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Im curious what the process looks like to implement this. It seems like it would be easiest to start with the animal using only perfectly(?) curved lines and th

Im curious what the process looks like to implement this. It seems like it would be easiest to start with the animal using only perfectly(?) curved lines and then complete them into circles after the fact. Although that seems kind of pointless and I imagine they start with circles. And I guess it would hard to have a curve from a perfect circle without the circle? I just have a hard time imagining you start with circles, lay them down (resize as needed) and continue. I mean I guess that doesnt sound so crazy after I say it... it just seems like it would add a lot of extra noise to the image that would make it much harder to draw.

tarentel 2y ago
I can't speak to this but I took a drawing class a long time ago. I'm not very good but it was a lot of drawing circles. When you see people freehand stuff it's kind of wild but that's not how people learn how to draw they're just very good at it from practice. Most of learning is drawing very basic shapes, usually circles, and erasing parts that don't make sense and continuing.
- tmountain 2y ago
  I have been practicing art a lot lately. You can draw just about anything using spheres, cubes, cylinders, and cones. You start off with the 2d versions.
  - tarentel 2y ago
    I stopped after a few classes but I was amazed at how good I got in a short amount of time after learning how to break stuff down which isn't something I really thought about before. By all metrics I'm still a pretty terrible drawer but prior to that stick figures would have been challenging.
    - kunzhi 2y ago
      Drawing from circles, squares, triangles, etc. in art is called "construction" and is definitely a foundational technique. It really is amazing how much easier drawing becomes once it's understood (and practiced).
    - floxy 2y ago
      Another good resource for learning how to draw realistically is the book: "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". The premise is that your brain wants to take shortcuts and group/chunk things together on what they should look like, instead of what things actually look like. But even a rectangle in real life has non-right-angles because of perspective, etc.. And if you draw what you actually see, then the drawings come out correct. Some of the exercises are copying other drawings placed upside-down, so that you brain doesn't try to over-interpret things. I can't recommend this enough if you want to go from a beginner to something respectable in drawing abilities. https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201/ https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/d... https://kk.org/cooltools/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brain/ https://kk.org/cooltools/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-br...
      - tmountain 2y ago
        I read the book and loved it (about 15 years ago). There’s no royal road to becoming an artist but lots of joy along the way. Whatever the path, enjoy it!
- jihadjihad 2y ago
  > drawing very basic shapes, usually circles, and erasing parts that don't make sense There's a hilarious Spongebob bit [0] where Squidward is teaching an art class, and he starts off in that exact manner of trying to draw a perfect circle, only to have Spongebob subvert the entire idea. The whole episode is artistic gold IMO. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTlpFEvmxdM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTlpFEvmxdM
  - tarentel 2y ago
    I do remember that. Sorry I can't find a better website but this is a similar joke. https://www.reddit.com/r/restofthefuckingowl/comments/6f71jm/how_to_draw_the_tick/#lightbox https://www.reddit.com/r/restofthefuckingowl/comments/6f71jm...
    - pimlottc 2y ago
      The origin of this is the “how to draw an owl” pic https://imgur.com/how-i-feel-when-somebody-gives-me-advice-get-out-socialize-more-without-explaining-how-RadSf https://imgur.com/how-i-feel-when-somebody-gives-me-advice-g...
      - lll-o-lll 2y ago
        Except The Tick was drawn in 1988, so has somewhat a prior art claim here.
        pimlottc 2y ago
        Ah, didn't realize that was earlier, thanks
- barrenko 2y ago
  True, I did some amateur vector art (in Illustrator) and you basically have to compose objects out of basic shapes. It is truly highly meditative.
adamanonymous 2y ago
There are some photos of sketches at the bottom of the page. Looks like they started with curves and turned them into circles later
- nonethewiser 2y ago
  I suppose the thing the circle is really informing is the "perfectness" of the curve. You cant just draw in curves and extend it to a circle (wont be perfect). I guess Im not sure how you get "perfect" curves. I suspect its a stencil or something. So in some sense the circle does exist first, even if they only draw the curve from it initially (before marking it up with the full circle after the fact).
  - PebblesRox 2y ago
    If I were trying to do something like this I would sketch it out first with imperfect curves and then worry about making it perfect once I was at the computer. It would look slightly different but I don’t think it would make that much of an impact in the initial design process.
laurentlb 2y ago
There's some information on: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/01/illustrating-animals-13-circles-drawing-tutorial-challenge/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/01/illustrating-animal... "While sketching, I kept track of the number of circles I was using, counting one for every curve." After sketching an animal, it should be easier to adjust the image by inserting/removing/moving circles.
- nonethewiser 2y ago
  Awesome, thank you!
KolibriFly 2y ago
What's wild is how much clarity and personality you can get from that process. Instead of adding noise, it forces simplification, which actually helps with visual clarity

tarentel 2y ago

I can't speak to this but I took a drawing class a long time ago. I'm not very good but it was a lot of drawing circles. When you see people freehand stuff it's kind of wild but that's not how people learn how to draw they're just very good at it from practice. Most of learning is drawing very basic shapes, usually circles, and erasing parts that don't make sense and continuing.

