Stiff artwork - need tips and tricks

[Harishankar]

Hi,

the biggest problem with any up-and-coming web comic artist is stiff artwork and lines that have no life in them. Some of the best comics have fluid smooth lines and a sense of energy about them.

I'd like you to take a look at some of my own comics and let me know how I can solve this issue. Drawing on pen and paper as opposed to doing it totally digitally seems to help, but lines are still too lifeless and not really conveying energy.

I see this in a lot of comics - people drawn in different poses, but they look board-like and stiff. Is there any technique to avoid this problem and get over it?

Can you take a look at some of my comics in my website and let me know?

Here's the archive of my Boxi and Panjo series: http://harishankar.org/blog/category.php/boxi-and-panjo - done totally digital - using tablet and pen
Here's my new comic I've just started: http://harishankar.org/blog/entry.php/cops-and-slobs-1 - done on pencil and paper, inked using nibbed fountain pen and then scanned and cleaned up

[Theamazingsquad]

i cant look at your stuff from work, so i dont know what exact issues you're having or how developed your drawing ability is but maybe these pointers might help-

1, there are no straight lines in nature- everything organic is nobbly, curvy, bendy etc. this means that arms, fingers etc should never be

drawn as straight tubes (unless in a cartoony setting, for stylistic reasons). They should have slight curves and bumps, and should not be

parallel. conversely, man made objects can have straight lines- objects, buildings etc. bear in mind that a lot of contemporary design

uses curves as well though- such as cars. a boxy car without curves wont look right (unless its an old car)

2 lineweights should vary- lines in shadowed areas can be drawn a little thicker, lines for folds in clothing should taper towards the

ends, heavyset or prominent features can be drawn thicker, whilst less prominent details such as objects in the distance or patterns on clothes can be drawn in lighter lines.

3. smooth sweeping lines look better than short scratchy lines.

4. get a few books on figure drawing- when drawing figures, draw the sketch 'skeletons' first and make sure the weight is balanced properly- ie make sure they look like they're standing on solid ground- centre of balance should be between the feet on a normal standing figure. this will also help with the foreshortening of your figure- its easy to make people look like they are leaning out from or falling into the paper by mistake.

5 using sketch skeletons is essential to set up figures in movement- again it helps with weight balance and foreshortening, and makes setting out proportions easier. these skeletons should only take a few seconds, so if you dont get it right first time, its no big deal to try again. small things like bending the knee at the right angle and rotating the shoulders the right way will make the difference between a figure realistically walking on solid ground, or awkwardly 'skating' accross it!

maybe you knoww some of that stuff alreaady but i hope it helps. grab a few books to teach yourself the correct techniques- its the best way to learn! good luck.

[Harishankar]

Thanks for the great advise.

I should have mentioned that I've already found that inking on paper as opposed to digitally creating the comic is helping a lot more. My lines seem stronger and more natural. With the graphic tablet and pen, my lines just weren't strong. They looked weak and wobbly at times. I think the steady hand on drawing on paper is contributing.

Still line variation is something I need to work on, as also the artist basics like proportion and scaling. I'm not trained formally in art, so there are a lot of obvious mistakes, but I think I'm getting better.

[Siabur]

Try finding some action pictures. People running, football,basket ball, mixed martial arts, people walking and copy them to get a feel for how things look. It's one of the few things a useless art teacher actualy said that was good. It's kinda like moving still lifes.

[Spaceprincess]

try doing "gesture" drawing. It's the best way to loosen up your drawing style. get yourself a big cheap pad of newsprint and do a ton of drawing. don't worry about details just try to capture the basic form and movement. draw from the wrist letting your hand move freely and fast. draw people around you, photos are ok but can also lead to tightness. only spend a few minutes on a drawing, you want to just keep firing them out. do that everyday for a decade or so and you'll get there. good luck

[Wendybird]

What helped me a lot was learning to ink with a brush. It really forced me to move fast to keep my lines smooth, to think about line width and to gain confidence. It put me in a very different mindset which carried over to my digital work.

The other thing I would recommend is just practice drawing people - from photos, from comics you like, or from the people around you every day.

