#if they're gonna walk around naked might as well have some curves

[honeysucklebuttons]

just dropping by with some questions if you don't mind , for how long have you been drawing and do you have any tips for drawing humans ? (i've been drawing for a while but i am used to only drawing animals , but your's and others art has insipired me to go out of my comfort zone and try to draw humans)

Hello!! I apologize for the delayed response, I hope you don't think I was ignoring you! (Mother's Day at a flower shop is insane haha)

But!

I have been drawing basically my whole life? What started as stick people slowly turned into chubby chibis with enormous heads, which turned into slightly more human-looking people in a mix of cartoony anime style, and then taking art classes and majoring in art helped grow my style into still more human-looking people (lol), which is a general mix of cartoony-anime and somewhat realistic?

I'm gonna sit and think really hard and long on good tips for you!!!

Draw from pictures: Still photos have the advantage of allowing you to focus on something unchanging, so you can study one thing in unwavering detail

Draw from life: Watching how bodies shift and move, how muscles contract and stretch, how emotions change the whole posture - all of that will train your eyes to grasp a more loose gesture of the whole picture, the body as a whole

Study human anatomy: bones, muscles, skin - how does it all connect? Knowing what's inside an arm will help you understand how to build an arm from nothing

People watch!! So many body types! So many ways people hold themselves and walk! So many hairstyles and clothing styles! People with walkers and wheelchairs and prosthetics!

Break it down: Basic lines turn into basic shapes, which build up into more and more complex ideas until you have planes of a face, muscles weaving in a thigh

Gesture drawing: Quick studies of the way the body fits in space! Exaggerate it like animators do, stretch and pull the body to make it more fluid and expressive! Practice mode: Time yourself. See a pose, scribble it down loosely in 10-30 seconds. NEXT!

Figure drawing: Drawing a real person in front of you is probably the best way to get used to drawing bodies (I know it can be awkward, but they don't have to be naked, although that does help if they're cool with it! You can even watch your roommate or family member from across the room and go from there.)

Get obsessed: Sounds silly? Well, if you get seriously invested in someone cute you know, or a character you really like, then take it to the next level and DRAW THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Draw yourself! In the mirror, your hands, from pictures, the way other people see you

Get models: You can totally hire models, or go to a local school who has figure art classes, but you don't have to! There are people around you who can model for you, poseable art models in plastic and wood, you have options!

Watch cartoons/anime/animation: Watch what the animators/character design team choose to accentuate and highlight in a design, what makes them look more human or not

Similarly, study other artists' work (in general): See how art has evolved over time and how different artists express the human body visually! Every artist does things differently, and there's stuff to learn from everyone!

Be okay with literally learning all the time. No experience is wasted, no piece "trash" just because it doesn't replicate what you see. Artist eyes are always working and creating things in our heads, and little "oh!" moments will hit you when you least expect it. The way someone's collarbone curves suddenly. The way someone's smile is shaped, but you never noticed before. Little things.

Websites: There are websites for quick pose studies, for expressive movements, for manipulating your own little model, for all sorts of things!

Literally the bottom line is to draw. Like. The more you draw, the more you will find what you want to change about your style, or what you really like about it that might make it unique! Draw lots of people! Don't get discouraged! Draw scribbly people and mystery people and people in colored pencils only and old people and people made out of shadows only! The hardest thing is choosing what to draw first, but if you're already an animal artist, translating that over to people might be easier than you think!

Also, I know the list is long but I'm chatty and want to help! I hope it's not overwhelming, and don't expect things to change immediately. Let yourself grow and bloom organically and over time.

Draw on, friend!! :D

[daily-sifloop]

Ok but. flat ass Loop or fat ass Loop?

Any Loop ass is good ass.

Siffrin would love them either way.