|
|
Tutorials
Step 3: Rough Drawing
So you have the thumbnail that you like the most, and you have your
reference material. Put both thumbnail and reference in front of you,
and start drawing your final drawing, but before you can do that, I
will tell you what supplies I use.
Supplies
-
Col-erase 1283 light blue pencil
I used to be very picky with the type of paper I used. Which used
to be (Bienfang : Designer Series, graphics 360 100% Rag translucent
marker paper pad) Now I just use regular paper. Actually the paper
I use is a little thicker than printing paper.
-
Workable kneaded eraser
-
EraserStik 7066B
-
Pencils H-6B, You can also use a mechanical pencil, but I wouldnt
recommend it anymore for the mere fact that it wears out your hand.
6B soft lead pencils are so much easier to use, just make sure your
line is acurate.
-
Trace-Clean powder ,to prevent any smudges on your drawing. (optional)
I also use a small sheet of paper that I put between my drawing hand
and the actual drawing.
-
Over head lamp and allot of drinking water. ( a must!) Make sure
that the light source comes from the left if you are right handed
and vice versa if you are left handed.
Rough Pass:
I sometimes put two thicker sheets of paper underneath the page that
I will be drawing on, so I wont leave an impression on the next page
(if you are using a pad). I quickly rough out my drawing with the
light blue pencil, using my thumbnail as a guide. I focus on the big
shapes first. Once I get most of the big important shapes down, I
go straight for the face. Usually I like getting in close to work
on the detail.
The eyes of the character are the most important part of your drawing,
unless you are doing a drawing where you don't even see the face. However,
when you are doing a drawing with facial expressions, the eyes all always
the main focus. They must look solid and well placed on your figure's
head. They are in essence, the "window to their souls". I
also like starting with the head because I tend to have the most trouble
there. I sometimes cant decide if I want her eyes closed or open, if
I want her to be looking this way or that way. Or if I want to make
her sad or happy. By this indecision, I tend to erase allot. Which makes
the paper wear out and bubble. Sometimes I simply cant get the eyes
placed right. Sometimes I do my drawing and I feel that something isn't
right, like its skewed or something. When this happens, I take
my drawing over to the mirror and look at it backwards (if you have
a light table you can turn your drawing over and look at it with the
light on.). I know it sounds funny, but it works! It allows you to see
your drawing in a whole new perspective. I have the problem of skewing
my drawings to one side, I don't know why I do this, but I do. So I
take and look at my drawing through a mirror, and it helps me correct
my mistakes and make my drawing more solid. This is one advice I definitely
recommend to any artist out there, in what ever you do. I believe that
if your drawing works in reverse form, then you are successful in creating
perfect form.
Now only imagine if you were to draw out the entire body of your character
first, and it was beautiful! but you screwed it up when you got to the
head. Lets say it took you several tries to get the face right, by this
time I imagine your paper being all warped. You could probably still
use the drawing, but it is going to cause you allot of problems down
the line. For instance, when you try to scan in your drawing, the scanner
is not going to read some of the lines on your drawing because the paper
is so warped, that you literately have to take an iron and straighten
out your drawing. Now I don't really recommend using an iron, but your
welcome to try it. You will probably end up burning your drawing, believe
me, I've done it myself. Yet through trial and error, I've learned how
not to do things.
Proportions:
So I have given you reasons why starting with the head is important.
Another reason is proportions in your drawing (i.e. Judy is 3 3/4 heads
high). I know that in some of drawings I have done of Judy, she seems
allot taller than 3 3/4 head high. Which in fact she is. I suppose I
wasn't really consciencelessly thinking about proportions then, but
I look at my drawing now and I think "My God, what was I thinking?
Look at the space between her rib cage and pelvis!" Those are my
mistakes for not checking with the proportions ( always look at your
reference). I know that some of you don't really care if she is a head
taller or not, but I see it, and so may other artist who are better
than me. So make sure you keep your proportions right. I sometimes had
to make the whole drawing over because I was drawing Judy's head too
big compared to George's. Most of the time, I would just erase and redraw,
but after a while of doing that, your paper wears out. Hence the scanning
problem again.
On-Model:
Make sure you constantly look at your reference to keep your characters
on-model. Unless you've created your own character and have mastered
drawing it, you have no need of reference. Constantly look at how the
character is drawn in order to create a drawing that wont suck, to put
it bluntly. Nothing is worse than seeing a drawing that is trying be
erotic, but ends up being funny because the character is so badly drawn.
I don't want any of you sending out drawings that suck, so look at your
reference. If you cant get the character down right, then you
are trying too hard, or just aiming too high. I believe if you have
the basic drawing skills down, you can duplicate anything. However,
it takes years of practice to be able to create a unique and appealing
drawings, unless you have the natural talent and have no need of art
schools, and can whip out a perfect drawing all the time. Which I doubt
very much. A true artist is an artist who will dedicate his or her entire
life to learn how to draw, paint, sculp, act, or just interpret what
we see into a unique form. I once replied to a fan about drawing certain
characters, and I have adopted that reply as my manifesto. It goes likes
this "I guess what I'm trying to say is that my drawings are
geared more to create an unexpected situation where the main characters
are in the act of doing something you could never imagine them doing
simply because it is not in their nature." Now that is a mouthful,
but I believe that as being an intractable part of my drawings being
successful.
Don't just copy what they did in the reference you have. Study it and
understand the shapes and volumes. Know that if you decide to stretch
some part of your character, it will be consistent and true to the volumes
it possesses.
Appeal:
Probably the most important part of your drawing will be the appeal.
Appeal sometimes blends in with the design of the drawing. However,
if your drawing is overall appealing, regardless of the design or proportions,
even not putting it properly on-model, I guarantee that is will be a
successful drawing. I think for any artist, it should be their number
one priority. Sure, proportion and design are also important, but it
takes an appealing drawing for a viewer to say "hey, this is pretty
good". Now I cant tell you what makes a drawing appealing.
I just draw what I would like to see. If people like it, hey! Thats
even better. There is all sorts of people out there. Some of them might
consider my drawings horrible and appalling. I am not aiming to please
those people, but as an artist, you do have to think who you want to
reach. Look at all those Joe Camel billboards that they had such a fuss
over. The reason was that they were aiming at the younger generation.
Kids would look at that billboard and think that it is cool to smoke.
I suppose it really appealed to that type of audience. Through subtle
manipulation, the Tobacco company was able to lure millions on young
smokers. (You can read more about apeal in a book titled Sex Appeal:
The Art of Allure in Graphic and Advertising Design by Steven
Heller.) Now as artist, you possess the same power to manipulate your
audience to either feel angry, happy, horny, or just shocked. You can
orchestrate a composition that will transport your audience into a world
that you have chosen. Once you have accomplished that, it is up to your
drawing to give an emotional statement. You want your audience to actually
feel what you felt when you drew it. So if you cant feel it, then
your audience wont either. I think that is probably one of the
parts that makes a drawing appealing, having the ability to feel something
from it. One way to know if your drawing is apealing, is to just simply
ask someone "do you like it?" it usually gets a response.
Next -> Step 4: Clean-Up
|