(nudity) gut feeling says I'll regret this

**Bardic-Dragoon** · 08-31-2011, 06:25 AM

but the condescending voice in the back of my head keeps yelling at me to do it... i hate that voice.

Not sure why I'm even doing this...quite sure somewhere deep down I want some one to say I fail horribly and should give up, whether that's to let me give up guilt free or make me work harder in spite i have no idea, but really in my experience you're all overly optimistic and 'cheerleadry' (which i kind of dislike) so don't see that happening. oh fudgeknockers i should just shut up and post pictures.

1: Nyuujou Megami Type 2 (about a week/week .5 old)

SPOILER! :

2. Amber (about a week and a half old)

SPOILER! :

2.5 stream of consciousness and doodles (about 3-4 months old) (just because i put them on my photo host for some reason so why not)

SPOILER! :

3. Amanda (about a year old) (actually thinking of starting over from scratch with a new pose)

SPOILER! :

4. THIF girl (about a year old) (just looking for opinions on her design)

SPOILER! :

5. EPIC COW!!!!!! (two and a half years or so) (he is epic cow and he is awesome that is all)

SPOILER! :

6.Other old stuff (1 year to dirt) (see section 2.5)

SPOILER! :

**bambi** · 08-31-2011, 02:59 PM

I like how you draw faces.

How long have you been drawing? It seems like your style is developing nicely, but the proportions seems to be an area you could improve upon.

For example, in your first drawing, you did notice a few of your own problem spots. I also wanna suggest, the tail is a bit off center, but I also think it should be lower. Like.. right above the booty. Also, this might be a bit of a pet-peeve of mine personally, but the boobs are way too bit for a woman that skinny (although that might be what you were going for.. haha. If so, I apologize!).

Also, the proportions of 2 and 3 could be tweaked. The arms look kinda short, and the torsos don't look quite right. You were drawing curvy ladies, right? A website like www.posemaniacs.com might help with poses and getting the female anatomy a bit more realistic.

Hope this comment helped.

Good work!

**Celestial-Fox** · 09-05-2011, 04:37 AM

I agree with Bambi. The way you draw faces is extremely appealing. I think that you just need to believe in yourself a little more. Because these are really good starts. The most consistent problems I see are stiff, boxy legs and short arms. Just practice making natural curves for the body. I know I recommend it a lot, but take a look into Andrew Loomis's work for anatomical help if you want to make more organic-looking figures. His style is great for emulating if you want that sort of look.

**Bardic-Dragoon** · 09-15-2011, 05:08 AM

@bambi
I guess i've been drawing on and off (more off for the last few years) since about '98, well i drew before that but that's the point where i seemingly got more into it. Also thanks for ( inadvertently perhaps?) reminding me that posemaniacs has a pose viewer and not just that cursed '30-second drawing' thing; i seriously cannot stand that 30-second drawing thing, i get why it's a good exercise but after many many frustrating anger inducing tries i just hate the thing.

@Celestial-Foxwho it seems keeps her promises
Believing in one's self is for losers, which i suppose means i should do it... confound this viciously circular logic. Anyways, i used to have PDFs of some of Andrew Loomis's books. i remember getting them from here, someone posted a link to a site with a lot of his and a few others out of print drawing books, sadly i have lost them. they did seem good from what little i remember though.

Anyways more stuffs cause i finally have some masking tape

1. Nyuujou Megami Take 2 (updated from image 1 in previous post)

SPOILER! :

Heroes of Ferelden (week, week .5 old)

SPOILER! :

**indescribable** · 09-16-2011, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Bardic-Dragoon

i seriously cannot stand that 30-second drawing thing, i get why it's a good exercise but after many many frustrating anger inducing tries i just hate the thing.

I completely understand what you're saying here; I used to feel exactly the same way about blind contour drawings. You're probably gonna hate hearing this - I know I always did - but the key is to just not care so much. Don't worry about getting it right, just have fun with the lines and look forward to seeing how it turns out, messed up or otherwise.

Originally Posted by Bardic-Dragoon

Believing in one's self is for losers

Are you serious. No one gets anywhere by telling themselves they can't do it.

As for your drawings, I'm going to focus the first one.

- Her left eye seems a tad too high.

- The shoulder is far too small; try rounding the top out/bringing it forward a bit more and bringing the armpit crease down somewhat.

- The top of her back appears to be caving in. I think part of the problem here is that her upper torso is twisting a tad bit too far -- I don't know if you've ever tried it, but getting your chin to line up with the center of your butt like that can be pretty difficult. Perhaps show some more of her back and some shoulder/arm.

- Her right leg appears to be rather bloated. Try smoothing out the knee and butt lines, and remember that some lines will curve in, not just out. In addition, I think her thighs are too short in comparison with her lower legs and torso.

Hope this helps in some way.

**Hamachi** · 09-17-2011, 11:54 AM

I probably won't give a specific critique on all the proportions and whatnot, but I'd encourage you to be more sketchy with your art. As several others pointed out - if a line's wrong, don't force yourself to struggle along with it - scribble if you have to. Only after this stage should you go over using hard pressure to reinforce all your stuff.

