Drawing! Need some tips

[Voon]

So, I have a bit of a problem with my drawings and probably the most annoying thing about it was.... I can't shade for shit. Any tips on how to shade? Also, any tutorials on how to draw anatomy, correctly?

[DaftPunk]

Best solution would be to get some books with anatomy and practice,and i mean practice for several hours per day if you want to get good at drawing people. For shading,same thing. Now you could get books from your local library,or better would be to just download them on internet.

[Smashbox]

Hatch that shit, bro. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatching

Daft Punk is right though, best thing to do is do some live figure drawing. Or a lot of it.

[Kadayi]

For proportions I recommend Andrew Loomis: -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Figure-Drawi...5799531&sr=8-1

This is good for anatomy: -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Constructive...5799670&sr=1-1

As regards shading, squint your eyes at whatever you are drawing and get a sense of the overall tonal values. Ideally the area which is lightest will be white paper and the darkest as much as you need it to be.

Also as the others have said though, try and get some life drawing classes in.

[Voon]

Thanks for the tips and yeah, I think I do need to get my ass into live drawing class. Need to learn how to draw on a tab, too.

Hatch that shit, bro. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatching

I always wondered what that technique is called. Now that is what I'd like to try. Looks a bit hard, though

[Keep]

I can't shade for shit. Any tips on how to shade?

You wanna develop your eye, your hand will follow. Imagination and observation. So start with simple principles. Imagine or actually set up: one powerful light source shining on one 3d object from one unique angle (Down and to the left is a good'un). Focus on the extreme contrasts and the obvious effects.

Keep practising/taking notes from reality with your attention on this simple type of problem until you've got a handle on how it looks and what techniques match what you wanna show (And it is for you - I've found when drawing more complex-shaped object e.g. a crumpled jacket, hatching/crosshatching makes it look flattened. Other folks this is not the case and they've got ways of making it come alive through hatching).

Once you've got that, you can practise with multiple objects/weak light sources/interference. But know the fundamental concept first, the rest'll be a natural development after that.

[DaftPunk]

Screw the drawing class,you can learn how to draw on your own,believe me. And for tablet,first learn how to draw then you'll draw on tablet same,but it will need little of practice of course.

[NathanH]

For drawing I suggest the Berlin against e4 and the Slav against d4.

[Kadayi]

Screw the drawing class, you can learn how to draw on your own, believe me.

Why is taking a class such a crime in your view? You'll learn anything a lot faster with some instruction than trying to go it alone, and that's true for pretty much any creative endeavour.

[Voon]

For drawing I suggest the Berlin against e4 and the Slav against d4.

Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question but..... I don't get it. Enlighten me, please?

[Kadayi]

They're Chess moves Voon. Someone was trying to be clever.

[Fruppy]

You wanna develop your eye, your hand will follow. Imagination and observation. So start with simple principles. Imagine or actually set up: one powerful light source shining on one 3d object from one unique angle (Down and to the left is a good'un). Focus on the extreme contrasts and the obvious effects.

Keep practising/taking notes from reality with your attention on this simple type of problem until you've got a handle on how it looks and what techniques match what you wanna show (And it is for you - I've found when drawing more complex-shaped object e.g. a crumpled jacket, hatching/crosshatching makes it look flattened. Other folks this is not the case and they've got ways of making it come alive through hatching).

Once you've got that, you can practise with multiple objects/weak light sources/interference. But know the fundamental concept first, the rest'll be a natural development after that.

Exactly what he said. You'll learn shading quite easily by setting an object, apple, infront of you and trying to draw it or for example try drawing your blanket? xD

Even when I took a break from drawing, I found myself drawing a lot better than before, because as I grew older, I started to pay a lot more attention to specific details, I saw more ingeneral, had more experience of life and how things worked.

As for drawing toon, like Keep said, always pinpoint your light source and shading will come easy.

Draw draw draw xd, but have fun drawing. If something gets frustrating, switch it up a bit. Don't just draw from real life, but also draw from your imagination.

