AWKWARD ZOMBIE

AngelicSongx wrote:Wow! That's really helpful, thank you! I don't think I'll follow the advice about nude models though.

I highly, highly recommend it. I know it's odd and weird, so you can start off with just models in clothing. They have those for the younger crowds! But eventually, you need to learn how the skin works at different parts of the body. If that's too much though, I'm sure you can find models online that aren't completely naked. Like, in bikinis and shorts. There's no rush! But take into consideration how much faster you can improve on your figures.

I do have a wooden model figure, though. Do you think that'll help me?

Wooden models are great for poses actually. But they're a bit short when it comes to anatomy. Sure, they're based upon basic shapes that make up a human body, but there's only so much they're going to teach you about the body. They're wooden, not flesh and bone.

Oh, and I put his arm over like that because I thought it would be weird just seeing his fingers and a bit of his elbow above his head. I like what you put about the head alignment, though the ears on that model seem big to me.

Yeah I intentionally made the ears big so that it was easier to see.
Well, unless he's super flexible, which is totally possible, you also need to study how the body tends to look when it is at rest.
When I do the same pose, it looks like this,


(forgive my skuzziness. I just got out of bed)
See how much my muscles on my back are deforming? How much they're pushed together? And I'm pretty flexible! This isn't a very "relaxed" position to put my arm. By how far back I put my arm with my body and head facing the direction your character faces, it's more like I'm winding up for a big punch and I'm about to take out that girl who mocks my hair

what was I talking about

oh right.
OHk so now here's a photo of me when I'm in a more "relaxed" pose.

So now, see the difference in my back? My shoulder muscles aren't contracting and defined in a way that implies my arm is going waaay back. They're looser. This is a more comfortable position.
I take photo references of myself all the time! Even if it's for a guy I'm drawing. It's more so to get an idea of how a pose would work and if feasible within the context of the drawing.

The lumpy forms (at least on the head) were possibly due to me drawing with a mouse.

The mouse is super difficult to use but it's not impossible to master. I've seen many fantastic artists you think are using tablets but actually use the mouse!

What do you mean "basic lines to find ribs"?

What I mean by this is, notice how I redrew the girl's body. As I make out the form of her shape, I make a very simple guide as to where her ribs are. This helps me to properly draw out her body with a more convincing look rather then winging it. This relates to..

And, what do you mean when you said "how does it deform"?

Look at your belly when you're in a relaxed, sitting pose. Now tighten it. Notice how it changed and how it "deformed"? That's what I mean.
Now look at your arm, first when it's relaxed. See how the muscles and the skin wrapped around the muscles appears as and how it indicates that your arm is at rest. Now flex them! You should see a sudden change in them, with the bicep expanding and "deforming" and more veins showing on the wrist.

By understanding how the body deforms or relaxes in certain poses and muscle exertion allows you to better understand how the body works. It also allows you to make your poses look more convincing.

You don't have to be a doctor with an extensive knowledge of the bones, muscles and such, but just having a basic idea of how the muscles and body works in different body types helps immensely.

I understand you like the classic "manga" style, but those manga artists, at least the good ones, have a fairly good background in art history, studying realism and such. It's a lot of work, I do not deny this, but it is so satisfying when you see how your style changes.

oracle i really like your art style, it reminds me of the Prequel comic (if you don't read it you should, it's based on Oblivion. I think I remember you saying you do read it though.) I'd be interested in seeing how you draw landscapes and stuff.

also Yanimae idk if you can remember me saying you'd make a good art teacher ages ago because you go into loads of detail, but now i think you'd make a fantastic art teacher (not saying you need to be one).

Yanimae gave better advice than I ever could, but I do want to add a little footnote! Angelic, you said something about worrying that the ears were too big. In actuality, ears are about a third of the length of the whole head! Some are bigger and some are smaller, but one-third is the commonly agreed proportion.

Going on to add a bit more about proportion, as I think Bunyip already said, ears also match up with the tip of the nose and the tops of the eyes/eyebrows. Hands are about as long as the face if you put the ball of your hand to your chin--your fingers should touch/nearly touch your hairline! Hands can also be divided into halves. The palm of your hand and your fingers are about equal length, give or take the differing lengths of your fingers. The thumb acts very different from a finger and can be best described as a wedge with a hinge inside the palm of the hand. The position of the thumb affects the palm of the hand--when the thumb is tucked close, the palm appears to be thinner and is 'bunched up' more because it's experiencing tension! When the thumb is extended outward it pulls the skin of the palm with it, smoothing the palm and adding that little webbing-like curve from the inside of the thumb to the index finger.
(Also, the pad of the thumb is shaped like an upside-down heart with a blunt point! Take a look and see if you can spot that on your own thumb!)

Moving on from hands, your proportion from head to shoulders seems acceptable in terms of the manga style. For real people, shoulders are usually broader in proportion and the neck is thicker. Necks have a big burden to carry, so they have to be strong! Brains are heavy!

