Help with Sketching

[djmojo]

Could I get some tips posted in here on how to sketch, Im talking like real sketching, pages of thumbnail drawings to get my shape and form back (used to draw but I let it slip alot... and I mean alot)...

its hard to explain what I mean really, just like tips and tricks to start, things I should practice, the best way to get back what I had the fastest other htan practice practice, I know I need to, but what should I practice the most, concentrate on....

[Rellik]

In my opinion the best way to draw well is to be born with natural talent. Then all you have to do is look at other peoples artwork like crazy. Look through how to draw books, look at comics, look at the internet. Look at pencil sketches, inked drawings and colored artwork. Then emulate what you see.

I draw really fast, sloppy and well. The secret is to have a basic understanding of anatomy and porportion and such. That way, after you get down the basic shapes you just add layers of detail.

Don't try to make each sketch a masterpiece. LET EACH DRAWING FLOW AND BECOME WHATEVER IT WANTS TO BECOME. If it sucks, start over.

Hope that helps.

[djmojo]

I was born with natural talent and then I didnt draw for about 5-6 years... okay I drew something here and there but I didnt keep at it and my skills deteriorated...

yeah I dont try to make my sketches masterpieces, alot of people do because everyone asks to see your sketchbook and you want to impress people... oh well.

so I should practice life drawing then? I guess thats what I was going to do if nobody replied, any other ideas? you started off drawing from other peoples drawings? I always heard that was bad because you couldnt actually see the object in 3d... but I have never taken any schooling for drawing so Im no expert :P

[djmojo]

school started, I focused more on guitar, when really I could be doing both... I just find it hard to stay focused on something for sooo long... I need to work on that.

[Rellik]

I have never really drawn from life, and I do perspective and stuff fine. It helps to have references though. I think I learn more by seeing how other people draw a particular pose or scene than by looking at it in real life. The only time I use a 3D reference is when I draw hands, because I have two at hand wherever I go. (was that an unentintional pun? I hope not...)

But that is for comic style artwork. I suppose for realistic stuff, drawing things from real life would be a great benefit. I just never had the urge to draw anything very realistic.

Don't take my word for it though. I'm not exactly a pro.

[mtw]

Originally posted by Rellik
In my opinion the best way to draw well is to be born with natural talent.
No one needs natural talent to draw well.

Your sketches can range from gestural drawings to fairly detailed drawings, so you can choose to spend either a really short time or a kind of long time on a sketch. With gestural drawings, let your pencil fly real fast over you paper and look only at the object and the characteristics of it's shape. Gestures don't need to look like what you looked at, but it will loosen you up and maybe help you make more expressive lines in the future.

For longer sketches, work slowly. Make rough shapes to show placements of things and keep working roughly until you make sure you get perspective and proportions correct. Then get more detailed.

Someone better than can probably give better tips, though. I'm just getting back into drawing myself. I noticed you said that you have trouble focusing on things, and that's something I have a problem with as well. What's helped me in the last week is to get myself spending the whole day drawing, every day. It's helped me improve and I'm not as interested in slacking off anymore.

Good luck with drawing.

[djmojo]

I cant draw all day because I work full time ... but I will try to draw more... thank you for all the help... what artists should I look at to study their sketches? Im thinking fast sketches like the gesture drawings, maybe a little more concrete... somewhere between that and detailed sketches...

[tinyhands]

I'm gonna have to agree with mtw. No needs natural talent to draw well. In fact, I think people with natural talent are a dime a dozen, and the people that have a better work ethic and the people that have to struggle to learn things, rather than be naturally good, are ultimately better artists. Even people from the past that are considered masters today, although they had alot of natural talent, they worked hard on top of that. Plus schools for artists then were much better too. As far as sketching goes, thats ultimately and individual thing. The best advice I can give is this: Learn fundamental drawing, anatomy, perspective etc. The more you know the better. And if your knowledge base is sound, you can draw as loose as you want because you'll know what your indicating, and you'll know how to keep it all in control.

[jester]

Come and join us in the Middle Class (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=38)

:D

Jester

[Rellik]

No one needs natural talent to draw well.

I said the best way... perhaps I should have said easiest. I didn't mean people can't learn to be good drawers and I certainly didn't mean that naturally talented people can't improve or that they are better than anyone else.

I have done a little life drawing at school and here are some interesting ways to practice.
1) Don't look at the paper. It won't look anything like what you were trying to draw, but that is okay.
2) Draw everything without lifting your pencil (so it is one big line). And don't just do an outline, get details in there too.
3) Don't draw outlines. Create the picture by only sketching the shadows and such.

Hope that gives you some ideas. I think #2 is the funnest.

[djmojo]

does anyone have a couple links I can look at to copy some sketches, just to get the feeling for their shape and whatnot... its so daunting to start from observation... maybe thats what I need to do....

[mtw]

sparth's sketches from Monteclier (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7553) are good sketches. They're examples of longer studies. Yours don't need to look like that, though. Just draw and you'll get into the flow after you do enough of them.

[jester]

Check out Kevin Cheng's threads!

Jester

[djmojo]

what is this kevin cheng's user name? Im not really sure how to find the threads in the search for him.

[jester]

It's KChen. You can alway use the "search" function at the top of each page.

The thread I esp. recommend can be found here (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1432)

Jester

[tinyhands]

definately check out kevin chens posts. But understand, those are alot more than mere sketches. He has an incredible knowledge base, and even though some of his quicksketches might look simple, there not. Drawing simple and editing information is way harder than drawing detail. Hes using a combination of whats called the Reilly method and a bunch of other things i'm sure learned used along the way.

[djmojo]

okay cool thanks! yeah I tried searching for "kevin cheng" and that wasnt helping and if I seached for Kevin or something it got unrelated threads...

yeah I just want some sketches I can look at and analyze and then work out my own method I guess... so I should really be drawing human figures... thast what Ill start on tonight then :P

[djmojo]

hey I havent posted her for a while, is there somewhere I can get a list of artists webpages on this board somewhere?

[cateaic]

Andrew Loomis is a good one to study ... go to http://www.saveloomis.org/ click on the figure drawing for all its worth book. It will open an adobe acrobat program with all the pages there for you.

[spok]

ok, i already discussed this with my sister ( hey violette), and we came to the conclusion that the real talent, was your patience. Your patience to keep drawing, and finding new techniques, patience to develop a style, patience to explore books (comics, B-D, magazines...), net, posters, commercials, cd covers...hell, anything you want...but as i said you have to have the patience to evolve...

[Jeff Gran]

You're right. There is something that great artists have that others don't, but it's not natural talent for art. I have a teacher who put it another way: "Genius in art is really just a tremendous capacity for enthusiasm". If you love art, and always want to do it and to get better, then you will be a great artist.

[nikia]

I was away from sketching for several years, except for bits and pieces here and there. I'm seriously getting back into it now. I found I am very rusty, more with memory than anything. I still have the loose lines. Two things that help me.

1 You like music. Put some music on and go with the beat. Something fast. It'll keep your lines loose. Rough sketches.

2 The comments I recieved when my art went up helped the most. The comments jogged my memory on some of the more common rules of drawing. Things I knew way back when, but forgot. I actually had to look up the meaning of perspective, because I couldn't remember what it meant. Also I used books when I couldn't remember what a particular part of a body looked like. Look through the people's work here and read the comments.