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[Teigan]

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[Dewclaw]

I took 4 years of art in high school and another year of art in college, and I still can't draw. Can't beat the price for it though!

[Teigan]

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[cowmuflage]

Well i can tell you if your going to draw any form of life be it animal or man use construction it was the first thing they made us learn at animation school and it makes your drawings look alot better.

Now i have meet people who don't do it cos they think it does not work or is too hard but when you look at there drawings with out it they not very good. Construction makes things have weight and proportion as well as other good things that make them for life like. I personaly never used to use it but ever since i did my stuffs gotten 10X better just check my DA page for proof of that lol. You can PM me if you need help and stuff if you want i don't mind.

[Teigan]

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[cowmuflage]

oh sorry should of said what it was lol. Its basicly basic shapes like circles and stuff i'll find a link to show you

[Rottingham]

I can draw... unless it's people. I suck at people. Whenever I have to make a person they always have a hat, bandana, and sunglasses/eyepatch because I always butcher the head too badly...

[Nick]

Animals, I'm getting the hang of...

Humans, on the other hand... D|

[Kayb]

i can draw, but i have to sit there for ages to do it. two or three of the stuff i have on deviant art took me a solid month to plod my way through, each.

[Ryno]

Mmm, I must read this...

$0.75? Sounds good to me, muahaha.

[Fael]

Hmm all my books are packed up... >_< But what helps for drawing people and animals is studying anatomy books and getting a general idea of how bones are structured, where the muscles lay and what they look like when they move. Then compare the human to the animals and see the similarities. Having a good idea of those fundamentals will change how you draw because then you know what a certain lump is formed from and how to best express it and you can have a better idea of what body parts you can't see might be doing.
This kind of study is so very worthwhile for great results than if one were only following steps on how to copy what someone else did. That is pretty great and helpful too, various methods that you try will help you establish what works for you, but the understanding of how bodies work, why they look as they do and the practice of drawing it is a skill that will trickle down to influence even the simplest of pictures. The more you understand and learn on a subject the more it will show as it can affect how you draw.

Perspective drawing is something I don't have the patience for but can help you set up amazing scenes, that is something to study. Another is looking into books about color theory, light and shadows. I'm sure you'll find what suits you, as contrary to me you may find that creating scenes is a lot of fun and truly appealing.

Asides from reading I can only say that you need to practice every day if possible and draw everything and anything. Draw trees, plants, people, objects, animals... anything. Use pencils, charcoal, watercolor, crayons.. whatever medium is comfortable to use just work on drawing and studying what you see. You could probably find books which suggest methods of drawing what you see, but basically what it all is is practice for your hand and mind to be able to recreate shapes, looks, shadows and more however you choose to.

Whatever you feel drawn towards as style or subject I think you will find your own natural style to represent these things and it will only grow from there. The most important thing to remember is to just keep drawing. :}


Edit: About the construction method.. what that brings to mind are techniques used to rough out the pose, flow and proportions of a figure. The method always makes me think of animation and comics but it could be used for very lifelike figures as well. It's useful to help anyone out in learning to draw, but I still think that the greatest results come from having a good understanding of anatomy. The simple shapes are meant to serve as the guidelines for the placement of the major bones, muscles and limbs. Usually it is just a light sketch or drawn on another layer, and the proper figure is then drawn over them.

Here's a few examples using... dragons, horse, animals:

Using lines and circles: http://alecan.deviantart.com/art/Dragon ... 6?q=1&qo=1
Using simplified shapes for their sketch and explaining it: http://shinju-the-dragon.deviantart.com ... -142772030
Starting with circles to plan the body: http://droemar.deviantart.com/art/Horse ... 7?q=1&qo=1
Basic Animal Anatomy - This example of body structure and muscles to give a basic idea is really simple and neat: http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs6/i/2005/0 ... arseed.jpg
How the various things they have learned influences their dragons: http://alecan.deviantart.com/art/Dragon ... 0?q=1&qo=1
People too.. the cartoony style I had in mind: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gVZcK1cJR2I/S ... Roughs.jpg
Another way: http://www.drawfurry.com/images/how-bods1.gif

Sometimes methods might look very strange to others since the technique being used is what makes sense to the artist and helps them follow through on a plan... like with those circles to figure out the perspective of the horse's body. That was a new one for me! I don't draw many horses though. :p

[cowmuflage]

to be able to draw something true to the anatomy of it you do have to draw the construction. Go to any proper life drawing class and they will tell you. Fael nearly all the posts you put up were consrtuction ones mate. Don't be too worried about drawing every bone or muscle i can tell you a lot of time its a waste of time UNLESS you want to go for the ultra realistic drawings but i dont think the OP wants to do that.

