Recently, i was asked to speak a little about the Kubert School. Nothing groundbreaking, just a sort of- you know- "how is it? What do you plan to do after you graduate? etc." Well, the conversation eventually developed into a commentary on drawing itself, and i compiled a list of "tips and tricks" that i keep in my artistic toolbox, if you will.

Well, i edited a few things and generalized it so it could apply to any reader. So i figured i'd put it up as a journal entry.

Before i go any further, please note the title of the journal, "Take It Or Leave It." This is precisely what it means. I'm posting this only in an attempt to help people. By no means do i claim that what i say here is right, and the only way to go about going about it. It is a compilation of lessons learned personally through first-hand experience. If anyone has anything constructive to add, please feel free. If your goal is to flame this, your comment will be hidden or otherwise removed. So, like the title says, take it or leave it.

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This is more-or-less a generalization of the different artistic philosophies i subscribe to. Also, please keep in mind that i'm a student as well. This will mostly be a combination of what i've found out for myself and what i've learned from my instructors. This will pertain more to the pencilling aspect of drawing, and be geared more towards comics, but some of the principles i'm going to present can be applied in several other areas.

First, i guess, is you can never be too harsh a critic of yourself (unless you discourage yourself so much that you give it up, that's a bad idea). I've been looking at my work this year as i turn it in, and to me it's pretty much crap. However, in retrospect, looking at my stuff from day one to now, i see nothing but improvement, and in some cases drastic improvement. Oh, it's still crap, it just doesn't smell as bad. Now, not everyone is as harsh with themselves as i am. The reason being, i am personally not in this just to get paid (not that there's anything wrong with that, not at all). It may seem conceited or arrogant, i guess, but i want to be somebody in the business. I want to be someone other artists look up to and aspiring kid artists want to become. It's for this reason that i will almost never compare my work to my peers, but to favorite big industry professionals, and even the old masters in some cases. David Finch, Jim Lee, Frank Frazetta, etc. etc.

Whatever you do, though, peers or otherwise, NEVER stop looking at other artsits' work and comparing yourself with them. Using big-time professionals is a personal preference, but it's an unspoken law that any proficient artist has something unique to offer. Generally, it's a good rule of thumb to look at artists who you want to emulate, be it in their style as a whole, or just a certain technique they use to-- i don't know-- render hair. Still, you want to vary your "palette." It's never a bad idea to take a look at the old masters (da Vinci, Raphael), and even some more contemporary-ish ones (George Bridgeman, Jack Hamm). Referencing these guys is generally used as a study of the figure since compositions, styles, architecture, transportation, etc. etc. pretty much changes with the era. But again, every proficient artist has something unique to offer, so don't count anything out. Even artists you don't like. If they're popular, they're popular for a reason. Even Rob Liefeld can be learned from... but you can do that at your own risk. The ONLY thing you don't want to reference is comic book anatomy, to learn core anatomy. That's a big no-no, but i'll expand on this a little later.

This brings me to my next point. Don't completely copy anyone. Famous artists are famous because they bring something new to the table. Ashley Wood, while i don't exactly dig his stuff, is an excellent example. Also, up-and-coming Sean Murphy is doing some great things with the Hellblazer comic he's working on. I highly recommend checking him out here on DeviantArt at [link] Having said that, no one does what they do completely from scratch. A good, strong style is a good, strong hybrid of millions of different styles (not always consciously obtained) with your personal flavor thrown in to top it off.

Which brings us to...