Classes can help point you in the right direction, better your technique, etcetera, since there are people with experience and experience can lvl you up xD ...duuh. Although, you -can- learn to draw without classes, if you can't afford it, though depending on the individual, it might be a lot harder and will take you longer to get you where you want to be.

Look for a style you like, try to mimic it and eventually develope your own.

Anyway, now I am just rambling on. Have fun! Don't give up! Learning to draw can take centuries!

[Xercies]

Look for a style you like, try to mimic it and eventually develope your own.

Though whatever you do please don't choose Manga and anime, I really really hate that pretty much every person who I know draws draws manga style, I have nothing against the art form like other people but I do think it is probably a bit to lazy and overused unless you can be really good with it.

You'll learn anything a lot faster with some instruction than trying to go it alone, and that's true for pretty much any creative endeavour.

I agree with this, I used to be a bit poo with drawing but after taking an art class in my uni I became a lot better, not brilliant mind you but I actually liked what i was drawing and could actually see what it was so classes are definitely recommended.

[Fruppy]

Though whatever you do please don't choose Manga and anime, I really really hate that pretty much every person who I know draws draws manga style, I have nothing against the art form like other people but I do think it is probably a bit to lazy and overused unless you can be really good with it.

I disagree. If you like the art portrayed in most manga/anime, go for it. Yeah, a lot of people draw in that style, but that is because it is very popular, especially since most toons people watch nowadays come from asia. Dragonball, etc, was the reason I started to draw a lot, since I really enjoyed it in my youth.

What I do advise is not to limit yourself to one style only. Try a lot of different styles, take the good aspects of every style you come across, combine them and develope you own. :)

[Althea]

Here's a tip:

Stay away from the majority of DC/Marvel artists, especially Greg Land and Rob Liefeld, if you care about proportions and natural looks. You're better off looking at the more "artsy" stuff to see how it's done - the Dark Tower graphic novels have some excellent art, for example. Heck, even Archie comics are pretty good for it.

Sana Takeda, Phil Noto, Guy Davis, Amanda Conner, Tyler Crook, Cameron Stewart, Joe Eisma, The Luna Brothers, JH Williams III - All have their own styles, but all stay fairly well proportioned (though obviously with some hiccups, as you'd expect from any artist).

Stylised art is great, and can work wonders. Amanda Conner can draw cartoony stuff without it looking wrong, Cameron Stewart has a 'rounded' art style, Sana Takeda's art is a lovely mix of Asian and Western influences.

Noto:


Amy Reeder:


Guy Davis:


And to finish, the utter abomination that is a Greg Land piece:

Guy needs to put down the fucking porno and Sports Illustrated and learn to fucking draw.

[NathanH]

lol, that picture is really bad.

[Feldspar]

But everyone knows that superhero tits are filled with helium.

[Voon]

Though whatever you do please don't choose Manga and anime, I really really hate that pretty much every person who I know draws draws manga style, I have nothing against the art form like other people but I do think it is probably a bit to lazy and overused unless you can be really good with it.

To be honest with you, that's where I start. Toriyama's. Hey, I was thirteen! And to be fair, there are quite a lot of people who drew them with an incredibly distinct, incredibly sylistic err, style that's beyond the usual stereotype for it. Eiichiro Oda's stuff are quite awesome, you know? And Toriyama's illustrations were pretty badass in the 90's. Personal preference, though

But, yeah. I got a bit bored with drawing shit with big, googly eyes every once in a while. That's where I moved on to other, more complex stuff if I want to find inspiration.

[Xercies]

Oh dont get me wrong i like it and it can be a good place to start but unfortunatly a lot of people can basically ghetto themselves in only drawing manga and not trying other styles which is a shame.

[Smashbox]

It's like learning to write by writing genre fiction. Which I would consider a bad idea.

If your goal is to become Better at Drawing, you really do have to start with basics, in my opinion. Observational drawing is key.