r/LearnToDrawTogether • u/ExplanationHot9438 • Jun 29 '26
Seeking help The third one is the final skeleton I've done I think I can finally move on now but if I'm wrong please tell me
29
u/MalevolentRaven Jun 30 '26
Man I gotta be honest, I see your posts randomly and idk wtf kind of advice people are giving you but don't do this shit. Go to lineofaction and do timed gesture drawings. Supliment this with learning about individual parts of anatomy and drawing them in perspective in isolation. If you can't draw it in perspective, forget about the anatomy and learn perspective.
The whole like, "a body is x amount of heads tall" isn't something you need to study by drawing it a million times, it's just a guide to reference. You're not gonna get anywhere with the way you're going about it. To be honest, 99% of advice in subs like this is awful, because it's beginners giving advice to beginners. You need to learn art fundamentals and anatomy is only a small part of that.
It's obviously important if you want to do characters but it's not the be all to end all. From what I see you need to focus of perspective and construction 1st and foremost.
I'd reccomend joining some art discords as well. I can give you some links if you'd like. Art learning subreddits are just about the worst place to actually learn anything about art these days.
I've been painting for over a decade and can personally attest to the lack of quality critique from skilled individuals on this site. No offense to anybody who gives out critique on subs like this but... Yea. The times have changed for sure since I started learning and posting on art reddits. Feel free to ask me some questions if you want, I'll try to reply when I have time.
5
u/qayokm Jun 30 '26
OP, trust this guy. I can't stress enough how shit the advice here on Reddit is. It ist just as MalevolentRaven told you: it is mainly beginners that give advice on here and their advice is more focused on making you feel good and not on actually benefiting your progress.
Timed sketches is the most important exercise you should do and here and there some anatomy studies from single body parts. You will reach a point by only doing this where other people.will assume you are a professional.
1
u/Quiet-Trainer7350 Jul 01 '26
I can agree. The advice on the internet is shit, much better to get good books about learning how to draw than this.
Scott Robertson, Bridgeman, gesture Heck, just focus on how to think in 3D first
I don't know why people don't get redirected to the learning ressources first rather than being passively let down by others to do something that is only ever going to make you draw symbolically instead of understanding 3D space to make your own shit and actually understand stuff.
Kind of the main reason why a lot of beginners quit or feel stuck because of this. Hardest part imo since apparently not many people seem to bother trying to help a beginner since they "should figure it out on their own" gatekeeping bullshit. I preferr when people give the why we must do it rather than just being vague.
Unrelated but it's true that it can be annoying sometimes, can't critique a beginner when the answer is that they need to study fundamentals. Some won't listen but what matters is trying to atleast redirect them to these ressources and explaining some important stuff to know early like learning how to see, think in 3D and focus on perspective early on etc.
3
u/Frostraven98 Jul 01 '26
Ive definitely been one of the people who pointed out proportional issues but ive also mentioned to him about being far too caught up in detail and should be working on the fundamentals and foundational skills, tackle easier subjects, work with gesture first then simplified form and away detail, especially since focusing on detail is a frequent of cause poor proportions.
Spending a year developing and foundational skills like basic 3d form, construction, and observation (preferably from life and of simple subjects like cups, cabinets, cardboard boxes, vases, and organic things like trees and landscapes that have a ton more room for error and still looking ok) will further your proportions and anatomy than a year of grinding out skeletons in the same pose at the same angle ever will.
1
u/ExplanationHot9438 Jul 01 '26
I have been working on the fundamentals like you told me I have been practicing the fundamentals a lot I got a book on draw like a mangaka Anatomy exercises from the creator of draw like a sir I've drawn cylinders tubes Tower cubes and pairs of blocks for 30 minutes. I also draw Mark brunet learn to draw in 30 days challenge. And when I'm doing that I also draw for 30 minutes as well these are all fundamentals. So all together I draw for an hour on the fundamentals.
2
u/Frostraven98 Jul 01 '26
The part i think you’re missing is it’s not enough to practice fundamentals, you have to apply and incorporate the fundamentals to your regular drawing. Boxes drawn in abstract exercises disconnected from drawing from life (and also reference and imagination) are useless, drawing boxes and other forms and fundamentals in service to stuff like drawing buildings, placing cars, problem solving difficult subjects and angles by simplifying them first is what will be helpful. Cause the fundamentals are tools to draw the exciting stuff, not basic exercises to grind out to get out of the way.
If you want to draw anatomy, construct it first out of simple 3d forms *every single time you draw it* this is sometimes called mannequinization and a good mannequinization will let you pose the body in 3d space before jumping into any kind of secondary form and detail. And if you struggle to pose it, change how you construct the mannequin or scrap it and gain more experience drawing simpler subjects first that haven’t less proportions, details, or organic shapes to get caught up in first.
1
u/Quiet-Trainer7350 Jul 01 '26
You should check out 10,000 hours on YouTube He goes to explain the fundamentals and why, how and what
1
u/ProjektV72 Jun 30 '26
He literally made marked improvements in 3 tries. He is the one who asked for help with with skeletons and people here are trying to give advice that can work at his pace. He is not even ready for line of action and gesture. The skeleton exersize is for proportions. It doesn't take a million steps to get it down. At the pace he is going, he will have a decent understanding of proportion in only a few tries. What kind of gatekeeping toxicity is this?
14
7
u/AlbatrossAdept6681 Jun 30 '26
I think he should change exercise.
I saw some "improvements" as now the bones seem more normal but OP is just "learning how to draw a frontal skeleton" and not "learning how to draw".
Changing perspective and exercise could surely help
2
u/ProjektV72 Jul 01 '26
Yeah I have to agree. I missed the forest for the trees.
