hello strawpage anon my sketches literally look like this im not sure i can help you😭😭😭
but alr lol. as you can PROBABLY tell just by looking at these its mostly breaking the body down into shapes. Most artists tell you to draw boxes or whatever the fuck but we're not made of boxes we're made of stupid ovals and cirkels and rounded trapezoids and whatever tf. heres a basic runthrough
i just found this white guy on my pinterest and i think he's cool so let's try to draw him.
if i roughly trace guidelines over him, these are my shapes I end up with. For instance, for the torso i use this weird, curved trapezoid with a thing sticking out shape. Whether you're drawing a man or a woman the chest will protrude, and for women drawing the protrusion also helps me estimate where to place the breasts.
mostly what simplifying the form down like this does for me is it makes humans a LOT easier to imagine in perspective. if I want to draw the body in perspective, it's much easier to rearrange these basic shapes and work from there rather than trying to start with details
similarly, if i wanna draw this guy, it's much easier for me to construct him and redraw from the shapes that i see (especially when NOT tracing over the image, starting off with just shapes helps me nail a pose down pretty much 100% of the time, because i can easily move them around and i can easily get ratios and proportions correct). With a bit of studying the human body and a bit of anatomical knowledge (cant escape this one no matter how bad you wanna), i can easily draw the rest of his body from here within just a couple minutes
otherwise, a big thing i see people making mistakes in is proportions!! Keep in mind simple things like: eyes should be approximately the length of one eye apart from each other; upper arms and forearms (and upper legs and lower legs) are roughly the same length; the waist is the center of the body, dividing you into two equal halves that should be approximately the same length; your hands reach your mid-thigh when your arms are down; your hands are the same size as your face; etc, etc. Use references to practice this stuff! It probably sounds tiring as hell, but when I'm drawing i'm constantly thinking things like "oh, collarbones are this far apart and attach to here" or "shoulders protrude slightly, let me draw a line for that" or "the jaw should be lower, since this character has their mouth open" etcetera enzovoort enzovoort. Ultimate price to pay in order to understand anatomy
Keep in mind to draw organic shapes for the body, if not in your sketch/guidelines then at least in your final render. Depending on your style strong, sharp lines can look really good!! but regardless dynamicism is important, and these styles are typically harder to execute because they're working with stiff shapes. If you're drawing a form of semirealism/stylised realism, where i consider my own art to lie, then these rounded, soft shapes for the body are important.
i personally take note of naturally forming curves on the body and exaggerate them for the sake of stylisation, like this for the arms
or like this for the legs
(i also do this for the torso in order to make the pose more dynamic, which is harder to see with the finished piece through his clothes, but easier to see in my original sketch. The waist is an easy way to make a pose look more dynamic, and therefore a good target for stylisation)
Regardless of your endgoal or dream style, studying accurate, realistic anatomy first is most important, then finding a way to simplify it into basic shapes that make sense to you (i am probably in the minority for how i draw these shapes. I see many artists online using either boxes, cylinders, ovals, you name it. It doesn't matter what your sketch looks like so long as you can make sense out of it and add to it in your lineart fase, so any easy to rotate shapes that make the body simpler to draw works!), and then apply your learned anatomy on top of these shapes to draw accurate, proportionate bodies.
I’m in loooove with the way you use lines, shapes and colors/shading to show form in your art. The way you draw bodies shows a lot of understanding of the shapes that go into them, and that’s something I often personally struggle with. I’m familiar with the shapes of a face, but when it comes to connecting them to the shapes of the body and so on, I get frustrated that it’s jumbled instead of cohesive.
I was wondering, when you’re looking to practice, whether that’s anatomy, line-making, still life shapes or whatever, do you have any exercises you’ve done and would be willing to share? I’ve been trying to crawl out of the no-art-depression-hole for a bit and want to start with things that don’t take much willpower but help me improve
I might be the worst person to ask this! My relationship with art is not typical and I do not practice mindfully! (I just draw whatever I want and that's my practice, y'know?
