by Matthew Russell - Posted 4 years ago
WARNING:This tutorial contains nudity for the sake of art, nothing erotic. This is a tutorial on drawing the human figure, but some see any nudity as distasteful. You have been warned.
Welcome, Drawing Vigilantes. Now that I have that subtle warning out of the way, let’s begin.
During a recent CryptoComics Couch video (Mondays at 7:00 PM MST) Frey and I were talking about art challenges that we partook of. Someone commented that they are feeling good enough at coming up with a comic script, but not of drawing. I wanted to address this today.
Like any sports activity, you need a warm-up before practice. The last thing you want to do is hurt yourself. Drawing is no different, except, you don’t usually get hurt or pull a hamstring.
You warm up so you can get better daily. This will allow your pencil to loosen in your hand, allow you to see your subject better, and speed up your drawings. I’ve talked about some other drawing warmups in the past, but this is one that you will be able to show off to anyone that sees your sketchbook.
There are some great resources on learning to draw that I wanted to talk about. Yes, there are sites such as Skillshare, Khan Academy, or Udemy but that wasn’t what my focus is on today. I want you to get to know your own skills first and improve on that.
Many times with such eLearning programs listed above, I find that the teachers already know some tricks and have spent thousands of hours honing their craft so many “tricks” are second nature and they don’t have to think about it anymore. As a result, you might not be able to learn everything that you were hoping.
Don’t get discouraged! I’m here to help you with some warm-ups that will help you both develop your style as well as get you in the right headspace too.
There are 2 sites that I love to use. They don’t try to teach you anything but simply present images of real people for you to sketch. The great part is that they are both completely free!
They will present you with various poses randomly and you can set the amount of time for each image. Basically, you will sketch what you see on the screen. All you will need is a sketchbook (in my case I am using my iPad and Procreate but I have an extra sketchpad that isn’t being used, so after this post, I think I will switch), a pencil, and an internet connection.
You will pick a site and for a few minutes every day, draw what you see. Soon you will have thousands of drawings and be able to quickly get the human figure rather quickly.
Let’s talk about the strengths of both sites real quick.
Out of the 2 sites, this is my personal favorite. Right there on the home screen, you are presented with options such as Full Body, Animal, or Vegetation. Anything you feel you need to practice is right there. So, if you feel your no, Bob Ross with his trees, here you go. (Sidenote, no one will ever top Bob Ross with his trees, I tried and failed miserably.
For this exercise, we are going to be sticking with the human figure.
With each selection, there are sub-options such as gender, clothing, pose (Action or Stationary). I keep them all set to “ALL” so that I am able to fully immerse myself in the drawing experience and I have no idea what I will be drawing next.
I never put it in class mode. I never saw a difference so I never saw a need. You can pick your options and when you are ready to begin, hit start.
When I first found this site, I thought it looked like it was designed in the early 90’s. It’s horribly laid out, but don’t discount it. It offers a ton of stuff.
First, if you sign up, you can earn a certificate of completion. That’s cool and all, but not really needed. Like the previous site, you can do everything we will need to, without ever signing up.
Quick Poses offers several “Challenges” such as athletic, erotica, silhouette, seated, and warriors. They also offer something very different; you have the option of seeing the image upside down!
So, what’s the point of this? Well, you stop seeing the pose as a whole and start looking at it as a collection of shapes. This helps you get out of your own head. I remember practicing this technique in my old High School art class and believe me, it helps.
I personally (for the sake of paper) keep each challenge to a single page. For example, with the 30-second challenge, all my subjects, since they aren’t that detailed, will fit on a single side to a page.
The next challenge will go on the next page, and the final challenge will take up the full last page. After a while, the sketchbook will be full, and I mean full of quick drawings. I would recommend getting a sketchpad with a ton of pages and using it exclusively for this. Trust me, it will help.
In order to warm up, start with a 30-second pose. Both sites can be set to switch subjects in 30 seconds so that you are able to try to get as much done as possible in this amount of time.
By starting with this, you will have to hurry to get your image done. Pay more attention to shoulders and hips so that your figure will seem more lifelike.
Your images will seem blocky and less anatomically correct, but that’s ok. Eventually, you will be able to get to the point where when people see your sketchbook, they will start to make out what they are looking at.
The point is to get speed and balance. This is the best way. Do this for anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes every day, and then move on to the next exercise.
Now that you have completed the 30-second warm-up, we can move onto a 2-minute drawing.
Reset your options by going back to the homepage and simply pick new options and increase the time to 2 minutes. If you are on Quick Poses, choose the interval of 120.
Begin drawing what you see and smash out about 4 of these. This will give you more time to get in more detail. You should already be used to the increased speed of the 30-second shots, so keep up the pace with your pencil. Now you will be able to get into greater detail. My personal sketches don’t even include a face until I get to this point.
By doing this, you will be able to focus more on things like cloth being draped over a subject, or making your subject more anatomically correct. Yet, there are still things that you shouldn’t still be worried about, such as lighting. That will come with the next challenge.
Have some fun with this. I personally recommend doing this anywhere from 2 to 4 times before moving on.
If you notice by the title, we have moved on to 10 minutes on a single subject. This will allow you to really get into the lighting and quickly sketch out the background. Plus it will give you time to move onto details such as face, hands, and feet.
I am still blocky with these parts but I am able to get the poses right. I usually only draw one of these and will take up the full page.
Your hand is loose, your pencil might need to be sharpened, but you’re ready. These exercises will allow you to quickly thumbnail your comic right and set yourself up for success. You will be able to make your drawings more lifelike and fluid at the same time.
If you wanted to really get good and avoid the famous “Same Face Syndrome”, I would recommend doing this exercise again but this time with faces only. You will be able to get some really good expressions down and they will start to come naturally, plus you can get really good at hair at the same time.
I know that this seems like a huge commitment to do every day, but it will be worth it. In recent years, I’ve slacked off on this but I will take this challenge to do it every day for a year (weekends included).
Watch yourself improve as you log some serious drawing hours. Don’t forget to show us what you were able to draw. Upload your sketchbook to the Marketplace so we can all see your improvements.
