Info wanted on Drawing Lessons
 

Hey guys. im a newbie with regards to the 3D world and i'm currently learning my way round the Maya PLE using books and tutorials. I'm rubbish at drawing but would really like to improve and i was hoping one u guys may be able to tell me what particular areas of drawing i should concentrate on learning, if any.

Cheers
Steve

Bit of an open ended question that. I guess it all depends what you're interested in. If you're interested in characters - try getting into a local life-drawing class, if you're more interested in scenery and environments then maybe look for a still-life or landscapes class. These kinds of classes rarely teach skills though, it's more a place to practice drawing, so give it a go but dont expect miracles :)

Good luck!

Thanx 4 the reply Petrol. Its more Character Animation that im interested in so Life Drawings would b a good place to start as u said.

Thanx 1ce again - Steve

try the new free tut by Kurt, 'character drawing' you will find it in the 'free tuts' section. that will give you the good oil :)

No worries mate. Yeah life drawing will definately benefit you. Even if you cant draw amazingly well, it'll help you to understand more about lighting, anatomy, texture, poses and so on. By the way if you live anywhere like where i am, you might find those kinds of classes difficult to find in a regular phonebook. My advice is to hit your local art/graphic shop and ask the people at the counter if they could point you in the right direction.

before you rush off to life drawing it might pay to get some basics up your sleeve. There are plenty of good beginners books on drawing people, its all circles to start with. A good way is to just drawing rough circles to block out the main features of the body, then try to outline, do not attempt anything to fancy. After you have a rough idea of what makes it all tick go to the classes and you will learn anatomy and how to use pencils from H2 to B6 so you can add the dynamics needed for shadow and light.

just a suggestion (you dont want to waste to many $$$ to start with and classes might cost a bit ??? :) )

MIREK03 - Thanx 4 the heads up on the tut m8. Also thnx 4 the info bout the books idea. Much appreciated.

PETROL - Thanx 4 ur help 1ce again m8. U've been really helpful.

Actually over here mirek they're usually very very cheap (UK). I'm not sure about other towns and stuff, but my local one only ask for a small donation for classes as it's run by volunteers. Obviously proper college classes or the like will be more expensive but you're also likely to get some tuition about materials, theory and skills etc. It really all depends on the level you're at and the level you want to be.

Petrol do u fink it'd b a gd idea 2 get the basics frm a good book 1st or jus die straight in with the classes m8.

If you're really unsure of yourself its best to do a bit of research before you go diving in. Mirek's suggestion is a good one - there are indeed lots of books out there by some pretty amazing artists. A couple I remember being particularly good at showing the basics right through to a decent end product are:

How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way: by Stan Lee
Figure Drawing for all its Worth: by Andrew Loomis

Some pretty darn famous artists giving away their top tips, its good stuff.

Another way could be to try sketching people from magazines or newspapers, and see how you get on. Whatever you're more comfortable with really. But ultimately it's pretty hard to get semi/full naked people to pose for you at most times, so as soon as you're comfortable I'd get to the classes one way or another. :)

check out this, sometthing like this. As is mentioned, anatomy can not be underestimated, but walk before you run or you will fall over :)

(that accent, I think we've met before??)

Hey guys. Thank u both for the gratefully recieved info.

MIREK From what book was the page excerpt from?

PETROL Jus been checking out your modelling of the bike/speed craft. Totally awesome m8. Its lookin really cool @ the min

a kids book i have, costs about $2.

I put the whole page here so you can see the publisher, thats all it has in the book about where it comes from. :)

Axiom publishing 2008

just practice drawing still life. I'm in the AP art course at school and I teach my animation class how to draw so that their animatics are easier to decipher. Practice mimicing the lines of objects with lines on a paper, and always sketch lightly as to make editing easy. If you have any specific questions, I may have answers so don't be a stranger!!

Sparticus