Illustration Class Room page six

Illustration Class Room

hosted by Tang Ho (Co-hosted by Medusa,with the assistance of Mr.Dummy)

This class room is mainly for people who already have basic skills of drawing. I will not teach any technique. I believe every one have their own style. I will concentrate on composition, balance,emphasis and grammar of a drawing, In short, how well the pictures are telling a story.

Lesson Six: Drawing research

Hello! I am Medusa. This lesson is a bonus because originally Tang didn't intend to teach any basic drawing. However, I am afraid many people do not consider drawing human figures as "basic." It can be considered an art form by itself. (Just look at me!)

Since we mentioned it is important to do "drawing research" in lesson five, and human figure study is also a part of drawing research. I will use it as an example of how proper drawing research should be done.

By the way, Lisa is under-age to pose nude, and Diana is a robot (Tang wanted to keep it a secret, but you should have guessed that when you saw her fighting a hundred feet tall stone monster.) Therefore, Mr. Dummy and I will be modeling for this class.

find the center point

When you study a human figure, find out the center point is the first thing to do. Why? The reason is; if you know where the center, you will not make mistakes of incorrect proportions.

Many people think the center of a human body is the waist. No! The correct answer is the crotch. If you don't trust me, go measure anyone (but make sure there's no police around)

The following is how I draw a human figure

To start, I will draw the hip first, then add an upper torso. Notice the two circles I draw here. A human body is not shaped like a cylinder or a sphere but more like a cereal box (did you know that?). The circles are only here to help us estimate the distances.

From the center point, you can estimate the position of the rest of the body like so. The hands should reach down between thigh and knee, the eyes are at the middle of the head and so on.

So far we have a basic human structure, but it can be either man or woman.

The biggest difference between male and female bodies are in the hip and shoulder, like in the sketch here. A male has wider shoulders and a female's hip is proportionally wider.

Because of the wilder hip, a natural standing pose for a woman is with her thighs curving inward and her lower legs curving outwards. This is to balance the center of her weight. Since her shoulder is narrower than her hip, it is natural for her to put her arms around the hip like so.

A man's shoulder and hip are more similar in width. Therefore, standing straighter is easier for him

Now you can understand that drawing research is more than just looking and copying.

If you're unsure about the usefulness of finding the center point, just look at this picture. You can see that drawing a large male beside a thin, beautiful, lovely and sexy lady like me is very easy! Just push the center point of the man higher and the proportions will always be correct. You will not make the mistake of drawing Mr. Dummy who has legs the same length as mine, but with a waist three times as long to make up for the height difference between a man and woman.

Another important note is that the spinal cord that supports the human body is not straight and rigid. It is flexible and is naturally curved.

When drawing an action pose, the first thing is to decide how the spinal core would bend.

Remember, you should learn the structure of the object you are researching, not just copy what you see.

Tang: This will be the last time I teach drawing skills here, as I don't want to influence people's own styles.

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	To start, I will draw the hip first, then add an upper torso. Notice the two circles I draw here. A human body is not shaped like a cylinder or a sphere but more like a cereal box (did you know that?). The circles are only here to help us estimate the distances.
	From the center point, you can estimate the position of the rest of the body like so. The hands should reach down between thigh and knee, the eyes are at the middle of the head and so on. So far we have a basic human structure, but it can be either man or woman.
	The biggest difference between male and female bodies are in the hip and shoulder, like in the sketch here. A male has wider shoulders and a female's hip is proportionally wider.
	Because of the wilder hip, a natural standing pose for a woman is with her thighs curving inward and her lower legs curving outwards. This is to balance the center of her weight. Since her shoulder is narrower than her hip, it is natural for her to put her arms around the hip like so. A man's shoulder and hip are more similar in width. Therefore, standing straighter is easier for him Now you can understand that drawing research is more than just looking and copying.
	If you're unsure about the usefulness of finding the center point, just look at this picture. You can see that drawing a large male beside a thin, beautiful, lovely and sexy lady like me is very easy! Just push the center point of the man higher and the proportions will always be correct. You will not make the mistake of drawing Mr. Dummy who has legs the same length as mine, but with a waist three times as long to make up for the height difference between a man and woman.
	Another important note is that the spinal cord that supports the human body is not straight and rigid. It is flexible and is naturally curved.
	When drawing an action pose, the first thing is to decide how the spinal core would bend. Remember, you should learn the structure of the object you are researching, not just copy what you see.

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