Drawing Characters Hints for Digital Artists: A Comprehensive Guide.
Learn how to draw characters step-by-step with this comprehensive online course for Digital Artists! Develop your artistic skills and create stunning characters with confidence.
Some of my digital drawings ♥
Hi!
How are you doing?
Today's article is more of an introduction to digital drawing and how simple steps can help you draw better characters.
No matter how much experience you have as an artist, drawing characters is a fun and rewarding thing to do. You can learn to draw fictional or lifelike characters step-by-step if you have the right tools and instruction. From sketching the first lines to fine-tuning their unique features.
In this article, I'll walk you through five key areas for improving your digital drawing skills.
I also have a popular online course that delves deeper into how I create my digital drawings. You can read more about the Digital Drawing Techniques by following this link.
Digital Drawing Techniques - Draw Any Character With Confidence
Learn the fundamentals of anatomy, proportions, and structural forms.
Before you can make a character that looks like a real person, you should know a lot about anatomy, proportions, and structural forms. Knowing basic anatomical structure allows you to draw human and non-human characters accurately and realistically. You can add stability and flexibility to your drawings by studying the human body, its parts, shapes, proportions, and the relationship between muscle and bone.
You may now think that it is time-consuming and difficult to learn. What can I say… I completely agree! It is!
However, once you accept the learning process and gain confidence in your line work, it can feel easy. Simply watch the video of one of my characters to see how I created a digital drawing without worrying too much about perfection. The anatomy is off in many places, yet the lively elements make it look charming nonetheless. Once, one of my art teachers described my line art as "horrible-looking, living with its own life but truly yours." This makes it easier to accept mistakes made while learning anatomy.
I still recommend learning anatomy from the perspective of an artist.
Instructor Stan Prokopenko has a fantastic masterclass that I highly recommend.
Create Character Movement Using Gesture Sketches.
Gesture sketches are an excellent way to quickly and accurately capture body movement. By sketching the figure in an exaggerated form, you can emphasize the weight and tension that go into realistic action poses. Techniques like overlapping actions, silhouettes, and motion lines will help you illustrate dynamic figures effectively. When working with gesture sketches, focus on capturing accurate proportions and shaping line widths to create convincing character depictions.
Throughout my decade of drawing, I attended numerous live workshops and drawing sessions. I loved it! The incredible models, fantastic instructors, and new friendships make me highly recommend searching for such activities nearby. What really stuck with me was the realization that the quick sketches I did during those live sessions could be used in my digital drawings! This way, I could combine learning and fun sessions with my fashion design skills to create believable characters.
Take Advantage of Digital Drawing Tools and Reference Photos.
Digital drawing tools, such as graphics tablets, make the process much easier and allow you to experiment with colors and textures. Reference photos are also very helpful because they give you the chance to examine the details of someone or something in real life, right down to expressions and gestures that might not be visible in a still photo. Use references instead of just your imagination to help you make drawings that are accurate and proportional.
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have references! I also believe you should purchase a large mirror and a marker pen so you can practice the poses on yourself and see how the angles change as you move around and how the light catches your body. If you are concerned about which brush is needed the most, then there is no need for you to be concerned. You can easily download my brush pack by clicking on this link.
Also YouTuber e r g o j o s h made a while ago a comprehensive graphic tablet comparison.
Pay Attention to Character Perspective, Angles and Rotation.
When you are sketching a character, pay careful attention to the perspective, angle, and rotation of the character. If you want to draw a character from a specific angle, find an ideal reference to see how the length of each larger body shape appears from that angle. When drawing a character from an aerial perspective, you can mentally rotate the character to better map out the parts of their body that are visible in that pose. It is difficult to do when you are just starting out, so feel free to rotate any model using free 3D software. It is also important to consider the angle of a pose.
This is where most artists appear to become perplexed. When it becomes overly three-dimensional. I recommend that you experiment with sculpting in real medium or 3D software, or simply browse Sketchfab photogrammetry marble statues. It's extremely useful to have a model visible from all angles.
This 3D collection by Alex Dubnoff is inspiring
Make good-looking silhouettes with simple shapes.
Before you add fine details and make the drawing look better, you should start with simple shapes to get a sense of the overall character’s silhouette. There are many techniques and schools that teach this step differently. Because I prefer line art to larger paint strokes, I usually start with the rib cage and overall movement of the torso and spine. This way, it is much easier to assemble the body parts by connecting them with lines and angles while keeping perspective in mind. A good silhouette should be easily identifiable.
There are numerous techniques and methods for creating a good silhouette. I go into greater detail about it in my digital drawing course and in this blog post. I also recommend FZD Cinema's fantastic 2 part free video series on Designing Character silhouettes.
I'll also leave a link to my well-liked online course so you can see exactly how I create my digital drawings step-by-step.
My digital drawing process
Conclusion
Character design can be a difficult process, but character drawing is incredibly inspiring and exciting. You can also quickly create better characters with the right equipment, enough time, and advice from an experienced instructor.
To sum up this article:
In the first paragraph, I mentioned where to learn anatomy and how simple it can be once we accept time required to learn new skills.
Next, I mentioned gesture drawing, which you can do on your own or in a group in your local area at any time.
Another suggestion is to use the correct digital drawing tools. What is a master without knowledge of its own tools?
Paying attention to character perspective and body angles is briefly discussed in the following paragraph.
Finally, I briefly described how to use simple shapes to create silhouettes.
By now, I hope you have a better idea of where to start improving your current digital drawing skills. What to work on next and how to improve your current portfolio. And if you want to learn more about this subject, I invite you to take a look at my Digital Drawing Techniques Class.
That's all for this week.
Have a wonderful time,
Magdalena
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