May 23 Birthday Special

[VenM2]

I wanted to get this first part off my chest first though. Ok the moment that I have been waiting for, my birthday is finally here. Sweet 23 couldn't have been on a worse day... Wednesday. The day that I stay at school almost all day as well as Mondays. Since I am posting this from a college pc I can't upload one part of my surprise.

Ok. Let me begin and prepare for a big post. Many of you are self taught artists. Those who learned to draw from your own doodles. Some of you did learn from schools, some did not. However, you all have here an Art College student in one of the hottest colleges of art in the world! And I want to teach you all what I learned in my first year here! That is the surprise. If you all take this knowledge and use it you might just get better at drawing than before! But for now, I have something more in deep to teach first...

One of my first lessons in design or drawing was not drawing itself, but the organization of the design.

There are 8 primary principles and elements of design. To utilize these will strengthen your composition if used correctly.

Principles of Design:
1-Repetition: The repeating of similar shapes or forms
2-Rhythm: A distinguishable pattern of the repeating shapes or forms.
3-Variety: Differences in pattern
4-Balance (Equilibrium)- How well the composition does NOT cause a focal point.
5-Emphasis- The focus or main idea of the work
6-Proportion- Sizes of objects relative to one another.
7-Economy- Achieving maximum impact of the work while using the minimum amount of elements.
8-Unity- How well your work stays consistent.

These principles are what can make a beautiful work look bad or a terrible work look amazing. You can have a photo realistic but can still suck if these elements aren't used correctly.

You have created a wonderful and complex pattern but it is the same throughout and highly boring without variety. Too much emphasis on one part of the variety will kill the balance. A perfectly smooth balance can bore the eye without movement. A work with placed on clip images looks terrible without a unifying factor.

I must often keep these in mind when I work on a project in school. If I don't utilize these then my work won't fare that well against the others.

Elements of Design:
1-Form:
Solid Form = Mass
Exterior Vs. Interior
Primary and Secondary Contours
Positive and Negative Forms
Static and Dynamic Forms
Representational Forms
Abstract Forms
Nonobjective Forms

Form is quite basic. Contours basically mean major lines of the subject. For instance, Ozy's outline is a primary contour while his vest is the secondary contour. The secondary contour is the next most noticeable or largest contour. Positive forms are the subjects themselves. Negative forms or space is the space surrounding the subjects or are within them. Think O&M silhouettes. Static forms are basically still images. Dynamic forms gives the impression or implies movement. Abstractions are simplifications of realistic work. You CANNOT make an abstract form without understanding the original. Trust me on that. Nonobjective forms are objects that have no connection or recognizable features. Take a smiley and wipe away the smile and you get nothing. Nonobjective.

2-Space:
Activated Space
Scale

Space is the surroundings or relative environment of the composition. Activated space occurs simultaneously with implied movement or a contraposto pose. Contraposto is a greek original pose in which the body has weight shifted to one foot and leans the body a bit in a natural pose. Creating implied fur on the object (spikes) will create a sort of energy around the shape. Activating space will more or less excite the eye and strengthen the scene. Scale is just another word for size.

3-Line
Implied
Directional lines
Contour Lines
Curves

Think of Implied lines as a finger pointing. There is no line but you are driven to see what it is pointing at. Directional lines are more or less straight, unyielding lines. Contours are basically the outlines of an object or the most dominant features that can be expressed as a line (Ozy's vest). Curves are curves

4-Texture
Natural
Worked
Visual

Natural textures are just that. Natural. Wood, grass, dirt. Untouched and unmodified paper, pure untouched MEHTUL ect. Worked textures are the next step. Modifying natural textures. Visual textures are those that look like another texture but are not it. Think of a photoshop image of tree bark. It is bark, but not real or not is the bark itself. Within the Principles of design, patterns of repetition or rhythm can qualify as texture.

5-Light
Value Contrast
Simultaneous Contrast

Value contrast is a fancy word for shading. Shading more or less does the work. Simultaneous Contrast is something you may want to try your hand in. Wonder why some dark skinned people have such clean teeth? That is because the darkness of their skin makes their teeth look brighter than that of lighter skinned people even if the color of the teeth is the same. Surrounding purple with yellow will make the purple look darker. Surrounding Yellow with purple will make the yellow brighter. That is the effect.

6-Color:
Natural and Applied

To be honest I don't know exactly how to put this since I used very little color in class.

7-Time:
Controlled
Free
Timeless

Controlled time is like scheduling when and how long something will take. Basically you control the time.
Free is indeterminable time. You don't know when it will end. Like melting ice. Timeless is more or less nonexistent however possible. I can't remember exactly what makes timeless works however.

8-Movement:
Implied and Kinetic

Implied movement can be as simple as making a still figure look like it is moving but still static. Kinetic is the opposite. The figure actually moves.


To use these principles and elements can either help or hurt you. To create a pleasing design requires much time, patience, and research. Back in renaissance times, the old great artists thought this through A LOT. Trust me on that. If you look at it, you see an artwork. If I look at it, I can see the compositional arrangement, the symbolism, the use of elements and principles, ect. Now think about me, I now have to keep all this info in mind when I work. Can be a gift, or a curse. Just gotta have control.

If you think this is all crap, think again. Even game developers have to keep this in mind. I read a blog about making game models. A single idea went through many stages and versions to attain just the right appearance. At first it had no focal point, balance, or good negative space to please the eye. They changed it 3 times and added all of this and it worked. If you understand how these work then you can make awesome looking stuff.


Stay tuned for Part 2:
Drawing techniques and steps!

