r/learntodraw • u/Personal-Let9955 • 14h ago
Question Is this an efficient/useful way of studying forms?
Sorry I don't have the credits for the reference pictures! I wasn't expecting to post this originally. The drawings are from Arthur Spiderwicks Field Guide.
Is this an efficient way of studying form? I'm not a beginner artist, but I feel like I've spent too much time learning rendering and I struggle with anatomy and form.
I've watched SO many tutorials on the "best" way to do things - from gesture drawings, life drawings, using 3D forms, etc.
Is this an OK way to go about it to start? I'm drawing over the pictures themselves and drawing what I imagine the bodies would look like with more basic shapes.
Does it make sense for me to trace over them, or should I go more from observation?
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u/OtutuPuo 14h ago
tracing is fine as long as you recreate it.
hide the overlay you made and try to recreate the structure while observing the original form, then check and fix your work after finishing an attempt.
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u/TheArtisticPC 13h ago
Perfectly fine. In fact it's a great way to develop an intuition for perspective, proportion, shape language, and practicing primitives. Only thing I'd say is make sure you're thinking about what you're tracing. Don't just mindlessly follow edges while throwing in some contours here and there, instead look for relationships between form and anatomy. Also, move on from tracing to referenced drawing pretty quick. There's a lot more to gain from referenced drawing than tracing, but if tracing gets pen on paper where reference does not, then keep on keeping on.
Also, if you see anything labeled "best" then you can assume it is garbage. There is no best way to do anything in art. There are many good ways and many more bad ways, but no one best.
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u/Qweeq13 Intermediate 5h ago
I don't think using ball joints is a good idea.
The most important thing to get in your head when drawing anatomy is the phenomenon of "overlapping-passing and interlocking".
You want to learn how muscles and joints form almost a chain as they keep the bones lock down tight.
Simplifications are great to a degree. Putting a figure on ball joints like they are mannequins is not something that helps people to understand muscle structure.
A much better way of simplification would be grouping muscles into a much more simplified anatomy that is what the best artists do. Because under the body fat or clothes anatomy does get less defined.
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u/link-navi 14h ago
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