Apr '23

I been thinking a lot lately and have been feeling like I'm forgetting things when I'm trying to draw OR I'm trying things that are too difficult. I'm watching all these art videos, Ross Draws, Sam Does Art, and so many more and they make such beautiful art and I'm getting frustrated because that is where I want to be and I have such a long way to go.
But I just want to draw and paint great things.
I keep doing these "Gesture drawings and they are just sketches but they look bad to me. When I look at them it makes me feel like I'm terrible and not improving. I have all of these videos to tell me HOW to do things, but not if IM doing them wrong.
I've just been going through frustration after frustration because I keep trying things I want to do and I just can't do them yet and it's bringing me down.
I've lost track of my schedule and what I should be doing and concentrating on. I just went back to doing exercises because I really don't know what else to do lol.

10 Exercises 4-22-23.jpg3840x2160 1.58 MB

I never really did the 1 minute Gesture drawing because I just hate how they look. It just doesn't feel right when drawing them. They just look bad to me.

Started doing action lines and construction because I just feel like I'm forgetting how things should be and I have so much trouble with the torso and hips and getting them to look like they are facing the correct way on a 2D surface.

The thing that makes this so hard is I have no one telling me if I'm making mistakes with it and how to correct it. So I just keep making those same mistakes over and over with no correction.

Just did more cylinders too. I guess everything is practice. It just becomes not fun when I just want to draw and then I remember I need to do my exercises for 5 hours+ all these things literally take me all day to do.

Don't know what I should do here, maybe all this work is burning me out. I'm literally doing it all day long, trying to get better. Then I noticed I'm not getting better I'm getting worse.

Apr '23

I feel you, I really do. I have the same gap between doing exercises and actually drawing something I like in the end, the feeling of achievement instead of feeling like you're going around in circles.. Seeing an actual, tangible result. And it doesn't help that what I'm hungry for is transforming what it's in my head into art instead of empty practices (which I'm guessing is the same with you)

Even though I faced the same issue (that's why I went back to term 1 to do things differently) so maybe I shouldn't be giving any advice lol but I can tell you what my plan is going forward and maybe that would help.

You can start focusing on 1 subject (for example face anatomy) and use the exercises to draw a character you really love, instead of the generic face we practice with Marc in the lessons. I know it's frustrating when you don't achieve the result you want to achieve, but try to get into the mentality of obsessing over a certain mission (ie drawing the face of your favorite character) to push you forward in trying until you're reasonably satisfied with the result. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect.. it just needs to meet the requirement of the lesson (how to draw the face structure, the nose, the eyes, etc) and try to do that with every subject (for example a favorite shot from a movie, animated or otherwise, to learn perspective) Think of them as mini projects. Also, I would focus only on line art as a start. Whenever I get into coloring and shading I get lost. Try to get the general outline and when you're satisfied with what you have, move to the next element.

I wouldn't be sure if this will work but the idea is to not overwhelm yourself with so many elements of the art to the point of feeling lost of what to focus on, and to also enjoy drawing images/characters/environments/movie frames that you hold dear to your heart. You will enjoy the process more that way, I think.

Again this is all conjecture, I didn't even practice what I'm preaching yet :joy: I'm taking it slow, and maybe you should too! Take your time with each lesson, and go back to one if you feel you didn't grasp the information well. And if you feel burned out, take a break. you'll be more clear-headed about how to tackle any issue you face after a break.

Sorry for the text dump :neutral_face: I really hope this can help. Let us know if you're stuck with something specific.. I'm sure everyone here will try to help and give constructive feedback. Don't worry too much, it's a phase.. it'll pass once you figure it out, and you will figure it out :grinning:

Apr '23

Thank you for the kind words @olashamala I really think I've been pushing myself too far and ya, I've been not focusing on one thing.. I've been trying to learn everything now and it's getting overwhelming because I can't take in all the information at once and retain it all.
Just need to slow down and enjoy the process.

Apr '23

Some sketching I did today.

Timing myself to see how long I'm really taking to do these things. I don't know how long I SHOULD be taking, but it is just a gauge for myself I guess.

At this point I think I'm taking WAAAAY too long just for some sketches.. These are From Reference too, but it is just showing how much trouble I'm having with things just doing simple sketches.

Apr '23

Interestingly enough, the middle one is the best one (personal opinion) and it's a hard angle.. and you took the least time with it!

One thing you can do is take the reference and put the guidelines (face structure, nose, mouth, ear placement...) straight on it, remove the reference and observe how the guidelines look. Do that some number of times and then draw a sketch from that same reference that you practiced the guidelines on. I dunno if that makes sense but what I mean is observe more to notice where you're going wrong in your opinion. Also, try not to time yourself, just to calm your nerves while you're drawing. You can always take more than one day for a sketch (30 mins each day).

Yesterday I started an exercise with drawing a box from different angles and I'm continuing it today cause I struggle with perspective :sweat_smile: so no worries if you're taking alot of time :sunglasses: each person is different!

Apr '23
1

Having an issue here maybe someone could help me understand this better.

I can look at a portrait and block out the face without using construction like a circle or loomis. But when I use Loomis I get confused.
Here is an example of why.

If this is wrong please tell me, but I feel this method of making heads is only good for imagination drawing.
Hear me out.
Look at the side plain of her head of the left of picture(right side of her face). With loomis you are supposed to draw an ellipse to note that plane and split it down the middle both ways, yet if you do that here nothing matches her face at all as far as where the jaw would be or the angle that her head is slightly tilted because the top is supposed to be at the hairline and bottom at the nose line.
Look how far off the jaw is and the angle of the depth of her head. Also Look at the circle. It DOESN'T include the Ear. The bottom of the circle is supposed to be at the base of the Nose correct? If I included the Ear then it would be an Odd Looking Circle.

Then there is the Center line. By the time it gets to the bottom of the sphere it's not even close to being near the center of the nose or chin. I drew one at center of nose and another at center of chin.

Lastly, the hair, brow, eye, nose, lip lines are rounding up as if she was looking up. But she's not looking up and if you drew the Loomis head as if she was looking up then the side plane lines would be really far off. Also I can see the Bottom Plane of her nose but again. She isn't looking up, so the camera is down? Yet I can't see under her chin? Is the camera down and she is looking Down? Then why is her brow line rounding up not down? So confusing,,,

I have been using this method since I started this course and it just doesn't work for me. I can surely use it to make a head that is facing any direction from imagination easily, but when it comes to real heads it doesn't work for me.
I can draw an eye, then the other, then block out the hairline to the ear then down the jaw. sort of creating a mask area.
Using a Circle is so confusing especially when every head is different and not every circle is perfect.
I don't know, it's just something I have been struggling with for about a month now. Just drawing heads using loomis and then just literally using the block out mask method that I do.

I feel like I'm doing something wrong or won't learn if I don't use the Loomis method.

Apr '23

Reply to

Gibson

Hopefully this will help but i think you're starting the circle a little bit too high up:

let me know if you have any Q's on these notes :smile: tho the others have also done a great job of explaining it so not sure if i have anything more to add..

loomis isnt the only method. there are others line starting the head as a cube instead - which might be easier or harder for u. everyone is different, u just gotta find what works for u :smiley:

Loomis Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAOldLWIDSM

Cube head Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l1-8ajH8_k

Apr '23

Thank you @alwaysneedsleep, @Gordon003, and @mitsuki-youko for the help. I see that the main issue is the way I was seeing the circle as the bottom of the circle was the tip of the nose and it's not. It's at the line that connects the bottom of the two cuts on the side planes.

Just making this one mistake was throwing off my entire head and also making my noses too long.