The meaning of "life drawing" and how to draw in ANY STYLE

[Smegma Princess]

Aellos

Nah, I'm being difficult. I actually though Azumanga was more akin to our syndicated comics over here (Like Foxtrot, Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield...) But I'm only thinking that because of the formatting.

"4koma", or the four-panel humor comic, is a pretty standard thing in Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonkoma

[Miri-love]

Went through my bookmarks list for you. Feel free to use/not use any of them <3

Dense but very, very thorough Colour Theory Discussion
Top Ten Ways to be a Better Artist
Big Guide to Drawing the Body - not a stepbystep, but more proportional guide/muscle guide/placement guide
Simplify Human Anatomy - I've linked this a bunch, but it's one of my favs. Simple, effective.

[Fansub]

Miri-love

Went through my bookmarks list for you. Feel free to use/not use any of them <3

Will edit the OP with these.

KUMBAYA MY LORD
KUMBAYA

[Miri-love]

Fansub

Miri-love

Went through my bookmarks list for you. Feel free to use/not use any of them <3

Will edit the OP with these.

KUMBAYA MY LORD
KUMBAYA

Hahahah... yea YEA....

[Fansub]

Miri-love

Fansub

Miri-love

Went through my bookmarks list for you. Feel free to use/not use any of them <3

Will edit the OP with these.

KUMBAYA MY LORD
KUMBAYA

Hahahah... yea YEA....

You know I love you heart

Added your links already. Thanks so much!

[Miri-love]

Fansub

You know I love you heart

Added your links already. Thanks so much!

I do * U *

Sweet! If I come up with more, I'll link em up.

Have you considered perhaps a blogs section? I have a few art-oriented blogs that might be super helpful. You've already got quite a bit of info, so maybe that's unnecessary...?

[Fansub]

Miri-love

Have you considered perhaps a blogs section? I have a few art-oriented blogs that might be super helpful. You've already got quite a bit of info, so maybe that's unnecessary...?

Oh by all means link 'em. I want to have as many good resources here as possible.

[Light Soprano]

This was really well-written. 3nodding

BTW, you say that people would have less problems with light source and shading if they drew from real life, but...I do that a lot (I'm the kind of person who likes to stare at something for a really long time and observe before drawing) and yet I still struggle with shading and light sources. xD; In high school art class, we did several shading practices, the first of which was mannequin drawing. We had to start from where the shadows of the mannequin were and gradually build up to the part where light hits it the most. Unfortunately because the room was so well lit, I was literally unable to determine the light source there, nor was I able to see a difference in color in the mannequin on the part where light didn't hit, so I just chose the light source overhead rather than any other direction (like hitting the mannequin from the top left/top right/etc). |D; Another problem I have is knowing how to shade naturally. My shading always seem blocky, and while that works for objects like buildings and trees (in which you can clearly see their shadows reflected), it doesn't work for humans or many clothing fabrics. Animals are even harder to determine light sources with. Drew this a long time ago for a friend (btw, Winrii was what my then FMA-obsessed friends used to call me), but as you can see, the shading there has much to be desired. White cats are more of a nuisance to try and determine light sources with so I tend to constantly drawing them. sweatdrop

[Miri-love]

Composition:
Avoiding Tangents, aka, don't make these compositional errors.

Blogs:
The Art Order (new website) (old blog); covers everything from A-Z; from Jon Schindehette, Senior Creative Director, Dungeons & Dragons®, Wizards of the Coast

Gurney Journey; from James Gurney, award-winning author of "Colour and Light".

Sam's Tasty Art; from Sam Neilson, artist at Avalanche Software, Disney Interactive Studios

Woodyart; from Ryan Wood, also at Avalanche Software

[Fansub]

Soprano Mochi Kitty

This was really well-written. 3nodding

BTW, you say that people would have less problems with light source and shading if they drew from real life, but...I do that a lot (I'm the kind of person who likes to stare at something for a really long time and observe before drawing) and yet I still struggle with shading and light sources. xD; In high school art class, we did several shading practices, the first of which was mannequin drawing. We had to start from where the shadows of the mannequin were and gradually build up to the part where light hits it the most. Unfortunately because the room was so well lit, I was literally unable to determine the light source there, nor was I able to see a difference in color in the mannequin on the part where light didn't hit, so I just chose the light source overhead rather than any other direction (like hitting the mannequin from the top left/top right/etc). |D; Another problem I have is knowing how to shade naturally. My shading always seem blocky, and while that works for objects like buildings and trees (in which you can clearly see their shadows reflected), it doesn't work for humans or many clothing fabrics. Animals are even harder to determine light sources with. Drew this a long time ago for a friend (btw, Winrii was what my then FMA-obsessed friends used to call me), but as you can see, the shading there has much to be desired. White cats are more of a nuisance to try and determine light sources with so I tend to constantly drawing them. sweatdrop

Try squinting when you look at your model. This will blur them, make it easier for you to see the shadows and highlights, and determine the light source.

