bad anatomy?

Scrubbo · Post by **Scrubbo** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 12:47 pm

On 2002-03-27 12:15, JPSloan wrote:
And I guess that makes me a hack. I guess it also puts me in that enormous pool of generic Keenspacer-come-lately's at whom several veterans roll their eyes.

ZOMBIE USER 7833 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 7833** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 1:26 pm

My characters are wildly unproportional. And I don't think that's a word. Fortunately, no one seems to care about either of these points.

JPSloan · Post by **JPSloan** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 2:26 pm

On 2002-03-27 12:47, scrubbo wrote:

SEE???

I knew it! All those years of paranoia paid off! Now, to go fetch my aluminum foil fedora from the attic, so I can block out those government mind-rays...

Ashess · Post by **Ashess** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 2:44 pm

lol. my point of view's a little different. I started with artschool and the whole bunch so I don't think there's anything wrong with my drawingskills per se.

turns out you need a different vocabulary for comix though. I think I'm gettign the hang of it, but it's.. different.

Shoe · Post by **Shoe** » Wed Mar 27, 2002 4:03 pm

Cripes it took 2 minutes to load this reply page...

I think so far I'm the only artist who uses MITTEN hands. Let's keep it that way.

ZOMBIE USER 3098 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 3098** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 6:35 pm

Actually, I think your anatomy skills are quite good - sometimes off proportion, but then again, I've met a lot of cartoonists from different industries who don't draw bodies properly.

As for me, sometimes I once used mitten hands though I made an effort to draw 5 fingers now. However, I try to avoid hands if I can. Takes me a long time to draw anatomy considering how much time I spend trying to get muscle on some of my characters.

-Albrecht
http://ntnation.keenspace.com

Psiogen · Post by **Psiogen** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 8:17 pm

On 2002-03-27 14:44, ashess wrote:
lol. my point of view's a little different. I started with artschool and the whole bunch so I don't think there's anything wrong with my drawingskills per se.

turns out you need a different vocabulary for comix though. I think I'm gettign the hang of it, but it's.. different.

Yeah, I had the same problem starting off... I could draw a really realistic portrait, but I couldn't do a good cartoon character to save my life.

The Joester · Post by **The Joester** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 10:00 pm

anatomy shmanatomy. two arms, two legs and a head. what else is there to know?

ZOMBIE USER 7833 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 7833** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 10:31 pm

On 2002-03-28 22:00, The Joester wrote:
anatomy shmanatomy. two arms, two legs and a head. what else is there to know?

How about a body?

Kevin Wolf · Post by **Kevin Wolf** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 11:02 pm

On 2002-03-28 22:00, The Joester wrote:
anatomy shmanatomy. two arms, two legs and a head. what else is there to know?

I totally agree with Joe, here (in fact, I was going to post my own "anatomy shmanatomy" comment days ago, but changed my mind. God bless Joester and his lack of tact). They're cartoon characters, for crying out loud. How much "anatomy" do they need to have?

Head goes here, arms go here...

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 2:19 am

That comment about being a writer in first place, co concearning art less important because script compensate it, seems a bit odd to me.
First of all, I believe everyone here, deep inside in his heart, no matter if he's ready to admitt, believes he's a great writer and all.
Second, we all may be right. I think drawing is much more subordinated to objective grading. I mean, it doesn't matter if your drawing style appeals to someone or not, if you, for instance, know fine anathomy, nobody can denie that. With writing it's much different, much more subjective.

Btw, i like drawing five fingers. Four fingers, what many artints do (even my favourit) is just... ah, well, I don't know.

Srdjan
http://mcduffies.keenspace.com

Shoe · Post by **Shoe** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 11:28 am

Opposable thumbs help too.

The Joester · Post by **The Joester** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 8:09 pm

yeah. we're better than anatomy. i'll give people s-curved backs if i feel like it! whadda you gonna do about it!?

Psiogen · Post by **Psiogen** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 8:50 pm

On 2002-03-28 22:00, The Joester wrote:
anatomy shmanatomy. two arms, two legs and a head. what else is there to know?

Certainly, knowing anatomy doesn't necessarily mean you can draw convincing cartoon characters.
Drawing a realistic figure requires you to know exactly how that figure looks.
Drawing a cartoon requires you to know exactly what it is about a figure that makes it look the way it does-- which is just as deceptively difficult.

BunELovecraft · Post by **BunELovecraft** » Wed Apr 03, 2002 4:08 pm

The whole anatomy thing...oy, boy do I hear that alot. Now when Fred Perry and Rod Espinosa told me I needed to polish, whoo doggies I headed that! However, my motto with webcomics is "if you can do better, do it". It's kind of my standing challenge. I know I'm not the greatest. I've had to self teach myself most of the skillz. Of course I first started drawing comics when I was 1 and I've been drawing ever since. I may not be the next Adam Warren, but I try.

The biggest problem with "oh your anatomy sucks" is that basically, what does that tell you? How do you fix something so general?

It'd be nice if people looked and said "well this is off, and because of blah blah your character looks like a dwarf with hem'roids" right? Ok...maybe not, but you get the picture.

As for other things I get...I get that my plot is a bit too indepth and scientific. Well yeah, I'm tryin'a do a hardcore scifi/fantasy series in one hit a day comic form. Oy vey, boy am I stoopid or what roit? The rules for plot should be judged differently for Epic onliners and Dailies. They're apples and oranges folks.

But anyway, to get to the point, practice practice practice, and just when you think you rock...DO IT AGAIN! That's the only thing that's kept me sane through the years, is knowin' that I can practice and maybe get better. It takes a while but it's worth it.

Damonk13 · Post by **Damonk13** » Wed Apr 03, 2002 6:59 pm

On 2002-04-03 16:08, BunELovecraft wrote:

The biggest problem with "oh your anatomy sucks" is that basically, what does that tell you? How do you fix something so general?

It'd be nice if people looked and said "well this is off, and because of blah blah your character looks like a dwarf with hem'roids" right? Ok...maybe not, but you get the picture.

umm... but some people *do* offer constructive observations?

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Thu Apr 04, 2002 4:31 am

One guy, realy good drawer, told me: noone can teach you anathomy. Just get yourself that big anathomy book for art colleges (not medicine) and kill yourself drawing!

Srdjan
http://mcduffies.keenspace.com

Kelen · Post by **Kelen** » Thu Apr 04, 2002 11:03 am

I just wanted to throw in a little note here....

All of those really famous people out there in the world? Like Michaelango and such? There is one very important thing that always gets glossed over when people talk about things like anatomy:

They used references. They had models.

Don't be afraid to use references. Pin a picture up somewhere and attempt to draw it. THIS is how you learn proper anatomy. Trying to draw it all from your head never works, and all because you don't know instinctively how to draw the human form.

Tracing is bad. References are good. Dig through a magazine and find a pose you like to draw. Or even.. hell, I've seen professionals use action figures. Honest! Never be ashamed to find a reference. It will only help your work and teach you the right ways the body moves.

If the great painters of the past can do it, if the professional artists of today can do it, then why can't we?

Justinpie · Post by **Justinpie** » Thu Apr 04, 2002 11:28 am

I'm not professional or famous.

ZOMBIE USER 7833 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 7833** » Thu Apr 04, 2002 11:53 am

And with an attitude like that, you never will be.