Art Drawin Figures!?

Hiya!! I draw lots of anime style stuff, and have loadsa ideas and possess the ability to develop some cute characters, the only problem i have is with figures and poses!! I read up features online, explaning how to construct figures and poses through the use of ovals and circles, but argh i just can't do it. Copying a pose from a mag or book is fine, but developing them off teh top of my head is hell!! Has anyone got any tips? Maybe tell me how they got to grips with drawing and developing poses? Anything would be great!

 

When ever I draw with out a refrence I start off with a stick figure like sketch to get the pose right then I add basic shapes to make it more 3D. I add the de-tails next, face, arms, legs,ect. Drawing that way can make for a messy pic (like this one I did the other day http://michaelmanga.20m.com/images/ship213.jpg) but knowing that you did it all on your own make it worth it.

 

yeah i have some tips

first of all DON'T EVER learn to draw from the internet or books. thats NOT talent its cheating
to me anyway. figure your own talent and than draw from that. I draw from my head and i learned to draw for viedo games. and improved from that.
don't be in a rush to draw good it took me 3 years to get to where i am today.
oh yeah i reagareds to your topic those wired drawings!! the arm has two parts from the top, and than too the wrist its the same for the legs.

sorry if that sounds mean but never sink to leaning off the internet.

 

Well Mog, you see, im only 17, and am yet to get my qualifications in illustration by studying at university for four years. Maybe if i'd been through extensive training for 4 years and still not been able to construct complex poses then looking on the internet would be deemed as 'cheating' "Never sink to learning off the internet." - Well i'm sure you had to start somewhere too. Of course style's important, i do possess that you know, but asking questions and listening to peoples similar experiences and problems is the best way to learn, so don't come telling me that i'm a blinkin cheat, coz i'm anything but!!!!!!!
Anyway, thanks Izzy Izumi for your reply, and also The CIA, they were really helpful!!!!
And Mog, if you ain't gonna post any positive advice then Mog-Off!

 

I found the easiest way to get a feel for poses, is to do a bunch of them. If you can find someone to model for you, practice sketching different positions. But never spend more than 30 seconds on each. By default, you will start picking up general body lines and curves. You will even start using those pesky ovals and circles. When you are rushed, you really save time using them. Atleast with me, I had a tendency to start way too specifc and end up with my proportions off. After practicing this for awhile, I was really impressed with my own improvement.

As for learning off the internet, granted it not the best way, but as long as you are learning and not simply copying (which it doesn't sound like you are) it is not cheating. Many of the articles I found online, have the same techniques and theories I have seen in art books.

Anyway, try the 30 second sketches. If you can't have a friend model for you, get a full lenght mirror. It is much harder to get a feel for a 3-D position from a picture.

Hope this helps.

 

Granted, drawing using a friend to pose or even a mirror is really helpful, i can get the pose done in like 1 minute flat, it's just like doing them off the top of my head. it's not that i dont have the actual ideas of the poses,coz i do, it's just kinda getting them down on the paper right! But, practice makes perfect as they say eh?

 

ok what do want to know form me, i can help you..
sorry for being an *** , anyway. its hard to expian those circle digrams. you wanna make sure that the body is bigger than the head also you can keep circling around untill you get the right build for your person the head is about 1/4 the size of the body (if its too small than you can keep circling untill you get the right size.) anyway ok thats the body and head. the neck is just a little round thing underneath the head. the shoulders are a long oval shape under the neck. then the body. oh yeah try to draw the arms and hands last. just so you can propoly put them on in the right form.
ok then there is a another circle under the body shape its just a big circle and its a little wider then the body. the arms and legs follow the same design ecept that the legs are a bit longer then the arms though, at the bottom of the leg put a small circle there that will help get the right dirction of the foot, use oval circles in place of
the feet and mess around untill you find a way to place them. (if its a front pose try puting one foot out to the side an one in front.) oops i forgot the legs and feet drawing. er ok they consist of two long ovals the mid point is were the knee will be on the leg and the elbow on the arm. the arm should be a little lower than the waist circle. (try to look at in form it my help!)
anyway i think thats it for the circle things. now that you have that your left with an unholy bunch of lines. now on the face you can find the mid point this will let you know where the nose and all the other stuff go... (i hope you get this)
now the hair, you can put that where you want on the head try to have it a little higher then the mid point. (for the hang down hair in the front.)
ok now that this done fill in the clothes and other parts that you want. Right, now your lef with a fully drawn person but its still covered in lines so, take an eraser and with the EDGE on a point carefully erase all the lines you don't want. it might look a little werid at first but after a few times doing the you get the main body and head down and you might only need the line drawings for the arms and legs... which makes it a lot more easeir. then sone you won't evan need the weird line drawnings, KUPO but i still use them for the arms and legs. just remember that you can't get any worse at drawing the style is always in your head you just need to "draw" it out...
:dizzy2: i hope that helps you!!!

<---- thats funny!!!

 

Hey Mog! Wow, you went to extreme lengths to help me out!! I extremly appreciate it!! Maybe we got off on the wrong foot eh? It's so frustrating when you've got like an idea for an excellent picture in your head and when you come to draw it, it just won't go down right, it's like "Aaaaaaaarrrgggghhhh!!!" Anyways, cheers for the advice, and also Bloodberry, thanks for your advice to!! Hey Mog, you got any art work online? I'd be really interested in seeing it, Kupo

 

Proportions

Ah I don't know how I can really help but I can try. I hope this helps :/

Figures:
- Arms always extand all the way to the thighs.
- Elbows are located middle torso, right under the upper chest area.
- Legs are usually waist and upper chest length, two times.
* Start with a line layout and get the length right for all the body parts.
* Then draw the shapes of the body parts.

Figure Guide:
** Each color matches with its corosponding color.
Black - Skeleton
Lavender - Body Parts
Red - Torso, Chest Length
Dark Red - Elbow - Under Chest Alignment

** Notice Leg Length is approximate length of the Chest and Torso - 2 times.
** Notice to the side of the Torso is where you should place your elbows.
** Depending if Male or Female, determines the shoulder's broadness.

 

.... I would be happy to show you my pics but i don't have acces to a scanner my friends might be getting one at christmas but untill then hmmmm.
maybe at school.
hehehehe i told some to mog off the other day the were confused.

 

Snaparoo Mog, i don't possess a scanner either, aaargh!! Mog off huh? were they impressed? hehe!! Hey Sol, thanks for the directions and diagram, they were truly fab!! Really helpful!! Thanks a million everyone!!