Anyways, here's my progress of how I learnt to draw :3
Step 1 is proportions - breaking up the human body into manageable blocks and pieces. And step 2 is learning the muscles that build up the body, and from there you can simplify as needed... Or do that thing anime art kids do and skip directly to the simplified bit! (You probably shouldn't do that but if it's a hobby who cares!)
For specific tutorials, I find that proko is probably the best mix of entertaining/educational content you can find, but aside from that I watch a lot of speedpaints.
As a sort of get rich quick scheme, I think the absolute easiest way to get stupidly good at art is studying perspective - but you at least need a basic understanding of proportions and anatomy before you can draw someone in a funky perspective.
Everything in life is in perspective, and every piece of work you will ever make will have perspective in it. Perspective is sort of like an all-encompassing thing in our reality that you don't realise is there, and maybe even not realise is missing in your work (just that something feels... Wrong) AND LIKE NOBODY EVER TALKS ABOUT IT! WHAT THE FLIP!!!
I don't really have a specific source for learning perspective, because I've been on-and-off trying to wrap my head around it for a few years (I'm still awful at it but I'm getting there...!) here's a video!
I do think that drawing with progression in mind might help, but I think with art (as a hobby) the most important thing is probably love for a special guy and joy of creation. You have to love what you're drawing and the simple act of creating, or it just won't work out. If you're in a depression hole maybe just try creating for the sake of it, and don't give yourself too many expectations :)
How did you get so good at drawing such expressive bodies/faces??? tell me your secrets!! (But srsly your skills are amazing)
AAAA THANK YOU!!
I think my initial inspiration was about 10-11 years ago watching Adventure Time and finding Rebecca Sugar’s boards. Sometimes I get a little frustrated because she gets so much more notoriety than the other very very amazing AT boarders, but….. her expressions man…. she was always able to convey so much with SO LITTLE. (SU’s expressions are on another level of course, but I think AT’s are just so impressive to me because they’re dot eyes)
But the thing is!! I’m also a fan of deadpan. Which AT also does very well. It’s tempting to want to do BIG, extreme expressions at every moment, especially in comedic comics, but you really don’t need to. I find that characters often feel more expressive if you reel it in more often. That way, when you DO have bigger expressions, they FEEL bigger!
for example, a panel where the contrast between big and subtle expressions sells the contrast:
I don’t really,,,, know exactly what I do that works, ?? I kind of just like, think of the emotion I wanna convey, make the expression, think about what my face feels feels like, and try to convey that. Using a mirror helps!! You’ll feel a little stupid but it’s funny.
some misc expression tips:
Definitely prioritize eyebrows, eyes, and mouths!
Noses aren’t as important BUT flared nostril can totally sell an expression, so it depends!
Remember that your upper jaw is stationary, and your lower jaw can move, and then your lips and cheeks can move all around that!
Just subtly changing the placement of eyelids and location/size of irises can completely change an expression
Don’t be afraid to make your characters look weird or stupid.
Don’t reinvent the wheel! Take reference from different media you like that stylize expressions in different ways, and find what works for you. I take a lot of inspiration from AtLA
Again, NUANCE! Like, when most people are sad, they do their very best to try NOT to cry. People hold things in. Sometimes what characters don’t say can speak louder than what they do.
some expressions I’ve done that have varying levels of nuance:
Also framing!! You can use the composition to help project how the character feels:
As for body language!
Having a better sense of three-dimensional form and anatomy isn’t necessary, but it sure helps a lot
Hands!! I have adhd and my family is italian so I use my hands a lot when I talk. But even still, most people don’t just leave their hands hanging loosely by their sides. People cross their arms and fidget with their zippers and put their hands in pockets.
Head, neck, and shoulders. If you can master the foreshortening of these overlapping shapes at most angles, you will be very powerful
Hips & feet!!!!! People RARELY stand straight with both feet flat on the ground with even balance. Most people will shift their weight to one hip, leaving one leg looser and at an angle. It also helps to practice perspective, because people also rarely stand with their heels lined up side by side. One leg may get kicked foreward or loosely bent backwards. I sometimes cross my legs when I stand.