[Arseey]

I guess you should just keep practicing, using pencils then pen and also focusing on drawing characters from different angles

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

Everyone else said good things. Mine will probably sound silly but it helps me. I don't know if you listen to music while you're working, but sometimes that helps to keep you moving quickly, if you listen to a song that's really fast or inspirational. (YMMV on what qualifies as "inspirational") I usually will make up a little playlist before I go to work on a page based on the emotions that I want to convey with said page. Personally it helps keep me focused, but for some people it might be distracting. It's just something simple that will give you results right away that you don't have to work to get to

[Harishankar]

Thanks everybody. Great advise so far. Looking at my particular style of comics, what is your opinion? Do you think my line drawing is improving over time?

[Samuli]

It might help you to relax a just bit. Here's an excercise I used a lot when I started to get more serious about drawing:

Get a couple of pads of minimum A3-paper (ab. two times letter size for you US people), a BIG brush with a good, sharp point. Load it with ink or similar and start making strokes on the paper. Get a feel for a nice smooth curve that tapers at both ends and see if you can draw your characters this way. Draw BIG and think of it more like painting. Draw from the shoulder, use your whole arm. Let only the brush-tip touch the paper, not your palm or your elbows or anything else. And don't worry about the result.

Big brush => line variance and expression, Big size => courage => more power in the line work

Try it, it's fun if nothing else! (also works for croquis or as a warm-up before an inking session)

EDIT: "A just bit"... I'm not really going into the ethics of digital imagery here, I meant to say "just a bit".

[VinnieD]

Warming up your wrist also helps. Any kind of exercise that involves looping motions of the wrist. It should reduce shakiness.

[Killbert-Robby]

And nobody mentions the simplest technique of all, varying line width

[Harishankar]

Hi Robby, thanks. I tried the line varying, but I don't think varying line width is a technique as such. It is a STYLE and if used well can look great. If used badly it can look worse than awkward. I've seen some great fluid-looking comics without using varying line width - the width varying can be useful, but not more than that.

On the other hand, I think that to achieve fluid and free artwork, the lines need to be strong and the curves need to be smooth. Without these two, I would say that linework is going to look like it's done in an awkward way. Especially if there are areas of hesitation leading to small wiggles. Stiffness I think is a result of not using natural curves but improvised ones.

[Killbert-Robby]

Hi Robby, thanks. I tried the line varying, but I don't think varying line width is a technique as such.

I think I'm actually appalled. I can assure you it's a technique. Even comics where you don't SEE it varying, there's still very subtle variations. It creates depth, for one thing, and helps create juxtapositions between items. Not to mention it creates that very flow that you say you're looking for.

Examples



Boy oh boy sure looks deep, this is the best art ever (From someone without the slightest art education)



Two dimensional, with slight line weight variations, and it makes a world of difference. (From someone with extensive art education)



Even the old comics have a very simple out-line-is-thicker-than-the-contours line variation, it takes zero practice, and it already creates depth in your characters

So you can take my word that learning to vary line width stops drawings looking like amateur doodles on a page, and gives them life and quality, or not, but I have a hunch that only one of us has any sort of formal art education, and I have another hunch that it's not you.

I'm just saying if you're asking for advice, take it all on board instead of "Well, I want my art to be less crappy, but you know what, forget your advice, it's not important". You're on a board filled with people who've been doing this sort of thing for years, so if someone says, hey, you should really do X, you shouldn't make excuses that you don't want to do it because when you try your art looks crap, because, whoop dee doo, it's called learning.



If you're drawing on a tablet, perfectly straight lines will take a while, unless you're willing to learn how to use Illustrator. No matter what method you choose, it's going to take practice, and your art is going to look "crap" for the better part of the next couple of years. There is no magic "THIS is what you're missing", it's combining every little hint and tip you see on this whole page, and learning how to use them, along with patience and dedication, and for God's sake an open mind, which will end up improving your art.

I could of course question why someone who's such an expert on line work

On the other hand, I think that to achieve fluid and free artwork, the lines need to be strong and the curves need to be smooth. Without these two, I would say that linework is going to look like it's done in an awkward way.

is even asking about this stuff, but I've ranted long enough, whether you're willing to learn comes down to you, and the allure of a McMuffin overpowers my urge to continue.

That's your lesson for today, class dismissed

[Harishankar]

I am very pleased to learn that you have indeed obtained a major in Arts, so I agree it entitles you to feel very superior to others on this board like me who do it for fun. I would like to be your eternal... er... student so please accept me into you fold.

Sarcasm aside, a lot of your information - after taking out your attitude - is useful, so thanks a lot for sharing it with us.

Just a small note: when I said I was trying to vary line width, I actually meant lines that started out think and end up being thin without rhyme or reason. I think you were jumping the gun a bit about what I meant about my own trying out that style rather than assuming that I disagreed with your analysis entirely.

