Hi CC, In regards to the logic of this kind of drawing and what makes these drawings look so appealing, it really boils down to shape design, chiefly communicating what is in light vs what is in shadow. To address your other questions: 1) How to balance being loyal to the reference photo and creating dynamic shapes? I took some classes with Jeff Watts and he often described drawing as "part what you see, part what you know, and part what you wish you saw". Personally speaking, I think you should put your tastes and the shapes you 'want to see' ahead of the reference photo. By it's nature what we are doing when we draw is creating an interpretation of reality, so in the end our personal filter is inescapable, and I think it's important to embrace that. That's what makes an artist unique, and why we usually have a lot more fun looking at drawings and paintings over photographs. Reference material is of course extremely useful, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't use it. But simply be aware that it's there for you to refer to, study and get inspiration from, not something you need to 'copy'. When you look at drawings on instagram, or artwork in a museum, i guarantee you're not judging it on how accurate it is to the reference! Your artworks are a series of your decisions, and you can use reference to assist you in making those decisions. Just be cautious of letting the reference end up making all of the decisions for you! 2) How to blend sharp lines or soft edges in an interesting way? In the drawings you posted, there isn't a ton of value information, really only shapes and edges. The artists are using these elements to communicate form by showing a difference between light and shadow. What kind of shapes and edges to use is usually influenced by how the light is hitting the form, and it is very important to think about this aspect before you start drawing shadow shapes. What is the direction of the light? is it a harsh hard light, or a soft ambient light, etc. A rule of thumb is that if a shadow is happening because form is turning in space away from the light source, you're going to get a softer transition from light > shadow. If a shadow is being cast however, you'll typically get a firmer shadow line. ---- I'm also attaching some awesome drawings by Jeff Watts and Steve Huston to communicate those ideas on designing light/shadow shapes. Hope this helps, and keep up the good drawing!

here's my drawing of your sketches, I don't have the original reference you have so I had to push and invented the pose a little bit. I would suggest you to push the reference further and break some rules to make a nice flow and shape design. I think it is important to draw correct anatomy but stylizing it gonna be a little unrealistic like lane.draws sketches above. He break the figures to make interesting core shadows and he didn't shade in the shadow part to leave the brain do the rest for us. In my drawing below, I pushed the shoulder and hip further than you and it become unrealistic and even incorrect anatomy, but I think I was able to make the shadow a little bit interesting. I couldn't able to draw the line as forceful as he did. For the second question, sharp lines can be use for contrast and it is useful to guide the viewer eyes, core shadows and outlines are great use for sharp and decisive lines. soft lines and edges are for the less important part like the far side shadow where it get blend into the back ground. sharp lines can blend into soft lines to describe the surface such as the belly. I also attached a portrait study I did awhile ago using the technique, I didn't bother to add detail on the shadow on that study and it looks better.

Hi @CC Kuang, I think you've got some great figure studies here and you're well on your way to achieving that look that you're seeking. I'll try my best to answer the questions that you've presented. For question 1, I think of it in this way. If I were put in a situation where I can either be A: loyal to the reference or B: stray away from the reference for better design, I will pretty much ALWAYS go with option B. One thing that we tend to forget is that we are artists, and the decisions we make to design our drawings is what makes us artists (and not a camera). For question 2, I don't think the blending technique differs all that much, but what you DO want to consider is having edge variety. You want to consider how quickly a turn forms because a larger turn forming creates a softer edge, and a smaller turn forming will create a bit of a firmer edge. You also want to consider how you can use edges to differentiate between materials. A mistake I see a lot is using a hard edge silhouette for hair, and a quick fix would be to soften the edges around the hair to communicate that softer material. Finally, you also want to use edges to create focal area, and push back less important areas. You can mimic the focusing effect of your eye by making very soft edges in areas that are not the focal area. Leave your highest variety of soft edges and crisp edges for the areas that you want to bring the most attention to. Hope this helps! Feel free to let me know if there is anything that I can clear up for you