Reddit mentions of Bridgman's Life Drawing (Dover Anatomy for Artists)

I'd like to recommend Bridgman's Life Drawing (and others of his) as well.

You could take up drawing, it's extremely cheap and is a very good way to spend time by yourself. I find drawing to be meditative and rewarding, you have the satisfaction of making something yourself as well as learning to see the world differently.

All you need are a set of pencils, a decent sketchbook, a kneaded eraser, and some decent instruction. I'd recommend learning first from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and then moving on to figure drawing. Try Dynamic Figure Drawing or Bridgman's Life Drawing. You can also look up the work of Andrew Loomis for more instruction, which are available as free PDFs.

Later you can experiment using vine charcoal (which can be erased easily) to get the hang of a different instrument than a pencil. Try laying charcoal on its side and making big strokes. This is the first step towards painting. You could even try painting with black and white acrylic only which really isn't much different in terms of skills or cost. If you can get good at drawing I promise you can get good at painting. It just takes a bit of dedication.

Practice drawing figure studies. Bridgeman and Loomis are a good start. https://www.amazon.com/Bridgmans-Drawing-Dover-Anatomy-Artists/dp/0486227103/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0486227103&pd_rd_r=PJ5P4VBN6H69FDNRDEH0&pd_rd_w=ouHhb&pd_rd_wg=mb9wa&psc=1&refRID=PJ5P4VBN6H69FDNRDEH0

https://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-All-Its-Worth/dp/0857680986/ref=pd_sim_14_9?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0857680986&pd_rd_r=2TNK24K8G9ZB7WTW7TG0&pd_rd_w=R7NbF&pd_rd_wg=Wmx8W&psc=1&refRID=2TNK24K8G9ZB7WTW7TG0

YOU ARE THINKING TOO MUCH STOP IT!!!!!!!1111!

Think of a drawing as a sister to writing. The more vocabulary you have the more you can say, but that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't say what ever you want to say with the limited words you have.

The only way to get better at drawing is to draw. You do graphic design so you inherently know this on some level. Anatomy helps. drawing from life is extremely helpful and I always encourage anyone to do it, even if the only way you can is to grab a coffee at a cafe and draw folks walking by.

But... just draw, don't worry about all the technical parts, you will figure it out when the questions come up for whatever drawing you're working on. You have a shit ton of resources I didn't have when I was starting (aka the internets), so... don't worry, just do. If you run into a problem you can't answer, look the shit up. Google images has all the reference you could literally ever want, and if you want to draw from life contact your local art orgs and they should be able to direct you. If they can't. put out a craigslist ad and start your own figure drawing group. I have done it, it's easy! Sometimes when we want something we have to fill the gap, often the folks who wanted the same thing will jump right in with you. Shit just needs a person to have courage to make it start is all.

Don't listen to doubt, doubt is just your insecurity. The only way to learn art is by doing. By doing we make some horrible shit... but that's ok. Artists have to make a lot of terrible things in order to make a good thing, because this is how we learn... by doing. So don't worry. Just do it. Make stuff. Learn anatomy, this dude I like a lot but it's worth it to go more in depth, and just know that art is a journey not a destination. Keep walking the path, you'll get there.

I've been trying to strengthen my anatomy and proportions over the last 6 months or so and the only advice I can give to this is draw draw draw. Don't worry about it looking wonky but if it does, find out why and see what you can do to improve it.

There seems to be a point when a light bulb just goes off and all of a sudden you understand how to get consistent results of how you want things to look and translating it to the paper/screen.

Check out these, I've found them pretty useful:

http://www.amazon.com/Bridgmans-Drawing-Dover-Anatomy-Artists/dp/0486227103

http://www.amazon.com/Constructive-Anatomy-Dover-Artists/dp/0486211045/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418314804&sr=1-1&keywords=Constructive+Anatomy

There are a couple of things worth mentioning with your approach. By tracing someone else's artwork, and then trying to replicate it from memory, you're accomplishing mainly two things: 1. how to draw like the person your tracing and 2. your committing that particular drawing to memory.

This will make it really difficult for you to progress by using your own developed skill as opposed to using the memory of someone else's lines.

I'm going to assume that your ultimate goal is to draw your own characters from your own imagination.

Learning to draw figures from imagination requires a fundamental understanding of basic forms. You will find it very difficult to get this understanding if you are only tracing or copying. I'm not saying that there is no value in tracing and copying, in fact, it's a great way to learn; but don't use it as your only tool!

I'm a web developer, and I'm making a transition into illustration and concept art. This is the path that I took, and it's really helped me along, so maybe it will help you.

