Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hehe, I don't trace any more (well, sometimes when I am bored), but I really found that it gets you used to drawing in a certain way. It is really useful for learning styles of drawing, especially ones which use variable line thicknesses and solid shading, such as comic book illistration.

Trace an image, then try and draw it freehand with the original image and your trace as a reference, then try it again drawing from memory.

It's probably not how they would teach you to draw, but I've found it a handy trick.

Though I definately agree that you should not rely on tracing to teach you everything. It is something to use perhaps as a limited drawing aid, rather than as a full fledged "teach yourself to draw" technique.

If it worked for you then I won't argue
Yeah it is that some rely on it which imho won't help development of drawing skills

Some kids where I volunteer would only trace without any attempt to draw freehand!
I won't let 'em - cattle prods are employed as aversion therapy

JohnHwangDD wrote:

Space_Potato wrote:Some quality drawing in here. Are there any tutorials for drawing wraithlords?

Tutorials?

I think it's easier just to draw one...



Yeah, it's supposed to be a Phantom-class Titan, but the style is similar.

I could just draw one, but with my drawing ability, it would look like it has some sort of (wraith)bone disease.

I'll give it a shot, but I'm not expecting much.

S_P

SilverMK2 wrote:It is really useful for learning styles of drawing

This doesn't seem very useful when you're just starting out. Surely you'd want to be getting a handle on pencil control, shadows and the like and drawing from life and just understanding how to represent something on the page rather than emulating a specific style?

*shrug*

Just my own personal view. As I'm sure you are aware, people have already disagreed with it and I have stated several times that it is just one trick amongst many that you can use to improve your drawing. I've even said specifically that it can be used to learn a specific style of drawing, and have admitted that it should not be used alone when learning to draw.

I mentioned it solely because it had not been brought up when I posted and because I had found it a useful trick.

To chime in in stress the point: Practice, practice, practice.

If you're into learning faces, just really observe people around you. Just by studying facial features you can start to learn how facial musculature all fits together. Also, do what I do and carry around a notebook + pencil/pen wherever you go. Gets in practice and fills in the times when you're just waiting or otherwise have nothing to do.

Also, I commend you on restraining your lines. Most people get into drawing by making very dark, purposeful lines from the get go which can be a hindrance if you decide that you want to tweak things.

Tracing, from what I hear from a friend who interned at an illustration shop, is fairly ubiquitous, albeit used more as a means to quickly rush out a drawing (if time demands) and usually done so from reference photos than others' drawings.

Enjoy drawing! It is a fun hobby/distraction that can start up lots of fun conversations (and no end of girls asking you to draw them )

drawing is fun man, especially when you know an awesome media like 40k, drawing new guns that no ones thought of.

I get alot of people asking how I learned to draw as I do, and I just don't know. I have been drawing since kindergarten, only improving over the years. I guess some of us are born with it .

I basically taught myself,as a child I would set for hours with pencil and paper and a stack of comic books and try to draw the characters,after a while I got pretty good at it.
I'm still not a fantastic artist,but I can draw just about anything I see or can think of.

The best advice I can give is to think of every possible thing as an individual shape instead of a part to a whole. This helps things from getting stretched out of proportion, especially if you're using reference material. Also, if you start off drawing on a grid, drawing objects a square inch at a time, this can help tremendously when you're first starting out. It makes things so much easier for you.

It's also good for getting proportions right if you do a basic wireframe sketch of an object before you dive knee-deep into trying to get the finished product. Make sure to do this very lightly so you can go back over it with shading and/or an eraser.

Also, rolling a piece of drawing paper into a pointed cone shape and then taping it together makes for a great blending tool for when you need to shade your drawings (Cue Tips also work, but they're a bit less precise). Make sure you have the right kind of paper for the job, or you might end up destroying your work by rubbing the paper too much!

I hope you enjoy yourself, and I certainly hope these tips help you on your way to becoming a phenomenal graphite artist.