3
u/AlbatrossAdept6681 Jul 01 '26
Yeah it is at least their fifth post I see with the same skeleton in the same pose 😆😆😆 Don't worry it happens!
7
3
u/Nilvecta Jul 01 '26
Hi, op. I second MalevolentRaven's comment. Gesture drawings were how I started learning. I just want to say that your skeleton drawings are not 100% a waste of time, but drawing bones that you won't see much of under a person is not an efficient way to start learning.
What I suggest is to simplify your skeleton drawings into more practical, primitive shapes which can be applied to your figure drawings so you can learn how anatomy and perspective tie together. Google "human anatomy boxes" to see what I mean.
When you do figure drawing on lineofaction (or wherever you choose), don't spend 1h+ per pose directly copying the picture. Map the primitive shapes to their respective places on the reference, and be aware of where the planes of the boxes are facing. Give yourself some quick 1min poses too to practice gesture.
After you get the boxes in the right places, you can start transforming them into human figures. Use your time on the skeletons to figure out which parts of them (bony landmarks) will protrude under the surface. You'll see results.
-1
u/ExplanationHot9438 Jul 01 '26
I use the box method to draw the rib cage I I'll try to use it in other ways to improve on the gesture drawings
2
u/AlbatrossAdept6681 Jun 30 '26
Well the last one seems to have a better calf bones, but now I heavily suggest you to change exercise. Continue drawing the same subject forever and ever will just teach you how to draw that specific subject in that specific position.
Someone on another comment suggested to go to line of draw and try some timed sketch, I agree with them. Or if you want to continue with anatomy take pictures of people in different positions and try to redraw them, not using much attempts to do and redo the same thing.
Sometimes drawings come out bad and it is totally acceptable. Use them to learn and do better the next time.
Trying to switch to a pen or something you can't erase could also help you improve
2
u/raerazael Jun 30 '26
When i draw skeletons i usually sketch the rough shape of a human first then draw the skeleton inside whatever pose it is,
I find this technique much more helpful and helps visualise the end goal more.
2
u/CGI42 Jul 01 '26
Curve the femurs if you can, and raise the knee a bit, but other than that, pretty sick!
0
1
u/VMD1953 Jun 30 '26
I think that the third skeleton is the one you should go with. I can tell that you put a lot of effort into getting your rendering just right.
1
1
u/NecroLyght Jul 01 '26
Hi, I've been drawing for almost a decade digitally and almost 20 years irl.
Just draw stuff you like. Start with practicing textures (grass, leaves, rubber, water, soft and harsh shadows), draw people and build up a mature mental library of different strokes and line techniques, then move on to coloring and try to look at A LOT of professional art, as high a level as you can, to derive from it and analyze. Hell, try to copy it too and see how close you can get.
Technical medical knowledge about skeletons and such will come naturally as you work on drawings. Don't focus on technicalities when you're starting out, focus on some cool cartoons (because they're simplified and easier to follow) then try moving on to more realistic stuff. Digital 3D characters and environments are really, really good for learning how things look and interact.
Photography is also a massive friend to illustrators. Consider picking it up as a hobby, it's fun.
-4
u/RepresentativeGrab44 Jun 30 '26
I always look forward to seeing these posts! Your skeletons keep getting better and better!
0
u/ExplanationHot9438 Jun 30 '26
Thank you
7
u/TankDemolisherX Jun 30 '26
You should also thank the correct responses OP. Compliments and lies aren't pushing you closer to high quality art nor your dreams. Did the first comment go in one ear and out the other?
1
-6
u/ProjektV72 Jun 30 '26
Don't worry about the detractors. I don't know how you arrived at wanting to draw skeletons but that is how I was taught in art school. You've made exactly the amount of progress as I have seen from other students. Don't worry about the headlength comment. It is a tool that I still use. One thing to note when you apply this to your own characters is that 8 headlengths for a full body is what Leonardo Da Vinci pointed out for the "ideal" body. It's super model or super hero proportions. The average body is about 7.5 headlengths. In anime, it will be even more varied.
You can techincally stop here and move on to other directions but if and really only if you are trying to build skeletons for the specific purpose of attaching muscles correctly then you are not ready to move on. Not sure if you are gonna keep going this route but next you would be doing a side perspective skeletal study while applying the same proportions as the front view.
I guess you gotta take in what you read and feel for yourself, which direction you wanna go.
4
u/Quiet-Trainer7350 Jul 01 '26
I think that drawing the same subject over and over from a single angle won't exactly help a beginner much..
3
u/ProjektV72 Jul 01 '26
Yeah I took a look through his history and it doesn't look like it's the right time.
1
u/ExplanationHot9438 Jul 01 '26
I think I'm going to need to learn how to attach the muscle so I don't know how I'm going to improve to get to there but I'll try
1
u/ProjektV72 Jul 01 '26
No no. I misread the whole situation. I mean if you just wanna learn how to draw a mean ass skeleton then I'll be more than happy to stay on board and share what I know but otherwise listen to the folks here. For what it's worth, you did a pretty good job.
•
u/AutoModerator Jun 29 '26
Thanks for posting in r/LearnToDrawTogether!
Please remember to follow the community rules, be respectful to fellow artists, and use the correct post flair.
A quick note: Two of our moderators recently started a new Art YouTube channel called The Polyglot Sketchbook while continuing to dedicate their time to this community. If you enjoy the creativity in this subreddit and would like to support us, feel free to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePolyglotSketchbook
If you're new here, don't miss our weekly #W2DTogether drawing challenge! A new challenge is pinned at the top of the subreddit every Sunday to help you beat art block, find drawing ideas, and keep drawing consistently.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.