Need help, staring with the basics.

[Hexal]

http://www.cedarcountyia.com/imghost/s1.jpg http://www.cedarcountyia.com/imghost/s2.jpg

Here are two pages i did the a loomis book that online from gfx artist.com C&C wanted on how they look. Lately I have been trying very hard to draw and get better but I get very frustrated with what I come up with and then I leave it. I usualy say the next day "I WILL DRAW A CHARACTER CONCEPT TODAY FOR A MODEL ILL DO NEXT WEEK" or something like that, but then the how frustration thing comes agian and then I Procrastnate for like the whol day saying, "Yeah ill do it in a bit" several hours later its like 12:00pm at night and im really tired.
SO, I have decide to start all the way back at the begining and get help with the basics and master though before i go on to more thing like the structure of the drawing, it will proably take me forever to learn facial features :( (I just cant't get it for some reason).

And maybe some of you gusy can show me how you start you drawings, OC would be cool to do this, Never do OC yet.

Anyways thanks for any help in advance.

[Soupy]

First you have to get the basics down, dude. Don't even think about facial features yet. You're not even close. I'm not being mean, I'm telling you the truth. Ask mindcandyman:) He didn't just start drawing facial features and worrying about his future skills....he drew the most basic stuff possible....boxes, spheres, etc. You have to work up to your skill and you have to be patient. I'm 16yrs old, and a good artist, but obviously there are better artists out there, and like me, they practice every day, and have been drawing their whole life. All you gotta do is be patient, and keep at it. Try having a friend pose for you so that you can sketch them out. Or try drawing an an easier object like an apple or something in your room. Good luck!!
~Soupy:cool:

[jester]

* Try to set up a daily drawing time, just like every evening from eight to nine - and draw, whatever happens, however tired you may be, however frustrating your results will be. It's 95% transpiration and only 5% inspiration as some artists say. Others say that there are 5000 (some say 10.000) pieces of shit in you - try to get rid of them as soon as possible!

* Stay simple - start with simple objects first

* buy and read good books on art, drawing, anatomy and so on. Read and learn from them. By learning I mean: do the exercises if the book has some. Or copy (not trace!!!) what is explained there (look at MindCandy's thread, he does the same!) Try to understand what you are copying, how things function and why.

* keep you pencils sharp. But tools can only help, they don't make you a good artist by themselves. A good artist can do amazing things with a simple pen or ballpen! However, new media can be very inspiring.

* There are fantastic people around here: Copy their work on your disk, print it and try to copy that stuff (never post this as your original work, though!)

* Expect that it will take time to improve. I restarted drawing in August 2000 (after 15 years' break) and am living to what I wrote - however, there's still a long road to go for me. But I think this is great - something new to learn every day! Getting better every day! Who can say this of his/her daily normal life? We can!

Hope this helps!

:)

Jester

[Sam0s]

Procrastinators..thats what we are.

yes!

You, my friend, are in the exact same position I am. I recognize all that you said, and yes, its a damn struggle.


Anyway, DUDE!, I am also working through Loomis book, and Im at the exact same page as you are, workin on the manikin figure. Now, its not easy seeing the progress by yourself in this early stage and not seeing that (or believing there is no progress) can be very frustrating, but you gotta hang in there and draw draw draw, and yes i feel you, there are surely many that have said this to you, and ME, and hearing it more often wont make it any better rather dull and monotone.
But as mentioned, you have to draw even when you DONT want to draw... think about it, there are millions of reason why you should NOT draw at a specific moment, YOU have to find reasons to DRAW (!). Noone else will.
Sure the fact that we all wanna be great artist is very strong reason, but not reason enough, back that wonderful reason up with others.

My way out of it was to challenge my roomate to make a drawing everyday, and if one of us didnt make the drawing, he gets to Dish (and believe me, our sink aint beautiful). Having a intense phobia for dishes, I draw everyday, EVEN when I DONT WANT TO.

We are experiencing the same shit here comradé. And reading your thread made feel a bit better, dont get me wrong, it made me feel better in a sense that i now know that its not just me, catch me?
I think most artist has gone through this stage, they made through it right, then so can we man.

