Fantasy Art

[The Shining Fool]

I'd really like to start learning how to draw. Every site I've been to that teaches drawing, says to do the old "draw a bunch of rectangles and ovals and circles and tie them all together" stuff.

For those of you who draw a lot (and especially those who draw well) do you actually do that?

I just have a hard time imagining Larry Elmore or Wayne Reynolds drawing a bunch of shapes when they are starting a drawing. Is this just a step like training wheels? Or is it some oft repeated bit of nonsense that no one actually does? Or is it the first step in every great bit of art?

Thanks for the help.

[LazarX]

The answer is different for every artist.

I've seen several cartoon artists from Nickelodeon demonstrate how they draw their characters from shows ranging from Avatar the Last Airbender to Danny Phantom. Some do use things such as ovals and centerlines as beginning steps even though they are professional and accomplished drawers, others don't. Not everyone who has the Gift of the Eye has it or expresses it in the same way.

Since you don't seem to be among the lucky few to have an innate sense on how you should draw, perhaps you shoud accept that the rectangles and ovals and circles and that alltogether stuff may be a neccessary first step.

But the most important step IS TO START DRAWING. One thing those people I mentioned all have one thing in common... is that they are constantly drawing. they always have paper and pencil on hand to do a sketch right at the moment, because no matter how Gifted you may or may not be... you don't get anywhere unless you're willing to put in the sweat.... and keep putting in that sweat.

[Lilith]

Breaking things down to shapes helps simply the process (and helps with shading later, but that's later). Experienced artists can just whomp things out whole cloth, but I'm pretty sure they started out with shapes first, well before they got experienced. The reason that you're forced to go back to the basics is that you are forcing yourself to actually see what's in front of you—not just what you think you see. Your brain fills in the blanks ('cause that's what it does, extrapolation and abstracting), but drawing requires you to actually look at what you're seeing and draw that.

BUT.

You. Have. To. Keep. Drawing. It is a skill, and skills are learned—talent only goes so far. Practice, practice, practice. Don't be afraid to fail, 'cause it will happen.

[Laurefindel]

The Shining Fool wrote:

For those of you who draw a lot (and especially those who draw well) do you actually do that?

I just have a hard time imagining Larry Elmore or Wayne Reynolds drawing a bunch of shapes when they are starting a drawing.

Yes, I definitely do that and yes, I would expect Elmore and Reynolds to do so as well.

Artists drawing the same (cartoon-ish) characters over and over again ultimately "work it into their system" so to speak and won't draw the basic shapes, but artist having a more realistic style start with sketches. These involve abstracting the (in)human body to its most basic forms, figuring its posture and proportion, and later add layers of details.

With skills and experience, this geometric form sketch takes seconds and does not show in your final product.

[The Shining Fool]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Another question - do I start the sketches with a hard pencil and move soft, or a soft pencil and move hard?

[LazarX]

The Shining Fool wrote:

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Another question - do I start the sketches with a hard pencil and move soft, or a soft pencil and move hard?

JUST START. It really doesn't matter how. Try it both ways and see what works for you.

[Hitdice]

The Shining Fool wrote:

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Another question - do I start the sketches with a hard pencil and move soft, or a soft pencil and move hard?

Start with hard and go soft as you get more definite with your lines. How hard and soft depends on the surface you're working on. Personally I usually go 4H (bunch of shapes) > 2H (sketchy rendering) > F/HB (finished pencils) on Bristol Board.

Invest in a sketchbook, or just a pad of illustration paper. Strathmore's my go-to brand, and the sketchbook I walk around with is 60 lb, fine tooth surface.

It really couldn't hurt to go to a local art supply store and see what's out there.

[Howie23]

Use the layout shapes. They allow you to identify and adjust proportions and perspective, as well as handle overlapping objects easier. Some of the standard exercises: primitive shapes, shade gradation from light to dark, and textures are really designed to give you a toolbox to work with.

Use whatever tools work for you. I draw primarily with pencils from 2B to 6B. I generally to my composition layouts with shapes using 2B or 3B. Erase the construction lines as you fill out the detail. Make use if the full range of shading from paper white to your darkest black with softest pencil with most drawings.

I have also drawn starting from a single point and drawing immediately in detail. It's engaging, but impossible to repair problems with proportions. It's easier to do it from the shape layouts. Example: I did a portrait of my daughter when she was young. The first effort was done starting just from a point and working out. The proportions were wrong and she was unrecognizable. Second effort was done with a tracing of the major features (outline, eyes, bottom of nose, location of mouth) followed by adjusting the lines and working the detail) final product was pure shape and tone, no lines. It went on to win second prize at a county fair in a county with about 1.2 million people.

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[The Shining Fool]

The bottom of my dice box is filled with progresso colored pencils and reeves graphite pencils, various erasers, the little paper cylinders you use to smudge things, etc. A buddy bought it all for me about 4 years ago but I've never used it. This weekend I woke up and said "sod that, let's get some stuff drawed!"

Thanks again for the hints. I did 4 basic head sketches tonight. They look like deformed eggs, but it's a start, yeah?

[Lilith]

The Shining Fool wrote:

The bottom of my dice box is filled with progresso colored pencils and reeves graphite pencils, various erasers, the little paper cylinders you use to smudge things, etc.

Tortillons.

[Lincoln Hills]

The Shining Fool wrote:

Thanks again for the hints. I did 4 basic head sketches tonight. They look like deformed eggs, but it's a start, yeah?

Actually, most human heads do look like deformed eggs. You just gotta deform them in the right way. Good luck.

[Ellis Mirari]

I think the oval-sphere-rectangle is an overly simplified approach. It's fine enough to start thinking about forms but you must eventually move beyond that if you want to accurately represent the human (or quasi human) form. Skilled artists (reaD: not magically talented, but disciplined and skilled) like Reynolds don't do the ovally bit because they don't NEED to anymore. They've developed, through decades of practice, the ability to look at and understand the structure of things. While I'm not even close to as advanced as they are, I am at a similar point where I just know the way bones and muscles fit together generally and can do a decent job of imagining them.

I have the benefit of years of formal education in art which is impossible to distill into a single statement, but if there is just ONE thing that's more important than everything else, it's this:

Go out and draw people.
Draw people walking in the park.
Draw people playing tennis.
Draw people shopping at the mall.
Draw people petting their cats.
Draw people drinking coffee.
Draw. Draw. Draw. Draw.

Doing ovals and working from photos makes it easier, but you don't learn how the body really works unless you draw from life itself and take time to observe how the different pieces function. Cameras don't take photos the same way the eye sees, and obviously you can't get an exact photo reference for things like elves and dragons.

When you can't draw from life, copy images from anatomy books. Start with the skeleton, then the muscles, then the full body. Understanding the underlying structure is how good art gets made.