-How to utilize 1,2, and 3 point linear perspective.
-Steps to create a furry from scratch.
-How to use specific tools and mediums.
-Knowing your subject.
ect

[Rooster]

Reading that it's funny that I realised I sort of knew most of it anyways but that I had to spend four years of trial and error. The bit about movement is helpful though

Also, for the colour bit I'd like to add something (if that's cool)

I find that colours work best in a peice if they're within the same sort of scheme...so sticking to one set of colours (I like pastels personally) blends the peice together...A striking colour, or one that doesn't fit, will draw the eye. This is either a good thing, or a bad thing depending on what you're drawing.

[VenM2]

Really now, don't make me delete this.

[Rooster]

Was...was I not supposed to comment?

See, because the fact that it's a forum and I have a right to free speech kinda threw me.

[VenM2]

I just feel a little down now. Feeling useless in a lonely world.

[Rooster]

We all feel like that sometimes dude, hell I know I do.

I would "hug" you, but I'm too macho...but I'll give you a reasurring handshake instead.

Hope yous feel better dude, after all, it's your birthday

[VenM2]

Its not that, just nobody else replied and so I feel unimportant or just ignored. Happens but the feeling is just as bad as my 'Emotion' drawing about Santi before. Yeah the pain is just like that.

Well, time for more writing.

There are many kinds of materials anyone can use to draw with. I have my own set of prefs. For one I like to lay out drawings in a hard lead pencil and do some deep shading with a woodless pencil. When it comes to drawing with strips or sketches, you don't really need woodless pencils. In fact all you really need is a good eraser and most likely any kind of pencil.

Ok, drawing time. This is how I sometimes go about this.


If I have any kind of specific idea of the scene I would prefer to create a sort of boundary so as to not mess up any kinds of positioning. Basic yes but as you can see I am using an interestingly different kind of perspective. Normally this would be called 3 point perspective but I am only using 2 right now. The normally 3rd dot is placed 'below' the stage more or less. This gives the viewer the feeling that he/she is above the stage. Anyways, I drew my perspective reference lines and the boundaries I need.



Moving on, I then draw a basic stick figure for positioning references and proportions. Once I get the figure down i erase the boundary since I won't be needing it anymore.



I then proceed to create a gesture drawing. Gestures are fast drawings that are meant to capture the action or motion or otherwise pose of the figure as well as the muscle structure. Why do I bother with muscles? Well once I get the gesture down I can apply the clothes which will accurately lay over the body. This makes it easy for me.



I then clothe and detail the figure and ready it for inking. Making sure that I changed anything before I clothed the figure because when I get to this point, making any changes can be quite frustrating.



Then I finally ink it. Since I was using ink pens and not a brush, I made sure I moved quickly. Weighing down the hand on the paper and drawing slowly can create messy lines. Once inked everything else can be erased with no worries.

Tips:
If anything, I learned that at least being very familiar with your subject helps. What I mean is that you should have a decent familiarity with the anatomy of your subject so that it all comes out good after the gesture. By anatomy I don't just mean body shape, but proportions too. Also knowing how muscles work and what contours you should draw. For an example, a common trait in drawing is to draw arms and legs as basically hoses. These parts do not behave like that. Look at the leg of my inked drawing. Notice how the inner calf line goes up past that intersecting line. That gives the impression that the calf is closer and bent. Same goes if the thigh line were to pass, but that would make it look as if the calf was farther away. Another good idea is to be familiar on how overlapping, foreshortening, and basically perspective works. Another common drawing booboo is the Egyptian style drawing. This basically portrays the character chest front and legs sideways. To fix this you only need to know a bit of foreshortening and overlapping. Look in the mirror and look straight on. Then turn sideways. And take note of how the body overlaps or hides the other parts. I will post drawings of that later.

But seriously, am I just talking to nothing or should I just give up. I wanted to at least detail how I even draw and design and now I am feeling a bit ignored.

[Foxhound]

Damn. This could be really helpful. *Runs off to find his sketchpad*

[Rooster]

Nice one Donnie, that perspective thing is really useful

[Blue Blur]

Wow, that's really good. Sorry I hadn't commented earlier, but I've been really busy. I've actually got my own style for furries, but the techniques are very helpful.

[Kyler Thatch]

Try to give people more time to comment. I just woke up and found this thread now. I checked the timestamps, and you first post happened when it was still 2AM over here.

Anyhow, I really appreciate these guides, Donnie, especially part 1. There's a lot in there that I never knew about! This could be a lot useful (well, if I actually get around to practicing more. I ought to tie this pencil to my hand).

[VenM2]

Well I did post this a long time ago around noon where I live and had no replies for like 8 hours or so. Kinda is demoralizing after that long.

[Tabris_The_17th]

That is some very important stuff to know Donnie. Very helpful too. Seems like you're putting your education to good use.

I can't help but be reminded of something one of my very favorite comic book artists wrote once in his journal. Something to the effect of "learn everything there possibly is to know about your respected art form (whatever it is), and then forget all of it and do what you want." That's always stuck with me. Some of the most memorable contributions to any art forms are the ones that broke the rules. But I firmly believe you need to know the rules before you break them.

[Softpaw]

Since I'm not that type of artist (I'm arguably not any type of artist, but I try), I didn't really feel a need to reply. But, it's a very good article, covers a lot of stuff that sounds important for drawing. My current artistic pursuit is photography, so the advice to be given is a bit different

[VenM2]

Actually it has more to do with photography than you think. Would you take a group pic centered in the picture if there is a big freakin hotel in one corner? No that hurts the balance. Do you want the ones wearing stripes to be all over the place? I wouldn't, I would group them so to organize the piece. Would you want the least important thing in the picture to be too bright in contrast to the others? Not really. This has alot to do with a large range of art.