And yes ofcourse, listen to what jester posted, I think all of that is very important. Stuff that must be included when you've managed get your ass away from that monitor and get back infront of your pen&pad.
Its hard to leave the procrastinating stage, but if you wanna vent some frustrations, mail me. Sound odd? Im no psychologist, no no, but i think having an open discussion with someone else that has similiar problems will releif some of that frustration and you might just get inspired. ;)

Stay strong comradé

/ -

[MindCandyMan]

I think a big turning point (in my head) happened to me hexal when I started to understand how the body was put together. But I didn't start to come to that understanding until I drew skeleton after skeleton after skeleton and read book after book. But the thing is...when you push and push something will click and you will say...oh I get it! But if you haven't pushed and pushed up to that point you won't ever come to that epiphany. The human figure is one of the hardest things I would think to learn...that's why the master's studied it so much...spent their whole lives studying it and still made mistakes every once in a while. I think the most important thing with the full human figure is finding the center line (spine, back) and placing the hips and shoulders in the right place. Find that center line and build off of it. Don't do all the things that loomis tells you too...draw stick figures at first. Don't get caught up drawing those circles for the pelvis bone etc.... Draw stick figures and draw them in proportion....go eight heads...in this order every time you draw....Chin, nipple, belly button, crotch, middle of leg, just above the knee, halfway down calf, bottom of foot. Think about those proportions every time you draw it...when you draw the head...the center line split the eyeball...halfway to the chin is the end of the nose...halfway between the nose and the chin is the lips...think think think when you draw...always be analyzing. And when you copy these things out of anatomy books make sure you aren't just copying away...think about why the artist did these things...measure them with your pencil etc... Think about stuff don't just copy it.

You have to push yourself...there is no other way. Frustration is part of the game...especially at the beginning. Frustration should not be what turns you off it should be what drives you. Doesn't it make you mad that you can't draw like you want to! Well DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Get mad...get a fire in your belly...practice TWICE as hard whenever you get frustrated. It's all in how you look at it. Only you can decide what to do...it's in your hands. Every night is a challenge...do I draw...or skip it and watch tv or play video games or something. You either go one way or the other...you are either losing your skills or you are gaining them depending on how you spend your time. Who cares what stupid show is on TV...when the tv show is done what do you have?...nothing...when a 30 min drawing session is done what do you have...evidence of greater skill. Keep pushing man. Things will click...you have gotten so much better already with your self portraits...it's amazing. It's a war with yourself...you have to win and you have to strategize if you want to succeed. (This may sound really corny but this is what I do to get myself pumped to keep going because it is hard)

Feel free to shoot me private messages if you are struggling as well...I will try to help...We artists gotta stick together.

[Crunch]

work hard,then work harder. dont just copy and artist, that will only get you so far. it is good for starters, but im taking andrews advice and buying a medical book that shows every part of the human body. im also pushing for a gross anatomy class again in my school. learn from the real thing. figure drawing class is a biggie if you can get to one. draw for at least an hour every day. dont give up even if you are so sick of drawing you wanna puke. dont try to twist or contort the figure until you have a solid grasp on what it looks like fro the front side and back first. keep it up though and dont give up.

[Hexal]

Thanks the every one!

Expesialy(SP) Mind and sam0s! It was a good read and helps me focus a bit more. But even now im so concerned about how much time I have to get really good for collage which only have this half year left then my gr 12 year in highschool before I have to apply. But this year i took grade 11 sculptuer and got 95(will look good for collage) and took grade 1o visual art(I have a year book class that i can get out of where grade 11 art is) But hopefully i can get really good from what i learn in grade 10 and bring that to 11 and 12. Although its strange and scary becuase in my grade 12 year i have to some how take grade 11 and 12 in the same year, but I hope it wioll be grade 11 first semster and grade 12 the next so i dont have to take a 5th year of highschool.

But tonight and i hope I can do this atleast three times a week I drew my hand a couple times(Not very good because i did them quick and was a bit distracted) but not my SP ill do one tomorrow. I took a figure drawing class in the summer and i hope to take one agian this spring summer and fall.

So thanks for all the hlep you guys.

-HExAL-