clear up like 90% of it, you can still see the mark. Now... as a blending tool between colored pencils, that's different.
But while sketching for sketching's sake? screw the eraser.
@guest_ left handed; none of that shit worked because the teachers I had couldn't flip it. Drafting vs drawing because of a straight line? Hardly. A lot of stuff i've drawn starts with just blocking things off into 9's, establishing a horizon, and then skeleton outlines, pretty much all of which need a ruler. I don't get into the circles much, I rarely need a perfect circle/sphere... even when illustrating the sun; I used the negative space and color into the sun so the white is the brightness instead. That lesson took me a good 4 years lol.
guest_ · 5 years ago
@funkmasterrex Lol. I’m not questioning what works for you, and I’m not saying using a ruler makes it drafting. I’m saying that there are all kinds of tools to help, but at some point it comes down to what you can do. Style plays a big part as does medium and subject- but the fundamentals of drawing are lines and shapes. People learn lots of ways. I didn’t learn the fundamentals to start. I learned how to copy things I saw, then what looked “right” or “wrong” in my drawings by trial and error. People can play piano or guitar beautifully without ever learning to read sheet music, they can use tabs or anything that works including by ear. If someone asked me how to learn to play piano though- I’d tell them to learn sheet music and basic theory.
guest_ · 5 years ago
But most of all I’d tell them to do whatever works for them, keep playing and practicing, but not get burnt out
xvarnah · 5 years ago
@jay2327 glad we could help :) hopefully it wasn't too much information all at once.
Though, obviously if you need more clarification, it seems there's a small army of people ready and willing to offer help.
There's also some channels on YouTube that can be quite helpful in whatever medium/style/technique you choose
funkmasterrex · 5 years ago
no doubt with the piano metaphor... I was just critiquing one minor point you made bro, otherwise, spot on.
silvermyth · 5 years ago
@funkmasterrex You probably don’t have a great eraser, or draw too hard. Those high polymer ones work great as well as the ones that can be formed with the hand.
funkmasterrex · 5 years ago
maybe... part of it is also my choice of paper i'd imagine. Either way, practicing a few times before something is still a good idea imo. You remember that Carnotaurus I posted? I'm still trying to figure out his eye and teeth... it's been months and I'm tempted to just paint over it now.
xvarnah · 5 years ago
"Art is never finished - only abandoned" - Leonardo Da Vinci
funkmasterrex · 5 years ago
Leo can suck it XD
xvarnah · 5 years ago
@funkmasterrex given how long he's been dead, the probability of him having lips anymore seems rather low
funkmasterrex · 5 years ago
fine he can dust it.
silvermyth · 5 years ago
Eat the dust