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˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Art Challenge ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
I have a new challenge for you to try if you feel like you just can't get along with line art! (I personally prefer to block out everything, but it's still good to sketch your foundation so that you can practice breaking humans down into shapes.)
The gist is pretty simple, but it can feel strange if you aren't used to it.
Basically the premise is:
- Choose an inky brush with mid to high pressure sensitivity. Varying line width will really help you fall into the habit of creating broad sweeping strokes that really lend to the illusion of movement. Draw with your whole arm and not just your wrist! Flexibility is key; keep it loosey goosey.
- Choose a reference in which the figure is posing dynamically, meaning that you want to avoid figures that are standing perfectly still. (In order to capture a gesture, we need movement! Even if it's only slight, like a flutter of fabric or hair catching in the wind. Personally, I think the more movement the better, but its good to vary.)
- Experiment with what works for you! Play around until you feel comfortable, and you might be surprised by the results you produce! By the end of this practice, I felt like I had opened up some neglected parts of my brain, and it felt good! Remember, it's good to challenge yourself, but having fun makes art worthwhile - so push yourself but not too hard!
Warm up
Time Spent - 15 mins
Here I was just testing out what brushes suited my needs the best, as you can probably tell, I didn't waste time cleaning this sketch up or adding excessive detail. The point was to push past the urge of being precious about what I was drawing and just get something down onto the canvas so I could see what worked and what didn't. Adding detail and texture is fine, but I recommend doing this last because our main focus should be gesture and brush flow.
First Sketch
Time Spent - 20 mins approx
This was where the challenge truly began because my first instinct was to draw a blocky sketch and then waste time painstakingly outlining it over and over again, but that's what I wanted to avoid! It only serves to rob your drawing of fluidity and makes the figure look painfully stiff, so instead, I let the muscles in my arm relax and just scribbled the shapes until it felt natural.
At this point, I wasn't quite sure how to convey the motion of the figure’s dance moves because so many body parts are moving in unison. My answer to this was to draw a bunch of lines in hopes of conveying which direction he’s turning, but honestly, I'm not too fond of the way it looks. Less is more, and that's okay! It was a learning curve, and it taught me plenty, which is exactly why little challenges like these are so useful!
For this sketch, I found myself focusing on linework, so I resisted the urge to add excessive shading and blending, and I'm glad I didn't; doing so allowed me to focus on building the illusion of muscle mass without relying on the methods that I feel the most comfortable with. Those methods take too long, and the point of this was that it's supposed to be quick! Overall, I'm quite happy, but it could use some improvement.
Second sketch
Time Spent - 35 mins
Here, I've followed the same basic process that I had used during the prior sketch, but with several adaptations that allowed me to build muscle mass and depth without relying on messy scribbles. Honestly, this one was more of a test where I wanted to see just how much I could get away with because I was swaying on the tightrope of what I knew and what felt unfamiliar but beneficial. I wanted to incorporate the shading technique I usually use while tweaking it here and there so that I was STILL experimenting & applying it to this fluid line process.
This sketch is probably my favourite because I couldnt beleive how easily I slipped into a mindset of complete focus when working on this one, It was like the volume of the world had lowered and suddenly I could operate my brush exactly how I wanted to, able to comprehend how to give the muscles just enough mass and weight to capture the tilt of her spine & limbs.
Is it perfect? or entirely accurate to the reference? No, certainly not, but neither of those things mattered when my objective was to tap into a certain part of my brain that allowed me to capture shape while my pen flowed freely. I'm proud of myself for this because it's something I struggle with.
Verdict?
I loved this little challenge and would highly recommend it to other artists, especially if you are a beginner and want to get a feel for anatomy studies without relying on the same process over and over again. It can be tricky because you'll find yourself wanting to fall back on what feels comfortable, but if you can shed those habits and try to open your mind up to avenues that you haven't explored before, it can be very beneficial.
Are you thinking of trying this out? Then I would love to see! Post it as a blog and then comment below so I can go look!
(If you like, you can post it under 'Sirens gesture challenge', though this is optional, as I haven't exactly taught you how to do this step by step, I've just shared my own experience so it's up to you! But if you require further explanation, don't hesitate to ask in the comments and I can elaborate, if this interest enough people perhaps I can make another post with thorough instructions. <3)
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