Edit: Fael again nearly all you said was best suited for life drawing so more realistic stuff. Alot of it wont really help the OP if they want to do like cartoonish i mean it will help a bit but not that much. Y know what i'm saying? i do life drawing every week at animation school i do know what im talking about here XD

[Moonlost]

Fael has pretty much gone though everything better than I could.

Personally, I tend to construct my figures from the pose up. I use lines to give me guidelines for how I want that particuar character to stand, then start using shapes to build up the bone structure, musclulature, then move onto details. For somethign more cartoony, I overexadurate the structure rather than just use shapes. It's just how I've personally learned.

If I had to recomend a book, my personal favourite is "Fantasy Cartooning" from Ben Caldwell. (He has another one out called Action Cartooning, alas that's not in my collection yet) Although his style is cartoonish, his method of construction applies quite well to more realistic figures. Not to mention that his art is amazing and very dynamic. He has his own forums, Action Cartooning. A lot of really helpfull tutorials are there... alas a number of the images are broken. Buuut he does have a blog where he hosts his stuff. Still, I highly recomend having a look if you're interested.

Another Tutorial to give you an idea of this is Here.

[Teigan]

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[Fael]

The cartoonish stuff can be drawn using "construction" techniques! They're used by animators, by comic artists planning out roughs, even just for drawings. A couple friends of mine went to animation schools and learning anatomy was a part of it, even though in other classes they were learning to animate with very basic and cartoony looking figures, as well as creating such stylized characters. Using those methods to plan out the character was common. It is the first time I heard it being called "construction", though.

Even though basic shapes are useful to draw realistic things,what I said is true that knowing basic fundamentals of body structure will trickle down into even simple looking artwork. The first human one I shared shows very simple shapes making a very cartoony human. That art and the following comes from Jessa Sininger's art blog. Here you can see the sketchy lines used to make up the uncolored figures: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gVZcK1cJR2I/S ... esigns.jpg

This is one of their tutorials: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gVZcK1cJR2I/S ... esigns.jpg

When I draw characters I start with simple shapes. I tend to like sharp lines as opposed to round lines. So the first step deals primarily with shapes. At this stage I'll try to be as gestural as possible although I did clean up the rough a bit. Then the next step is detail. This is where I add pretty much everything that makes the character who they are. The last step is painting of course. I'm not a fan of painting. I love the sketching process more. But color always looks nice.

Also some Star Wars sketches: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gVZcK1cJR2I/S ... esigns.jpg
And sketches while at Starbucks: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gVZcK1cJR2I/S ... esigns.jpg
I figure the more you know and practice the easier and more awesome your own simple sketches can turn out.
Zane Kohler's style: http://www.zanekohler.com/storage/blog- ... 3522169190
Very basic: http://www.zanekohler.com/storage/blog- ... 8864844610
By Jayenti Collins: http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/ ... etches.jpg

Constructing Cartoon Characters Part 1 and Part 2
Some pose tutorials (with more linked in his comment): http://alexds1.deviantart.com/art/Pose- ... l-72010406
Cartoon characters, Animation Fundamentals (he uses "construction"!): http://johnkcurriculum.blogspot.com/200 ... ls-of.html
Drawing tutorials: http://forum.elfwood.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=222

Really awesome collection of human anatomy tutorials, references as well as other methods: http://artistshospital.deviantart.com/a ... s-24705651
Same thing for animals: http://artistshospital.deviantart.com/a ... 7?q=1&qo=1

[cowmuflage]

aye thats the first thing they made us learn in animation school was construction. Best way of saying why construction is important is that its the "building blocks of the drawing" as my first year tudor said and well hes true. It really should be used when ever your drawing a alive thing be it realistic or cartoony as it will make it look more real if you egt what i mean :S

[Fael]

I guess it's more of an animation term then? I've only been to anatomy courses and drawing sessions, I've never been been to an animation school, it's so expensive. -_- How fortunate for you though! I hope you learn some great stuff.

[cowmuflage]

Hmm i guess it is. yeah it has been heaps of fun down side is that theres not that much jobs here in new zealand for it so i'm most likely going to have to move somewhere else but thats in the future i'm still elarning after all!