Ultimately, if you want more lifelike expressions and poses, study from life!! Don’t worry about your drawing being “good” or “bad”, instead think about what can make it successful. Ask yourself, “is this conveying the expression I want to convey?” and if it’s not, figure out what you need to change to get it there.
one of the best and most unironic pieces of art advice i can give is to draw yourself with your favorites. whatever you want to call it, self insert, self shipping, hanging out with your muse, doesn't matter; draw yourself and your favorite characters in the same space and interacting.
you don't have to post it, but make it for the love of god.
I'm serious, by the way, and it doesn't matter what kind of dynamic you're imagining, either.
if it's platonic or familial-- play with the body language. does your favorite's body language change around you versus other people? if they're a villain, how would they relax in that sense of privacy versus in the public or "keeping the face"? what are the gestures you'd draw for both of you talking? do they touch their face while talking? how would you draw yourself leaning in with attention?
if it's romantic-- how do you draw them relaxing in the space with you, and/or vice versa? if they give comfort with tactile quality, how would they give a hug, and how does the overlapping forms of the bodies interact on paper? how do you draw longing vs satisfaction, and playing with the distance of space of both?
(and yes, if it's sexual-- what kind of kinks have you always hidden away? what's the shit you can't imagine poking at with a stick in daylight or in reality? how would you render the textural implements of fetish items? how does the anatomy work in 3D/perspective/the space itself? how do you draw the raw tension lines of intimacy to the point you "feel" the intimacy and/or it feels believable? how do you convincingly portray shyness or lust?)
this exercise, for lack of a better word, also has a funny but cool side effect of letting you play with how you want to present yourself too. are you not feeling your own shape language? change it up! want to wear the clothes you've always felt a little too scared to put on? want to play drag? use this chance to study how clothes look, how to render the tactile quality of fabric, what makes silk feel different than leather, how would you draw confidence in a person?
how would you erase the idea of artistic shame in your vocabulary?
Second response to a few art questions from @johnny-and-clyde let’s gooo!
I love references! Like most artists I did have that phase where I thought I was better than everyone because I didn’t use ‘em, but lemme tell ya- starting to use references took my art from this
(Art from 2021-2022)
To some better lookin stuff, and eventually to the stuff y’all know me for now lol!
Nowadays I do use references for almost every drawing, but the amount that I reference them varies
Occasionally it’s pretty direct, like my drawing of Curly Shepard, in which I HEAVILY referenced a photo of myself for the pose and fit:
(I don’t dress like this on a daily basis the pic was taken at a Twilight-themed school dance ok) (I’m not cool enough to wear that many necklaces w/o a good reason 😔)
In drawings where I directly reference photos that don’t belong to me, I put the reference in the post under the drawing, so folks know I didn’t plan the concepts/compositions on my own. But usually I don’t directly reference things…
Usually I use a bunch of different references for a bunch of different things. This is for two purposes:
1- Making sure everything stays vaguely anatomically decent, that the fabric folds in the right places, that the perspective works, that the lighting looks good, etc…especially in tricker/unusual poses. Um I’m also pretty sure that I might have some form of aphantasia, or at least a really weak “mind’s eye”, which is probably why I struggle with composition/planning in art and why I do so much better with references
Like here, when I used this pic of Emilio Estevez’s character in Repo Man to make sure I was getting Mark Jennings’s face shape right- just glanced at it off to the side and (more or less) drew what I saw
Or here, in this pic of Steve Randle- I didn’t know how to even start to draw the angle I needed, so I took a pic of myself and used that
2- Capturing the likeness of a person. For most new characters I draw, I take a bunch of screenshots and roughly redraw them and occasionally trace them to build muscle memory, all while taking little notes about unique features they have. Then, once I have a feel for them, and enough odd-looking line drawings to look like a crazy stalker, I’m ready to start actually drawing post-able art yk?
