I've been into art (sketch/drawing mostly) for a long time now and I suppose to some extent I have gotten fairly better than the skill level I use to be at but sadly I mainly draw male characters, and my one downfall is drawing the body. Proportions are difficult for me and I was wondering if anyone could give me any sort of tips or pointers! A few tips on shading would do wonders as well.
I would also love some tips on drawing certain appendages such as wings or horns if possible!
Let's keep this thread positive, too
not that I doubt it'll stay that way I just like to ensure good vibes are kept.
I would also love some tips on drawing certain appendages such as wings or horns if possible!
Let's keep this thread positive, too
not that I doubt it'll stay that way I just like to ensure good vibes are kept.
Are you doing life drawing? That's the single best way to improve, hands down. Drawing from life is best because you're training your eyes to convert 3D to 2D, but it's not always easy to find good subjects, so using photo references is good, too. I recommend trying out Line of Action which you can set up to do quick gesture studies, or more detailed stuff. There are plenty of pose references out there on the internet (I use SenshiStock a lot) and I also have a pose request thread in an art group here on RPR (which you're welcome to join). Guides like this can be useful as a general rule of them, but try not to adhere to them too rigidly. It's way more useful to do a bunch of life drawing. Drawing with a grid might help you too, but I would wean yourself off it as soon as you can.
There's also an unofficial RPR deviantArt group if you're interested. Good luck!
There's also an unofficial RPR deviantArt group if you're interested. Good luck!
What kind of wings? Feathered? Leathery/dragon?
You can find a lot of wing tutorials on Deviant Art, and also, imagine that the wings are extra arms, which they technically are, and that will help you pose them correctly. If an arm can make a certain pose, so can a wing.
You can find a lot of wing tutorials on Deviant Art, and also, imagine that the wings are extra arms, which they technically are, and that will help you pose them correctly. If an arm can make a certain pose, so can a wing.
Heimdall wrote:
Are you doing life drawing? That's the single best way to improve, hands down. Drawing from life is best because you're training your eyes to convert 3D to 2D, but it's not always easy to find good subjects, so using photo references is good, too. I recommend trying out Line of Action which you can set up to do quick gesture studies, or more detailed stuff. There are plenty of pose references out there on the internet (I use SenshiStock a lot) and I also have a pose request thread in an art group here on RPR (which you're welcome to join). Guides like this can be useful as a general rule of them, but try not to adhere to them too rigidly. It's way more useful to do a bunch of life drawing. Drawing with a grid might help you too, but I would wean yourself off it as soon as you can.
There's also an unofficial RPR deviantArt group if you're interested. Good luck!
There's also an unofficial RPR deviantArt group if you're interested. Good luck!
In addition to what Heimdall has said, I can also recommend Posemaniacs for learning proportion. They also have a BRILLIANT hand tool that you can use for hands (and feet too!) and all of their models are rotatable.
I learned a bunch of good pointers about drawing wings from this guide.
An exercise that was useful to me was to study slow motion clips of birds in flight to get an idea of how the different sections fold and stretch.
Sometimes I'll also sketch seagulls and pigeons while I'm waiting for the bus to test my speed drawing skills.
Take every learning opportunity that comes by!
An exercise that was useful to me was to study slow motion clips of birds in flight to get an idea of how the different sections fold and stretch.
Sometimes I'll also sketch seagulls and pigeons while I'm waiting for the bus to test my speed drawing skills.
Take every learning opportunity that comes by!
For shading, always keep in mind where the light sources are hitting planes of the body or surroundings, where they're being blocked (shadow) and where they're sort of passing through thin material (like shining a light thru a piece of paper).
More later when not at work!
More later when not at work!
I'd mostly be interested in leathery/dragon! And okay, that top actually helps a little bit.
Dragoncat wrote:
What kind of wings? Feathered? Leathery/dragon?
You can find a lot of wing tutorials on Deviant Art, and also, imagine that the wings are extra arms, which they technically are, and that will help you pose them correctly. If an arm can make a certain pose, so can a wing.
You can find a lot of wing tutorials on Deviant Art, and also, imagine that the wings are extra arms, which they technically are, and that will help you pose them correctly. If an arm can make a certain pose, so can a wing.
Right! I try my best but I think my issue is I go way too dark where I'm not suppose to or Ican't quite figure out where exactly needs shaded and how much.
dray wrote:
For shading, always keep in mind where the light sources are hitting planes of the body or surroundings, where they're being blocked (shadow) and where they're sort of passing through thin material (like shining a light thru a piece of paper).
