I wanna avoid tracing the reference(s) if possible, thanks.
created
Nov '21last reply
Dec '21- 9
replies
- 1.5k
views
- 5
users
- 18
likes
What I do is think of the pose and camera angle I want, and then position key things I want from the character.
In this panel for example, I positioned the boot, and face where I wanted them, and then filled in the rest of the character. (The one in the trench coat) While admittedly I did not use reference imaging for this specific panel, it's often the trick I'll use to avoid tracing anything.
Well part of me regrets posting a horrendous photo of myself already lol but maybe it can help you?
Not best, but here's what works for me.
After I make thumbnails (so have some basic ability to draw faces and bodies from your imagination), I almost always pose as a reference to spot some key things for my line art and get some help with how faces contort to make expressions. There's definitely no tracing since I'm not a cute anime person and usually modify the expression pretty significantly since I'm no actress either.
The reference helps me look for things like how much top of the head/shoulders is visible given the perspective and tilt. Where the curve of the eyes/nose are at. Are ears showing? Etc. I drew on myself on some key points to show you what I was checking for this one. It's also extremely helpful for drawing hands that look convincing!
You can see I've got a phone mount on the wall behind me for full body poses that are giving me trouble as well.
It definitely takes some practice and sometimes you won't even need it, but I think looking for details in a reference photo can really help you get a convincing drawing.
For environments that I actually draw (not too many) I try to do the same thing - draw it first, then look at photos of the real thing (or similar) to spot things that make the photo look more convincing than what I drew. Then add those elements.
My approach is to try and break the reference into small, easily understandable parts so that I can try and grasp a better general understanding of what I'm trying to draw, rather than necessarily just copy it 1 to 1. This is especially important if you can't find a reference at the right angle or perspective compared to what you're drawing.
Here's just a quick example, studying a peace sign, but trying to shoddily mouse draw it from a different angle (more like 3/4 instead of straight-on):
whether or not I physically red-line the reference like this depends on how familiar with what it is I'm referencing. I've drawn enough hands that I would usually skip that step probably, but for something I'm clueless about I liked to do this. Then you can kind of piece by piece use the info you can glean from the reference to make your own version.
Same goes for more than just poses or whatever too- if you're leaning how to draw trees, or buildings, or cities, or whatever, same stuff applies. I try and pull out each little element first, see what makes up what I'm looking at, and try to understand and apply it~
Frankly, for stuff like hand poses or other stationary poses that are easy to do in front of a mirror, I do self-reference a lot xD
buuuuuuut I still think it's a valuable skill to be able to parse and break down a reference that's not exactly what you need, and learn how to turn it into what you need. In the long run it helps to reinforce a stronger understanding of how objects work in space & will save a lot of time trying to track down or make a perfect reference every time.
3D models are a slippery slope imo. They can be an incredible tool that can potentially be loaded with information, but have a few potential pitfalls too. Setting them up to be correct takes time- For something like a key location in a story that will get used over and over again this could definitely be a time saver in the long run, but trying to model every single one-off location rather that just learning how to draw things in perspective, or modeling a character in every single panel rather than just learning anatomy and how to build poses from scratch or reference has the potential to be a huge time sink. The other biggie is that overuse of 3D models runs the risk of making environments look too "perfect" and tidy, or characters look too stiff and awkward.
Rarely I do use 3D models if I'm having a heck of a time getting some foreshortening right in an extreme angle shot. For example, I don't have a picture of it handy but a few months back I was working on a panel that a group of 5 characters, weapons drawn, running towards a cave. The "camera" was positioned overhead and behind them all, and man- I could NOT figure out how some of their legs were supposed to look at that angle, so I did bust out some 3D models in CSP for that particular panel 
thank you!!
I have no idea where the stereotype of well dressed art school students came from.1 month later
closed Dec 25, '21