Anatomy

Anatomy, anatomy, anatomy. Like you should look at other artists, never stop learning about the human body. Buy books, take a small sketch pad with you everywhere (within reason, bathrooms can be a hassle and sometimes useless, unless you find a particularly striking urinal), find some life-drawing classes you can sign up for around your area (not sure how you'd find these... i would imagine it changes depending on location. Newspapers would be the first place to start i guess). This is going to sound like a painfully cliche situation, but a few weeks ago i was on the metro with a friend in Boston, and there was a guy a few seats away with particularly powerful hands. He looked like he was in about his 50s and his hands had so much character to them. I sketched them down as best i could in the 5-10 minutes we were on the train, and i've been able to use what i've learned from that in so many things since then. It was well worth the awkward stares. Exaggerated muscles, huge boobs, and dynamic poses are great, but the artist needs to get a handle on the basics first. You could liken it to architecture, i suppose. Windows, doors, siding, sheetrock, electrical, plumbing, all that stuff is great but first you need to have the scaffolding ready. If you don't have solid scaffolding, you could end up putting in all those great details, but then your house is liable to collapse on you. Construction and stick figures are not a bad thing. Getting back to the bit i mentioned earlier, you never want to reference other artists for anatomy, UNLESS they're established as authorities. It's kind of like Wikipedia. Usually, it's safe to pick up a book if it's what one might call an "anatomy book." Paintings can be okay to look at for anatomy, if they're by said established authorities, and if it's a reasonably life-like picture. However, above all else, NEVER look at comic books for anatomy, period. The quality of comic book art, even if it's by Mr. Anatomy himself (fictional character), can get skewed and biased because of deadlines, personal expression, and god-knows what else. It's better to just not risk it. Sometimes it's just really bad drawing and you don't realize it. Rob Liefeld comes to mind... While i would never say Rob is a bad artist, i'd never say he deserves that $2,000.oo page rate he was capable of, either (how much does he make these days?). But there's enough people making fun of him these days, moving on.



Pencils and Supplies

I wasn't told this, and it may not be as important to some as it is to me, but until i found my ideal pencil lead and paper type, i found it fairly difficult to draw as much as i need to, or as well as i want to. My "perfect" pencil, for now, is a 0.5 Staedtler mechanical with 2h lead, and my ideal paper is standard, 2-ply smooth bristol (usually comic board). This part is all personal preference, and you should expect it to change as you develop as an artist. The one thing that will remain static in this department, is that it's generally a good idea to use a harder lead for comic book pencilling, as softer lead tends to have a waxy-ish quality to it that will sometimes repel the ink, and softer pencils smudge like hell unless you can control it, but i'm too lazy to do that.



Style

Dont' worry about this one. Style will unconsciously develop over time, with patience and lots of drawing. If you have a style in mind, it's more than likely a style that already exists (that's why you can identify it ), and you generally want to steer away from that sort of thing. In theory, there's nothing wrong with becoming a "clone," though i don't like to use the word. There are plenty of artists who are able to make a living this way, proving it's a viable philosophy. Off the top of my head, a good example might be Bryan Hitch and Trevor Hairsine, but i'll bet you like a penny that it was harder for Trevor to break in to the industry. On the other hand, it can sometimes be safer. Handing Archie Comics a portfolio filled with heavy metal-type stuff with a Mike Mignola twist to it won't get you a job there, but you can bet that if you can get that Arhie house style down, you're a hell of alot more likely to get a job (assuming they're hiring). The disadvantage to using a "house" style, or replicating another artist, is that you're probably not going to be remembered for anything, and if you are, you'll be, "that [artist here] clone guy." Some people are fine with that. Some people couldn't care less about fame, and there's nothing wrong with that. I see it as a detriment, but there's nothing wrong with that either.



Basic Drawing Principles


Line Weights:

Controlling your line weight comes in to play much more than you might expect at first, and generally falls in to the inker's list of responsibilities, but having effective lines can really beef up your pencils, and it also leaves less room for the inker to mess up. The primary function of a varied line weight is to help maintain the illusion of depth in a drawing. It is possible to preserve this illusion with a dead line weight, as illustrated by a guy here on DeviantArt named FastFood (fastfood.deviantart.com), but to be able to do that requires a certain level of mastery that either comes with luck or by first mastering and understanding the dynamics of a varied line weight. I don't really have the balls to try that with my stuff yet, so i can't tell you much about it. So anyway, there are two ways that i know of to approach line weights with pencils. You can either use a regular, wooden pencil and build up a point on one side of the tip, or, if you prefer their mechanical brethren, you can double up your line and literally draw the thick or thinness. Depending on the size of your lead, you can use the wooden pencil technique on mechancials too. Some text book rules to follow regarding line weights are:

A.) First you need to identify the major planes of depth in your picture. Your major planes consist of the foreground, the mid ground, and the background. Your line weight should get thinner as you get further back in your picture. You background should have your thinnest lines, your foreground your thickest, etc.