More later when not at work!
More later when not at work!
I wanna thank everyone for the different guides and such being posted here! I would've replied to each individually but I slept in 
My bad, but this is all really helping a lot! I really appreciate it.
My bad, but this is all really helping a lot! I really appreciate it.
In that case you'd want to look at photos of bats! Understanding real life anatomy will help your fantasy creatures look more lifelike.
Fin_Fin wrote:
I'd mostly be interested in leathery/dragon! And okay, that top actually helps a little bit.
Dragoncat wrote:
What kind of wings? Feathered? Leathery/dragon?
You can find a lot of wing tutorials on Deviant Art, and also, imagine that the wings are extra arms, which they technically are, and that will help you pose them correctly. If an arm can make a certain pose, so can a wing.
You can find a lot of wing tutorials on Deviant Art, and also, imagine that the wings are extra arms, which they technically are, and that will help you pose them correctly. If an arm can make a certain pose, so can a wing.
Picturing wings as arms/hands/fingers really helped my comprehension of them. They're longer and thinner, but they have the same basic structure.
Ooh, Yeah I didnt think of that. Bat wings are pretty close to the make up of a dragons. Though if I was to by chance try out feathery what would be my best bet at a good reference? I wanna say birds but any specific kind?
Claine wrote:
In that case you'd want to look at photos of bats! Understanding real life anatomy will help your fantasy creatures look more lifelike.
I'll definitely keep that in mind. I might try and sketch something later with the new tips in mind and post it, see what you guys think I should work on a little more!
Heimdall wrote:
Picturing wings as arms/hands/fingers really helped my comprehension of them. They're longer and thinner, but they have the same basic structure.
Whichever kind you think is most appropriate. Each bird is highly specialised. Seabirds have wings that allow them to soar for extremely long times. Owls have wings to fly silently to sneak up on prey. Pergrene falcons are streamlined to fly at incredible speeds. You should take inspiration from animals that closely resemble what you're looking for.
Fin_Fin wrote:
Ooh, Yeah I didnt think of that. Bat wings are pretty close to the make up of a dragons. Though if I was to by chance try out feathery what would be my best bet at a good reference? I wanna say birds but any specific kind?
Claine wrote:
In that case you'd want to look at photos of bats! Understanding real life anatomy will help your fantasy creatures look more lifelike.
Thank you very much, I really never thought of the details different birds have to their wings. This all really helps a lot!
Claine wrote:
Whichever kind you think is most appropriate. Each bird is highly specialised. Seabirds have wings that allow them to soar for extremely long times. Owls have wings to fly silently to sneak up on prey. Pergrene falcons are streamlined to fly at incredible speeds. You should take inspiration from animals that closely resemble what you're looking for.
Fin_Fin wrote:
Ooh, Yeah I didnt think of that. Bat wings are pretty close to the make up of a dragons. Though if I was to by chance try out feathery what would be my best bet at a good reference? I wanna say birds but any specific kind?
Claine wrote:
In that case you'd want to look at photos of bats! Understanding real life anatomy will help your fantasy creatures look more lifelike.
One other thing to think about with wings regardless of leathery, feathered, or otherwise:
HANG-BUTT
Attaching wings to the back and ignoring how they carry down the body to support the lower half of a person would lead to some serious gravity issues if they're trying to soar, unless they are soaring directly downward. Especially if you're considering the fact that human bones are dense as heck, you need that extra support back there!
HANG-BUTT
Attaching wings to the back and ignoring how they carry down the body to support the lower half of a person would lead to some serious gravity issues if they're trying to soar, unless they are soaring directly downward. Especially if you're considering the fact that human bones are dense as heck, you need that extra support back there!
That's a very good point right there, Ah. I do tend to have larger structures/bodies to my males (Seeing as most of them are either original humanoid species or ones from myths/legends/etc) so they'd definitely need support for their larger sizes pfft
dray wrote:
One other thing to think about with wings regardless of leathery, feathered, or otherwise:
HANG-BUTT
Attaching wings to the back and ignoring how they carry down the body to support the lower half of a person would lead to some serious gravity issues if they're trying to soar, unless they are soaring directly downward. Especially if you're considering the fact that human bones are dense as heck, you need that extra support back there!
HANG-BUTT
Attaching wings to the back and ignoring how they carry down the body to support the lower half of a person would lead to some serious gravity issues if they're trying to soar, unless they are soaring directly downward. Especially if you're considering the fact that human bones are dense as heck, you need that extra support back there!
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