My first attempt at... Art. Options

[ShogunSniper]

Heya. This my first serious attempt at any artistic drawing. Yeah, I draw some tribal designs on the back of my notebooks and creative ways stick people can kill eachother on my homework, but in 15 years have I yet to create a serious piece of artwork before today. I kinda documented the genesis of my brainchild and am fairly happy with the result.

First attempt: Here (It's small)
Yeah, disproportionate torso, small head, shoulder strap doesn't even hit the shoulder, but I was content with this as a first try. This was meant to be my RP character, but ended up not turning out like him. So I started calling him Rick

Second: Here Same pic, just *attempted* to enlarge the head slightly but ultimately ended up messing up an already akward face.

Then I started over again using those as a basis, but upped the scale significantly.

First Genesis I made a basis to help me sketch. A skeleton sort of.

Second Genesis I'm quite happy with myself at this point. Go out and buy new pencils and a sharpener after this.

Third Genesis A face appears! Plans are made to move the waist from the last stage up to avoid the whole three foot tall chest thing. Also plan to change position of the sword.

Final Genesis Finished for now. At this point I decide it looks more like my character Sadril than a "Rick". I erased a lot so its blotchy sure, but its good for a first drawing, right?

Sorry if I bored you, but I was excited.

[The Metal Mallet]

That's quite good for a real first attempt at drawing, I decided to stick with my drawings skills from back in grade schoolf (sausage people rule!!!).

I too, enjoy drawing stick figures killing each other during moments of boredom, either it's in medieval times or like Vietnam war style.

[Channler]

That's quite good for a real first attempt at drawing, I decided to stick with my drawings skills from back in grade schoolf (sausage people rule!!!).

I too, enjoy drawing stick figures killing each other during moments of boredom, either it's in medieval times or like Vietnam war style.

Haha.. And I thought I was the only one... We should have a "stick warz" hehe

[Soulseeker3.0]

very nice Shogun, I liked 'im.

I also used to kill stick people... wow we all are (were?) quite demented.... geeze

[The Metal Mallet]

You have read my story right, Soulseeker?

It's definitely not the "happy-go-lucky" type story. So drawing stick figures being stabbed with swords seems rather fitting coming from me! :P:P

[Thoron the Hunter]

I like the drawing, expecially how you show how you came upon making it usin the genesis. Good Job

[jack cloudy]

He looks different than I expected. I still like it though, quite a good drawing.

Stick figures? I drew them too, usual with stick ufos nearby carrying oversized rayguns. Stick figure death in my case never required corpse disposal.

[Taillus]

Very good work for a first timer. I would love to get some of my art on here as soon as my long and tiring battle with a certain Lexmark Combo Printer/Scanner is through. It is quite finicky and I HATE it but soon I will have to break down and figure out what is wrong with it or buy a new one.

I think you really have some hidden talent there seeing as how you really haven't drawn before. I can give you some pointers after this weekend if you'd like. I am not the best by any stretch but I do LOVE to draw.

I really enjoyed the stages of Genesis. I thought it was cool how you stepped us through your work. That is how you really come up with some art. Sizing and posing before you draw gives a definite advantage.

[ShogunSniper]

Very good work for a first timer. I would love to get some of my art on here as soon as my long and tiring battle with a certain Lexmark Combo Printer/Scanner is through. It is quite finicky and I HATE it but soon I will have to break down and figure out what is wrong with it or buy a new one.

I think you really have some hidden talent there seeing as how you really haven't drawn before. I can give you some pointers after this weekend if you'd like. I am not the best by any stretch but I do LOVE to draw.

I really enjoyed the stages of Genesis. I thought it was cool how you stepped us through your work. That is how you really come up with some art. Sizing and posing before you draw gives a definite advantage.

thanks. that's a bit more informative than the rest of the feedback i've gotten. because i lack slightlly in the art skill that thing took me a whole day to draw practically, but i plan to draw more soon once i find some time.

[Taillus]

To aid you a bit further (And remember I am by no means a pro) You have the right idea in doing your art in steps especially when dealing with just a single character on a page. But it might benefit you to break it down into something more basic though for your first step.

Do not worry about the cloak until much later. Keep a basic skeleton for starters and make it large enough that you can add some detail. If your character is too small then you won't be able to be as detailed as you would like to be. Let us start with the skeleton:



In your second Genesis Step, you should be focusing on your body instead of clothing. gauge how you want your character to appear as far as thickness and proportion. Remember also that at no point so far should any line you create be permanent. Draw very lightly, altering and sculpting until you are sure Genesis looks to your liking. With my character pictured here, we see that I might have drawn the head too big. Because I shaped out my body I am able to see what fits and what needs changing. For now though, lets just work with it and see what happens.
PS - Note that I still do not have any definite line created. Nothing permanent and that is the way we like it.



For third Genesis I think you are correct in beginning to add a face, but check out the cross I placed on my sketch where his face should be. This will determine the placement of the facial features as well as remind me where I wanted my character to be looking. This will help you immensely in bringing life to your work. You can draw the face in any style but lets keep a basic look for right now. Books on drawing the human form will help you greatly and it will be in your favor to practice drawing hands and feet over and over again but let's keep on track



Make your face but still refrain from harsh lines that will ruin your work if it erases badly, for a little trick you should pick up a pack of poster putty, or Stickytac is what I can find here in Canada. It is usually a blueish putty that you see in place of tacks to hold posters in place. It removes the lead from your page without rubbing so you don't smudge your art and you don't ruin your paper. Give it a try sometime.

At step three, we can also start making some definite lines that will be a little more permanent. Take it slow and think about what lines you want to keep but don't get too overwhelmed, keep it basic for now, leaving fine details for later...


Now Final Genesis for me is called Step 4. I hope I am not coming off as being cocky but I would really like to see you take your drawing to a new level. Don't use my word as gospel but I hope that these tips come in handy. Art is very grey. There is no right and wrong way to do anything so feel free to omit anything you don't agree with; but to continue, we will now focus on hair and things and maybe get this picture done by step 6

Step 4 for me was further defining muscles and lines as well as figuring out where his hair was going. I also softened some faint lines with a piece of tissue, blending the lines into more of a shade. I also transformed his face from an oval to something with more features, adding cheekbones and such.



Step 5 sadly I had to pick up the pace because my lunch break is almost over but I basically finished my project for the afternoon. I really feel bad for skimping out on the bottom half of my picture but I hope my long and boring walkthough helped. Hopefully I will be able to provide more feedback and we can create a thread about drawing and teaching others. I will spend more time on a sketch later but I really have to run. Again I hope this helps

[jack cloudy]

Now look at what you've done. My fingers are itching for a pencil.

Nice tutorial and I think it might help me for one. Also, that guy has one big axe.

[ShogunSniper]

jeeze thanks a lot taillus... wow.

some of that will definitely come in handy in the future.

[Fuzzy Knight]

When it comes to adding some texture to your artwork, remember to maybe mark a point on you're sheet from where the lightsource is - used to do that myself in between, turns out very good as shadows goes together and it seems very natural

[Ibis]

Great first art, ShogunSniper. You've got talent! You have the contours of the robe and fall of the clothing done especially well - and the hair texture. Work on the facial shape next. More round.

Taillus gave a great dimensional figure drawing key. Also good to get if you can find one at an artstore is a little bendable wooden mannequin that you can set into any position you like to sketch from.

Here is another approach to figure dimensions if you do digital art - http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g144/Ath...WATERSPIRIT.jpg - make cirlces of color in your Paint program and link them together to form the body parts ... adding muscle thickness as you go.