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@kkingmd
@kkingmd
alaska, usa
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Natasha Johnson
Question , if im not good enough to pass this section do i stay here til i get it right or do i continue on ? This challenges me . Its both exciting and incredibly intimidating .
@kkingmd
2mo
i’m feeling the same way. i don’t feel like i’m getting this at all. the stubborn perfectionist in me wants to dig in my heels and stay on this rhythm/gesture thing until i can do it a little more adeptly.
@kkingmd
Asked for help
my goodness, i am just not getting this at all! i look at the great examples here and feel stuck. my seals looked decent and felt pretty easy, so i thought that i was ready to move forward. but there is something about this that i’m just not doing right. i’m ashamed to admit how long these attempts (and many others) took, and they’re just so…ugly, and wrong in so many ways. though i feel like i can see the rhythm, my hand cannot do what my eye sees. i will keep practicing of course. i don’t want to move on until i have a better grasp of this concept and can at least approach ‘correct’. i will watch the critique videos and keep trying. any other advice would be much appreciated.
Melanie Scearce
Don't get discouraged! The human body is a very complicated subject to draw, and we can't expect ourselves to hit home runs on the first try. What matters is that you see the rhythms, which you do! It's very normal for our mental understanding of a concept to outpace our technical skill as artists. This can be frustrating, but pushing through that rough patch will lead to so much improvement. Learning that this is a normal and cyclical part of the process will benefit you greatly. Take a look through some anatomy books -- Artistic Anatomy by Dr. Paul Richer is a good start. Begin to understand the forms underneath that create the movements, and continue practicing looseness in your strokes with quick gesture drawings. You will be well on the way to drawing accurate, rhythmic figures.
@kkingmd
I am a complete beginner, learning the very basics. I have found the explanations here to be the clearest I’ve encountered. I have a long way to go, but am enjoying the journey. Areas of question/growth potential: -does the tilt represent the position of the c-spine or of the neck musculature, ie sternocleidomastoid? -how does one represent the submental area in these structures, ie in refs 4, 5 or 10? or is it not included at this stage? (and no, learning anatomy for my work offers no advantage when the hand can’t do what the mind sees, lol) Thank you for any critique/advice that you might have for this beginner.
Michael Hampton
Nice starts! The tilt represents the 2D lean of the neck as a larger mass. I wouldn't connect it to the muscles as they may have separate directions. You want the larger, general angle of the neck. The under plane for the jaw was demoed in the critique video, I believe. If you haven't already, that may be useful to watch for some extra pointers. Keep it up
@kkingmd
mac user here to report that safari is a no-go, but chrome works just fine for downloading this absolutely amazing guide!
@kkingmd
i’m a complete beginner, without formal training. i’ve watched this first lesson and am very excited to learn more! i have been trying to practice the steps on heads in various positions. and am pretty stumped on this one. i just can’t seem to get it right.i would love to see the ‘answer’. thank you!
Michael Hampton
Check out the critique video in this section. I troubleshoot this pose a few times.
@kkingmd
i watched the demo and still missed the mark in so many places. i make such anxious lines! my inner perfectionist is yelling! i will say that a few months ago, this wouldn’t have even been recognizable as an attempt to draw the person in the photo. progress is slow but recognizable, even to my own very critical eye.
@kkingmd
@kkingmd
3mo
whew…while i feel like i’m sort of understanding the general principles, my hand-eye coordination leaves a lot to be desired. but i am starting from scratch (no training, no experience) so i am trying to give myself grace. i repeatedly get stuck trying to get one detail right, and end up losing all accuracy in shape and proportion. i haven’t watched the critiques yet, but i always learn a lot from those and am able to improve (a little bit) with my subsequent attempt. and yes this took three days. work is a serious impediment to my avocations, lol!
Josh Fiddler
Most important take away for me? At 35:45, "If you thought about this line instead of the body underneath..." well poop. Yeah. I did. It's these kinds of insights that I love about this course.
@kkingmd
5mo
that was a breakthrough moment for me!
@kkingmd
most of what i’m doing now is “lost”, but every once in a while i a nice clean ellipse. i just fill each page of the sketchbook with practice and trust that progress will come. thank you for this insightful lesson!
@kkingmd
i see a lot of really excellent work here, so i thought i’d share mine, scribbles and all, so that other abject beginners don’t feel alone. i’m a mid-career healthcare professional (and recovering perfectionist), who quit art in 7th grade and have told myself since then that creativity is not for me. i’ve decided to change that narrative and am taking this class not to become a career artist, but simply to enjoy learning and drawing. i have no training, no skill, no pre-existing knowledge, but i’m having so much fun. (and yes, the scrawling all over this is from looking at others, watching the critique videos, and my own inner critic, lol) (my mushrooms on the next page are pretty funny. i’ll share those too.) have fun y’all!
Melanie Scearce
We're glad that you're here and thank you for sharing your wonderful notes :) my favorite part is your list of "good" things. It may help you to warm up with a value scale like this and "color pick" from it when you do your drawing. Love your story and I wish you the most luck in your journey on discovering the creativity you've always had!
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