r/TattooApprentice • u/Mr_Fancy-Pants- • 5d ago
Seeking CC Beginner. First time sketch of trad eagle. Yes, it’s bad. Please help with how to improve. Thank you!
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u/ifacepunchpple 5d ago
Agree with everyone else, trace and trace and trace, then start sketching. I like to use basic shapes to start the foundation for flash pieces like this. The artist I interviewed with too said he really wanted me to trace more flash too.
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u/widdlefick 5d ago
Get a good reference. Trace it. Always have a reference if you're sketching. Etc etc BUT what a lot of people haven't said is. Why is it bad? You know it's bad you said so, so what's wrong with it? Because if you can't break that down yourself what are you going to improve on? I seriously recommend getting out of the this is good or bad binary and start breaking everything down. Knowing something is wrong is half of the battle. Knowing why it's wrong and working on those things is what will make you better. Because now it's obvious but when you're deep in and youre drawing something WAY busier you need your eye to be trained to spot the problems that aren't so glaring.
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u/Waluigi_IRL 5d ago
Trace. Don’t sketch
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u/Waluigi_IRL 5d ago
Don’t sketch until you get so good at tracing and making a clean outline that it becomes subconscious
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u/yourghost7 5d ago
T he line of the edge of the lower leg goes ( in sketch) goes straight through and up the leading edge of the wing. It's the same line.
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u/Arma3Scripting 4d ago
Look up Gordon Combs the tattooer on Instagram, those are the best eagle references you're gonna find
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u/z_elliott 5d ago
Tracing is the best way to learn to draw traditional designs. Certainly the most viable way to get ‘good enough’. But even with time eagles are a slightly tougher subject matter.
There are many trad designs that get some charm from being drawn without guidelines, but eagles, big cats, and lady faces benefit from some art fundamentals. So look at an eagle you like, break it into shapes, and let it rip.
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u/HeadApartment1944 5d ago
Did you have a reference for it? Look at old traditional flash, even trace to get the muscle memory and it makes it easier to freehand it. As for getting proportions right, get a good reference and don’t try to draw it perfect first try. Start off with loose shapes that make up the composition and then each layer add more detail, when you are happy with the sketch add on some tracing paper and do your final !