My first tutorials ever.... *updated again* Scroll down.

[Papercut285]

I might add on to this thread later on but for now this is what i've got :D a 3/4 head tutorial. Enjoy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/ceberus/Tutorial.jpg

*Update.

Well i figured i might as well add a torso to my floating head so here it is.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/ceberus/Tutorial2.jpg

Steps:
1. The first thing i do is draw a short line from about the middle of the chin straight down. This line signifies where the characters neck should be and how long it will be. I then connect a curvy line to it. The curvy line signifies where the characters torso should be and how long i plan to make it. This line also determines the pose your character is executing. At the end of my torso line i usually draw two boomerang shapes connected together. This acts as my pelvic bone :D another very important piece in the whole torso. Any mistakes in this area can make or break my whole drawing.

2. After figuring out where things should go i then start fleshing out the characte. Please do keep in mind that this system also works for male characters. In that case all you have to do is eliminate some of the curves in the characters waist and get rid of the boobs.

3. Then when i'm satisfied with the results i go ahead and erase the guide lines and Tada... a somewhat well proportioned torso :laugh:

This system might not work for everyone but it works for me so :laugh: Enjoy.

[Krasnoznamonec]

I find your Tutorial to be confusing. How did you came to conclusion to draw like this?.

[Papercut285]

Sorry if it's confusing thats just the way i draw :D

[Papercut285]

Hopefully this is less confusing. This tutorial also shows how i use the torso line to show a sense of direction in my final piece.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/ceberus/Step10.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/ceberus/Step2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/ceberus/Step3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/ceberus/Step4.jpg

I hope this helps some... :D

[Papercut285]

:laugh: The stick figure in step 2 looks funny :laugh:

[traum4]

I do not wish to offend you in any way, but there are some things I would question of these..

1. I don't get your oval part in constructing the head. Why not make the oval roughly the shape and size of the head in the first place? You draw the oval and draw guidelines according to it, but the oval itself has no apparent purpose. The actual head is completely different size and shape than the oval.

http://www.traum4tized.com/images/headbuild.jpg <- something like that..

2. I seriously think that it's better to plan the picture as a whole before finishing a part of it (ie. the head in this case)... the oval with the guidelines should be enough to visualize the position of the head, and thus getting the mood. This imo increases the odds of creating a pic that looks good by miles, compared to the "draw a cool looking head, then try to draw a body that fits it" method, which in all honesty, sounds very random. Your drawing looks nice, so I'm in no way saying that you can't get results with your method. Still, drawing the stick figure before finishing the head -guarantees- that your drawing both fits on the paper, and takes the whole paper instead of just a part of it.

If the method you described works for you, who am I to tell you to do it in another way. But this is a tutorial, and I don't think that's the most efficient way to do things. I'm all ears in case I just didn't get some advantage in your methods.

Anyway, keep up the good work. :)

[mofo09]

traum you erase a lot huh

[traum4]

Eraser is one of mankind's greatest inventions. ;) My eraser(s) however usually smudge more than erase. I must have sweaty fingers or something, as they always become like that. >_> Sorry for the offtopic. :|

[Papercut285]

:D Someone once told me that "Just because a teacher teaches a subject a certain way, that doesnt neccesarily mean that the students will follow that direction" :laugh: thats why the are many different ways to solve one single math problem :huh: actually that saying's mine it just sounded better said that way :laugh: .

1. Anyway traum4 no offense taken at all. Thats just the way i draw. This imo increases the odds of creating a pic that looks good by miles, compared to the "draw a cool looking head, then try to draw a body that fits it" method, which in all honesty, sounds very random.
Though it doesn't hurt to have a character with a cool looking head :D thats not why the oval is ther. The oval is my security blanket thats how i learned how to draw heads with out exceeding my limits (in terms of paper size) when i started drawing in 2002 and honestly i'm just not ready to let it go yet. Besides it serves its purpose. Sometimes when i don't use the oval i tend to make the head to big... thus increasing the size of my characters body and in turn limiting the amount of paper i have to finish a piece the way i want it.


