M.C.fromHell art blog

So, for some reason, even though using stick figures as a base is extremely helpful (and I think it's very useful advice), my brain somehow still seems to get messed with when I use stick figures for poses.

Most of my drawings are made with the idea of them taking place in three (3) dimensional spaces. So sometimes, when I draw a pose that relies on it being in a three (3) dimensional space, the stick figures method tends to mess with my brain a bit.

So instead of stick figures, instead I draw this slightly messy base of lines:

This is an example of a pose, that relies a bit more on the three (3) dimensional space than others (one foot a bit behind the other, back arched backwards a bit, and head looking up slightly).

So, whenever I'm drawing my self-insert for example, I am almost always basing it off of this frail twig lookin' thing, lol

I admit this process is just a bit more tedious than if I had just drawn a stick figure for a base instead, but it helps my brain specifically to work with the shapes a bit better, especially way later down the line when I have to add more details to the drawing.

When I go to add more details, like hair and clothes, I sometimes have to keep in mind what the character is doing and where they're moving to and from, so then I can work off of that.

For example, my self insert character wears a lot of baggy clothes (because I wear baggy clothes in real life, they're just comfy), so I have to make sure that I make the clothes move in a way that shows where the character is moving.

With hair, this also applies in my drawings, but its movements depend on the character and their hair type.

My self-insert character has, to put it simply, messy and somewhat unkempt hair (with the bare minimum of cleanliness and hygiene still being the case, it's just not straightened out or anything), which kind of falls in multiple directions of wherever it feels like going at the time (based on my hair in real life, in case anyone was somehow wondering, haha).

So, for example, the drawing I showed has them walking backwards slightly, and the hair is moving with them, but the air resistance is making the hair sort of get dragged along the front of their head, getting a tiny bit in the way of their face depending on where the camera is in perspective of the scene. And, since the hair is sort of messy and ‘fluffy’ to an extent, one or two of the strands in the back are often poking in different directions than the rest, still keeping the ‘unkempt/unruly hair’ look while still showing the air resistance taking place.

Adding shirts follows a slightly similar logic, where the air resistance makes the looser parts of the fabric get dragged behind the character a bit, but I also have to make sure that a little bit of the shirt's inside is visible, so then the air resistance is a bit more clear, but just a little bit of it. If I add too much to it, then it tends to look like it was in the middle of a wind storm by accident.

Sometimes it's also a bit fun to think about where the edges will be. Drawing baggier clothes is fun (for me at least).

A lot of the time though, this is where my ‘frail-twig base’ from earlier is handy for me, because now I can make sure that some of the shirt's edges are aligned with the body, in a way where they're wrapped around the limb on one side, and leaving air on the other.

Same goes for pants, but I have to make the angles slightly slower where the pants cuffs are, because they're lower in perspective to the camera.

And, whenever I draw two different types of fabrics, that's also a bit fun for me to think about, because I get to think about how the differences in folds and materials look, in the context of the drawing.

For example, when I draw my self-insert character, I like to make the shirt look a bit softer while still looking like a t-shirt (tee shirt?), while I make the pants look comfortable while still looking like cargo or canvas material.

Then I tend to draw my bulky as heck shoes. I'm almost definitely certain that I drew them incorrectly here, but usually I don't quite catch the mistakes until it's already in the line-art cleaning stage. I'm just gonna use the shoes as an example image, even though my brain only now says that they don't look right.

When drawing the shoes on this character, for some reason I like drawing the chunky high-top sneakers, and I especially like to make them bigger than the actual foot itself. I cannot explain why I like doing this, I just think it's a fun visual.

Thank you for taking the time to ride this train of insanity with me, as I gave an unsolicited in-detail description of the hell my brain calls my creative process, and I hope you all have a pleasant day :)

Edit:

I should probably clarify that this is not an art advice post in any way, shape, or form. Everyone's best method of creation is different, and you should do whatever works best for you.

Edit: I found the image this was based on, woo!!

Here you go, in case any of you needed it for reference or something :3