Here’s an example from 2023 where I studied Nancy Wheeler. Final product ain’t fantastic, but this was two-school-years ago so it’s basically ancient in my book lol
I do still use refs often in the finals, but less directly and with less adherence
But I will say, for rougher/cartoonier drawings I don’t use as many refs. Like, I didn’t use references for these (although I did pose in the mirror to get the arm right in the self-portrait lol) :
Lastly, I also find it’s nice to have a mirror/window nearby to look at my own anatomy and reference that, although that’s mainly just useful for characters who look semi-like me/have similar builds to me lol. Like I can reference myself for drawing Steve Randle or Johnny Cade (at least his face lol), but not so much for drawing like…Dally or Evie or Marcia. Still, it’s useful, especially when I can’t find a specific reference I want, yk?
Anyhow, those are the main ways I utilize references in art! Hope some of this was helpful :))
Hi! First post of the Art Resources thing I mentioned a while back :) Figured I'd start with something people generally want to know more about- or something people think they already know about but could still used some lesser known tips!
Resources, break downs and tips under the Keep Reading thing :]
1. The Basics
There are thousands of methods to constructing the face. The most popular one is the little circle with the cross in the middle, and sometimes a few more lines for the jaw. While that can be a useful guideline, if you're just starting to learn the ropes it might be better to use a method that has more structure decomposition and land marks to help guide you. Here I'll leave two methods of deconstructing the face that I believe are the most useful to draw faces in different angles and perspectives as well as identify where exactly should each element be placed.
REMEMBER: All of these methods are just guidelines. In order to get different facial features, you can adjust proportions for each of these and play around with sizes.
1.1 The Loomis Method
A structural approach to drawing the head, based on first: simplifying general forms and second: identifying landmarks for the face elements. Pretty good for beginners, helps you understand the head from a more tridimensional stand point to be able to draw it from different angles.
1.2 The Reilly Method
Also a structural approach, but this one is based on understanding the rhythms of the face (proportions, harmonies, and even some general muscular anatomy). It can be a bit harder to understand and use as a building block for beginner artists, but it can serve as a way to check your proportions after an initial sketch.
Here are other two methods, a bit less known, but that go a bit more in depth about the head. If you're a beginner, I'd recommend watching the Loomis method first before diving into these other two methods. Note: these are playlists covering each method, and the videos are longer, but worthwhile.
1.3 The Michael Hampton Method
1.4 The Steve Huston Method
And here's a hybrid of a visual and structural approach too if you're interested! (Again, this one is recommended mostly if you already have a good grasp of the general structure)
Having trouble finding that reference of the head from that specific angle? Here's a 3D model that can be used as reference from any angle. Bonus: It has a built in light feature that allows you to understand which planes of the face the light would hit!
There's also a version with more feminine features.
Here's a website that lets you pick a head angle and then searches for reference images with that angle too. Allows you to pick age, gender, and other features like glasses, facial hair, etc.
2. Understanding What's Below
When drawing the head and face, what most people think of is what we see everyday: the skin. However, there's more to the head and face than just that: there's a whole structure laying underneath that builds up everything on top. Understanding that structure can lead to better execution of skin level facial anatomy.
And what's that structure? Well, bones of course. And muscles. Even if (most of the time) we don't draw them, knowing they exist and how they are placed on top of each other can help with building what we do draw. Understanding the building blocks of the face will make it easier to avoid, say, making one eye bigger than the other. Or a forehead that's too small. Or ears that are too high. Or side profiles that cut off the brain.
Something I recommend for this is making study sheets of the bone structure, muscular structure, and skin structure. For this it's important to name the main bones and muscle groups. Not because you need to commit them to memory, but because if you name them on your practice sheet, it's easier to remember later on that they EXIST (even if you don't remember the name).
Here's a 3D model of the skull
Useful guide for the names of the bones of the skull
Here's a 3D model of the face muscles with names
3. Elements of a Whole
So we now understand the general structure of a face and some useful guidelines to build it. Good! But now, a face has a bunch of individual elements with their own individual structure and stuff to look out for. Those are, of course:
Eyes
Noses
Lips
Ears
3.1 Eyes
It's important to note that the eye has a volume of its own- it's not just a sticker laying on top of the face. It can be helpful to think of the eyeball inside the eye socket when drawing it (taking into account the bone structure we learned before). When understanding the eyeball as a sphere, it becomes easier to place the skin above: the eyelids. This can help with drawing the eye from any angle.
