Do you draw?

[Barbas]

...Or paint? Feel free to show off something you've done, if you like. Do you do it as part of a job, or a hobby? When does it normally happen?

I used to doodle compulsively throughout all my school years, winding down a bit when I reached university. Some teachers were driven to distraction because no margin was spared for them to use as marking space. Most of what I drew was mazes that I'd spend hours on, or maps. For some reason, I really liked drawing fantasy maps (I think Morrowind may have hit me in the emotions around that time). I remember drawing most often at home - that was where the good, un-marked A4 paper was - and doing it a lot more than I wrote at one point. I started off being far more comfortable with drawing because I had a habit (which I still do) of placing paper sideways or at an angle, then writing away from myself, which used to result in curving lines that really peeved the perfectionist in me. Even writing was a bit more like calligraphy at one point, with every character having to be crafted to a certain standard and every document made sufficiently presentable.

To this day, I still absolutely f***ing love unsullied printer paper. My writing doesn't look as perversely perfect as it once did, but my speed's almost doubled since then. I can do it all loopy too!

 

[Breakdown]

I drew my own avatar, but it's gone now.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I used to.

I was fairly good at it -- even got a nice spotlight once, right here, courtesy of Aerosteam.

But it's fallen completely to the wayside now. Can't say how it happened, I for some reason just don't care about it at all anymore. Even thinking about drawing something, or looking at other people's artwork just fills me with a sense of utter futility.

Maybe it'll come back, maybe it won't, but as it stands I don't even miss it.

 

[sageoftruth]

I'm just getting started. Sure, I drew plenty until I was 10, but that was 20 years ago. After trying to absorb as much as I could from Youtube, I signed up for a Comics and Sequential Art class for something more hands-on. I've had two classes so far, so I've got a long way to go.

I've done plenty of fiction writing as a hobby and I'm hoping to convert some of them into comics at some point. We'll see if I have the steady hand for that sort of thing.

 

[aba1]

Art is a fairly large part of my life. I just need to get better so I can one day have my own magic card . I also want to run my own indie game studio which I am working towards currently.

 

[Phasmal]

A bit, yeah.
In the past I drew loads and loads, usually on online drawing boards.

Spoiler: Probably one of the best I did back then. Really old.

But then y'know, life, work, tablet breaking. Things got in the way and I kind of drew less, but I still drew from time to time in my sketchbook.

Spoiler: Some old stuff. I quite like drawing robots

More recently though, my sister gave me some watercolours for Christmas, so I gave that a go. Nothing fancy, I literally just googled 'Butterfly' and then drew and painted the result, just for practice.

Spoiler: I think it came out okay

Sorry if the images are bit big, and the photos of my sketchbook are a bit crappy, but I chucked them together quite quickly.
Drawing has always been a hobby of mine, some of my family think I should try and sell art, but eh. I don't think I'm quite that good. I'm a happy amateur.

 

[Gray-Philosophy]

I do draw! quite a lot even.

I also used to draw little maps, mostly for D&D though

Now I draw a variety of fantasy stuff and friends requests or whatever happens to strike my fancy at the time. I would like to pursue an art career at some point, but at the moment it's still only a hobby of mine.

Here's one I did for a D&D group of all our characters posing like badasses while fighting zombies:

shameless self-advertisement [http://gray-philosophy.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/]

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I am told I am skilled at drawing. But I never bothered to get better at it.

My sister though, she used to look up to me and my drawing "skills", now she is better than the average schmuck on DeviantArt (she actually is on it, 12 years old and getting comments/favorites).

 

[Zhukov]

Used to.

Let it fall by the wayside about the same time I started uni. Haven't drawn in years now.

I was never all that good. I shudder to think what I'd be like now.

I used to have a DeviantArt page... oh hey, it still exists!

Here's some drawings:

Spoiler: Umm... it's a bird. A raven if my memory serves.

Umm... it's a bird. A raven if memory serves.

Spoiler: An exercise in shading. It came out better than it had any right to.

An exercise in shading. It came out better than it had any right to.

This last little one I drew specifically to be a forum avatar but for some reason never actually used it.

 

[Saelune]

I doodled a lot in school. No one ever said I was any good, so I assumed I wasn't. Then people started way too late to suggest I was decent to good, so I started to try to find a place with drawing. Took some classes in college, and one teacher said I had potential, but no discipline. Was a taskmaster and a jerk though, so I ditched. Took another class that I thought was about drawing but was more about painting, but I figured if I don't try it, I wont find out if I actually like painting. That class ended with me saying "Fuck you", giving a speech telling off my teacher, and getting removed from the class. Pretty proud of that. (She didn't actually teach you anything and just put you down)

I'm now looking elsewhere for my future, but I want to one day get a cheap tablet for drawing to try again. I think having one where erasing and retrying doesn't leave marks all over my page as opposed to using pencil and paper will help me actually improve.

 

[Zhukov]

[snip]

Hi there.

Just took a wander through your DA gallery. Some neat stuff. I especially liked the Warframe fanart.

