drawing people in coffee shops?

[pencilgeek]

i know im suppose to draw quick and draw long pencil strokes but do i draw the people in their clothing long detail drawing are do i focus on drawing faste stick figures?...im new at drawing...if you guys and girls have time take a look at my sketch book tell me what you think...i know bad grammer my bad lol.

[timpaatkins]

Well you know they say we have a thousand bad paintings to do before we get to the good ones. Same goes ofr sketching, just multiply that with 10..
Just sit down, and start cranking htem out. Soon enough youll realize what you need to focus on, in order to get something recognizable on the page. And before you know it, your visual memory will start to help you fill in what you didn't get those few first seconds. But you gotta start biting of the horrible ones, otherwise you'll never get to the good ones.
Come on now, EVERY lunch hour.
Enjoy!

[armando]

It depends on how much time you have, and what you're trying to accomplish. If people are moving around a lot, and far away, then stick figures. Even with stick figures you can get some individuality into you're drawing, maybe the person is really tall like a giraffe, so make the proportions of the stick figure show it: long neck, gangly arms and whatnot, and still just using circularish shapes and different lengths of line. If they're closer and not moving, then you can concentrate more on specific/individual/one of a kind shape, form, lighting, or whatever other specific thing you want to work on.

[pencilgeek]

thanks guys for the info.

[feifeicreate]

I find it rather hard to do long poses from coffee shop people. They move around a lot, and unless they're sleeping, they rarely stay still. what I normally do is draw quick sketches, or focus on one detail like hands, face, ears...I think the good thing about drawing coffee shop people is that you are forced to draw quick, get the bigger pose first in few strocks, and get into details if your subject doesn't move by then.

Another place I find really interesting to draw is casinos. People sit in front of slot machine for hours...and they normally keep one pose (with a blank face too LOL) ...better than coffee shops actually. And you have all kinds of people in different race, shape, age......Everytime my family or friends go to casino, I just sit there and draw...it's really fun!

[Toxdel]

you could always go to the zoo and draw depressed monkeys like I did. They hold perfectly still for hours :P

[Asatira]

Much like armando said, it depends on what you want to do and the time you have. Yeah, people are not going to stay still, but it's still a good exercise for learning gestures and to not focus on details first. Try to catch what caught your attention first, then try to get more in as you can.

Me, I've had some fun drawing in airports while waiting for a flight or while waiting in a bank lobby. I got a variety of sketches one evening while attending an outdoor ballet performance. When I drew the audience before the performance and the intermission, I got some pretty good quick pen gesture sketches. While the light was still good, I got very gestural stick figures of the dancers. Just get out there and draw, and you'll figure out your goals.

[Nopig]

Kind of on the same subject, another question. From experience has anyone ever had a pissed off subject flip out on them while you were sketching them? I never do any life drawing out in public because of that fear haha.

[feifeicreate]

:P click the wrong button...but for your question, no I've never had anyone get really pissed at me drawing them. For the most part, people love to be the subject, it's the attention. most people love to know that someone find them interesting enough to take the time and effort to draw them.

I had one girl who's a bit paranoid I guess, I carefully torn the page off my sketch book and give her the sketch. She's a bit surprised that I did that, and happy to have the sketch. LOL...people are like that you know, make them feel special and important, that's all they needs really.

[bleupencil]

Focus on gestural drawing and get the essence of their pose/character down. You don't need to focus on details for this stuff, it all comes out in the gesture. For info on gestural drawing (I'm assuming you're an animator with this kind of talk about having to go to coffee shops and such), check out Glen Vilppu's videos (google them, I think they're available for purchase somewhere) and especially Walt Stanchfield's notes - they're gold!
http://www.animationmeat.com/notes/waltstanchfield/waltstanchfield.html

I never bother much with long drawings for the very reason previous posters have spoken of: they move too much! Some people are pretty good and can get a nice clean drawing down, but not me :\

Nopig, that fear is probably groundless. Most folks will look at you weirdly or walk away or even come up to see what you're doing, but you've got a small chance (albeit not no chance) of some wacko flipping out on you. I am just afraid of people looking at my stuff and tend to shut my book whenever someone comes close, lol.

Edit... Oh crap. I just noticed the animation meat link doesn't have the notes online. Maybe you can google for them, and if all else fails, PM me and I'll see what I can do for you, I have most of them (I think).

[D.C.]

Focus on gestural drawing and get the essence of their pose/character down. You don't need to focus on details for this stuff, it all comes out in the gesture. For info on gestural drawing (I'm assuming you're an animator with this kind of talk about having to go to coffee shops and such), check out Glen Vilppu's videos (google them, I think they're available for purchase somewhere) and especially Walt Stanchfield's notes - they're gold!
http://www.animationmeat.com/notes/waltstanchfield/waltstanchfield.html

I never bother much with long drawings for the very reason previous posters have spoken of: they move too much! Some people are pretty good and can get a nice clean drawing down, but not me :\

Nopig, that fear is probably groundless. Most folks will look at you weirdly or walk away or even come up to see what you're doing, but you've got a small chance (albeit not no chance) of some wacko flipping out on you. I am just afraid of people looking at my stuff and tend to shut my book whenever someone comes close, lol.

Edit... Oh crap. I just noticed the animation meat link doesn't have the notes online. Maybe you can google for them, and if all else fails, PM me and I'll see what I can do for you, I have most of them (I think).

This should work :)
http://www.animationmeat.com/pdf/misc/waltstanchfield/

[jubjubjedi]

I do this every other day, it's a great way to speed up your drawing skills and develop hand/eye coordination. Pen, marker, watercolor, pencil, coffee stains... anything to get the job done and the idea down on paper. I frequent most of the coffee houses near where I live and there are always ample opportunities to sketch.
The immediacy of the thing is what makes it beneficial and exciting since you have no idea how still the "model" is going to be, or how long the pose will be retained, and often you will be forced to improvise or abandon the sketch altogether, thereby bolstering creativity and encouraging the lack of attachment to your scribblings...