I won't go into proportions for the rest of the body right now, but I will say this: you know how, in almost every 'realistic' drawing book they tell you to count the character's head and use that for measurements? It sounds really boring and tedious, right? Actually, head-counting is way more useful once you get the hang of it, especially when it comes to establishing a character's height.

Like Yanimae said, draw basic shapes before fleshing out the figure. Blocking in a guide will tell you how everything fits together and works, and will help your characters to look really 3D and alive--no matter what style they're drawn in!

Double posting to separate this stuff from my other wall-o-text. I took pictures of some of my best drawings from my figure drawing class and I felt like showing them off, so.....yeah. They are all drawings of nude models so they'll be linked. NSFW BECAUSE NIPPLES/NAKED PEOPLE.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... ts/4-5.jpg
One of my earlier things with the female model, Jamie. We were supposed to focus on the silhouette only and make sure we used negative shapes to block in the whole figure (also, the lines at the side are head measurements!).

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/4-17.jpg
This was a subtractive drawing! We colored in the whole page and then focused on erasing the figure. It was a short-ish pose, so we were only supposed to focus on one area of the model. This guy's name was Ben.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/4-24.jpg
Ben again! This was one of my teacher's favorite exercises. It's called a Shiva drawing because it looks sort of like depictions of the hindu god Shiva. The model has to keep their lower/upper body completely still and move the other part of their body every couple of minutes. Some Shiva drawings focus only on different positions of the hand or the feet and so on.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/4-26.jpg
Sorry for the sucky quality on this one. Ben again, sitting on a chair. Nothing super remarkable about this, but I've noticed that my figure drawings are always incredibly 'clean' compared to other people in my class, who draw all sorts of musculature and ripples even if they're...not that visible. I dunno.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... ts/5-1.jpg
Charcoal on paper! It was a short pose, so I only focused on Ben's torso. I focused more on drawing shapes of light after I blocked in his various parts.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... ts/5-8.jpg
A drawing of Jamie. I started trying to experiment with using two different colors in my drawings.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/5-82.jpg
This was a drawing from the same day as the one above. I drew in the areas where light was touching Jamie in orange, and used blue Nupastel for the shadowy areas. It kind of reminds me of Portal.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/5-17.jpg
Another drawing of Ben's torso. I started using three different tones of color to try and flesh him out (along with chalk). I also discovered that tattoos are terrible to draw and even more terrible to erase if you mess them up. Both Jamie and Ben had a lot of tattoos but after this drawing I ignored all of them.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/5-24.jpg
Another Ben drawing. We were starting to focus a lot on portraiture and we also started using nice brown paper, instead of flimsy newspaper. Ben had some sweet mutton chops.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/5-29.jpg
This is one of my favorite drawings of Jamie. Instead of using my flesh tones, I used nothing but charcoal, chalk, and blue nupastel. I kind of like the atmosphere this one seems to have, I dunno. Also I doodled in some of Jamie's many ear piercings.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/5-31.jpg
Another Jamie drawing using the three flesh tones. Our teacher was actually absent this day, so Jamie was running the class all on her own. It's definitely a unique experience to have a nude model teaching the class from the stage! Also, I kept the shading on the chair's drapery as loose lines. I think it looks nice.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... s/6-12.jpg
Portrait of Ben. He always looks like he's got a B| face, but I guess if he smiled it would be hard for the class to change their drawings to accomodate for it. He also shaved his glorious sideburns :c

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx2/ ... ts/6-5.jpg
Last one! This was another Jamie drawing and it's my all-time favorite. I used all three flesh tones, chalk, charcoal, and blue nupastel. I like that I managed to make her highlights look fleshy instead of plastic-y, too.

Okay show and tell over.

thanks tales, and yeah i read prequel too!


i don't really do landscapes though... im kinda of a horrible artist who is deathly afraid of leaving their comfort zone

herp, finally started working again today.

I just want to be somewhere I'm not pushed to go forward or backward. Just make my way.

very pretty, yana

no princess coffee

you're very pretty


; DDDDDDD

Oh my goodness, Bunyip. That is gorgeous. I love the lighting.

















boop, new page.

Small and silly doodle to cheer up a friend, nothing big

Because I loved everyone else's from a couple of years ago:



COMING SOME DAY, IF I FINISH IT.

dawwww, Tatzel, all of the adorables.

Are those League of Legends characters? I'm assuming because usually when I see characters I don't recognize they're from League of Legends. If they're not I apologize.

RikuKyuutu wrote:dawwww, Tatzel, all of the adorables.

Haha, thanks

Sol Reaper wrote:Are those League of Legends characters?

Yes they are; Leona and Nautilus.


@Firefly
It's really, really hard to read. Also, it goes a bit too much on the "lolol so random" side, which you should avoid. Another thing, I've seen this rather often in your comics that it's hard to tell what exactly is going on, you need to work on the flow a bit.