2. Don't get me wrong i do plan my pictures out but i have to know what the character looks like and the characters... for lack of a beter word.... character. Like a casting call. If you've created a beautifully written play :laugh: the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST of the new millinium you wouldn't just pick a bearded lady randomly off the street to play belle now would you? The Picture of Tega i used in the tutorial isn't the main drawing i have in mind for her. Its more like a character introduction sheet i was working on. In-fact the tutorial itself was an after thought. So anyway, if i'm not mistaken, this has to be a form of planning right?


... the oval with the guidelines should be enough to visualize the position of the head

The oval might be random but the guide lines in it are positioned in the direction the head is facing. Thus explains the center line


Thus bringing me back to the first thing i said. When i was teaching myself how to draw i studied a lot of tutorials... i had to have look at more than a hundred tutorials :laugh: and counting... but of all the tutorial that i have seen i didn't adhire to anyone. My purpose for starting this tutorial in the first place is to give people who are seriously trying to learn how to draw something else to use as leverage on their way up. It's not really a step by step guide :laugh: i'm not here to baby anyone. I just want to try to help people develope their own style like i did.

So like i said... this is how i draw and i'm not sure if it can work for everyone.

:huh: Wow thats a lot of stuff :laugh: i'd probably be mad if i had to read all that.

Eraser is one of mankind's greatest inventions. ;) My eraser(s) however usually smudge more than erase. I must have sweaty fingers or something, as they always become like that. >_> Sorry for the offtopic. :|

BTW Nylon erasers hardly smudge ESP the click erasers cuz the're in a tube and if you do have sweaty fingers the moisture won't get to the eraser. I use mechanical pencils and... through experience... i noticed that the click erasers erase every single trace of lead. Plus the're cheap so... yeah

[traum4]

Well, that doesn't really explain why your oval is different size and shape than any part of the finished head, but whatever. :)

About drawing the head first, to me it looks like you're not perfectly confident that you can draw a cool looking head every time? And for this reason you don't want to draw the stick figure, as it might be "wasted" effort -if- the head fails?

That is how I felt a few years back, when I used to finish the head before even thinking about the body. Might not be the same for you, I'm just guessing based on my own experiences. Starting with the stick figure you would get a clue of what the picture will look as a whole like in just a few minutes sketching. Besides fitting the pic to paper, you get the pose, proportions and perspective right without tons of redrawing. Often the head might look better with the body in another angle than initially drawn..

Just something to think about. :) Whatever way you get cool stuff is cool.

[Papercut285]

Well, that doesn't really explain why your oval is different size and shape than any part of the finished head, but whatever. :)

I'm not suprized that you don't understand why i use the oval :laugh: few people do. Like i said before the oval helps limit the size of the head when i draw. If youl look at my head tutorial you'll notice that the head is inside the oval. Sure sure it's an extra step that i use to provide a simple head but in the end I, as an individual, believe that it's worth it. When i draw my characters i hardly even use a complete stick figure at all (Except the pelvic bone) and i'm definately not insecure about the way i draw heads. That assumtion just laughable.


That is how I felt a few years back, when I used to finish the head before even thinking about the body. Might not be the same for you, I'm just guessing based on my own experiences. Starting with the stick figure you would get a clue of what the picture will look as a whole like in just a few minutes sketching.

You also make it seem as if i don't plan out my drawings which is totally wrong. When i plan out my pictures i usually draw a very rough version of the actual image itself in my sketchbook. Then when i'm satisfied with the roughs i move on to a clean sheet of paper and and draw it again with my visual aid ,which in turn minimizes the amount of erasing i have to do which equals to less smudging and clean up work in photoshop elements.

compared to the "draw a cool looking head

draw a cool looking head every time? And for this reason you don't want to draw the stick figure, as it might be "wasted" effort -if- the head fails?

You're making me find the word "cool" seriously distasteful. I don't know why you draw but i do know that i draw because the idea is there and when people tell me that they like my drawings it makes me happy and it makes me want to show more of my stuff. I don't do it because it strokes my ego in anyway :laugh: if that was why i did it i'd become a professional artist. The only reason why i even bothered with this tutorial in the first place is because someone suggested it and i figured that this is the best way to make it because its the onlyway i know how.

I understand that you don't get the way i do my stuff and thats fine :laugh: sometimes artists dont get each other. If i could explain it properly with words i would but... yeah whatever right?