# GamerZard's Sketchbook



## Kopatropa (Oct 13, 2017)

I was told my art wasn't 'commission quality' and that I needed to work on my basics. Since they're right, I have to force myself to commit time and energy to doing this.

I'll post some studies here and ask for some guidance because I don't even know if I'm doing this right.

Also, am I supposed to be studying these in a specific order?

Here's some basic shapes:


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## -..Legacy..- (Oct 13, 2017)

Everybody learns differently, so what "order" you learn in is subjective (but generally acceptable). 

There are a plethora of online YouTube classes, so for starters find something that catches your attention, and enjoy doing it first.  If you don't enjoy it, don't do it.


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## Kopatropa (Oct 13, 2017)

Here's some shading practice:


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## Kopatropa (Oct 13, 2017)

I practiced gesture. Am I doing it right? Where do I go from here?


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## -..Legacy..- (Oct 13, 2017)

Gesture is used to show the motion, flow, action of base figure drawing.  So from there, you start building.  Don't try to do all the details first, even humans need bones to look right.

You should try some quick sketch drills.  There are a lot on YouTube, The idea isn't to "complete" the drawing, as much as create your backbone within a limited timeframe.

The more you practice, the more fluid and natural it becomes.


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## Kopatropa (Feb 20, 2018)

I've moved on to shading next, and frankly, I'm stressing.

Here's a recent (poor) attempt at it.









The light source is supposed to be coming from the left, but it's not good.


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## MissNook (Feb 20, 2018)

That's a nice beginning for shadowing 
You may want to try to think more about the geometric shapes (cylinders for legs, sphere for head). You've already shadowed a sphere, now you can try to apply it to your character. Maybe also try to divide limbs from one another. For example, the foot and the leg are two parts, you can try to shadow one then the other separately. You can also use photos of humans and animals to see how light behaves.

I know it's stressing, but it's only the beginning of your training, it's normal that you don't catch the technique quickly, it needs some practice. Be nice with yourself!


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## Mikazuki Marazhu (Feb 20, 2018)

Kopatropa said:


> I've moved on to shading next, and frankly, I'm stressing.
> 
> Here's a recent (poor) attempt at it.
> 
> ...


This is very sexy


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## Kopatropa (Feb 20, 2018)

Mikazuki Marazhu said:


> This is very sexy


Why thank you. I have an alt. of this if you wanna see it.


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## Mikazuki Marazhu (Feb 20, 2018)

Kopatropa said:


> Why thank you. I have an alt. of this if you wanna see it.


[see my avatar]


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## TheArchiver (Feb 20, 2018)

An excellent step in the right direction. 

I would like to give you this resource I've known many artists to use. (These are all nude models so this link is technically NSFW).
You can either try to draw these outright or do gesture studies with them. Or both! It's up to you. Take your time. Pick simple things first to get an understanding, but do challenge yourself on occasion.

I've done some "red lines" to try and give you a bit of a boost. There is much much more that I could have done, but you don't need to be overwhelmed from the start so this is simpler to get you started. 



 
So here, the shadows are taken a moderate amount further and are softened. When you vary the edges of your shadows, it creates visual depth. For instance, the cast shadow just under his pant leg is a much harder edge since it's a very immediate but very shallow object blocking light over his leg. 
Conversely, the light wraps around his cylindrical legs and assuming he isn't too close to the light source, the edge where the shadow begins in the center is going to be much softer. 



 

Another way to look at this is through planes. I've chosen his legs as they're the easiest shapes to work with. You stated the light source was to the left so that's what we're going to follow (good choice in considering the placement of your light source, that will be critical as you move forward with this). Notice that the shadows of his pants are slightly offset a small touch more to the left than the shadows of his legs. This is because they're not completely flush against his legs and therefore are slightly closer to the light source. 
Also, quick color theory note, orange and blue works wonders together when one is used for shading the other.

Eventually, when you get into values, and color theory you will mix them with shadow/light edges and placement to create visually deep lighting compositions. I recommend practicing in gray scale or monochromatic. Limitations like these will help you see values more clearly.


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## Kopatropa (Feb 20, 2018)

TheArchiver said:


> An excellent step in the right direction.
> 
> I would like to give you this resource I've known many artists to use. (These are all nude models so this link is technically NSFW).
> You can either try to draw these outright or do gesture studies with them. Or both! It's up to you. Take your time. Pick simple things first to get an understanding, but do challenge yourself on occasion.
> ...


This is pretty easy to understand, some of this I didn't think about. Thanks for the tips. I'll try this out when I'm working on my current drawing.


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## TheArchiver (Feb 20, 2018)

Kopatropa said:


> This is pretty easy to understand, some of this I didn't think about. Thanks for the tips. I'll try this out when I'm working on my current drawing.



What you could also do is attempt to emulate the shadows from photo reference and incorporate it into whichever drawings you choose to make. 
Repetition and patience is key. You won't get it the first time, but keep practicing because you eventually will with some commitment.


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## Kopatropa (Feb 20, 2018)

TheArchiver said:


> What you could also do is attempt to emulate the shadows from photo reference and incorporate it into whichever drawings you choose to make.
> Repetition and patience is key. You won't get it the first time, but keep practicing because you eventually will with some commitment.


Obviously. I plan to take as much time as I need on this just to get an understanding.


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## Kopatropa (Feb 26, 2018)

How's the shading on this?


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## Maybe Stanley (Feb 26, 2018)

I was told with shading, never to use Black or White as the shading color. It looks way cooler if you used some other color.


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## Kopatropa (Feb 26, 2018)

Maybe Stanley said:


> I was told with shading, never to use Black or White as the shading color. It looks way cooler if you used some other color.


I didn't even use black or white to shade.


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## Kopatropa (May 21, 2018)

Bump


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## RogueNoodle (May 21, 2018)

Kopatropa said:


> How's the shading on this?
> View attachment 28243 View attachment 28244


Your shading looks great so far! The cel-shading really compliments your style. Great choice of color for the shadow. TheArchiver made a great point in focusing on objects as 3 dimensional, but I think you're off to a great start!

I would recommend integrating gesture practice into your studies as well. Its great to focus on the structure of things, but I think it is just as important to focus on fluidity and gesture! Doing gesture sketches really helped improve my art. I also found it to be more relaxing than studying anatomy!

A great resource for practicing gesture drawing would be: Quickposes: pose library for figure & gesture drawing practice
They even have a timed challenge where you can pick the gender of the models, whether or not they are clothed, and even how long you want the images to appear: Quickposes: pose library for figure & gesture drawing practice


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## Kopatropa (Jun 2, 2018)

How bad is the anatomy in this?


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