B.) You need to then identify your light source(s). If you have one light source, the line should get heavier on all the planes opposite the light source. Basic enough. If you have more than one light source, place your line weights according to the strongest of the light sources.

C.) Connection points. This one rarely falls into the realm of the penciller, but it's something i like to use that i picked up from David Finch. Wherever a holding line intersects with another holding line, thicken it up at the connection point a little. The intensity of the thickness should conform to rules A and B



Preserving Form and Using Rendering:

The surface of a piece of paper is arguably, for the purpose of this lecture, two-dimensional. The ultimate goal of the visual artist is, ideally, to fool the viewer's eye into believing what it sees is a three-dimensional, tangible thing-- another world that they can just step right into. Now, you'd have to be incredibly stupid to actually try and step into the picture, but you get the idea. A major component of preserving the illusion of a third dimension is the presentation of form and volume. A lot of artists hit a brick wall with form when it comes to foreshortening. Rendering is also a hurdle for many artists, as some don't try to approach it at all (early me), and some get the wrong idea from looking at incorrect or poorly-done examples. Once you get an eye for what's incorrect and you can weed it out from what you like, you can build up a library of artists just for texture reference. Speaking of textures, it should be noted that rendering and shading aren't the same thing. Rendering in line art, if i remember correctly, covers texture and color. Shading should be thought of as a separate element. But here are some good rules of thumb i've picked up in my danger-ridden travels for using form and rendering in a picture:

A.) Break it down. Be it man, woman, animal, vehicle, or building, break it down into the shapes it consists of. There's no concrete way of doing this, and you have to really just train your eye to identify certain shapes. Don't limit yourself to cubes, cones, pyramids, spheres, and cylinders. Whatever you can see with the most ease is usually your best best. All you have to remember is to keep it simple. Overcomplicating a shape defeats the purpose of this exercise.

B.) No matter what kind of rendering you use, it needs to follow the form of what you're drawing. Always. Let's say you draw an arm. Nice arm. Now you need to give it texture. Since this is a bare arm, we'll pretend it's all scarred up. The scars will act as our rendering on this. First-- and if you'll forgive the brief tie-in with anatomy-- it should be observed that with the human figure, unless you're going for something that's highly-stylized, there are no truly straight lines (hell, there are no lines, technically, either, but still). It could theoretically be argued that if you looked at the figure from just the right angle, you could see a straight line, but it's a poor excuse. So, there are no straight lines. This means, then, that there are no flat surfaces, either. Now, when you draw in your scars, they should follow the curves and subtle plane-changes of the surface of the arm. A good way of simplifying this is by drawing a simple cylinder (arguably the basic shape your arm takes) in a down-tilted 3/4 view. Now that you have some easily-identifiable curves, draw a straight line on one of the cylinder's sides. See how it instantly flattens it? Now, erase that line and put in a few hatches that follow the curve of the cylinder. Much better, no?

C.) You have to be careful when you're handling rendering and shading separately. Especially with this technique, as it crosses over and can apply to both elements. The technique, anyway, is what i call the gradient technique. This is a little more on the style side, but it's good to know. When you're rendering, assuming you have your light source established, you simply put more rendering on the planes/surfaces that face away from the light, and less rendering on the closer planes/surfaces. In between these two extremes, you want to "gradate" from heavy/dark to light. Let's bring back that arm with the scars on it. To practice this technique, put more scars on the darker side, and less on the lighter side. This isn't the best example, as, realistically, scars would be administered more-or-less at random. Still, it gives you an idea of how the technique works. If you check out "Mute Assassin" in my gallery, her cloak is a good example of the gradient technique. The cross-hatching gets tighter as you get further down away from the light source, which is essentially up-and-above her. Some artists will apply this gradient technique to literally everything. David Finch (i hate to keep bringing him up, but he's easily my biggest influence) does a cover-- i think it's a cover-- with a woman and her horse. the woman has leather straps on her arms, and he uses the gradient technique by putting more straps on her arm the further away from the light it gets. It's subtle, so much so that some may consider it useless, but it's something to consider.

