Agile drawing vs waterfall drawing

[Caro]

I think the closest category I fall into would be waterfall. I definitely used to be more of an agile artist but it really did hinder my work in a lot of ways. I definitely had to abandon it in order to do my work full time. The final product is infinitely more important than how I get there at this point.

When I fell into the agile category I also just didn’t complete as much work as I do now and I find that I improve a lot faster this way. I make my mistakes fast and I learn from them fast.

[LCT_m_a_d]

You bring up an important point.
Drawing on stream where every phase is shared is significantly different from delivering a project on a deadline where only what is delivered really matters.

Ironically this is not the preferred method for architects since the environment and requirements are not supposed to change once development begins. This is quite the opposite from software design of course

[Rhonder]

Definitely agree! I met this particular artist through my own streaming endeavors the last 7 or so months, and I do think that sharing my art in that way has helped push me towards my goal of slightly cleaner/presentable drawings earlier in the phase (at least for the parts that I do on-stream, anything on my own time in between is no holds barred lmao)

Still have a ways to go, though, so I just silently pray that my viewers endure my messy sketches

[LCT_m_a_d]

One thing I tend to forget is there are some people who draw a very similar expressions and include noticeable cosmetic variations. It probably takes less construction lines for them to do their signature aesthetic than an artist who's constantly exploring new impressions on each piece. Your drawings are very dynamic both design and expression in comparison from the previous one so mess seems "par for the course".

[IndigoShirtProd]

I guess I do agile drawing. My thumbnails are relatively messy but my final sketches look pretty like the final artwork but without colors and shading. It's just for me cleaner sketches means cleaner line work. for example:

The sketch could be cleaner, but I could also post it as is with no issue.

[LCT_m_a_d]

Very true, I am moving much more agile. My rate of productivity is slowing down as I learn more stuff, which is not ideal in corporate, content creation.

[LCT_m_a_d]

That's a good disclaimer too. Thumbnails exist for a reason.
I think as you pointed out as early as possible doesn't mean the first phase on paper has to be clean if it's only a blueprint.

[Kelheor]

I suppose most of it depends on how we originally learned to draw, maybe even on our behavior in general? (I suppose it's another interesting topic by itself). Kim Jun Gi's process is blowing one's mind away, but in the end it's just "I see it like that, in 3D, in my mind because I looked at things a lot".
I actually started looking at things closely just recently, because I always drew from my mind, never ever from life.
So maybe having a more clear picture of the finished piece in your head is a proper way to more agile process.
For example, in drawing comics, I have my problems with layout because of the lack of clear picture. I imagine the whole thing as a movie, a whole scene from different angles, but I can't press a pause button in this scene... hope it makes some sense haha ^^

[skyfarron]

I'm a Lv.35 Pikachu spamming Agility and Double Team so I can Thunder the Elite Four into submission

[Fuzzyman818]

I tend to draw in the waterfall methodology. It not only is probably the most organized way of making art but after each stage, it gives me a feeling of accomplishment, especially at the end. Plus it fits my art style since I do make a lot of cartoony stuff.

[MeltingCORE]

I prefer to paint using the waterfall method but I used to do nothing but ink work that was all agile drawing! So now I have experience with both. (Recent examples below!)

Waterfall!

Agile!

[rajillustration]

I work in waterfall because I'm not good enough to do Agile lolol, but for reals, every painting tends to have an ugly phase, and I think that's an important phase to go through before you get to the finish line. I have heard painters say that every phase needs to look good in a sense that it needs to carry the composition, the proper balance, and the proper flow in each stage of the painting--but that's only a thing I think you can do if you plan ahead and do color studies and black and white studies...which I haven't done in some time, haha.

[LCT_m_a_d]

True, agile requires commitment and purposeful works very early and doesnt do well with ugly phases later. In SDLC everything must pass 100% of acceptance tests or it's immediately removed before anything else can be added. That means usually you only get 7/10 things implemented, but since most project requirements are grossly over-scoped 7/10 will have a huge impact on your audience. Combine that with sprints and retros and you have Scrum. Of course the key is to reduce the size of your project and deliver bigtime. Only plan bigger when you have more resources time and experience. Do small things exceptionally that really matter.

There's also the following which is a specific agile model "timeboxing"

Must haves - subject or focus of the drawing
Should haves - non-negotiable quality or rendering (as advertised)
Done
Could haves - things will widen your audience (easter eggs)
Would haves - things that you are trying to get in but you may erase at time of deadline (learning on the fly)

This is quite the extreme end.
Agile is still improving, but it does have it's disadvantages.

[Kaydreamer]

What a fascinating way to think about it! I've never seen anyone draw such a parallel before.

I start off in the 'Waterfall' category, as all of my thumbnails are useless to anyone but myself. That said, my sketches are tidy and presentable, especially if I'm working with a new background and therefore have to sketch the whole thing out. If I'm chasing actionable critique (as in, I'll be changing things about that piece based on the critique) I'll seek it out in the sketch stage. After sketch, I'm definitely in the Agile category.

Lineart, flats and colours are all very neat.

I find, as I improve as an artist, that I'm moving more and more toward the 'Waterfall' category. For instance, the reason my sketches are neat is because I'm worried I'll mess things up at the lineart stage. As I become faster and more proficient, that fear goes away and I occasionally skip over definition in the sketch, preferring to add it during the lineart pass instead.

[Rocksteady_Comics]

I've never thought about it like that. My style is 100% waterfall. My thumbnails and first layer of sketches are super messy.

[Eiranyx]

I've never thought about it but it is a mix of the two but I guess it's leaning towards agile
like when planning out it's completely unrecognizable, and then flesh it out as quick as possible before finalizing it and start sketching but when I sketch, it's clean, when doing line art it's more cleaner and more detailed then coloring it looks like almost done but not until the refining stage where everything will finally done....

[Legendofgenii]

For myself I think it depends on how confident I’m feeling about the pose/scene I need to draw.

Mostly agile (after the skeleton stage) I think.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I'm not sure where I fall to be honest. Because I'll share my crappy sketches with people. There's evidence enough of that over in the Sketch A Day thread and even the Last thing you Drew thread.

I don't care if people see my underdeveloped lines. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I guess I never think about logistics like this.

[LCT_m_a_d]

@Eiranyx That's agile for sure. Largely if I have too much clutter at any one point I lose my sense of direction and have a hard time tying everything together. Even if I don't intend to share the process (which is usually do), I'm preferring agile as much as possible.

@Legendofgenii From what I've seen, at the point you have your sketch everything looks super sharp for sure and could go into production without the additional passes, while the additional passes really make what you do stand out. I think agile without a few messy initial stages isn't agile. Unless the project is just too simple to warrant agile.

@nathanKmcwilliams That's a good point too. Construction lines can be very aesthetic when they imply an intentional sense of direction or impression to the audience. Even if they are ephemeral, the underdevelop areas can mean "I want you to use your own imagination". Provided there are areas of contrasting high definition. Which is intentionally agile but different than the example I included.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I also draw really fast xD is that an example of agile as well?