And here’s what I made in class today! It started out as some random character with a headband, but somewhere in the middle I just decided to give it blonde hair, so now I guess it’s Unnamed Character. I also have a strange habit of drawing cats now, whenever I have flash open and have no ideas for what to draw. I decided to stick this cat in a tree, because that’s usually where cats are found. Well I’ve never actually seen a cat in a tree before, but they always have them there in cartoons and stuff.
Today’s homework assignment for the flash class was to draw the character from different perspectives. I kinda already did that yesterday (I guess yesterday’s assignment was just to draw your character doing something, with a short description), but since the subject of “those circles with the lines through them” was brought up in class, I decided to try it using “those circles with the lines through them.”
I’ve always wanted to try using those circles as drawing guides, but I never got into the habit of using them because they always looked weird in the end. I did it this time, and now I understand how awesome they can be. I don’t know how I was suddenly able to understand how to use them, but I think it’s pretty cool. I think they turned out nicely, and now I can actually visualize what characters look like when facing different directions (as opposed to before, when I could only visualize them facing slightly to the right). I especially like the side-view drawing.
Anyhow, tomorrow in class, we’ll have to animate our character turning, so we’ll see how that goes. It should be a lot easier now that I understand how to use “those circles with the lines through them.”
The characters turned out nicely (and the machinegunning Flash looks really cool xD).
Ah, yes, “those” circles.
I’ve never used the circles yet, but I really want to try to do what you’ve done here some time too.
I’ve never used those circles myself. I can’t get them right.
METAL GEAR WALFAS 2: Students of Liberty
That cat really seems to be enjoying the offscreen bloodshed. Like way too much.
“those circles” are awesome xD
Have no fear, Nitori is here! …now ill just need to borrow those circles with lines through them
Iv only drawn with boxes… never circles…
Some of our cats used to climb trees. Nowadays they just lie around and wait to be fed though…
KirbyM!!!
A Cat’s natural habitat is up in a tree. :D
Also, Cat’s are awesome!
And also, I wonder if Nameless Character will soon bust out of the 2 dimensional world and discover the 3rd!!
Meow
OH NOES! HOME
Okay so I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to make a spinning animation, so here it is… today!
Yay, those circles!
… I don’t draw, though.
**HOMELESS CAT STUCK GOT IN A TREE AGAIN!
*gosh darn enter key was like a shift key*
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/4686/inhermindgt1.png
also for my previous comment…
(gosh darned engrish again!)
It’s been a looong time since I’ve used guidelines. They helped me out a lot when I was first learning how to draw, but I dropped them when I found relative positioning was easier for me.
As you can see here, the guidelines tend to distract me. Though note that I never actually took any official art class of any kind, so I could just be using them wrong. One thing I noticed is that most of the guides I see have the character’s chin extruding off the bottom of the circle, while I fit mine into the circle and end up extruding hair off the top of the circle instead.
The first two rows were the guided drawings, while the second two were done with relative positioning, which is a method where I position the next part of the drawing relative to where the previous part was. It probably helps to have a good idea of how your character looks in 3d to pull it off correctly, but I usually draw characters in a specific order as well. I always start with the eyes and work outward. I have a hard time adding in eyes to a blank face.
I never really knew many other artists. It’s interesting to see the variety of different ways to draw.
@Thefre: Wow, I also draw my characters starting from the eyes. It makes me feel slightly less weird to know that someone else does it that way too. Then again, I’ve also never taken any official art classes.
@KirbyM: Either that, or Yukari’s teamed up with Sakuya and “invaded” your future art class.
On the second of those pages of drawings of Unnamed character, the very bottom depiction is excruciatingly cute. I want to take it home.
I like the machinegun animation – and cats ALWAYS fit in with a picture.
@Thefre: Yeah, the guidelines can be a bit distracting. I think my drawings without the lines look better, but without them, it’s practically impossible for me to imagine them in 3D (because they’re always just slightly facing the right), so they can’t really do anything besides standing still or raising an arm or something. I don’t know if I’m using the lines correctly either, but I doubt there is a “right” way to do it with a non-traditional art style.
I usually draw the eyes last (although they’re usually just straight lines, so it’s not that big of a deal), after drawing the head or everything else. I always start with the hair first, and always starting from the top left. Except now I guess I start with a circle for the head, and the hair comes directly after.
I start with the eyes too, typically. Rather than faces, I think I need guidelines for shoes ._.