How do you do it?

[sato]

I think the head is the best way to start, considering the body proportions really depend on it. Yet, as Lenneth said, some people start off by drawing the feet and can actually get a pretty balanced picture. Beats me how they do it..

Guide lines and/or basic shapes like skeleton lines or cylinders for members don't really work with me. If I start off like that, when I go to sketching the shape of the body over it, I notice how unproportionate the basic sketch was drawn. I prefer just sketching up the body. Nude so then it'll be easier to understand where folds and such will be placed. Sometimes, if it's not going to be a full body picture I actually enjoy starting with the face features, then shaping the head around them and move forth to the rest of the body, if any visible.
This is a slightly old piecce I did to show the steps I take to make a drawing with outline. This one's not nude so youngsters could see it on dA. Body sketch, add clothes sketch, outline, basic color.


If the drawing is not to have outline I usually just work in one layer and experiment.

There are a lot of ways to do it. It's a matter of trying them out and seeing which one suits you better.
Good drawing everyone

[seraph]

I actually start with the Collarbone. I us it as the base of everything else. While I do a skeleton much like swordpunk, instead of starting with the head, I start with the collarbone, then go to the spine, then hips.

I find when I work from the head down, I find myself overshooting the head target for how tall the character is. Besides... when I start with the head, I usually end up making the neck too long and have to re-size the head to fit the set of the shoulders, etc.

Funny enough, I learned about using the skeleton overlaid with cylinders and blocks for the base of the figure by watching an old VHS tape I bought when I was about 13. 'How to Draw to Marvel Way' or some such. It was a hilarious vid, looking back on it. It had Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Rob Liefeld (... ), and Whilce Portacio. 'When in doubt, black it out.'

Anyway, yeah, that's how I start.

[RAHeight]

I start off with the head and flow line aka spine. Once I get that down the rest goes pretty quickly.

[omegared]

i start with the head and spine. after that i use either shapes, loose lines,or a skeleton to define the body.....

[xBORNx]

I have to start with a sketch first once i get the ideA down I redo the sketch on bristol
board . I read an interview with j scott campbell were he stated never fall in love with your first sketch this seems to help me alot to find mistakes and improve on things

Shot at 2008-05-12

with figures i usually start with the torso first and then the legs I ALWAYS leave the head for last this helps alot cause if i don't it affects the rest of the figure and makets it less dynamic.
but thats just me it may not work for everyone

Shot at 2007-04-26

with coloring i have no set way i try a whole lot of difrent things to get the effect i want.
the tool i use the most is the smudge tool its like finger painting in photoshop
i feel the most comfortable using it.


Shot at 2009-03-16


Shot at 2007-05-17

[mistresslegato]

It differs. Sometimes I just straight up draw, but I usually sstart with a head, then do a spine, add basic shapes and stuff.

[metalgearray09]

Now when you guys say simple shapes, what does that mean exactly?

[mistresslegato]

For me, it's like making cone shapes for arms, boxes for chest and hips. Really ridiculously basic shapes.

[alisa]

I'm far from awesome but lately I've been trying to do the head then spine-to-show-the-curve-of-the-body way. My autopilot way is to draw the head, then the neck then the shoulders and once that looks good then the rest of the body freehand, which is so not good considering I always end up with really long necks.

[polerin]

I generally position and sketch in this rough order.. spine, hips, chest, legs, arms, head. Got it from the Hogarth books. It's interesting to see so many people drawing heads first though ;P

[chargedgraphite]

Mar 17, 2009 17:52:46 GMT -5 metalgearray09 said:

Now when you guys say simple shapes, what does that mean exactly?

Use spheres/ circles, cubes, cylinders...They are the primary forms for any 3D object, not just humans but as we are on that topic, here is an example for you.



Start with the head as a circle with an oval/egg style extension for the jaw/chin. Always draw this looking in the direction you want to take the reader in the panel/frame.

Then, using the spine as a gesture curve, draw it from the base of the skull by drawing right through the head, like I've done here. This will give you proper alignment for the entire body in using your spine as the positioning curve.

It eliminates the risk of mistakes by drawing the gesture in first and then drawing the body over it.

Next, draw a circle or cube for the chest, whichever is most comfortable for you visualizing the image coming together. Same thing with the pelvis, as you are using the end of the spine for marking the proper placement as to where the tailbone should be on the figure.

Use hard stick figure skeleton lines for the collarbone and hipbone connection...You can see that in the example as well. This will help you balance your arms and legs properly to prevent them from have thing ' action figure ' look...where they are plugged into the torso rather than a connected part of it, which as we all know is a huge mistake.

Also, be sure to tip your shoulder and hip lines properly with the way the spine curves for the finished pose. You can use the lines that are on the first image to show what I mean. Decide how you want them to tilt when placing the spine, not in the final stage of building the limbs. This will also prevent your characters from looking stunted or off center.

Use cylinders for the arms, and legs, use cubes for the elbows, hands, feet and knees. Use spheres or cubes for knuckles and cylinders or cubes for the fingers. That is a style choice on that one... Either will work.

Pay close attention to the fact that comic art isn't all about just basic drawing but a combination of technique, composition and perspective, all being used at once. With that in mind, anyone tryingto learn this stuff, I recommend starting with building your gestures and basic shapes in a few drawings to build the form, not touching a finished image until you have mastered the ability to draw the basic figure over and over, in any position. The final details of fleshing it out will come and be way more professional looking as a result of that effort.

Hope that helps.

[theartslave]

This question has really made me think ... I can actually start drawing from a variety of locations; the head, the fist, the shoulder, the thigh... it comes from doing sketches that began as studies on that particular area. I do, however, like what I saw in a Da Vinci sketchbook: he lays out the head, rib cage and hips, then the joints(!) and then the hands and feet. It looks like a great way to establish the right proportion and length of extremities in relation to the head and torso without making too many lines.
The thing for me is that I have maybe a dozen different poses that I always use that seem to be the most flattering to the human form, and I just change the body type (male, female, thick/thin, head size) depending on the character.
BTW, definitely master anatomy. I know that might not help in the next 10 minutes, but you need to know why the fist (for example) looks the way it does so you can mentally build it without having to copy from a reference every time.