This can also help when drawing the dreaded Other EyeTM, specially if you are still a beginner artist. If you start by constructing the eyes with spheres and approach it from the perspective of "placing" the skin above that sphere, it's easier to get sizes and proportions right.
3.2 Noses
Again, spheres can be your friend.
3.3 Lips
Spheres part 3
A funny thing with lips that often gets over looked when one is just learning the ropes of anatomy is that it also wraps around the volume of the face. Just like the eyes aren't stickers laying on top, the lips aren't either. It's important to take the curvature of the face when placing the lips from different angles and expressions. For example, when we thing of a smile, its usually this idea that comes to mind:
Which yeah, that's fine! ...As long as your subject is facing straight to the camera.
But when we have even a bit of perspective, the way the mouth looks changes, and we often don't think of that and just draw what we think the mouth looks like... which can lead to odd looking mouths, like they're pasted on. So, it's important to keep in mind the volume of the face:
This is true for all features of the face: keeping in mind the volume. But, it can be more noticeable on the mouth.
3.4 Ears
Spheres part- no.
Even if the ear is one of the "flatter" parts of the head, it doesn't mean they don't have volume. Depending on the angle of the face, it'll change how much of the ear is shown- or which parts.
All ears are different and have their quirks, but they all can be divided in three major segments, colour coded in the image. If you deconstruct the ear in these three major parts, keeping in mind they have their own volume, it should be easier to figure out which of those parts will be seen depending on the angle of your face.
4. Expressions!
Now that we understand the elements and construction blocks of the face (bones and muscles), we can play around with them a bit more. So, time to make expressions!
When playing with how the skin moves, it's fundamental to understand the muscle groups of the face and how they move, relax and tense depending on the expression. Knowing that these muscles exist and how they interact with the skin above will help you know where the eyebrow should furrow, where wrinkles would form.
A BOOK I widely recommend is Anatomy of Facial Expression, which you can find here for purchase
Or here as a PDF
This book also covers skull anatomy, so it's a useful tool to study the structure talked about in 02.
There's also an ArtStation account that uploads a bunch of useful 3D model resources for anatomy (facial or otherwise).
Scott McCloud's book, Making Comics, has a section dedicated to facial expressions too (great book in general, not only if you're interested in comics!). You can find it in PAGE 80 (or 88 in the document).
Another thing that can be helpful is studying from life! You can do that by making different expressions in front of a mirror and pay close attention to which muscle groups tense and relax, where wrinkles appear, how your skin moves. Or, if you're like me and hate staring at your face, you can also study from video references.
Here's a link to a PLAYLIST containing various videos of people making different expressions.
The previous playlist contains real people, thus, REALISTIC ANATOMY. It's important to note that even if your drawing style is heavily stylised (like anime, cartoon, etc), it's still fundamental that you understand real world rules so you later know how to bend and break them properly to implement those to your own style.
However, that doesn't mean you can't study STYLISED EXPRESSIONS too! It's actually a great idea to see how other people exaggerate certain anatomical aspects to their own work so you can also understand how to do it in yours. Here's a list with various videos of EXPRESSIONS IN MOTION for animation tests. Study them the same as the previous ones: paying close attention to how the face and muscles MOVE.
Pause the videos you study as needed! While all of this might seem more useful for animation, it's also incredibly useful in illustration, and studying things in movement can help with understanding them better, thus putting them to paper (or tablet) becomes easier.
Finally, here's some videos in a sort of CLASS FORMAT that can help with walking you through drawing expressions more effectively than a text post could lol
Could you show your sketching process? Like what base skeletons you use for the characters to make it so dynamic? Maybe using cuddy x cameron or hilson :)
Of course!! This is going to be long winded so Ill put this under the cut hahah
Im gonna follow my process chronologically with a few of my works to explain my different approaches!