Do you accent critiques? Because there's some aspects of figure poses that I think you could improve on with very little effort. However, I don't want to be dumping unsolicited lectures on you. So if you're interested, just say so.

 

[Gray-Philosophy]

[snip]

Hi there.

Just took a wander through your DA gallery. Some neat stuff. I especially liked the Warframe fanart.

Do you accent critiques? Because there's some aspects of figure poses that I think you could improve on with very little effort. However, I don't want to be dumping unsolicited lectures on you. So if you're interested, just say so.

Oh absolutely! I'm always eager to learn, so critique is indeed very welcome!

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Yeah I do, it is my job and one of my hobbies. Despite that, it still doesn't happen as much as I want it to in order for me to be personally satisfied with my abilities.

Spoiler: Some stuff for childrens books

Spoiler: A car for car people

Spoiler: Some stuff for fun

(I didn't draw this ^, it's a reference for context).

Spoiler: Youve already seen this one Barbas

 

[Something Amyss]

Does "poorly" count as an answer?

In high school, my art teacher liked my style, but I thought I was terrible so I never really pursued it. Sometimes I sketch things up to give people a rogh idea of how I want things to look, but...Eh? I don't know.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I guess a few creative endeavours. Once able to get into the required zone long enough to not lose faith in myself before i finish. Not sure about sharing my stuff online though. Seems like i could be an easy target for trolling communities, until i build effective defenses and an even level of self-esteem to balance upon. Try to keep eveything unique as possible, as visually enticing and suitably surreal as possible. So never tried fanart, even if some IPs are begging to be tried. Am tempted by what Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite can be capable of, also the aesthetic of Red from Transistor has a seductive quality for art.

 

[WindKnight]

Used to paint miniatures, but thats only quasi on topic. More likely to write short stories, but haven't had much inspiration lately.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I sketched nude models in college. I wasn't very good but it was a fun course.

Spoiler: NSFW

 

[Zhukov]

Oh absolutely! I'm always eager to learn, so critique is indeed very welcome!

Alrighty then.

Simply put, your character's poses are often off balance. Not always, but frequently enough for me to notice.

When people stand they distribute their mass evenly. Otherwise they'd fall over, or at least be uncomfortable. We're constantly adjusting our stance and weight to maintain balance and compensate for our movements. If someone leans over forwards to pick something up they'll place one foot forward to take the weight, or they'll stick a leg out backwards to act as a counterweight, or they'll move their butt and hips backward to compensate. If someone performs a kick they'll lean their torso backwards to balance the weight of their outstretched leg. When we shift our weight from one foot to the other we move our hips and shoulders to balance it out. And so on and so forth.

Now take a look at this picture of yours [http://gray-philosophy.deviantart.com/art/Human-concept-406316295]. The woman on the left looks slightly off, while the guy on the right looks a lot more natural. That's because the woman's pose is unbalanced. She's leaning too much of her mass to the left. In order to look right she'd need to have her hips and shoulders further to the right or maybe have her front foot further to the left to take the weight.

This one [http://gray-philosophy.deviantart.com/art/Nosgoth-Fanart-Summoner-Alchemist-591178569], which is in a similar pose, has the exact same problem. Too much upper body weight to the left.

This one [http://gray-philosophy.deviantart.com/art/Nosgoth-Fanart-Reaver-Samurai-575556497] however (same pose again, but mirrored) is pretty much perfect. (Cool picture by the way. Missed that one before.) Correct placement of the feet and distribution of the upper body weight.

This guy [http://gray-philosophy.deviantart.com/art/Fox-Ranger-360371127] and this guy [http://gray-philosophy.deviantart.com/art/Orc-concept-452393106] have a different pose but the same problem. Too much upper body mass toward the left. A person (or an orc I guess, or an anthropomorphic fox) can stand like that but it's uncomfortable and looks slightly off. Both those guys would look better with the left foot (our left, not theirs) moved just a wee bit further left. That soldier guy in the first picture I linked has it right. So does this guy [http://gray-philosophy.deviantart.com/art/Nosgoth-Fanart-Vampire-Hunter-573080051]. Note the positions of the leftmost feet relative to the body mass. Note that it isn't quite a straight line down from the hip to the heel. It looks more natural because it's balanced. Compare that with the orc and fox dude.

Lastly there's these two [http://gray-philosophy.deviantart.com/art/Evil-s-loving-embrace-388406134]. (Older picture I'm guessing, judging by the shading.) Dude's about to either fall over or drop his lady friend on her butt. That rightmost leg needs to be way further right to take the weight of two bodies. Compare with these tango dancers in a comparable pose [http://www.wantedinrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/tango.jpg].

There are of course exceptions to the balance rule. For example, a person running will lean their weight forwards. The faster they're going, the more they lean forwards. If you're drawing an action scene with someone falling or being knocked over then obviously you don't want them to be balanced. Likewise if you're trying to make someone appear clumsy or inelegant.

It's a relatively small thing but it really helps make your poses look natural to the eye. Luckily it's also easy to get right once you know to look for it.

Hope this helps.