D.) Spotting your blacks is a huge part of a cohesive image and effectively using your negative space. Spotting your blacks is really just something you learn with experience. Learning things about design and composition will do you more good than trying to explain how to spot blacks will, but i can tell you that black shapes generally get pushed back in an image, while white shapes get pushed forward. This is because the human eye, by default, will classify black as negative space. By no means should you restrict your blacks to the background, but it's something to keep in mind if you're trying to push a certain part of a drawing back in the picture, or if you're trying to pop something else out.



Miscellaneous:

Just some miscellaneous tips i thought i'd throw in. Little anatomical quirks and things i use that i feel enhance my work a lot.

A.) If it's not a holding line, break it up a little. Apply the gradient technique to this for an even greater effect. Less break ups toward the darker side, more line breaks towards the lighter side.

B.) The bottom of the jaw lines up with the bottom of the back of the skull, and lies at a roughly 45 degree angle.

C.) A more 90s approach, adding short little lines to things, while still following the form, can make an object look worn and battered by creating the illusion of nicks and scratches. Gotta be careful with this one as it can be easy to overdo it.

D.) Many people will disagree with me on this, but i like to start with the head. Followed closely by the hands, the head is the center of expression for a character. It's my opinion that the body should work for the head, not the other way around. Similarly, the hands give a huge amount of character to male figures, and it's a good idea to study the intricacies of them whenever you can. On females, it's less precise, but i find the hips lend themselves to a lot of character.

E.) If you're going for a dynamic pose with lots of movement, it's a good idea to have the line of the clavicle off-kilter with the line of the pelvis, in your construction drawing. As soon as they become parallel the figure becomes very stiff, which can work depending on the context.

F.) On a normal person, the femur (thigh bone) should be roughly the same size as the upper body, and the hands should extend to just higher than half way down the femur. The fibula and tibia (lower leg bones) should be slightly shorter than the femur. Longer legs lend themselves to superheroic figures and sexy women.

G.) The eyes are half way down the face, the tip of the nose is half way between the eyes and the chin, and the mouth is half way between the tip of the nose and the chin. If you divide the face vertically into fifths using lines, the pupils of the eyes and the corners of the mouth should fall on the second and fourth lines.

H.) Cross hatching lends itself to fabrics.

I.) Rulers and T-Squares can be a hassle. If you're doing sequential work, a credit card or driver's license serves just as well as a ruler in most cases. It's a little more wieldy.

J.) On a well-built male, assuming you can see his "six-pack," the bellybutton lies in the center, where the bottom pair of abs intersects with the middle pair. The bottom pair of abs descends below the waist line and ends just above the penis.

K.) Drawing veins can be tricky. First thing to remember is to make them very thin, and to only use two lines. Second thing to remember is that they're not separate forms themselves, and therefore should be defined by a broken holding line. Make the holding line that's further away from the light source thinker and less broken than the other line. Last thing to remember is that they lie below the flesh, and above the muscle, so if a vein progresses from the bicep down into the forearm, it isn't broken by the bicep's holding lines. Rather, the bicep's holding lines are broken by the vein.

L.) If you're going for a more realistic style, try to define the forms on the human body with shapes rather than lines.

M.) You've probably heard this before, but with females, less is more, until you get to the eyes. If you want her to be pretty, you want to be pulled in by those eyes. Draw the eyelashes as solid black shapes, and give them a SLIGHT downward slant. Also, and this is a rule for eyes in general, disregard the almond shape they're often said to hold. It's more of a rectangle on a slant, i've found.

