5 replies to this topic

[Shagohad]

I got a sketchbook for Christmas and it's my ambition to hone my mech-based art skills. So far, they're pretty terribad. I've been doodling Victor cockpits, Atlas faces, and joints for study, but I feel rather lost.

So any advice for a new artist who has little experience aside from head study and basic shapes? Thanks.

[ValdnadHartagga]

Hi, I'm a high school art teacher IRL

My tips:

• If you feel like you've messed up, don't cross it out or throw it away. Keep it, and write notes on why you think your drawing needs improvement; try to hit those points on the next one. Identify your biggest weaknesses and post them on the wall so you can see them every day; you might have a Eureka moment. Until you have a final, everything is a sketch and is thus expendable - go to town with a red marker to identify points you want to work on.
  
• Also find out what you're good at - note these in blue or green.
  
• Always practice before committing to the final. My advanced students will go through a dozen iterations of their work (or I will make them do so) before they're really satisfied.
  
• Never stop practicing. One sketchbook is not enough. I would say to get yourself some newsprint pads, they're super cheap. If you want to be good at actuators, just draw actuators all day!
  
• If you're unsure whether to do something or not, make a copy (trace or photocopy) and then try out your idea on that. Alternatively, if you can afford them, use transparencies or even saran wrap and a marker. Even super thin tissue paper can work depending on how dark your work is.
  
• Get some good action figures (GI Joe is a good place to start, or a Gundam model can be better since they're blockier) and study their joints, their placement, and how they interact with each other - those will help inform your mecha design. Also observe how the shadows work.
  
• Eventually, I try to push students to stop working with lines and only draw with values (i.e, don't draw a shape, but render its shadows and highlights). You can practice this by finding a simple object and only drawing or shading in its shadows, without the use of straight lines. Identify your medium tone, and render two lighter tones and two darker tones at minimum. Eggs and balls are great subjects to work with here.
  
• Pick an object, and draw it from every angle imaginable. Even if it's only a few degrees off. If you can master spheres and blocks, you can combine them into basically any robot design you want.
  
• Study vanishing points! Not just practically on paper with lines and such, but also just look down the side of a pen or pencil up to your eye and see how it tapers as it gets farther away from you.

There's always more of course, but it's best to build skills one at a time - the more you master individually, the more you can layer together and get a better drawing out of it.

[Shagohad]

How am I doin'?

[ValdnadHartagga]

Well, I can't critique everything for you, but just getting things on paper is a good start.

Play around with adding value (shading) some of the individual panels to show depth. Here's something to look at:



Note how each "panel" is not evenly shaded.



And how the contours here are well-defined (the shadows don't blend into each other).

Maybe think about a spotlight shining directly down from the ceiling on top of the VTR head. Which parts will be in shadow, and what's sticking out far enough for light to hit it? Do those parts cast shadows on parts below?

[Stingray Productions]

ValdnadHartagga, on 29 December 2013 - 12:31 PM, said:

Hi, I'm a high school art teacher IRL

My tips:

• If you feel like you've messed up, don't cross it out or throw it away. Keep it, and write notes on why you think your drawing needs improvement; try to hit those points on the next one. Identify your biggest weaknesses and post them on the wall so you can see them every day; you might have a Eureka moment. Until you have a final, everything is a sketch and is thus expendable - go to town with a red marker to identify points you want to work on.
  
• Also find out what you're good at - note these in blue or green.
  
• Always practice before committing to the final. My advanced students will go through a dozen iterations of their work (or I will make them do so) before they're really satisfied.
  
• Never stop practicing. One sketchbook is not enough. I would say to get yourself some newsprint pads, they're super cheap. If you want to be good at actuators, just draw actuators all day!
  
• If you're unsure whether to do something or not, make a copy (trace or photocopy) and then try out your idea on that. Alternatively, if you can afford them, use transparencies or even saran wrap and a marker. Even super thin tissue paper can work depending on how dark your work is.
  
• Get some good action figures (GI Joe is a good place to start, or a Gundam model can be better since they're blockier) and study their joints, their placement, and how they interact with each other - those will help inform your mecha design. Also observe how the shadows work.
  
• Eventually, I try to push students to stop working with lines and only draw with values (i.e, don't draw a shape, but render its shadows and highlights). You can practice this by finding a simple object and only drawing or shading in its shadows, without the use of straight lines. Identify your medium tone, and render two lighter tones and two darker tones at minimum. Eggs and balls are great subjects to work with here.
  
• Pick an object, and draw it from every angle imaginable. Even if it's only a few degrees off. If you can master spheres and blocks, you can combine them into basically any robot design you want.
  
• Study vanishing points! Not just practically on paper with lines and such, but also just look down the side of a pen or pencil up to your eye and see how it tapers as it gets farther away from you.

There's always more of course, but it's best to build skills one at a time - the more you master individually, the more you can layer together and get a better drawing out of it.

spoken like a true pro and good advice for all artists.

[DESTcmndr]

Sometimes I research things I want to draw, by finding similar subjects. Gives you somewhere to start brainstorming your own unique vision. http://mechbay.deviantart.com/gallery/ This Deviantart page has tons of mech, and mecha designs if you're feeling lost on parts, take a look.