Drawing tips?

[noob3]

I use to be an awsome artist, but I havn't picked up a pencil in 2-3 years and it's all gone down hill. Everything I draw now resembles something a 2nd grader would do, it's all retarded. I really want to get better, but I've totally forgotten what to do to practice.

I've got a huge sketchbook and lots of pencils, help me out ;/

[Ninjavenom]

I'm sure my advice will be nothing you haven't heard before, seeing as i'm not the most premier of any artists here, but i think i've got a good grasp of anatomy. First off, look at your own body. When you're bored in class or whatever, just take a look at your arm and start sketching. I learned hands that way. Same with faces. Look at other people. You'll notice a lot of similarities. You can leanr a lot just by looking around. Also, look at skeletons. You'll learn where bones are, and how things fit. A few anatomy tips i can remember:

-When drawing people, the hands always end slightly below the crotch.
-The centers of the eyes line up perfectly with the tops of the ears.
-Forearm muscles are rarely visible.
- Don't forget the small of the back. Backs are curvy, make sure you draw them this way
-People are about 6-7 heads tall.
-When sketching poses or such, the shoulders and hips are rarely parallel, if ever at all.

That's all i can really remember right now, i hope it helps.

[Anonymous]

make yourself a white paper box

draw it 10 different positions each time do 3 drawings one just contour line, then dots, then hatch
draw it a hundred different times (or more until it looks "perfect" under different light and in different positions with a pencil in realism style
then draw it 20 times more
then draw it another 10 times with different medium for each time

then make a paper cone and maybe find a plain ball
repeat same as with the box

then wait a week

then draw all three objects together without looking at them 5 times

then stab your eye from misery

[noob3]

Should I actually do that, or are you not serious? What are contour lines, dots and hatch? I mean, I could guess what they are. I know what a dot is, but not how it's being applied. And if that is actually a way to progress, I'll start up ;P If you detail what I'm suppose to do a little better, that is. I'm not good with instructions. I'm retarded.

[Ninjavenom]

I think the dots she's talking about is stippling, when you shade with just dots. Hatching is shading with diagonal lines, like the often do in marvel comics.

[Anonymous]

if you can do that without killing yourself then yes i am serious

Basically I am really just trying to say... start really simple. Don't underestimate the AWESOME POWER of knowing how to draw a realistic square,circle, and triangles. Because that is how you should relaly draw everything else. Sort of like sculpting. That's how you get objects to appear to have mass.
And shading should come after mastery of line. If something doesn't look right with just lines (and already appear to have mass), don't bothering trying to shade it.

[Helm]

Minimalism cannot be mastered before pluralism. You work your way down to simple. I disagree with Doopa on that one. I say shade the hell out of everything, mix materials and mediums, do ultra detail, and then, when you're confident in that, start to strip your model down to the essential. It's a proccess of substraction.

And do not attempt stylization before becoming somewhat proficient in the classical forms. This means, you do not stand a chance if you go straight for say, manga, if you do not know the basics of anatomy and composition.

[noob3]

making a paper box is HARD

[Cybernetico]

I say you just stick with one unique style, don't be like others or your work will not stand out. AIM MrTrioxen for tips

[slavemason]

More times than not, I just don't know what to draw. I like a little bit of abstract element tied to traditional techniques. I stumbled onto a neat trick one night working the graveyard shift to get the ball rolling. Take a piece of aluminum foil about 8 1/2" x 11" and wrinkle it up real good. Then take the foil and straighten it back out but leave the wrinkles. Next, make a xerox copy of it. The copy is full of unusual patterns and potential "images". It's like industrial clouds on paper. I don't eat acid (anymore).

[Cybernetico]

I do photoshop, my best art is on compuuters

[KriptiK]

Just draw, draw, and draw. The only way your gonna get better is to practice. As for tips as how to draw...can't help you there. I'm more of an abstract type of drawer.

[Sketch33]

Carry a sketchbook. If you find yourself sitting somewhere with time on your hands, break it out, look around and start drawing. Don't bother with erasing; keep in mind you aren't making art, you're practicing so that later you can make art. In fact, don't even take an eraser with you. Do take a sharpener though, or lots of leads for a mechanical pencil (or even just carry a pen). Try doing quick gesture drawings (a drawing that takes 10-15 seconds attempting to capture the essence of an object or a person). At other times try to do a detail intensive drawing, but don't spend more than an hour per picture.

One other tip is to draw from a photograph, only turn the photo upside down and draw it that way. It forces your eyes to actually look at the shapes that are normally familiar by removing them from their usual context. I passed that tip on to a roommate a long time back and within a few weeks of practicing that way he was quite happy with his new skills.

Let me know how it goes.