#aruhelp

Ahh quite frankly, it still feels like pulling teeth, even after nearly 2 years of feeling this way. All I can really say is be attentive to your emotions/mental state, take breaks (either small ones or big ones aka not drawing at all) when you feel like you need to, and be patient with yourself. Often times, it’s a lot of tiny steps that will help lead you somewhere out of your block/burn out. Small victories or little things that make you go “Okay that didn’t turn out too bad!”. Going back to your roots or flipping through stuff that inspires you is really good to do, even during break times. Occasionally you’ll make huge strides or have sudden epiphanies, but those are rather few and far between in my experience. Focusing on the small, immediate goals is much more rewarding and far less daunting than trying to look too much into the future.

I have a Pinterest just for this!! It’s open to public and I never go anywhere else to find references (because Pinterest is just too good to me ww) so feel free to peruse my whole account to find whatever you need! Here are the anatomy specific boards that I have:

(Potential nudity warning for almost all of them, pretty much!)

Female:

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-anatomy-female/

Male:

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-anatomy-male/

General Anatomy tips:

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-anatomy/

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-head/

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-hands/

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-torso-back/

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-torso-front/

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-legs/

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-feet/

Poses:

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-poses/

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-couple-poses/

https://www.pinterest.com/arucelli/ref-fighting-poses/

Additionally, here’s some other stuff I’ve also done in regards to anatomy:

Posts I’ve made on anatomy:

http://arucelli.tumblr.com/post/149612264533/typically-when-people-are-taught-how-to-draw

http://arucelli.tumblr.com/post/152425562204/how-exactly-do-you-draw-the-shape-of-the-head-i

+ a masterpost I made with links to figure drawing websites:

http://arucelli.tumblr.com/post/142534306654/figure-drawinganatomy-link-reference

As you can see in my examples, I tended to taper the front of the face a bit to account for the angles of the zygomatic region (your cheekbones and the arch that connects it back to the skull/cranium!)

So here’s what I’m assuming is happening to you:

Thankfully, this is an easy fix! Go to Window > Color

This is what you’ll see if you’re having this problem:

To fix it, just click the foreground square!

Okay so here’s the thing, I wasn’t the best at school. I got by with As and Bs, but I wasn’t above average or extraordinary. If you want to have stellar grades and perfect scores, you’re definitely going to have difficulty finding a time and place for your art. 

Just as I told another anon with a future in AP classes, don’t stress it. Art isn’t something that schedules a test every week, it can wait for you while you work through your studies. Improving is hard but you’re just going to have to try and optimally use the free time that you do have to get your art farther, faster. This doesn’t mean become a hermit or forgo a social life, but think about how you learn best. Whether it’s through doing studies, trying new things every time, drawing from life, or just drawing every day, it doesn’t matter. 

Typically when people are taught how to draw humans, they’ll say somewhere around 7-8 heads tall for the average adult. I find 8 heads to be a lot easier, since you just take the measurement from head to crotch, and use that for how long the legs should be (crotch to ankle/heel). 

Additionally, this is very much an average estimate, so don’t feel weird about fudging around the numbers! A difference in weight distribution, muscle mass, ethnicity, general body build, genetics, and daily routine will change all of these numbers to some degree, but I hoped this helped out in any case!

Here you go! Sketch > make a layer underneath for colors + shading > merge > paint over (there’s usually several hours of this) > color filters