headless studies

[SMILEFACE]

ive been notice'n alot of people do'n killer studies but they dont attach the head or hands/feet i do this too but i just realized i can do portaits ok an bodyparts ok but some times i create a body i think is cool but then i can't get the face or head right or vise versa
so i was think'n it might be a good idea to balance out indavidale body part studies w/ whole body studies
what do yall think? an does any body esle know what i mean?(aside from my inability to type)
thanks for any comments

[Flake]

some times i create a body i think is cool but then i can't get the face or head right

That's because heads/faces/likeness are much harder than "a body".

Get shoulders an inch wrong, it might be obvious or it might not, get a nose an inch wrong and you're painting mutants.

Compared to "a figure" the margin of error for a face or likeness is tiny.

[SMILEFACE]

thanks Flake do you start with the face an work down?

so where does every one start one of my friends always starts w/ the eyes an another roughfs out the whole body

where do all of yall start a full figure?

[alesoun]

I always rough out the whole figure, starting with the head so I can keep an eye on proportion.

[nonie]

I block the whole figure but start with the torso and legs, these set up the weight distribution and body language.

The way the human mind understands communication starts with body language - facial expression is important too but not as much.

[Flake]

I'd start with marking the upper and lower extremities of the model to fit the page, then working between them, try and get a good image on your page.

Edit: watch the spine, and especially the collerbones as the arms hang off them, they're like coathangers.

I'd always focus on the face though, that's the thing your brain will see first if you're anything like 98% of people.

Edit: Think about it, your eye is drawn to contrasts and the biggest contrast is likely to be the eyes, regardless of anything else, eyes tend to feature the whitest and blackest areas of any given figure.

[alesoun]

Every point on the face relates to somewhere on the body. I use LOTS of construction lines when I work from ref. I start with the head (but that's my preference; not the right or wrong way), get a line for the spine, legs and arms, then work from there. Then swear some, get an eraser and fix things; rinse and repeat.....

[Grief]

i work from large to small. finding the biggest mass of the structure and use it as my starting point.

so i start with the breasts...

[alesoun]

Hahahahah!

[kelly x]

Great question and I start with the eyes first then nose mouth face shape neck then work my way down shoulders arms, you know... I just work this way and think everyone works differently, I feel the face and body are equally as important. But I love the way Grief works for sure!!(hahahahah)

[SMILEFACE]

thanks alesoun thats great i like rough'n it out too
thanks nonie thats great as'well i never thought about body language
thanks Flake thats great too i hadnt thought of the contrast idea before ethier
thanks alesoun thats also great i like the land mark idea
thanks Grief thats also great as'well is that where i should put the contrast:D
thanks alesoun that is funny
an thanks spaztastic an kelly for not make'n with the goods i know you where here lol'd
(i ran out ta ways to say thats great half way through the post)
thanks everybody yall RRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKK

AND I WOULD LIKE TO HERE MORE PLEASE

edit alright kelly's clear but spaz needs to coughf it up ... no preasure

[Kagemusha22]

I used to do this too. When I started lifedrawing I used to end up (unconsciously) enlarging the torso, which meant I could only fit the body in, and so by the time I'd get to finishing the drawing off I only had a body on the page. (At which point I'd go "Oh fuck it, at least it looks like something")

It's only really been recent that I've made a concerted effort to get the whole figure on the page, with mixed results. But it's improved my drawing in the long run, and allowed me to vary my stuff.

Oh if you want to know where I start off, I usually start with basic geometric shape (the first usually representing the torso), and build it up from there. (Usually putting that wavy shit that I do in my lifedrawing, after building the form)

[SMILEFACE]

hey thanks kagemusha22 i do that too an then i start again an the basic geometric shapes is a great way too
ive started try'n out everybodies replied so far but i would like to here MORE from any an every body THANKS SO MUCH for the replies already yall RRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
another one i heard from an amazing artist was he finds the longest line then follows the spine then collar bone make'n "c" an "s" shaped lines(suttly curved lines mostly) but like i said id like to here MORE PLEASE i want to i geuss see how others think of full figure drawing

[Pezz]

I try to capture a good gesture first before I start blocking anything in really.

I block the head in more at first to make sure I have a properly proportioned head to measure the rest of the body. Insert swooshy collarbone line. I block in rib cage and sternum and its relationship in width to the pelvis and then the pelvis, measuring it in relationship to the skull. Arms I measure in relationship to the rib cage and the sternum's position etc, and just go by face size for the hands depending on if I want to exaggerate them or not.

Depending on what I'm doing, I build up cylinders and basic muscle mass shapes very lightly to bulk out the figure - I can adjust it here. I still have trouble with leg muscles ;\

But I'm still playing with this construction stuff. If I'm drawing a model for the sake of drawing a model, I will sometimes block it in with a sort of rectilinear perimeter.

[SMILEFACE]

thanks Pezzle thats great! i will add this to my efforts

[JailHouseRock2]

Yeah recently I've been trying to get a good strong gesture even if its just a quick stick figure.
I think (or hope) this at least helps to ground the figure.

Then I'd start to ruff out a basic outline, just so I know where everything is. Then I'd go from there, trying not to work on one part more than another, so everything always at the same level of render.

hope that helps Mr spect, and again I would suggest finding a lifedrawing class.
And if you can't find a good one, at least try alesoun's tactic, which sounds like a mixture of bribery and kidnap, but whatever works aye alesoun!

Cheers for the tips and advice everyone!
matt