N.) Getting back to (human) anatomy-- and this doesn't apply to characters like Mr. Fantastic-- i cannot stress this enough, LIMBS ARE STRAIGHT. LIMBS ARE STRAIGHT. LIMBS ARE STRAIGHT. The skeleton is made up of bones, and bones are solid, concrete objects. They do not bend in the middle, otherwise they would break. The ONLY exception to this rule is the femur, which technically, when viewed from the left, has a VERY slight posterior curve, similar to the shape of this parenthesis ) For all intents and purposes, though, it's best to start with a straight line anyway.

If you want to move your (human) characters around, you can only move them at the joints, and you can only move the joints so far in any given direction. Exceptions to how far a joint will move can be made, of course, with exceedingly flexible characters (Spiderman), but you have to keep it within reason, and never bend the bones themselves.

O.) Muscles suck to figure out. When adding muscular mass to a character, it's a good idea to first identify what kind of build the character has. There are so many different body types out there, but they generally all fall in to one of the following categories. For males, you usually have your heroic (Superman), huge (Hulk), and skinny (Spiderman) characters. For females, there are really only three distinct types that come to mind, and they usually follow the same principles as males. You have heroic (Wonder Woman), over-sexed (Poison Ivy), and muscular (She-Hulk).

Once you have your body type established, the rest is studying and exaggeration. Covering the muscles themselves and how to draw them would be a book or two in itself, and I obviously cannot cover all that here, but two key factors to consider when drawing muscles are flexion and extension. Every muscle on the body is either a flexor or extensor. Flexors contract and bring the limb inward, or towards the body, while extensors push it away. No muscle can do both, and it is for this reason that each muscle has a partner muscle on the opposite side to counteract whatever action the one muscle is doing. For example, if your bicep contracts to bring your forearm up, your tricep (the bicep's partner muscle) is extending to allow that movement. When you bring your forearm back down, your bicep is extending so that your tricep is allowed to move it down. It is important when you draw any muscle to keep the concept of flexion and extension in mind. If a character is ducking behind cover to avoid gunfire, his abs and rib muscles are contracted and massed together, while the muscles on his back are extending to allow that movement. Thusly, if a character is arched backwards, about to bring his sword down onto an enemy, his back muscles are contracted while his abs will be extended.

This brings me to my next point. When superficial muscles are contracted, they are almost always easily seen. Contraction turns the muscle into a larger, solid mass. While no volume is actually added, the muscle becomes condensed and compact and bulges outward, stretching the skin and making the muscle's presence more apparent. When a muscle is extended, it is stretched from one attachment point to the other, usually flattened against the underlying structures. This makes the muscle harder to see against the body.

P.) Light and shadow on the human body. When broken down to the most rudimentary levels, there are essentially two types of shadows. You have the most common kind, "regular" shadows, caused by diffuse light, and cast shadows. Diffuse lighting "wraps" around the form slowly, and thus is a much softer shadow. Cast shadows are much harder, darker shadows, and they're caused when your light source is blocked by an object. The best example of these two types of shadows can be observed on the face. Let's say it's midnight and you're looking straight-on at Bob. Let's also say that Bob is stupid and didn't look both ways as he was crossing the street so you could look at him, and a car is about to hit him from his right. The headlights from the car are your light source. They will cast a light that will slowly wrap around his face from left to right. The shadows that will result from this can be seen on the right side of Bob's face, but they don't have a clearly-defined edge and gradate slowly from light to dark as the light "wraps" around his face, following the forms of Bob's features. However, now you see Bob's nose. Bob has a grand nose. This nose of his is blocking the light from the headlights and is creating a cast shadow on his cheek opposite the headlight. This shadow follows the shape of his nose and has a much harder, much more evident edge than the other shadows on his face. Anyway, by this time Bob will have been run over, and the example comes to a close.

Q.) When dealing with perspective, figures of the same height (and on the same plane) will always cross the horizon line at the same point. Let's say Bob came back from the dead and is standing in front of you, and the horizon line crosses his chest. Now let's say zombie Bob is terrified of you and runs away from you till he gets tired 200 feet down the perfectly flat road. As zombie Bob is catching his breath, you will notice that while he himself is much smaller, his chest still crossing the horizon line at just the same point on his chest.


Holy crap. Remind me never to do that again.