Also, from your shorter lines I suspect you're using your fingers for most of the motion. You have a huge range of motion you can apply for tradish art. Using your fingers for detailing is fine but I would suggest applying your wrist, or elbow, or shoulder to make a wider variety of smoother, more energetic lines.

**Celestial-Fox** · 09-17-2011, 03:26 PM

You're not going to master things overnight. I only got okay at blind contour years after I started art. Even still, though, I can't draw accurate faces and shade like some people can without looking. Thirty second gestures will become easier both with 30-second practice and with more experience with slowly drawing the body.

You're not bad at all. Believing in yourself isn't for losers; giving up is.

Fenn · 09-20-2011, 07:08 PM

*Tries the same line 200 times*

Originally Posted by Hamachi

if a line's wrong, don't force yourself to struggle along with it

Wait what? Damn it you could have told me sooner.

As for you Baardic, you're way too hard on yourself. And since the polite and positive act clearly doesn't work, how about a different reply: suck it up. Here's a tip: try looking at your images from far away. if your nose is always up against the paper scrutinating, every line's gonna look wrong. Tape it to the wall, and look at it from 5-10ft away. you are now looking at it the way people look at another person's art--to see the big picture, rather than analyze every line on the page.

And if that doesn't work, deal with it.

**The_shaman** · 09-21-2011, 10:15 AM

Look from what I've seen of you (both now, and in the past), your biggest problem is you are more concerned with the end result more than you are with the actual drawing process. This is a mentality I had 3-4 years ago, I wanted to go from A to D without any concern about the B and C. This is actually a problem I've seen with a couple of people on here.

**Bardic-Dragoon** · 10-03-2011, 05:01 AM

Okay first thing first, Do not take me too seriously! Trust me, I used to do that and it wasn't worth the effort. Seriously though, I have a somewhat depressed streak and tend to make jokes at peoples expense, but in an attempt to be a nice guy (as well as fear of retribution) i tend to self target those jokes. There is more to it than that (shaky self esteem, arrogance, perfectionism, over achieving, borderline obsessive compulsiveness) but i don't feel like derailing this thread anymore than necessary.

So back to business as whatever it is...

Originally Posted by indescribable

I completely understand what you're saying here; I used to feel exactly the same way about blind contour drawings. You're probably gonna hate hearing this - I know I always did - but the key is to just not care so much. Don't worry about getting it right, just have fun with the lines and look forward to seeing how it turns out, messed up or otherwise.

You see the problem with that is that i suffer from a condition known as 'having a stick up my butt' which makes doing just that extremely difficult to impossible. which is to say i realize what my problem is with regards to this, and the more i try to overcome it, the worse it seems to get so i've taken the leave it well enough alone route while trying to find an alternative solution. not that i've had much luck with that.

Originally Posted by Hamachi

I probably won't give a specific critique on all the proportions and whatnot, but I'd encourage you to be more sketchy with your art. As several others pointed out - if a line's wrong, don't force yourself to struggle along with it - scribble if you have to. Only after this stage should you go over using hard pressure to reinforce all your stuff.

Also, from your shorter lines I suspect you're using your fingers for most of the motion. You have a huge range of motion you can apply for tradish art. Using your fingers for detailing is fine but I would suggest applying your wrist, or elbow, or shoulder to make a wider variety of smoother, more energetic lines.

Unless these problems seem to persist in All six of these 'drawings' here then part of the issue your seeing may be a result of most things i've posted here being the result of me 'inking' (i use a pencil rather than pen so...) with my lightbox before posting because i'm using an unfamiliar scanner, and i only had half a clue what i was doing on my normal scanner so i trace/ink my drawings onto blank paper before scanning and then uploading so they come out clearer etc.

Originally Posted by Celestial-Fox

Believing in yourself isn't for losers; giving up is.

I never said i was giving up. in fact i've learned not to when it comes to drawing as a whole, it never takes, so i gave up on giving up.

Originally Posted by The_shaman

Look from what I've seen of you (both now, and in the past), your biggest problem is you are more concerned with the end result more than you are with the actual drawing process.

OK you've said this before and to the best of my knowledge never explained it. my guess is it's the condensed version of a 'you need to use thumbnails speech' in which case realize that whenever i 'use thumbnails' really all i get is a sad attempt to make a full picture in a 1"x1" box, simply put when i start drawing i don't stop until i stop as it were, a minute or two on a sketch 1x1 concept of a piece rinse repeat for different takes on said concept doesn't really work for me in practice, and i have tried on numerous occasions. I am not a spontaneous guy and i never put pencil to paper without a seriously thought out (often over though out) plan, the culmination of which is putting pencil to paper to get it into the rough draft stage at which point i edit and revise ad nauseum not unlike i have been with the Nyuujou Megami piece that seems to be the current centerpiece of this thread. Of course i am wholly open to the idea that i am misinterpreting what your trying to get at but if so explain it and enlighten me.

moving on to the content (what little there is)

1. Nyuujou Megami Take 3 (updated from image 1 in previous post)

SPOILER! :

2. random blinking animation (about a year and a half old)

SPOILER! :

maybe i need to find a more condensed way of responding to posts ( put those in a giant SPOILER tag maybe?) so i can avoid unnecessary walls of text.