HILSON
So especially for poses including two people i often use an app on my phone called "Magic Poser". This helps me understand the perspective and scale of the characters a bit better since this is something I struggle with. So ill take the models and pose them how I want them. What this app REALLY helps me with light sources since that is customizable too^^
So then I enter a phase where I am studying the pose. For this drawing I did it traditionally. first thing i do is break down the figures volumetrically, which is a figure drawing method where you break down the figure into simple box like forms. This helps me gain an understanding of how the shapes are interacting with space.
After that, I draw over the forms adding things like hair and clothes and building the specific face/body shapes of the character.
I do also use the little "circles" to mark joints when im drawing fast!
After that I scan the pencil sketch I do into Krita, and follow my work to get some lineart!.
CAMCUDDY
This one was a similar process, but i ported the reference image straight into my drawing program.
After that i do a volumetric sketch over the reference to break it down.
And then i do a more creative pass where i make these boxy dolls look more like the characters im trying to draw!
from there i do a final line art pass, and then i sit back..... and stare at it..... because even though model references SEEM fool-proof there are often things that just dont look right! Its really important to remember to not use those kinds of references as gospel, it should be a convenience and assistance rather than a crutch. So ill often go in and change things, either outright erasing and redrawing or using the warp tool to move stuff around! These models are only so helpful if once ur done you look at the drawing and it just looks straight doo doo lol.
FREESTYLE
While I do use models alot for something i want to draw really fast, its important to not rely on them! That can make your art become super rigid if you don't push yourself.
For drawings I approach without, i kinda go buck wild! Here on this one you'll see i kind of blend my volumetric phase with my detailing phase:
With these looser drawings i focus on shape and gesture. Then ill just do a final cleaning up pass for the line art.
I have a really fast and dirty drawing style that doesnt always lend itself to "perfect anatomy", but im far more concerned with visual appeal rather than realism.
Alot of the confidence I have with anatomy comes from yearssssss of drawing casually, and my classical study in college!
RESOURCES
I do really recommend some level of classical study when it comes to drawing the figure! Here are some video's on it I have watched and studied during my time in college that I really recommend:
I hope this was helpful!! haha sorry i get really nerdy about drawing process :))) If you have any additional questions let me know!
Hello! I just wanted to tell you that I love your art and it inspires me to do better. It's probably lots and lots of practice but I feel like regardless of what pose or perspective or facial expressions you draw they all look so amazing!
So I'm wondering if you have any tips or suggestions on how to achieve such an accuracy? Is there some practice you're doing or a tutorial you can recommend? Stuff like that.
I hope this is not a bother, if it is then please feel free to ignore this! Thanks in advance either way!!
HI! it's not a bother at all, but i do want to preface that i'm a hobbyist so i don't really have any structured practice that i routinely do ;;
IN TERMS OF ANATOMY AND ACCURACY: kel's tutorials have helped me in the past with pinning down some deficiencies, especially when it came to hair and shoes. manga materials also has super helpful notes and tips for anatomy. unfortunately, the only way to get better at drawing sth "accurately" is to continuously redraw it - eventually you'll be able to simplify them into shapes and form shortcuts for yourself.
edit: also wanted to say that, i tend to just draw a lot of the same things over and over again (same pose, same angle, etc.) and as a hobbyist, that personally is okay with me! and if you are in the same boat, just recognize that while you will get better at drawing that particular pose/face/etc, your growth in the long run may become stagnant. i know in the artist community, there is a neg connotation associated with that (same face syndrome, one trick pony, etc) but in the end, you should create the art that YOU like. however, exploring diff perspectives and angles will absolutely accelerate your growth.
IN TERMS OF STYLIZATION: honestly what i felt really propelled my improvement (and motivation) was emulating my fav artists. i do NOT mean plagiarizing their artwork but studying the way they draw, identifying which elements you like, and incorporating that into your process.
like, i have so many artists that i've drawn inspo from. 2gold and killmerzo's linework both informed how i line, especially with line weights and shading. mgong and yuto sano also largely influenced how i went about drawing faces.
again, just wanna reiterate that i'm not endorsing plagiarism! but studying an artist's work is a good starting point for where you want your style to go.