Also, do you know what a dog's (or whatever animal you want to draw) skeleton looks like and where the muscles are? It's going to be difficult for you to shade if you don't have that information, because a lot of the subtleties in the shadows come from the different shapes of all the muscles. Some stick out a little more, some are wider, some are thin, some are thick...

You're doing things the right way. Keep drawing from life, and study some anatomy to understand what's going on beneath the surface. 3nodding

[Fansub]

Miri-love

Composition:
Avoiding Tangents, aka, don't make these compositional errors.

Blogs:
The Art Order (new website) (old blog); covers everything from A-Z; from Jon Schindehette, Senior Creative Director, Dungeons & Dragons®, Wizards of the Coast

Gurney Journey; from James Gurney, award-winning author of "Colour and Light".

Sam's Tasty Art; from Sam Neilson, artist at Avalanche Software, Disney Interactive Studios

Woodyart; from Ryan Wood, also at Avalanche Software

Gonna add these tomorrow. It's 4AM and I'm going to bed. Thanks a lot for posting them!

[Light Soprano]

Fansub

Soprano Mochi Kitty

This was really well-written. 3nodding

BTW, you say that people would have less problems with light source and shading if they drew from real life, but...I do that a lot (I'm the kind of person who likes to stare at something for a really long time and observe before drawing) and yet I still struggle with shading and light sources. xD; In high school art class, we did several shading practices, the first of which was mannequin drawing. We had to start from where the shadows of the mannequin were and gradually build up to the part where light hits it the most. Unfortunately because the room was so well lit, I was literally unable to determine the light source there, nor was I able to see a difference in color in the mannequin on the part where light didn't hit, so I just chose the light source overhead rather than any other direction (like hitting the mannequin from the top left/top right/etc). |D; Another problem I have is knowing how to shade naturally. My shading always seem blocky, and while that works for objects like buildings and trees (in which you can clearly see their shadows reflected), it doesn't work for humans or many clothing fabrics. Animals are even harder to determine light sources with. Drew this a long time ago for a friend (btw, Winrii was what my then FMA-obsessed friends used to call me), but as you can see, the shading there has much to be desired. White cats are more of a nuisance to try and determine light sources with so I tend to constantly drawing them. sweatdrop

Try squinting when you look at your model. This will blur them, make it easier for you to see the shadows and highlights, and determine the light source.

Also, do you know what a dog's (or whatever animal you want to draw) skeleton looks like and where the muscles are? It's going to be difficult for you to shade if you don't have that information, because a lot of the subtleties in the shadows come from the different shapes of all the muscles. Some stick out a little more, some are wider, some are thin, some are thick...

You're doing things the right way. Keep drawing from life, and study some anatomy to understand what's going on beneath the surface. 3nodding

I'm familiar with the bone structures of animals like dogs and cats (still need to study the skeleton of horses, haha), but I never thought about studying the muscles. Thanks!

[Miri-love]

Fansub

Miri-love

Composition:
Avoiding Tangents, aka, don't make these compositional errors.

Blogs:
The Art Order (new website) (old blog); covers everything from A-Z; from Jon Schindehette, Senior Creative Director, Dungeons & Dragons®, Wizards of the Coast

Gurney Journey; from James Gurney, award-winning author of "Colour and Light".

Sam's Tasty Art; from Sam Neilson, artist at Avalanche Software, Disney Interactive Studios

Woodyart; from Ryan Wood, also at Avalanche Software

Gonna add these tomorrow. It's 4AM and I'm going to bed. Thanks a lot for posting them!

You know it wink

[Botan of Spirit World]

I must say this is very awesome and helpful thread your all putting together! whee

I recognize a lot of the links you put here, I've come across them before and they are very helpful when drawing. Keep it up

[bim bap]

Motion to sticky this thread. All those in favor?