In order to add details to a simplified 'dress-form' under drawing, you need to know how to think in proper 3D. This short video explains the importance of following the surface contours of your 3D form.
Make sure to catch the other parts of the constructive form miniseries!
In this second part of our werewolf drawing it's time to get detailed. With the 'manequin' drawing complete, I am able to confidently add in the specific costume and facial details that bring a drawing to life. (Note that the werewolf character is property of Blizzard entertainment, this is a fan-art drawing.)
Make sure to catch the other parts of the constructive form miniseries!
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As you practice traditional drawing, you'll want to indicate a light source and cast shadows. Though shadows can be rendered in a variety of ways, crosshatching is a great way to quickly build up tone and volume with a pencil.
The human head is a challenging subject to capture. Especially when drawn from the imagination, the head is an extremely complex shape. This video explains a simplification approach in which the organic forms of the head can be envisioned as simplified planes: a planar analysys. Many illustrators and painters have their own forumlas and methods of simplifying the head, so please tell use your favorite resources in the comments!
Faces are hard to draw! One secret to learning how to draw faces is to first tackle the skull. For a variety of reasons, the skull is a great stand-in for a face. We're hard wired to be especially critical about human faces, and they can be frustrating to learn with. Instead, learning with the skull can help you internalize the basic proportions and masses before you move onto actual faces.
Anatomy is a huge subject. This video will introduce the two main approaches: observational and constructive. Each is useful, and most artists use both from time to time.
When you think of perspective, do you immediately reach for the rulers and technical pens? You don't need to. I find perspective to be more useful when it's utilized more like the rest of your sketching: casually. This video offers a simple exercise to get you thinking.
Download the worksheet as a .JPG
In the years I've studied drawing, "constructive form" has made the largest impact on me. The general idea is to visually reduce complex forms into simpler ones, and make your drawing challenge more manageable. Especially as a concept artist, drawing from one's imagination is essential. Teaching yourself to envision objects in this simplified manner is a key concept for improving your imaginary drawing skills.
Many beginner artists are reluctant to learn perspective drawing. It is often thought of as 'technical' and 'scary', but it doesn't need to be either of those things. If you want to be a concept artist or illustrator, you need to learn perspective. In this video I'll show a very basic exercise that you can practice for beginning to understand perspective. This is an observational drawing assignment, and should be done with paper and pencil. Have fun!
