4 ms·

What is the progression that should be followed? I first I thought it was step by step instructions, but some progressions have deleted lines, or lines with mod

What is the progression that should be followed? I first I thought it was step by step instructions, but some progressions have deleted lines, or lines with modified shape. (Sorry for my ignorance in this subject)

kqr 4y ago
It is common to draw helper lines with pencil, then the real shape on top with ink, followed by erasing the helper lines.
- silicon2401 4y ago
  How do you do that without smudging the ink? On the rare occasion I doodle with some effort, I've found it impossible to erase the pencil lines without just making things even messier in the process lol
  - egypturnash 4y ago
    Draw with a light touch on the pencil. Addressing the paper with the side of the pencil point instead of the tip helps a lot - this stops you from making a trench in the paper with graphite at its bottom, and forces you to use a broad line without much detail for blocking things in. (This also helps to train you to draw with your wrist static, which is a good way to keep repetitive stress injuries from happening. It was one of the first things the old pros taught me when I started working in animation, because they had all seen careers cut short by injuries from bad form.) As you add detail, shift to the tip of the pencil. Your hand will probably smudge the first lines into nothingness as you do this, it’s not a big worry. Grab a white plastic eraser or a kneaded eraser, and go at it. If you decide to go from pencil to ink, you can put some thought into your choice of ink to select one that dries quickly. You can also wait a bit for the ink to dry before erasing. White paint/ink does exist but it’s real hard to find some that works well in a portable pen format.
    - silicon2401 4y ago
      thanks a lot for your comment, even for the wrist tip alone. by nature I always defaulted to almost entirely using my wrist to draw lol
      - egypturnash 4y ago
        Everyone makes that mistake, really. I didn’t learn about it until my twenties.
egypturnash 4y ago
Generally: use a pencil, not a pen, erase parts you don’t want any more. Or work digitally and lower opacity of early roughs to work over in greater detail. These are all examples of blocking in a simple shape and refining it towards an ever-more detailed drawing. They are rendered in ink lines because that is far easier to reproduce.
SimonPStevens 4y ago
I think of it more like a learning guide. Initially you include the guide lines and just sketch over them to refine the shape. Once you've become familiar with the shape you can just draw close to the final version with no guide lines, and just mentally visualise the positions of the guidelines if you need to.
- treeman79 4y ago
  When I took a college course to improve my art the most important part I took away it was learning to see. A good session would leave me in wonder as I walked out of ro and could see all the light and shadows on everything. Things you never noticed before.
Tao3300 4y ago
- Like the others said, light pencil is a good way to do it, then erase after the final ink/paint/whatever dries. This is what I usually do for my watercolors. I'll take about a 60% of the pencil sketch off with a polymer eraser before putting down paint, and clean off the rest when it dries. - Another trick is to use a light blue colored pencil (there are specific non-photo blue pencils for this) for all the structural lines. When you scan or photograph the drawing, use processing software to dump the blue channel when you convert to black and white. - Use a lightbox to trace the finished drawing. This is a nice way to work because you can keep the original draft and experiment with it and iterate on it. - If you're drawing digitally, use a different layer for each step. Similar to the above. - Use carbon paper to transfer the drawing, only going over the lines you want to keep. Just make sure it isn't waxed. I used to use my college newspaper for this.
melthaus 4y ago

kqr 4y ago

It is common to draw helper lines with pencil, then the real shape on top with ink, followed by erasing the helper lines.

silicon2401 4y ago
How do you do that without smudging the ink? On the rare occasion I doodle with some effort, I've found it impossible to erase the pencil lines without just making things even messier in the process lol
- egypturnash 4y ago
  Draw with a light touch on the pencil. Addressing the paper with the side of the pencil point instead of the tip helps a lot - this stops you from making a trench in the paper with graphite at its bottom, and forces you to use a broad line without much detail for blocking things in. (This also helps to train you to draw with your wrist static, which is a good way to keep repetitive stress injuries from happening. It was one of the first things the old pros taught me when I started working in animation, because they had all seen careers cut short by injuries from bad form.) As you add detail, shift to the tip of the pencil. Your hand will probably smudge the first lines into nothingness as you do this, it’s not a big worry. Grab a white plastic eraser or a kneaded eraser, and go at it. If you decide to go from pencil to ink, you can put some thought into your choice of ink to select one that dries quickly. You can also wait a bit for the ink to dry before erasing. White paint/ink does exist but it’s real hard to find some that works well in a portable pen format.
  - silicon2401 4y ago
    thanks a lot for your comment, even for the wrist tip alone. by nature I always defaulted to almost entirely using my wrist to draw lol
    - egypturnash 4y ago
      Everyone makes that mistake, really. I didn’t learn about it until my twenties.

egypturnash 4y ago

Generally: use a pencil, not a pen, erase parts you don’t want any more. Or work digitally and lower opacity of early roughs to work over in greater detail. These are all examples of blocking in a simple shape and refining it towards an ever-more detailed drawing. They are rendered in ink lines because that is far easier to reproduce.

SimonPStevens 4y ago

I think of it more like a learning guide. Initially you include the guide lines and just sketch over them to refine the shape. Once you've become familiar with the shape you can just draw close to the final version with no guide lines, and just mentally visualise the positions of the guidelines if you need to.

treeman79 4y ago
When I took a college course to improve my art the most important part I took away it was learning to see. A good session would leave me in wonder as I walked out of ro and could see all the light and shadows on everything. Things you never noticed before.

Tao3300 4y ago

- Like the others said, light pencil is a good way to do it, then erase after the final ink/paint/whatever dries. This is what I usually do for my watercolors. I'll take about a 60% of the pencil sketch off with a polymer eraser before putting down paint, and clean off the rest when it dries. - Another trick is to use a light blue colored pencil (there are specific non-photo blue pencils for this) for all the structural lines. When you scan or photograph the drawing, use processing software to dump the blue channel when you convert to black and white. - Use a lightbox to trace the finished drawing. This is a nice way to work because you can keep the original draft and experiment with it and iterate on it. - If you're drawing digitally, use a different layer for each step. Similar to the above. - Use carbon paper to transfer the drawing, only going over the lines you want to keep. Just make sure it isn't waxed. I used to use my college newspaper for this.

melthaus 4y ago