Also next time, post your explanations first, so that a numbskull like me can understand rather than assuming that I can read your mind or that I know exactly what you're talking about. I haven't reached that level of perfection yet!

[RobertBr]

after taking out your attitude - is useful, so thanks a lot for sharing it with us.

I think the attitude is yours than the previous posters. You, who have low expertise, posted somewhere you presumably expected people to have high expertise, and then when you got a response instead of saying you didn't understand you lectured the person about why they were wrong, I can see why he was narked.

Probably the most obvious tip I could suggest is to copy from life. When you have a scene get images of somebody standing, running, jumping, etc. Then copy the lines you see, the way the light falls, etc. I know some-one mentioned this already with regard to action shots, but even for people just standing - people don't stand the way you think they stand, until you try and draw some pictures of people standing you won't really 'see' the nuances that stop it from feeling stilted.

Robert

[Phalanx]

To add to what others have already said:

Posture and posture and more posture. Try focusing more on the overall posture than the details. Vary your postures. Make them a bit more interesting than just a person standing with their hands on their sides.

When someone lifts an arm, the rest of their body shifts as well. Keep that in mind and draw that out.

I find the reason for art being stiff is frequently because people are too engrossed drawing 1 head 2 hands and 2 feet they forget that it still needs to join up as a coherent whole.

All the art technique in the world is useless if the initial foundations are bad.

[Harishankar]

To add to what others have already said:

Posture and posture and more posture. Try focusing more on the overall posture than the details. Vary your postures. Make them a bit more interesting than just a person standing with their hands on their sides.

When someone lifts an arm, the rest of their body shifts as well. Keep that in mind and draw that out.

I find the reason for art being stiff is frequently because people are too engrossed drawing 1 head 2 hands and 2 feet they forget that it still needs to join up as a coherent whole.

All the art technique in the world is useless if the initial foundations are bad.

Thanks! You've supplied the missing piece of what I was looking for...

All too true. I agree entirely with you. Now it all fits in to reason why some art looks bad while others look great even without the line width variation. The naturalness of posture contributes far more to a lot to making art look better, irrespective of any style or school of drawing you follow!

For those who keep over-emphasizing line width variation as the ONLY way to achieve smoothness in art, here's a rebuttal from none other than the creator of Tintin, Herge, the founder of the Ligne Claire school - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne_claire

There are different schools of art, none "right" or "wrong" but just different. To each his own!

[Samuli]

Now you are talking about different stages in the artistic developement.

First you need to have the basics - Phalanx is right on the money - you have to be able to produce the human form consistently, from different angles and in different postures and expressions. Only after that you can start to think about details like line width.

I think what some people, me included, have tried to tell you is that you need to be assertive with your lines regardless of the width. If you get too much wiggle in your lines, you are drawing too slowly and you are tensing your hand. But to be able to draw quickly, you have to have a good understanding of the human form. That comes with a few years of practise. There is no short-cut. You have to train your hand. I mean, you don't expect someone just starting out with the piano to excel in a few weeks. Even if you do it as a hobby just for fun it takes years to get the fingers around something other than Für Elise.

And then, the line width - Hergé was absolutely masterful in representing the human and other forms. He can get away with what's basically a Rotring line. You need to be MORE skillful to use the uniform line than if you use line variation since you have to have all the 3-dimensionality built into the composition rather than expressing it with line width variation. At least I'm not that good. My drawings always seem flat and lifeless if they are of uniform line width. I suggest you at least experiment a bit more and build up your skill before locking yourself into a fairly limited technique.

[Harishankar]

Thanks... That explains the misunderstanding initially...

By the way, I'm working on getting my basic shapes right. I now use the pencil stage to draw simple shapes now, so that the overall form is visualized before the details. It works like a charm already, and I've only started with this technique recently. I can understand how I will get better at this over time and practise...

I also agree that I shouldn't get locked in to a technique initially. The problem was that, before I had advise from forums like these, I basically just drew without any idea of technique or method, so I was wildly inconsistent and the process of improving was much painfully slow.

But even now, I'm using a limited (basic) form of line-width variation in the sense that at least far-away objects are drawn with thinner lines than nearer ones, to get out of the "flat" look.

I am my harshest critic. And I try my hardest to improve at whatever I do, even though I do it only as a hobby in my spare time and don't dedicate every day to the pursuit of art...