How general are art skills? For example. If I spend years drawing humans, then decide to draw animals, would the animals look terrible and require as much practice to get good? Or if I spend years drawing one gender, would attempts to draw the other be obvious that I rarely ever draw it?Asking as a /beg/ who wants to draw many different things but finds it really difficult to actually practice all of them.
>>7999397If you learn the fundamental skills they can be applied to anything. If you learn a lot of human anatomy, plenty of it will overlap with other mammals. If you can render hair, you can render. General observational and accuracy skills apply to any subject matter.Also the methods you use matter too. So if you're good at using construction to draw humans, you could use the same methods and skills to construct cats. Of course you'll still need to practice it but you'll progress much faster.
>>7999397Drawing is like a skill tree in a video game. If you pick one branch to follow, you're going to make passive gains in related branches. There's nothing wrong with focusing on one range of subjects at a time, but you have to be very specific with what you study AND never get too comfortable with just one branch. You must always find something new to study and trust yourself to be accepting of long-term development, even if you're going to suck for a bit at other areas.If you spend years drawing women and then decide to start drawing men, your men will look like women. You can find countless examples of this on Deviantart, Twitter, and Tumblr. There's also the rather infamous example of Hirohiko Araki's dogs in JJBA looking like crap compared to his drawings of people (as he admits to not drawing dogs enough).Since you are a /beg/ your priority should be observational drawing and drawing from memory. Do the DRSB exercises if you haven't already, then adopt the following routine if you'd like:>Pick a specific subject for the day>Draw your subject from memory>Grab references and trace, breaking the subject into shapes and forms>Draw but only look at the reference and not your paper>Draw from memory>Draw while looking at the referenceBeing a /beg/ means you're going to suck at everything, so pick a new subject to study every other day for about 2-4 hours. Make sure you've done the "Level 0" work of continuous line drawings of shapes and simple forms, it makes things easier.
>>7999425>If you can render hair, you can renderyou can render fur*
>>7999397The good thing about drawing is that you can always use references if you don't really know how to draw something. So if you can draw from references you basically can draw anything you want or even change teh angle of the reference, deform it etc.
>>7999465The only "cheat code" there is for hitting multiple subjects of study at once would be constructive drawing and drawing from imagination, but an atelier or dedicated art program isn't something the average /beg/ is likely to do (mainly for logistical reasons).So that's why there's a substitute "cheat code":>draw from life>know how to draw simple subjects/forms from multiple angles (and from memory)>learn how to animate>learn how to sculpt>study 3D modelsEventually you'll be able to break down just about anything you see into simple forms, even if you're not too familiar with the subject.https://prrb.tumblr.com/post/30177790499/shrimp-method
>>7999475>>7999465There are MANY pitfalls for /begs/ if you don't know what to watch out for:>the average American art school teaches observational drawing and drawing from memory, but not constructive drawing and drawing from imagination>many online art programs offer either constructive drawing or drawing from imagination, but almost never both>many books touted by /ic/ are good, but not practical for the absolute /begs/ and are intended for seasoned artists with a few years under the belt aiming to develop their constructive drawing skillsI would implore you to start with observational drawing and drawing from memory for 1-2 years. Pick a range of subjects to study within a single month (every month) as well as a specific artist to copy.
>>7999473One must also know how to properly "use" references, too.>break down refs into shapes and forms>do an upside down copy of the ref>negative space study of the ref>silhouette study of the ref>blind contour study>trace over the ref
>>7999482There isn't really a proper way how to use them. It depends on your style.
>>7999397>For example. If I spend years drawing humans, then decide to draw animals, would the animals look terrible and require as much practice to get good?They might not look terrible, but they wouldn't like right. Animal anatomy is different than human anatomy - largely the same bones and muscles, arranged differently.>Or if I spend years drawing one gender, would attempts to draw the other be obvious that I rarely ever draw it?It might color your drawing if you rarely ever draw the other gender(see also: Michelango's women), but if you're aware you can make efforts to lessen it.
>>7999397They’re pretty transferable. If you master humans for example you won’t immediately be able to draw animals well, but you will learn much much quicker than someone who didn’t have the same foundation
>>7999425This is why you need to grind boxes and cylinders. Everything can be broken down into boxes and cylinders.
>>7999397I'm starting to think 90% of drawing skill is observation, line quality, and style. As these improve everything I draw improves even if I've never drawn it before.
>>7999397each thing has to be learned individually if you want to do it any good. there are no general cheatcodes. i mean unless you want to do really soulless boring professional way - and in that case you still don't actually learn it.so again, each thing has to be learned individually if you want it to be any good.
>>7999397there is a lot of overlap of skill but obviously if you are a master of the human form yet never drew a cat in your life your first cat is going to look terrible with no reference. but someone who is able to draw 3d forms and structure well fundamentally is going to have a much easier time drawing anything of amy shape and size, animals, humans, environments etc. theyre all just 3d forms in perspective at the end of the day
>>7999397Fundamentals of art are universal no matter the subject you draw. This is why artists that know what they are talking about always say to learn fundamentals first.
>>7999477are you saying that Preston Blair's book is not intended for beginners?
>>8001234Beginners to animation? It’s fine. Beginners to art in general? Avoid animation as a whole, it’s an advanced topic for after you’re already godlike at drawing
>>7999627ConstructionGAWD…
Sensitizing your eyes through observation is the master skill. Line, form, rendering, edge control, shape design, color, perspective, and composition are below observation but above everything else. These skills transfer to everything. But below them, subject-level mastery is much more targeted. You will have some transfer, such as human anatomy vis-a-vis horse anatomy, but less than you'd think.
