Effective studies

[CptScarlet]

This morning I woke up and got to my usual studies(anatomy, basic form) and as I was sitting there drinking my tea and telling myself that this is going to make me improve and crack out some crazy drawing skills I started to doubt myself.

Is there anything I can do to increase how effective my studies are?
Is there anything I should be doing to ensure Im getting the best out of my time?

At present Im spending around 4 hours a day(In 2 hour blocks, 2hr before work and 2hr after) with a quick 15 minute warm up exercise before I begin.

Has anyone got any advice on things I can do to increase my output and scale of improvement?


Cpt.

[Seedling]

Whenever it feels like you have reached a plateau in your learning, then change tactics a bit. Maybe?

If you are looking for sketchbook assignment ideas, I've got this Concept Art 101 thread-class-thing going at the top of this forum.

Cheers!

[term8or]

Erm... well... I've got to say opening up a sketchbook on CA is a good way to improve real fast. As is doing crits in the crit section (analysing other peoples work is a good way to understand more about your own - what works, what doesn't).

Apart from that, I would suggest doing any of these you (all of which are on my todo listL) :

1. Copy master drawings, as close as possible to the real thing. Bargue is a good place to start.

2. Do Cast drawings

3. Draw from life, hide the drawing, then draw what you remember from the drawing. Write down any questions. Repeat, using the same set up, until you are satisified.

4. Mix up approaches: do contour drawings, gesture drawings, long fully rendered pieces.

5. Think about every drawing, looking for areas you can do better.

Good luck.

[dose]

I agree with term8or- post your stuff so you can get specific advice/

[BlackGuy]

what do cast drawings help you with? Just curious.

[term8or]

what do cast drawings help you with? Just curious.

IMHO Cast drawings can teach you all the elements of realistic drawing from life except colour and composition. They do so in a controled manor. That is, you can start with simple casts, then get more and more complex in defined stages until you are drawing something as complex as the human head. White casts also simplify drawing by removing local colour from the subject allowing you to concentrate on tone.

Have a look here http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5363 for more. It's an old thread, so loads of images are gone, but Mindcandyman's WIP is still there (start post #21) and worth looking at...

I will note that lots of very fine artists have never worked on a cast in their life... it is one study method, not the only method...

[CptScarlet]

Thanks for all the great ideas!
Ill get a sketchbook going as soon as I can and Im sure Ill put to use the ideas sugested.

Thanks :)

[CptScarlet]

Ive been doing some studies from "anatomy for the artist", mainly from the fundamental form section. This involves the breaking down of subject into shapes.

Im fairly happy with how its going but Im not too sure if my study technique is up to standard. I'm currently working on the head, breaking it down to the simplest form of an oval then sectioning it horizontally and vertically. Drawing in the nose, eyes, jawline areas and such. After drawing the example as acurate as possible I am then redrawing it from memory, comparing it to the origional then seeing where I need to improve. Is there anything else I can be doing to speed up the process or increase my accuracy?

Any help would be amazing as usual :)

Cpt.

[2b BOY]

You just gotta be patient. Very, patient.

[Justin.]

My method (personally) is to figure out what I need help with, and to work on it. Just tonight I was studying the obliques and serratus muscles from Anatomy for the Artist. Soon I will try including it in my drawings with line, and find pictures and figure out it's form so I can light it correctly. This is often how I practice, but as Seedling offered, it is also very good to change tactics.

Keep in mind, often LOOKING around, and focusing without even drawing is sometimes, literally BETTER than drawing. In fact, I think looking alone has helped me more than drawing what I see, But you must do both constantly for either one to be effective. Being an observer means you notice things. Being an artist means you apply what you notice.

[CptScarlet]

Well, Ive started a sketchbook thread and the link is in my signature so if you take a peek and maybe if anyone wants to drop some crits or advice it would be more than appreciated :)

Thanks for all the great advice so far, you lot are amazing :)

Cpt.