Quote Originally Posted by Silviya View Post
You two both make convincing and also true arguments. Hmm. I've got a four week long pre-college art program thing in the summer, in which I will be doing art but I probably won't have any means to post any of it, so I'd
probably have to put the thread on hold for about a month, which is the main thing holding me back.

Honestly, though, this sort of thing would be really good for me. What got me to make real writing progress was the "700 words a day or shame list" that my writing group did a while back, in which everyone who participated had to report writing at least 700 words each day or be on that day's List of Shame. I was the only one to never be on the List of Shame, and I've never been more productive. So doing something similar with art is really what I need to stop being lazy and actually do art. The idea of making a thread like this terrifies me, because I hate all my art with a passion and hate showing it to people, because I'm always convinced that everyone will think I'm a terrible artist, but that's a fear that I need to face and get over, so that's another way that a thread like this would help. Anyway, I'll stop blabbing about myself.
Yeah, there are days - like today - when I'd almost prefer not to do a picture at all instead of the barely cogent rubbish I can produce with the time and brainpower reserves available.

But if I do a bad picture, the guilt of it will make me spend the entire next day thinking about what I can do to be better. And that's super motivation to do better. If you have to keep moving no matter what the mind starts to focus on how to do well rather than if it wants to do it at all. It's a great psychological trick.

Good luck, though, whatever you decide to do

Hmm, yeah, that could make things a bit trickier. There might be drawing sites that have models wearing tight yoga clothing and such? I haven't really looked, but I'd think there'd be something like that somewhere.
Yeah, I've been making do primarily by looking at people who don't wear much clothing as part of their profession; martial artists, athletes, surfers, wrestlers, that kinda thing. I could model off drawings but we all know why that's sub-optimal.

The practice pictures are looking good. One thing that I'd advise though, if you aren't already doing it, is trying to find where the subject is placing most of their weight. Most people stand with more weight on one foot or the other, or have their center of gravity off-center in some other way, and learning how to draw that can really help with making poses look less stiff, I've found.
Oh, great point, and a basic one I've completely forgotten.

Also, I think I've already posted this series of tutorials? If I haven't for whatever reason, here it is.
Thanks! It's always good to go back to tutorials even if you've looked at them once before.

Working on expressions next sounds like a good idea. You may need to devote more than a week to it, though, or maybe do something like the thing I suggested with the anatomy practice, and just quickly sketch one face every day.
Oh absolutely needs more than a week, especially a super busy week like next one - we're hitting finals time which is why everything recently has been so rubbish. But a week is a good start.

I'll probably have more tips for expressions for when you actually start working on them, but here's one that I found very helpful when I heard it: Draw heads, not faces. Yes, it takes longer, and you have to deal with getting the head shape right as well as the expression, which might seem like a pointless bother when you're working on expressions, but it really does help. You might end up making the face and the expression flat if you don't have a head to put it on, and if you draw too many headless faces, you'll learn how to do those well but when it comes to drawing a real head, it might end up looking really weird, like the face was just plastered on rather than being part of the head.
Will do!

Edit, because Thanqol is a ninja: I really like that most recent drawing. Experimenting with different heights and body types is always good. And yes, even though these pictures are sketchy and such, they're great practice.
Thanks!

Day 374: Goldfish'd

Not good at all but I completely failed my time management for the day. Feeling the pressure right now, but I should be out of the worst of it by the end of the week. Maybe something more later if I finish this essay in time.

Links

Time: 15 minutes
Music: Men In Black