2 minutes per drawing. Canines and Felines.

This is a compilation of a few drawings in the session. bottom left, around 10 mins into the session, then from bottom to top, you have couples of drawings 2 mins each. i tried to avoid using the CTRL+Z feature as much as possible to keep in my messy lines, thought process, and to try and focus on keeping my artwork clean, aswell as proportionally correct. now that i'm writing this out, i realize i might be overworking myself with things to do in a given lesson. Let me know what you think!

Aunt Herbert April 11, 2024 3:37pm

I think, what you are doing is helpful to get a better grip of the underlying construction.

Just, you stated that your goal is to improve your line economy.

And those are somewhat opposed practice goals.

If you want to deep dive into line economy, at least what I would do is a) to stare a few moments at the reference and think about which big overall lines you can find and then b) to cross fingers, hope that you memorized how an underlying construction works enough (and from your results I actually think you have) and just start right away with drawing the outlines and the final details you want.

Then you look at the result that you achieved without the training wheels, and make the aesthetical decision into which way you want to push further.

If you are unsatisfied with all the proportions being off, or the lines not translating into a 3-D body, go back and practise more construction.

If you on the other hand find, that your intuition about construction actually held firm enough for your taste, but you want a more stylized look with even fewer and bigger lines, then you check your resulting lines, if you can combine some, drop details, abstract something, all with the goal of lowering the line count.

But you won't know which way it is, before you dared to dive into the pool and actually get wet.

Alternatively, if you want the foundation to be as precise as you are used to, just draw the foundation on one digital mask the way you are used to, then use another mask for drawing the outlines over it, then blend out the mask with the foundation to check the result. You can still find very clean outlines that way, but naturally you'll never get to the point, where you make the conscious decision to sacrifice foundational exactness for line economy and maximized flow.

One method is as valid as the other one, the difference in the end result are mostly a matter of style and taste. From the concept of a "complete" artist, it would probably be best if you tried out both options, so you can decide which one is better suited to a specific project you might want to tackle in future, or fits overall better with your general sense of what looks cool.

And, yeah, off course the usual warning, that is just what I would do. You can check my sketchbook and clearly see, that I am certainly not an accomplished master myself.

Koreley April 11, 2024 5:12pm

One thing i think also makes it hard for me to not have opposing goals when drawing, is that the internet is filled with buzzwords that are used in a lot of different contextes, and never properly shown in practice.

"line economy" is one of them, i thought it was the idea that all my lines, from my construction, to my finished drawing, should be as few as possible, but as you point out, the construction portion of the drawing isn't really concerned with line economy so much as with having a solid fundation.

I'll think about tomorrow's exercises, as i've also got Polyvios suggestion to keep at it. I want to apply both yours, and his suggestions, but given yours deviates a lot from the current agenda, i'll make it a more gradual transition.

Thank you a lot for your input, i think i understand what you're sharing, and i'll definitely try to apply myself to that exercise in the near future!

Aunt Herbert April 11, 2024 4:13pm

Maybe an example of how a depiction of a dog looks, that is extremely maxed out on line economy (and I hope the link works):

Koreley April 11, 2024 5:14pm

I see what you mean, the volumes get simplified into shapes that allow me to represent a big form with fewer lines. i've been trying to do that onto my constructions, but i'm also very curious to see how my drawings will turn out without constructions. i feel like i'm not yet ready, as i've only really dedicated a week to feline constructions, and even then, i've yet to practice showing off the 3d form. i feel like it will be a mixed bag because of this, but it's a nice variation from the usual!

Polyvios Animations April 11, 2024 4:38pm

Hello and good afternoon.

You know, I think you're doing a really great job on your self-awareness of the spirit of the poses. Even your felines and canines are still really coming through from heads to pelvises. Therefore, there still is totally not enough of your truly bold and gestural balance of curves against straights against the movements. Would you please go for 17 minutes of 60 second felines and canines?

The reason why is because, as a result of your goal to constantly improve and innovate your balances of gestures, curves, and angles, then I recommend you bring it on. So, if you really need the most information, please check out this video below:https://youtu.be/gDOXq_F3unQ?feature=shared (even if it's for figures, but I think it would work for animals and anything else, too)

Nice luck from me to you.

Koreley April 11, 2024 5:18pm

I think the issue i'm facing is that i'm still trying to copy, rather than show off the dynamic of the pose. i do that whenever i see a pose that i either:

don't understand, or don't know how to push.

I'll check out the video you provided, and i'll try to do that exercise tomorrow to see how it turns out. thank you so much for the dedication in giving me critiques! i really appreaciate you taking the time to reply!