(no subject)

[ang]

The Cleveland/Boston game tonight was AWESOME, y'all. AWESOME. Even my crappy team can sometimes be fun to watch!

I finally got all my icons from LiveJournal ported over to Dreamwidth! I don't think I'm going to re-up my extra icons at LJ in a few weeks, so I'll have to re-sort which ones I'm keeping over there all over again.

I also have finally busted out my sketchbook to start working on this "getting less shitty at drawing" thing. I know the number one way to improve one's drawing is to, you know, draw a lot. But I want to find some books or something with tips. Or at least something that is like "these are the actual proportions of a human being relative to his or her other parts." I know some of the facial proportions, but not a lot of the ones for the whole body. Although, then again, maybe I should work on being more cartoony so that I can learn how to give people actual, like, facial expressions.

I'm also trying to figure out which television show I should start watching/re-watching. I am definitely re-watching Babylon 5, but with Secret Canadian. I also want to watch something on my own. I think I'm deciding between the first season of The X-Files and the first season of Farscape at this point, but you can recommend me a show you think I ought to watch! I don't know!

Ugh. I need to get my laptop fixed so I can read the comics I downloaded onto it, like, months ago.

Comments

I hope you don't mind me giving advice

[leroux]

Regarding drawing tips: don't learn from books! I really don't think anyone can learn much of substance from them, especially since often times they're wrong/they contradict each other on the "facts" of human proportion - are we seven heads tall or eight?

The number one tip I can give for drawing well is to concentrate on observing accurately. Starting by drawing things you can actually see will give you a good foundation for drawing things you imagine. Concern yourself firstly with really looking at people and things. Spend more time looking at the thing you are drawing than your drawing itself. Don't worry about natural proportion; if you work on recording what people really look like, by looking at them, your proportion will improve with practice without your focusing on it.

ps watch X-Files!! Then I can have someone to squee with!!

[sabeth]

Have you seen Farscape before? Because much as I love the X-Files, if you haven't seen FS you should totally watch that.

Also, I'll second the advice about observing and drawing from life/photos (or copying life drawings from books!) rather than trying to remember proportions. That way you'll get a feeling for what looks right and what doesn't, which is much more useful. (And makes for less rigid drawings.)

Re: I hope you don't mind me giving advice

[ang]

I was asking for advice, so of course I appreciate it. And you're right that I should be working off real life/other photos rather than just remembering proportions. I need to start remembering that at this point I really do need to be working off sources rather than just making shit up. Thanks!

[ang]

I haven't seen Farscape, but I also haven't seen any full seasons of the X-Files either, so it's kind of the difference between "something I've seen a little of that got really shitty near the end" and "something I haven't seen any of that was apparently pretty good most of the way through."

And thanks for the advice. I really do need to get back into the habit of using sources when I try to draw.