tmountain 2y ago
I have been practicing art a lot lately. You can draw just about anything using spheres, cubes, cylinders, and cones. You start off with the 2d versions.
- tarentel 2y ago
  I stopped after a few classes but I was amazed at how good I got in a short amount of time after learning how to break stuff down which isn't something I really thought about before. By all metrics I'm still a pretty terrible drawer but prior to that stick figures would have been challenging.
  - kunzhi 2y ago
    Drawing from circles, squares, triangles, etc. in art is called "construction" and is definitely a foundational technique. It really is amazing how much easier drawing becomes once it's understood (and practiced).
  - floxy 2y ago
    Another good resource for learning how to draw realistically is the book: "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". The premise is that your brain wants to take shortcuts and group/chunk things together on what they should look like, instead of what things actually look like. But even a rectangle in real life has non-right-angles because of perspective, etc.. And if you draw what you actually see, then the drawings come out correct. Some of the exercises are copying other drawings placed upside-down, so that you brain doesn't try to over-interpret things. I can't recommend this enough if you want to go from a beginner to something respectable in drawing abilities. https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201/ https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/d... https://kk.org/cooltools/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brain/ https://kk.org/cooltools/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-br...
    - tmountain 2y ago
      I read the book and loved it (about 15 years ago). There’s no royal road to becoming an artist but lots of joy along the way. Whatever the path, enjoy it!
jihadjihad 2y ago
> drawing very basic shapes, usually circles, and erasing parts that don't make sense There's a hilarious Spongebob bit [0] where Squidward is teaching an art class, and he starts off in that exact manner of trying to draw a perfect circle, only to have Spongebob subvert the entire idea. The whole episode is artistic gold IMO. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTlpFEvmxdM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTlpFEvmxdM
- tarentel 2y ago
  I do remember that. Sorry I can't find a better website but this is a similar joke. https://www.reddit.com/r/restofthefuckingowl/comments/6f71jm/how_to_draw_the_tick/#lightbox https://www.reddit.com/r/restofthefuckingowl/comments/6f71jm...
  - pimlottc 2y ago
    The origin of this is the “how to draw an owl” pic https://imgur.com/how-i-feel-when-somebody-gives-me-advice-get-out-socialize-more-without-explaining-how-RadSf https://imgur.com/how-i-feel-when-somebody-gives-me-advice-g...
    - lll-o-lll 2y ago
      Except The Tick was drawn in 1988, so has somewhat a prior art claim here.
      - pimlottc 2y ago
        Ah, didn't realize that was earlier, thanks
barrenko 2y ago
True, I did some amateur vector art (in Illustrator) and you basically have to compose objects out of basic shapes. It is truly highly meditative.

adamanonymous 2y ago

There are some photos of sketches at the bottom of the page. Looks like they started with curves and turned them into circles later

nonethewiser 2y ago
I suppose the thing the circle is really informing is the "perfectness" of the curve. You cant just draw in curves and extend it to a circle (wont be perfect). I guess Im not sure how you get "perfect" curves. I suspect its a stencil or something. So in some sense the circle does exist first, even if they only draw the curve from it initially (before marking it up with the full circle after the fact).
- PebblesRox 2y ago
  If I were trying to do something like this I would sketch it out first with imperfect curves and then worry about making it perfect once I was at the computer. It would look slightly different but I don’t think it would make that much of an impact in the initial design process.

laurentlb 2y ago

There's some information on: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/01/illustrating-animals-13-circles-drawing-tutorial-challenge/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/01/illustrating-animal... "While sketching, I kept track of the number of circles I was using, counting one for every curve." After sketching an animal, it should be easier to adjust the image by inserting/removing/moving circles.

nonethewiser 2y ago
Awesome, thank you!

KolibriFly 2y ago

What's wild is how much clarity and personality you can get from that process. Instead of adding noise, it forces simplification, which actually helps with visual clarity