1. Sketch.

Do it every day, buy two sketch books. Get a large one (~9x12) that you can keep around the house and doodle and sketch whenever you can. Keep a small one (I recommend a Moleskine Sketchbook a small one so you can carry it in your pocket everywher you go.).

Sketch people with your moleskine wherever you are: coffee shops, on the subway, at the airport, etc. Use a pen, not a pencil. I recommend these Pigma Microns, 02 or 03 size is ideal.

Remember, these aren't finished drawings, so don't fuss over them. Each sketch should take you anywhere between 1 - 3 minutes. If your subject is staying still, spend as long as you like, then move on. Fill every page with many small sketches at frist. Sketch small! You'll find it's easier to capture your subject within 30 seconds if you're sketching fairly small. Here's what a typical page might look like - not mine, btw..

Shoot for about 20 sketches per week. This may sound like a lot, but it's actually nothing. If you get the hang of it, you'll be doing closer to 50 if not more. You'll likely think your first sketchbook sucks! This is part of the process. Don't tear out pages, when you fill the book, stow it away for posterity, and get a new one. You'll look back over your sketchbooks and see how you've actually progressed. Date each book.

2. Do some kind of formal or semi-formal figure drawing study.

Get good books!

This doesn't have to be hardcore. If you're a self-learner, there are a lot of great videos to draw. There are some great books: Glen Vilppu's Drawing Manual, Andrew Loomis Books(http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Figures-Action-Andrew-Loomis/dp/1560100095/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266293971&sr=1-1) and Bridgeman Lifedrawing books(http://www.amazon.com/Bridgmans-Life-Drawing-George-Bridgman/dp/0486227103). I've spent many hours with each of these, so I'm recommending them based on personal experience.

Here's how you use these books. For Bridgeman, you may or may not be interested in actually reading it, it can be fairly technical and/or dense if you're just starting out (but do go back and read it later). My advice is to use your big sketchbook, and go through the entire Bridgeman book(s) sketching his sketches (not tracing) in your own sketchbook. His sketches are presented in a way that shows how you build a figure up from basic shapes and forms, so following them will give force your mind to think about how the shapes are formed and you'll implicitly learn the correct way to build the human figure. Look at each of his sketches closely before you copy them so that you're just not copying lines without thought. Talk to yourself when you're sketching, say things like "This basic form is the chest, it's slightly twisted, which causes a pinch on the one side and a stretch on the opposite..." This is how you'll learn to understand forms that you wouldn't necessarily get from just tracing.

Glen Vilppu's book is a definite read. Your routine should be read a chapter, study his illustrations, and draw it yourself until you completely get it. If you have funds, you can buy the Drawing Manual as a DVD, in which Glen himself actually draws and lectures. He's absolutely terrific. (These are pricey though, but well worth the money.) You may or may not find these in other ways, I'll say no more, but as a redditor, I'm sure you're amply resourceful! (Take the same approach for Loomis.)

This alone should take months! Don't rush yourself! Don't give up! Don't just rush to the end of the book for the sake of completing in, take as long as you need to on each section. The key is to build that fundamental understanding that will enable you to draw from imagination.


3. Go to an Open drawing session

Usually at local colleges or art centres, you can usually find some sort of open figure drawing session. These are typically self-directed, there is no instructor, you pay a small fee, show up with your materials and draw from a live nude model.

There really is no better way to learn than to draw directly from life. You'll see things that you'll never see if you draw from photographs or from other people's artwork. You really do get a whole new perspective. Again, as you draw, it may help to narrate to yourself what it is you're doing, and to understand why the forms are as they are. These types of classes start off with a few quick gesture drawings that take from 1-3 minutes. Then the model will settle down to longer poses, 10 or 20 minutes or longer.

4. Take a life drawing class

If your local college or art school offers night classes, take them. Having a good instructor will help propel you and give you someone to talk to. Night class courses are often taught by people in the industry, so you can really pick their brains. These types of courses last about 12 weeks, one class per week.

5. Draw every day

Wake up early if you have to. Spend 1 or 2 hrs every day somewhere drawing something, either studying from the books, or drawing from your imagination, or copying from your favourite artist. Just do it! This is now part of your lifestyle.

Get a Wacom tablet if you want to sit at your computer and draw. You can use Painter or Photoshop. Personally, I prefer Photoshop, and Painter Sketch Pad (as opposed to the full Painter app).

Within weeks, you'll be able to see a huge jump in your skill and ability from when you started, and you may start seeing your own style emerge. Within a year you'll be able to draw convincingly from imagination, and once you can do that, it's pretty much limitless.

Good luck.